Podcasts about that's paul

There is no such thing as a perfect church. We don't find one in the New Testament, and we can't find one today. A perfect church, this side of heaven, is impossible. But what is possible is a church that you can love.We know this because the apostle Paul loved the church at Philippi — and I don't mean he loved this church in a general or principled way, but this is particular and genuine love. That's clear in these verses right from the start.Now at one level, Paul's introduction in Chapter 1 is pretty standard. Ancient letters always started with some personal reflections and thanksgiving — so that's something we'd expect — but Paul goes above and beyond the normal and he gets deeply personal and openly affectionate. Just listen to his language here. He says:Verse 3: “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.”Verse 7: “I hold you in my heart” Verse 8: “I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus” Paul really loved this church. That's obvious in what he says, but okay, we might ask: So what? Why does this matter? So the apostle Paul loved a local church in the first century and that's great, but what does that have to do with us?Well, if it's possible for Paul to love a local church, then it's possible for us to love a local church, and we can learn from his example. So here's the question I'm bringing to this passage: Are there lessons we could glean from Saint Paul's love for the church in Philippi that might shape our love for our church in St. Paul?What are some observations of Paul's love for this church that could help us in our love for our church?That's the question I'm asking, and I've got three observations I want to show you but even before we get there, I need to step back for a minute and question the premise: Is it desirable to love the church that you're part of? Is loving your church a good and worthy ambition?Or, I'll put it this way: Should we love our church the way Paul loved this church? And again, we're not talking about general or principled love, but particular, genuine love. Should we love our church like that?I think the answer is Yes. We should aspire to love our church the way Paul loved the church at Philippi. That is a good and worthy ambition, but I could imagine that this is a debatable topic. Why Love the Church?Some might think that the main thing is just being part of a church no matter how you feel about it. “You're part of a church and you put up with it. It's all about commitment!” Others might have a looser idea and think that you don't need to love your church, and you don't even really need to be committed to it, just as long as you're a Christian and you stay out of trouble and you show up every now and then, you're fine. So when I say that it is good and right to love the church that you're part of, am I being too idealistic or too extreme?I'd say neither. Not at all. I think that you should love the church that you're part of — if you're part of this church (our church) you should love our church, for three reasons: Jesus commanded itJesus empowers itThe church is precious1) Jesus commanded it. John 13:34, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” That applies to our church.2) Jesus empowers it. 1 John 4:7–9, 19 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.” As John says a few verses later … “We love because he first loved us.” The truth is, we're not ever going to be able to love anybody truly until we understand God's love for us. And that's the Holy Spirit's work in our hearts. Do you know yourself to be loved by God? And that his love is a Never-Stopping, Never-Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love. God's love for us in Christ is the power of our love for one another.3) the church is precious.This is just being practical: we should love our church because the local church is essential to following Jesus in this world, and one day your life in this world is going to be over, and on that day, all that will matter is Jesus, and so who you are following Jesus with now really matters. Track with me here: who you are following Jesus with in this life, one day will be who you followed Jesus with. And that's super important. Our lives together as a church is more precious that we realize, and I believe it's too precious not to love. We should love our church. And Paul can help us with this in Philippians 1, verses 3–8. I want to show you three observations of Paul's love for this church, and then we're gonna turn them into lessons for how we love our church.Here's the first observation. 1) Paul thanked God for this church when he prayed for them. (verses 3–4)We see this in verses 3 and 4. Paul says, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy.” This is pretty straightforward, but notice two things:First, Paul prayed for this church. Second, Paul thanked God for this church.“Every Prayer of Mine”First, we know that Paul is praying for this church because he says, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all…” The mention of “prayer” in verse 4 explains what he means by “remembrance” in verse 3. This means that Paul is not just randomly remembering this church and then giving thanks for them. It's not that the church of Philippi just pops in his head and that makes him thankful, but Paul connects the remembering to praying. He remembers the church and he prays for the church.Now, is it the remembering the church that leads to the praying or is it the praying that leads to the remembering?We don't know and that's fine — we just need to see that Paul prayed for this church as a habit: he says “every prayer of mine for you all.” And every time Paul prayed, he thanked God for them. “I Thank My God”This is important. And really, it gets into a larger topic on thanksgiving, and I won't spend a lot of time on this, but I just want to remind you that thanksgiving is a choice. It's not only an involuntary reaction, but thanksgiving is a heart-attitude and its expression is something we choose to do. Thanksgiving is a discipline.That's why, in the Bible Reading Guide, that first little box each day says “Gratitude.” I can't commend to you enough the habit of starting everyday by thanking God — knowing that some days will be harder than others. Somedays all we can come up with is, “Thank you, Father, that I'm here. Thank you for waking me up.” This is a discipline and it's one that shapes us. The more we give thanks, the more thankful we become. We can choose to give thanks. That's what Paul is doing here for this church. Because there are other things that came into his mind when we thought about this church! They had some unity issues. There were some members of this church who were not getting along. This was not a perfect church, but Paul loved this church, and he prayed for this church, and every time he did, he thanked God for them! Of all the things he could have prayed, and a lot of things he probably did pray about as he kept praying, he made a point to thank God. ApplicationSo what's the lesson for us? It's that we do what Paul did. Would you make it a habit to pray for our church and thank God for her?And yeah, there are other things to pray about, and we'll get there, but first, from hearts that are mainly thankful, let's choose to give thanks to God in prayer. Just count the blessings of God to us! Let's be amazed that God has saved us and that he's brought us together to follow Jesus in this life.Let's pray for our church and thank God for her. That's the first observation/lesson.Here's the second. 2) Paul knew this church well enough to be confident of God's work in them. (verses 6–7)This is in verses 6 and 7, and verse 6 is a verse you've probably heard before. I love this verse and this is a favorite verse for a lot of Christians because it highlights God's faithfulness in our perseverance. That's the theology behind this verse. God will lead us all the way home. He will complete what he started. Pretty much every time Philippians 1:6 is quoted, it's to support that truth, and amen, but notice the context of verse 6.Paul loves this church, he prays for this church, he thanks God for this church; they've got a long history of partnership in the gospel, and then he starts verse 6 with, “I'm sure of this” or more literally, “I have been convinced of this… that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”This is an amazing statement. Paul is saying, I have become personally convinced that one day you are going to stand before Jesus in a glorified body. This kind of statement cannot be said about everyone. Paul does not say this about everyone, so then how can he say it about the church in Philippi?Well, it's because he knows this church well enough to know that their faith is real. That's what he says in verse 7.“Because I Hold You in My Heart”Verse 7 is meant to explain verse 6. It's like Paul knows that what he says in verse 6 is bold. It's a radical statement. This would have turned some heads. So in verse 7 he explains, “It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart.” That's Paul's argument?!He has just said that he's sure that this church, the individuals of this church, are going to persevere. God will save them completely. They are going to see Jesus one day — and his rationale for that confidence is: I've got you right here in the heart!That's not exactly an airtight theological argument. I don't know if that would pass in my kids' logic class.See, Paul isn't making an argument here, he's being personal. He is appealing to his relationship. He has this church in his heart, which means, he has a close-up, knows-them-by-name relationship, and in that relationship, through their partnership in the gospel, he has gotten to know them well enough to see that they're the real deal. He's seen their lives. He's seen where they came from. He's seen what they've been through. Paul knows this church well enough to be confident of God's work in them, and he tells them. So what's the lesson for us?ApplicationAs an aspiration, we want to be a church that is known well enough by one another such that we can say to one another with confidence, You're gonna make it. That's like the point of covenant membership! We want to be that kind of church.So here's the application: get to know one another for this purpose. Cities Church, get to know other members of this church well enough that you can say to them, You're going to see Jesus one day.Know others well enough so that you can say that, and then say it. And I realize that no one of us is going to know well every single member of this church — that's not expected — but we all can know and be known by some, and if each one of us is doing that for some, then everyone will know and be known. That make sense? That's why we have groups.Paul knew the church at Philippi well enough to be confident of God's work in them and he told them. Let's do the same at our church. Third observation:3) Paul partnered with this church for the sake of the gospel. (verses 5, 7–8)Now, the thing that's behind Paul's love for this church (and his joy in them, and how he knows them, and why he's confident of God's work in them) all comes back to their partnership in the gospel. Paul mentions this first in verse 3 (it's the ground for why he prays for them with joy). He mentions it again in verse 7 to explain how he knows them so well.And the word he uses for “partnership” is the New Testament word that most times is translated as “fellowship.” He says in verse 7 “you are all partakers with me of grace.” This is an edifying participation, a fellowship. So when we see the phrase in verse 3, “partnership in the gospel,” we should think: fellowship in the gospel. That's what he's saying.And I think it's important to keep “fellowship” in mind because it guards us against two mistaken mindsets in gospel partnerships, a functional mindset and an idle mindset. We don't want either of those. The functional mindset is one that is utilitarian. The main concern is not the quality or the nature of the partnership, but it's all about the bottom line. Are we seeing results? Is it effective? Are you hitting your numbers? That's your work environment, right? Sometimes at work you get stuck with co-workers who maybe are not your favorite, but you just gotta soldier through and get it done. We see this sometimes in professional sports. There's a team that has an inter-conflict, they don't really get along, but they have to lay the conflict aside and do their job, because they're paid to perform and to win. It's all about the bottom line.Well, that's not what is going on here between Paul and the church at Philippi. This is not a mechanical, utilitarian partnership, but it's a true fellowship. There's mutual love. This is a friendship in the gospel.And the “in the gospel” part is what guards us against the other mistaken mindset, which is an idle mindset. See, Paul doesn't just say: Hey, we have fellowship. It's good to have fellowship. I'm glad we have fellowship. Isn't fellowship great? No, that's not what this is. This is fellowship on mission.They love each other, and that's great. They probably love to be together, and that's great. But they're not just hanging out, they're trying to change the world. They are pulling together their resources and their energies for the sake of the gospel, and it cost them. This was not an easy, picturesque partnership where everything they touch turned to gold. No! Paul is in prison when he writes this letter! Epaphroditus almost died going back and forth for Paul and this church! This fellowship that they had was in the trenches of gospel witness and gospel advance that all Hell tried to stop. They were friends who remained friends through the ups and downs of costly action.See, fellowship in the gospel is active enough fellowship to see real gospel advance and it's sincere enough fellowship to stick together when things go badly … even when it's inconvenient, when it hurts, when there's imprisonment. This is an incredible partnership. I want this for us!ApplicationFellowship in the gospel means we're giving ourselves to something bigger than ourselves and we're giving ourselves together as friends. There's an old D. L. Moody quote when he said something like “The world has yet to see what God will do with a man fully consecrated to him.” And I just want to borrow that quote and basically change everything about it, but I want to say: Oh, that the Twin Cities would see God at work in a church that has true fellowship in the gospel! — a church that loves one another and a church that is serious about Jesus getting all the glory whatever it takes.It's not idealistic to want that for our church, or to believe that we could have it. We can. God can do it.We're never going to be a perfect church — that's impossible this side of heaven — but we can be a church that loves one another for the sake of the gospel, and Paul can help us. Three lessons to take with us:Pray for our church and give thanks to God for her.Know others in this church well enough to be confident of God's work in them.Let's have true fellowship in the gospel.Let's go wide-open in spending our lives and in being spent for the sake of the gospel overcoming these Twin Cities and beyond. We want Jesus in all of his glory and love and joy to be impossible to ignore.That's what brings us to the Table.The TableMost of this sermon has been all observation and application (Paul did this, we can too) — but where's the gospel?It comes back to the truth that we love because God first loved us. And he has proven his love for us in that, while we were still sinners, Jesus Christ died for us. Far be it from us to boast except in the cross of Jesus Christ our Lord! His death for us is everything. And that's what we remember at this Table. To this we hold, our hope is only JesusFor our lives are wholly bound to His If that's your confession, if you have put your faith in Jesus Christ, we invite you to eat and drink with us this morning.

Paul knows persecution awaits him in Jerusalem. On Paul's list of priorities, self-preservation was the lowest. That's Paul's passion because that was the passion of the King Jesus. How does that shape us as Christians today?

If we are going to stand up rather than give up we need to get connected, to Christ and each other. One of the best ways to connect to both Christ and each other...at the same time, is by praying together. That's Paul's concluding challenge. Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. Keep alert with all perseverance, praying for all the saints...and also for me. Pray at all times, with all types of prayer, with all perseverance, for all people. This is a call to all-in prayer. Sometimes I feel that the best I can do is to pray sometimes, with some types of prayer, for some people with some measure of perseverance.I hope this episode stirs up our souls to pray a bit more.

A fish out of water is a term we use to describe someone in unfamiliar and uncomfortable surroundings. That's Paul in Athens. Paul was a Jewish scholar proficient in the Bible and monotheism. Athens was an idol and temple smorgasbord! In this passage, Paul has to figure out how to explain Jesus to a group of people who have never heard of Him before.

Growth is natural for followers of Christ. Have you ever tried a new physical activity? Or gone back to something after a lengthy hiatus? Like tennis. Or golf. Or even walking after surgery.If you haven't done it for a while, you feel it. Muscles need exercise or they lose strength, they begin to atrophy. The same thing is true in the spiritual life. If you're not growing, if you're not being stretched in your faith, you're probably starting to lose strength. We are all a work in progress and God isn't finished with us yet. That's Paul's challenge in this episode of Gospel Wabi Sabi. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jeff-ebert/support

“The church puts business before matters of faith.” This is a real(ish) headline from a newspaper about two pastors who have a dispute between their churches and their feud went public. Not a good look for those who read the newspaper and who a church might want to invite to know Jesus. If we follow a Jesus who has given us the tools of his Spirit and his own example, shouldn't we be able to figure most conflicts in the church out ourselves? That's Paul's contention in this section of 1 Corinthians. Pastor Joel unpacks that as well as commenting on Paul's reference homosexuality in this passage. **Note: There was technical difficulty during the live recording of the sermon, so the audio used here is from a re-recording.

Paul builds a rhetorical argument, repeatedly and emphatically, that God has purposed to bless the world through the kind of salvation that is jealousable. This paragraph makes a verbal argument for jealousability, but it is jealousability embodied, an argument lived out, that God will use to save the Jews. What are we doing here? We're in the Reserved section of the Romans letter (chapters 9-11), the section not as heavily trafficked; it's often reserved for the theology professors who nerd out on doctrine or Bible commentators who signed a contract to get through these pages, as much as they may have wanted to skip from chapter 8 to 12. But in these chapters we're near the nucleus of God's work in the world. When you remember that everything is from Him and through Him and to Him for His glory (per Romans 11:36), think about how Israel's calling was from-through-to Him, how Israel's rejection of Christ was from-through-to Him, how the salvation of the nations is from-through-to Him, in such a from-through-to Him way that will provoke Israel to return to Christ, for the blessing of riches for the world that are from-through-to Him. To Him be glory forever, Amen!The relevance of this world history, of the purpose of God in election and His particular promises to Israel, is that God's Word is worth everything. Our peace with God is as certain as the reconciliation of a coming generation of the Jews with God. Our inseparable state of being loved by God in Christ no matter the groan-levels of suffering is as certain as the irrevocable gifts and calling of God in showing mercy to Israel in Christ. The gospel is the power of God to salvation for the Jew first and also for the Greek, a gospel revealed by His word, and the word of God does not fail. What sort of lives do from-through-to Him people live? When we understand this, we can be the kind of living sacrifices that stay conscious while staying on the altar. Usually sacrifices are dead, but we present our *bodies* (not just our precious Bible-thought moments) as living sacrifices. When we confess that Christ is Lord, and we learn about how He rules, we boast that He leads and lords us with jealousable blessings. Here we are again in Romans 11:11-15. It is a waterfall of strength and beauty and motivation. In the previous message I defined a couple terms: Jews and jealousable. The Jews are those Israelites, identified by blood and culture, not spiritually or allegorically interpreted. The jealousable are those to whom God gives great blessings in order to provoke great desire among the Jews for the blessing Giver. God will use a no-covenant people to fulfill His new covenant with the house of Israel. Who would have thought?! *Not* the Jews, and *not* the idolator-demonic-darkened-mind Gentiles. # An Argumentative Denial (verse 11a)When I say *argumentative* I don't mean that Paul is being cantankerous or combative but that he is systematically reasoning through the issue. > So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! (Romans 11:11a ESV)**Stumble** and **fall** are two-steps that don't always go together. You can trip and lose your footing without plummeting off a cliff, without finding yourself on the ground unable to get up again. The **fall** Paul has in mind is not only down but destroyed. God had not rejected His people entirely because He chose a remnant by grace (11:1, 5). But were the “rest” hardened permanently? We're talking about multiple generations of Jews who stumbled, and keep stumbling, over the stumbling Stone (Romans 9:32-33); Paul himself couldn't know how many. But what Paul did know is that there was *no way* the stumbling of Israel would be final. “Absolutely not!” (NET) “Not at all!” (NIV) “May it never be!” (NASB).Who needs to hear this? The Jew first, especially those paying attention to God's promises, and also the Greek, those tempted to arrogance thinking Israel was out. Paul denies that their denial was/is final. # An Argumentative Sequence (verse 11b)There are *five* movements, all connected to each other. They are not like houses built side by side in a row, they are like dominoes toppling one after the other. > Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. (Romans 11:11b ESV)The first movement is **trespass**, it is the moral wrong of the non-remnant Jews, the religious offense pictured by stumbling. This stumbling was sin, the false step of refusing Christ as Lord. The second movement is **salvation**, the deliverance from the consequences of sin, *for* the Gentiles. But note that this came *through* Israel's sin. In Acts 28:24-28, Paul had called together the leaders of the Jews in Rome, and most of them left after he quoted Isaiah 6:9-10 about the dull hearts and deaf ears and closed eyes, “Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.” (Acts 28:28)The third movement is **so as to make [them] jealous**. Again, this is the purpose of the second part; Gentile salvation provokes Jewish jealousy. They will feel a desire to have what others have, especially what they thought should be for them in the first place. The fourth movement is implied from the question and answer at the beginning of verse 11. Jealousy, in and of itself, could be a punishment rather than a provocation to something better. When Paul quoted Deuteronomy 32:21 in Romans 10:19, God's warning sounded as if jealousy and anger would be the end of the line, the last purpose. But now Paul makes it clear that jealousy would *not* be the fall! And there is more to say about their “full inclusion” (verse 12) and their salvation (verse 13) and their acceptance (verse 15). Our salvation as non-Jews is subordinate to the salvation of the Jews. We do not get a lesser grace, we do not get a lesser salvation, we are not part of a lesser body, but we are “partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Ephesians 3:6). *And* “yet it does not follow that Israel no longer fulfills any *particular* design in the realization of God's worldwide saving purpose” (Murray).And what about a fifth movement? That's Paul's argument in verse 12: *greater riches for the world*.# An Argumentative Amplification (verse 12)The argument is from the lesser to the greater, and there is full expectation that the greater will be gotten to.> Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean! (Romans 11:12 ESV)This is a conditional expectation, and there are two “if”s. But note that the two are really one; it's the same basic reality presented from different angles. The format also assumes that the “if”s are true, the “then” is also true. “If this, then that. This is, so that will be.” The distinction continues between Israel, three times “their,” and the **world**, also considered as the **Gentiles**, just mentioned in verse 11. The Jews have **trespass** and **failure**, or loss, synonyms for stumbling. In verse 11 Paul said that through the Jews' trespass “salvation” came to the Gentiles, he goes further here. Salvation is also considered as **riches for the world**, and said again, **riches for the Gentiles**. “World” probably describes the recipients comprehensively as the world's population, while “Gentiles” characterizes their ethnicity or religion. And what are these **riches**? Paul writes about God's riches a lot, but he usually follows it with a specific: riches of God's kindness (Romans 2:4), riches of His glory (Romans 9:23), His riches and wisdom and knowledge (11:33), riches of His grace (Ephesians 1:7). In Romans 11:12 Paul doesn't specify the type of riches but emphasizes the extent of them. That he doesn't narrow the riches into a list encourages us to think broadly. These **riches** are all the blessings of salvation. Salvation blessings include, but are not limited to: personal humility before God, honesty before men, and hope in the word of Christ. Families that have fathers with hearts for their sons and sons with hearts turned to their fathers, mothers gladly birthing and nursing babies and raising generations. Churches of loud singing, faithful praying, strategic feasting. Cultures faithful and fruitful in art, business, education, economics, government. Group rejoicing with those who rejoice, group weeping with those who weep. Christians not conformed to this world, abhorring evil, holding fast to what is good, outdoing one another in showing honor, overcoming evil with good. And the logic of the argument here is that the blessing and riches that will come to the Gentiles at the time of Israel's “fulfillment” will be even greater. This is an upgrade, a windfall, a snowball, a riches multiplier. **How much more**, more surely, and more richly. Gentile blessings will be *amplified* by Jews being blessed. We ain't seen nothing yet. The word πλήρωμα denotes “full measure” or “completeness.” The ESV has **full inclusion**, or we could say “full restoration” (NET). Though one of Paul's intentions is to show that Israel will again receive full blessing, the higher aim is to show that ALL Israel will receive those blessings (see also Romans 11:26). Israel's obedience of faith will be even more obvious than Israel's stumbling. Their privileges are promised, not in part, but the whole. # ConclusionThis is *optimistic*. Paul argues—he *expects*—that Israel's stumbling will not be a final fall, that Gentiles will provoke Jews to jealousy, that a full inclusion of the Jews will happen, that the riches for the world will be greater. How can he, and we, be so confident? Because that is God's covenant word to Israel (see especially Jeremiah 31:31-37). What does Paul, and should we, do with this confidence? Magnify our blessings of salvation in front of them!As obviously bad as ethnic prejudice and antisemitism is, it is a different sort of bad (pathetic, as in miserably inadequate) how much salt has lost its taste among Gentiles who profess that Jesus is Lord. Unsalty salt is not good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet (Matthew 5:13). Our lives of salvation blessings *are rhetoric*. God blesses men with persuasive and provocative lives as they confess that Jesus is Lord.----------## ChargeNothing is more important for you to meditate on than the Lord Jesus Christ. All things are from-through-to Him. Mediate on the Lord day and night. Mind your business with Him in mind. He is true, honorable, just, lovely, excellent, and worthy of praise. Think with His mind, think with Him in mind, and you will be blessed in the from-through-to Lord. ## Benediction:> And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.> The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. (Philippians 4:19–20, 23, ESV)

Slideshow for this message is available Introduction James 2 Happy New Year, Faith Community Bible Church. Welcome to 2023. Today we return to the book of James and we are in James chapter 2 verse 14. So turn with me there. Now it's been about a month since we've been in the book of James and today we come to the heart. Everything James is trying to say revolves around the hub of chapter 2 verses 14-26. There could hardly be a more important section of the Bible to understand if you are going to get your mind the doctrine of justification, the doctrine of how we are made right with God. Let's review what James is trying to do. Remember the setup of the book of James. James was the brother of Jesus. He grew up with Jesus. He washed dishes along side of Jesus. He split wood and worked in the garden with Jesus. But he didn't believe in Jesus till after the resurrection. The fact that this sort of unbelief was possible frightened him. Realizing that it was possible to be in this kind of proximity to the Lord of the universe without possessing genuine faith was eye opening to say the least. How could that be? He thought he had a faith. But upon examination, it's pretty hard to say you have a genuine faith while simultaneously accusing the Messiah, God come in the flesh, of being a lunatic. That's a pretty good indication your not on the right track. So it probably got James wondering, “How many people think they have saving faith but really don't.” How many people think, “Oh yeah, I'm good with God.” And God saying to them, “I'm not good with you.” So the book of James was written as a test for the legitimacy of our faith. James is on a mission to make sure you and I are not deceived the way he was. Many people come to church, live moral lives and think because they do those things, they are Christians. But that does not make them Christians. So what does? James wants to tell us. He doesn't want us to be deceived. Here's the really, really scary thing about being deceived. By definition, you don't know it. You are convinced you are not one of those poor deceived fellows. There's not even a hint of doubt. I'm not deceived! But the reality is you are. When the reality finally lands, there is shock, surprise, maybe even horror. Let me give you an example. If I were to ask you, “Do you think you are good judge of people's character?” You'd probably say, “Yes.” That's how 99% of the human race answers that question. Let me ask you a second question, do you think that 99% of people are good judges of character? Not a chance in the world. In fact, most studies reveal that the people who are the worst at this are the most confident. They are the most blind. And you might think, there's no way. I know I'm a good judge of character. But how do you know you're not one of the people who is the most confident but in fact is the most blind? The only way to know for sure would be to take an objective test. To trust a test outside of our own perception. Well, that's what James is doing here in regards to faith. He's saying, “I actually don't really care what you say. People can SAY and do SAY anything. I'm going to trust the objective test results.” He's trying to push our confidence outside of our own perception to something objective. He's trying to say, the whole problem with being deceived is that you are listening to the wrong source. You need other sources of truth. Your relying too heavily on your internal world. You need to locate your confidence on something objective outside of your internal world. And so he's developing a series of objective tests to help us evaluate the genuineness of our faith. That's what the book of James is all about. And we've seen many of these test thus far in the book. Genuine faith has joy in trials Genuine faith doesn't seek the world's approval Genuine faith is not characterized by anger. Genuine faith does not show favoritism. But today we come to the core principle at work in all tests. It's the operating principle out of which the test questions come. And here is that principle: Genuine faith works. This is a two week series on verses 14-26. Today we are going to focus on the principle in verses 14-18 and then next week will focus on the examples he gives in verses 19-26. So let's look at the principle here: Now every Christian who reads their Bible carefully, at some point in their life struggles with this text. Why? Because it appears on a surface reading to be in direct contraction to what Paul says about faith in Romans 3 and in Galatians 2. So keep in mind that James is saying faith without works is useless. In fact, he's going to summarize it here in verse 24. That's the summary point of this entire section. If you know anything about the reformation, you can almost hear Martin Luther and Zwingli and Calvin groaning right there. All the reformers would just be squirming in their chairs. All the reformers focused on Paul's articulation of justification which, in fact, is the exact opposite of James. So get James' articulation in your head. A person is justified by WORKS and not by faith alone. Now let's read Paul. Paul is in a section in Romans 3 where he is talking about the hopeless condition of mankind in their sin. He's saying we are all under sin. We are just sin machines. If you want to use works as a qualifier to enter heaven, we are all failures. None of us can be justified, can be made right with God on the basis of our works. Romans 3 If that wasn't clear enough he says it again in verse 28. And if that wasn't clear enough listen to how he says it in Galatians 2. In Galatians 2 Paul is talking about the danger of trying to make distinctions among ourselves based on our works. He's saying, “Listen, our works don't make us right with God. God makes us right with God.” Listen how he says it. Galatians 2 Now just to illustrate this in all it's brilliant 3D color, let's put Paul and James side by side, let's put them in the boxing ring and let em fight it out: So what's going on here. Is the Bible contradicting itself? If the Bible is contradicting itself, we all just need to go home because one of the most basic tenants of Christianity is that the Bible has internal consistency. There's an integrity to it. Well, let me put an end to the suspense. The Bible is not contradicting itself. Let's begin by saying, even within the book of James, there's plenty of evidence that James agrees with Paul and the reformers. Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone apart from any works of the law. James would agree with that. Both Paul and James were at the Jerusalem counsel in Acts 15 where they all agreed salvation is for all people apart from works of the law. Earlier in chapter 2:5 James talks about Christians as being heirs of the kingdom. Think about what that implies regarding salvation. What is the difference between wages and an inheritance? Wages are given because of work performed. Inheritances are given because of who you are. Wages are related to effort. Inheritance is related to DNA. Wages are conditional upon performance. Inheritance is certain. Wages are deposited piece by piece according to merit. Inheritance is already in the bank. These are massively different concepts. For James to say that Christians are heirs to the kingdom means we are not earning our salvation; we are heirs of salvation. There's no way James is saying, "You are heirs of the kingdom of God, now work to get your inheritance."James agrees with Paul. We are saved by grace. So why do Paul and James sound so different? Why do they sound like they are contradicting one another. The answer is simple. Paul is using the word justification differently than James. To illustrate this, let me ask you to interpret this sentence. Here's the sentence: What do I mean? It can mean one of two things. If I just got in trouble with the law, then it almost certain means, I'm going to a lawyer and he is going to give me some advice. But grammatically it has another possible meaning. Let's just paint a different context. Let's say I was a successful well-known, seasoned lawyer who had been in the industry for 40 years and I changed my focus from practicing to consulting. Now what does that sentence mean? I'm going to go consult a lawyer. It's literally the opposite meaning. Instead of going to receive advice, I'm going to go give advice. The word justification is similar in that it can have opposite meanings. James is using the word justified in a different way than Paul is using it. So let's start by explaining the two possible different meanings: The word justified, δικαιόω, can mean to be made right. So, given that definition, if you have a debt, you justify yourself, you make yourself right, by paying the debt. When you make that payment you have become justified because now the debt has a zero BALANCE. Think about how we use the word in reference to our word processors. When we JUSTIFY the margins in our documents we are balancing the left and right sides of the document. Justified is to make everything balanced. So that's one usage of the word. This is the way Paul is using the word. But the word justified has another possible meaning. It had another meaning then just as it has another meaning now. It can also mean, to prove yourself right? For example, I'm a tech nerd so I love clean energy. If you said to me, hey solar energy is bad for the environment, I'd say, "Can you justify that statement." How am I using the word justify there. I'm not saying, you're in debt and you need to balance the books. Rather, I'm saying, demonstrate that this statement is a true statement. Demonstrate that the claim is legitimate. I'm saying, prove to me that what you said is true. Give me evidence for your claim. That's exactly the difference between Paul and James. When Paul says we're justified by faith, he means we cannot BALANCE the debt on our own. We cannot be made right with God except through the merits of Jesus Christ and the works of Jesus Christ. We can't make ourselves right. It doesn't matter how much we work. Our works will never balance the books. The only way to balance the books is for God to credit us his righteousness. The credit, the balancing is an act of the mercy of God apart from our works. That's why he says, “by works of the law no one will be justified” James on the other hand is coming at it from the opposite perspective. You claim you've been justified apart from the works of the law. Great, demonstrate it. Prove to me that what you are saying is more than just words. Let me illustrate this way. Right now, it's winter and all the leaves are off the trees so it's hard to tell the variety. You come over to my house and you see these two trees in my back yard. And I make a claim, “This tree is an apple trees.” Paul and James would respond differently to that claim. Paul would say, I don't care what you say. What makes an apple tree an apple tree is DNA. It's genetics. No amount of spading the ground, fertilizing, watering will make an apple tree. No amount of talking. An apple tree has to be born of an apple seed. And an apple seed comes from God. God makes apple trees apart from the will of the apple tree or men. That's Paul. James would listen to that same claim, “This tree is an apple tree.” And he would, "I don't care what you say. How do I know those aren't just words. Prove it. Let me see the shape of the leaf. If it's an apple tree it will have a certain shape. If it's an apple tree there will be a certain type of flower when it blossoms and then you will see the fruit. Give me some evidence that your claim is true. That's James James and Paul looking at Justifications from opposite sides of same coin. Paul is talking about cause. What's caused you to become saved. James is talking about effect. If you have been saved, what effect will that have on your life. What effect does that salvation have on your living. Paul and James are concerned about different abuses. Paul says, “You think WORKS can get you into heaven. Ha! Your fooled.” James says, “You think WORDS can get you into heaven. Ha! Your fooled.” Paul is guarding against people who think they can TOIL their way into kingdom. James is guarding against people who think they can TALK their way into kingdom. When Paul says we're justified WITHOUT works, he means it's God's mercy that MAKES us right with God. When James says we're justify BY our works, he means it's our works DEOMONSTRATE God's work. Or as it has been famously articulated: I think you need quotes on the second faith in order to read it properly. So that's how to understand the text. The Application Now there's a tremendous amount of satisfaction that comes in understanding the concept here. It feels good to have intellectual resolve. But we need to make sure we don't miss the point. It is so important to not just understand how the test works but to actually take the test. It's literally the difference between understanding how an MRI machine works and getting an MRI. Let's not treat this like an academic exercise. James intends this test to land and confront us. He intends us to take the test and to have the test results come back. Don't give this test to other people. Give it to yourself. Here's how you take the test. There's three questions on the test. So in order to pass the test you just have to check yes to three questions. It's a very simple test. The test will answer this question: do I have saving faith? Historically, theologians have given saving faith three characteristics, and they've used three Latin words to describe these elements of saving faith. So the first question on the test is do you have notitia? Do you have the information of the gospel? The first “element” that saving faith entails is an intellectual understanding to the bare facts of the gospel. It's the raw fact. It's the data. It's the information. You have to know what the gospel is or you cannot be a Christian — you must know that Jesus, the eternal Son of God took on flesh and was born of the virgin Mary. He was born under the Law and was obedient to God and then died on the cross for our sins and rose again all in fulfillment of the Scriptures. You have to know who God is. You have to know the facts. Being a Christian is not less than that. But James wants us to go beyond the intellect. Let's get beyond the raw data. Now the way he illustrates the necessity of going beyond raw data is by giving us an example. It's just absolutely startling example. What is he saying here. It's not bad to know about God. You do well. But let me just remind you, it'a a lot more than knowledge. Be careful in being smug in your knowledge. Be careful in pointing to knowledge as the evidence that your faith is genuine. Knowledge is part of the equation but it's not all of the equation. Could a demon write a systematic theology? Yes. What would a demon score on a quiz in seminary about the attributes of God. He would score 100% Do you see the point? Knowledge of God is great. But you can have perfect knowledge of God and still be nothing more than a demon. Perfect knowledge of God has elevated you no higher than rank of demon. That might surprise you. But it's true. So what else do I need? How do I distinguish between true saving faith and the experience of demons? It must be related to something other than knowledge. Well there's a second aspect. Here's the second question on the test. Not only must there be an intellectual assent to the facts of the gospel, there must also be a conviction that these facts are true. When the facts land, an emotional response is created. There must be an emotional response. For example, I can tell you all the facts (information, the notitia) of the story of the Apollo missions and the landing on the moon. But you must believe that it is true. Some people have a knowledge of the facts of the lunar landing. But they believe the whole thing was a great big fabrication. They think it was all one big giant hoax and consequently they feel nothing. There's no assensus. But if you do believe it's true, if you watch the footage, you see the rocket taking off, you watch it land on the moon, it creates a feeling of awe. That's amazing that they did that. Saving faith both understands the gospel facts and believes that those facts are true. But you know what? You still haven't advanced beyond a demon. He says, “You believe God is one. Good! So do the demons. The demons believe and what? Shudder. There's assensus.” Belief is a shorthand way of saying you have both notita and assensus. You see a demon has notitia (knowledge). He has knowledge that God is one. And he has assensus (believes) - he believes that God is one. And because he believes there is an emotional response. He shudders. There's the emotional component. Believe me: a demon respects God. I think it's probably quite accurate to say that a demon believes that God is one more than you or I believe God is one. Demons have been to the absolute greatest seminary in the universe. They've been to heaven. They have seen God. They know more about God than Paul, James, Moses combined. They both know and believe. "Get all the knowledge you can about God. That's wonderful. Be as precise and accurate as possible. Terrific. Then believe that these things are true. Terrific. But those two things by themselves still don't qualify you to be anything more than a demon. You can be a demon and have that. So what is it. Your killing me. What separates demons from Christians? There's a third aspect. He's the third question on the test. It's the trust. It's a decision of the will to place my life under submission to what I know and believe. To return to the appollo rocket analogy. Faith is not just receiving the raw information that rockets made it to the moon. It's not just agreement that this event happened. It's also trust. It's saying, “I'll get on that rocket. I'll believe it to the point where I will put my life in that rocket.” Faith is not merely a matter of the intellect, nor of the intellect and the emotions combined; it is also a matter of the will. It's a determination of the soul to commit and entrust my life entirely to something. Without this act of the will, the object of belief - which in this case God - which remains outside of him. It cannot be part of him until he surrenders his will. God is able to help; he is willing to help. But if the sinner is unwilling to trust him, if he has no fiducia then God cannot help. Listen it is at this point where most ‘so called Christians' are deceived. This is why James is so big on works. Because the works is the evidence that you have fiducia. The works is the evidence that your faith is genuine. It's why he gives the example of helping the poor. How can you say, “I have genuine faith in God” when I'm not interested in what God tells me to be interested in. How can you say, “I've gone all in with God.” while not going all in with God? That's not faith. That's something else. Let's take the book of James and apply it to TESLA stock, “If you came up to James and said, I have faith that TESLA stock will tripple this year." James would look at you and say, "Really? That's great.” I've got one question for you: How much do you have invested? Well, Nothing. James would say: You have notitia. You have assensus. But you do not have fiducia. You don't have trust. If you had faith, your investment would demonstrate your faith. But you no investment; therefore, you have no faith. James wants to know, “Are you a true Christian like you think you are? Are you invested? Does your life demonstrate that you actually believe these things? Have you actually entrusted yourself and all that you are into the hands of the God of truth.” This is why faith and repentance are always related. Those who put their faith in Christ turn from their sins. Investing in TESLA is a decision to not invest in everything else. Boarding the rocket is choosing to not stay on earth. And TRUSTING in Jesus Christ is a decision to NOT trust in anything else this world has to offer. It's not trusting in money, it's not trusting in people's opinions, your ability, your talents, your status… Repentance is not faith and faith is not repentance. But the two are impossibly interconnected. The turn to God in saving faith causes true repentance of turning from sin. I think what James is really concerned about is just how scary possible it is to have notitia (knowledge) and (assensus) and not have the one key piece (fiducia). This happens at all levels of life. How many of you know that overeating is bad for you (notitia)? How many of you believe that overeating is bad for you (assensus)? How many of you still overeat? You lack the fiducia. You actually trust something else. No matter how unhealthy it is, I choose to submit to food, because I want what food gives me. Why would we do that? We are willfully ignorant of the consequences, in pursuit of our precious. We think that by stubbornly fighting, we can somehow alpha male our way through it. Oh it's scary possible, friend. It's scary possible to have information about something, agree with something but not ultimately submit to it. That's why James uses demons as his primary demonstration of this phenomena. Demons don't shake their fist at God. What do they do? They shudder! They run from him. They respect the greatness of God and therefore they are frightened. They know what he can do. And rather to submit to him, they move about in the shadows. Remember what the demons said to Jesus during his earthly ministry. Leave us alone. Depart from us Son of God. They know what he was capable of doing. This, my friend, is the greatest evidence that you who think you are a Christian, in fact are not a Christian at all. Is that how you live your life? Leave me alone God. Leave me to myself. Leave me to my own devices. I want to lurk here in the shadows. If that's true, then you don't have fudicia. You aren't any different than a demon. It's very possible for us to know God is great, to believe God is great and shudder. It's possible to be scared of punishment, and to even alter your behavior and become a very moral person, even an incredibly moral person, even an incredibly religious person. But all of your religion and all of your morality is nothing but shuddering. It's just religious fire insurance. I know there's a God but I don't want to submit to him. I'll do just enough to keep him happy, to keep him off my back. The Gospel and How to Receive it So what do you need to do? What is the one thing you need to do? You need entrust yourself to the God of the Universe. You need to go all in. That's the ticket. That's the key. How do you know if you have saving faith? It works. It evidences itself in the will being bent in a certain direction. Windows orphas, trials. all sorts of stuff. There's an evidence in your life that you are all in with Jesus. The point for us is that all three of these characteristics must be present in faith or otherwise it is not saving faith. Let's take a moment and pray and bend the will to God. Prayer of Submission

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.  He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4-7) The Spirit renews our hearts and moves us to faith, leads us into truth and helps us to pray, stands by us in our need, and makes our obedience fresh and vibrant. (OWBTG 29)   We may not be naturally inclined toward doing the right thing.  Some of us are.  But I suspect that many of us have our moments of angry outbursts, judgemental attitudes, and indulgences.  Here's the thing though: God saves us anyway.  Despite who and what we are, we are loved by God in Christ all the same.  Not because we deserve it, not because we have earned it with a bunch of righteous things we've done, but because of his great mercy, kindness, and love.  And now throughout the rest of our lives, the Holy Spirit is slowly and surely renewing us.  Like a waterfall pouring and pounding over the stones below, the Spirit is constantly flowing, moving, polishing, and washing us.  Just like with those stones at the bottom of the cataract though, it can take years and decades before the hard edges get smoothed off.  Sometimes that slow pace can be discouraging: shouldn't we be better people and Christians already by this point in our life? But despite how things might look, we are invited to always keep the end in view.  We have become heirs with Christ, heirs of hope and eternal life.  The work will one day be complete.  We will one day take our place in the kingdom of God as the renewed people we can only now imagine ourselves to be.  Hopefully that hope does more than give us the courage to endure the slow rate of growth we face now: hopefully it also propels us toward the good we seek.  That's Paul's invitation here in his letter to Titus.  But this is also the Spirit's work—to move us toward the good and to make “our obedience fresh and vibrant.” So, continue praying as the Spirit helps you today for this good work to see it's way through to completion!  Remember the breath prayer: “Holy Spirit, come.”  

Do you believe Jesus is enough? That's Paul's message and prayer for the Colossians. It seems simple enough, might even illicit a quick and easy “Amen,” from most listeners. But, Paul is concerned about competing voices within the church and the culture of the day, voices that threaten the idea that Jesus is enough! This question, and others, are important for us to wrestle with today. Prepare your hearts by reading Colossians 1:9-14.

Don't just talk the talk, walk the walk! That's Paul's message throughout chapters 4 and 5. This new "walk" is a lifestyle that comes with learning the will of the Lord. The Worthy Walk of those in the Church 4:1 - Walk in a manner worthy of the calling 4:17 - You must no longer walk as the Gentiles 5:1 - Walk in love, as Christ loved us 5:8 - Walk as children of light 5:15 - Look carefully then how you walk, not as the unwise but the wise

“I love you.” How many times have we mindlessly said that to a friend, a parent, a child, or a spouse? It can become mechanical, like putting on our seatbelt. We do it (or say it) out of habit, not from a new experience of affection. God's love for us is not mindless or mechanical. Of course he tells us that he loves us—in multiple places. But God also gives us something powerful. He demonstrates His love to us and lets us experience it supernaturally. That's Paul's point in Romans 5. Are you convinced of God's love for you? Want some moving assurance of that love? Bask in God's love with us this Sunday at GraceLife, as we continue our series Engage: A Journey Through Romans.

The Mariners are now eight games over .500 and only one and a half back in the wild card but those were some very close games again this weekend. Do they have a 23-8 record in one run games for a reason, or is it just a fluke? That's Paul's question of the day and we take your calls and texts on it. Then, Michael Bumpus joins the show to answer Paul's 5 biggest Seahawks questions heading into training camp. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How many more years can the Seahawks maintain a winning record? Many of the best QB's of all time have had multiple losing seasons. Does Russell Wilson's existence with the Seahawks guarantee a .500 or better season? That's Paul's question of the day. He takes your calls and texts on that and the Groz stops by the Sports Pit. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sermon Manuscript Speeches change the world. Think of Ronald Reagan next to the Berlin wall, “Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall” or Martin Luther King's “I have a dream” or Winston Church Hill's “never never never give up” And that's only the 20th century. There's Lincoln's inaugural address, or Cicero… the great orator of Rome, and of course Socrates in Athens. Well, we need to include Paul's address on that list. His sermon in Athens is one of those great world-changing speeches. It's been studied and studied. Books have been written. Blogs and podcasts have been named after it.And I would agree. It's masterful, penetrating , caring, compelling, and thoughtful. Really, it's a model for us in so many ways. Paul's approach, his sensitivity to his audience, his Gospel witness.If you are a believer in Christ, you will have opportunities in life to share what you believe with people who have vastly different views. Some may not believe in any god. Others may believe in a different god or gods. How should you approach those conversations? In what ways could you connect with them, and make them think, and challenge them to consider Christianity? What should be your methodology?That's what we'll focus on this morning - the pattern from Acts 17 for those kinds of conversations. In other words, the tactics for presenting Christianity to a person or audience with radically different beliefs.Given its significance, instead of preaching these verses in 1 sermon, we'll take two weeks. We'll begin, as I mentioned, with methodology. Looking at Paul's approach as he considered the idols in Athens – you can see that outline on the back of your bulletin. And for the second sermon, we'll apply Paul's method to a couple of idols in our culture today. Idols, by the way, are the things that we worship which replace worship of the true God. That second sermon will be 2 weeks out – June 20th. Next week for our one-year church plant anniversary, we'll be considering a different text.So here we are in Athens, Greece. Although it had been politically eclipsed by Rome at this time, Athens was still the cultural, philosophical, and religious hub of the entire Mediterranean region. It was a melting pot of people and beliefs. In the previous 6 centuries leading up to this moment… Athens had been conquered by the Spartans, then the Macedonians, and most recently the Romans. Each empire bringing different cultures including music and art… and different beliefs. • Many of the Athenians believed in the Greek gods and goddesses. • The city had a temple dedicated to Zeus and other gods. • You may have heard of the well know Acropolis – the huge rock outcrop in the middle of the city – about 500 ft tall. That's where the Parthenon sat – it was the massive temple to the goddess Athena – in fact, the Parthenon still partially stands today. And Paul himself would have seen it in his day. Not only culture and religion, Athen's history included Plato and Socrates, the great philosophers of their time. The identity of the people was wrapped up in all the gods and philosophies of the day. It's what they worshipped.Paul had never been to Athens before. When he arrived, he experienced all of this. He spent time walking the streets, seeing and hearing. He witnessed the different idols – these idols were wood and metal images of gods that the people worshiped. Besides his usual time in the Jewish synagogue, he also daily visited in the marketplace. Verse 17. He spoke with anyone who would talk to him. And what was Paul talking about? You guessed it. Verse 18 – Jesus and the resurrection. Well, no one had heard of Jesus and the resurrection because Paul was bringing the Gospel to Athens for the first time. So, of course, he drew interest from some of the local philosophers.Two groups are called out here. The Epicureans and Stoic philosophers. • The Epicureans didn't really believe in any gods or for that matter anything supernatural. They sought pleasure and believed pain could be endured. • The Stoics were vastly different – they believed in this oneness between humanity and the deities. Theirs was a reasoned religion which emphasized obedience and deemphasized emotion.So the Epicureans were different from the Stoics and both were very different from Christianity. It's no wonder that they called Paul a “babbler” because the ideas were so novel. That word “babbler” literally translated means “seed picker.”I have a little office space in the corner of our basement. It's a nice space because I have 2 window, one on either side of my desk. And when I'm down there studying and thinking, I'm often staring out one of the windows. And there's usually birds out there… they hop around and they peck at different things. Well, that's exactly what some of these people thought of Paul. To them, he was pecking at seemingly random religious and philosophical ideas. The irony is that they were actually the ones who spent their time seed picking – telling and hearing something new. Verse 21.Well because of their curiosity, Paul was invited to speak at the Areopagus – translated, that's Mars Hill. In times past, political counsels and courts met there. In these days, it was more of a place to hear about general matters of importance and philosophy. Located near the Acropolis, the Areopagus was a popular gathering place and Paul would have had quite an audience.Now, here's where I want to transition and unpack Paul's method. His apologetic method. That's a fancy way to say his reasoned approach - how he presented Christianity to this mix of religious and non-religious philosophers. It's very helpful. His sermon gives us some really good guidance1. Develop compassionate hearts (Acts 17:16-17)And the first point, which you'll see on the outline, comes from before Paul even presented his case. And it's this: Develop compassionate hearts.As soon as Paul arrived in Athens, his heart ached for the Athenians. Remember, he was by himself. Silas and Timothy had yet to arrive from Berea. It had been a long couple of months. A public beating in Philippi, further persecution in Thessalonica and Berea. Yet, he gets to Athens, and he didn't rest. He sees these idols all around him and a fire burned within him. That's the language from Jeremiah 20. “there is in my heart a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.”Look at verse 16. Paul's “spirit was provoked within him.” This is not anger, it's compassion. These people, made in God's image, as all people in the world are, do not know Christ. And he longs for them to know him. He goes out each day to present Christ.We need that heart desire for people to know Jesus. It comes from a heart that knows what the Scripture teaches…. that all mankind has fallen short of the glory of God and is doomed for judgment. That's part of Paul's message which we'll come back to.Arguing for Christ without a compassionate heart will come across stilted and detached. It doesn't convey the grace and hope of Jesus.I just read an article a few days ago about Francis Schaefer. Schaefer was one of the most compelling Christian philosophers of the 20th century. He wrote this about his philosophical interactions: "I need to remind myself constantly that this is not a game I am playing. If I begin to enjoy it as a kind of intellectual exercise, then I am cruel and can expect no real spiritual results.” He went on to write, "Merely to be abstract and cold is to show that I do not really believe this person to be created in God's image” Kids, it's like this. Let's say that you are talking to someone at school. And he or she says, “oh, you're one of those Jesus freaks.” In response, if you said, “well, your dumb if you don't believe in Jesus.” Just how do you think that is going to go over?! Not well! No instead, how about: “well, Christ is my redeemer and my Lord. I want you to believe in him, too, because it is life changing.” Remember, the hope in Christ that we present, is the same hope in Christ that we believed. His grace in our lives is the same grace that gives us hearts for those who don't know him.That's where Paul begins. A desire to see his hearers come to know the one true living God.2. Identify false gods and false hopes (Acts 17:22-23a) And second, identify false gods and false hopes. Here is where we dive into Paul's Mars Hill speech.Notice how he began. He connected with them. “I perceive that in every way you are very religious.” Verse 22. Paul had been listening and observing. He even highlighted something he saw while walking around Athens, “I found an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown God''” Paul was not just connecting with them. He was also entering into their belief systems. Remember, his audience believed different things. The Epicureans were agnostic – meaning they didn't think god was knowable if he even existed. So the “unknown god” altar highlighted their beliefs. And the Stoics? Well, they did believe in a god or gods, but to them he wasn't personal. So the “unknown god” altar also connected with them.What was Paul doing? He was identifying their false gods and false hopes. It wasn't in a way that was antagonistic or combative. No, and actually, Paul's compassionate heart came out all throughout his speech. He was saying, “I see that you believe this or that.” He entered in to their world and he identified a central belief that was in contrast with Christianity.Now, you may be thinking, “ok, but I can't do what Paul did. I don't know much about other philosophies and religions.” Well, you don't need to. This is where good listening is helpful. Good listening is critical, really. And you can and should start out by asking questions.There's a helpful and short book I read called Tactics. It's written by Greg Koukl. In it, he shows how to employ the use of questions. He gives a few helpful examples. One time he met someone with a necklace with some sort of religious symbol. He said to her something like “that's a pretty necklace, what does that mean?” He was able to hear from her what was important to her and what she believe. If you know someone, and you've heard them mention in the past what they believe or don't believe, you could ask, “would you explain a little more what you believe about [XYZ]?” Whatever that specific belief is. And then be sure to listen rather than think about what you plan to say next. Koukl includes a very insightful second question to ask. “What made you come to that conclusion?” That's a good one, isn't it? It requires someone to think about and explain why they believe something.You see, through that process, you would be able to identify their thinking and beliefs to respond to.3. Respond with truth about the true God and true hope (Acts 17:23b-28)And that brings us to point 3. Respond with truth about the true God and true hope. That's what Paul does next. The second half of verse 23. “What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.” And from there, he went right into the God of the Scriptures. We can know him. Who is he? He is the creator and sustainer of all things. The Lord of heaven and earth. He gave you life. He knows you. This true God is not detached from the world he made. No, rather he is sovereign over it… is working in it. He is near us (end of verse 27). He is known and he is knowable. Paul then continued his connection with his audience in verse 28. Both of those quotes come from philosophers of their day. And in both cases, there was a kernel of truth in them. And Paul employed them to make his case. “‘In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are indeed his offspring'" Paul was saying, “we are made in God's image. You and me.”Do you see how he's responding to their particular beliefs and unbelief? And he does so by presenting truth from what the Scriptures teach about the living God. This will be different to different audiences. When Paul is speaking with Jews, like in Berea where he had just come from, he reasoned from the Scriptures about the promises of God. And here, Paul next brings his hearers from their beliefs into what Christianity teaches.To be sure, Paul didn't try to first prove that God exists. Remember, the Epicureans didn't really believe that God existed, yet Paul skipped over trying to prove God exists. Why? Because Paul knew that everyone deep within actually believes in God. God's law is written on our hearts and he's stamped his image on us. So, it's there. To be sure, in our sin, we suppress that belief, but it doesn't take it away. Now, if you've taken a philosophy class in High School or maybe college, you may remember the different proofs for God's existence…• like the cosmological proof – the things around us couldn't happen by random chance. • Or the teleological proof – there must be purposefulness in nature. • Or the ontological argument - That than which nothing greater can be conceived.I'm not saying we should throw those proofs away. I think they testify to God's existence. Maybe we can say they are indirectly beneficial. But Paul's method doesn't include these proofs. No, rather he went right to the God of the Bible. He responded to their worldview with the Scripture's worldview. Remember what a worldview is from a few weeks ago – how we see or understand the world.God is not unknown. Rather he is the sovereign Lord and creator who made you. Respond with truth about the true God and true hope.4. Call to turn from false beliefs (Acts 17:29-30)Fourth: Call to turn from false beliefs. Notice in verse 29 Paul made a pivot. He had just responded to their beliefs, but now he tells them they need to change what they believe. Look at his language, “Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think.” “Ought” is a word that means “should.” They should not believe that God is “like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.” Verse 29. Those things, Paul said, are false idols which are conjured up in our minds. They are not true and you ought not to believe them. At the end of verse 30, he uses the word “repent.” That means to turn away from those beliefs…. to express regret in your heart over them…. to change what you think and believe.This is a difficult step. Especially so if you are non-confrontational. But telling someone they need to change what they believe is necessary. Yes, it will make someone uneasy, perhaps even angry. But really, it's not coming from you. No, Jesus said, “repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” And God gave us his commandments, which includes the second commandment: “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath… you shall not bow down to them or serve them.” Paul is relaying what the Bible teaches – the clear call to repent from unbelief.Let me make a quick side note. Verse 30 is one of those verses where there are different views over its meaning. One thing is agreed upon, though, that there's a progression from a prior time to a current time. Over time, God has revealed himself and his promises more and more. And now, at this time in Acts, Christ has come. Jesus had completed his earthy ministry. He is ascended to heaven… and the Holy Spirit continues his ministry on earth – bringing conviction and repentance. The time to repent is now – everyone – all people. That's Paul's message.In a couple of weeks, we'll spend more time on this point – turning from idols.5. Reveal the promise and judgement of the resurrected Christ (Acts 17:18, 31-34)That brings us to the fifth and final point: Reveal the promise and judgement of the resurrected Christ.I know that's a lot of words in that point: Reveal the promise and judgement of the resurrected Christ. Simply, Jesus needs to be presented. Being clear about the God of the Scriptures and the call to repent needs to include the work of Christ. Specifically, Paul hones in on the resurrection. It is the key. It's central to the Christian faith. Everything hinges on it. It makes clear who Jesus is and the future promise and judgment he will bring.It's not that Paul didn't speak about the cross. He did. You can't speak about Jesus' resurrection without speaking about his death. Remember, this was a summary of Paul's Mars Hill address. Acts chapter 2 indicated that the sermons written down in Acts are summaries.Here in Athens, Paul focused on the resurrection. We know from back in verse 18 but also here in verse 31. By emphasizing Jesus' resurrection, he connected Jesus' victory over sin to Jesus' future judgment of sin, including their sin of unbelief and idolatry. God's judgment will be perfectly righteous, verse 31, because God is righteous, Jesus is perfectly righteous.And that is a warning. Judgment is coming. God's judgment. And if you don't know Christ, his judgment will fall on you for your unbelief and idolatry. I know that sounds harsh, but let me say it this way. The Bible is clear about God's judgment for sin. If you're not a Christian… but you have a friend or family member that wants you to believe in Jesus – and is calling you to repent. It's because they love you. Because they believe in both the promised hope of Christ and the promised judgment of Christ. They want you to believe so that the judgment that the Bible speaks of is taken on by Christ for you. It's the resurrection that ensures both. Both the coming judgment and the future hope for eternity. Know the promise of the resurrection.Points 4 and 5 make it pretty clear that there's no neutrality with the Gospel. We see that in the result of Paul's message. Some mocked. Verse 32. It stirred in others a desire to know more. And verse 34, Several believed. We're given a couple of their names – “Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris” and some other unnamed people with them. Paul's words, brought to them the words of life through the resurrected Jesus.Conclusion• Develop compassionate hearts - loving those you are conversing with• Identify false gods and hopes - asking questions and listening• Respond with truth about the true God and true hope – jumping right to what the Scriptures teach about God and the world• Call to turn from false beliefs – the call to repent and believe.• And… reveal the promise and judgement of the resurrected Christ – warning of judgment but the sharing grace and love of Jesus.Paul's speech did change the world. God used it and continues to use it to call people to him.The next time that you have an opportunity to share your Christian faith, whether to an audience of 1 or 1001, Paul's method here in Acts 17 will guide you.Stay tuned for Mars Hill part 2. What would Paul say to us today?

0 (2s): Christmas every month. And if you're getting in the holiday spirit, welcome to Harvest Church my name is Cheryl and I'm so glad you're here. Yeah. Feel free to stand if you're able and during Us hello to everyone on campus and those watching at home, we're so glad that you are worshiping with us together this morning. Let's just take some time to go into his presence and prayer and just welcome him. And we do welcome you today. As we make room in our hearts and help us to sit still all of the noise in our hearts. 0 (42s): So we can hear your voice this morning. We want to hear from you. Jesus. We want to learn from you want to come in and do your prisons. There's a boldness in our hearts, Thanksgiving, the, this morning, you know that sometimes we think we have to like have ourselves all like cleaned up and perfect to come into God's presence. But I was reminded that he came as a baby into a stinky manger, surrounded by animals and a noisy chaotic barn. 0 (1m 22s): And that's our savior. He comes into the mess into the chaos and his presence is here. Love is available for you in the midst of whatever's going on in your heart and life right now. And so father, we just say, come and have your way in this place. We've come to adore you. Praise the Lord. 0 (1m 48s): 1 (11m 56s): . 1 (12m 43s): 2 (16m 52s): Praise you this morning. It gives us great joy to worship you by your Holy spirit. Thank you Lord, for giving us your gift, give to the Holy spirit. We pray that you would fill us, continue to lead us thankful for this place to gather place, to be safe. 2 (17m 34s): And in the shadow of your wings, worship you in jesus' name. Amen. 1 (17m 45s): Thank you 2 (17m 45s): Guys for singing coming this morning. Let's all take a little 3 (17m 50s): Time to love one another fellowship with one another. We'll you're back here with announcements, the pinnacle of the day, just momentarily. 4 (18m 3s): All right. Good morning. Go ahead and find a seat. That'd be great. All right. One a welcome, everyone. Those of you that are gathered in the sanctuary in the loft, in the patio, I want to welcome everyone. That's viewing online as well, and also want to let you know, we do have a new venue that we've just opened up recently, and it's a mask only venue, and it's in the parsonage. So if, if you, or you know, someone that's inclined to you, you still want to be around other people that are wearing masks and things. 4 (18m 43s): You can venture up to the parsonage. And that's what that is dedicated for up there. And so again, if, if it's your first time to Harvest, Church, we're really happy you're here today. Maybe you've been visiting a few times. If you make your way up to the information center, we have a gift for you. So go ahead and head up there, introduce yourself. And then also, if you would like you can fill out a communication card. We want to be really diligent about communicating with everyone, all the things that are going on, changes that are happening. We sent out a weekly email update to make sure that everybody knows exactly what's happening here at Harvest Church and I'm okay. I got a F did you hear what Jim folk had said a moment ago about the announcements being the pinnacle of the, of the service? 4 (19m 26s): Did you guys catch that? That's true. And one of the announcements that I have for you is there's a men's breakfast that's planned. So men would love to have you show up this next Saturday. So Saturday the 12th show up here at Church and eight o'clock. We're going to gather in the loft, which is the building right behind us here. We're going to have breakfast together. We're going to have just a fun time of fellowship there's you don't need to sign up. You don't need to bring any money. How good is that? Just show up and be hungry. And we're going to have a great time of fellowship with the men. So with that, there's a men's retreat. That's also planned. The men's retreat is scheduled for January 8th and ninth, and it's going to be held up at the granite Ridge camp. 4 (20m 9s): It's up in Creston. So just North of us a little bit, you need to get signed up though. So the deadline to sign up for the men's retreat is what is it? December 15th. Okay, there you got it. December 15th is the deadline. So guys would encourage you to get signed up for the men's retreat. You can sign up at the info center, or you can go on our Church app, go online, or you can go directly to granite Ridge camp ground, and you can sign up that way as well. So guys would love to have him be a part of that. So every year in the village, there's a parade and there's this whole big hoopla thing that happens Christmas. It's not happening tonight because of the shutdown and stuff. 4 (20m 52s): So one of the things that happens during, during the parade and, and those events typically is the tree. The tree in front of the sanctuary is the village Christmas tree. And so we're still going to have a little bit of a get together tonight, a ceremony, if you want to call it that, where we're going to, here's what we're going to do. We are going to have some caroling. We're going to have a nativity reading, and we're going to have the lighting of the Christmas tree right up front here. It's going to be at six o'clock tonight. Love to have you bring the whole family. It's going to be outside. So it's probably going to be cold. So dress warmly, guaranteed. Not to snow though. I will let you know about that. So come on out tonight, it would be really great to have the whole family gathered together. 4 (21m 32s): So for Christmas, we are collecting some donations for some food baskets that we're putting together through our pantry ministry. So if you would like to donate some items, you can go up to the info center and they'll let you know what items we're going to be collecting. Or if you get our weekly email, the list is in there as well. And you can bring the items and they're due. When are they do? They are due next Sunday, which is December 13th. So if you'd like be a part of that, you can bring them by the office as well. And we'll go ahead and collect those. We've been announcing that we're doing a coat drive. In addition, the coat drive actually has been canceled because of the event that they were going to do to hand, hand the coats out to the needy in our community. 4 (22m 16s): It's been canceled. So if you have some codes that you've been collecting, you could go ahead and take them to the thrift store. Just give them to somebody on your own. That'd be fine. So the last thing I want to share with you, probably the most important of all there is a new year's Eve young professionals, pajama party and game night. Okay. So I asked this question to one of the planners. What is the age group for a young professional? So they told me 20 to 40. All right. Pretty pretty broad age. This again, this is a 5 (22m 50s): New year's Eve. Yup. 4 (22m 52s): Professionals, pajama party, and game night, you guys need to get signed up and it's going to be from six to nine is can mean the loft it's going to have a taco truck is going to be catered with a taco truck. So there is a price involved it's 10 bucks. And if you want to sign up, you can do it on the app, go online and, and, and all that good stuff. But one last thing, I was cleaning out one of my closets in my house this week, and I found my son's dinosaur one Z say a head to toe one Z pajama suit. So I announced it at first service as well. So if you want the dinosaur one Z, you gotta let me know. It's it's, it's, it's a F it's free to the first person who wants the onesy, but okay. 4 (23m 36s): You're, you're older than 40. I'm sorry, sir. Okay. 5 (23m 42s): I will not 4 (23m 43s): Be wearing the dinosaur suit, but thank you for asking. All right. So with that, I'm going to invite Dave to come up and he's going to be in first Thessalonians chapter two. So if you want to go ahead and turn in your Bible to first Thessalonians chapter two, that'd be great. Let's welcome, Dave. 6 (23m 58s): 7 (24m 9s): There we go. You know, and at times like this, that we're facing now, it's, it's easy to feel afflicted, you know, it's with COVID and shutdowns and, and being told that we shouldn't be gathering together and, and that we shouldn't be connecting with each other and that, and it just, and the fact that it's been going on for nine months now just kind of feels oppressing. And, and, but yet this is nothing like what the Church and Tesla Annika felt that we're Paul is writing to hear. 7 (24m 49s): And, and this time I'm going to cover quite a bit of ground today, because most of what this is, is narrative. I'm starting with the chapter two verse 17, and I'm going to preach all the way through chapters three. And I hope to be done by three o'clock. But the, but the whole thing in here is looking at it being it's mostly narrative, but there's still some, some great stuff in here. Paul Paul is very personal in this letter, if you read it. And there is, there's just a ton of narrative. There's some teaching, but it's mostly, he S he's writing words of comfort. 7 (25m 30s): He's writing words of, of hope. He's writing words, just telling him how he's feeling and how he's hoping they're doing. Whereas Romans is very theological. And first Corinthians and Galatians are very much dealing with problems and the church. This is so personal. And we really see a lot in here about Paul and about the Thessaloniki. And Church Paul is he's got deep affection for the people there. And, and, and, and Paul's affection for them is, is just mirroring. God's love for them. And, but in the midst of this, what he's so concerned about, and this is what persecution is, what Afflictions, they might be enduring. 7 (26m 17s): The things that they're experiencing as a followers of Jesus in a very, very intolerant situation. A very, very matter of fact, antagonistic situation. If you remember, Paul was driven out of Fessel, Anika, they, they had, when they couldn't find him, they pulled somebody else who was in the Church out and they, they beat him up and they took him before the, and made them pay a huge bail to get out and all of this while they investigated. And, and the Church said, DePaul, better scoop need to get out. And so they left, but so we see Paul's affection. 7 (26m 59s): We see their affliction, which we all face. We face the same kinds of Afflictions today. And, but through that, we see God's Affirmation that we are loved. We are cared for even when things are hard. And We, we might ask the question, where is God, when we're going through this, and he's right there with you, and he loves you and nothing can separate you from his love. So I'm going to break this passage up into three parts. The first part is going to be starting with a, in chapter two. And I'm just reading the starting at verse 17 and reading through the end of the chapter, please stand let's let's pray before we get started with this. 7 (27m 48s): And we'll go from there, Laura, God, I thank you so much that you are God, that you are the Lord of all that you love, the creation that you have made, and you especially love mankind 6 (28m 8s): Because 7 (28m 8s): You made us in your image and likeness. You set us up to be the caretakers of what you have made the stewards of, of your kingdom, of your creation, the stewards of all that you have set apart that we might have dominion, and then we spit in your eye. So God today we come to you as broken. We come to you as those who don't deserve to receive your love, but nonetheless are loved through Jesus Christ. 7 (28m 52s): Come speak to our hearts today, Lord, come speak and, and, and we desire Lord God, to be transformed by your word at living and active word that is sharper than any two-edged sword to divide soul and spirit joints and marrow. And to reveal the intentions of our hearts 6 (29m 18s): Come 7 (29m 19s): Revealed the intentions of our hearts today, Lord, and shape us more into the image of Jesus. God use me as your vessel here to speak your truth. And I pray Jesus, that you would have your way with what is spoken here and with what received here. And I know from all the years, I've preached that there are so many who hear something that I didn't say because you were speaking. So say to our hearts, what it is that you know, We to here, fill us with your spirit and the joy that comes from knowing we are loved in your name. 7 (30m 7s): We pray. Amen. And amen. So today I'm calling this a CA I say, I always used to just give one word titles are very, you know, very brief phrase, but Steve does these long ones. So, so I got to come up with something has lots of words in it, but that really highlights what it is we're talking about here. And, and so today's sermon, I'm calling God's Affection Overcomes Our Afflictions and Gives Us Affirmation That we are His God's affection. Overcomes Our Afflictions and Gives Us Affirmation that we are His. So peer, we see this, this first piece, this Affection of that Paul has for the Thessaloniki sins that is mirroring God's love. 7 (30m 55s): So I'm going to read verses 17 through 20 here of chapter two. This is God's word. Since we were torn away from you brothers for a short time in person, not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face, because we wanted to come to you. I Paul, again and again, but Satan hindered us for what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus. It is coming. Is it not you for you are our glory and joy. 7 (31m 35s): It's talking to you folks. Paul is writing this, but the Holy spirit is speaking to you. You remember from acts 17. As I mentioned before, Paul was, was driven out of vessel, Anika by jealous and, and wicked men who were threatened by the message of the gospel and jealous of the following that Paul was getting, they were the, wanted to be the arbiters of the truth. They wanted to be the ones who determined what was right and what was wrong. And then those who were idolaters were just livid and, and trying to drive them away because they were cutting into their profits. 7 (32m 17s): But this is what he was referring to. And he said he was torn away from them. It was like a That in the Greek. It literally means T he was orphaned from them. Just like if a conquering force would come in and they would rip the children out of the parent's arms and cause those children to become orphans, because then the parents would just sense this great loss. And the children would be who was whose, where are my parents what's going on with them? Or they might even see them cut down in front of them. And so the children automatically become orphans than hauled off into slavery. This is what Paul was feeling. I feel as if I've been orphaned from you, I am so cut off. 7 (32m 58s): I'm so taken away from you. And he feels that this, this deep love that he has for them, this deep concern that he has for them is just tearing it as hard, because he's concerned about what they're facing. This is Paul, the Pharisee of farracies, as he says, in his pedigree and one of the other epistles. And, you know, as to the law, I was blameless. I was, I sat at the feet of Gamaliel. I was the one, he was the greatest teacher and to sit at his feet was to be the greatest pupil. This is Paul, he's the Hebrew of Hebrews and lover of everything, Hebrew and hater of everything Gentile until God got ahold of him and God transformed his heart, that he might show his love through Paul, to those that around him. 7 (33m 51s): And he had this special affection for the Fessel onions. There is Are next to His except the message of his gospel and God's demonstration of its power. Through Paul, they caused, they caused him to love them with a deep and abiding love through Paul came. He had come through Apollonia and Hierapolis I think is the town from Philippi had been run out of Philippi, went through two towns to get to festival. And nothing happened in those two towns. And it wasn't like he just was passing through. I'm sure everywhere, every place he went, Paul tried to share the gospel, but there was nothing there, nothing recorded about what, what happened in those cities. 7 (34m 37s): But when he got to Fessel and ICA, he went and he reasoned in the synagogue and he reasoned there and people were being transformed. People were coming to faith in Jesus. People were receiving the gospel with their whole heart, and it was started taking effect until the point that people got jealous, their religious folks got jealous. And so all of this stuff started going on and, and all this persecution and, and Paul so loved them that he said, you are my glory and my joy, because I'm going to present. You say, these are the ones you gave me. God, isn't a great, they stayed strong. 7 (35m 17s): Isn't it great. They loved you. Isn't it great. They just hold fast to Jesus. Isn't this super. And thank you that I got to be part of their coming to faith in you. That's Paul's love for them. And it's the same Affection God has for you as his dearly beloved child. See, when he removed you from the kingdom of darkness and adapted, you adapted you to be his own. He did. So because he loves you. If he does and says he chose you from before the foundation of the war, 6 (35m 59s): Isn't that amazing. 7 (36m 5s): And he does. So because he loves you and wants you to know that he loves you. You see the, the Affection here. We think about God's unconditional love. God's love. God's so loved the world and this overarching love. But sometimes that can feel kind of distant. Sometimes that can feel like we're really, God loves us, but he's kind of out there, but there's a real affection here. Something that that's so close and that love that you have for your children. You get that little baby and hold him in your arms for the first time. 7 (36m 44s): When, when, gosh, I remember that when our girls were born, kind of, cause I'm getting old, but I do remember much more recently when our grandsons were born. And when our first grandson was born, Cyrus is 13. And we met him when he was about 45 minutes old. And, and I held him and I just looked at this little one that I had not seen or ever met before anticipated is coming, but, but just had never seen him. And I had so much love for this little one that I just put my eyes on for the first time. 7 (37m 25s): And what was really great about that is I had none of the responsibility for him, but, but I had this little one that I just so deeply loved. And that's the way Paul felt about the Thessaloniki as they were his children in the Lord. And they, he loved them deeply and was so concerned about all that we're going through. See God took you out of that kingdom of darkness. He wants you to know that you are loved. And Paul writes in Romans, Romans eight, 15, he says for you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you've received the spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry Abba father, he says, God is, is our loving father who loves to pick us up. 7 (38m 17s): And dandle, Us on his knees and, and hold us clothes. That's the affection that we're seeing here. And he says, you're not slave subject to God's whim. You're not those who are forced to do things outside of your will, but he loves you so that you want to love him back. You want to do what he wants. He wraps you in his arms of loving care and his passion for you is 8 (38m 44s): Deep. You know, even 7 (38m 47s): To Israel, the prophet, Jeremiah spoke and remember Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, Jeremiah didn't have a whole lot of good stuff to say about God's people other than what could be if they would repent. But he preached to them a lot about just how they are falling away, how they're neglecting, God how they are turning their backs on him and following after idols. But it's what does he say to them? God speaks to Jeremiah in Jeremiah 31, three and says, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore, I have continued my faithfulness to you. 7 (39m 27s): See, he still loves us. Even when we mess up, he still is faithful to us, even when we are desperately in need of discipline. 8 (39m 37s): And he does 7 (39m 37s): Discipline us if he loved, because we are 8 (39m 40s): Loved. See, 7 (39m 42s): Paul reminds them that even though they're physically separated, his heart will never leave them 8 (39m 49s): Because he loves them. So his heart 7 (39m 52s): We'll never leave the Fest Slovenians and neither physical distance nor Satan's hindrances. He's remember, he says, Satan hindered me from coming to you can, they CA, nothing can keep Paul from loving them and desiring their good and their wellbeing. 8 (40m 9s): That's that's 7 (40m 10s): What Paul is so concerned about that they would, 8 (40m 13s): That they would find 7 (40m 16s): Good of life. They would find the best of life or not. And I'm not talking about stuff and, you know, comfort and that sort of thing. Talking about their relationship with Jesus, their relationship with knowing him and standing with him and knowing that we're going to spend eternity with him. 8 (40m 35s): Sorry. 7 (40m 35s): Note here about Satan's hindrances. This is a little excursus we're going to set over to this side. You can put it in your hip pocket. We could probably spend several weeks talking about Satan's hindrances, but just, I want you to know, and I want you to hold onto this. 8 (40m 51s): Satan 7 (40m 52s): Can only hinder us with God's permission. 8 (40m 57s): We tend 7 (40m 57s): To give him far more power than he deserves. It is not two equal forces fighting one another. This isn't yin and yang. This isn't, you know, one pit it against the other and hopes that the scales are gonna fall on God's side. 8 (41m 15s): Okay? No, 7 (41m 18s): God is in control and Satan can do nothing that is not allowed by God. 8 (41m 26s): And if he allows it, it's so 7 (41m 29s): Holy to accomplish his divine purpose and his divine plan in your life and in his kingdom. And it's as true today as it was in the first century and has been from the beginning, remember Jobe, Satan couldn't do anything to job that God didn't allow. And he said, you can go this far and no farther and Satan, didn't not because he's obedient, but because that's all he can do Is Martin Luther. The great reformer once said after all he is God's devil. And so Satan's hindrance of Paul here was allowed by God for the Thessaloniki and Christians ultimate good. 7 (42m 15s): And for Paul's good. And his hindrance is hindrances towards us is for our good, 6 (42m 25s): Remember 7 (42m 26s): All things work together for good, for those who love God and are called according to their purposes. That's why in everything you can give. Thanks because God is using everything for your advancement and just the same way he was doing for the Fessel Aloni church here. And Paul was busy being mother hen. I'm so worried about you. I don't want you to fail. I don't want you to fall. See Afflictions can't diminish. God's love for us. His his deep abiding affection. It cannot eliminate it. Can't delete it. Paul says this in again in Romans chapter eight, this, this passage is so familiar to all of us, but think about it in the context that when we face hardships, this is His, God what God does. 7 (43m 19s): What shall we say then to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all. How will he not also with him graciously give us all things who shall bring any charge against God's elect it's God who justifies, who is to condemn Christ. Jesus is the one who died more than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us, who shall separate us from the love of Christ, shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword as it is written for your sake, we are being killed all day long, were regarded as sheep to be slaughtered for God's sake because it's accomplishing his purpose. 7 (44m 9s): Knowing all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us for, I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come nor powers nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord, hallelujah. Those Afflictions come to make us stronger. So the next thing we need to look at is the Afflictions of the Thessaloniki and Church as they pertain to our lives today. So let's look then, and now at chapter three, verse one, we're going to read the first five verses. 7 (44m 49s): Therefore, when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind it, Athens alone. And we sent Timothy our brother and God's coworker in the gospel of Christ to establish and exhort you and your faith that no one be moved by these Afflictions for you yourself. Know that we're destined for this for when we were with you. We kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction just as it has come to pass and justice. You know, for this reason when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith for fear that somehow the tempter attempted you and our labor would be in vain. Paul says, I know what you're going through because it's the same thing. 7 (45m 31s): I was going. 6 (45m 31s): 7 (45m 39s): Bullying violence, persecution of all kinds. And Paul wanted to make sure that none of these new believers were moved is the word he uses here and moved by these affections. And you know, when you can imagine moved to, you know, taken off of, off of base and knocked off a center, moved sideways, move backwards or forwards or up or down, but somehow or another, not standing firm. And this word moved really kind of has three levels to it in the Greek. And first, the first level is kind of be seduced to compromise, seduced, to compromise your beliefs. 7 (46m 19s): seduced to step away and may be not commit so much only commit this much instead of everything, Just to refer to it as having just enough, Jesus got just enough Jesus to be saved. That's all I need. That's all I'm going to worry about. And then I'm going to live, just live in my life. I think one way we really see that happening in the church today in America is we're seduced to think that, 6 (46m 59s): Well, 7 (46m 59s): We can go to church when we can get there. And I always joke about it and say, unless we get a better offer, but it's, it's not that as much as this world has us so busy and so concerned about other things and creature comforts and schedules and all that kind of thing that we kind of think that, well, you know, we can't make it this week, cause this has come up, but Church will always be there. It'll be there next week, this to the point where in our culture today and evangelical Christianity, the pillars of the faith make it the Church twice a month, 15 years ago, it was 60% of the time. 7 (47m 44s): It's down to less than 50% of the time now. And we're seduced into thinking, well, that's okay. The second level of that is where to be per perturbed or agitated into confusion. We start, you know, darts start coming in and saying, well, I was telling selling, did God really say, is this really true? Or can things like the, I CA, I can't remember his first name Dawkins. He's a famous atheist. Is it Richard Dawkins? I was thinking Richard Dawkins was, you know, a family feud, but state, well there's Stephen Hawking, but then there's somebody Richard Dawkins Are yeah. 7 (48m 33s): Well, whatever, whoever he is, this famous atheist who I can't remember, his name tries to yeah. Tries to tell us that faith is foolishness that trusting in God is believing in the fairytales. You know, and that's, that's a, that's a pretty good job. And then, you know, lays out all of what he calls evidence. And it gets to the point where we can kind of say, Oh, you know, and we get agitated. And it says, well, I know the scripture says this, but all the, the evidence here seems to be pointing towards that and what am I going to do with this? 7 (49m 15s): And it shakes us. And then the third level of this is literally, it means to be the way it was described in my lexicon is to be wrought upon, which means to be put in the fire and hammered on an Advil to reshape us into something different. And I think that's kind of what you see. You go to places like China and North Korea, where they send you to reeducation camps. If you become a Christian 8 (49m 40s): And shaped into something else. 7 (49m 44s): So you, because of Paul's affection for them, he was deeply concerned that the persecution they would face would be driving them away from their faith and that they would have walked away due to incessant opposition. You know, at time where you just say, I'm just not going to put up with this anymore. Heck with it and leave it behind. And I'm tired of this hard road Lynn and I will often say to each other, and boy, I just hate that. I have to take the high road all the time. And I just want to take the low road for once. You know? And, but no, you get tired of that. And it would be so easy to walk away, but Paul had warned them that they would be facing this kind of thing. 7 (50m 30s): Verse three of this passage, this is for you yourselves know that we are destined for this. It's going to happen. This is not the kind of verse that you have printed on a magnet and put on your refrigerator. This promise, no, it's, we're destined for this. When we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction just as it has come to pass. And just as you know, See persecution of the church is four told in the new Testament, Jesus himself, and in John chapter 15, you know, they're on their way to the, the garden of gets Semini. They've left the upper room. They're on the way to the gardener gets Semini where Jesus is going to pray and then be betrayed. 7 (51m 14s): And Jesus says to them, if the world hates, you know, that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own, but because you're not of the world, but I chose you out of the world. Therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you? A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute 6 (51m 39s): You 7 (51m 42s): Again. Another verse we don't put on the refrigerator at home, You know, we've been so blessed to live in a country where we're free to follow Jesus and public who publicly worship. That's a great blessing. Unfortunately, that blessing as becomes a means of weakening the resolve for orthodoxy among those who followed Jesus. Grace has become easy. Grace has become cheap. 6 (52m 19s): Okay? 7 (52m 19s): I wish I had taken up the time to look at the quote of the definition of cheap grace that Dietrich Bonhoeffer Bonhoeffer gave in one of his books where he talks about, you know, it's, it's the crown without a cross it's Jesus without repentance. It's, it's all of these things because, and we get at that and then we have no foundation and no strength to stand. I would say in modern day, American culture, we've been moved by That seductive pers persecution and affliction we faced. 7 (52m 59s): And we're starting to get some of those jabs coming in, but it's not, we're not being on the put on the Advil yet. And we might be, 6 (53m 12s): Yeah, 7 (53m 12s): We don't want that to happen. Folks. If we want to see our country turnaround, if we want to see people changed by God, we want to see revival come in. Then we have to go with what God spoke to Solomon. When he was dedicating the temple. If my people who are called by my name, humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. You know, we forget about the turning from our wicked ways part. We like to leave that one out, humble, humble myself. 7 (53m 53s): And while maybe I'll pray. How's that I'll pray and seek God's face. I just love being with Jesus. Don't tell me anything about sin. Don't tell me anything about repentance. Don't say anything about humbling myself, but God I'm praying. So fix it. No, it's it's it's it's that recognition that we don't deserve. God's love. We don't deserve God's ability to save, but acknowledging the love that he has 2 (54m 27s): For us, 7 (54m 29s): You might still face persecution. Even if we do this, even if we follow that admonition from God, but you'll receive an affirmation that you are 2 (54m 43s): Loved, 7 (54m 45s): That God will care for you, that God will sustain you. That God will uphold you. That God will give you the strength to face, whatever it is that comes your way, he will give you the grace that is necessary to face the trials and tribulations. Even to the point of martyrdom, he will give you the grace for that. If you have to face it, he will give you the strength. In the moment. God told Israel when they were coming through the desert desert as your day. So shall your strength be whatever it is you have to face. God will give you the strength for it. 7 (55m 26s): And remember that these Afflictions are actually beneficial to your faith because they help us to appreciate and comprehend the truth of God's word more fully. Ken Martin Luther said the devil and temptations also do give occasion unto us somewhat to learn and understand the scriptures by experience and practice without trials and temptations. We should never understand anything thereof. No, not. Although we diligently read and heard the same, because when you experience those difficulties, when you experience those hardships, when you experience persecution, when you experience sickness, when you experienced trials, when you experience the bad things that can come from the world at you, it opens the door to the scriptures to appreciate God's promises. 7 (56m 22s): It opens doors to the scriptures. So I can S I can look at that and say, Oh God, yes. Now I understand what this is, and I'm going to hold onto you. I'm going to hold fast to you. I'm going to stick with you and God. I know I can't do that in my own strength. Give me the power of your Holy spirit. Let that be enlivened. Inmate. Let it be quickened in my heart that I might stand with you, that I might hold fast to you. That I might remain unchanged and be faithful, no matter what it is that I face. See. So as we live our lives and the promise of God's affection, that he shows toward us and the certainty that we will face affliction in this life. 7 (57m 13s): And if, for no other reason that we live in a fallen and sinful world, It's hold fast to the Affirmation of God. That he's pleased with us when we hold fast to him and, and know that he, 8 (57m 34s): He keeps us as we stick with him. 7 (57m 41s): So let's look at this last section here 8 (57m 45s): Told you 7 (57m 45s): I'd be done by three. 8 (57m 49s): This is brief. Okay. 7 (57m 51s): But now that Timothy has come to us from you and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us. As we long to see you for this reason brothers and all our distress and affliction, we have been comforted about you through your faith for now. We live, if you are standing fast and God Paul felt as if he was dying, because he wasn't sure about 8 (58m 21s): Awesome. 7 (58m 25s): What Thanksgiving can we return to God for you for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, as we pray most earnestly night and day, that we may see you face to face and supply. What is lacking in your faith. Now may Are God and father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. And may the Lord make you increase and abound and love for one another. And for all, as we do for you so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before Are God and father at the coming of our Lord Jesus, with all his saints, Paul's almost giddy because they're standing firm. 7 (59m 8s): He felt like there was so much left for him to teach them when he, when he had to leave, but they're standing firm and the faith that they've had, and he had sent Timothy back and they had preached more to them and they saw great 8 (59m 24s): Results 7 (59m 25s): On the part of the festival Ionians to, to stand firm in their faith. And so Paul's joy, overflows, and even more love for them. He wants to go back and see them again. He wants that all the more to be with them and knowing that they could have come to hate him because of the message that they gave him and that he gave them, I should say. And the persecution that followed that transforming method message, they could have come to despise Paul, that look what he brought on Us but no, they love it 8 (59m 57s): Of Paul, because look what he gave to us 7 (1h 0m 2s): Brought the message of the gospel. He brought the message of hope in Christ Jesus, and they held fast to the gospel, just like the 12 disciples did in John six, when the rest of the crowds deserted him, remember in John six, Jesus is talking about, if you want to, any part in me, you have to eat my flesh. You have to drink my blood and to the Jews, that was an abomination. And they left. This is a hard saying, and they left and it says, starting in verse 66, after this, many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the 12, do you want to go away as well? 7 (1h 0m 44s): And Simon, Peter answered him Lord to whom 8 (1h 0m 47s): Shall we go? You have the word 7 (1h 0m 50s): Words of eternal life. And we have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy one. 8 (1h 0m 56s): God 7 (1h 0m 59s): I see Paul bringing the message of the gospel, the message of Jesus Christ gave the Thessalonians the very words of eternal life. Every time you share the gospel with someone, you're giving them the very words of eternal life. And this is the joy that we bring to God. When we stand in the face of persecution, when we continually draw our strength for him to withstand Satan's on the slot, 8 (1h 1m 27s): Whether 7 (1h 1m 27s): It's subtle or an obvious jab or a full-out frontal assault, God affirms his deep love for us. 8 (1h 1m 35s): Always, always. Yeah. 7 (1h 1m 39s): Whether the conditions of our lives are smooth sailing or in the middle of a hurricane, 8 (1h 1m 46s): God is 7 (1h 1m 47s): Still with us affirming his love and his promise that he'll never leave us or forsake us stands most strongly when we're clinging to him in the midst of our Afflictions, 8 (1h 1m 60s): He even, 7 (1h 2m 0s): And pronounces a blessing on us in the midst of their trials. Look at the verses 11 through 13 here, once again, now my Are God and father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you one so that Paul can come in and share with them. And they, because he loves them and wants to see them face to face. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before Are God and father at the coming of our Lord Jesus, with all his saints, see God will cause us to be into increase and abound and love for him for Are brothers and sisters in the church for our community. 7 (1h 2m 43s): And even for the world that brings our Afflictions upon us. God will cause us to love him. And he'll establish our hearts blameless in a holiness before him keeping us steadfast to either the end of our lives or until Christ returns. Whichever happens first, You have the assurance that God has genuine affection towards you today. 8 (1h 3m 13s): Are you walking with Jesus? 7 (1h 3m 16s): If you Are, he does have genuine affection for you. He loves you and loves to be with you and loves to fellowship with you. If you don't know Jesus, 8 (1h 3m 31s): He's as close as the mention of his name. He's right here. 7 (1h 3m 37s): Say, Jesus. I want to know you. I don't know. I want to know what this assurance of your love is. I want to know that you have affection for me. And even when I go through difficult times and affliction, you give me an affirmation that I am yours. That's what's available to you in Christ. Jesus. You come to him and say, Lord, I know I'm a sinner. And, and I can't do this on my own. 8 (1h 3m 58s): I need you. That's what's set before you right now. 7 (1h 4m 5s): God does have affection toward you. And if you're facing difficulties and hardships and trials and persecution of any kind, even so he will never stop loving you. If you're saying right now, where is God? He's right there. Because if he wasn't with you right now, you think you're going through difficulty. Now, if God wasn't with you, I can't even begin to 8 (1h 4m 31s): Imagine 7 (1h 4m 36s): What are the Afflictions that you're facing at the moment? Is it That clever seduction? Did God really say, is it kind of an obvious jab? You're getting poked. Your faith is getting poked. Your faith is getting challenged. Are you on the Advil? Somebody trying to reshape you and take you away from being shaped like Jesus, 8 (1h 5m 5s): God still with you. Nonetheless 7 (1h 5m 8s): Affirming his love for you, affirming that you belong to him and that nothing can pluck you out of his hand. 8 (1h 5m 19s): Have you opened your eyes, 7 (1h 5m 20s): Heart to receive the blessing of that? Affirmation because sometimes we get to the point where we feel well, I'm not worthy. God well, you're right. We're not. But he says, I love you anyway. I love you anyway, because of Jesus. When I look at you, I see Jesus. When I look at you, I see the righteousness of God poured out all over you. I see you as if you had never even had a sin nature, let alone committed a sin. I see you as Adam and Eve in the garden before the fall. That's the way Jesus looks at. Are God. The father looks at you because of what Jesus did for you. 8 (1h 5m 60s): He loves you and he's offering it to you. You're the Apple of his eye. 7 (1h 6m 11s): And he has established you as a joint heir of his kingdom 8 (1h 6m 16s): And with our big brother, Jesus, let's pray 7 (1h 6m 25s): Lord our God. I thank you. I thank you for your love. I thank you for your care. That never stops. That even when we don't see you working, even when we can't feel your presence, even when it seems like you're a million miles away, you still love Us and you're still here in those times, help us to stand on there. The faith that you have given us that marvelous gift of saving faith in Jesus and God. I pray that when we face affliction, that we would cry out to you, knowing that you will hold us fast. That even if we face all the way up to martyrdom, you will give us the grace and the strength necessary to face whatever trials come before us and help us never to be so overcome by the world. 7 (1h 7m 17s): And so it feels so afflicted in that we get tired of it and say, forget it. I'm walking away. Keep us close, help us to keep our eyes on you and for any here today, Lord who need to know you just give them the assurance that they are loved as they turn to you and repentance that you indeed will make them your own to the praise of your glory in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. 2 (1h 7m 54s): Stan. 0 (1h 11m 22s): 2 (1h 17m 48s): We can never deserve it. You never forsake us. It gives us peace. During these times to know that you are trustworthy, that your word will come to pass. And then we have no reason to fear. Pray that you'd be with each one of us, give everyone here strength that each one would have with the peace that only comes from knowing you being filled with your spirit. 2 (1h 18m 34s): Praise, the Lord Jesus name. Amen. 3 (1h 18m 43s): Yeah, guys, for coming to church, 2 (1h 18m 47s): It's an amazing thing. 3 (1h 18m 51s): Amen. And if anybody needs a prayer come forward, we'll have people up here that can pray with you. Have a great week.

Today we will be studying Daniel chapter five, the famous writing on the wall passage. Once again, we've done this for a few weeks now, since this is a longer text, we will be covering this text in sections. We are going to begin by reading the first nine verses, but as we work through the text, we will be reading all of it. 1 King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in front of the thousand. 2 Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. 3 Then they brought in the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. 4 They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. 5 Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote. 6 Then the king's color changed, and his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together. 7 The king called loudly to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers. The king declared to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” 8 Then all the king's wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation. 9 Then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed, and his color changed, and his lords were perplexed. Daniel 5:1-9, ESV In the months leading up to the Allied invasion of Normandy in World War Two, historians tell us that the Allies had launched this successful deception campaign against Germany and the Axis powers. Among other measures, the Allies had strategically placed inflatable dummy tanks on the south coast of England and employed double agents to report back to the German hierarchy. All to convince Hitler that the impending invasion of Western Europe was to happen in the French city of Calais, rather than where it did eventually happen in Normandy. Despite that virtually everyone knew that the Allies were going to invade western Europe at some point, Hitler was convinced that the defenses that he had constructed all along the northern French coast were more than enough to repel any invasion that the Allies could throw at him. He considered them militarily inferior to his own forces. On June 6, 1944, the famous date, all of these factors came to a head when the Allies invaded in western Europe at Normandy. When the reports of this invasion began flooding into German HQ, the response, for a number of reasons, was lacking from the Germans. For one thing, the necessary reinforcements weren't able to be called up in time because the only person who was able to act, Hitler, was busy sleeping and nobody was brave enough to wake him. When Hitler finally woke and learned of the invasion, he didn't think it was the real thing because he had bought hook, line, and sinker the Allies' deception campaign. He thought the real invasion would happen elsewhere, so he refused to send reinforcements. Then to top it all off, according to reports, Hitler was apparently relieved when the news came his way that the invasion had taken place. He wasn't angry or alarmed because he thought so little of the Allies' efforts and so much of his own forces. You see for Hitler, at the time, June 6, 1944 was really by and large just another day in the war. The truth is that June 6, 1944 was the decisive day that brought the end to his reign. When Daniel five opens, we read a story of another ruler. A ruler by the name of Belshazzar who is also, at least at first, far from alarmed when he should have been alarmed. In the first four verses he is so not alarmed that he is having a party where he and his nobles are singing and engaging in all manners of practices such as debauchery, drunkenness and unrestrained idolatry. In no way, at least in these first four verses, is Belshazzar concerned even about his own security as king or about his spiritual condition. As the narrative unfolds, we learn quite quickly that he should have been alarmed by both. We haven't read the final verse of this passage yet, but by the end of Daniel five, we learn this is the final night, not only of Belshazzar's life, but also of the kingdom of Babylon. Around this time in Babylon history, they had been engaged in this prolonged war with the Persians and Meads. Ancients historians tell us that on this very night those armies had made their way just to the outside of the city of Babylon. The city was virtually surrounded and everyone in the city apparently knew it. Yet Belshazzar was apparently so confident in his defenses and the vast supplies in his storehouses, this wasn't itself a troubling reality in the slightest. Similar to Hitler's response to D-Day, Belshazzar had suppressed the military realities that lie outside his gates. Even more consequential than the military realities that were apparently suppressed by Belshazzar are the spiritual realities that he had suppressed. This is what Daniel homes in on in this text. We will see in a moment that Belshazzar should have known of all his responsibilities before the Lord. He should have known how a king should conduct himself under the Lord's authority, the one who ultimately rules the kingdom of men. He should have known that such unabashed participation in idolatry and wonton pride would eventually reap spiritual consequences before God. So, our big idea is this, The Lord will sovereignly act, even when truth is sinfully suppressed. As we work through this text, we will break it down into three points. 1. Presuming Upon God's Patience 2. Suppressing God's Truth 3. Knowing God's Sovereignty in Salvation Presuming Upon God's Patience Thus far in Daniel, ever since the opening chapter, everything that has transpired and everything that we have surveyed during the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar. If you remember back in Daniel chapter one, we were in year one of Nebuchadnezzar's reign. King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon at the time, had just ascended to the throne and when he did he took the best and the brightest of Judah, which had included Daniel, into captivity to learn and labor in his kingdom. As we move through chapters two, three and four, we are propelled further and deeper into Nebuchadnezzar's reign. We slowly saw it unfold how an ungodly king, gripped by idolatry, obsessed with visions of his own grandeur, who continually failed to see the Lord for who he is, was eventually brought to a place of humility in chapter four. After which, it seemed that he finally got it. Nebuchadnezzar's reign covered about forty years, and though we do not know where many of the events in chapters one through four fall in that timeline, one thing is reasonably clear from Nebuchadnezzar's story when we put on our theological spectacles. That is, the Lord was exceedingly patient with Nebuchadnezzar. Through all the years of pride and hardness of heart that we see in Daniel one through four, the Lord was patient with Nebuchadnezzar, and he didn't immediately deal with him in judgement according to what his sins merited. Thus far we have seen in Daniel, God's abundant patience unfold with King Nebuchadnezzar, through the first four chapters. We may expect that when we come across another king, a similar pattern would unfold. We have seen forty years of God's patience with Nebuchadnezzar, and we will see forty years of patience with another ruler, right? That doesn't happen, when Daniel five opens, three kings have already come and gone after Nebuchadnezzar, in the span of twenty-three years following Nebuchadnezzar's death. The kingdom is far from the powerhouse that it was during Nebuchadnezzar's day. If Belshazzar is any indication of the spiritual environment in the kingdom, that's why things haven't improved since Nebuchadnezzar. Look with me starting at verse one. We learn in the opening line that King Belshazzar made a great feast. That may sound relatively innocuous, but it actually tells us quite a bit. You see back in chapter three, when it opened, we heard this same phrase and, in that text, we heard that Nebuchadnezzar made something too. He made his colossal image of gold that towered to the sky. It was blatant idolatry, but as a symbol of power it was something of a marvel to behold. Yet, when we meet Belshazzar in chapter five, he makes something else, but he makes a feast. As one commentator, Ian Dougwood, put it, “While Nebuchadnezzar archived throughout his life, great military success, destroyed cities, erected mighty statues, and was even responsible for constructing one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. All King Belshazzar was able to arrange was a drinking party.” You see, the kingdom of Babylon has fallen quite far from the once great heights it once occupied. Its current weak geopolitical position is really just an illustration of its sinful spiritual state. This is especially emphasized for us in the next three verses. Belshazzar, we learn, arranges this drinking party with his nobility, and other women in the kingdom are involved. Once he has too much to drink, he makes the demand that shows just how desensitized he is to the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. He orders that the vessels of gold and silver, that were taken out of the Jerusalem temple about seventy years before this by his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar and brought to Babylon, be brought out for this drinking party. These vessels that were created for the worship of the Lord are now included in the celebration of the Babylonian moon god sin. That's probably the context for what is going on in this story. It is a feast to one of the Babylonian gods. Then they drink from these vessels, in verse four, and they praise the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and stone. The kingdom of Babylon has fallen fast and hard from the once great heights it occupied, geopolitically in Nebuchadnezzar's day. The pride of this new king has reached new heights. What makes this entire scene worse than it already is, is that Belshazzar should have known better. When Daniel comes around later in this passage, he is going to tell Belshazzar exactly that. Belshazzar should have known what Nebuchadnezzar came to learn. Namely that the Most High rules the kingdoms of men and gives it to whom he will. Belshazzar should have known that the only reason that he rules is by the will of God. Belshazzar should have known of his grandfather's experience and God's patience with him. He should have known that he better not presume upon God's patience. Rather than learning these important lessons from his grandfather's day, we meet a king who “double-clicks”, as it were, on Nebuchadnezzar's sin. In a sense, Belshazzar's opening action here is an illustration of Lamech's boast in Genesis four. In Genesis chapter four, after Cain kills his brother Abel and then he is driven out from the presence of the Lord. We read about how Cain's descendants multiplied and a few generations later a man named Lamech is born, who we quickly see is more evil than his ancestor Cain. For one Lamech corrupts God's design for marriage into polygamy; Cain didn't do that. Then he turns proportional justice into disproportionate revenge. Then to top it all off, it's almost as if he sings about it. In Genesis 4:23-24 he says, 23 Lamech said to his wives: “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say: I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. 24 If Cain's revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech's is seventy-sevenfold.” Genesis 4:23-24, ESV In one sense, Belshazzar's actions in Daniel five are an illustration of this sort of unrestrained pride at work. He knew of God's patience with his grandfather and he should have learned from that. His spiritual sense had been so numbed, not by alcohol but by sin. So now God acts in judgement. After this opening party unfolds and all seems to be going well for him and his nobles, we read in verses five through seven, 5 Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote. 6 Then the king's color changed, and his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together. 7 The king called loudly to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers. The king declared to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” Daniel 5:5-7, ESV At this point in the narrative we don't quite know what the context of what was written on the wall was, but we see that Belshazzar is absolute terrified by it. His complexion changed, that phrase that we read in verse six, “his limbs gave way”, could also be translated, “his bowels gave way”. He immediately summons the best and the brightest with the promises of great reward for whomever solves this riddle for him as soon as possible. Belshazzar might not know what exactly this message from God; the God who in contrast to his idols actually does speak. His response suggests that he knows that this is not good for him. We know, as the reader, that because he has so presumed upon the patience of God that we have seen in Daniel one through four, and he has continued in the pride and sin of his ancestors. In fact, he has double-clicked on that sin and pride, that in the end it's going to cost him virtually everything. Theologically, the consequences that Belshazzar are about to reap are an outward being of what the apostle Paul writes in Romans 2:4-5, 4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.Romans 2:4-5, ESV Belshazzar knew more than Nebuchadnezzar knew. He had this incredible story of God's patience, kindness, and mercy given to one of his ancestors. This should have led him to repentance. He had greater revelation and thus greater responsibility. In the end he so presumed upon God's patience, he was storing up wrath in the words of Paul for himself. Now the judgement of God is about to fall on him. Before it does, we learn that behind this presumption of God's patience. The reason we might say, that he presumes upon God's patience in the first place is that he had suppressed God's truth. Of course, these two points are very closely related. That leads to our second point. Suppressing God's Truth Look with me now at Daniel 5:10-23, 10 The queen, because of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banqueting hall, and the queen declared, “O king, live forever! Let not your thoughts alarm you or your color change. 11 There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him, and King Nebuchadnezzar, your father—your father the king—made him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers, 12 because an excellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.” 13 Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king answered and said to Daniel, “You are that Daniel, one of the exiles of Judah, whom the king my father brought from Judah. 14 I have heard of you that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you. 15 Now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, but they could not show the interpretation of the matter. 16 But I have heard that you can give interpretations and solve problems. Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” 17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, “Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another. Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation. 18 O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father kingship and greatness and glory and majesty. 19 And because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whom he would, he killed, and whom he would, he kept alive; whom he would, he raised up, and whom he would, he humbled. 20 But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was brought down from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him. 21 He was driven from among the children of mankind, and his mind was made like that of a beast, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. He was fed grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, until he knew that the Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom he will. 22 And you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, 23 but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored. Daniel 5:10-23, ESV So, in order to prepare the way for Daniel and to offer some temporary relief into this situation, the queen (who commentators point out is probably the queen mother or may even be Nebuchadnezzar's wife) enters the scene and informs Belshazzar that there is a man in the kingdom who can make sense of riddles such as this. She talks about Daniel and how Daniel aided his grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar, in his own day and how Daniel will be able to offer an interpretation even of this. When Daniel comes before Belshazzar in verse thirteen and the king begins to address him, commentators note for a number of reasons that Belshazzar probably wasn't unaware of Daniel's existence. For one, the description he provides of Daniel in verses thirteen through sixteen goes slightly beyond the queen's description. There's even this subtle slight in his address to Daniel when he reminds him that he is one of the exiles of Judah. Belshazzar it seems, has probably known of Daniel's existence all along, but as Sinclair Ferguson suggests, his actions are more reminiscent of Rehoboam, Solomon's son. He has chosen thus far to ignore this wise man who is more than eighty years old at this point, in favor of counselors who are more like him; astrologers, Babylonians experts in wisdom. That was one of Rehoboam's sins in generations prior; relying on the wisdom of people like him rather than the older counselor who had advised his father Solomon. Nonetheless, Belshazzar's suppression of the truth is suggested already before Daniel even speaks. After Daniel rehearses Nebuchadnezzar's experience, he accuses Belshazzar of just that in verses twenty-two and twenty-three. He says, 22 And you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, 23 but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored.Daniel 5:22-23, ESV We learn from this that Belshazzar is an example of what the apostle Paul warns against in Romans 1:18-23, 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Romans 1:18-23, ESV Not only did Belshazzar have, like every person who has ever lived has general revelation at his disposal by virtue of being a human being and living in God's world. He should have known of God's eternal power and divine nature and was therefore without excuse. That's Paul's main point in Roman's chapter one. What makes it even worse is that Belshazzar knew more than that. He almost certainly knew of Daniel's existence. He knew of his grandfather's experience. Through all of that he should have known that the Most High rules. Yet, even with all of that revelation at his disposal, he exchanges the glory of the immortal God for idols of silver, bronze, wood and stone. Belshazzar's sin here wasn't rooted in ignorance. According to Paul, no sin is rooted in ignorance of God. It was rooted in knowledge. According to our confessions, specifically Larger Catechism 151, although all sins merit judgement before God, there are some aggravations that make some sins more heinous than others. One of those aggravations is when greater knowledge and conviction of sin doesn't produce the repentance that it should. This passage in Daniel, specifically 5:22-23, is actually cited as the prooftext for that catechism question. You see, Belshazzar should have been convicted by the knowledge that he possessed. But he persisted in it anyway. He suppresses the truth and as a result, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven. We see that unfold in the final part of our passage. God is Sovereign in Salvation 24 “Then from his presence the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. 25 And this is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, and PARSIN. 26 This is the interpretation of the matter: MENE, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an enDaniel 27 TEKEL, you have been weighed in the balances and found wantinGod 28 PERES, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” 29 Then Belshazzar gave the command, and Daniel was clothed with purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made about him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. 30 That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. 31 And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old. Daniel 5:24-31, ESV Now we here the verdict pronounced. In Daniel's speech thus far, he has been acting as a prosecuting attorney of sorts. This is often how Israel's prophets functioned as the mouthpiece of God. They brought God's case against his own people and against the nations. That's what Daniel does in this text. In one speech he martials the evidence the is stacked up against Belshazzar. He brings Nebuchadnezzar to the witness stand. He issues his closing remarks and then he issue the verdict, “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, and PARSIN.” These words are Aramaic words. This portion of Daniel that we are in was originally written in Aramaic, not Hebrew like most of the Old Testament is. On the surface these Aramaic words refer to weights or measurements in decreasing value. The “mene” is a mena, the “tekel” is a shekel, the “parsin” is a half shekel. With some minor adjustments these words can be turned into verbs. This is the approach that Daniel takes. He sees in these words, not just bare measurements, which might by why everyone else has failed to offer an adequate interpretation to Belshazzar, but Daniel see through the Spirit who empowers his prophetic gift, a word play that is based on the word's verbal form. As Daniel explains it, the interpretation is also charts in descending fashion. Yours days are numbered; you've been weighted in the balance; and your kingdom is given. There may even be an additional word play in that “parsin” can also refer to Persia, the kingdom that would take over that very night. In many respects Belshazzar has been revealed through this verdict to be just like the rich fool that Jesus describes in Luke chapter twelve. Who, after building his own kingdom, settles down and says to himself, soul you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink and be merry. Belshazzar has indeed been doing that. He's been eating and drinking all the while convincing himself that all is well, even when enemies are camped outside his gate. When Daniel comes around through his speech and the verdict that he pronounces at the end, he exposes the reality that judgement is on its way. Belshazzar, just as he mimics that rich fool in Luke twelve, he will also receive the judgement that rich fool is pronounced in Luke twelve. There God says to him, fool, your soul is required of you and the things you have prepared, whose will they be? That's what happens next in our text. After Daniel speaks, apparently Belshazzar has nothing to say, he is speechless. He's not boiling over in anger, nor does it seem that he's alarmed or that his alarm has increased. It's not that he is repentant either. He simply gives the command to honor his word to Daniel. He makes Daniel the third ruler in the kingdom, which at this point is really a meaningless reward. Then he waits to die. We learn that very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. Ancient history tells us that very night the army of the Persians marched into Babylon without a fight while the Babylonians were drunk and participating in a feast to the moon god. It wasn't entirely bloodless because one of the Persian generals marched into the palace and assassinated Belshazzar. In the space of just one chapter, this short story of another Babylonian king concludes. Whereas we've seen forty years of one king's life, for this king we see not even a full day of his life. The Babylonian empire is in all effects finished and the narrative transitions us to this next guy, Darius the Meade, who we will read about whenever we come to Daniel chapter six. Theological Implications While this story is done, we as the readers are invited to consider a couple of theological points that emerge from this story. 1. The first is, I think there is something about this story that satisfies our sense of justice. I'm indebted to a guy named Shawn Michael Lucas for this observation. In this story, we meet a king who is consumed with pride. He participates in debaucher, he profanes what is holy, he relies on the wisdom of the world to solve riddles and mysteries that only the wisdom of God is equipped to solve. Then when we zoom out and consider the entirety of the Babylonian empire, our sense of justice is maybe further satiated. We know that this text also marks the end of Babylon which is an empire responsible for inflicting horrible ills on the people of God. It feels right, and maybe it would have felt even more right to the original readers of this text. Belshazzar, and Babylon by extension, would be weighed in the balance and found wanting. Yet, as heinous as these sins were before a holy God, would you or I really fare much better if we were weighed in the balances of God's justice. The answer is no. In fact, the thought of standing before a holy God on our own merit should alarm all of us. There is absolutely nothing we could bring before God that would move the balances of justice even one tick in our favor. In one way or another, all of us have lifted up ourselves against the Lord of Heaven in pride and autonomy. If any of us were to be weighed in the balances, we would be found wanting too. Even more than satisfying our sense of justice, when we know this to be true of ourselves, more than anything else this text should increase our desire for Jesus. Friends, the only hope we have before a holy and justice God is that Jesus Christ was weighted in the balances and found righteous. Our only hope is that when the evidence is stacked up against us in God's court, for the judge, rather than condemning us, to give us the righteousness of his son so that we would be justified. That is our only hope. In Christ alone, through faith alone. That is the glorious reality that is ours to lay claim to. It's a reality that doesn't extinguish our sense of justice in this broken world but is a reality that should deeply humble us in our sense of justice. 2. The Lord is sovereign over salvation. If God indeed justifies the ungodly through Christ, this he does, then why is it that one ungodly king, Nebuchadnezzar, is shown forty years of mercy by God, while another king, Belshazzar, is not? Or maybe, do bring the question a little closer to home to use, why is it that God saves some of us, but passes over others? Ultimately the answer to that question has to lie in the Lord's sovereignty over salvation and judgement. We've heard throughout Daniel this announcement time and time again that the Lord is sovereign. The Lord is the one who sets up kingdoms. The Lord is the one who tears down kingdoms. The Lord is the one directing the wheels of history to their God ordained ends. The sovereignty of God that Daniel proclaims over kingdoms, also extends to individuals. Despite some of the contrast between Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar, the one thing, among many, that they had in common was that both of them were sinners who deserved no mercy. There was nothing intrinsic to Nebuchadnezzar that prompted God to show him mercy that Belshazzar didn't also share. Both kings, in other words, deserved judgement. The only thing to account for their diverging fortunes is the sovereign will of God. That is what Paul gets at in another chapter of the book of Romans. In Romans 9:15-18 Paul writes, 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. Romans 9:15-18 The Lord is sovereign over kings and kingdoms, and the Lord is sovereign in both salvation and judgement. That is the second theological take away from this text. Applications Tying this all together, let's briefly consider a few applications, a few things to take away with us as we prepare to close. 1. Know that God is patient and kind towards you, but don't presume upon his patience of kindness either. All of the blessings and good gifts that we enjoy in this life are fruit of God's kindness towards us. God has restrained human wickedness from being as bad as it possibly could be. He sends rain to water the crops and give us food. He preserves creation for our enjoyment and benefit and his glory. Beyond these common grace manifestations of his kindness, we have special revelation. We have the Word of God so that we might know him, receive salvation, and receive spiritual nourishment through the ordinary means of grace. He supplies for his church. As Christians, the Lord is kind towards us and patient with us. He is patient with us in our sanctification, our sin, our sometimes faulty theologies. The Psalmist tells us that the Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Know then that the Lord is kind. Know that the Lord is patient. That has all manner of applications for us. From tempering our own anxiety, to learning what it means to be patient with others. I came across a quote this week by a Puritan named Stephen Charnock that I thought was applicable. “God has exercised a long suffering from the fall of Adam to this minute on innumerable subjects. Shall we be transported with the desire of revenge upon a single injury? How distant are they from the nature of God, who are in a flame upon every slight provocation, from a sense of some feeble and imaginary honor, that must bloody their sword for a trifle and right their avenge in wounds and death.” God is patient with us friends. Does God's patience and kindness in Christ influence the patience that you show or don't show to other? Ask yourself that. If you are not resting in Christ for salvation, recognize that God is patient towards you too by deferring, for now, judgement. I invite you, don't presume upon God's patience by charting your own course in this life. None of us are guaranteed one more day. So, I beg you to turn to Christ now and be saved. The Lord is kind and patient. That is the first application. 2. Don't suppress the truth. Again, this applies to both those of us who profess Christ and claim to love his word, and those who might not. First, all of us have been exposed to truth, that makes us accountable to God. We heard that already in Romans chapter one. Even if all you know is what the scriptures refer to as general revelation, that is a revelation of God and his invisible attributes simply from his creation. Scriptures tell us that's not enough to bring salvation, but that is enough to be held accountable. So, let me urge you to turn to the word of God, to hear the gospel of God for what it is and believe and be saved. According the scriptures, anything less than that is a form of suppressing the truth. In the words of Paul, “exchanging the truth of God for a lie.” As Christians, there is also a sense in which all of us who know the word and love the word may suppress the truth too. For instance, when you hear the word of God proclaimed and it pricks your conscience a little bit. What do you do about that? Do you humbly submit yourself to the word, or do you deflect it in some way? Again, there are millions of ways we could do that in an attempt to ignore the conviction of sin that the Spirit brings through his word. As Christians, the invitation we have is not to numb ourselves to God's word, especially when it picks our conscious in ways that might sting a bit. Instead, we are called to hear the word, to hear the message of God's patience and kindness towards you. To humble yourself under it. To remember that Jesus Christ loves his church, is patient with his church, and is kind to his church.

Do you ever ask the question why bad things happen to good people or maybe, Is God mad at me? Why am I going through adversity? If you've ever struggled with those questions, today's podcast is for you. Stay tuned. How do I bring my faith to work? How do I tap into the power of God in my work life? Paul, why am I going through this adversity? Is God mad at me? I'm also yeoman and I've been helping leaders like you enter these questions at more for over 30 years. That's what this podcast is all about. Let's learn and grow together. Welcome to TGF today. God is first. Well, welcome Today's podcast is entitled four reasons why you'll go through adversity. You know, we all go through adversity. The question is are determining why we go through that adversity and today I want to give you four reasons. I believe that we all go through adversity, but make sure you stay through the end because at the end I'm going to give you a resource that'll really help you, that has supporting scriptures in it that you'll be able to download. At no charge. So just stay with me till the end. You know, I went through a seven year adversity back in the early nineties. It was a devastating time. I'd lost over a half a million dollars. My wife left me, 80% of my business went out the door. And it was a very difficult time. I had a vice president take my second largest account and so many of you who follow my podcasts already know my story so I won't get into it. But you know, it was during that time that I really discovered a lot about why I went through adversity and why others go through adversity. And so that's what I want to talk about today. You know, Satan has three great lies and, and I wonder if you know what those lies are because he speaks it to almost every person, whether you're a believer or a nonbeliever. These lies are 1)you are powerless over your circumstances, 2)you are a victim of an unjust God 3) who left you here to suffer. Those are the three lies that every believer will believe at one time or another. So, you know, we need to understand that Satan wants your past to be your future, but God always sees you for what you're becoming. You know? And that's where we see in the story of Gideon. Gideon was spoken to by the angel of the Lord. He says, “Oh, mighty warrior!” Now, he wasn't a warrior at the time, but I can assure you that God was looking at him through different lenses. You know, he was hiding behind a fence trying to protect himself from the Midianites. And so he was impugning the nature of God too. When the angel started talking to him, he said, “Why do you care? You don't care about us. You're not helping us. What kind of God are you?” And that's the way many of us are. But you know, God worked in his life and he did become a mighty warrior. You know, in the book of Mark we see a passage that says, “Jesus told them, you're all going to feel that your world is falling apart. And that it's my fault.” You know, I think that we've all identified with that statement, but we need to better understand what the Bible says about adversity. And while we might go through adversity, let's look at these four reasons that I believe we all will go through adversity. The first one is a consequence of the call. Our biblical example of that is Joseph. Now Joseph learned later about his adversity, that his brothers meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. You know, I believe that Satan entered the heart of his brothers. And yet God's omnipotence even worked in that situation. So Joseph went through 13 years of adversity that included slavery and also being a slave in Potiphar's household. And it, the Bible tells us about Joseph that he did. He was blessed by God and God prospered him. He used that word prosper. You know, it doesn't seem like he's being prospered, does it? But that's what the Bible says about him. And so, you know, when it came time to him to be elevated, God used his gifts and talents as Joseph, in the prison there. And his dream interpretation ability became renown. And as a result of that, he interpreted the dream for Pharaoh. And that's what got him out of prison. And Pharaoh chose to use him to be number two over all the land that what an incredible story that is. Uh, but it came with great heartache and great, um, persecution. But we learned from that story that sometimes God uses great adversity in order to fulfill your purpose for a larger story. And that's the key thing you need to remember. It's for a larger story. And Joseph had a larger story than what he was living. God gave him early visions of that story through dreams and visions. And so God used that. And so, you know, it's a consequence of the call was the adversity that Joseph went through and because there was a big call and the the greater the adversity often the greater the call and the greater the influence. And we see this really lived out with Paul and the disciples and just about anyone in the Bible that God used significantly went through a major crisis. Number two is sin. We can go through adversity because of sin. The guy Gehazi was the assistant to Elijah and he had his boss heal a general. And when that that general got healed, Gehazithought that they should be compensated because that was a man who had means. And so he wanted to benefit from that. And that was not what God had in mind. So God judged that sin and he got leprosy and he lost his job. And so here was a situation that he thought he deserved something because of the power of God that worked through them. And so sin can be a place that can keep us from fulfilling our destiny. It can cause adversity in our life. The scripture is very clear about this area. You know, just in the old Testament, we see where Joshua, uh, in his first battle where they went into Jericho, they won the battle. But God said, don't take any first fruits. And so there were a couple of people that did take the first fruits and hid them in the camp. Well, the next battle they go out at I and they you know, they're not winning. And Joshua was wondering why are we not being blessed by God? And it's because they had a disobeyed God even though he didn't know, uh, someone in his camp disobeyed God. God was not blessing his organization. And that's another principle to learn. If we've got people in our organization that aren't doing the right things, then you know, that could hinder us and cause adversity in our own situations. So the next one is son ship. And Hebrews 12 find the Bible tells us that we are sons of God and as sons he disciplines us just as the earthly sons need discipline. And so in this situation we see that God might reproof us and the Bible speaks about being reproved as sons and daughters. And so it's important that you and I know that, you know, God's going to allow things in our to our lives that will really keep us in the right path. You know, a parent always wants to keep their children and going down the right path and God certainly wants to do that with us as well. And so here we see sun ship as being the third reason we might experience adversity. And then the fourth reason is spiritual warfare. John 10:10 tells us that Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy. And you know, the second part of that says, Jesus came to give us life and life abundantly. There are two mission statements in that one, uh, scripture verse. And so we see that Satan wants us to, uh, really have terrible life on this earth. If you can't kill us at birth. And he tries to wound us so badly in childhood that we are in effect ineffective in our walk with God and on the earth. Now, Ephesians tells us about this warfare. He says, finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you can take your stand against the schemes for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but of the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places. Therefore put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground and after you've done everything to stand. So you know, first John three eight tells us that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. That was another reason he came, in addition to being the savior of the world, but also to destroy the works of the devil, and he causes us to do the same. You know, there's another aspect of adversity that I just want to briefly mentioned, but I won't teach on it today. And that is the Joseph calling. Some of you may have a Joseph calling on your life, and that's a calling that's earmarked by adversity. When we think of Joseph, we think of the adversity he went through. He was a spiritual and physical provider to others. And, uh, you know, when I first encountered a man to help me understand my adversity, he says, loss. You have a Joseph calling on your life. It's earmarked by adversity. When people think of your name, do they, uh, relate the adversity to your name? If so, there's a good chance you may have a Joseph calling. You know, God created us with seven needs. And these are found in Genesis one and two. He created us with a need for dignity and authority, blessing and provision, security and purpose and meaning and freedom and boundary and intimate love and companionship. And so in order to raise, you know, have those needs met, we have to depend on God for that. But if we try to meet those needs outside God's design, that really opens us up to what the Bible calls a spiritual stronghold in Corinthians. Paul talks about this in Corinthians, and so we need to make sure that we're clean. You know, Jesus, there was nothing in Jesus, uh, in which the devil could use as a reason to attack him. You know hereafter I will not talk much with you for the Prince of this world comms and that nothing in me. In other words, what he's saying is that there is no sin in my life. Jesus had no sin so he couldn't attack Jesus for sin. You get attack him because he's the son of God because of warfare, but not because of sin in his life. And so there was no entry door into his life. And we need to understand is there any entry door to our life? Could he come into us because of that? Now in Corinthians, we see the definition of a strong home. It says, the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And so that is the definition of a stronghold. The opposite of that is found in Ephesians 3:17 Paul says, and “I pray that you being rooted and established in love may have power together with all the saints to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Now, whenever we seek to meet one or more of these basic needs outside God, we set the stage for the development of a generational stronghold. You see, Satan convinced Eve to believe God was holding out on her and he would not meet her needs, so she chose to meet her own need. Now there are examples in the Bible of generational strongholds. We see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob having the stronghold of deceit and lying, and then we have control with Laban, Rebecca and Jacob, and then we have King Saul as well. We see a sexual stronghold in Rahab, David Bathsheba, Absalom, Amnon in Solomon. In Psalm 51 David says, I was conceived in iniquity. What that tells me is that perhaps he might have been conceived in iniquity or out of wedlock. Maybe that might be the reason why his father didn't even have him as a one to be considered when Samuel was looking to anoint the next King. You know, I've, I learned a lot about this stronghold through a mentor who came in my life and he had written a book called demolishing strongholds that actually helped him publish. And he said, there's nothing wrong with you. You just have a stronghold of insecurity and fear that makes you control people in circumstances. Well, I said, that's crazy. And he says, well, let me prove it to you. And so he gave me this little self-assessment tool and he says, I want you to go to your sisters and your mother, have them fill it out and come back to me. Well, what this does is gives you symptoms that rank, uh, according to your stronghold. And so what came back back from that was sure enough, I stronghold of insecurity and fear. And this was quite a revelation to me. And so he took me through a prayer of faith to get rid of that. And, uh, you know, in the scriptures in second Corinthians it says, but we have renounced the hidden things of shame. Not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully but by manifestation of the commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. And so, you know, we don't have to remain in those strongholds. We overcome the influence of strong those by renouncing and repenting of their influence through the prayer of faith in Jesus's blood to cleanse us from these influences. And one of the things I've discovered in working with people, uh, over the years is that whenever the reaction to a situation seems to be an extreme response compared to the offense, you know, there is unresolved pain or the enemy is at work in the situation. You see, whenever we grow up, uh, and have a pain or a wound in our life and never resolve it as an adult, that pain can surface through different trigger points in our life. Now when people react to the out of their pain, their behavior is never logical. And let's say a person gets upset over something and it should be a level three and they go to a level 10 well you know something's going on under the hood and you need to find out what is the problem. So there's a process of discovery and deliverance for that. First you see the symptoms, which are light lights on a dashboard. And then we need to understand what the root of the behavior is. Then we read, revisit that wound and bring healing into it by confessing it and asking Jesus to heal it. And we discover the lie. John 8:32 says the truth shall make you free. And when you discover the truth of something that begins the process of healing, you apply the truth to that situation. So the steps to freedom is this prayer. Identify the strong hole and their symptom and rank them from 1 to 10 and then you want to work with someone close to you to help you confirm those strong holes. And then you want to confess a renounce the influence of strong holes in Jesus's name. Each believer has the power of the Holy spirit to renounce the influence of strong holes over their life. We have divine power to demolish strongholds. It says in second Corinthians 10, four and then we meditate and walk according to the word. Uh, we renew our minds. We began to change our behaviors. You know, any self-image, contrary to the truth of who God says you are in the spirit is a false self-image. You must agree with God, not with your flesh or the devil. You know, this reminds me of the, you know, the fact that we've been equipping leaders for the last 25 years on things like this. And I've been thinking about what we could do to help go deeper in a lot of these concepts. And so we've decided to come out with something in the near future that's going to address things like this and other issues in people's lives as well as a marketplace initiatives. And if you're interested in being on our waiting list to know when that comes out, we set up a webpage called www.becomeGodschangeagent.com. If you go there and just enter your information there, we'll uh, make sure that you know about the program when it comes out. And we'll also give you a free download of a booklet there that I did on the 10 truths of success that I've, uh, documented over the last, uh, 20 years. The top 10 things that I have found to be the most influential in my life that perhaps would be helpful to you as well. Just for putting your name on that list. Go to www.becomeGodschangeagent.com. You know, Paul's sufferings, it says that five times I received the Jews the 40 lashes minus one three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was pelted with stones three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night in a day in the open sea and I've been constantly on the move. He says, I've been in danger from rivers in danger, from bandits, danger from fellow Jews, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city. And in the country dangerous. See danger from false believers. I'd labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep. I have known hunger and thirst and I've often gone without food. I've been cold and naked. That's Paul describing some of the experiences that he's had, but he never complains. He always see taps into the grace of God wherever he goes. Philippians two five says, let this mind be in you. That is also in Jesus Christ. We need to have the mind of Christ. Uh, Philippians two five, whatever God sets you free from, he automatically gives you an anointing to set other people free from the same thing you were a victim of. That's your payback to the enemy. And know that if you go through something major and you get victory on that, God is gonna use that to create your anointing and the power to release others from that same thing. We want to transform our past into a new beginning. First. We need to realize our identities and then learn to contend with it and then to receive our inheritance. And so that's the process. And these are the things that we want to help you with. Facing our fears requires coming to a debt in our expectations and leaving outcome to God. And so we can't cookie cutter this. You know, I had my mentor once say a dead man can't have stress, you know? And so if you get angry or upset about things, that means you're not dead yet. We can have strong emotions about things as long as we don't sin. And so that's the borderline severe adversity will reveal what we really believe about God. It reveals our deepest fears and beliefs about God. The bottom line is every in our lives is designed to give us an upgrade with God. If we'll press end to him with our whole horror, the greater revelation, greater power, greater character, and greater intimacy will be the result of that and a greater influence as well. So fear drives us to performance and to be slaves and orphans, but they encouraged, turns us into sons and daughters. And that's the difference between operating out of fear and operating in courage and faith. So I want to help you with this message by offering you a free download of a booklet I put together called www.adversityFAQ.com or, frequently asked questions. So if you go to our webpage we set up just to download this resource. So if you'd like to receive this nine page ebook on adversity - frequently asked questions just go to www.adversityfaq.com that's www.adversityfaq.com and there you'll be able to download that resource at no charge. As we close out, I'd like to close us with a word of prayer. And then a final remark from myself. So father, we thank you for this day. We thank you Lord that you allow adversity at times to matures into sons and daughters, but you also equip us to fight the battle because we're in a war and Satan wants to steal, kill, and destroy from us. And so we ask for grace to be able to weather the storms and to persevere through them. And I pray for anybody going through adversity today that you'll minister to them through your word this day and help them navigate in Jesus name. Amen. So a final word. If you're listening to this on iTunes, uh, please, uh, give us a rating, uh, that helps others find us on iTunes and help others benefit from this teaching. If you accessed, uh, on YouTube and watching this program, please, uh, share your comments at the bottom and subscribe to our channel. That too helps us, uh, find more people who will find this message helpful. God bless. Have a great week. We'll see you next week.

Do you ever ask the question why bad things happen to good people or maybe, Is God mad at me? Why am I going through adversity? If you've ever struggled with those questions, today's podcast is for you. Stay tuned. How do I bring my faith to work? How do I tap into the power of God in my work life? Paul, why am I going through this adversity? Is God mad at me? I'm also yeoman and I've been helping leaders like you enter these questions at more for over 30 years. That's what this podcast is all about. Let's learn and grow together. Welcome to TGF today. God is first. Well, welcome Today's podcast is entitled four reasons why you'll go through adversity. You know, we all go through adversity. The question is are determining why we go through that adversity and today I want to give you four reasons. I believe that we all go through adversity, but make sure you stay through the end because at the end I'm going to give you a resource that'll really help you, that has supporting scriptures in it that you'll be able to download. At no charge. So just stay with me till the end. You know, I went through a seven year adversity back in the early nineties. It was a devastating time. I'd lost over a half a million dollars. My wife left me, 80% of my business went out the door. And it was a very difficult time. I had a vice president take my second largest account and so many of you who follow my podcasts already know my story so I won't get into it. But you know, it was during that time that I really discovered a lot about why I went through adversity and why others go through adversity. And so that's what I want to talk about today. You know, Satan has three great lies and, and I wonder if you know what those lies are because he speaks it to almost every person, whether you're a believer or a nonbeliever. These lies are 1)you are powerless over your circumstances, 2)you are a victim of an unjust God 3) who left you here to suffer. Those are the three lies that every believer will believe at one time or another. So, you know, we need to understand that Satan wants your past to be your future, but God always sees you for what you're becoming. You know? And that's where we see in the story of Gideon. Gideon was spoken to by the angel of the Lord. He says, “Oh, mighty warrior!” Now, he wasn't a warrior at the time, but I can assure you that God was looking at him through different lenses. You know, he was hiding behind a fence trying to protect himself from the Midianites. And so he was impugning the nature of God too. When the angel started talking to him, he said, “Why do you care? You don't care about us. You're not helping us. What kind of God are you?” And that's the way many of us are. But you know, God worked in his life and he did become a mighty warrior. You know, in the book of Mark we see a passage that says, “Jesus told them, you're all going to feel that your world is falling apart. And that it's my fault.” You know, I think that we've all identified with that statement, but we need to better understand what the Bible says about adversity. And while we might go through adversity, let's look at these four reasons that I believe we all will go through adversity. The first one is a consequence of the call. Our biblical example of that is Joseph. Now Joseph learned later about his adversity, that his brothers meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. You know, I believe that Satan entered the heart of his brothers. And yet God's omnipotence even worked in that situation. So Joseph went through 13 years of adversity that included slavery and also being a slave in Potiphar's household. And it, the Bible tells us about Joseph that he did. He was blessed by God and God prospered him. He used that word prosper. You know, it doesn't seem like he's being prospered, does it? But that's what the Bible says about him. And so, you know, when it came time to him to be elevated, God used his gifts and talents as Joseph, in the prison there. And his dream interpretation ability became renown. And as a result of that, he interpreted the dream for Pharaoh. And that's what got him out of prison. And Pharaoh chose to use him to be number two over all the land that what an incredible story that is. Uh, but it came with great heartache and great, um, persecution. But we learned from that story that sometimes God uses great adversity in order to fulfill your purpose for a larger story. And that's the key thing you need to remember. It's for a larger story. And Joseph had a larger story than what he was living. God gave him early visions of that story through dreams and visions. And so God used that. And so, you know, it's a consequence of the call was the adversity that Joseph went through and because there was a big call and the the greater the adversity often the greater the call and the greater the influence. And we see this really lived out with Paul and the disciples and just about anyone in the Bible that God used significantly went through a major crisis. Number two is sin. We can go through adversity because of sin. The guy Gehazi was the assistant to Elijah and he had his boss heal a general. And when that that general got healed, Gehazithought that they should be compensated because that was a man who had means. And so he wanted to benefit from that. And that was not what God had in mind. So God judged that sin and he got leprosy and he lost his job. And so here was a situation that he thought he deserved something because of the power of God that worked through them. And so sin can be a place that can keep us from fulfilling our destiny. It can cause adversity in our life. The scripture is very clear about this area. You know, just in the old Testament, we see where Joshua, uh, in his first battle where they went into Jericho, they won the battle. But God said, don't take any first fruits. And so there were a couple of people that did take the first fruits and hid them in the camp. Well, the next battle they go out at I and they you know, they're not winning. And Joshua was wondering why are we not being blessed by God? And it's because they had a disobeyed God even though he didn't know, uh, someone in his camp disobeyed God. God was not blessing his organization. And that's another principle to learn. If we've got people in our organization that aren't doing the right things, then you know, that could hinder us and cause adversity in our own situations. So the next one is son ship. And Hebrews 12 find the Bible tells us that we are sons of God and as sons he disciplines us just as the earthly sons need discipline. And so in this situation we see that God might reproof us and the Bible speaks about being reproved as sons and daughters. And so it's important that you and I know that, you know, God's going to allow things in our to our lives that will really keep us in the right path. You know, a parent always wants to keep their children and going down the right path and God certainly wants to do that with us as well. And so here we see sun ship as being the third reason we might experience adversity. And then the fourth reason is spiritual warfare. John 10:10 tells us that Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy. And you know, the second part of that says, Jesus came to give us life and life abundantly. There are two mission statements in that one, uh, scripture verse. And so we see that Satan wants us to, uh, really have terrible life on this earth. If you can't kill us at birth. And he tries to wound us so badly in childhood that we are in effect ineffective in our walk with God and on the earth. Now, Ephesians tells us about this warfare. He says, finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you can take your stand against the schemes for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but of the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places. Therefore put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground and after you've done everything to stand. So you know, first John three eight tells us that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. That was another reason he came, in addition to being the savior of the world, but also to destroy the works of the devil, and he causes us to do the same. You know, there's another aspect of adversity that I just want to briefly mentioned, but I won't teach on it today. And that is the Joseph calling. Some of you may have a Joseph calling on your life, and that's a calling that's earmarked by adversity. When we think of Joseph, we think of the adversity he went through. He was a spiritual and physical provider to others. And, uh, you know, when I first encountered a man to help me understand my adversity, he says, loss. You have a Joseph calling on your life. It's earmarked by adversity. When people think of your name, do they, uh, relate the adversity to your name? If so, there's a good chance you may have a Joseph calling. You know, God created us with seven needs. And these are found in Genesis one and two. He created us with a need for dignity and authority, blessing and provision, security and purpose and meaning and freedom and boundary and intimate love and companionship. And so in order to raise, you know, have those needs met, we have to depend on God for that. But if we try to meet those needs outside God's design, that really opens us up to what the Bible calls a spiritual stronghold in Corinthians. Paul talks about this in Corinthians, and so we need to make sure that we're clean. You know, Jesus, there was nothing in Jesus, uh, in which the devil could use as a reason to attack him. You know hereafter I will not talk much with you for the Prince of this world comms and that nothing in me. In other words, what he's saying is that there is no sin in my life. Jesus had no sin so he couldn't attack Jesus for sin. You get attack him because he's the son of God because of warfare, but not because of sin in his life. And so there was no entry door into his life. And we need to understand is there any entry door to our life? Could he come into us because of that? Now in Corinthians, we see the definition of a strong home. It says, the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And so that is the definition of a stronghold. The opposite of that is found in Ephesians 3:17 Paul says, and “I pray that you being rooted and established in love may have power together with all the saints to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Now, whenever we seek to meet one or more of these basic needs outside God, we set the stage for the development of a generational stronghold. You see, Satan convinced Eve to believe God was holding out on her and he would not meet her needs, so she chose to meet her own need. Now there are examples in the Bible of generational strongholds. We see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob having the stronghold of deceit and lying, and then we have control with Laban, Rebecca and Jacob, and then we have King Saul as well. We see a sexual stronghold in Rahab, David Bathsheba, Absalom, Amnon in Solomon. In Psalm 51 David says, I was conceived in iniquity. What that tells me is that perhaps he might have been conceived in iniquity or out of wedlock. Maybe that might be the reason why his father didn't even have him as a one to be considered when Samuel was looking to anoint the next King. You know, I've, I learned a lot about this stronghold through a mentor who came in my life and he had written a book called demolishing strongholds that actually helped him publish. And he said, there's nothing wrong with you. You just have a stronghold of insecurity and fear that makes you control people in circumstances. Well, I said, that's crazy. And he says, well, let me prove it to you. And so he gave me this little self-assessment tool and he says, I want you to go to your sisters and your mother, have them fill it out and come back to me. Well, what this does is gives you symptoms that rank, uh, according to your stronghold. And so what came back back from that was sure enough, I stronghold of insecurity and fear. And this was quite a revelation to me. And so he took me through a prayer of faith to get rid of that. And, uh, you know, in the scriptures in second Corinthians it says, but we have renounced the hidden things of shame. Not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully but by manifestation of the commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. And so, you know, we don't have to remain in those strongholds. We overcome the influence of strong those by renouncing and repenting of their influence through the prayer of faith in Jesus's blood to cleanse us from these influences. And one of the things I've discovered in working with people, uh, over the years is that whenever the reaction to a situation seems to be an extreme response compared to the offense, you know, there is unresolved pain or the enemy is at work in the situation. You see, whenever we grow up, uh, and have a pain or a wound in our life and never resolve it as an adult, that pain can surface through different trigger points in our life. Now when people react to the out of their pain, their behavior is never logical. And let's say a person gets upset over something and it should be a level three and they go to a level 10 well you know something's going on under the hood and you need to find out what is the problem. So there's a process of discovery and deliverance for that. First you see the symptoms, which are light lights on a dashboard. And then we need to understand what the root of the behavior is. Then we read, revisit that wound and bring healing into it by confessing it and asking Jesus to heal it. And we discover the lie. John 8:32 says the truth shall make you free. And when you discover the truth of something that begins the process of healing, you apply the truth to that situation. So the steps to freedom is this prayer. Identify the strong hole and their symptom and rank them from 1 to 10 and then you want to work with someone close to you to help you confirm those strong holes. And then you want to confess a renounce the influence of strong holes in Jesus's name. Each believer has the power of the Holy spirit to renounce the influence of strong holes over their life. We have divine power to demolish strongholds. It says in second Corinthians 10, four and then we meditate and walk according to the word. Uh, we renew our minds. We began to change our behaviors. You know, any self-image, contrary to the truth of who God says you are in the spirit is a false self-image. You must agree with God, not with your flesh or the devil. You know, this reminds me of the, you know, the fact that we've been equipping leaders for the last 25 years on things like this. And I've been thinking about what we could do to help go deeper in a lot of these concepts. And so we've decided to come out with something in the near future that's going to address things like this and other issues in people's lives as well as a marketplace initiatives. And if you're interested in being on our waiting list to know when that comes out, we set up a webpage called www.becomeGodschangeagent.com. If you go there and just enter your information there, we'll uh, make sure that you know about the program when it comes out. And we'll also give you a free download of a booklet there that I did on the 10 truths of success that I've, uh, documented over the last, uh, 20 years. The top 10 things that I have found to be the most influential in my life that perhaps would be helpful to you as well. Just for putting your name on that list. Go to www.becomeGodschangeagent.com. You know, Paul's sufferings, it says that five times I received the Jews the 40 lashes minus one three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was pelted with stones three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night in a day in the open sea and I've been constantly on the move. He says, I've been in danger from rivers in danger, from bandits, danger from fellow Jews, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city. And in the country dangerous. See danger from false believers. I'd labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep. I have known hunger and thirst and I've often gone without food. I've been cold and naked. That's Paul describing some of the experiences that he's had, but he never complains. He always see taps into the grace of God wherever he goes. Philippians two five says, let this mind be in you. That is also in Jesus Christ. We need to have the mind of Christ. Uh, Philippians two five, whatever God sets you free from, he automatically gives you an anointing to set other people free from the same thing you were a victim of. That's your payback to the enemy. And know that if you go through something major and you get victory on that, God is gonna use that to create your anointing and the power to release others from that same thing. We want to transform our past into a new beginning. First. We need to realize our identities and then learn to contend with it and then to receive our inheritance. And so that's the process. And these are the things that we want to help you with. Facing our fears requires coming to a debt in our expectations and leaving outcome to God. And so we can't cookie cutter this. You know, I had my mentor once say a dead man can't have stress, you know? And so if you get angry or upset about things, that means you're not dead yet. We can have strong emotions about things as long as we don't sin. And so that's the borderline severe adversity will reveal what we really believe about God. It reveals our deepest fears and beliefs about God. The bottom line is every in our lives is designed to give us an upgrade with God. If we'll press end to him with our whole horror, the greater revelation, greater power, greater character, and greater intimacy will be the result of that and a greater influence as well. So fear drives us to performance and to be slaves and orphans, but they encouraged, turns us into sons and daughters. And that's the difference between operating out of fear and operating in courage and faith. So I want to help you with this message by offering you a free download of a booklet I put together called www.adversityFAQ.com or, frequently asked questions. So if you go to our webpage we set up just to download this resource. So if you'd like to receive this nine page ebook on adversity - frequently asked questions just go to www.adversityfaq.com that's www.adversityfaq.com and there you'll be able to download that resource at no charge. As we close out, I'd like to close us with a word of prayer. And then a final remark from myself. So father, we thank you for this day. We thank you Lord that you allow adversity at times to matures into sons and daughters, but you also equip us to fight the battle because we're in a war and Satan wants to steal, kill, and destroy from us. And so we ask for grace to be able to weather the storms and to persevere through them. And I pray for anybody going through adversity today that you'll minister to them through your word this day and help them navigate in Jesus name. Amen. So a final word. If you're listening to this on iTunes, uh, please, uh, give us a rating, uh, that helps others find us on iTunes and help others benefit from this teaching. If you accessed, uh, on YouTube and watching this program, please, uh, share your comments at the bottom and subscribe to our channel. That too helps us, uh, find more people who will find this message helpful. God bless. Have a great week. We'll see you next week.

Do you ever ask the question why bad things happen to good people or maybe, Is God mad at me? Why am I going through adversity? If you've ever struggled with those questions, today's podcast is for you. Stay tuned. How do I bring my faith to work? How do I tap into the power of God in my work life? Paul, why am I going through this adversity? Is God mad at me? I'm also yeoman and I've been helping leaders like you enter these questions at more for over 30 years. That's what this podcast is all about. Let's learn and grow together. Welcome to TGF today. God is first. Well, welcome Today's podcast is entitled four reasons why you'll go through adversity. You know, we all go through adversity. The question is are determining why we go through that adversity and today I want to give you four reasons. I believe that we all go through adversity, but make sure you stay through the end because at the end I'm going to give you a resource that'll really help you, that has supporting scriptures in it that you'll be able to download. At no charge. So just stay with me till the end. You know, I went through a seven year adversity back in the early nineties. It was a devastating time. I'd lost over a half a million dollars. My wife left me, 80% of my business went out the door. And it was a very difficult time. I had a vice president take my second largest account and so many of you who follow my podcasts already know my story so I won't get into it. But you know, it was during that time that I really discovered a lot about why I went through adversity and why others go through adversity. And so that's what I want to talk about today. You know, Satan has three great lies and, and I wonder if you know what those lies are because he speaks it to almost every person, whether you're a believer or a nonbeliever. These lies are 1)you are powerless over your circumstances, 2)you are a victim of an unjust God 3) who left you here to suffer. Those are the three lies that every believer will believe at one time or another. So, you know, we need to understand that Satan wants your past to be your future, but God always sees you for what you're becoming. You know? And that's where we see in the story of Gideon. Gideon was spoken to by the angel of the Lord. He says, “Oh, mighty warrior!” Now, he wasn't a warrior at the time, but I can assure you that God was looking at him through different lenses. You know, he was hiding behind a fence trying to protect himself from the Midianites. And so he was impugning the nature of God too. When the angel started talking to him, he said, “Why do you care? You don't care about us. You're not helping us. What kind of God are you?” And that's the way many of us are. But you know, God worked in his life and he did become a mighty warrior. You know, in the book of Mark we see a passage that says, “Jesus told them, you're all going to feel that your world is falling apart. And that it's my fault.” You know, I think that we've all identified with that statement, but we need to better understand what the Bible says about adversity. And while we might go through adversity, let's look at these four reasons that I believe we all will go through adversity. The first one is a consequence of the call. Our biblical example of that is Joseph. Now Joseph learned later about his adversity, that his brothers meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. You know, I believe that Satan entered the heart of his brothers. And yet God's omnipotence even worked in that situation. So Joseph went through 13 years of adversity that included slavery and also being a slave in Potiphar's household. And it, the Bible tells us about Joseph that he did. He was blessed by God and God prospered him. He used that word prosper. You know, it doesn't seem like he's being prospered, does it? But that's what the Bible says about him. And so, you know, when it came time to him to be elevated, God used his gifts and talents as Joseph, in the prison there. And his dream interpretation ability became renown. And as a result of that, he interpreted the dream for Pharaoh. And that's what got him out of prison. And Pharaoh chose to use him to be number two over all the land that what an incredible story that is. Uh, but it came with great heartache and great, um, persecution. But we learned from that story that sometimes God uses great adversity in order to fulfill your purpose for a larger story. And that's the key thing you need to remember. It's for a larger story. And Joseph had a larger story than what he was living. God gave him early visions of that story through dreams and visions. And so God used that. And so, you know, it's a consequence of the call was the adversity that Joseph went through and because there was a big call and the the greater the adversity often the greater the call and the greater the influence. And we see this really lived out with Paul and the disciples and just about anyone in the Bible that God used significantly went through a major crisis. Number two is sin. We can go through adversity because of sin. The guy Gehazi was the assistant to Elijah and he had his boss heal a general. And when that that general got healed, Gehazithought that they should be compensated because that was a man who had means. And so he wanted to benefit from that. And that was not what God had in mind. So God judged that sin and he got leprosy and he lost his job. And so here was a situation that he thought he deserved something because of the power of God that worked through them. And so sin can be a place that can keep us from fulfilling our destiny. It can cause adversity in our life. The scripture is very clear about this area. You know, just in the old Testament, we see where Joshua, uh, in his first battle where they went into Jericho, they won the battle. But God said, don't take any first fruits. And so there were a couple of people that did take the first fruits and hid them in the camp. Well, the next battle they go out at I and they you know, they're not winning. And Joshua was wondering why are we not being blessed by God? And it's because they had a disobeyed God even though he didn't know, uh, someone in his camp disobeyed God. God was not blessing his organization. And that's another principle to learn. If we've got people in our organization that aren't doing the right things, then you know, that could hinder us and cause adversity in our own situations. So the next one is son ship. And Hebrews 12 find the Bible tells us that we are sons of God and as sons he disciplines us just as the earthly sons need discipline. And so in this situation we see that God might reproof us and the Bible speaks about being reproved as sons and daughters. And so it's important that you and I know that, you know, God's going to allow things in our to our lives that will really keep us in the right path. You know, a parent always wants to keep their children and going down the right path and God certainly wants to do that with us as well. And so here we see sun ship as being the third reason we might experience adversity. And then the fourth reason is spiritual warfare. John 10:10 tells us that Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy. And you know, the second part of that says, Jesus came to give us life and life abundantly. There are two mission statements in that one, uh, scripture verse. And so we see that Satan wants us to, uh, really have terrible life on this earth. If you can't kill us at birth. And he tries to wound us so badly in childhood that we are in effect ineffective in our walk with God and on the earth. Now, Ephesians tells us about this warfare. He says, finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you can take your stand against the schemes for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but of the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places. Therefore put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground and after you've done everything to stand. So you know, first John three eight tells us that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. That was another reason he came, in addition to being the savior of the world, but also to destroy the works of the devil, and he causes us to do the same. You know, there's another aspect of adversity that I just want to briefly mentioned, but I won't teach on it today. And that is the Joseph calling. Some of you may have a Joseph calling on your life, and that's a calling that's earmarked by adversity. When we think of Joseph, we think of the adversity he went through. He was a spiritual and physical provider to others. And, uh, you know, when I first encountered a man to help me understand my adversity, he says, loss. You have a Joseph calling on your life. It's earmarked by adversity. When people think of your name, do they, uh, relate the adversity to your name? If so, there's a good chance you may have a Joseph calling. You know, God created us with seven needs. And these are found in Genesis one and two. He created us with a need for dignity and authority, blessing and provision, security and purpose and meaning and freedom and boundary and intimate love and companionship. And so in order to raise, you know, have those needs met, we have to depend on God for that. But if we try to meet those needs outside God's design, that really opens us up to what the Bible calls a spiritual stronghold in Corinthians. Paul talks about this in Corinthians, and so we need to make sure that we're clean. You know, Jesus, there was nothing in Jesus, uh, in which the devil could use as a reason to attack him. You know hereafter I will not talk much with you for the Prince of this world comms and that nothing in me. In other words, what he's saying is that there is no sin in my life. Jesus had no sin so he couldn't attack Jesus for sin. You get attack him because he's the son of God because of warfare, but not because of sin in his life. And so there was no entry door into his life. And we need to understand is there any entry door to our life? Could he come into us because of that? Now in Corinthians, we see the definition of a strong home. It says, the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And so that is the definition of a stronghold. The opposite of that is found in Ephesians 3:17 Paul says, and “I pray that you being rooted and established in love may have power together with all the saints to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Now, whenever we seek to meet one or more of these basic needs outside God, we set the stage for the development of a generational stronghold. You see, Satan convinced Eve to believe God was holding out on her and he would not meet her needs, so she chose to meet her own need. Now there are examples in the Bible of generational strongholds. We see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob having the stronghold of deceit and lying, and then we have control with Laban, Rebecca and Jacob, and then we have King Saul as well. We see a sexual stronghold in Rahab, David Bathsheba, Absalom, Amnon in Solomon. In Psalm 51 David says, I was conceived in iniquity. What that tells me is that perhaps he might have been conceived in iniquity or out of wedlock. Maybe that might be the reason why his father didn't even have him as a one to be considered when Samuel was looking to anoint the next King. You know, I've, I learned a lot about this stronghold through a mentor who came in my life and he had written a book called demolishing strongholds that actually helped him publish. And he said, there's nothing wrong with you. You just have a stronghold of insecurity and fear that makes you control people in circumstances. Well, I said, that's crazy. And he says, well, let me prove it to you. And so he gave me this little self-assessment tool and he says, I want you to go to your sisters and your mother, have them fill it out and come back to me. Well, what this does is gives you symptoms that rank, uh, according to your stronghold. And so what came back back from that was sure enough, I stronghold of insecurity and fear. And this was quite a revelation to me. And so he took me through a prayer of faith to get rid of that. And, uh, you know, in the scriptures in second Corinthians it says, but we have renounced the hidden things of shame. Not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully but by manifestation of the commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. And so, you know, we don't have to remain in those strongholds. We overcome the influence of strong those by renouncing and repenting of their influence through the prayer of faith in Jesus's blood to cleanse us from these influences. And one of the things I've discovered in working with people, uh, over the years is that whenever the reaction to a situation seems to be an extreme response compared to the offense, you know, there is unresolved pain or the enemy is at work in the situation. You see, whenever we grow up, uh, and have a pain or a wound in our life and never resolve it as an adult, that pain can surface through different trigger points in our life. Now when people react to the out of their pain, their behavior is never logical. And let's say a person gets upset over something and it should be a level three and they go to a level 10 well you know something's going on under the hood and you need to find out what is the problem. So there's a process of discovery and deliverance for that. First you see the symptoms, which are light lights on a dashboard. And then we need to understand what the root of the behavior is. Then we read, revisit that wound and bring healing into it by confessing it and asking Jesus to heal it. And we discover the lie. John 8:32 says the truth shall make you free. And when you discover the truth of something that begins the process of healing, you apply the truth to that situation. So the steps to freedom is this prayer. Identify the strong hole and their symptom and rank them from 1 to 10 and then you want to work with someone close to you to help you confirm those strong holes. And then you want to confess a renounce the influence of strong holes in Jesus's name. Each believer has the power of the Holy spirit to renounce the influence of strong holes over their life. We have divine power to demolish strongholds. It says in second Corinthians 10, four and then we meditate and walk according to the word. Uh, we renew our minds. We began to change our behaviors. You know, any self-image, contrary to the truth of who God says you are in the spirit is a false self-image. You must agree with God, not with your flesh or the devil. You know, this reminds me of the, you know, the fact that we've been equipping leaders for the last 25 years on things like this. And I've been thinking about what we could do to help go deeper in a lot of these concepts. And so we've decided to come out with something in the near future that's going to address things like this and other issues in people's lives as well as a marketplace initiatives. And if you're interested in being on our waiting list to know when that comes out, we set up a webpage called www.becomeGodschangeagent.com. If you go there and just enter your information there, we'll uh, make sure that you know about the program when it comes out. And we'll also give you a free download of a booklet there that I did on the 10 truths of success that I've, uh, documented over the last, uh, 20 years. The top 10 things that I have found to be the most influential in my life that perhaps would be helpful to you as well. Just for putting your name on that list. Go to www.becomeGodschangeagent.com. You know, Paul's sufferings, it says that five times I received the Jews the 40 lashes minus one three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was pelted with stones three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night in a day in the open sea and I've been constantly on the move. He says, I've been in danger from rivers in danger, from bandits, danger from fellow Jews, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city. And in the country dangerous. See danger from false believers. I'd labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep. I have known hunger and thirst and I've often gone without food. I've been cold and naked. That's Paul describing some of the experiences that he's had, but he never complains. He always see taps into the grace of God wherever he goes. Philippians two five says, let this mind be in you. That is also in Jesus Christ. We need to have the mind of Christ. Uh, Philippians two five, whatever God sets you free from, he automatically gives you an anointing to set other people free from the same thing you were a victim of. That's your payback to the enemy. And know that if you go through something major and you get victory on that, God is gonna use that to create your anointing and the power to release others from that same thing. We want to transform our past into a new beginning. First. We need to realize our identities and then learn to contend with it and then to receive our inheritance. And so that's the process. And these are the things that we want to help you with. Facing our fears requires coming to a debt in our expectations and leaving outcome to God. And so we can't cookie cutter this. You know, I had my mentor once say a dead man can't have stress, you know? And so if you get angry or upset about things, that means you're not dead yet. We can have strong emotions about things as long as we don't sin. And so that's the borderline severe adversity will reveal what we really believe about God. It reveals our deepest fears and beliefs about God. The bottom line is every in our lives is designed to give us an upgrade with God. If we'll press end to him with our whole horror, the greater revelation, greater power, greater character, and greater intimacy will be the result of that and a greater influence as well. So fear drives us to performance and to be slaves and orphans, but they encouraged, turns us into sons and daughters. And that's the difference between operating out of fear and operating in courage and faith. So I want to help you with this message by offering you a free download of a booklet I put together called www.adversityFAQ.com or, frequently asked questions. So if you go to our webpage we set up just to download this resource. So if you'd like to receive this nine page ebook on adversity - frequently asked questions just go to www.adversityfaq.com that's www.adversityfaq.com and there you'll be able to download that resource at no charge. As we close out, I'd like to close us with a word of prayer. And then a final remark from myself. So father, we thank you for this day. We thank you Lord that you allow adversity at times to matures into sons and daughters, but you also equip us to fight the battle because we're in a war and Satan wants to steal, kill, and destroy from us. And so we ask for grace to be able to weather the storms and to persevere through them. And I pray for anybody going through adversity today that you'll minister to them through your word this day and help them navigate in Jesus name. Amen. So a final word. If you're listening to this on iTunes, uh, please, uh, give us a rating, uh, that helps others find us on iTunes and help others benefit from this teaching. If you accessed, uh, on YouTube and watching this program, please, uh, share your comments at the bottom and subscribe to our channel. That too helps us, uh, find more people who will find this message helpful. God bless. Have a great week. We'll see you next week.

Do you ever ask the question why bad things happen to good people or maybe, Is God mad at me? Why am I going through adversity? If you've ever struggled with those questions, today's podcast is for you. Stay tuned. How do I bring my faith to work? How do I tap into the power of God in my work life? Paul, why am I going through this adversity? Is God mad at me? I'm also yeoman and I've been helping leaders like you enter these questions at more for over 30 years. That's what this podcast is all about. Let's learn and grow together. Welcome to TGF today. God is first. Well, welcome Today's podcast is entitled four reasons why you'll go through adversity. You know, we all go through adversity. The question is are determining why we go through that adversity and today I want to give you four reasons. I believe that we all go through adversity, but make sure you stay through the end because at the end I'm going to give you a resource that'll really help you, that has supporting scriptures in it that you'll be able to download. At no charge. So just stay with me till the end. You know, I went through a seven year adversity back in the early nineties. It was a devastating time. I'd lost over a half a million dollars. My wife left me, 80% of my business went out the door. And it was a very difficult time. I had a vice president take my second largest account and so many of you who follow my podcasts already know my story so I won't get into it. But you know, it was during that time that I really discovered a lot about why I went through adversity and why others go through adversity. And so that's what I want to talk about today. You know, Satan has three great lies and, and I wonder if you know what those lies are because he speaks it to almost every person, whether you're a believer or a nonbeliever. These lies are 1)you are powerless over your circumstances, 2)you are a victim of an unjust God 3) who left you here to suffer. Those are the three lies that every believer will believe at one time or another. So, you know, we need to understand that Satan wants your past to be your future, but God always sees you for what you're becoming. You know? And that's where we see in the story of Gideon. Gideon was spoken to by the angel of the Lord. He says, “Oh, mighty warrior!” Now, he wasn't a warrior at the time, but I can assure you that God was looking at him through different lenses. You know, he was hiding behind a fence trying to protect himself from the Midianites. And so he was impugning the nature of God too. When the angel started talking to him, he said, “Why do you care? You don't care about us. You're not helping us. What kind of God are you?” And that's the way many of us are. But you know, God worked in his life and he did become a mighty warrior. You know, in the book of Mark we see a passage that says, “Jesus told them, you're all going to feel that your world is falling apart. And that it's my fault.” You know, I think that we've all identified with that statement, but we need to better understand what the Bible says about adversity. And while we might go through adversity, let's look at these four reasons that I believe we all will go through adversity. The first one is a consequence of the call. Our biblical example of that is Joseph. Now Joseph learned later about his adversity, that his brothers meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. You know, I believe that Satan entered the heart of his brothers. And yet God's omnipotence even worked in that situation. So Joseph went through 13 years of adversity that included slavery and also being a slave in Potiphar's household. And it, the Bible tells us about Joseph that he did. He was blessed by God and God prospered him. He used that word prosper. You know, it doesn't seem like he's being prospered, does it? But that's what the Bible says about him. And so, you know, when it came time to him to be elevated, God used his gifts and talents as Joseph, in the prison there. And his dream interpretation ability became renown. And as a result of that, he interpreted the dream for Pharaoh. And that's what got him out of prison. And Pharaoh chose to use him to be number two over all the land that what an incredible story that is. Uh, but it came with great heartache and great, um, persecution. But we learned from that story that sometimes God uses great adversity in order to fulfill your purpose for a larger story. And that's the key thing you need to remember. It's for a larger story. And Joseph had a larger story than what he was living. God gave him early visions of that story through dreams and visions. And so God used that. And so, you know, it's a consequence of the call was the adversity that Joseph went through and because there was a big call and the the greater the adversity often the greater the call and the greater the influence. And we see this really lived out with Paul and the disciples and just about anyone in the Bible that God used significantly went through a major crisis. Number two is sin. We can go through adversity because of sin. The guy Gehazi was the assistant to Elijah and he had his boss heal a general. And when that that general got healed, Gehazithought that they should be compensated because that was a man who had means. And so he wanted to benefit from that. And that was not what God had in mind. So God judged that sin and he got leprosy and he lost his job. And so here was a situation that he thought he deserved something because of the power of God that worked through them. And so sin can be a place that can keep us from fulfilling our destiny. It can cause adversity in our life. The scripture is very clear about this area. You know, just in the old Testament, we see where Joshua, uh, in his first battle where they went into Jericho, they won the battle. But God said, don't take any first fruits. And so there were a couple of people that did take the first fruits and hid them in the camp. Well, the next battle they go out at I and they you know, they're not winning. And Joshua was wondering why are we not being blessed by God? And it's because they had a disobeyed God even though he didn't know, uh, someone in his camp disobeyed God. God was not blessing his organization. And that's another principle to learn. If we've got people in our organization that aren't doing the right things, then you know, that could hinder us and cause adversity in our own situations. So the next one is son ship. And Hebrews 12 find the Bible tells us that we are sons of God and as sons he disciplines us just as the earthly sons need discipline. And so in this situation we see that God might reproof us and the Bible speaks about being reproved as sons and daughters. And so it's important that you and I know that, you know, God's going to allow things in our to our lives that will really keep us in the right path. You know, a parent always wants to keep their children and going down the right path and God certainly wants to do that with us as well. And so here we see sun ship as being the third reason we might experience adversity. And then the fourth reason is spiritual warfare. John 10:10 tells us that Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy. And you know, the second part of that says, Jesus came to give us life and life abundantly. There are two mission statements in that one, uh, scripture verse. And so we see that Satan wants us to, uh, really have terrible life on this earth. If you can't kill us at birth. And he tries to wound us so badly in childhood that we are in effect ineffective in our walk with God and on the earth. Now, Ephesians tells us about this warfare. He says, finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you can take your stand against the schemes for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but of the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places. Therefore put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground and after you've done everything to stand. So you know, first John three eight tells us that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. That was another reason he came, in addition to being the savior of the world, but also to destroy the works of the devil, and he causes us to do the same. You know, there's another aspect of adversity that I just want to briefly mentioned, but I won't teach on it today. And that is the Joseph calling. Some of you may have a Joseph calling on your life, and that's a calling that's earmarked by adversity. When we think of Joseph, we think of the adversity he went through. He was a spiritual and physical provider to others. And, uh, you know, when I first encountered a man to help me understand my adversity, he says, loss. You have a Joseph calling on your life. It's earmarked by adversity. When people think of your name, do they, uh, relate the adversity to your name? If so, there's a good chance you may have a Joseph calling. You know, God created us with seven needs. And these are found in Genesis one and two. He created us with a need for dignity and authority, blessing and provision, security and purpose and meaning and freedom and boundary and intimate love and companionship. And so in order to raise, you know, have those needs met, we have to depend on God for that. But if we try to meet those needs outside God's design, that really opens us up to what the Bible calls a spiritual stronghold in Corinthians. Paul talks about this in Corinthians, and so we need to make sure that we're clean. You know, Jesus, there was nothing in Jesus, uh, in which the devil could use as a reason to attack him. You know hereafter I will not talk much with you for the Prince of this world comms and that nothing in me. In other words, what he's saying is that there is no sin in my life. Jesus had no sin so he couldn't attack Jesus for sin. You get attack him because he's the son of God because of warfare, but not because of sin in his life. And so there was no entry door into his life. And we need to understand is there any entry door to our life? Could he come into us because of that? Now in Corinthians, we see the definition of a strong home. It says, the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And so that is the definition of a stronghold. The opposite of that is found in Ephesians 3:17 Paul says, and “I pray that you being rooted and established in love may have power together with all the saints to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Now, whenever we seek to meet one or more of these basic needs outside God, we set the stage for the development of a generational stronghold. You see, Satan convinced Eve to believe God was holding out on her and he would not meet her needs, so she chose to meet her own need. Now there are examples in the Bible of generational strongholds. We see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob having the stronghold of deceit and lying, and then we have control with Laban, Rebecca and Jacob, and then we have King Saul as well. We see a sexual stronghold in Rahab, David Bathsheba, Absalom, Amnon in Solomon. In Psalm 51 David says, I was conceived in iniquity. What that tells me is that perhaps he might have been conceived in iniquity or out of wedlock. Maybe that might be the reason why his father didn't even have him as a one to be considered when Samuel was looking to anoint the next King. You know, I've, I learned a lot about this stronghold through a mentor who came in my life and he had written a book called demolishing strongholds that actually helped him publish. And he said, there's nothing wrong with you. You just have a stronghold of insecurity and fear that makes you control people in circumstances. Well, I said, that's crazy. And he says, well, let me prove it to you. And so he gave me this little self-assessment tool and he says, I want you to go to your sisters and your mother, have them fill it out and come back to me. Well, what this does is gives you symptoms that rank, uh, according to your stronghold. And so what came back back from that was sure enough, I stronghold of insecurity and fear. And this was quite a revelation to me. And so he took me through a prayer of faith to get rid of that. And, uh, you know, in the scriptures in second Corinthians it says, but we have renounced the hidden things of shame. Not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully but by manifestation of the commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. And so, you know, we don't have to remain in those strongholds. We overcome the influence of strong those by renouncing and repenting of their influence through the prayer of faith in Jesus's blood to cleanse us from these influences. And one of the things I've discovered in working with people, uh, over the years is that whenever the reaction to a situation seems to be an extreme response compared to the offense, you know, there is unresolved pain or the enemy is at work in the situation. You see, whenever we grow up, uh, and have a pain or a wound in our life and never resolve it as an adult, that pain can surface through different trigger points in our life. Now when people react to the out of their pain, their behavior is never logical. And let's say a person gets upset over something and it should be a level three and they go to a level 10 well you know something's going on under the hood and you need to find out what is the problem. So there's a process of discovery and deliverance for that. First you see the symptoms, which are light lights on a dashboard. And then we need to understand what the root of the behavior is. Then we read, revisit that wound and bring healing into it by confessing it and asking Jesus to heal it. And we discover the lie. John 8:32 says the truth shall make you free. And when you discover the truth of something that begins the process of healing, you apply the truth to that situation. So the steps to freedom is this prayer. Identify the strong hole and their symptom and rank them from 1 to 10 and then you want to work with someone close to you to help you confirm those strong holes. And then you want to confess a renounce the influence of strong holes in Jesus's name. Each believer has the power of the Holy spirit to renounce the influence of strong holes over their life. We have divine power to demolish strongholds. It says in second Corinthians 10, four and then we meditate and walk according to the word. Uh, we renew our minds. We began to change our behaviors. You know, any self-image, contrary to the truth of who God says you are in the spirit is a false self-image. You must agree with God, not with your flesh or the devil. You know, this reminds me of the, you know, the fact that we've been equipping leaders for the last 25 years on things like this. And I've been thinking about what we could do to help go deeper in a lot of these concepts. And so we've decided to come out with something in the near future that's going to address things like this and other issues in people's lives as well as a marketplace initiatives. And if you're interested in being on our waiting list to know when that comes out, we set up a webpage called www.becomeGodschangeagent.com. If you go there and just enter your information there, we'll uh, make sure that you know about the program when it comes out. And we'll also give you a free download of a booklet there that I did on the 10 truths of success that I've, uh, documented over the last, uh, 20 years. The top 10 things that I have found to be the most influential in my life that perhaps would be helpful to you as well. Just for putting your name on that list. Go to www.becomeGodschangeagent.com. You know, Paul's sufferings, it says that five times I received the Jews the 40 lashes minus one three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was pelted with stones three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night in a day in the open sea and I've been constantly on the move. He says, I've been in danger from rivers in danger, from bandits, danger from fellow Jews, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city. And in the country dangerous. See danger from false believers. I'd labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep. I have known hunger and thirst and I've often gone without food. I've been cold and naked. That's Paul describing some of the experiences that he's had, but he never complains. He always see taps into the grace of God wherever he goes. Philippians two five says, let this mind be in you. That is also in Jesus Christ. We need to have the mind of Christ. Uh, Philippians two five, whatever God sets you free from, he automatically gives you an anointing to set other people free from the same thing you were a victim of. That's your payback to the enemy. And know that if you go through something major and you get victory on that, God is gonna use that to create your anointing and the power to release others from that same thing. We want to transform our past into a new beginning. First. We need to realize our identities and then learn to contend with it and then to receive our inheritance. And so that's the process. And these are the things that we want to help you with. Facing our fears requires coming to a debt in our expectations and leaving outcome to God. And so we can't cookie cutter this. You know, I had my mentor once say a dead man can't have stress, you know? And so if you get angry or upset about things, that means you're not dead yet. We can have strong emotions about things as long as we don't sin. And so that's the borderline severe adversity will reveal what we really believe about God. It reveals our deepest fears and beliefs about God. The bottom line is every in our lives is designed to give us an upgrade with God. If we'll press end to him with our whole horror, the greater revelation, greater power, greater character, and greater intimacy will be the result of that and a greater influence as well. So fear drives us to performance and to be slaves and orphans, but they encouraged, turns us into sons and daughters. And that's the difference between operating out of fear and operating in courage and faith. So I want to help you with this message by offering you a free download of a booklet I put together called www.adversityFAQ.com or, frequently asked questions. So if you go to our webpage we set up just to download this resource. So if you'd like to receive this nine page ebook on adversity - frequently asked questions just go to www.adversityfaq.com that's www.adversityfaq.com and there you'll be able to download that resource at no charge. As we close out, I'd like to close us with a word of prayer. And then a final remark from myself. So father, we thank you for this day. We thank you Lord that you allow adversity at times to matures into sons and daughters, but you also equip us to fight the battle because we're in a war and Satan wants to steal, kill, and destroy from us. And so we ask for grace to be able to weather the storms and to persevere through them. And I pray for anybody going through adversity today that you'll minister to them through your word this day and help them navigate in Jesus name. Amen. So a final word. If you're listening to this on iTunes, uh, please, uh, give us a rating, uh, that helps others find us on iTunes and help others benefit from this teaching. If you accessed, uh, on YouTube and watching this program, please, uh, share your comments at the bottom and subscribe to our channel. That too helps us, uh, find more people who will find this message helpful. God bless. Have a great week. We'll see you next week.

I. The Warning: Israel’s History of Privilege and Sin Turn in your Bibles to the text that was just read for us, 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 1-13, and as you've heard these words, and as we look at the seriousness of what was said, we realize we're coming to a very serious warning passage in Scripture. And that the Holy Spirit speaking through the Apostle Paul, has given a timeless warning to Christians. Now, as I was contemplating this warning passage, I was thinking about the usefulness of all warning passages in Scripture, and how can we hear them properly, how can we hear this warning properly? There is no doctrine that is as sweet and encouraging to Christians, as the doctrine of the eternal security of the believer. Commonly, we speak of once saved, always saved. You can't lose your salvation. And there are so many scriptures that testify to the truth of that comforting doctrine. Jesus said of all that the Father has given Him, He will lose none but raise them up on the final day. He's not going to lose any of them. He'll raise them all up on the final day. And that He has a grip of grace on them, that His sheep have come to him, and no one can snatch them out of His hand, and His Father who has given them to Him is greater than all. And no one can snatch the sheep out of the Father's hand. "I and the Father are one." The Apostle Paul himself wrote many comforting and assuring words to Christians, that we cannot lose our salvation, that He who began a good work in us will most certainly carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. And that the sovereign God has a plan, that He's working out here in space and time. And He is orchestrating things for the benefit of His chosen ones. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. " All of it spoken in the past tense, as though it's a done deal. And at the end of that marvelous chapter, Romans Chapter 8, he asserts very plainly that nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. And yet, here we have this morning, a very serious warning given from the Apostle Paul to a Christian church. We need to find a way somehow to harmonize those, to have a sense of the absolute security of our position, if we're in Christ. But to know as I pray that we're constantly in danger, we're in enemy territory, that we're assaulted, our souls are assaulted every moment by the world of flesh and the devil, we are assaulted. And we're in danger and the only safety for us is a healthy fear of sin, a healthy fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom. And as we have that healthy fear, we're able to understand the Apostle Paul calling on us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in us to will and to act according to His good purpose. He's at work in us. And part of that work He does in the genuinely converted is to give us warnings like this, we need to heed them. The healthiest thing we can do is say, "This warning was written for me, and it was written for my brothers and sisters here at First Baptist Church. I need to be constantly vigilant over my own soul. I need to be vigilant over the souls of my brothers and sisters. We're not in Heaven yet, we're not out of danger yet." And that's the way we should hear this warning. Well, let's try to understand the context. The Corinthian church that Paul is writing to here, was the church that was richly blessed, but also deeply dysfunctional. Richly blessed, but deeply dysfunctional. So the Corinthian church have been lavishly blessed, with the greatest spiritual teachers the world had ever seen. The Apostle Paul planted that church, also Apollos, who was eloquent in doctrine, a solid brother. Even it seems the Apostle Peter in some way ministered to them, don't know if he was there but maybe they got hold of his writings or some of them are following his doctrines, but all of them were below the greatest teacher that has ever lived, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And so, they had received the teachings from Christ, mediated through these great human teachers. And so they were blessed, they were blessed doctrine. They're blessed with every spiritual gift. There was a super abundance of spiritual gifts in that Corinthian church. And many of them had attained a very high level of doctrinal proficiency. They understood doctrine, very well, they had a lot of knowledge. But for all of that, they were deeply dysfunctional. They were divided. There are factions and divisions, among the Corinthian church. Some of them were indulging in sexual immorality, even visiting temple prostitutes, and other forms of sexual immorality. And worst of all, they were very proud of themselves, they were a proud Church. And Paul knew that this gifted, talented, sinning church was actually in great danger. And he wanted to warn them lovingly, about their danger and to call them to constant vigilance over their own souls and the souls of their brothers and sisters. And that's the purpose of this text. Paul's most recent assertion has to do with his own fear about himself and his own vigilance over his own life, and his body. Paul himself had been lavishly blessed by the Lord Jesus Christ, three times, Paul had seen the resurrected glorified Lord, three times. It's incredible. He had been spared death on the Damascus Road, and then he had been miraculously healed from blindness, by Ananias who laid hands on him. And he had been given this incredible ministry, what a privilege. He was called the Apostle to the Gentiles. He learned the Gospel directly from Almighty God Himself without any human mediation. God Himself, taught him the gospel. He was caught up to the third heaven, caught up to paradise, and heard inexpressible things. He was raised from being stoned perhaps even to death. And then went on with his courageous bold energetic preaching ministry. He heard doctrine directly from God, through the Holy Spirit, and wrote down 13 epistles that make up the bulk of our New Testament. He wrote the Book of Romans. Paul was lavishly blessed by God. He had been empowered by the spirit to perform signs and wonders, healings even raising the dead. He had preached boldly, in city after city. Everywhere he went it seems he planted a church. Perhaps thousands of people owed their salvation to hearing the Gospel from the Apostle Paul. Certainly from those that Paul also trained, he was a leader of leaders, a disciple of church leaders. And he was clearly beloved, and dearly beloved by churches everywhere. But he lived in fear in a sense. Look again at 9:27, what we just covered last week, he said, "I beat my body and make it my slave, lest after I've preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified from the prize. For I do not want you to be unaware brothers," goes right on into this warning. You see, it's tied together. As Paul was concerned and he's applying the warnings to himself first, but then to them, the Corinthian church. Paul was afraid that his own body, his own flesh, his sin nature, would drag him off the path of Christ, off the path of holiness, with the result of him being disqualified from the prize of first and foremost being a faithful servant a fruitful servant of Jesus Christ. He'd be disqualified for ministry. Now, he knew his own weakness, how horrible that would be, how devastating it would be to the church as if he fell into sin, and was evicted from the ministry by a Holy God after he preached the Gospel in so many locations. So he beat his body, he said, he made it his slave. Now, this is the fear as I said last week that I have as well and should have, it's healthy for me to have it. All pastors should have it. Richard Baxter, in his classic, Reformed Pastor, said this to his brother pastors, he said, "Take heed to yourselves lest you live in those sins which you preach against in others." Will you preach Christ's laws and willfully break them? If God's threatenings be true, then why do you not fear them? And if they be false, then why are you needlessly troubling men with them and put them into such frights without a cause? "So take heed to yourselves brothers pastors." Richard Baxter, would say, the Apostle Paul would say in Acts 20. "Take heed to yourself." The Great Danger: Privileges Can Lead to Complacency, Pride... and Sin But it's the same warning given to all Christians, not just those in vocational ministry, it's given to all of us. We all need to take heed to ourselves, to our souls, the great danger here is that spiritual privileges, great spiritual privileges can lead to complacency and pride and sin. God gives to sinners lavish blessings of His grace. We sinners, we deserve to be condemned eternally to hell for our sins. But instead, God because He's rich in mercy covered our sins with the blood of His own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And furthermore, once we have come to forgiveness of sins, He is incredibly patient with us day after day with all of our sins. He continues to forgive us our sins, whenever we confess them to Him. We sinners we deserve to be excluded from the presence of God, instead God has reconciled us to Himself, and this is incredible, He has actually adopted us as His sons and daughters, to be in his family forever. But we sinners deserve to waste our earthly lives in frivolous pursuits, to spend our whole lives storing up wood, hay and stubble that'll just get burned at the end. Instead, God has richly blessed us with spiritual gifts, and has actually gone ahead of us, to repair good works in advance that we should walk in them. Now, beyond all of this, God has lavished so many other spiritual blessings on us, and I want to say specifically here in our American church context, incredible spiritual resources, seminaries that teach true doctrine, authors that write excellent books that help us in our Christian lives. Christian media making sermons and podcasts and other resources available to us constantly. Beyond that, there's just material blessings, ample food, clothing, shelter, for us, myriad luxuries, myriad pleasures, Common Grace blessings, beautiful scenery, stable government, good economy, peace, the blessings go on and on. And for us, specifically at this church, First Baptist in Durham, we have been so blessed by the spiritual gifts of other brothers and sisters. It's been going on for years. My family and I've been blessed for almost 21 years by a river of blessings that have come from the spiritual gifts of other brothers and sisters in this church. There's a heritage here of faithful gospel ministry has been going on for a long time. We have a strategic location, we're surrounded by good places of employment. The areas attractive to people. People are pouring in here, we have open doors of ministry opportunities here, lots of people who need to hear the gospel. So we are lavishly blessed. So, the danger is clear. I've already set it up, you understand what it is. These blessings, this river of blessing that's come to us by grace can make us complacent, can make us lazy. And actually bold in sin, presuming on God's patience and grace. Jesus Himself said in like 12:48, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." And we've been given much brothers and sisters, we've been given much. Now, Satan can use our blessings to lull us into carnal ease and arrogant over confidence, and we can relax our spiritual vigilance, and we can start playing with sins and with worldliness, and little by little become corrupt, and worldly ourselves. And by these devastating processes, Godlier and more gifted men than I have been disqualified from ministry. By this devastating process, Churches bigger and more lavishly blessed than ours have become corrupt and eventually Christ has removed the lamp stand. Key Command: Verse 12 So the key command is in Verse 12. Look at it if you would, "Therefore, but anyone who thinks that he stands, take heed lest he fall." That's the warning, that's the central warning in this text. If you think you're standing, you better watch out, you better take heed lest you fall. So the Scripture is a clear warning and it's a warning given to Christians, it's a warning given to spiritually blessed people, to Christians everywhere, in every generation for 2000 years, it's a warning to all of us, that we should live in a healthy fear of sin, that we would respond to the danger that every generation faces with the same kind of vigorous holiness and commitment to the Apostle Paul used to pursue his own race, "I beat my body and make it my slave, lest I will be disqualified." Israel’s History of Privilege and Sin And in order to make this point, and drive it home, Paul reaches to the history of Israel, the Jews, and Israel's history of spiritual privilege and their history of sin. So he's broadening this, now, the Corinthians were gentiles, so they might not have known Israel's history, as well as Paul did as a Jew. Paul then lists out Israel's lavish spiritual blessings in part, their spiritual blessing, but he does so remarkably using Christian imagery Christian language. Look at verse 1-4, "For I do not want you to be ignorant to the fact brothers that our forefathers were all under the cloud, and that they all passed through the sea, they were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, they ate the same spiritual food and they drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the Spiritual Rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ." So, just walking through it, He says, "I don't want you to be ignorant, I want to instruct you or remind you about some things from Jewish history." Our forefathers, when Paul writes that he means our Jewish ancestors. So Paul was a Jew so they were definitely his ancestors, but they were also the Corinthians' spiritual ancestors. Because we find out in other places in the Scripture, we who are believers in Christ are actually honorary sons and daughters of Abraham. We're honorary Jews. We, who are wild in nature and grew up in some wild olive tree, were cut off and grafted into a cultivated olive tree, a Jewish olive tree. And we derive life-giving sap, nourishing sap from this Jewish foundation of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Jewish heritage. So we are honorary Jews and we're drinking in that heritage. So it's your heritage too if you're a Christian. And notice the word, all, he emphasizes the word all. He says, "They were all under the cloud and they all passed through the sea and they all were baptized in the Moses in the cloud and the sea, and they all ate the same spiritual food, and they all drank the same spiritual drink." In other words, this wasn't a special privilege class of the Christians all of them had, or the Jews, all of them had that experience, all of them did. Universalizing it. Under the Cloud And then he says, they were under the cloud. So what that means is talking about the pillar of cloud, remember that went ahead of the Jews and led them and guided them where they should go. Pillar of cloud. And he says, they passed through the sea, this is referring to the Red Sea, which God miraculously opened up for them. So they passed over on dry ground when Pharaoh's army, the most powerful on earth at the time, pursued them the water crashed in and they drowned and they were destroyed. But Israel passed by in safety. And they were Paul says, baptized into Moses, in the cloud and in the sea. The word baptize means to be immersed. They were plunged in the Moses. They were immersed in Moses the leader, his leadership. They were immersed into his ministry, they were immersed into Moses's laws, they were immersed into the common experience of a super natural deliverance from Egypt and from bondage. They were immersed in that, they were baptized into it. And he says, they ate the same spiritual food. That is the mana, the bread from heaven that God provided for them every day in the desert. There was no food in the desert and God miraculously fed them with mana, the bread of heaven. And they all ate it. Eating Spiritual Food And he says, they drank the same spiritual drink, that was the water that flowed from the rock miraculously. There was no water for them to drink in the desert. And so, Moses struck the rock with his staff and the water just flowed and they drank from that rock. Now, Paul Christianizes these experiences using the word baptized into Moses and ate spiritual food and drank spiritual drink, like the Lord's supper, so he's I think bringing it over into Christian language, for their purpose. And he emphasizes that all of these spiritual experiences, the Jews went through were foretaste of Christ. Actually, he says that rock was Christ. So the Jews in some sense, partook in Christ at that time, Christ was the Angel of the Lord, who led them by the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire. God sent His angel, the angel of Lord ahead of them to leave them where they should go, that angel was Christ. And the one delivering them truly was not Moses, it was Jesus Christ. And Christ is the accompanying rock and He never changes, He's the same yesterday, and today and forever. He is the unchanging rock. Christ was alive back then pre-incarnate, He was saving his people from slavery in Egypt, He was their salvation. Now, these experiences were told, they're types and shadows, they're acted out prophecies. The living prophecies of the salvation that Christ would bring in the new covenant. So the Jewish nation that were brought out of slavery in Egypt experienced amazing things, they saw the 10 plagues, miraculous plagues on all of Egypt, they saw it with their own eyes. They saw the awesome Red Sea miracle, I think the most spectacular miracle God has ever done in history, just in terms of spectacle and the massive force needed to do it incredible. And they saw God descend in fire on Mount Sinai, and they heard the actual voice of God speaking the 10 commandments. Nevertheless, what a terrifying word that is? Nevertheless. Despite all of those blessings, nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, their bodies were scattered all over the desert. God killed them all, except Joshua and Caleb, that generation, He killed them all. That whole generation of Jews ended up being scattered throughout the desert over 40 years. They did not die all at once, but God killed them off little by little, allowing their children to grow up in their place, and to them, He would give the promises of crossing the Jordan and inheriting the promised land. They themselves died in the desert because they refused to believe God and trust Him and cross over in the time of the 10 spies. And they did not trust God and so God judged them and their bodies were scattered in the desert, He was not pleased with them. This is terrifying. And so, the apostle Paul is taking this terrifying history of the Jews and pressing it on to the conscience of Christians. Israel’s History of Sin Presented as a Direct Warning to All of Us Look at Verse 6. "Now, these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did." It's why it happened, God orchestrated this history and wrote it down through Moses, so that we could read it and take it to heart. Look again in Verse 11, "These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come." Look what Paul specifically said about them. In other words, we are reading Old Testament history to learn spiritual principles for us today as Christians, and part of that friends is warning. Part of what we get out of reading the Old Testament is warning. Look what he says about them. They set their hearts on evil things. All sin begins with lust, an evil desire that leads us astray, James says in James 1:14-15 "Each one is tempted by his own evil desire, lust, he is dragged away and enticed. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin when it is full-grown gives birth to death." Our hearts are prone to wander. And the same lust pull on our hearts is on theirs. These Jews lusted after sexual immorality, and they lusted after food and the pleasures of this world. So at this moment, you just have to stop and say, "Oh God, this is for me. This sermon is for me, this moment is for me, what is enticing my heart right now? What lusts are assaulting me? What is having an in-road into my life right now? What do I need to fight God? What areas of my bodily life do I need to beat down and enslave to Christ?" It's what we need to do, all of us. Secondly he said they indulged in idolatry and sexual immorality. Verse 7, "Do not be idolaters as some of them were, as it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry." So idolatry is not just bowing down to a golden calf as the Jews did, it's living for any created thing, any creature of God. So at that time when Moses went up on Mount Sinai and he was receiving the 10 commandments engraved with the finger of God and tablets of stone, they made a golden calf and they were feasting and getting drank and getting up from the feast to have an orgy. Exodus 32:6 literally says, they got up to play. And the word play there in the Hebrew is the same thing that Isaac was doing with his wife Rebecca, it's definitely sexual in nature, he's playing in that sense. And so they were just running wild in that play, sexual immorality. And then Paul makes it very clear in Verse 8, "We should not commit sexual immorality as some of them did, and in one day, twenty-three thousand of them died." The same desires assault our souls as well. They're a deadly danger now as much as they were then, God is no less holy now, the same God that killed 23000 of His own people then, He's just as holy now. He's just as against fornication now, sex outside of marriage, as He ever was then, He hasn't changed, He's the same God. And He killed people for those sins. Thirdly, these people tested the Lord. Look at Verse 9, "We should not test the Lord as some of them did and they were killed by snakes." This means to test God's patience, to provoke Him to His face, to be arrogant and push hard against God's laws, and challenge His authority and presume upon His grace. God sent poisonous snakes and many of them died. And they tested him again and again. Now some of you, I don't know who, I don't know who, but some of you may be living bold lives in sin right now, you may be pushing hard against what you know God has forbidden. And you are trying His patience, you do not realize that God's patience is meant to lead you to repentance. It says, concerning the symbolic woman, actual woman, but symbolically named Jezebel. And her followers, they were being led into sexual immorality in the Book of Revelation. The Lord says, "I have given her time to repent but she is unwilling." There is a time to repent, and you're putting God to the test. It's time to repent. Fourthly, the people grumbled against the Lord complaining about His provision for them. God supernaturally fed them with manna and they complained, they were sick of eating the manner, "We despise this loathsome food," they called it. This grumbling and complaining against the Lord's provision is a root issue, there's a roaming discontent that seizes our hearts and leads us into covetousness, and leads us into lust and into other things. We're not satisfied with the boundaries God has set for us and what He's given us, and so we roam and look for something else. So Paul cites this terrible history to prove that the spiritual privileges that we receive in Christ are no protection from the warfare we must fight. There are no protection from the holiness of God if His privileged people indulge in the same pattern of sin. Look again in Verse 6, "These things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did." Again, look at Verse 11, "These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come." II. Our Greater Privileges and Greater Danger So let's consider our greater privileges than the Jews, and our greater responsibility and our greater danger than theirs. Paul speaks of those on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. He's referring to the fulfillment that Jesus, the mediator has brought to us in the new covenant. This is the fulfillment of all the types and shadows and images of Israel's history. Jesus is a superior mediator, superior to Moses and to the angels, the author to Hebrews tells us. And this superior mediator has brought us a superior covenant, the new covenant superior to the old, a better covenant. And by that new covenant our sins are actually forgiven. Because the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sins. This is a better covenant. And it should result in a superior life, a life of faith as the author to Hebrews gives us. A life of obeying and following Christ by faith. So a superior mediator brings us a superior covenant resulting in a superior life. That's what it means to be those on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. Now, because our privileges are greater so is our responsibility from whom everyone has been given much, much will be demanded. And from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. So we're going to be asked for a lot on Judgment Day. God expects us to live at a higher level than the Jews of the old covenant. We have the example of Jesus Christ, the only perfect man that's ever lived, we have the actual finished work of Christ on the cross, His blood has been shed, it's not prophesied now, it's reported as Biblical history, it's occurred. He actually has been bodily raised from the dead, it's testified to in the four Gospels and in the Epistles. He's been raised from the dead, we have better examples, we have better promises, a better covenant. And we have as part of the new covenant blessing, the indwelling Holy Spirit. We have the third person of the Trinity living within us if we are born again. God expects, God demands therefore, a higher pattern of life than what Paul says the Jews did. Therefore, because of that our danger, is greater. God will not overlook our spiritual arrogance, He will not overlook willful wandering into sin. That's Paul's whole point here, the Jews are a warning for us not to indulge in these sinful patterns, in sexual immorality and worldly lust and idolatry. Now you may ask, "These temptations of the flesh are so powerful, so alluring. How can I possibly stand firm and not yield?" Now, next week's sermon God willing, I'm going to go into great detail on this, I'm going to go back and look at Verse 12 and 13 by itself. But let me give a brief overview of what he says in those sweet verses. III. Our Responsibility: Constant Vigilance First of all, constant vigilance. Verse 12, look at it again. "So if you think you're standing firm, take heed lest you fall." That's where it starts, for us as Christians, it starts with vigilance. If you think you're standing firm, I think in that sense means if you are spiritually arrogant or overconfident, if you think, "I got this, that's not going to be a problem for me ever again. I have overcome that area and I'm done with that sin problem." If that's your attitude, you better take heed, lest you fall. You may think, "I'm a Christian, all my sins are forgiven, I'm guaranteed of going to heaven, there's no condemnation for me in Christ Jesus. So I am free from all danger, I can just live my life as I please. I don't need to heed any of these warnings, there's no condemnation for me in Christ Jesus." You better take heed, that is not the way to see these things. Paul knew all about eternal security better than you. He wrote, "There is therefore now no condemnation." For those who are in Christ Jesus, for those who are led by the Spirit. We're going to talk more about that next week. There's a qualification around those words. And look at Paul, did Paul live like that, saying, "There's no condemnation for me, I'm fine." No, no, no, he said, "I take my role here very, very seriously. I take heed lest I fall." But he wasn't just looking at himself, he was looking at his brothers and sisters, he's looking horizontally. "I take heed over them too, I'm a shepherd of souls." And that's why he's writing these words, and so the elders of this church do well to shepherd others and be certain. Ask how you're doing, and we do that for each other, we should, we should watch over one another in brotherly love. Ask questions, have real fellowship at home fellowships. How was your prayer life? Is there anything you're struggling with we can pray for you? What kinds of temptations are lining up that are making it hard for you to walk with Christ? How can we really help you?" Have that kind of fellowship, be constantly vigilant. Paul feared temptations. And so he watched, he's constantly vigilant. If anyone thinks he's standing refers to any area of sin at all. You may have a past habit of drunkenness or drug addiction, and it's been a number of years since you fall into that area, you better take heed lest you fall. You may have a past history of internet pornography, you may have been on websites you shouldn't have been on, but it's been years now since you've done that, you say, "I'm never going to do that." You better take heed lest you fall. I was reading some history of the Romans, and I love history, I love military history. And the Roman Army when they were in enemy territory after days' march, they would make a fortified camp, that always followed a certain established pattern. They would choose high ground in a region, highest ground in the region, and it had to be surrounded by clear line of sight, not in the middle of forest somewhere, but surrounded by clear line of good space, good sight lines. And they would make a square camp, and they would dig a three-foot trench around the camp and they would use dirt to build a rampart, and they would direct a stout log fence or barricade at the top of the rampart, and then they would pitch their tents within the fortress and they would post sentries every 10 meters or so with a clear schedule of relieving them through the watches of the night so they wouldn't become sleepy. And the officers would meet with the commander at sundown and write down the night's password on wooden tablets, and then tablets would be passed to their centurions, and then on to the sentries. And then the tablets were returned to the centurions and back to the commanders so that none of those tablets could go missing. Then and only then were the Roman Army safely bed down for the night. Now, in the year 73 BC during a slaver volt led by a gladiator named Spartacus, the Roman commander Gaius Claudius Glaber, failed to follow these patterns to protect his army, he greatly underestimated the slaver volt, he did not dig the mode, he did not put up the palisade, they just went to bed. And Spartacus led a night raid and slaughtered the soldiers in their beds. Take heed, put the mode and the wall around, put sentries on the wall, watch. As Jesus said, "Watch and pray, so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the body is weak." Now, he says... "If anyone thinks he stands…" Paul said this, "When I'm weak then I'm strong." That's like a partner verse of this. What it means is, if I know I can't survive unless Jesus helps me, if I know I can't make it through a day without sin unless Jesus feeds me, if I know that He's the vine and I'm the branch and I have to abide in Him, and walk with Him by the Spirit and by the Word, if that's how I think then I'm actually strong. But he turn it around, "If I think I don't need Jesus, and I don't need prayer, and I'm fine in this area, nothing like that could ever happen to me, then I'm actually weak." So how can we be vigilant? Well, friends, we're going to talk more about that next week. But don't expect a single day off, fight sin every day. We're going to look next week at John Owen's mortification of sin, we're going to learn how to starve it to death and how to fight it. We're going to learn how to put on our spiritual armor every day, Ephesians 6, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. We're going to talk about how to learn from your own sins, how to learn from when you fail, don't just confess it and don't just mourn over it, do that but learn what did He do to get you? What temptations did He use to pick the locks of your resolve? You know one that I found consistently? Self-pity. When you feel like you've had a hard day, and things have been rough on you, and there's other circumstance are happening in your life maybe with your family, with your spouse or something like that, start feeling sorry for yourself, guess what? You probably have left open the door for some temptation to come and lay you low. So we've got to be vigilant and fight. We're going to talk more about this next week, but praise God for Verse 13, "No temptation that sees you except what is common to man, but God is faithful and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear, but with the temptation, He will provide a way of escape so that you can stand up under it." What a mystery? Stand up by running for your lives. We're going to talk about that next week. And I want to say one final thing, we pray every week that God would bring people here who are not yet Christians, and I trust that He answered that prayer again. Now, maybe you are among those who walked in here this morning not yet converted, these things that I'm giving, this advice that I'm giving are for Christians. For you the danger, should cause you to flee for the first time to Christ and to Him crucified and realize you can't fight any sin patterns on your own. The Bible says that apart from Christ, every individual is a slave to sin, you can't help yourself. And so if you see the seeds of your own destruction, you know that you sin in these ways, then God's laws are for you too. What they should make you do is flee to Christ, so flee to Him, don't leave this room unconverted. All you have to do is call on the name of the Lord Jesus and you will be forgiven, you will be saved. And then you can begin battling your sin like the rest of us need to. So come to Christ and trust in Him and receive grace, mercy and forgiveness. Close with me in prayer.

I. The Ridicule of the Worldly Wisdom I'd like to ask that you turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 1. We continue to make our way through this incredible book. Three times in these first two chapters, it is made plain that the cross is foolishness to those on the outside. We saw it last week in verse 18 of chapter 1. "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." And in this text, this morning, verse 23-24, "We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the Power of God and the wisdom of God." In the next chapter in chapter 2, verse 14, it says, "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." Since the very beginning of Christianity, the church has had to endure the mockery of the unbelieving world concerning our message. This goes even before the time of the apostles. It goes to the very circumstances of our Lord's crucifixion, when the Romans wrapped Jesus up with a purple robe and wove together a crown of thorns, and smashed it on his head and then knelt down in front of him, the Roman soldiers, and praised Him and worshipped him as King. They were mocking him. They did not know who He was. And when He was up on the cross, the citizenship there, the Jewish citizenship of Jerusalem came by and mocked Him the leaders mocked Him and "He saved others… but he can’t save himself…Let Him come down now from the cross and we will believe in Him." They mocked him that very day. And in that song we sang earlier, "Ashamed, I hear my own mocking voice cry out among the scoffers." We also were of the same disposition. We're no better than those people. The world has this kind of mocking reaction to Christ and to the things of God. And we see that in every generation, also when the best and the brightest of that generation lead out in mocking Christianity, and it's very intimidating. The intelligentsia, the cultured elite in every generation, have generally mocked Christianity and Christians and the world's laughter can be very painful to endure and it can actually throw us back a bit. To be back on our heels, "Could we be wrong, could Christianity be wrong. Is it actually worthy of scorn? Am I weird? Is there something wrong with me that I'm a Christian?" The mocking has been going on a long time. In the ancient catacombs of Rome, there is found a mocking cartoon done by some unbeliever, of a man on a cross with a donkey's head. And someone else bowing down and worshipping. Felix worships his God, mocking the idea of God on the cross. The Scoffing of Voltaire Ancient, it's been around a long time. And in every generation, the brilliant ones use satire and mockery to lay low Christianity. I mentioned Voltaire last week, the French philosopher, skeptic writer, moralist lived during the last half of the 1700s in around the time of Ben Franklin, the American Revolution around that time. He had nothing but scorn and mockery for the established church there in France. He was speaking of the second coming of Christ, He said, "Why had not Christ kept His promise to come in a cloud with power and great glory, to establish the kingdom of God before that generation should pass away? What had detained him? Was the fog too thick?" I can just hear the laughter. People just laughing and mocking. The Scoffing of Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson same thing. He was talking about the Trinity, he said, "There's nothing I can do for an idea I can't conceptualize. Ridicule is the only weapon that can be used against unintelligible propositions like the trinity, ideas must be distinct before reason can act on them, and no man ever had a distinct idea of the Trinity. It is the mere abracadabra of the charlatans calling themselves the priests of Jesus." Thomas Jefferson. Best and the brightest. The Scoffing of Mark Twain Mark Twain a century later was obsessed with the Bible and with mocking it. It was like almost his central life work. Mark Twain said, "If Christ had really been God, he could have proved it since nothing's impossible with God. When God wants to prove that the sun and the moon may be depended upon to do their daily work, day and night, he has no difficulty about it. It's only when He apparently wants to prove a future life beyond the grave to us that His invention fails and He comes up against a problem that is beyond the reach of His alleged omnipotence. He can't seem to convince the world that we can live after death, that Christ rose from the dead." Well he couldn't convince Mark Twain anyway. The Scoffing of Thomas Edison Thomas Edison inventor of the light bulb and a thousand other patentable inventions. Brilliant practical scientist, had no patience for Christianity, he said "Nature is what we know. We do not know the gods of religions. And nature is not kind or merciful or loving. If God made me the fabled God of the three qualities mercy, kindness, and love. He also made the fish I catch and eat, and where do his mercy, kindness and love for that fish come in? No, nature made us, nature did it all. Not the gods of the religions, I cannot believe in the immortality of the soul, I am an aggregate of cells as for instance New York City is an aggregate of individuals. Will New York City go to Heaven? No all this talk of existence beyond the grave is wrong. It is born in the imagination of men." The Scoffing of Steve Jobs Even in our generation, Steve Jobs, who recently died… He was the CEO of Apple and inventor of the iPhones and iPads that have shaped the experience of people all over the world in our generation, one of the most influential people in the world. He was raised in a church-going Lutheran family. But in 1968 when he was 13 years old, he saw a photograph in an issue of Life Magazine, a cover photograph of a pair of starving children in Africa, in Biafra. And he was understandably deeply troubled by this photo and went to his Lutheran pastor for an explanation. And in that conversation with the pastor, Jobs held up a finger, and he said to the pastor, "Did God know I would hold up this finger before I did? The pastor rightly said, "Yes, God knows everything." Then Jobs produced the Life magazine photo, "Well, does God know about this? And did he... And does He know what's going to happen to these children? Well the pastor at this point simply said, "Steve, I know you don't understand, but yes, God knows about this." But the pastor at that time gave no biblical explanation of the problem of evil, or how the cross of Christ is God's answer to the problem of evil, he just said, it's beyond your ability to understand. And so this young brilliant searching soul, Steve Jobs, announced he could never have anything to do with worshipping such a god, and he never went back to church again. Now, Jobs pursued spirituality, Buddhism, gurus, hallucinogenic drugs, right to the end of his life, there was a guru by his bedside. He didn't mock Jesus, he sought to live after a moralistic Jesus that he could understand, not the one of the Bible. I could multiply stories of amazingly brilliant men and women who reject biblical Christianity. You know what I'm talking about. Late night talk show hosts, make a living mocking Christianity and Christians. It's on the internet, it's everywhere. It's especially hard on the college campus. I remember shortly after I came to Christ at MIT, I took a Bible class at MIT. I mean, you might say, "What were you thinking? What did you expect?" But me and some of my friends from crew, from Campus Crusade for Christ thought we would go ahead and take it. We ended up calling it blasphemy and heresy 101. I actually went on to take blasphemy and heresy 102 as well. There were two Bible classes, two consecutive semesters. You were like, "What, did you hope the second class would be better than the first?" I don't know, I think I was hoping to evangelize the professor. But the college campus can be very intimidating. Some time ago, I came across a quote by a Princeton Philosophy professor. Guy named Richard Rorty, openly declared to Christian parents of evangelical kids, his commitment to mock their faith and to change their kids. "We try to arrange things, so that students who enter as bigoted, homophobic, religious fundamentalists, will leave college with views more like our own. But we do our best to convince these students of the benefits of secularization. So we're going to go right on trying to discredit you in the eyes of your children, trying to strip your fundamentalist religious community of dignity, trying to make your views seem silly, worthy of mockery rather than discussable. We are not so inclusivist in our Liberal Arts education. Liberal means free, a free exchange of ideas. We are not so inclusivist as to tolerate intolerance such as yours. I think those students are actually lucky to find themselves under the benevolent dictatorship of people like me, and to have escaped the grip of their frightening, vicious, dangerous parents." But please send us the tuition money. So for us Christians it can be very distressing to find the cultured elite, the best and the brightest, mocking Christianity. In every generation, it is the case. The Scoffing of the Athenians Now, the Apostle Paul had to face that mockery in his day, and he's writing out of that context here to the Corinthians. He endured it in Acts 17 before he came to Corinth he was in Athens, and he preached there on Mars Hill. A select group of Epicureans and stoic philosophers assembled there to hear him preach the gospel. And so he made the case, he preached Christ and him crucified and resurrected. And they mocked him at the beginning, they said, "What is this babbler trying to say?" And they mocked him at the end, some of them sneered but others did say "We'd like to hear you again on this topic." But that's the kind of mockery. Now Paul addresses this mockery, this foolishness that the world sees of Christianity of the cross here in the text we're looking at today, look again, at verses 22-25, "The Jews demand a miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. A stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the Power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength." II. We Preach Christ Crucified (verse 23) What is the “Message of the Cross”? Let's begin in the middle of verse 23, "We preach Christ crucified." So here we're asking back in verse 18. What is the message of the cross? The testimony about God. What is he talking about here? Paul says, "We preach Christ crucified." Well this is the center of the gospel, which God ordained for the salvation of the world and it centers on the person of Christ, we preach Christ. What does that mean? Well, Christ, the word means Anointed One, the Messiah. It's the Greek word for the anointed one, and Paul said Jews demand miraculous signs. Judaism is a supernatural religion. It's a religion birthed in the supernatural, in the interference so to speak of God into this world miraculously. It's a religion-based not just on miracles, but also on miraculous predictions of the future. Miraculous prophecies and the Christ, the coming Son of David was a prophesied figure, a miraculously predicted figure. So we preach that this predicted figure, Christ has come, that God has fulfilled centuries of prophecies in this person of Christ, we preach Christ. Moses, the founder of the national religion of the Jews was a miraculous figure himself. He had been predicted 400 years before that to Abraham in Genesis 15, that Abraham's descendants would be strangers in a country not their own, they would be enslaved and mistreated 400 years. "But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions." Genesis 15. So Moses had been predicted though not specifically by name, that there would be a deliverer, someone had to lead them out. And so Moses was predicted and when he came, he did signs, and wonders, miraculous signs and wonders to establish his credibility and so that the people would follow him. He was a miraculous, a wonder working figure. His staff turned into a serpent, he put his hand in his cloak and it came out leprous then he put it back in and it was healed again. But even more he predicted, and then God used him to perform 10 miraculous plagues on Egypt, and then he led them through the Red Sea. He was a wonder working leader, a miraculous leader. He fed them with manna from heaven, and with water that came out of a rock. These were miracles. Now, the next great leader in Jewish history was King David, and David had it in his heart to build a permanent residence for the Ark of the Covenant. It had been in a tent. He wanted to build a temple. God basically said "You're not going to build a house for me, I'm going to build a house for you." And then he made what's known as the Davidic covenant, a promise to David, 1 Chronicles 17:11-14, "I will raise up your offspring to succeed you… I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever." the Son of David, the descendant of David. And that's who the Jews were waiting for, and when the Jews were expelled out of the Promised Land because of their sins and their idolatries, the prophets had warned that it would happen. But then the time came, there was the diaspora, the spreading of the Jews all around that region of the world and their desire, their interest in the Messiah, the Christ intensified. They wanted the Christ to come, they were expecting the Christ to come. So in Jesus's day, especially under the total domination of the Roman Empire. The Jews were eager for the Christ to come. You see this again and again, like in John's Gospel, the Samaritan woman remember her? And she said toward the end of that interaction with Jesus, "I know that Messiah called Christ is coming and when He comes, He will explain everything to us." A few chapters later, in John's gospel in John 7:27 they said, "When the Christ comes no one will know where he is from." Well, whether that's true or not, they're expecting the Christ to come. In that same chapter, and it says of the crowd, "Many in the crowd put their faith in him." Because of his miracles, they said "when the Christ comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man?" So you see they're expecting, they're waiting for the Christ to come. So he was a figure of prophecy, and Paul says "We preach Christ. We preached that the one that the Jews had been waiting for centuries, has now come in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. At the right time, God fulfilled these predictions, these prophecies by sending His son. The very first thing we learn about Jesus in the New Testament is amazingly in a genealogy. Study the genealogies, it's how the New Testament begins. The best genealogy to memorize, and you say Pastor, "Why would I memorize a genealogy?" I'm not saying it's the first thing you should memorize, but the best genealogy to memorize is Matthew 1:1 cause it's really short. "A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, son of Abraham," says it all. So the first thing said about Jesus in the New Testament is he is the fulfillment of the prediction, the long-awaited Jesus has come now, the Messiah has come. He is the Son of David. Now, Jesus was more however, than just the Son of David, and that's what the Jews could not accept, they were not ready for it. But Mary understood, the virgin Mary, when the angel Gabriel announced to her that she would give birth to the Son of David, He told her more than that though. Gabriel said "The Holy Spirit will come upon you. And the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born of you will be called the Son of God." Wow, that's a lot for a teenage girl to ponder. It says that Mary treasured these things up in her heart and pondered them, but he was the Son of David. Yes, fully human, but he was also the Son of God, fully God. Now, in the course of time, when he was about 30 years old, he began his public ministry and the Holy Spirit came on him and empowered him to do miraculous signs and wonders, a river of them. And as a matter of fact, no one in the history of the Bible, or in the history of the Church has ever done anywhere near as many miracles as Jesus did. A river of miracles were done through Jesus, such as Matthew 4:24. "News about him spread all over Syria and people brought to him, all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon possessed, the epileptics and the paralytics, and He healed them." We have absolutely no idea how many miracles that is. As a matter of fact, John, at the end of his gospel, said that if all the stories about the miracles were written, the whole world couldn't contain the books that would be written. But the central reason why Jesus came was to die on the cross as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. That's why God sent him, above any other reason. John the Baptist, the forerunner to Jesus, the last of the old covenant Jewish prophets, pointed to Jesus and said, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world." Incredibly important statement. Effectively, John was saying this one, this man, is the Son of God, and He has come to be the fulfillment of the animal sacrificial system. All of those animal sacrifices that were the center of the Jewish religion, have been fulfilled in this man, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. You remember the lessons of the animal sacrificial system? Number one: All sin deserves the death penalty. Without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness of sins, that's lesson number one. Lesson number two: The death penalty can be paid by a substitute, so that the guilt can be transferred off the people and put on the substitute and the substitute dies the bloody death they deserved to die, and they go free. The third lesson of the animal sacrificial system is, the substitute cannot be an animal. The endless repetition shows it's just symbolic. The table was set for the true substitute, the true atoning sacrifice, and that's Jesus. "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world." And that substitution of Jesus at the cross is the essence of the message of the cross. As Isaiah the prophet had predicted so clearly seven centuries before, in Isaiah 53:5-6, "He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Those two verses are the clearest in all the Bible, including the New Testament, on substitutionary atonement. That Jesus, by dying under the wrath of God in our place, has taken away our penalty and freed us from guilt and hell, and given us eternal life. That's the message of the cross. That's what the Jews found to be a stumbling block, and that's what the Greeks said was foolishness. Why Did Paul Preach the Message of the Cross? Now, why did Paul preach it? So we covered, "We preach Christ," that's the message. Why did he preach it? He went from place to place; everywhere he went, if there was a Jewish synagogue, he would go there first. Said in Romans chapter one, to the Jews first, then to the Gentiles. So he'd go there and he would try to reason with them on Sabbath days, from the Scripture, trying to prove that Jesus was the Christ. He also went out in the Gentile market places and he would explain and reason with them and try to prove that this Christ was their Savior as well, not just for the Jews, but also for Gentiles. Why did he do that? Well, because God has willed that sinners, like you and me, be made right by hearing a preached message and believing it in our hearts, and that's it. Not by works, but by hearing, with faith, are our sins forgiven. That's the way that God has always justified, or made right, sinners with Him. Not by works, but by hearing a promise with faith. As it says in Romans 3:23-25, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely, that is forgiven of their sins and made right with God, justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, or a propitiation, through faith in His blood." That's how sinners are made right with God. And so that faith comes not by doing any good works. It says later in that same chapter, Romans 3:28, "We maintain that a person is justified by faith and not by works of the law." Now, Romans 10:17 tells us later, in that book of Romans, "Faith comes by hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word of Christ." So it's times just like this, in which the gospel is simply and clearly proclaimed, that people hear and believe. That's how it happens. Now, Paul says earlier than that, Romans 10:8-10, he says, "‘The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,’ that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." As he says a few verses later, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." But then he asks a series of important questions. I'm asking the question, why did Paul preach Christ? This is why: Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, but he said, "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in someone they've never heard of? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach, unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’" That's Paul's personal life mission. That we should take the message of the gospel to those who have not yet heard or not yet believed. That's why he preached it. So, verse 23, "We preach Christ crucified." But neither Jews nor Greeks naturally were disposed to receive such a message. So look at verse 22, "Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom." That's what they were ready for. So he was preaching to a hostile audience everywhere he went. Now, the Jews demand miraculous signs because their religion, as I said, is a supernatural religion. God birthed the Jewish nation through a miracle done by an elderly couple, a man who was 100 years old and a woman, a barren wife, who was 90 years old and they, together, had a miracle baby named Isaac. And so the Jewish nation was birthed through supernatural power. God also did signs and wonders, as I mentioned, through Moses, in delivering them out of bondage to Egypt, a miraculous religion. And again and again, God raised up prophets, many of whom, not all of whom, but many of whom did miracles. All of them did miracles in predicting the future. But some of them, like Elijah and Elisha, also did signs and wonders. So when Jesus came, making amazing claims about himself, the Jews demanded to see miracles so that he should prove himself. Now, as I said, Jesus did more miracles than could ever be cataloged or written about. But they still demanded more; it was never enough! Day after day, they came and wanted more miracles. Matthew 12:38-40, it says, "Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law came to him and said, ‘Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you.’" This is after all those healings. This is after feeding the 5,000. This is after all of the things he'd done. "We want to see a miraculous sign from you." Jesus said, "A wicked and adulterous generation asked for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." So the miraculous sign the Jews were demanding is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's it, that's the sign to the nation. The resurrection. Now, the miracles were, and still are valid evidences, on which we can base our faith in Him that he's the Son of God. John 14:11, Jesus said, "Believe me when I say to you, that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves." John 14:11. So they are a valid basis for faith. Now, the apostles, when they would go out and preach, they would occasionally do miracles as well. Not anywhere near as many as Jesus, but they did them. Paul healed some people. As a matter of fact, some handkerchiefs were taken from Paul to a sick person, the sick person was made well. Now, I'm not advocating that today, not at all. I mean, you can see this kind of stuff on TV. But it actually happened back in Paul's days. The things that mark an apostle, signs and wonders, were done among you with great perseverance. So Paul did miracles, so did they all, but still, it's never enough. They're always demanding more miraculous signs. You remember the greatest miracle in Jesus's life, not counting his own resurrection, was the resurrection of Lazarus from the grave. Remember? He'd been dead for four days, now he's alive. He had quite a story to tell. I'd want to ask him questions about those four days, so would you, I know you would. He probably had no memory, I'm thinking he had no memory of those four days, because then he would be filled with misery. "Why am I back here?" But he had a job to do and that was to testify to the greatness of Jesus in his life. But you know what the Jews did? Instead of believing in Jesus, they conspired to kill, not only Jesus, but now Lazarus too. Let's kill him. Jews demand miraculous signs and the Greeks are looking for wisdom. By that, Paul means a polished system of philosophy, with rhetorical public speaking experts, that went around from place to place, they were called the Sophists, and they would get money for preaching polished, high-sounding philosophies. And the Greeks loved this kind of thing, it was their entertainment and they would pay well if the guy was good. So that's what the Greeks are looking for, they're not looking for somebody like me. But what both Jewish skeptics and Greek skeptics did not realize is that Christ crucified is the infinite answer to both. Jesus is the greatest display of power there has ever been on planet Earth. He is also the greatest display of wisdom there ever has been on planet earth. III. Jewish Rejection: The Cross is a Stumbling Block Now, Jewish rejection was based on the fact that the cross was a stumbling block. Do you see that? Look at verse 23, "We preach Christ crucified: A stumbling block to the Jews." A "scandalon" in the Greek. Scandalized by this. The message of the cross was deeply offensive to the Jews of Jesus's day and of Paul's day. So much so that Paul would frequently start, inadvertently start riots, almost everywhere he preached. His Jewish opponents got so violent in Jerusalem that they were throwing off their cloaks and kicking up dust in the air with their eagerness to kill this man. Earlier, a number of them took an oath not to eat again until they had assassinated Paul. Now that's a high level of commitment, because they hated his message so much. The Incarnation Was Offensive Why? Well first, the incarnation itself was offensive. The Jews believed in one God and only one God, the Shema, "Hear, oh Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, there is one God and only one God." But Jesus claimed to be that one God. He claimed to be the son of the eternal God, and he openly said in John 10:30, "I and the Father are one." And when the Jews heard this, they picked up stones to stone him. Jesus said, "I've shown you many great miracles signs from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?" "We're not stoning you for any of these… but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God." That's offensive; that's a scandalon; that's a stumbling block to us. Not only that, they were told, they were instructed in their law, what to do with even a wonder-working prophet who predicted things that actually came true, but told Israel to worship another God. This is in Deuteronomy 13. If any a dreamer or prophet comes and he's working miracles, but he's telling you to worship gods, gods neither you nor your fathers have known, then you must kill him. God is testing you to see whether you love him with all your heart. That's Deuteronomy 13:1-5. But Jesus wasn't preaching another god, he was preaching to be the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Son of God, and that was deeply offensive, but even worse, by far, was the idea of a crucified messiah. The Crucified Messiah Was Offensive That their messiah, their Son of David, could end up dead on a Roman cross, was infinitely offensive to them. It was a stumbling block more than we can possibly imagine. They were waiting for a Son of David who would destroy the Romans, throw off the Roman yoke and set up a kingdom from sea to shining sea. Psalm 72:8-11 is their scriptural support among any verses. Listen to this, "He will rule from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. The desert tribes will bow down before him and his enemies will lick the dust. All kings will bow down to him and all nations will serve him." They were waiting for that. And oh, how sick they were of the Romans. So when Jesus rides in with a triumphal entry and they're cheering and saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David," what is it they're expecting? They're expecting the revolution is imminent. Instead, that same week, Jesus was crucified, he was dead on a Roman cross. And this was so offensive to them. You remember how Pontius Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened over the head of Jesus on the cross, This is Jesus, the "King of the Jews." And he had it written in three languages, so that everyone could get his message. Do you remember the Jewish leaders came to Pilate said, "Take it down, it's offensive. Do not write, ‘King of the Jews,’ but, this man claimed to be the King of the Jews." Pilate said, "What I have written, I have written." Interesting guy, Pilate. That's another sermon for another day. But they were so offended that this, the King of the Jews, could actually be dead on a Roman cross. And the clearest proof of all was a statement in Deuteronomy 21:22-23, "If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his body is hung on a tree, you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God's curse." So there's no way, in the Jewish mindset, that the Son of David, the ultimate blessed one of God, could be ultimately cursed by God. Made no sense, so that's a done deal, he's not the Messiah. Well, how did Paul work it out? Paul was bothered by this, wasn't he? Saul of Tarsus, he was deeply offended by this, you remember? And he had it in his mind, he had to destroy this religion of Christianity. And so he's on the road to Damascus, you know the story. Suddenly, a blinding light flashed around him and a voice came from heaven. "Saul, Saul. Why do you persecute me?" "who are you, Lord?" He asked. "I am Jesus." Those words changed everything for Paul. Everything. Changed everything for the world. "I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. Now, get up and go into the city and you'll be told what you must do." He was blinded, literally blinded, by that brilliant light. But some things were very clear. First of all, Jesus was alive, so therefore he had risen from the dead. He's in glory, therefore he is Lord. And he didn't kill him, though he was persecuting him. He had work for him to do. But what about that whole curse thing? And I don't know when the Holy Spirit instructed him about the cross and made it no longer a stumbling block, but now the wisdom of God, but somewhere in there, he came to understand how it is that Jesus could be both the blessed one of God, and still a curse from God. And so he wrote about it in Galatians 3:13, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.’" So Jesus took our curse. We deserved to die under the wrath of God. Jesus stood in our place, the lightning rod, and took the lightning strike for us, that we might not be cursed. So that's, to the Jews, a stumbling block. IV. Greek Rejection: The Cross is Foolishness To the Greeks, the cross is foolishness. Made no sense why a sublime spirit being like God, the God of Plato and Aristotle and Socrates would take on a human body. They were trying to get up out of the body and get into a spiritual realm. Why would God do that? And even worse, if He did that, He would be very famous, I think. He would be the glorious king of the world. Instead, he gets born in some obscure place to some Jewish peasant girl and then it doesn't go well for him, he actually ends up arrested and dead like a slave on a Roman cross. Really hard to believe. And even beyond that, you're telling me that if I as a Greek believe in this Jewish carpenter, my sins will be saved before a Jewish God? Doesn't make much sense, seems pretty foolish to me. So, the audience is set against this message and friends, it's still true today. When we go out this week to share the Gospel, you're going to meet the same kinds of reactions, foolishness worthy of mockery or that's offensive to me. What you're sharing is offensive. You're going to meet the same responses and this is the answer. V. For the Called: The Cross is the Power and Wisdom of God Now, your outline says, "The cross is the power and wisdom of God," but the text actually... Got the outline wrong, sorry. "Christ is the power and the wisdom of God." To some degree in this text, they seem to be one and the same. The Cross and Christ are united. Look at verse 23,24, "We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles." Verse 24, "But to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God." The sovereign calling of God is everything here. God has the power to call you out of darkness into light. He has the power to take out your heart of stone through the Holy Spirit and give you a heart of flesh. He has the power to give eyes, give the eyes of your heart light so that you can see the truth. That's the calling of God to the called, to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks. Now, there are two calls in the gospel one of them is external, it's heard through sound. You've been hearing that since you've heard me preaching today, your ear drums vibrate. That's the external call. That goes on all over the world. That's the external call only though. That doesn't save your soul. Jesus said, "Many are called, but few are chosen." This is referring to, I think the internal call of the Holy Spirit of God. And the thing that's so powerful about that is God has the power to call things into existence, that didn't exist a moment before. Remember at creation, God says, "Let there be light." He says the word light before there is light and then there is light. God says, "Let the waters on the earth be gathered together in one place and let dry ground appear and behold it's so." God had the power to say to a barren couple, Abraham and Sarah, "Be pregnant Sarah. A year from now, Sarah, you will hold a son and Abraham will be the father." One year from now. Paul talking about that in Romans 4:17, speaks about "the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were." So before God calls you the cross is foolishness or a stumbling block. But then when He calls you, when He says to Lazarus, "Lazarus come forth," then suddenly there's life, and there is light and there is power. The Holy Spirit of God does that. Look again at 1 Corinthians 2:14, the next chapter. "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." So I took that verse and turned it around. Let's turn it around. The person with the Spirit does accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are no longer foolishness to him, but have become wisdom. The cross of Christ is no longer weakness or a stumbling block, but it has become the power of God to save their souls. So the Spirit enables a person to understand the cross of Christ and see it spiritually for what it really is. And notice that the called are from both Jews and Greeks. There are, I don't know what, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of Jews who believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the Son of God. Called the Messianic Jews are some of the most delightful people you'll ever meet. And there are Greeks too, that's all of us non Jews, literally hundreds of millions of those, who believe that Jesus actually is the Son of God, and is their Savior. We are the called of God, and to us, the cross has become the power of God for our salvation, and wisdom of God. VI. The Superiority of God’s Wisdom and Power And finally in verse 25, we see the superiority of God's wisdom and power. "For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength." That's better than the ESV translation that says, "Wiser than man…" "Stronger than man…" It's in the genitive form, so it's the man's what? It's ellipsis, it leaves a word out. So I think the NIV does a good job translating here. "The foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom [that of man] and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength." So even the tiniest bit of God's wisdom, even what we might think of as foolishness, is still wiser than anything we'd ever do. Jesus said, "Consider how the lilies grow. They don't labor or spin. …not even Solomon in all his splendor is dressed like one of these." Have you ever picked a wild flower, and just looked at it? I did it some time ago with a violet, little purple flower. And I studied it for a long time. I don't know what I was hoping to learn, but I was doing what Jesus said. "Consider the lilies of the field." I was just looking at it and I said, "This is a wonderful, marvelous creation of God." It's just a piece of foolishness from God. It's here today, and tomorrow is thrown in the fire. And you could say, "God, do you realize people are going to heaven and hell every day? There's big things going on here in the world God, and you're making a little flower." Yes, God does that kind of thing. He's causing flowers to grow all over the world, He loves them and He just makes them pretty. Even the smallest bit of God's foolishness is wiser than anything we could do. All we do is observe and study, and use things. God made them. But this foolishness here isn't talking about the wild flower. It's talking about the cross. That which seems to be foolishness to us actually is infinite wisdom. That which seems to be weak, is actually the most powerful thing that has ever been. VII. Applications Applications. First, if you're not yet a Christian, I'm delighted you're here I prayed that you would come this morning. You overcame a battle probably to get up and keep the promise to your friend, or to walk in here. I prayed that God would help you do that. I remember that battle when I was 19, a junior at MIT, I had that battle. It was hard. So I'm praising God that you're here. It could be that in the call of the Gospel, that external thing you've been hearing, that God has moved something in your heart and that you actually are beginning to see the cross of Christ differently than you've ever seen before. Friends, that's how salvation happens, that's exactly how it occurs. Don't wait to call on the name of the Lord. In your heart cry out and say, "Oh God, save me from my sins through Jesus. I want to trust in Christ as my Lord and Savior, and He will save you. Because everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Now, if you're a Christian, I'm delighted you're here. I'm not just delighted for non-Christians. I'm glad you're here because we're not done being saved either. The cross is still the power of God for our salvation as well. So start with this: Be confident that God is going to vindicate the cross at the end of time. You're not on the wrong side of this thing. The mockery of the world will fade away like the crackling of thorns in a fire. The proverb says that the fool's laughter is like the crackling of thorns in a fire. It's nothing. And then it will be gone. And Christ... The wisdom of Christ at the cross and the power of God and the cross will be vindicated on Judgment Day. So, don't be intimidated by the really shrewd, clever, funny, talk show host type people or professors that mock our religion. It cannot be mocked. Secondly, see the wisdom of God and humbling pride at the cross, and be more humble than you are. I'm not done being humbled yet. I can't believe how strong my pride is. The cross needs to keep slaying my pride and yours too. So be humbled by the cross. Thirdly, trust in the power of God, to finish saving you. The cross isn't done with you yet. And so He who began a good work in you, by calling you out of darkness into light, He will complete it, until the day of Christ Jesus. He will not stop saving you by the power of the cross. Be confident of that. No one can snatch you out of the Father's hand, or out of Jesus's hand. Fourthly, speak the message of Christ and him crucified, to people who are set against it. Don't be intimidated, don't be afraid. They may mock you they may become angry at you. More likely they'll be indifferent and say, "That's good for you. I've got my own thing." But persevere. Let's speak the message of the cross this week to someone here in the Durham area, the Raleigh area. Let's speak Christ... And let's trust in it and not be ashamed. Fifth, the message of the cross teaches us that God's ways are different, than ours, and that God sometimes offends us by what he does. John the Baptist was tempted to be offended at the cross. Jesus said, "Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of me." The things that God does are sometimes difficult for us to accept. So if you're going through suffering, affliction, you're having a financial trouble, a medical problem, you've been praying and God is not doing what you want. Just understand that God's ways are not your ways, God is working a higher purpose in your life, trust in His wisdom. Trust in His power even though it's perhaps initially offensive to you, what he's doing. And then finally, understand that this message of the cross is for the whole world. Not just for us here in the Raleigh/Durham area. Let's be a missions church, a church that's committed to taking the message of the gospel to those who have never heard the name of Christ. Close with me in prayer. Father, We thank you for the time that we've had to study this incredible passage. We thank you for all the things that we've learned in it. And we ask Lord, that You would please sustain and strengthen each of us to see the message and the truth of the cross. That it's not foolishness, but actual perfect wisdom. It's not weakness, but actually it's perfect power. Lord, we thank You for the way that the Word of God teaches us the truth. Help us, O Lord by the Spirit to see it working in our lives. God I pray, give us a heart of compassion to the lost that surround us in the college campus, in the workplace, in our neighborhoods, just people we meet here in the triangle area. Help us to share this message of the cross with them in Jesus name, Amen.

Finishing Well And so we come to the final verses in Romans. We do not come to the final sermon in Romans. Next week I'm going to preach one sermon on all 16 chapters. How in the world I'm going to do that, I don't have the first idea, but I have this week to figure that out. But these are the final verses that I'll be carefully expositing for you. I began this sermon series years ago, well over 100 and, maybe 110 sermons and now we come to this closing doxology. And I think it's important to finish well, don't you think? I mean, so many people begin things and they don't finish them. I know that's a besetting sin of mine. I'm not going to stand up here and bear my soul to you, so I'll talk more in the abstract about things in general that have begun and not finished, not that I have that problem. I'm not talking about that, but I could. But the fact is we struggle finishing things. You begin a letter and you don't finish it, and you find it a few weeks later, and now it's in no condition to send, wrinkled up or something like that. Or a hobby, you buy a kit and it looks good to you on the outward package, but then you look at the 76-page manual of instruction and you think that "I'll never get this finished," or a dress that you're sewing or something like that and you get it halfway done and you can't finish it. Or then there's the workout regimen that you bought complete with the training video and all that, found that in the storage a little while ago, never got to that. You know we begin things and we don't finish them, and that's a problem for us, but it is not a problem for Almighty God, amen? What God begins, He finishes, and not only does He finish it, He finishes it gloriously with a glorious flourish. We see that in the physical creation in Genesis chapter two, a summary statement after God had created heaven and earth. And six days, it says in Genesis 2, "Then thus the Heavens and the Earth were completed in all their vast array and by the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing. And so on the seventh day, He rested from all his work." He surveyed everything that He had made, and behold it was very good, finished it gloriously. But even better is the work of redemption in Christ. Think about what Jesus said the night before He died. In John 17:4, He said, "Father, I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do." Oh wouldn't it be beautiful to say that for just one day, to say I did everything you wanted me to do today, Father? But Jesus said it for His whole lifetime. But of course there was something else yet to be done, and He did it the next day, and as He was finishing that, namely our blood atonement on the cross as his life blood was being poured out and all the scripture prophecies had been fulfilled, after He had tasted the wine vinegar, everything was completed. After He had tasted that, He said, "It is finished." It's perfect. And then He died. And so He finished his atoning work for us gloriously. But that wasn't the end either because God raised him from the dead on the third day, and He did it with glory in a resurrection body, a glorious body, so it says in 1 Peter 1:21, "God raised Him from the dead and glorified Him." And so He's glorious now. And then how about the new heavens and the new earth? What God begins, He finishes and that with great glory. Revelation 21, "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and there was no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband." Oh, how glorious will the church be then. And what a glorious time that will be for us. Later in that same chapter, one of the seven angels who have the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." And he carried me away in the spirit to a mountain great and high and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, and it shone with the glory of God. And its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal. Oh, what God begins He finishes and that gloriously. And that's true of each one of us in our own personal journeys of salvation. What He begins in us, He will finish, and that gloriously. Says in Hebrews 12:2, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith." He isn't just the one who begins our faith, He perfects it. Or Philippians 1:6, "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." And in that day, you will be glorious. "Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of our Father." For it says in Romans 8:30, "Those whom He predestined, He also called, and those whom He called, He also justified, and those He justified, He also glorified." You see, what God begins in eternity past, He will finish and that gloriously. So we come to the final words of the book of Romans, the greatest letter ever written. And what God began through the apostle Paul, he now finishes gloriously with this incredible doxology. I. God IS the Gospel, so to God Be the Glory Now as I look at this and the Book of Romans and I have this week to kind of draw it together in one message, to try to understand what it's all about, I come to this, that it's about the gospel. And ultimately God is the gospel. The word gospel is good news and God is the gospel because God is so good and he's bringing us to himself. He is what we get after all of this. He's our very great reward, as He said to Abraham. And so what better way to finish the book of Romans than a total focus on God Himself? And so Paul writes, "Now to him who is able to establish you, to the only wise God, be glory forever." There's a focus in these verses on God Himself. And so we focus completely on Him. Now it's a theologically thick, dense statement just as the whole book has been theologically thick and dense. And it's reasonable for us to close this way because Romans is the greatest statement of the gospel in the Bible. And ultimately, God is the Gospel. And notice how this exactly is how Paul began the letter. If you were to go back to the very beginning of Romans, this is how it starts. "Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, and set apart for the gospel of God, the gospel of God, the gospel He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, it's a predicted gospel He promised ahead of time in the Holy Scriptures through the prophets, regarding His Son, Jesus Christ, who as to His human nature was the descendant of David, and who through the spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the son of God by His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord." That's how He begins and that's also how He finishes so beautifully. God’s Ultimate Purpose: To the Praise of His Glory Now God's ultimate purpose in this gospel is the praise of His glory. That's why He does all things. We should never tire the topic of God's glory or the praise, but we never will tire of it. It's an infinite topic and it will consume our full attention in heaven, forever and ever. God saved us in Christ for one ultimate reason, and that is the praise of His glory. He says that three times in the book of Ephesians to the praise of His glorious grace. He says it again and again, and that's why He saves us. And so He brings us at last to the real purpose of this gospel and that is the praise of God and of His glory. To the only wise God, be glory forever through Jesus Christ. Now there are wonderful benedictions and doxologies throughout the scripture. And I think they're there to remind us that that's our point. That's why we were created. We were created to praise God, to speak words of praise to Him. That's what our mouths are for. They have other purposes too, but our mouths are ultimately to be filled with praise for God. And so there are these sweet doxologies throughout scripture. We sang one of them earlier, that beautiful one in Jude, very similar to the one we have here. "Now to Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault, blameless and with great joy to the only God our Savior, be glory, majesty, power, and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord before all ages now and forever more, amen." Very similar. A focus on God who is able. In our doxology, God is able to establish us. In Jude, God is able to keep us from falling and to present us before His presence, blameless with great joy. He is able. And so there's these benedictions, and they're throughout the Bible. If you were to go through the 150 Psalms, there are five books of Psalms, to organize, the Jews did into five books. And at the end of each one is a doxology, a glorious praise, and the whole thing ends with Psalm 150, six verses of praise to God. It reads like this, "Praise the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary. Praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power. Praise him for a surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet. Praise him with harp and lyre. Praise him with the tambourine and dancing. Praise Him with the strings and flutes. Praise Him with the clash of cymbals. Praise Him with a resounding cymbals lest the cymbals be too quiet the first time. Praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord." Oh, how glorious is that? That's the way the Psalms ends. Glorious praise to God. And that's the way your life, if you're a Christian, will end as well in eternal praise for Almighty God. And boy, you're going to enjoy it. And so will I. Can't wait. And so Paul ends with this focus on God and on His glory. He focuses on God who is the gospel. II. The Gospel that Establishes Believers Now let's look at it a little more carefully. First, it's the gospel that establishes believers. Look at verse 25, "Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel." Unbelievers are essentially unstable in their lives. Because Satan, their king, is an unstable being as we saw last time, very unstable. He was cast down from heaven to earth and now he roams restlessly over the surface of the earth looking for something to do, and it's always bad. He's always reacting to God and trying to mess it up. He's a reactor, not an actor. And so he's trying to just find whatever God's doing and forded, and frustrated. But he himself is a frustrated being. He's filled with rage because he knows his time is short. In effect he's somewhat like a homeless drifter just passing through. We are the permanent owners by the grace of God. The meek will inherit the earth. He's just passing through causing a lot of trouble, and how good it will be, as we talked last time, when he's finally on his way. But he's essentially unstable. He's not a permanently rooted fixture here. The world itself that he created is passing away. So also demons are passing away. They are restless creatures seeking someone to inhabit because they have no rest, and therefore non-Christians are essentially unstable. They have no roots. They're drifting in life. There's a great instability there. Well, it says here, "Now to him who is able to establish you." And here is the focus on God. It is God who is able to do this. Do not look to yourself to establish yourself in Christianity. It can't be done. You can't do it. You don't have that power. If you're a Christian now, I mean, genuinely born again, you will be one in 20 years. And that's only by the power of God. God is at work in you and he's able to root you and to establish you in this gospel. "Now to him who is able to" do this, the focus is on the ability of God. We are constantly tempted to look to ourselves, aren't we? To look inward to see if we have the resources to meet the challenge. I tell you, you do not have the resources to meet this challenge. But God does. "Now to him who is able," it says, And it talks about establishing. Now this Greek word "establish" means to set an unshakable foundation, to strengthen and reinforce. When I was a student in the Boston area, they were always building, and there was one, a building in particular, it was a skyscraper they were building in Cambridge, and every day, I'd walk across and I'd listened to the rhythmic beat of these tools that were driving the piles down and it was just giving me a headache and I'm wondering when are they going to be done? And I was told they've got to go as deep down into the earth as the skyscraper goes up, so it'd be rooted and established, especially there in the Back Bay, which is landfill of Boston. The Back Bay's very unstable there. And so every day as I'm walking across, my foot steps are, is driving the pilings down. God wants to do that with the gospel truth in Romans into your heart. You're not done with Romans when I get done preaching here. I hope you know that. You'll never be done with Romans and neither will I, besides which, there's only one person in the sanctuary who is here for all of those sermons that I preach in Romans, it's me. I'm the only one. I think I was here for most of them anyway. I was. But at any rate, we need to be saturated in the book of Romans the rest of our lives. It's not just to bring you to initial faith in Christ. It's to develop your maturity. Develop your faith, to finish saving you. And so we'll be established by this gospel to the end. Keep reading it. We're never done with it. This is the very thing that Paul wanted to do in his visit to the Roman church back in chapter 1:11. He says, "I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to establish you." It's the same idea. He wanted to do it but he couldn't. We talked about that in Romans 15 why he couldn't go there. But he sent on this letter. But it doesn't matter because it really isn't Paul who can establish us anyway. It is God who establishes us and He is able to do it and He does it by these words by Romans. Isn't it beautiful that God is able to put solid ground under our feet? It says in Psalm 40:1-3, "I waited patiently for the Lord. He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit." That's sin, friends. "He lifted me out of the slimy pit out of the mud and mire and he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. And he put it in the song in my mouth and a hymn of praise to our God." If you're a Christian, that's what God's done for you and He's not done doing it. He's going to put even more solid ground under your feet, eternal ground, the new heavens and the new earth. It'll never move. It's permanent. How sweet is that? God is able to meditate on that. Don't meditate on what you think you can do and what you plan to do. Meditate on what God by His infinite power is able to do in you. He is able to establish you. God Establishes Believers Through the Gospel Now it says he's able to establish you by "my gospel." Don't you love that? "My gospel," says the apostle Paul. Now we should not think that Paul's gospel was different than everybody else's gospel. Well there's my gospel and then there's that gospel that Peter is preaching and the one that John's got over there. No, it's all the same. Paul is not saying that his gospel is unique from the other apostles. He's not saying that, neither is he saying that he wrote it or invented it. "You know I'm the author of the gospel. It's my gospel, you know? But I'll let you have it, or borrow it anyway." He's not talking like that. Actually in Galatians 1:11-12, he talks exactly the opposite. He said, "I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preach to you is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it. Rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ." That's the gospel that Paul's talking about. But yet he calls it "my gospel." Well I think he's identifying, "This is the gospel I preach. This is the gospel that I've been writing about here in these 16 chapters. This is my gospel." And I think more than that, there's a sense of passionate ownership here. "This is the gospel that saves my soul," says Paul. "This is the gospel that is my hope. This is the gospel that is my pearl of great price. I sold everything to get this. This is the treasure hidden in the field and I sold everything to get this treasure. It's my gospel. It's the salvation of my soul." Can you say that today? You've come to church today, but have you come with a gospel that's yours? It's your gospel. You've signed your name to it. You've committed yourself to it. It has saved your soul. Have you seen Christ crucified as your savior? Is this your gospel? It's mine. Is it yours? I beg you, don't leave this place today without making it your gospel through simple faith. Look to Jesus. Look to the one who is the author and perfecter of faith to Jesus hanging on the cross that you might have eternal life. Make it your gospel. But Paul says, "It's my Gospel that establishes believers." And this gospel, which we're going to go over in one swoop next week is the gospel of message of Romans, a gospel that talks about universal sin. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. There is no answer within us. But God from the outside sends the answer. He sends his only begotten son. And Jesus, by his blood propitiation, he turns away the wrath of God and he brings God at peace with us and we are reconciled through simple faith. And having been reconciled, we're given the gift of the Holy Spirit. We are told to work out our salvation moment by moment by presenting our bodies as living sacrifices. That's sanctification. And then in the end, he is going to glorify us. He's going to finish the saving work in us. That's Paul's gospel. And by that he is able to establish you. By ongoing exposure to the truth that Paul preached. It is also the gospel that proclaims Jesus Christ. He says, and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, all roads lead to Jesus Christ, Christ is the center of the Gospel, He's the center of the Bible and He is the center of all human history. And so therefore the proclamation of Christ has ongoing power to establish you. You need to hear Christ preached the rest of your lives, because it's able to put those pilings under your soul so that you're not easily moved. III. The Gospel that Proclaims Jesus Christ And it's by the proclamation of Jesus Christ. Why is it so? Well, because faith, the faith that justifies you, it comes by hearing. It came the first time that you heard the gospel. I mean really heard it. Not the first time you heard the words and didn't make much sense you but I mean the first time you heard it with your heart and faith sprang up inside you, because you heard the truth. Well, that faith that justifies you, it's a living thing, and it needs food. You need to feed it. You know what feeds it? The word of God. The hearing of the proclamation of Jesus Christ, that's what he's talking about. So he says, the proclamation of Jesus Christ is able to establish you. Now, this was Paul's entire work. The word proclamation here is the work of a herald. Remember the guys back in the Colonial era, the town clerks standing with a bell? Herald, that kind of thing. And then he came with a message from the King and you would listen. King couldn't get everywhere, didn't have the internet or text messaging or any of that stuff, so they would send out these heralds. They go by horse about whatever, and they'd go into your locality and they would proclaim the message from the King. Paul was that kind of a herald. He says, "Of the gospel, I was appointed a herald and an Apostle and a teacher," he's there to ring the bell and say, "Listen to this, this is a message from the King and it's about Jesus Christ." This was Paul's supreme commitment to preach Christ and him crucified. 1 Corinthians 2, he says, "When I came to you brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear and with much trembling." That's not much to look at. The human messenger, it's not really spectacular. We preachers, we can't compete with all the multimedia images and all that. We're not trying to. According to the wisdom of God or what's called the foolishness of God in 1 Corinthians 1, it's just preaching that establishes your soul, the preaching of Jesus Christ, the proclamation of Christ. And this Gospel proclaims the glory of Christ from A to Z as we'll see next week. IV. The Gospel that Reveals Mysteries "Now to Him who is able to establish you," He says "by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ." This is also a Gospel that reveals mysteries. Look what it says in verses 25-26, "According to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God." Before the foundation of the world, before God said, "Let there be light," before there were any angels, certainly before there were any demons, before there were any people, before there was sun, moon or stars, before any of that, God had worked out the salvation plan. It was in the secret counsel of His own mind. God had worked out the whole plan before the foundation of the world. It was hidden for long ages past. And as redemptive history unfolded, God paid it out a little at a time, gave out a little more insight, a little more wisdom, a little more of the gospel story acted out in types, a little more prophecy coming. Little by little, we see it, He's paying out this mystery. Deuteronomy 29 says, "The secret things belong to the Lord, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever." So how does He reveal them? He reveals them through the prophets. He speaks these mysteries out. Now, when we talk about mysteries of the Bible, we're not talking about something like an Agatha Christie deal or Sherlock Holmes, The Hound of the Baskervilles, what is that hound? The monarch hound? How did he try to work out that thing or the game Clue, Colonel Mustard with the lead pipe in the conservatory, it's nothing like that. The mystery of God is something that God has within Himself that you cannot know if He doesn't reveal it. And if we talk about redemptive mysteries, it has to do with God's redemptive plan that He's holding to Himself. And then He pays some of it out a little at a time. : And so there are all kinds of mysteries in the Bible. There's the mystery of godliness, 1 Timothy 3:16. The mystery of lawlessness that's about the Antichrist, 2 Thessalonians 2. The mystery of the rapture: "Brothers, I tell you a mystery, we'll not all sleep, but we will all be changed." It's a mystery. There's the mystery of the Kingdom of God in Mark 4:11. There's the mystery of Christ's will in Ephesians 1:9. The mystery of Christ Himself in Colossians 2. The mystery of marriage, the relationship between a husband and wife, picturing in some way, the relationship between Christ and the church. Paul says it's a profound mystery, but he is talking about Christ and the church. Mystery of the Gospel, he says in Ephesians 6:19, the mystery of "Christ in you, the hope of glory," Colossians 1. The mystery of the faith, 1 Timothy 3:9. And then Book of Revelation is filled with mysteries. There's all kinds of mysteries in Revelation. We're going through in our men's Bible study on Thursday. And so there's the mystery of Babylon the great and all kinds of other mysteries that are yet to come. When the New Testament uses the word mystery though, most frequently it talks about this one mystery, and that is how could Gentiles, like you and me, if you're a Gentile, how could we end up in some spiritual sense like Jews, children of Abraham, somewhat mysteriously grafted into an olive tree, that is of Jewish heritage and we are circumcised not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, by the word of God and by the Holy Spirit of God? That's a mystery. And that's what he's talking about here, the mysteries of the Bible. Revealed by the Prophets in the Scriptures And they've been revealed by the prophetic writings. If you ask me how I know that Christianity is true, it's these prophetic writings. The fact that we are time-bound preachers. I had some great witnessing opportunities on the plane. I always try for them. I don't always get them, but woe to the talkative person who sits next to me in the plane. If you're talkative, it's definitely going to happen. We're going to get a good gospel presentation. I don't know that they'll come to faith, that's something I cannot do. Only God can produce new life in a heart, but they're going to hear the gospel. And I kind of parse it... I get, alright, 80 minutes, we'll go 40 minutes them talking as much as they want about whatever they want, and I will be interested in that and listen for clues, and some things I could say. The second half is going to be gospel, though they know it not, when they're sitting next to me. That's what we're going to do. But I was talking to one man, an engineer working in Norfolk, Virginia on flight simulators and I love that engineering stuff. There's still engineering inside me, it's still there, but I love the Word of God, too, but I love listening to servos and computer stuff and all that really geeky, and I was enjoying that. Alright, tempted just to talk about that the whole time. But I knew the Lord would call me to account on Judgment Day for that witnessing opportunity. This guy believes in reincarnation, believes in all kinds of things. He said, "How do you know what you're saying is true?" Because I said to him, reincarnation might be true and resurrection might be true, but they can't both be true, one or the other. We've got to figure it out. Now, I have certain reasons why I believe it's resurrection and not reincarnation, but none of us has been in there except Jesus came back to tell us. So how do you know? So I used an illustration. I said, "We are now flying into Atlanta. Suppose there was someone on the plane who believed we're actually flying into Las Vegas, passionately believed it, would that change the destination of the plane?" He said, "No," I said, "What would you think of that person?" "They're nuts, or they got on the wrong plane, or greatly deluded." I wonder how you would do that. You got on the wrong plane. But their belief that they're going to end up in Vegas doesn't change the destination of the plane. I said, "What matters is where are we really heading not where do you think we're heading. What is the truth? He said, "Well how can you know the truth? I said, The Bible. He said, "How do you know the Bible's true?" I said, "One of the ways is prophetic writings. We are locked into time, we don't know the future. We don't even know what the weather is going to be like tomorrow really, for sure. But God knew things a thousand years in advance of Christ, that Jesus would be crucified, His hands and His feet pierced, Psalm 22. That He would shed His blood for the sins of the people, Isaiah 53, that He would be raised and his body would not see corruption, it would not decay, Psalm 16. That He would be worshipped as deity, as God by people from all over the world, Daniel 7. These things were all predicted long before any of them came to pass. You can't orchestrate that. Only God can do that. And so, by the prophetic writings we know that this is true. This is how God has revealed the mysteries through prophets. It is His glory to tell us ahead of time what's going to happen and then it happens. He's the only one who can do it because he's the only sovereign king. Everything else is subject to whether he says so or not. So we say "If the Lord wills," but if God says it, the Lord wills, because he's saying it. And so, the prophetic writings tell us. And these are revealed by the apostles, the apostles were stewards, 1 Corinthians 4, of the mysteries of God. They were held accountable to how they dealt with these mysteries and Paul wanted to be a faithful steward of the mysteries of God. And so, he was preaching them. Now, as I look at the Bible, I think the whole thing is summarized in two phrases. A friend of mine, Mark Dever wrote two books, one, a whole book summarizing the Old Testament, another whole book summarizing the New Testament. Old Testament promises made. New Testament, promises kept. That is God. He is the promise maker and keeper. Old covenant promises made. He said to Abraham, "Through your offspring, all peoples on earth will be blessed." He's fulfilling it now in Christ. That's how we know that it's true. V. The Gospel that Produces Obedience Among the Nations Now, this Gospel also is a Gospel that produces obedience among the nations. Look what it says, "but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey Him." It's a gospel that produces obedience among Gentiles, among peoples. Now he mentions the command of the eternal God. God has commanded that these mysteries be revealed. He commanded Isaiah to write Isaiah 53. He commanded David to write Psalm 22. He commanded David to write Psalm 16. He commanded Jeremiah to write of the new covenant that was coming in David, the branch of David that was coming. He commanded these things. And he commanded the apostles to get up and preach it on Pentecost and thereafter. By the command of the eternal God, this word goes out. But what is the word? The gospel itself is a command. The gospel is a command that must be obeyed. How did Jesus begin preaching? He said, "The time is at hand, the Kingdom of God is near, repent, and believe the good news," that's a command, friends. Repent, turn away from sin, believe the gospel. These are commands given by a king. And so this is a Gospel that must be obeyed. Remember how the apostle Paul was standing in Athens, he is debating with those Areopagus philosophers just sat around talking about and listening to the latest ideas all the time. That's what they did. And so in comes Paul, and he is despised, they think nothing of him, he doesn't have that eloquence and all that sort of stuff, and his philosophy seems bizarre. A Jewish carpenter, some guy from Nazareth dies on a wooden cross, under the condemnation of the Romans and He's the Savior of the world. It seems like foolishness, but that's what he preached. But Paul was so bold, so bold. And he says very plainly, talking about their idolatry in Athens, he says, "I see that in all the city, it's filled with idols." In the past, God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. The Gospel is a universal command given by Almighty God, the eternal God, to the human race. Repent and believe the good news. That's what he's called it. Now, what I get out of this is that you want to know how do I know I'm saved? How do I know I have saving faith? Well, is there a pattern of obedience in your life? There is an obedience that comes from faith. If there's no obedience, friends, there is no faith, it's that simple. God has saved us to bring us back under the yoke of Christ. Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you…" Take your neck and put it under my yoke submit to me, let me be your king. My commands are not burdensome. Bring your life under obedience, the obedience of the Gospel," this is an obedience that brings faith. And it's the obedience of the nations. VI. The Gospel that is the Wisdom of God Finally, it is the Gospel that is the wisdom of God. He says "To the only wise God." All the wisdom of God. We talk about the ancient world. And Alexander the Great was confronted when he invaded Asia Minor with a problem traditionally, this maybe a mythological story but I think it's true, with the Gordian knot. Now, it had been prophesied that this tangled up knot of rope could only be untied by the one who is the rightful ruler of Asia. Alexander was not much of a thinker, I don't think at this moment, at least. So he pulls out his sharp double edged sword and slices the thing, so much for that, right through, "Enough of the Gordian, I don't have time for that, I'm the rightful ruler," power of the sword. Power, you see, domination. God had a Gordian knot to untie. He had to figure out how to take wretched sinful people like us and transform us, bring us back into His Kingdom, glad to obey Him, but giving Him all the glory and the credit. How did He do that? And He did it by taking our punishment on Himself in the form of His only begotten Son. The wisdom of God, the intricacy of God's fingers, is He untied the knot of how to save sinners in a way that humbles them, but makes them incredibly happy, at the same time, eternally joyful in our humility. And He did it in Christ. It's the wisdom of God in the gospel. It's a full display of the attributes of God, of His power, of His wrath, of His justice, of His mercy, of His compassion, of His patience. You see it all at the cross. It is the wisdom of God. And Christ is the wisdom of God. Now, what does Christ give us? Well, He gives us salvation, the chief wisdom of God is to give us a wise savior like Jesus, who speaks wisdom with us saying things like "What would it profit you to gain the whole world and lose your soul?" He speaks words like that, like "Come to me, believe in me." That's the wisdom of God. What does He give us for that wisdom? He gives us eternal joy in heaven. He gives us salvation. What does He give to His Heavenly Father? Well, it says it right here at the end, "To the only wise God, be glory through Jesus Christ, forever and ever, Amen." that's what Jesus gives to His Father, He gives Him glory. "That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, the Father." Jesus sought His Father's glory and He has it. He has glorified His Father and He will for all eternity. VII. Application Now, we've come to the end of Romans. What application do we take just from this doxology? The first is simply, come to Christ. As I urged and begged you in the middle of it. Just coming to church is not the command. Come to church, that's not it. It's come to Christ, believe in Him, trust in Him for the salvation of your soul. But those of you that have come to Christ already, focus on the God who is able, just take that from it. "Now to Him who is able," just take that phrase. God is able. He is able to save me, He's able to answer my prayers, He's able to solve my problems, He's able to address my needs. He is able to save me to the uttermost. He is able to do that. And keep saturating your mind in the Book of Romans. Read it through, you could read it through in probably an hour. It's not that long, 432 verses. Read it through, read it an hour, saturate your mind in it, and keep thinking, "I'm not done being saved yet. I've been justified, but I'm still being sanctified. I haven't yet been glorified, I need to keep growing." Saturate your mind in it, in the book of Romans. And assess your obedience. It is faith that produces obedience. If there's no obedience, friends, there is no faith. Look at your obedience. Are you living an obedient lifestyle? Are you by the spirit putting to death the misdeeds of the body? Is there obedience in your life? And then finally, delight in the future glory of God in Christ. You're going to see it. If you're a Christian, you're going to see it, more than you can possibly imagine, delight in it. Close with me in prayer.

Introduction: Missions Exists For Worship Up in the heavenly realms, according to Revelation Chapter 4, there is a throne with someone sitting on it. And the 24 elders and the four living creatures and 100 million angels at least encircle that throne and they celebrate and they worship Almighty God continually day and night, praising and saying, "Holy, holy, holy." And they say, "You are worthy, our God, to receive honor and praise and glory and blessing, for You created all things. And by Your will they were created and have their being." That worship of God the Creator is going on incessantly in the heavenly realms. Wouldn't you love to be there right now? And then in Revelation Chapter 5 there's a different picture. I'm not preaching on Revelation this morning, I'll get to Romans in a minute, but I just love the vision of the heavenly worship, it just has the power to make you glad. It has the power to make you happy and to give you strength to fight sin. And so I think we ought to be meditating much on heaven, don't you? And so in Revelation 5, as Revelation 4 celebrates God the Father or God the creator, so in Revelation 5, we have a celebration of God the Redeemer, Jesus Christ. And this is what the Scripture says, "Then I saw a lamb looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne." Meditate on that. "Encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He came and took the scroll, the title deed of the earth some call it, it may be so. He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the lamb and each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song. 'You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because you were slain, and with your blood, you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.'" Oh, what an awesome picture of heavenly worship of Christ the Redeemer, whose blood is shed for people from every tribe and language and people and nation. They are His. Many of them haven't heard about it yet but they will because the missionaries are going to reach them some day, but they are His already, they are blood-bought and they belong to Christ. And so there's this extended scene of heavenly worship for Christ, the Redeemer that's going on right now. John Piper: Let the Nations Be Glad! As a result of that vision of worship, I believe, John Piper introduced his great book on missions called; Let The Nations Be Glad! In this way, this is what he said at the very beginning, "Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exist because worship doesn't. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity but worship abides forever. Worship, therefore, is the fuel and the goal in missions. It's the goal of missions because in missions we simply aim to bring the nations into the white hot enjoyment of God's glory. The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God. 'The Lord reigns. Let the earth rejoice. Let the distant coast lands be glad!' (Psalm 97:1). 'Let the peoples praise thee, O God, that all the peoples praise Thee, let the nations be glad, and sing for joy!' (Psalm 67). But worship is also the fuel of missions. Passion for God and worship precedes the offer of God in preaching. You can't commend what you don't cherish. Missionaries will never call out, 'Let the nations be glad' who cannot say from the heart 'I rejoice in the Lord…I will be glad and exalt in thee. I will sing praise at thy name, O Most High' (Psalm 104:34; 9:2). Missions begins and ends in worship." Oh how powerful is that? Christ came, took on a human body. Suffered on the cross, bled and died, and was raised from the dead to make the nations glad, to make them eternally glad. Not just glad for this afternoon because they get to eat their favorite lunch. Not glad just for the next six months, because they've had a good harvest. Not glad for the next couple of years because their first born son was born to them this morning. Not glad for the next number of decades because they finally get to marry the girl of their dreams. All of those things are temporary. No, Christ came and suffered and died on the cross and was raised from the dead on the third day to make them eternally glad in Himself. Eternally glad in God. Glad forever and ever and ever and ever. Now, that's a powerful amount of gladness. And you may wonder what could be the fuel, the eternal fuel of that much rejoicing? It can only be an infinite topic, it can only be an infinite subject, and that is the glory of God. It is God, the Creator, who by His will, He created all things, and they have their being, and also Christ, the Redeemer. These are infinite topics and they will keep us busy in gladness, forever and ever. The Lord reigns, let the nations be glad. Let the distant shores rejoice. Christ came to make the nations glad in Him, in His reign, in His sovereign supremacy and in His delightful personality. Wouldn't you love to know Him better? Wouldn't you yearn to know Him better? I do. I yearn to know Christ better just as Paul did in Philippians 3. Just to know Him, what a delightful personality, we'll have eternity to search that personality forever and ever. And this was His stated goal, to make people from every tribe and language and people and nation eternally glad in Himself. It was His stated goal before the foundation of the world. But I say to you at present, the nations are not glad in Him. They are not glad in God's eternal power and divine nature, they are not glad in God's immutable throne, not according to His eternal purpose. There are some in the nations that are glad, but they all belong to Him, each one of them. And so what is the solution to that problem? Well, it is missions. It's missions. It's people like you and me going across the miles and reaching out with the gospel to those who are not yet glad in God's sovereignty, not yet glad in Christ's redemption. It's missions, that's the solution of the problem. As Paul already stated in Romans chapter 10: "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent, as it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.'" So what's the problem? Well, in God's infinite wisdom, the preachers, the missionaries, they must be sent. They must be sent out. The sending ones are the church. The church, therefore, must be a healthy, strong, united sending pad, launching pad for missions. And I believe that Paul is writing in this section to the Roman church, so that they will be united around that purpose. That they will be a united launching pad for missions to the Gentiles. That's his purpose, that's why he wants them to be united. Now, let's do a little review. Romans 14, we've seen that the church in Rome was a divided... Not a divided church, a mixed church. I don't want to say divided, but they could have been divided because they were struggling over what we call debatable issues. And so Paul in Romans 14:1, urges them not to divide over debatable issues, but rather welcome each other and not dispute over these debatable issues. Well, what would they be? Well, we've seen in our studies in Romans 14, it would be how the law of Moses would take part in the ongoing Christian life, and perhaps issues connected to paganism. Like what about eating meat sacrifice of idols and all of these debatable issues? His like, "Let's not divide, let's not have Jews and Gentiles dividing over these things. We cannot have it." And so, therefore, he desires the church to be united, to be genuinely united and not crushed by division. And so he wants this mixed church of Jews and Gentiles to love each other, and welcome each other. I. Review: From Church Relations to Worldwide Worship Now, last time, we saw that the present struggle in Palestine between Jews and Gentiles, Hezbollah and Israel and all of that, are really just the modern chapters of an ancient struggle. And frankly the whole Jew-Gentile struggle is itself a subset of the conflicts that all human beings just tend to have. The reason is we're not at peace with God, therefore, we're not at peace within ourselves and therefore we're not at peace with other people in the world, whoever they may be. And so any division in conflict is really all united in that way. The church of Rome, we saw last time had the seeds of its own destruction already planted in its sin nature. It's not easy for sinners to come together and be in close contact with each other without division and controversy and strife starting to crop up. And so, he desired the unity of the church. Now, I said last time in John 17:23, Jesus prays' High Priestly Prayer, and He prays in this way, he says, "May they, the church, be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as You have loved Me." In other words, as we become more and more Gospel united, as we become more and more one as the Father and the Son are one, in this world now, as the world is watching that unification process, then the Gospel is heightened in it's estimation in the hearts of the unbelievers and they see the power of the Gospel to transform lives, and they're attracted to it. They believe that Christ was sent by God, the Father, it is therefore essential to the advance of the Gospel that these local churches be united, that they be genuinely one. So what's the flow of thought here in Romans 15:7-13? I think what's happening is this. First, all things should be done to the glory of God, all things. Salvation plan itself was worked out before the foundation of the world to be maximally for the glory of God, that's how God desires to glorify Himself with this redemption plan. That redemption plan, before the foundation of the world, included both Jews and Gentiles. Not Jews alone, but Jews and Gentiles. Christ was sent to fulfill that plan, and He, Himself, is the pattern for Jew-Gentile unity. He accepted sinners like us and therefore we should accept one another. Jew-Gentile unity and worshipping God was prophesied to the patriarchs and the promises made to the patriarchs and to the prophets, as we'll see this morning. The ultimate and then would be that elect representatives from every tribe and language and people and nation would be around the throne worshipping God, God the Creator and Christ the Redeemer, forever and ever, blood-bought, cleansed from their sins, they will be around that throne forever and ever, and therefore we should get along. We should get along with each other in the local church. We should love each other. We should get over our petty divisions and disagreements and troubles, whatever they may be. Because someday, we're going to spend eternity together around that same throne. And the more we can imitate that now the better it will be for the advance of the Gospel. That's the whole flow of the argument and that's what's going on here. II. Review: Remedies to Church Division Seen Last Week Now, last time I gave you six remedies to this Jew-Gentile division, which I said by a connection extends to really any division in your life; Your marriage, your parenting, and church, etcetera, but focus on the issue of Jew-Gentile division in that local church. 1) Understand God’s Ultimate Purpose: His Own Glory First, I said we need to understand God's ultimate purpose, and that is His own glory. If you focus on God's glory, it's going to be hard for you to bicker about whatever is top on your list. You diminish and shrink, in your own estimation, and God becomes greater and greater. And so, you're able to get beyond your divisions and controversy. 2) Understand God’s Second Purpose: Our Eternal, United Delight in His Glory Secondly, we should understand God's second purpose, and God's second purpose is to make us eternally happy in His own glory. He really wants to love us and give us gifts, and so He wants to give us Himself as the highest gift and secondly, He wants to give us each other as a lower gift, lower than Himself, but still glorious and wonderful. And I don't mean ourselves as we kind of are now, all messy in our sin and our selfishness, but I mean, He wants to give us each other glorious in Christ forever and ever. And so, that's what He's doing, He's giving gifts to us. 3) Obey God’s Command: Accept Each Other Wholeheartedly Thirdly, we needed simply obey His command. He's told us in 14:1 and then in 15:7, we should accept one another. We should just accept one another, we should welcome each other and treat each other that way. 4) Follow Christ’s Pattern of Acceptance Fourth, we should follow Christ's pattern of acceptance. I said last time that Christ gives us both the why and the how of accepting one another. Why should we accept one another? Because Christ has accepted us. How should we accept one another? In the manner that Christ accepted us, and we saw it in all the different ways that Christ welcomed people and so we should welcome each other that way. 5) Understand Christ’s Servanthood “to the Jews First” Fifth, we should understand Christ's servanthood to the Jews, understand it, and see how Christ came as the servant to the circumcision of the servant to the Jews, and how He served them by taking their griefs and their iniquities and even their sins to the cross, not as a potentate, but as a humble servant. 6) Understand Christ’s Commitment to God’s Truth And then, sixthly, last time we said we need to understand Christ's commitment to the truth. III. God’s Purposes for the Jews and Gentiles: Eternally United Worship Now, this morning, we're gonna look at four new remedies, four remedies to Jew-Gentile division remaining. And each one with the goal of Gentile worship. 1) Believe God’s Promises to the Patriarchs 2) Glorify God for His Mercy to both Jew and Gentile 3) Believe God’s Prophecies to the Prophets 4) Rejoice in Hope, United by the Holy Spirit First, to believe God's promises to the patriarchs. Second, to glorify God for His mercy to both Jews and Gentiles. Third, to understand the prophecies of Jew-Gentile unity. And fourth, to hope in our glorious future together. Let me tell you something, through all that, my goal is just make you happy in your eternal future with the body of Christ. I want you to walk out happy in Christ. You know something it's really commanded. It says we're supposed to rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. There is so much to rejoice about. So I want your problems and whatever struggles you may have brought into this sanctuary this morning to shrink into insignificance compared to the glory that's going to be revealed in us. That's my desire ultimately. Believe God’s Promises to the Patriarchs So let's look at the first one, and that's to believe God's promises to the patriarchs. Now, who are the patriarchs? What do we mean by that? Well, look at verse 8-9, "For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God's truth to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs, so that the Gentiles may glorify God for His mercy." The patriarchs are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. David in another place is called the patriarch and that's fine. But these are the great leaders of Israel from antiquity past. And some promises were made to the patriarchs. Well, what promise in particular? Well, the first and greatest promise concerning Jew-Gentile unity came in the original call of Abraham when he was still living in Ur of the Chaldeans, way back in Genesis chapter 12, what I called, when I preached on that passage, the ancient origin of modern missions. And there it is in Genesis 12, "The Lord said to Abram, Leave your country and your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you unto a great nation and I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse. [And listen] All peoples on earth will be blessed through you." Now the word peoples, somebody once asked a preacher, "Is that a word? Peoples? I mean, isn't people plural already? So, why do you put the S on at the end, peoples? Well, peoples, as we'll talk about in a couple weeks, but they are identifiable people groups, like nations defined by language and culture and by geography. Peoples, nations. All peoples on earth will be blessed somehow through Abram of Ur of the Chaldeans. Now how can that be? Well, we know because we're further along in redemptive history. We know it's because Jesus Christ is the son of David, the son of Abraham. Jesus Christ is the son of Abraham, He's descended from Abraham. He's the fulfillment of that promise. We also see the promise made to the patriarchs in Abraham. In Genesis 22:17 and 18, after God had commanded him to sacrifice his son, his only son, Isaac, whom he loved. And Abraham was willing to do it and just as he's about to plunge the knife into Isaac's heart and kill him, the angel of the Lord stopped him. He said, "Now I know that you fear God because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son, whom you love." And then he said this, "I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring, all nations on earth will be blessed because you have obeyed me." So how are we all blessed in Abraham? Well, we all know it's through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was a Jew, he was born of the Jews, he came and ministered to the Jews. He was a descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And so Christ came to confirm these promises made to the patriarchs, specifically that Abraham would be a blessing to all nations. And so Paul wrote in Galatians 3:8, "The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: 'All nations will be blessed through you.'" And Paul says in Romans 4, that all of us, Jew or Gentile, all of us who have believed in Jesus Christ, who have repented of our sins and have trusted in the saving work of Christ, we are children of Abraham. We are adopted into Abraham's family. We are engrafted into the olive tree, and we're receiving nourishing sap from that root system. We are children of Abraham. And so Christ came to confirm those promises, so therefore, how can Jews and Gentiles not get along? This thing was predicted way back in 2000 BC, that Jews and Gentiles together would be blessed by Abraham's offspring, by Christ. Glorify God for His Mercy to both Jew and Gentile Secondly, we need to glorify God for His mercy, both to Jew and Gentile. Look at verse 9, "so that the Gentiles may glorify God for His mercy." That's Paul refers to the purpose of God in making these promises to the patriarchs. God's desire has always been worldwide, but it's still self-focused. What do I mean by God's purpose being self-focused? We already covered that. God wants to give you Himself, He wants to get your eyes off of all of your earthly concerns and troubles and difficulties and gets you to focus on Him. And so, therefore, Gentiles and such, I think we all are, although there may be some Jews among us, but most of us are Gentiles, we Gentiles need to glorify God for His mercy. We need to focus on God for His mercy and give Him thanks. Since all of us are sinners, we should come to the realization that it's only by mercy that any of us stands before such a Holy God. It's only by mercy that we're actually going to get to be there, surrounding the throne with the hundred million angels in that high and holy place that God lives. Only by mercy will sinners like you and me ever get to be there. It's only by mercy that we will live forever and ever. And so therefore, we need to glorify God for His mercy. Well, that is a uniting feature, isn't it? God has been merciful to this one and also to this one, how can they not love one another? How can they not welcome one another? Now, mercy, the mercy of God was a big theme of Romans 9-11, as he's dealing with the whole Jew-Gentile issue and eternal predestination, all those things. And it culminated in this marvelous statement about God's mysterious plan. In Romans 11:30-32, he says this, "Just as you [Gentiles] who are at one time disobedient to God, have now received mercy as a result of their [the Jews] disobedience, so they [the Jews] too have now become disobedient in order that they [the Jews] may now receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you [Gentiles]." You see how He unites Jews and Gentiles on the topic of mercy? "For God has bound all men over to disobedience, so that He may have mercy on them all." Let me tell you something, when we get to heaven, we will not want to talk about us. You won't want to talk about you. I think at one level, you'll be thoroughly sick of the topic. It may preoccupy you now more than it should, but it will not preoccupy you in heaven. And if you think about yourself at all, it will be just to glorify God for His mercy. Amen? To glorify God for His mercy, that's what you'll think about yourself. O, how merciful has God been to me. And I think the more you think about it now, the happier you'll be in Christ. Who are we then to not welcome somebody else? How can we not glorify God for His mercy to us? And secondly, how can we not glorify God for His mercy to others? And thirdly, therefore, how can we not be merciful to each other? It just totally affects the way you treat each other. It totally affects the way you treat people who are giving you a hard time. Someday, we're going to be standing before the throne and all of that will be gone. How can we hold it against each other now? What a waste of time. What a waste of time to hold something against somebody. Let it go. And I'm not saying we don't follow the church discipline issues and try to show somebody. Out of love for them we do it, but not because I need it done for myself or I'm going to be angry and I'm not going to go to that church anymore, and all that stuff. No, we let it go. We glorify God for His mercy. Believe God’s Prophecies to the Prophets Thirdly, we need to believe God's prophecies through the prophets. Look at verse 9-12, it's just a majestic golden chain of prophecies of how God, speaking through the patriarchs, speaking through the prophets said, "I intended this from the beginning, before the foundation of the world, that Jews and Gentiles together would glorify God for His mercy." He's proving it from Scripture. As it is written, "'Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles. I will sing hymns to your name.' And again, it says, 'Rejoice O Gentiles with His people.' And again, 'Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles. Sing praises to Him, all you peoples.' And again, Isaiah says, 'The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations and the Gentiles will hope in him.'" A golden chain of four prophecies, a string of quotations from the Old Testament, one from each of the major sections of the Old Testament, one from the history books, 2 Samuel, one from the law books, in Deuteronomy. One from the wisdom literature, in Psalms, and one also from the prophets, in Isaiah. And so he binds all four parts of the Old Testament in a united voice to prove one thing: God has always intended this united Jew plus Gentile worship around a single throne forever and ever in heaven. That's always been His purpose. This isn't a new thing. It's to quiet therefore Jewish Christians from thinking that God never really intended to save Gentiles. It's from quieting Gentiles who think that they're second class citizens and don't really deserve to be there, somehow. Some Christians, even go so far as to say that the Gentiles were God's plan B. Perhaps you've heard this among some dispensationalists. And they'll say that God was really working through Israel, but they rejected Christ. Oh, what a surprise, we have to go to plan B. They haven't read Romans 9-11, I guess. Nothing surprises God. As a matter of fact, He ordained it so that God could bind the whole human race together in disobedience and have mercy on them all. That's what it says, we just read it. But they're saying, "No, no, God's on His plan B now, it's been going on for 2000 years, this extended plan B." A backup plan. And that we are kind of inserted after the 69 weeks of Daniel before the 70th week, we're just kind of the big parenthesis, what a long parenthesis inserted in there, plan B. Well, look, I'm not going to get into all of those eschatological details this morning, but I will say this: God intended before the creation of the world to save both Jews and Gentiles through Christ, and these prophecies should end that question forever. And by the way, it's not just four in the Old Testament, there are dozens and dozens of these kinds of predictions and prophecies, that God has always intended to save Jews and Gentiles in Christ. Now, the Jews themselves had a difficult time grasping that God had a saving intention toward Gentiles. That, my friends, is a gross understatement. The Jews had a difficult time accepting that God had a saving intention toward the Gentiles. You remember in Acts 22 when Paul was giving his testimony to his Jewish countrymen in Jerusalem? And they're listening to the road to Damascus conversion. There are listening to all the things that God had done in Paul's life quietly, until he got to a certain point. And this is what Paul said, "Then the Lord said to me, 'Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.' The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, 'Rid the earth of him. He's not fit to live.'" Do you have a sense of a national allergy to a single word? The word is Gentiles. What a dirty nasty word to those nationalistic Jews back then. But Paul saturates the quotes in the word Gentiles. Do you see it? Over and over. I will praise you among the Gentiles. I'll sing hymns to your name. Rejoice, O Gentiles with His people and praise the Lord, all you Gentiles. And sing praises to Him, all you peoples and the Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations and the Gentiles will hope in Him. Is that an accident? No, he chose those. The Gentiles, God had a saving intention toward the Gentiles. Now, the first of the four prophecies is the one that David gives in 2 Samuel 22, it's also Psalm 18, and he's celebrating his own deliverance from Gentile enemy. So it's a little bit strange to be included in the string, but it's fascinating, really. David says, "You have delivered me from the attacks of the people. You have made me the head of nations. People I don't even know are subject to me." So he's talking about how he's become a ruler there in Palestine. But if you look more closely, it's really seen from a messianic perspective, like David is representing Christ. And so basically people that had been warring against him are now bowing down before him and serving him. Is that you? Were you at one point warring against Christ, fighting against Him, and now you're gladly bowing before Him? Yes, it is. Psalm 18 is your story and Christ is your King. And at some point, you Gentiles, you came and you bowed before Christ and He became your Savior. You took His yoke upon you and you learn from Him because He's gentle and humble in heart. You bowed your knee before Christ the King. And so it says, "I will sing praises among the Gentiles." And then the second quotation, the original context is Deuteronomy 32, and the context is one of celebrating God's deliverance from enemies. But whereas, the first quote is David celebrating in the midst of the Gentiles, now the Gentiles themselves are urged to take part in the celebration. Look at verse 10, "Rejoice O Gentiles, with His people." Would you like to join us? The Jews are saying, "Why don't you come along? Why don't you rejoice with us?" What a glorious pre-figurement of our heavenly praise, Jew and Gentile together worshipping Christ in perfect unity. Again, note the theme of rejoicing. Well, friends, I have a great job to do this morning, I get to preach on happy rejoicing verses. Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people, a sense of delight. Now the third quote carries this theme even deeper, a direct command to the Gentiles to praise the Lord in Psalm 117, that's the shortest Psalm in the Bible. Just two verses, and this is what it says: "Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol Him, all you peoples." Why? "For His mercy has been abundant toward us and the truth of the Lord endures forever." Why should the nations praise the Lord? Because His mercy has been abundant to us forever. And the final prophecy is a prediction that the Gentiles will actually in fact glorify God for His mercy. See, the first is David celebrating among the Gentiles. The second two are urging the Gentiles or even commanding them to take part, but the fourth says what? They will. Not just they might or they're commanded to, they actually will hope in the Root of Jesse. Look at the prophecy. Again, Isaiah says, "The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations and the Gentiles will hope in Him." Now, the Root of Jesse is Christ, of course, and Gentiles hope in Him, when they hear the gospel, they realize that His blood was shed for their sins and they realize that this world is not all there is, and financial and physical and relational suffering and struggling is not all there is, there is a glorious world waiting for us and it's getting closer and closer every week, and that is my hope and yours. The Gentiles will hope in Him, that is in Christ. So first, David rejoices in the Lord in front of the Gentiles, then Moses urges the Gentiles to celebrate with his people, then the psalmist commands all the Gentiles to worship Him, all nations, and then finally, Isaiah predicts that it's going to happen, that every nation will find its hope in Christ. Rejoice in Hope, United by the Holy Spirit The final factor of unity and Jew and Gentiles in this benediction in verse 13. Rejoice in hope, united by the Holy Spirit. Look at verse 13 on how rich it is. "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Look at all these delightful, wonderful words here: God, filling, hope, joy, peace, trust, overflow, hope, power, Holy Spirit. These are delightful things that Paul is in effect praying for the church there at Rome. So, basically, may the God of hope fill you, church of Rome, with all joy and peace as you, church of Rome, trust in Him, so that you, the church of Rome, may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. That's what he wants them to do. It's a benediction pointing them. And in effect he's saying, "You know what, your hope is someday you're going to be at that throne, you're going to worship, Jew and Gentile, together forever." You know what I would like? I would like a little manna from heaven, dropping down to feed on while I'm on my exodus through the wilderness of sin until I finally get to the promised land. I want some heavenly worship to drop into my life everyday, I want to eat it, I want to feed on it, and be happy in heaven now, while I still have time to advance the gospel and get along with my brothers and sisters here in this world and do things that will glorify God, like a warrior for Christ. I want to eat that manna now. And so I say to you that you could be happier in Christ than you are, and so could I. We need to feed on this manna, friends. You need to meditate much on Revelation 4 and 5, and whatever visions of heaven from Scripture you want to meditate on, and realize that God has a glorious saving plan intended for the ends of the earth, and for your life too. The future is unspeakably glorious, and it only comes in verse 13, as you trust in Him. According to your faith, it will be done to you. As you're trusting in Christ, you will overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. So trust in what I'm saying. These things are sure and certain realities, they just haven't come yet. Christians are the only ones who can deal with that category. Sure and certain realities that haven't come yet. That's the essence of Christian hope. And someday, it's going to be ours. IV. Review and Application: Unity and Joyful Worship of God’s Glory Now, by way of review, last two weeks we've seen 10 remedies to the problem of Jew-Gentile disunity in that 1st century church in Rome and by connection, we can look up to our church here, your own situation. First, we saw understanding God's ultimate purpose, His own glory. Secondly, understanding God's secondary purpose, our delight in His glory. Thirdly, simply obeying God's command to accept each other. Fourth, following Christ's pattern of acceptance as He has accepted us so we accept one another. Fifth, understanding the nature of Christ's servanthood to the Jews, so that we Gentiles wouldn't be arrogant toward the Jews, but realize He went to the Jews only in His earthly ministry. So let's understand His servanthood to the Jews. And sixth, understand His commitment to God's truth, He came to make God truthful, to vindicate His truthfulness for those promises that were made to the patriarchs. Seventh, believe God's promises to the patriarchs concerning Jew-Gentile unity. And eighth, glorify God for His mercy to both Jews and Gentiles. And ninth, understand the prophecies that someday Jews and Gentiles will together be around the throne worshipping Christ. It's going to happen. And tenth, hope. Actively hope by faith in our glorious future together. Alright. Well, how do you apply this to your life? You may be saying to me, "You know, Pastor, this sounds wonderful, I can see that you're excited about it, at least. But the question is, I don't actually have a Jew-Gentile problem in my life. I mean, I have problems in my life, but I'm really not struggling with the Jew-Gentile question. It's really not something I'm wrestling with." Or you might extend it to First Baptist Church Durham, you say, "You know, we're really not struggling with the Jew-Gentile problem here." Well, remember what I said at the beginning; all problems of disunity have their root in the same place. And that is our relationship with God. And if your relationship with God is what it needs to be, then it's going to factor out into a peace with God that you experience and extends to a peace within yourself. Well, you know that God's at peace with you by Jesus' blood, and so therefore, be at peace within yourself, and then you extend it to every relationship that touches you in your life. It's not just a Jew-Gentile question. It's a Gentile-Gentile question, how we're getting along with each other. Issues of reconciliation with the body of Christ continue to be paramount. We, as a body, need to be united more than we are. I will not say to you that I see great problems of disunity in the church. There was a time that I did, but not anymore. That's gone. Now, there's an essential and a sweet unity and already good things are flowing as a result of that, but I think we can do better. I think we can know each other and love each other more than we do. And out of that will come an intense white hot power for worldwide evangelization. That's what I'm yearning for in this church. So, let's apply it to our church. Or apply it to your marriage. I think you ought to meditate more on the fact that the two of you are going to spend, in Christ, if you're both Christians, the two of you will spend eternity worshipping God together at the throne. So whatever stuff is troubling you right now, can you please let it shrink into its proper insignificance in the face of that? I'm not saying you don't have questions you have to resolve. I'm not saying you shouldn't talk things through and talk about your budget, your finances, how to parent your kids, whether you should sell this home and move into that one or whatever. I'm not saying these issues don't need to be discussed, I'm just saying keep them in a heavenly perspective, and be happier than you've been in discussing them up 'til now. Be content in the fact that someday you'll be in perfect unity even on that question. So, meditate, I would say, frequently on your heavenly future, and have full delight in worship. Can I speak to the issue of corporate worship? If we're all going to be worshipping in heaven, can we worship better than we do? You might say, "What do you mean?" I mean, can we just come ready to worship? I mean, come ready to just be hot and passionate and worship? And it's our job to be prepared for that and to stimulate you to worship. But I think it's so important for you to be hot and ready and passionate for worship as well. Get yourself ready every week for corporate worship, because we affect... The leaders affect your worship, but you affect one another as well, and when you're standing next to somebody who's singing with all his or her heart, doesn't that move you? You may want to move for some reason, right? Depending on their skill level. Alright, but there's just something powerful about being in a congregation that's passionately by the Spirit, worshiping God corporately. Let's worship God. And then finally, let's live for God's future glory and the advance of the church. There's still peoples, people groups that haven't heard the name of Christ. We're going to talk more about that, not next week, but in the following weeks. Let's be involved in worldwide evangelization to the ends of the earth. If you're listening to me and you've never given your life to Christ, the joy and the happiness that I'm talking about here today is only available one place. It's only available in Christ. Only through faith in Christ can you know this kind of eternal joy. It's only place. I so praise God for Haley Herb and for the work that God's done in her heart. What a powerful testimony. That can happen to you. If you have never trusted in Christ, you can give your life to Him right now. Don't leave this place without repenting and trusting Christ for the salvation of your soul. Close with me in prayer.

Introduction: The Passage of Time This morning we're looking at Romans 13:11-14. Throughout history, humanity has been ingenious about the marking of time. We have been ingenious and developed amazing systems to mark the passing of time. Now, of course, from the beginning, God established the great time keepers in the sky. Genesis 1:14, And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky, to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years." And so the movement as far as we're concerned, of the sun across the sky mark the passage of one day. There's evening and there is morning the first day, and so we see the passage of a day. And then again the rhythm of the moon from full to new moon and then back to the full moon again, somewhat mark the passing of a month, although not precisely. The challenge of getting an exact calendar is one of the great achievements of the ancient world, because there were not exactly 30 days in a month, or exactly 360 days in the year. But we saw with the passing of seasons, winter spring, summer, fall, the turning of the years. Now, it wasn't until man developed the sundial, that we're able to take one day and break it into smaller portions. And mark the passage of time by the tracing of a shadow across the face of the sundial. As a matter of fact, the ancient Romans were so in love with these sundials that they actually carried around pocket sundials. I don't know how that would work, how you would hold it, etcetera. I prefer our wrist watch today. But they established the sundial as somewhat a form of the marking of passage of time, during the day. Now of course sundials had their problems, but it was nothing compared to the marking of the passage of time at night. How are you going to mark the passage of the hours? For example, a watchman standing on the wall, and he needs to know how much is left of the night. And so man developed various ways of answering this problem. The first answer were water clocks. And so there would be bowls with a certain size hole, and the water would flow out of the bowl, and it would measure a certain number of hours. The problem is the bowl, the hole got larger and larger. It would wear out and so it was inaccurate. Also water changed depending on the temperature and it wouldn't flow evenly. So then they developed hour glass, is the flow of sand, which was more impervious to temperature and all that. The problem is you had to be there to turn the thing over when the last grain of sand fell through, and that was inconvenient. Charlemagne developed a 12-hour hour glass filled with sand, but it was so heavy no one could turn it. And so, great ingenuity was shown in the development of water clocks and sand clocks. It's really quite an amazing thing. It wasn't until the development of the mechanical escapement, which enabled force to be transferred, intermittently to a gear and the swinging of a pendulum that things got really accurate. Up to that point, the passage of time had been marked somewhat like a river, the flowing of something from a bowl into another bowl from the upper part of the hour glass down into the lower part. It was a little bit like a river. But ever since the 18th century, it's been marked more like a certain pockets of action, tick-tock, tick-tock, and that's what we're used to. And we've been that way ever since. We don't see time like a river flowing but rather certain things that happen. Points of action. As a matter of fact, I can't stand that sound, and I frequently take the battery out of our quartz clock so that I don't have to listen to the passing of time. Any of you have been to my office, you see a beautiful octagon drop clock on the wall. It hasn't moved in seven and a half years. People get nervous, they look up and they say, "Oh my goodness," they think for sure they're late or they're incredibly early. But I didn't like to be constantly reminded by the tick tock of the passing of time. Now, man's ingenuity kept on moving, the vibration of the quartz in the middle of the 20th century. Now we're in the atomic age where literally if you look up the definition of a second, it's certain number of vibrations of the cesium atom. Who could ever know that? For me, I just click on the internet and it tells me the atomic time. Exactly perfect. But for all of his genius at marking the passage of time, man, has never been able to discover the answer to this mystery; how much time is left? How much time is left? Now that we do not know. That is a mystery that God holds in His hand, and He will not tell us. But what he does tell us in this passage that we're studying today is, it's later than you think. Time is passing quickly. It will not be long before every one of us is quitted this life and we are standing before God on Judgment Day. It will not be long before this present age as we know it will end, it is later than you think. About 35 centuries ago, the man of God, Moses, wrote in Psalm 90, "Teach us to number our days aright that we may gain a heart of wisdom." I don't know how to do that. I don't know how to measure the number of days I have left. And therefore the heart of wisdom for me is to assume that today might be my last day on earth, and that I should make the most of the hours I have today, to live them to the fullest to the glory of God, and to me I think that's the burden of this text. Look at Verse 11 and 12, it says, "And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over the day is almost here, so let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light." I. The Call for Personal Holiness Now, what is Paul doing here? Well, look what it says right in verse 11. "And do this, understanding the present time." What is he referring to? Well, it's a call for personal holiness. The "do this" at the beginning of verse 11, looks back at the previous verses. Look at verses 9-10, it says, "The commandments; Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not covet, and whatever other commandment there may be are summed up in this one rule. Love, love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to his neighbor, therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law, and do this understanding the present time." It really has to do with living a life of love, it has to do with fulfilling the commandments of God, in a life of love both to God and to our neighbor. Now what is the context of Romans 13:11-14. Well, it's in the Book of Romans. The book of Romans was written by the Apostle Paul to explain to us the gospel, it is a synopsis of his gospel doctrine. And in this he explains how it is that the sovereign God, the holy God, take sinners like us and redeems us by the blood of Christ, through faith alone. And how He gives us the indwelling Holy Spirit and how He sets us on the path of His commandments that we may walk in newness of life. And how in the end, He will finish His redemptive work in us, that we might be glorified. Romans 8, that we might be transformed and part of a whole new creation with our resurrection bodies. It is the whole salvation story. Romans 1-11, lays down the doctrine, makes it very plain and clear that the foundation of our hope before God is the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the cross. The foundation of our personal daily holiness is the indwelling spirit, and the fact that God has written His laws in our minds and on our hearts, and by the power of the Spirit, we can walk in it. This is the context. Romans 12 through 16 is the everyday life application of this doctrine. We saw in Romans 12, life within the body of Christ, how we're going to live using our spiritual gifts and loving each other and serving each other. Romans 13, perhaps life outside of the body of Christ, with secular government, and dealing with the sinful world. That is the context of what we're looking at. Now, God's holiness is the pattern here for our holiness, I already heard read so beautifully Isaiah 6, how powerful is that? The vision that Isaiah saw of the risen Christ, the glorified Christ sitting on His throne, a vision he had of Christ. He saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of His robe filled the temple, and there were these seraphim, the Hebrew word means the burning ones, they are glorious, and they're calling to one another, as though they can't get enough of it, they are just so amazed at the holiness of God. Holy, holy, holy, they call to one another, and the whole earth is full of His glory, the holiness of God is our it's our pattern, it's our rule for life, it is also our future by grace amen and amen. He gives us His holiness as a gift. A gift of grace. But it is also our call and we are called to be like God. We are created in Christ Jesus to be like God. We are renewed every day in our minds, transformed to be like Christ, that is the call on our lives and so He urges us to behave decently. Look what it says in verses 12-14. "The night is nearly over, the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness, and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime. Not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy, rather clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature." This is a call for personal holiness. This is a call to live a heavenly life while still here on earth. It is a call to resist the constant pull of the world, the flesh and the devil. It is a call to understand the significance of every passing moment of every passing minute and day and year. A call to understand what God is calling on us to do and to be in this world, a call to be children of light, in the image of our father. As it says in 1 Peter 1, "Be holy because I am holy." That's what Paul is calling on us to do. II. The Urgency of Personal Holiness Now he gets to it by a matter of urgency, there's a sense of the urgency of the present time. This is an urgent call, for personal holiness. Look again at verses 11-12, and note the words of urgency. "And do this understanding the present time. The hour has come, for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over, the day is almost here." Do you see these words, almost, nearly, it's here, it's coming. There's a sense of urgency. Now that's what this is about. A sense of urgency, pervades this passage, Paul wants us to feel that the time is running out. There's less of it than you might imagine. And so we have to understand time from God's point of view. Now, God created time, He created the concept of time, the passage of time. Minutes and hours and days and months and years, they serve God's unfolding redemptive plan. There's a purpose to it all, God owns it, He made it and there's a purpose to it. And that is the advancement of the kingdom of Christ. Now, as Christians, we believe that history is linear, it's moving from point to point to point. We are not like the Hindus who believe that history, that time is a big circle, it's going around and round, the cycles of reincarnation and karma. We don't believe that, we believe in the linearity of history. It moves from point A to point B to point C. We can even use that language for Jesus, our Lord, said at the end of the Book of Revelation. Revelation 22:13, He said, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, I am the first and the last, the beginning and the end." That's linear. And Jesus said it, so I would think we'd want to go to Jesus and say, "Teach us about time." Don't go to your physics professors or your philosophers. Let Jesus instruct you. Time is linear. "I am the Alpha and I will be the Omega." Time is linear, it's moving. But Paul's basic concept here is it's later than you think it's not the Alpha day. No, it's not the Omega day yet, but it's further along than you think. Crush Procrastination, for The Hour Has Come And so at last, we come to the sin of procrastination. Been meaning to talk to you about it, but I've been putting it off until now. Seem like a good time to talk about it now though. How many of you struggle with that? Don't raise your hand and don't shame yourself. But how many of you struggle with the idea of; I've been meaning to do something and I just keep putting it off. How many of you wrestle with the fact that you look at some things that just seem too difficult, and you just don't want to do it. They call it task avoidance. Jonathan Edwards, preached a sermon on procrastination, procrastination, the sin and folly of depending on a future time, depending is the key word in the sermon. Now he's very balanced in the sermon, he says, we need to like the ant lay up in the summer for the coming winter. We need to make provision for that. But the idea is spiritually we ought not to depend on a future day because it might not ever come. His text there was Proverbs 27:1. "Do not boast about tomorrow for you do not know what a day may bring forth." Don't boast about it as though it's already yours. "We ought," says Jonathan Edwards, "to behave ourselves every day as though we had not dependence on any other day." It kills procrastination. Don't put off to tomorrow spiritually what you ought to be doing today. Now, what could that be? Well, here I think he's seizing the day or seizing the moment in the matter of personal holiness, but we in this church called that internal journey of growing in grace and the knowledge of Christ. He's seizing the moment in the matter of personal holiness, the flesh is always making excuses. Isn't it? Putting off to tomorrow, saying, Oh, you'll get to it by and by. Holy Spirit may convict you of a matter of personal holiness, He wants you to address it now. Do not imagine He's telling you everything. He isn't. Have you ever noticed that? You could go years blind to a certain area and then the Spirit brings illumination. And now it is time to deal with it. If the Spirit has brought illumination on many points you need to deal with all of them, whatever He has brought to your imagination, to your mind. It's a sense of urgency in the matter of personal holiness. Perhaps it's a spiritual discipline you've been meaning to start. You always thought at some point you would memorize a book of the Bible, you imagine that you would. Or, perhaps you always imagine that your family would be the kind that would have regular family devotions. Perhaps you imagined that you'd be the kind of person who would get up every day and have a regular quiet time. A meeting with your heavenly Father as Jesus did early in the morning. Perhaps you imagined yourself and you always could see yourself as the kind of person who would do that, but you know what, it's been years now. It keeps moving on. It's later than you think. It's the issue of procrastination or perhaps it's a deadly sin pattern in your life. You fancy yourself some time in the future, when you'll be clean of it at last. I'm not talking now about in heaven when we will be at last free of all death, mourning, crying, and pain, and all sin. But I mean, you think of yourself even in this world, at some point in the future, you'll be free of that particular sin habit. Now it's later than you think. Perhaps it's an over-eating, a problem with overeating or with lust, or laziness, or pride or selfishness. You imagine at some point, you will effectively put it to death by the Spirit. But you know, the days just keep passing and nothing is done. Or, perhaps it's a matter of witnessing, somebody that God has laid on your heart. He's calling on you to be a witness. A co-worker, a relative, mother or father, a child. Somebody in your life, a neighbor. And he's calling on you to reach out with the gospel and you'll get to it by and by, but you never do, it's later than you think. In our home fellowship, we were studying Randy Alcorn's book: Money, Possessions and Eternity. And he told a rather devastating story about an actress named Lisa Whelchel, perhaps you know the name, and she was in the popular TV program, Facts of Life. And she said that she heard a Christian speaker talking about thousands of starving children in Haiti. Her eyes were immediately opened at that point to what a selfish and privileged life she'd been leading. She was 18 years old. At the end of the service, she went to the front of the church, she took off her Rolex and an emerald ring she had and put it in the speaker's pocket and said, "Sell it and give it to the poor." She then went home filled with all kinds of zeal to look at different areas of her life, and this is what she said, "I decided I could live on 10% of my salary, I decided to sell my condominium and rent a simpler apartment more appropriate to my needs. I felt it was no longer necessary to drive around in a Porsche, selling the car and buying something more reasonable would free up thousands of dollars for the Lord's work. I had money invested in real estate across the country. If I sold it the money would feed tens of thousands of children it was a no-brainer. My Zeal was strong, I knew I had heard from God and was doing the right thing." So what happened? Well, some Christian friends found out what she wanted to do and talked her out of it. They said she wasn't behaving wisely, she needed to be a good steward. She needed to think about the future and consider. She needed to wait some, pray it through consider. She ended up doing none of it. None of it. This is what she said, "Less than 10 years later, all that money was gone anyway. A chunk of it had been invested in a high-rise office building in Pittsburgh that went belly up. Another significant portion was in Texas land that dried up during the oil crisis and was eventually foreclosed upon. When I got married I sold my condo and bought a house in the California real estate boom in the 1980s, only to give it back to the bank three years later when the bottom fell out of the market. The Facts of Life TV show was cancelled and I spent all the cash I had left making payments on everything for as long as I could. At 28 I was broke." She had at that moment, when she was 18, a window of opportunity. The Scripture says, "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts." And she didn't follow, she procrastinated, she imagined in the future she would get to it and she never did. And you know what? It was taken from her. All of it. The call in this text is for us to wake up. Look at verse 11, it says, "The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber." The King James Version puts it this way, "Now it is high time to awake out of sleep." Don't you love that? It's high time to wake up from your slumber. The Slumber is a Metaphor for the Devil’s Work on Our Souls Now the slumber, I believe, is a metaphor for the devil's work in our lives and in our minds. Slumber, the Greek word for slumber here is hypnos from which we get hypnotize. And so the devil's hypnotizing us about this matter of time and how we're spending our lives. And we're somewhat in a daze, kind of a stupor coming over us where it's like we're slumbering. In the midst of a battle we're just standing there hypnotized, and we don't seem to realize what everything is about. Satan deceives us on the matter of the urgency of personal holiness. He deceives us in the matter of the urgency of personal evangelism and witnessing mission's work. He puts us into a slumber, a sluggish-ness. I've got two illustrations of this from the literary world. The first is the great story, The Hobbit, by Tolkien. Bilbo Baggins is there with 12 dwarves and they're on their way on some errand. It's an incredible story, but nothing like Lord of the Rings which is so much higher and more intricate, but it's a great story nonetheless. And there he is with these dwarves, and at some point they stumble into these woods where these monstrous huge spiders capture the dwarfs and sting them all with spider poison and wrap them up with sticky webbing and let them hang there to eat them later. Fresh meat for the monstrous spiders. And Bilbo has to rescue them with his little sword and he does. But they're all sluggish and in a stupor, almost... Well, they're drugged by the poison, the spider poison. That's a picture of us and the work that Satan would like to do in us, we're all just kind of waiting to be devoured. We're in a stupor, sluggish, as though nothing were urgent, nothing really matters. We're very mellow a society. There's a time for urgency and the text is saying it's now. Another illustration is from Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. The allegory of the Christian life where the main character Christian is moving from the City of Destruction on to the Celestial City. It's an allegory of the Christian life. Shortly after he comes to the cross and he loses his burden, he's given a scroll which scholars say represents His assurance. And he looks in it frequently for comfort and consolation. Anyway, soon he comes to this place called The Hill Difficulty, and he's making his way up the hill and it's tough, it's hard. And half way up he finds a shady arbor, a little tree place with a little bedding where he can just rest and be refreshed temporarily. And so he settles in there, but as one thing has it, he falls into a deep slumber and he sleeps away the rest of the day. And finally someone, it doesn't say who, comes to him, perhaps an angel, and says, "Go to the end, you sluggard. Consider its ways and be wise." And he wakes up, and oh, he gets up and runs and continues his journey, makes it up to the top of the hill difficulty, continues on, but it's getting tough and the next trial comes along and he needs some consolation. And he reaches for that scroll that was in his possession until recently to read in it and then find some consolation, it's gone, he cannot find it anywhere. He doesn't know where it is. He's searching frantically. He retraced his steps. He has to go back halfway down the hill difficulty. Finally he remembers what happened, while he was sleeping he let it go. Well, he rejoices in finding his scroll again, but he laments over the wasting of the time. Now he has to retrace all those steps and now it's dark, it's dangerous and he laments bitterly, "Oh, that sinful sleep," he calls it. Oh, that's been so convicting for me. God has created from time to time pockets of rest and refreshment for us. And we end up staying there as though we're meant to live there forever. Recreation, rest, relaxation, all of these things, R&R, they're meant to be these temporary shady arbors, and then we continue on our arduous journey, but instead we set up, say, "Well, I think, let's put the end table over there, I'll put the same way end up setting up. And we'll live there in the shady arbor." The sinful sleep. And the text is calling on us to wake up from our slumber. Satan is the druggist of that sinful sleep, isn't he? He's the apothecary, he's mixing that and handing it to us so we drink some more of it. And we're sluggish, we're sleepy. Rather than on edge ready to serve our commanding officer. Christians underestimate the seriousness of sin. They overestimate how much time they will have to deal with it. And Paul says, "Wake up." He says, "Wake up, wake up." And why? Because the time is now. There's an urgency to time, it's later than you think. But he gives us a word of optimism here. Look what he says, I love this, I've already alluded to it. Our Salvation Nearer Now Verse 11, "The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber because our salvation is nearer now then when we first believed." Isn't that sweet? All meditate on it, think much on it. Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. Not our condemnation, our salvation nearer now than when we first believed. Paul's logic is someday we're going to be fully saved from sin. We won't even see it around. There will be no temptations around. The world will be purged forever, from everything that causes sin and all those who do evil. That's what it says in Matthew 13. It will be a free pure world, and we will be fit for it and ready for it. That's our salvation, it's a complete salvation from sin. Martyn Lloyd-Jones used an illustration of the closing days of World War II in a prisoner of war camp. Perhaps up to that point, the prisoners in the POW camp had been maybe collaborating at small levels with the German soldiers, maybe they've been acting in certain ways just to get by. Perhaps they were contemplating risky escape attempts or bribing the guards or doing some other things just to survive. But a short wave radio is smuggled into the camp and they find out that major victories have been won by the allies and frankly the troops are no more than four, five miles away. They're going to be liberated within the week. They start to celebrate. This is the time to act like somebody who's about to be released from prison. Our salvation is near now, nearer than we first believed. So why would we act like sinners? That's what we're being saved from. That's Paul's logic here in the passage. What I get out of this, is that any effort we make in personal holiness, and I could add in from other places, any effort we make in worldwide evangelization will prove fruitful because God is in them. God is saving us from sin, and so when we wake up from our slumber, when we put sin to death vigorously by the power of the Spirit, when we move out in new areas of service to Him, God will bless that energy. He will bless the movement because he is in it. Now, what lessons do I get out of this phrase, "Our salvation is nearer now than when first believed." Well, first our salvation is incomplete, it's not done yet, we're not fully saved. That shouldn't be shocking to your ears. I'm not in any way denying that we could ask the question, "Are you saved? I know the scripture speaks in that way, but we've got more salvation yet to come. Our salvation is still in the future. Salvation from Judgment Day, when all the nations will be gathered before Jesus and He will sit on His throne and He will separate the people, one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he'll put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. That is in the future. We need salvation on that day, don't we? We need to be saved from hell on that day and we will be through faith in Christ. So it's a future salvation. But also there's the ongoing work of sanctification, there's the transformation of our bodies, when we will receive glorified resurrection bodies. Our salvation is in the future, it's not finished yet, there's still work to be done. Secondly, do you see the unspeakable precious nature of time? Time is precious, it's running out, there's not much more of it. It's nearer than when we first believed, it's moving, it's dynamic, we're moving ahead. And therefore number three, we are making sure and steady progress every day, every passing week to see in Christ face to face. Amen and Hallelujah. It can be sad to watch the passing of time. It can be sad for parents to watch their kids grow up. I've done a lot of weddings, and I've seen again and again parents cry at their children's weddings. Now, they will tell you it's tears of joy. Don't you believe it. There's a feeling of death almost, the end of a phase of life that's precious to the mom and dad. It's sad, actually. I remember I was doing a wedding and I saw my little girl come walking down in this white dress and I had a vision of the future, and I thought, "Oh, no." It's not going to be long before that's me, that's her. And I actually started to cry and I said, "Wait a minute, I got to do the wedding here. I got to pull myself together. I can't crumble in the misery at the passage of time." So we watch our children grow up and their phases, their sweet little developmental phases, they don't last long. It's like the sunset, and then it's gone and it never comes back and you want to grab onto it. I actually have taught my kids bad grammar, their own bad grammar, to keep them from learning those right ways so they can stay young longer. I admit it, my wife corrects it, she does, she's a good mom. But I'm just trying to hold on to something that I can't hold on to. It can be sad to watch the passage of time. And then just aging can be sad, losing capabilities. Things you used to be able to do, can't do it anymore. It can be sad. Christians should not be sad about the passing of time. This verse liberates us from sadness about the passing of time. Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. Amen, celebrate, every passing week brings us closer to seeing Jesus face to face. Come on, be happy, look happy, if you're a Christian. You're getting closer and closer. You're closer now then when I began this sermon. You know back in the 18th century, they actually put an hourglass over the pastor's head in some parishes. And it was someone's job to turn it once. Okay? I've got a clock right here, I know what time it is. I know what progress we're making. But every moment brings us closer and closer to seeing Jesus. Closer and closer to being liberated at last from this dreadful sin nature. No more fighting with it. Amen and amen. Closer and closer to a resurrection body which will feel no pain or fatigue or weariness. Closer and closer to salvation. Oh, is that sweet? Do not lament the passing of time, but make the most of every day. These days are precious, you'll never live them again. Never, once they're gone, they're gone. Yes, you may have another Tuesday. But you'll never have this Tuesday again. Make the most of every moment. That's what I get out of this. The Night is Nearly Over (verse 12) And he says in verse 12, "The Night is nearly over." The night here, I think is satanic gloom of spiritual darkness that Satan has spread over the whole earth. It is now the age in the era of darkness, is it not? It's a dark era. The night that Jesus was arrested, he said to the chief priest and the guards and the elders, Luke 22:53, "Every day I was with you in the temple courts and you did not lay a hand on me, but this is your hour, the hour of darkness." Oh, that's significant. "This is your hour, the hour of darkness." It's a dark dreadful time that Satan has cast over the earth. It's a dark age, but this verse tells me it's nearly over. The night is nearly over, the day is going to shine with radiance and glory. It's soon going to be over. All of it, over. The night also refers, I think, to deceptive concealment of sin. Most crimes happen at night when it seems like no one can see. It's a time of deceptive concealment. Why do I call it deceptive? Because nothing's hidden before the eyes or the One who really matters. We are the ones deceived by the night. And so it says in Ephesians 5, "Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them, for it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret, but everything exposed by the light becomes visible for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said, 'Wake up, oh sleeper, arise from the dead and Christ will shine on you.' Be very careful then how you live. Not as unwise, but as wise. Redeeming the time because the days are evil." Now disposed concealment of darkness is just a satanic trick of deception. Ever heard that saying, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas"? I've never leaned on that. I want you to know, okay. That's wickedness, isn't that? It's the idea that you can go to Vegas and do wicked things there and no one will find out. Well, no, what happens in Vegas is written down in God's book and you'll face it again on Judgment Day. There's no concealment possible. He sees everything. Psalm 10:11, The sinner "says to himself, 'God has forgotten, He covers His face and never sees.'" It's not true. He sees it all. Christians need to understand by faith that true concealment is impossible. Jeremiah 16:17 says, "My eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from me nor is their sin concealed from my eyes." I see it all, everything. Jesus said this, Luke 12:1-5, we Christians need to listen to these verses. "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." That means looking good on the outside, but inside, wickedness. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed or hidden that will not be made known. Do you believe that? Do you believe every word of that? There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs. "I tell you, my friends," said Jesus, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear. Fear Him who after the killing of the body has power to throw you into hell. Yes I tell you, fear Him." In Ezekiel 8, God brought Ezekiel on a Spirit journey into the depth, the bowels of the temple area. Through the walls where the elders of Israel were doing wicked disgusting things thinking that no one could see. God said, "Come on, I want to show you something." And he took him on a tour of the wickedness of Israel. I see it all. A Christian understands the deception of darkness is merely deception. We see the light by faith even though it is night, even though it seems no one can see what we do, we know by faith God sees it all. Job put it this way in Job 31, "I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl, for what is man's lot from God above, his heritage from the All Mighty and High. Is it not ruin for the wicked, disaster for those who do wrong? Does He not see my ways and count my every step?" In Hebrews 4:13 it says, "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight, everything's uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account." I believe as a pastor, it's my job by preaching the word in this manner to make the day, Judgment Day, bright in your minds and hearts. To turn on the light inside your soul so that you're not deceived by this deceptive darkness. And you live like you will wish you had lived on Judgment Day. You'll wish you had lived purely and holy, in a holy manner. It's my job to make that intense for you today, so that you are ready and you say with the apostle John, at the end of the Bible, Jesus said, "'Yes, I am coming soon.' Amen. Come Lord Jesus." It's soon. Soon and very soon you're going to be seeing Jesus. Are you ready? It's my job to make it intensely bright for you because that's what it's going to be like on Judgment Day. Be ready for it. III. The Nature of Personal Holiness Now, what is personal holiness? Well, what does he say? Well, there's a negative side to it. You're going to put off the deeds of darkness. Not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. These are some of the ugliest words in human experience. Rome was characterized by a flouting of natural moral laws. Sexual relationship within marriage wasn't enough, they needed an orgy. Eating food was not enough, they needed gluttony. A small amount of wine wasn't enough to gladden the heart of man, they need drunkenness. They were blowing through all of the barriers that God had set up. It was an age of excess just like ours. Paul says, "The time for these deeds of darkness is to be put off. Put off the deeds of darkness, those things will be ashamed of on Judgement Day. Put them off like a filthy discussing garment," that's the negative part. Positively, put on the armor of light. Armor, like the Medieval Knights wore or like soldiers wear in Iraq. The body armor. The point of all armor is to prevent a vicious weapon from penetrating you and piercing your liver, your vital organs. Put on the armor of light, stand firm in the day of testing. Don't allow the temptation to hit your vitals, put on the armor of God, Ephesians 6. Specifically in this text it's, put on Christ. Know that Christ is your righteousness. Clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ, put His perfection on you. And make no provision for the flesh to satisfy its lust. I think about that often. Sin takes provision. It takes equipment. The drunker needs to know where to go to get his alcohol, the drug addict needs to know what is sources of the drug. The pornographic user needs to know what websites to go to. The one who wants to share gossip needs to know where to go in the office to hear the juicy tidbits so that he or she can spread them around. The person who wants to sleep in and not have his quiet time in the morning, needs to know to not set the alarm, he's making provision for the flesh. Turn off the alarm, don't get up. No, he says no. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to satisfy its lust. IV. Application We have seen this morning an urgent call for personal holiness. I have a number of applications there on the back, but I want to share with you something that's transformed my way of thinking on this and then close with prayer. And some time ago when I was working as an engineer, I saw up on the wall of the office a year calendar. 12 months all in a row. January, February and March, all the way down to October, November, December. I have such a calendar on the back panel of your bullets and it's small, you can't really see it, but you know what I mean. You can see the whole year in one place. And I remember thinking as the year would go on, I would see it would be May, it'd be August. I could visually kind of make my way through the year. I remember at the end of June thinking, "Oh, we're halfway done with the year." And one day a thought hit me. I said, "What if January 1st represented the day I was born and December 31st represented the day of my death. What month is it? Like I said, I have all kinds of ways to mark the passage of time, but I don't know how much time is left. Was it July for me? Was it October or was it December 30th? I had no way of knowing. That was sobering to me. But then I extended, I said, "Well, suppose that represented my time here at that company, at Grandmaster." January first, the day I was hired, December 31st, the day I left. Where am I in that? I had no way of knowing. It represented my marriage. January first, the day that we got married, December 31st, death parts us. I don't know where I am. I have no idea how many more months or years I have with Christi, no idea. Same thing with every one of my relationships with all of you, I have no idea. January first, the day I met you, December 31st, the day we're providentially parted. I don't know, I don't know how much time is left. What does that tell me? Make the most of today, make the most of this afternoon with each other. Put aside dissension and jealousy and fighting and lust and all the evil things and make the most of it. If you're not a Christian, the most important thing you can do is come to Christ. You don't know you'll be alive tomorrow, make the most of today, make the most of right now by trusting in Jesus as your Lord and Savior. I don't believe that I'm preaching to a 100% regenerate audience. If today you hear His voice, come to Christ, come and trust in Him for your salvation. Close with me in prayer.

Introduction: The Valley of Dry Bones As we continue in our study in Romans, we're looking for the second week at Romans 11:11-16, and we're looking at the question of God's purpose in Israel's stumbling, God's purpose in Israel's rejection of Christ. And this morning, I'd like to take you in your mind's eye, by the Spirit and by the Word, to a valley. A valley of vision, through the Spirit. Perhaps it was most terrifying of all the visions that Ezekiel, the prophet, had when the Lord did the same for Him. Took him to a valley and set him in the midst of it, and as he moved through the valley, he saw that it was filled with dead men, the bones of dead men. And the bones were bleached and dry, there was no sign of life whatsoever, they were a slaughtered horde. They've been dead so long that the bones were so dry and bleached in the sun, that there seemed to be no hope whatsoever for their future. And Ezekiel was asked a simple and direct question, "Son of man, can these bones live again?" Ezekiel perhaps felt the sense of both dread and hope at the question. He answered the only way he could, "O Sovereign Lord, you alone know." That's a good answer, don't you think? "Only you know whether these bones can live again." Then the Lord commanded him, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord.'" And while Ezekiel obeyed and spoke the Word of the Lord to those dry bones, he heard a deep and mysterious rattling sound, as bone joined a bone. I can't imagine what that sounded like. Terrifying and amazing, wonderful and dreadful at the same time. And there, after the bones were joined, lay a bunch of dead skeletons. But a moment later, the wind of the Lord blew on those skeletons, and tendons and flesh came upon them. And so they stood, fully formed, but still dead, there was no breath of life in them. Once more the Lord commanded the prophet Ezekiel, "Son of man, prophesy to the breath." And as Ezekiel spoke the Word of the Lord, the sound of the rushing wind came from the four directions of the compass, and breathed life into those dead corpses, and they came to life. Now, what did this vision mean? Now, Ezekiel prophesied at a time when Israel's hopes seemed completely cut off, dead. The national future seemed bleak indeed. Because of their sins, the Lord had raised up Gentile armies, the Assyrians, and then the Babylonians, to evict the Jews from their promised land. Most of them were slaughtered, the few that remained were deported to a foreign land, to Babylon. For most people, this means the end of a national existence. And so, Israel's hopes seemed as dead as those dry bones. The vision ends in this way, Ezekiel 37:11-14, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel." "These bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone, we are cut off.' Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them. I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land, then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and have done it,'" declares the Lord. Now the lesson of the vision is the same as the lesson of redemptive history, when it comes to the Jews, and that is that the sovereign God has power to call things that are not as though they were, and has the power to give life to the dead. He can do that. He had the power to do it to Israel's hopes in the Valley of Dry Bones. And frankly, that's how the nation of Israel began, when a 100 year old wandering, desert dwelling Aramean named Abraham, had a miracle worked in his own seemingly dead and dry body. And so he was able to beget a son, Isaac, and thus the Jewish nation began. And Paul commented on this in Romans 4:17, speaking of the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were, that's how it began. How fitting then that Romans 11 says that's exactly how it will end as well. For if you look at verse 15, in Romans 11, it says, "If their," the Jews, "If their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be, but life from the dead." And that's what we're talking about. The Alpha and the Omega of the Jewish nation is life from the dead, it is the power of God to call things that are not as though they were. That's the whole history. And that's the meaning of the vision of the dry bones. I said to my kids I thought it was appropriate for Halloween, they said, "Don't mention it, please don't." But now I've mentioned it. What could be more powerful than skeletons that seem to have no life, coming together with a rattling sound, and bringing not death, but life? God has the power to transform anything, even death to life. Now what is the context here in Romans 11? Well, the context is that Paul is deeply troubled and deeply disturbed by the problem of the Jews rejecting their own Messiah. And he's asking the question, "Does this mean that God's Word has failed, that God is not sovereign and powerful to bring forth these kinds of promises?" And he says, "It is not as though God's Word has failed." And then in Romans 9, he focuses on individual salvation, he talks about unconditional election, he talks about the fact that God has the power before the foundation of the world to choose those who are His, and that they will most certainly come to Him. He also talks about individual responsibility in the end of Chapter 9, and in Chapter 10, saying the Jews stumbled over the stumbling stone, they refused to believe in Christ because they were trying to establish their own righteousness. And they couldn't accept a simple Gospel of repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, where Jesus does the work, Jesus gets the glory, we get the salvation. They couldn't accept it, and so they stumbled over Christ. II. Paul’s Question: Have They Stumbled In Order to Fall? But now, in Chapter 11, Paul turns to the issue of the future of the whole nation. What is the future of the nation of Israel? What does God have planned for them as a whole? And we see the grace and mercy of God, even in the midst of a dismal situation there. We've seen already two of the graces in that God had not completely rejected all of the Jews. Paul himself was a Jew, and in every generation there would be a remnant preserved by God's grace, a remnant of Jews who would believe in Christ and trust in Him. Paul, a Jewish believer in Christ, was an example of that. So were all the first generation Jews that believed in Christ. Secondly, we see the mercy and grace of God, in that He uses the transgression of the Jews to save Gentiles. That's what we saw last week. But God has that power to do it. The third grace and mercy we're going to see is, this rejection of the Jews is not permanent, but at the end of the age, there will be a great in-gathering of Jews through faith in Christ. And that's what he gets at in the rest of this section. III. God Has a Purpose in Israel’s Stumbling Now, last week we saw that God has a purpose in Israel stumbling. Some of us stumble over the idea of God having a purpose in human sin, but God does have a purpose. We saw in the example of Joseph and his brothers, how they meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. And God has that kind of power to intend and mean things that appear evil, and mean it for good. We see that especially in the cross of Jesus Christ, don't we? The most wicked act in history, but it is my salvation, and yours too, if you trust in Christ. A wicked act, an act of sin. And what their motives were, we talked about last week, they will be judged for it and assessed. Each one of them, Pontius Pilate, and Judas, and Herod, and all of them. But for us, God meant it for good, that we might have eternal life and salvation. IV. God’s Purpose for Gentiles We also saw last week that God's purpose for the Gentiles in Israel's transgression was salvation. Look at Verse 11, it says, "Because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles." It says again in Verse 12, it speaks of riches for the world, it says also there as riches for the Gentiles. In verse 15, it says, their rejection, the Jews' rejection, is the reconciliation of the world. So we have salvation for the Gentiles, riches for the world, riches for the Gentiles, reconciliation for the world. We saw all this last week. One of the good purposes of God in the rejection of the Jews, the transgression of the Jews, is that salvation has come to the Gentiles. V. God’s Purpose for Jews But what we're going to see now this week is that God also has a good purpose for the Jews in all of that. What is God's purpose for the Jews? Well, we see layers of purpose in verse 11. Look at Verse 11. "Again I asked, did they, the Jews, stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? May it never be, not at all," he says. "Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles." He doesn't stop there, "In order to make Israel envious." So God doesn't just stop with the salvation of the Gentiles, He goes beyond that and says the salvation of the Gentiles is going to have an effect on the Jews. So God's purpose then, ultimate purpose for the Jews, in the salvation of Gentiles is the salvation of Jews, that's His ultimate purpose. God intends salvation for the Jews. Now, already we're talking about individual Jews, like Paul, who are saved. But Paul has a vision here of the future, he has a vision here of the future of the nation of Israel. And so he talks about the hopeful words and the hopeful intentions he has for the Jews. Look at verses 11-15, and see all the hope there is for the Jews. In Verse 11 he says, "Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all. Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring." Verse 13, "I am talking to you Gentiles, in as much as I am the Apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them." Verse 15, "For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what would their acceptance be, but life from the dead." Now, in that section, Paul talks about the fullness of the Jews and of their acceptance. This is referring to their relationship with God through Jesus Christ. This is referring ultimately to salvation for a whole generation of Jews, the final generation of Jews. He speaks of the fullness of the Gentiles at the end of this chapter, he's speaking also the fullness of the Jews. The fullness of the Jews and the fullness of the Gentiles comes together at the end of the world. Well, how will this occur? Salvation Through Jealousy Paul says it's salvation through jealousy, salvation through envy. What an odd thing. Isn't it a strange thing the plans and purposes of God? We would never have come up with a salvation plan like this. God raising up a people, the Jews, making extraordinary promises to them saying they are His peculiar people, putting them under a conditional covenant, watching as they disobey that covenant again and again, ultimately bringing the Messiah, physically descended from the Jews, but they reject Him, and so God rejects them. Turns to the Gentiles, the Gentile saved in large numbers, the Jews become envious and jealous, they turn back to their Messiah and believe, and God gets the glory for all of it. Would you have come up with a salvation plan like that? It's extraordinary, and it is deep it. Look what he says, in Verse 13 and 14, he says, "I am talking to you Gentiles, in as much as I am the Apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them." Paul says, "I magnify my ministry," "I make much of my ministry, I talk about it a lot. I am the Apostle to the Gentiles." Now, don't misunderstand Paul, what he's saying here. He doesn't make much of himself. He doesn't make much of how great a person he is. Not at all, he's very humble about his own sin. He talks about how he was a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and a violent man, in 1 Timothy. He doesn't make much of himself. But he does make much of his ministry. Why? Why does he glorify his ministry? Because he wants his own people to be provoked to jealousy, so that they'll say, "Hey, I want some of that. I want to sit at that table, I want to feast with the Gentiles. I'm out, I'm excluded. I want to believe in Christ." Case Study #1: Antioch And so Paul's goal is to make the Jews jealous. How does this work? Well, there are a variety of case studies of this in the Book of Acts. First, in the city in Antioch, in Acts 13. There, Paul and Barnabas are ministering. They go as usual to the Jewish synagogue. They preach the Gospel boldly and clearly using the Old Testament to prove that Jesus is the Christ. At the end they give them a warning saying, "Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish, for I'm going to do something in your days that you would never believe even if someone told you." He gives them a warning to believe in Christ. As Paul and Barnabas are leaving the synagogue, a number of the Jews come up and invite them to speak further on these things the next Sabbath. When the congregation was dismissed, the Word of God went out through all that city, and a week later just about everyone, Jew and Gentile alike, were there to hear the Word of the Lord. It says there in Acts 13, "When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy." And now they're at the fork in the road, aren't they? Filled with jealousy and they can either believe in Christ and say, "I want to be part of that," or they can begin to persecute, and that's exactly what they did. They talked abusively against what Paul and Barnabas are saying. Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly, "We had to speak the Word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles." That's Paul making much of his ministry to the Gentiles? Who is he talking to there? The Jews. He's saying, "We're going to go to the Gentiles, for this is what the Lord has commanded us, 'I have made you a light for the Gentiles that you may bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.'" When the Gentiles heard this, they were filled with joy and they honored the Word of the Lord, and all who were pointed to eternal life, believed. So, what does Paul do? He tells the Jews who are becoming abusive, he says, "You reject the Word of God. Guess what we're going to do? We're going to turn to the Gentiles, your Gentile neighbors, and we're going to preach the Word of God." And huge numbers of the Gentiles were saved. Case Study #2: Corinth Second case is in Corinth, in Acts 18:6-8. The Jews began to oppose Paul and become abusive, so Paul shakes out his clothes in protest against them. He says, "Your blood be on your own heads. I am clear of my responsibility. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles." Is Paul really done with the Jews at this moment? He really isn't, he's onto Plan B. Plan A is, whenever he goes to a town, he goes to the Synagogue and openly and clearly reasons with them from the Scripture. But when they oppose, when they become abusive, he goes to plan B. He says, "I'm going to the Gentiles now, you watch and see what's going to happen." So he goes to the Gentiles. Then Paul goes next door to the Synagogue, to the house of Titus Justus, a worshiper of God, a Gentile. He goes literally right next door and sets up shop there, and huge quantities of people come to the house of Titus Justus, and they believe in the Lord. And the Gentiles are saved, huge numbers of them. Crispus, the synagogue ruler, a Jew, and his entire household believed in the Lord and were added to the number, and when they heard him preach, Crispus, a large number of others were saved. You see what's happening? Paul goes and he sets up shop right next door to the Jewish Synagogue, makes much of his ministry as the Apostle to the Gentiles, and Crispus, the Synagogue ruler says, "I want to be involved. I want Christ." Case Study #3: Antioch Third case is at the very end of the Book of Acts, Paul and the Jewish leaders in Rome. Paul's there under house arrest, he's in chains for the Gospel. He wants his audience with Caesar, and he's going to get it. In the meantime, he's got some freedom to preach. The first thing he does is that he sends for the Jewish leaders. Usually he would go to the Synagogue, but he can't do it because he's under house arrest, so they come to him. He begins to explain the Gospel to them, and the same thing happens as always. Some of them were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe. They disagreed among themselves, and they began to leave after Paul had made this final statement, "The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your forefathers, when he said through Isaiah, the prophet, 'Go to this people and say, "You'll be ever hearing but never understanding. You will be ever seeing, but never perceiving." For this people's heart has become callous, they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.'" "Therefore, I want you to know," says Paul to the Jews, "That God's salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen." What is Paul doing there? But what he says here in Romans 11, he makes much of his ministry in the hope to arouse some of them to jealousy, and save some of them. And you might say, "What is this whole jealousy theme? Why would God use jealousy to save people's souls?" Well, they said he was going to do this back in the Song of Moses, back in Deuteronomy 32, which we studied last week. The Song of Moses was taught to the Jews right before they entered the promised land, right before they crossed the promised land, Moses taught them a song. Telling them their pre-history, everything they were about to do before they did any of it. And because it was a song, they would remember it. He said, "The song will testify about you, and frankly, against you, for generations to come." Now this is what the Song of Moses said, this is before any of it happened. Deuteronomy 32:16-21. "They made Him jealous with their foreign gods. And they angered Him with their detestable idols. They sacrifice to demons which are not God, gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared gods your fathers did not fear. You deserted the rock who fathered you, you forgot the God who gave you birth. The Lord saw this and rejected them, because He was angered by His sons and daughters. 'I will hide My face from them,' He said, 'and see what their end will be. For they are a perverse generation, children who are unfaithful. [Listen to this] They made Me jealous by what is no God, and they angered Me with their worthless idols. I will make them envious by those who are not a people. I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding." Strategy. The Jews enter the promised land surrounded by pagan worship, the Jews are led astray by pagan gods, they forsake God, they make God jealous and envious, because the relationship's somewhat like a marriage. And so God says, "Since you do this, I will make you envious by those who are not a people. I'll make you envious by the Gentiles." Well, how does He do this? The first thing He does is, He does it militarily. He blesses the Gentile armies who come and invade His people. This happens in the Book of Judges, it happens all through Israel's history. Ultimately, it happens when the Assyrians deport the northern tribes of Israel, and then a 100 some odd years later when the Babylonians deport the rest. God blesses the Gentiles militarily. Habakkuk struggles with this, he can't understand why God would bless such a godless people. He's just saying what He's doing what He said He would do. He is blessing the Gentiles as they come in and militarily defeat the Jews in their own promised land, and take control. It's what Jesus called the 'times of the Gentiles'. And during the times of the Gentiles, the Gentiles are in charge in the promised land. The Gentiles are ruling over the Jews, and so God makes them jealous militarily. But secondly, through the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, when Gentiles in large numbers hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and believe. In huge numbers, and that's been going on for 2,000 years, all over the world, in every tribe, and language, and people, and nation, almost everyone. Gentiles are hearing the Gospel, they're responding, they're believing. There's a streaming of the nations, Isaiah 2, to Zion spiritually. They're believing in a Jewish Messiah, they're being grafted into a Jewish olive tree, they're believing in large numbers in Jesus Christ. And as a result of that, Paul says, the Jews get jealous, they're left out, they're on the outside, they're not feasting at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but the Gentiles are. The Gentiles are getting the gifts of the Spirit, they're seeing miracles done, they're seeing the evidence of God, but they are left out. God is not blessing the Jews, He's blessing the Gentiles, and as a result, they're starting to get jealous. And isn't it a beautiful thing how God redeems jealousy? Isn't it a beautiful thing how God uses jealousy? The Jews making God jealous leads to their own condemnation, but God uses jealousy to lead ultimately to their salvation. Look what it says in verse 12 The ultimate end of this is life from the dead. But if their transgression it says, "means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring?" And then again in verse 15, "If their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be, but life from the dead." The ultimate end for the Jews is life from the dead. Now, I believe this means spiritual resurrection, as in Ezekiel. I'm talking about bones that come to life spiritually. We were all dead in our transgressions and sins. When you hear the Gospel and believe, you are resurrected and raised to life spiritually. But I think it also means literal, physical resurrection, that the tombs will be opened. The Jews and Gentiles who believed in Christ will come forth. It will be life from the dead when the Jews at last believe. Now, when will this happen? Well, it'll happen at the end of the world, because what else is left to happen after that? The fullness of the Gentiles has come in. Look at verse 25-27. "I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited. Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and so all Israel will be saved, as it is written, 'The deliverer will come from Zion, he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.' And this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins." So there's a mystery here, when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, then the fullness of the Jews will come and join them. And at that point, it will be the end, it will be life from the dead, it will be like resurrection from the dead. VI. God’s Purpose for His Own Glory Now, that is God's purpose for the Gentiles, salvation. That is God's purpose ultimately for the Jews, salvation. But what is His overarching purpose in all of this? It is that God alone will get the glory for salvation, that God alone will be praised when people from both Jew and Gentile alike are saved by mercy. God does all of this that He would get the glory, and He alone. Look at verses 30-32. "Just as you Gentiles who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience," verse 31, "So they now too have become disobedient, in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you. For God has bound all men over to disobedience, so that He may have mercy on them all." God has sovereignly orchestrated history in such a way, that the Gentiles have a long history of wickedness in pagan idolatry, in selfish empire building for their own glory, in making of themselves idols, or making for themselves idols. That Gentiles have a long history, so that when we are saved out of that, we cannot boast in our national origin, we are humbled we are saved by mercy. And individually, each one of us knows we have sinned greatly, we have broken the laws of God, we are fully aware that we do not deserve salvation. So that when we stand in Heaven clothed in a righteousness that we didn't earn, when we stand in Heaven forgiven of all of our sins, when we get to see God in the face, when we get to live forever and ever in the new Jerusalem, the home of righteousness it's called, when we live there, not one of us will be boasting about ourselves. For God has bound us Gentiles over to disobedience, so that He may have mercy on us and we know we are saved by mercy alone. Well, He's done the same thing now with the Jews. He's bound them into 2,000 years of rejecting Christ, 2,000 years of national blindness, 2,000 years of stumbling at Christ, so that when He takes away the blindness, they will not boast about being Jewish, they will boast in Christ, and in Christ alone. It is a salvation plan that is designed for one thing, to humble human pride and to give God the glory while saving us from our sins. And in the end, God will be glorified. For myself, I think by then I'm going to be tired of talking about myself. Tired of talking about anything to do with me. I know what my history is. And I think each one of you is gonna be tired of talking about yourselves too. You want a better topic, one that will last for eternity, one that's worth talking about for thousands and thousands of millennia. And it isn't going to be you, and it isn't going to be me. What is worth talking about for all that time? Is it not the glory of God in saving sinners like us? In the end that is God's purpose. VII. Application What application can we take from this passage? Well, first and foremost, and we're going to talk about this more God willing in the future, but don't despise in any way the Jewish people in their lostness. Don't look down on them. We'll talk more about this in the future, but what I want to say is instead, can we not reach out to them with the Gospel? Can we not in some way, whatever way Paul means here, make them envious that they're not included right now? How do you do that? Well, first, get to know some Jewish people, reach out to them, with friendship, build some relationships with them. If you don't know any, then pray that God would give you some that you can reach out to. And second of all, don't say, "My goal is to make you jealous of me. I'd really like to make you jealous." Don't do that. God has called on us to be wise, don't do that. Rather say, "Isn't it an incredible thing that sins can be forgiven? Isn't it a marvelous thing that we don't fear death, but we can look forward to something even better? Isn't it a marvelous thing that after we die, we'll get to sit at a table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of Heaven?" Matthew Chapter 8. We get to do that, isn't that wonderful? Using Jewish languages you're saying, "We get to feast with the patriarchs. Isn't it a wonderful thing that we get to know Isaiah who talked about Christ, and predicted His sufferings and the glories that would follow? Isn't it a marvelous thing that that animal sacrificial system has been fulfilled in Jesus, and we don't have to offer animals anymore, but rather it's all been completed, and our sins are forgiven through the blood of Christ?" You're drawing them in, making them thirsty, just like Jesus did with the Samaritan woman at the well, saying, "Don't you want some of this? Don't you want to be included? Isn't it a marvelous thing that the spirit can come into some dry bones and make us come to life? Isn't it a marvelous thing that God has a salvation plan for every tribe, and language, and people, and nation, all around the world?" So in this way, make them envious of the spiritual blessings of the Gospel. Second of all, never doubt that God has power, be confident in God, have power to make even the most dreadful thing, even the most dreadful thing come for His glory. God can use something terrible like the murder of Jesus, and like the transgression of the Jews, to do glorious things. He says, "If God can do that," he uses a logic here, "If God can do all this good thing because the Jews have sinned, how much more glory will come when He turns them around?" You see what God can do? God can take even the most wretched things in your life, even other people's sins against you, even your own sins, and He can work in the midst of all of that for His glory, and for His grace, and for His mercy. Nothing derails the plan of God. Isn't that marvelous? So, give Him thanks and praise and be confident in this God. And finally, simply learn the lesson of Romans 11, and say, "Not to us, not to us, but to Your name alone be the glory. Thank you God, thank you for saving me." Close with me in prayer.

I. Return on Investment Look with me at Romans chapter 6. This morning, we're going to be looking at verses 19-23, although in truth, I'm not going to be getting into verse 23 that much. It's just so rich and so deep that we're going to give attention to it more next week. We live in a complex age. We are an urban people. We are a people that watches CNN and we follow the ups and downs, perhaps of the stock market, or other things. And so we would not respond as well to agricultural illustrations as we do, perhaps, financial ones. We talk about investment more than we talk about sowing. We talk about a return on investment more than we talk about reaping. But the fact of the matter is, these same matters are facing us as faced God's people 2,000 years ago. When Paul said to the Galatian believers, he said, "Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature from that nature will reap destruction. The one who sows to please the spirit from the spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we'll reap the harvest if we do not give up. Therefore as we have opportunity, let us do good." Paul there in Galatians 6 is calling the people of God to make an investment in the Spirit, and to stop investing in the flesh. He's calling on us to stop sowing seeds to our sin nature. And it's the very same thing he's doing here in Romans chapter 6. Has Sin Ever Done Anything Good for You? In Romans 6, Paul is trying to talk us out of habits and patterns of sin that do not line up with who we are in Jesus Christ. He's speaking to us in love and as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, he's reasoning with us, just as Isaiah did so long ago. Come now, let us reason together. Stop sinning. And here in this passage that we're looking at, he's taking this approach, saying, "What has sin ever done for you?" I was talking to somebody recently who was struggling with sin and wrestling with it, and it was a younger person, and the person was talking to me about it, and said, "I just can't stop. I just keep doing it over and over." I said, "Imagine, if you would, that we lived in a neighborhood, and there were people that wanted to be your friend. And one of them came out with a big smile on his face and said, 'Come on into my house and we'll be friends together.' And so you walk by, it's a friendly looking person, you go in the house, and the person speaks harshly to you, beats you up, treats you badly and then throws you out in the street. What kind of person would you think that would be?" This child said to me, "Well, a mean person." I said, "That's right. Now, suppose you went and visited that mean person 100 days in a row. Day after day after day after day. What kind of person would you be?" This little person looked and said, "A fool." I said, "That's right." Isn't that what we do? Has there ever been a time that you look back on your life and say, you know that thing that I did there was clearly sin, but I'm glad I did it. Has there ever been a time like that in your life? That God's word spoke against something that you did, but you are glad looking back that you did that. Has sin ever done anything good for you? And that's exactly Paul's reasoning, he's saying what benefit, what fruit has ever come to you from sin? And so he's reasoning with us. He's talking us out of sin. II. Context Now, in context where are we? We're right after that section, which Paul has been explaining to us, the human race, about our need for justification. There is coming a Judgment Day. We will soon be standing before the judgment seat of God. And on that day, we will have to give an account for our lives. And God has a careful, accurate accounting and record of everything that we've ever said and done. And on that day, there will be no escape from the judgment of God, if it's not found in Jesus Christ. So, all of us who have sinned and done evil in His sight, all of us are in need of justification. We're in need of being declared not guilty by the judge of all the earth. There is no issue you face in your life that's more important than that. And so, we need justification. And in Romans chapter 1, 2 and 3, he goes through, and makes it very clear that all have sinned and lack the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace. So, we've got the bad news of our sin and our need for justification right next to the good news of the fact that it's available through faith in Jesus Christ. Through faith alone, by grace alone through the blood of Jesus Christ. And so Paul works out that argument, and he culminates in chapter 5 a great statement of our total security in Christ. "Where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more," so that grace reigns in your life like a king, like an emperor. Sin cannot defeat the reign of grace in your life. And so that carnal nature starts to kick up and say, "Well, if that's the case, I might as well sin, let's sin all the more so that grace may increase." And in chapter 6, Paul is dealing with the issue of sin in the life of a justified Christian. Sin in the life of somebody who's put their faith in Christ. What role should sin have in our life? And how do you line it up with this doctrine that he's giving us of justification by faith? Romans 6:1, he says, "What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may abound? May it never be." That's Paul's answer. Don't you know that you have been united with Christ in His death? And united with Him also in His resurrection. You have a new life, you're a new person. You're alive to God and dead to sin forever. And he asks the same question again in Romans 6:15. "What then, shall we sin because we're not under law, but under grace?" So, we're dealing with this question. Shall we sin? Shall we sin? He asks it twice and the answer is, "May it never be." Because we are one with Jesus Christ spiritually, and if you're not one with Jesus Christ spiritually, you're not saved. You're still under judgment. You're still under wrath, but if you have come to faith in Christ you have been united spiritually with Him, and therefore you died to sin, not you should die to sin. It would be good if you could die to sin. He's not saying that at all. He's saying, "You died to sin, once and for all." The person you were in Adam, the person you were born into in sin is dead forever. You have become a new creation in Jesus Christ. So live like it. That's how he's exhorting us toward holiness. 1 John 2:6, John writes this, "Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did." We must walk in this world as Jesus did. We must be holy. Now, justification is a judicial, a declaration like by a court of law by a judge that you are not guilty of all your sins. He has declared you on the basis of your faith in Jesus Christ that you're not guilty, but actually, nothing has changed in terms of your habit patterns or your lifestyle. Just as I am, you came to Him without one plea, you came and presented yourself to God, and He declared you not guilty because of faith in Jesus Christ. Then, He rolls up His sleeves and gets to work on your life. It matters a great deal how you live after you have been declared not guilty. You must be holy. You must walk in holiness and the newness of life. 1 John 4:17, "In this world, we are like Him." III. The Analogy of Slavery: “Just as...So also” And so, He raises up this image of slavery, which we talked about last time. We used to be slaves to sin but we're no longer slaves to sin. Sin is not our master, but rather God has become our master. Righteousness has become our master. Jesus Christ is our Lord. Read with me along in verses 19 through 23 and let's understand what He says to us. Speaking of this analogy of slavery, He says, "I put this in human terms, because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness, leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefits did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death, but now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness and the result is eternal life, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." So, Paul raises up this picture, this image, this analogy of slavery and there's a comparison, "just as, so also." He's comparing your old way of life in slavery to sin, to your new way of life in slavery to righteousness and he's going to bring out a principle there that's going to help you in your growth in holiness. He's going to talk about that. He says in verse 16, "Don't you know that when you offer yourself to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey." So, he's got this slavery analogy, and from verse 16-18, he's been using this human analogy to explain our present status in Christ, namely, that of slavery. Now, the Romans understood slavery. As the Roman legions advanced around the world and conquered nations, people would be brought to Rome as slaves and they would have to serve their masters. And that was their understanding. So, Paul uses and picks up this analogy, but in a way, he kind of has to apologize for it. It's not a perfect analogy and he wants to explain why he's using it. There's an aspect of it that's true, but it's not perfect, just like all illustrations and analogies. In verse 18, he says, "You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness." So, just as your past life in sin was a life of slavery to sin, so now your present life in Christ is a life of slavery to righteousness. That's the analogy. And he acknowledges that this is merely an analogy. Look at verse 19, "I put this in human terms." I speak after a human way of thinking here. I put this in human terms because you are weak in your flesh. You're weak in your natural selves." Why does Paul apologize, it seems, almost for the analogy. Not so much apologize but he wants you to know that there's a limit to the analogy. Well, he uses the analogy, first of all, because he says we are weak. We don't understand spiritual truth. We need, therefore, illustrations. We need analogies. Now, I think, in preaching that illustrations are important but they are not for the purpose of entertainment. I love to listen to stories. I think it's great to listen to one story after another, but all of you who are Christians are in a war and you're going to leave this room and you're going to go back onto the battlefield and you're going to struggle with sin, are you not? As a matter of fact, if you're not struggling with sin, you're not a Christian. You're just a slave to sin. You do the will of sin day after day. So, either you're dead in transgressions and sins and under the wrath of God or you're going to leave this room and go into warfare against your sin nature. And if you're a Christian, you know it's true. And so, there's no point in me standing and giving a bunch of stories and illustrations that are not going to help you for your warfare, but rather, we need an illustration that's going to help us understand how we can conquer, how we can rise to live the way that God calls us to. And so, that's what He does. And so, He stoops to some degree to our weakness. He uses language we can understand, basic grammar, nouns and verbs and adjectives and participial phrases. And He puts these things together so that we can understand the mind of God. He humbles Himself to speak to us this way. And as you look across the 66 books of the Bible, He uses all different kinds of manner of speech, doesn't He? He uses historical narratives, stories about David and Goliath and Samson and Delilah, we learn those stories, the Exodus and all the events of the book of Genesis. All of those stories and their historical narratives, and they all happened, but they teach us something about the way of God and His way of thinking. We also have laws, don't we, in which God says, "Thou shalt and thou shalt not," and makes it very clear what His will is in certain matters. He speaks to us in that way. He speaks also to us in poetry. The beautiful Song of Solomon, with its love poetry. He talks to us in Psalms through David and other psalm writers. That's poetical language, and He uses that. He speaks to us in parables, doesn't He? Jesus used parables. The parable of the rich young ruler or the parable of the pearl of great price. The parable of the prodigal son. All of these stories teaching a point. He speaks to us in these ways. He speaks to us also in prophecies that this will happen after 70 years. The people of Israel will come back from Babylon, He lays it out. He speaks to us also in apocalyptic visions that are very difficult to understand. The Book of Revelation, Book of Ezekiel. Future apocalyptic visions. All of this is God's condescending lowering Himself to communicate to us so that we can understand. The greatest form of condescension ever done was the incarnation of Jesus Christ. "The word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. And we have seen His glory." And He walked around with us and He lived a life after the same manner of ours, yet without sin. In this way, God condescended to communicate to us in our weakness. And in the middle of that there came a time, once, when a ruler, a leader in Israel, Nicodemus, came to Him at night and wanted to know and understand His spiritual ministry. He tried to understand, he said, "We know you're a teacher come from God because nobody could do the miracles you're doing, if God were not with him." And Jesus looked at him and said, Nicodemus, "you must be born again." Now, what was Jesus doing? He was using something we all experience. We experience it once, ourselves, and then we observe it when other babies are born. The issue of birth. A little baby coming into the world. And Jesus picks up this human way of speaking and says, that just as, what happened to you then was so radical and done to you by the power of another, so also, you must be transformed like a whole new life. You must be born again if you want to go to heaven." But what did Nicodemus think He meant? "How can I get back into my mother's womb a second time and be born? I can't understand your analogy. I can't understand your illustration." This is what Jesus said, John 3:12, "I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe, how then will you understand if I speak of heavenly things?" What is Jesus saying? He's saying, "I'm putting it in human terms. I'm using human speech so that you can understand the spiritual reality." And that's exactly what Paul is doing here with this slavery illustration. He's putting it in a way that the Romans could understand. Now, in one sense, the analogy is right on. We are servants, we are slaves of God. Paul says so, right at the beginning of this book. Romans 1:1 he says, "Paul, a bond slave of Christ Jesus," the best translation. Philippians 1:1, "Paul and Timothy, bond slaves of Christ Jesus." He states that we have been purchased with a price. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, he says, "You are not your own, you are bought at a price; therefore honor God with your body." So we're not our own. A price was paid for us. And then in Romans 14:8, "Whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord." He owns us. He is our master. In one sense we must therefore think of ourselves in that way. Jesus said, "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For I am gentle and humble in heart and you'll find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light." He's saying, "Come and let me be your master, but I'm not like your old master sin. I'm a whole different kind of master." And in that way the analogy is not perfect. And so Paul is somewhat needing to explain the limitations of this analogy. In one sense we must never think of ourselves as slaves. John 15:15, Jesus said, "I no longer call you servants or slaves because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead I have called you friends, because everything that I learned from the Father, I have made known to you." So we're not any longer called servants or slaves, we're called friends because He communicates openly with us as friend to friend, like Abraham who was called God's friend. We are God's friends. And He opens His mind to us, He explains what He's doing. He's not treating us as a slave but as a friend. As a matter of fact, Jesus put the two together. In John 15:14 He says, "You are my friends if you obey my commands." So if we are His servants, we are His friends. He puts the two together. And then after the resurrection He goes even further, He says to Mary Magdalene, "Go to my brothers and tell them, I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." We're brothers, brothers of Jesus Christ. It says in Hebrews 2, He's not ashamed to call us brothers. That's an incredible thing. Adopted into the very family of God. Paul himself limits it. He says in Romans 8:15-16, "You did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received a spirit of adoption. And by Him we cry out Abba, Father." So yes, in one sense we are slaves of Jesus Christ. In one sense we are slaves of righteousness. In another sense, it's an imperfect analogy. And that's why He's saying, "I put it in human terms so that you can understand it." And then He says, I want to describe what happened just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and ever increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. Here's the comparison; just as you used to do this thing on the negative side, bring that principle over now and use it for you. Use it to benefit you so that you can grow in holiness. You used to behave this way and grew in ever increasing wickedness. Now take that principle of presentation to a master and use it now for righteousness and grow on into holiness. That's what He's saying. We're taking out an aspect of the way you used to live your life and we're saying, "This is right," but now use it to serve the right master. Grow in holiness just like you used to grow in wickedness. That's what He's saying, just as so also. Well, how was that old slavery? What happened? Well, you presented yourself day after day to your master. You didn't know it. Why didn't you know it? Because sin is a deceiver. Sin is a deceiver, sin is a tricker. Con artist. And sin will come and present itself in a very favorable friendly way. But sin is a tyrant. Sin is a dominating master. And you used to come and present yourself to that dominating master and say, "Here I am, command me." Even though you didn't know that's what you were doing, that's what you did. So you offered the parts of your body to him in slavery, the members of your body. Now, we talked about that last time, the word "member" means all the physical parts of your body and also the internal parts as well. Yes, your hands, yes, your feet and your eyes and your mouth, and every part of your body and all of the natural drives that God has given us. The drive for hunger, the drive for pleasure, the sexual drive. All of these things created by God, but used in service to wickedness. Just as you used to do that, so now we're going to come over and offer them in service to righteousness leading to holiness, that's what He's saying. Now, slavery, the word "slavery" involves complete submission. We were not employees of sin. We were slaves to sin. We could not change the relationship. A more powerful master, namely grace or Jesus Christ, had to come and break that relationship and He did. Praise God He did. So we're free from sin, but there's a principle that the way that we lived our life back then that He's trying to use now in growth to holiness. He said, "Alright, what happened? You offered parts of your body in slavery to impurity." The word "impurity" means uncleanness or internal corruption. It's the same word used in Romans 1:24, "Therefore, God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another." Impurity, it means things mixed in that shouldn't be there. Impurity. And that's what you used to do, you gave yourself over to impurity. But you know something, with sin, it doesn't stay in one place, does it? It doesn't stay where it's at. Sin is like a malignant tumor. It's always going to get bigger and bigger and bigger. There's a principle of growth in sin, isn't there? And so it says, in slavery to impurity and to ever increasing wickedness, it's always going to grow and grow. You know how it works. Some little thing comes into your life, a thought or something and next thing you know you act on it, it has a certain effect on your character and your memory and your mind. A few days later, you act on it again. After that, a few more times with increasing regularity and next thing you know, you've picked up a habit, haven't you? And with that habit, you continue to feed it and it continues to grow. And it eventually affects who you are. It affects your heart, it affects your character. And as you continue to go on, it's almost like an accelerated... It's like a white water river, and then it just leads you down to death. That's what He's saying. That's the way sin is. It starts out small and gets ever bigger, ever stronger all the time. The Continual Lust for More But what He's saying is, the very same thing works in the same way for holiness and sanctification. It starts out small, you start a habit, it starts to grow, it starts to take over your life. The Kingdom of heaven is like yeast hidden in a little amount of flour and it works all the way through the dough, it starts to grow. He's just taking that same principle and using it in holiness. But there is this continual lust for more with sin. Ephesians 4:19, it says, "Having lost all sensitivity they have given themselves over to sensuality, so as to indulge in every kind of impurity with a continual lust for more." Think about maybe two young folks going out on a date. Questionable whether they should be alone, they're in a car, first date. And with hearts beating wildly, one of them reaches out and they hold hands. And wow, it's exciting, right? But the date ends, the next time, is holding hands sufficient? No, it's not. It's not going to stay in one place. It's keep growing and growing and growing. There's a desire for more all the time. Sin is relentless, it's restless and it's not going to stay put. So it keeps pushing and pushing. And it works this way in every area of life. And so what He's saying is, in the same way that that's how you used to live your life, now we're going to bring it over into holiness and into righteousness. He talks about a new slavery, just as that so also this. Now remember that we have a new life in Christ, verse 4, "we were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life." We have a new life. We have power to live for God. Power to live in righteousness. So let's live that life. That's what he's saying. Walk in newness of life. So he says in Verse 19, "So now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness." Step by step growth in sanctification. IV. Old Master: What Pattern, What Benefits, What Destination? People say, "How can I grow as a Christian?" Well, in effect, Paul here is saying the same way you used to grow as a non-Christian. There you grew in wickedness, now you can grow in holiness. You've been set free from sin and now you can grow into Christ-like maturity. So the common theme is that of a gradual increase as you give yourself in full submission to God. Now, as we look at verse 20-21, we talk about the old master, and he asks, "What pattern was there? What benefits came and what destination?" In verse 20-21 he says, "When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death." Jesus said we can't serve two masters. Either he owns you or sin owns you, one or the other. Well, who owns you if you're a Christian? Jesus does. And He's jealous over you. He's not going to share you with sin. And so therefore He's going to work in the power of the Spirit to get you to stop behaving like you're still a slave to sin, which you're not. And so He's saying, "No one can serve two masters." And verse 16, "Don't you know when you offer yourselves to someone to obey them as slaves, you're slaves to the one you obey." Well, Paul takes that principle, in verse 20, he says, "When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness." And what does that mean? Not absolutely free. God can command and you should have obeyed. But the point is, when you were a slave to sin you didn't think about righteousness. When you wanted to do that sin thing, whatever it was, righteousness didn't bother you. It didn't intrude on that. You didn't feel like you owed righteousness anything. Righteousness could command, and you disobeyed and disregarded it. It was like you were deaf to the call of righteousness. He's saying, "Okay, why can't we do that now on the other side?" Now, righteousness is your master. When sin calls, be deaf. Sin has no authority over you. Sin has no right to command you. And so therefore say, "I'm not a slave to sin anymore, you have no authority over me. You can't make me sin. No." So he says, Just as in the old life, you were a slave to sin, free from the control of righteousness," that's what he said. You had one master. And what kind of life, what pattern of life did you have? Well, it has already been described. He said, "What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? What benefit came?" You lived a certain life in sin. That was the manner of life. It was a growth in impurity, and an ever increasing wickedness. Well, what fruit, the word literally means fruit, what fruit came out of it? What benefit ever came? Can you imagine somebody that committed adultery 10 years later, after having tried the best that he or she could to pick up the pieces, saying, "If I could do it over again, I'd do it so differently. Oh, how it hurts. It hurts to see my children, it hurts to see my spouse, it hurts to walk around in those old places and to realize what could've been if I hadn't done that. What benefit came, what good thing from that sin?" "Anything good? What benefit did I get at that time from those things of which I'm now ashamed?" Or somebody who struggles with alcohol, wakes up the next morning after yet another bout with drinking. He's about to lose his job, maybe his family. What benefit? What fruit, what good thing coming from sin? Think. They say in the area of psychology and all that, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results every time. Is not sin insanity? You know what I'm talking about? That same thing. I'm going to try it again, but maybe this time a different outcome. No. There is no fruit, no benefit, nothing good from sin. That's what he's saying. What benefit did you reap from those things you're now ashamed of? Now, on this issue of shame, some people believe and say, "We're Christians. We don't need to feel ashamed, we're free forever from shame and guilt and all that." May I tell you? In heaven you'll be free forever from shame and guilt, but we're still in the battle now and we need some help, don't we? Is there still a danger of future sin? Is sin not a relentless, vicious enemy? I believe that shame for past sin is a protection from future sin, is it not? One Puritan writer, Thomas Watson on the Doctrine of Repentance, listed shame for sin as an essential element of repentance. And I started studying in scripture and it's right there. Ezra 9:6 is what the priest said, "Oh my God I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, my God, because our sins are higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached to the heavens." Can't even look up at you, God. I can't lift my face. Jesus said, Matthew 5:4, "Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted." When you sin, you should mourn. What happened to Peter when he denied his Savior three times? And when Jesus walked by en route to the next stage, I believe, of his trial, and the cock crowed and he realized that he had called down curses on himself if he knew Jesus. And at that moment the cock crows and at the moment, in Luke's Gospel, Jesus looked at him. What did that look feel like? Can you imagine what it felt like to be Peter? And it was all true, Jesus always tells the truth. He said, "This very night before the rooster crows, you'll disown me three times," and Jesus just providentially walking by at that moment looks at Peter. Didn't say a word, just looked at him. What did Peter do? Went outside and wept bitterly. That weeping was such a cleansing for him. That's what it took to bring him back to repentance. He was in the upper room, the night that Jesus rose from the dead, ready for whatever God had, but he had to go through that weeping. That sense of shame, a sense that I betrayed my master. Luke 18:13, the tax collector stood at a distance, he wouldn't even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, "God have mercy on me, a sinner." We are so prideful. Do you sense it? We don't want to say anything like this. "I've been forgiven. I don't ever need to grieve over my sin." We do need to grieve and yes, it's forgiven. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But we are ashamed of our past sins and should be. And by the way, if we shouldn't feel that, then what power or strength ever comes from spiritual discipline, when God disciplines us, why does He discipline us? So that we immediately forget the discipline? No, so that we remember and never do it again. That's the point. That we're supposed to forget immediately all our sins, that are confessed and covered and forgiven, then why would God discipline us? He wants us to remember so that we don't sin, but realize that it has not hindered our relationship with Him. We have confessed, we're restored, we're walking with Him and we're never going to do that again. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of, those things result in death. That's a destination. And what is this death? Well, people who aren't Christians, they live in a day after day living spiritual death. We kind of mock it or imitate it when we sin. You can sin your way out of good, healthy fellowship with God. We're alive eternally, once you came to faith in Christ, you have eternal life. But what happens to your prayer life when you sin? What happens to your fruitfulness? There's a sense or a feeling that something's not right in your relationship. Those things result in death, and for the unbeliever, ultimate death forever, eternally in hell. V. New Master: What Pattern, What Benefits, What Destination? Well, we have a new master instead, and what pattern, and what benefits, and what destination come there? Our new master is God. Verse 22, "But now that you've been set free from sin, and have become slaves to God," an incredible transformation, but now, we were slaves to sin, but now we're slaves to God, praise God for that. And we have a new pattern, a pattern of presenting our members to God as instruments of righteousness. And as a result of that, ever increasing holiness, a righteousness that leads to holiness. Now, how important is this? The results is eternal life. The word in Greek, the end, the destination is eternal life. There is no other pattern of life that leads to heaven. You don't walk the aisle, pray a prayer, get baptized, and then live however you want and go to heaven. That's not the life. Rather we repent, come to faith in Christ, we have a new life, and we bring forth fruit day after day of righteousness and holiness. And so, the writer to Hebrews said, Hebrews 12:14, "Make every effort to live at peace with all men and to be holy. Without holiness, no one will see the Lord." Don't be deceived, walk in newness of life, grow in holiness, the result, the outcome of that life is eternal life. Without holiness, no one will see the Lord, for the wages of sin is death. But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Now, we're about to have a time of the Lord's supper. And before we go to the Lord's supper, we are urged by Paul in Corinthians to examine our hearts. It could be that as we've been listening to the word, we realize that we've been behaving as though we were slaves to sin, when we're not. If we're Christian, we're free forever from sin, but this is a good time to confess, to repent of that sin, to resolve that we're going to make it right. The time of the Lord's supper is a time of unity in the body of Christ, and a time of thinking about what He's done for us. But also a time of recognition that we must be pure and holy, if we are to be the people of God. Won't you close with me in prayer? Father, we thank you for the way that Paul is teaching us that we must be holy, and the way that he lifts up this principle, and the way we used to live our lives, we used to present ourselves to sin and to ever increasing wickedness, so now we can present ourselves in slavery to righteousness, leading to holiness. Father, I pray for your people here that they might do it. Father, I pray that you would enable us, Oh Lord, to confess and to humble ourselves under your mighty hand, that you may lift us up. Father, I pray that you would break us of sin, wean us from sin, that we might not be interested in it any longer. Father, we thank you for this time to consider your word. In Jesus' name, amen.

Why don't you take your Bibles and open to the Book of Romans. We're beginning a new series of sermons in Romans today. Some of the things I've enjoyed as we reach the end of the millennium, the end of the century and started moving on, are the lists that people/experts have been making of the top 100 this or the top 50 that. Have you read any of them in the newspaper? Some of them have to do with athletics or different sports. Some of them have to do with significant events in history or significant personages. I know that Life Magazine had a book out all year, the top 100 events and the top 100 people of the last 1,000 years. And as I look over church history, over the last 2000 years since the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost, I think that the most significant moment was the moment that a Jewish rabbi sat down and wrote the Book of Romans. As I look over church history, I see the number of times that God has used Romans to bring revival or to bring conversion or to transform an entire situation or to bring conversion to individuals. So I think the writing of Romans maybe if not the most significant, is one of the most significant moments in history. And isn't that kind of funny? If you had been back there at that time and just seen that man hunched over a table with pen to paper, you would've thought nothing significant is going on here. It's just somebody writing a letter, but this is the greatest letter ever written. And in these words is the gospel of your salvation if you are going to be saved. So I come to the brink of looking at Romans with extensive trepidation. I wonder if it's going to swallow me up. Donald Grey Barnhouse preached 11 years worth of sermons out of Romans. Rest easy I'm not going to do 11 years, but there's a lot of truth in here and there's a lot of things. What I'd like to do for you this morning is three things. Number one, I'd like to give you a sense from history of how God has used this book. Second of all, I'd like to look carefully at verse one, just the first verse about the man who wrote it, the Apostle Paul. And then third, I'd like to take you somewhat on a jet tour across the scope of all 16 chapters so you can see how the whole thing fits together. And I think it's a tremendous opportunity that we have. I've never heard any series of sermons preach on Romans. The things I've learned from Romans, I've learned from reading it myself or reading books or hearing individual sermons. So it actually is a tremendous opportunity that we have to look at the whole book and to go through it in a careful way. Romans in History The Conversion of Augustine Let's begin by looking at how God has used this book. I'd like to start around the year 387 with a man named Augustine. A long time ago when the Roman Empire was still in power, their was sitting in a walled garden in the City of Milan, a man named Augustine. And at that particular moment, he was a professor of philosophy and of rhetoric, and he was also in deep torment about the course of his life. He was grieved over what had happened up to that point. He was tearing at himself and tearing at his soul. The reason why is that he had lived a life of debauchery and of sexual immorality. He had fathered a child out of wedlock, he had a godly mother who had been praying for his conversion for many years, but to no avail. And he continued more and more to burn with lust and with passion, and yet at the same time to feel the burn of God's indignation of a sentence of wrath and of judgement in his heart and he could not escape. And as he sat in that walled garden and he was tearing at himself and just saying, "Oh God, how long, oh Lord will You make me wait? How long until I finally believe? How long until You transform my life?" He kept praying, and he said "Will it be tomorrow and tomorrow?" Always tomorrow. And at that moment as he was crying and crying out to God, he heard a delicate voice of a child from the yard next door. He was singing a child's rhyme and in Latin it said, "Tolle lege, tolle lege" like that, which means "Take up and read, take up and read." He thought he'd never heard anything like this before. Children don't generally play singing "Take up and read." He'd never heard that as a child rhyme when he was a child and it got him to thinking that perhaps this was God's answer to his prayer. It just so happen that there was nearby a copy of the scripture. And he decided if this was a message from God, he would open up randomly to whatever scripture God might have for him and he would look at it and allow that to speak to him. Have you ever done that? Have you ever just opened the Bible and said, "Oh God, speak to me," and there it is. But this was what Augustine did. And he opened it up and just by “chance” (if you believe in chance), he opened up for Romans 13:14, and this is what Romans 13:14 says, "Not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to satisfy it's lust." Is that an accident? At that moment, he believed in Jesus Christ. His mother was nearby, he ran and told her, I can't even tell you the joy that she felt that all her years of prayer had finally been answered and her son had given his life to Jesus Christ. One verse of the Book of Romans converted arguably the greatest theologian of the ancient church. The Conversion of Luther Move on ahead in history now over a 1000 years. Now we're going to move into the Holy Roman Empire and into Germany. In the Holy Roman Empire and Germany, there was a monastery and within the walls of the monastery was a monk, an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther. He was every bit as much in bondage as Augustine had been over a 1000 years before that, but he was in bondage to religious legalism. And he felt the same sentence of the wrath of God and the judgment of God inside his heart against him for he was a sinner, and he knew it, and he was afraid. He had entered the monastery because of a thunder and lightning storm. He fell on his face on the ground covered with mud, and he cried out to St. Anne (they prayed to saints). He prayed to St. Anne, he said "Oh, Anne help me, I will become a monk." Well, apparently she did help him, and he survived the thunder and lightning storm, so he did enter the monastery. And there he decided and began to work out a salvation from the fabric of his own good works, can that be done? No, but he tried and he said if ever anyone could have entered the Kingdom of Heaven by monkery, it would have been me. He spent long nights in fasting and prayer just about destroyed his health. Many, many hours he spent in that cold monastery. Comfort is a thing of the 21st century and the 20th century. It is not a thing of the Holy Roman Empire in the early 1500s. He just about destroyed himself with his fasting and prayer. And as he worked on it and as he continued to struggle over his soul, he grew to hate the things of God because nothing brought him comfort. And he came across a specific verse, actually two verses in Romans 1. Romans 1:16-17, “I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed, a righteousness that is from faith to faith just as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’” Now when he looked at that expression, “righteousness of God,” it brought him terror and fear. He thought the righteousness of God would come crashing down on him on judgment day and convict him as the sinner he was until somehow the light came through. And he realized verse 16 was testifying of a power for salvation, not for condemnation, and that this righteousness from God was the very thing that brought about the salvation. And he said the righteousness of God is not God's righteousness, but the righteousness, which God gives as a gift to any who will simply believe by faith. And the reformation was born. One section, one small section, two verses of Romans, and the reformation came out of that. That's the power of the gospel and that's the power of the Book of Romans. Assurance for John Wesley Move on ahead, over 200 years later to the story of John Wesley. Now, Wesley was a Christian. He was an ordained minister in the Anglican Church, but he had no peace, no fruitfulness, nothing in his life to testify to him being a child of God. He had been on missionary trips. He had tried everything, much like Martin Luther had before, but he had no assurance of his own salvation. It does not mean he was not saved, just meant he had no assurance that he was a Christian. And he testifies that he came very unwillingly to a meeting of a society, a religious society of Aldersgate Street. Note the words very unwillingly. Isn't that wonderful? Do you think that Paul who wrote this came very willingly into the gospel? Oh, No. But he said "I don't want to go but I will go anyway." I don't know what his reasons were, maybe he was people pleasing, maybe his brother Charles invited him, who knows, but he went very unwillingly. And at that meeting, guess what they were reading? They were reading Martin Luther's preface to the Book of Romans. And as he began to unfold the doctrine of justification by faith alone, which is found in the words of Romans, this is what Wesley wrote. "About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change, which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, in Christ alone for my salvation and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine and had saved me from the law of sin and death." John Wesley was the Father of Methodism, which swept the American frontier and saved many souls, but it all started with him coming face-to-face with the truths found in the Book of Romans. Karl Barth Confronting Liberalism One more study, in 1919, a young Swiss theologian was finishing a commentary on this very book, commentary on Romans. Now at that time in Europe, the prevailing doctrine, the prevailing theology was called liberalism and the basic idea of liberalism was the fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man. But that idea seemed to lay in ashes on the fields of the World War I battle fields, which were there in Europe. Liberalism seemed to be bankrupt and yet it still was holding a grip on the minds of the people until Karl Barth wrote a commentary, a verse by verse commentary on the Book of Romans. Now Barth's theology was somewhat skewed in some places, but just the power of the commentary and the verse by verse destroyed liberalism forever. Some liken Barth to a Swiss pastor going up into the belfry in a spiral staircase and losing his footing, starting to fall and grabbing the rope of the bell and as he grabbed it, the bell clang loudly and woke up everyone in the sleeping village. Because after Barth's commentary to Romans, nothing was ever the same again. These are four case studies of Romans that worked throughout history. We have the first Augustine, who was inflamed with lust, a prisoner to his own sin nature and he could not escape, the more he tried, the worse it got, and he could not get out, he was a slave to sin and he knew it. One verse from Romans freed him forever. Martin Luther was a slave to religious legalism. He thought by his own prayer and fasting he might escape the wrath of God, but he could not and he knew it, it was impossible for him by his own good deeds to come to any piece of mind, any assurance that he was saved. One little section from Romans transformed everything, even one phrase, “the righteousness of God” understood properly. And then John Wesley, perhaps a Christian, maybe not, but certainly with no assurance doing good works, even having a ministry. And yet the gospel came in through the power of the Book of Romans and transformed him and transformed his heart and gave him assurance. And then the case of Karl Barth, sweeping away false teaching by a verse by verse exposition of this book. This is a powerful letter is it not? Have you ever seen anything, which has the transforming power of the 16 chapters of the Book of Romans, the greatest letter ever written? Now Romans has a power the goes beyond our ability to comprehend. This Book of Romans will strip you naked and then clothe you in robes made in heaven. It will do both. There is strong meat in here, not everyone has the teeth to chew it, but it still needs to be proclaimed. And this gospel, the gospel of Romans needs to be preached to believers as we shall see. Because it's not just a gospel of our justification, which we'll talk about this morning, but it is also a gospel that brings us all the way perfect into heaven. Until our journey is complete, we need to understand the truths in the Book of Romans. That's the power of Romans. Overview or Romans The Apostle Paul So what I want to do, is I want to go in a kind of an omni-vision sense, kind of soaring over the 16 chapters. I remember when I was in Boston I saw a film taken from the Space Shuttle going around the globe from North Pole to South Pole like that, going down across Europe. And they covered Europe and the Earth in about ten minutes. As you looked down you could see everything, and they were describing the cities that they were flying over. That's about what I want to do with these 16 chapters. As we look across, I think it's very important for us to understand the argumentation. Some of you perhaps have seen the “Romans Road,” and I want to kind of fill it out for you this morning. But let's begin by looking at verse one and try to understand the man who wrote this tremendous letter. The Apostle Paul, a trophy of God's sovereign grace. It says in verse one, "Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God." Now, the key question here is not so much "Who was Paul?" I think as you look at these three titles, these three things that he says about himself, in which he calls himself a servant of Christ Jesus, called, which is passive, called by someone to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God. The question therefore is not who was the apostle Paul, but whose was the Apostle Paul? You know these days we're in kind of angst all the time, trying to determine “who am I?” Who am I? That's the question of the late 20th century into the 21st. Don't ask that question. Ask “whose am I?” For if you belong to Jesus Christ then you have eternal life. That's the significant question, “whose am I?” Now, whose was Paul? He belonged to Jesus Christ, and these three things that he says about himself show it. The first is a shocking title for him to say, he calls himself "a bondslave." It's somewhat tame, "a servant of Christ Jesus." But it really means “bondslave” of Christ Jesus. In Roman society, (and he was writing to Romans), the bondslave was the lowest rung of culture. Absolutely the bottom. You did not want to be a bondslave, but he calls himself a bondslave of Christ Jesus. Paul seems to even delight in that title because he uses it about himself frequently. Now there are three aspects to being a bondslave. Number one, you are purchased with a price. Someone paid money for you. If you were going to be a bondslave, they paid for you. Is that true of us as Christians? Are we paid for? Are we purchased with a price? Oh yes we are. 1 Corinthians 7:23, "You were bought at a price; therefore do not become slaves of men." Someone paid something for you, something very valuable, the blood of Jesus Christ. Bought at a price and Paul knew that he had been purchased by the blood of Christ. Secondly, you are not your own. What does that mean? It means your time isn't your own. A slave or servant doesn't get up and say, "What will I do today? It's a beautiful day. Maybe I'll get the family and we'll go for a picnic." Do you think that would work? If you're a bondslave? You didn't even think it. It torments you to think, "What will I do today?" Instead you go to the master. You're not your own, your time isn't your own, your resources are not your own, your body is not your own. Well that kind of grates a little bit for us Americans. We love freedom, don't we? Paul spoke of being free in his bondage to Jesus Christ. Everything he owned was Christ. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, "You are not your own, you were bought at a price." That means your things belong to Him. Thirdly, living for the pleasure of the master. You live moment by moment for the pleasure of the one who purchased you, and Paul knew that. And this gave him tremendous freedom in his ministry. He was not afraid or intimidated whatsoever by what people thought about him. It didn't matter what they thought. He says so in Galatians 1:10, one of the most freeing verses for a minister of the gospel if you'll just believe it. Galatians 1:10, Paul says, "Am I now trying to win the approval of men or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I was still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ." He's free from that. He's not a second-hander getting it all on reflex from other people. "Do you like me? Do you like what I'm saying? Well, then I feel good about myself. That's such bondage. He only had one person in mind every day... Jesus Christ. And if Jesus was pleased with him, then he was pleased with himself. He was a bondservant of Christ. And it's good because you know the doctrine of Romans is heavy stuff, and there are things in here, which are unpopular. And if somebody is not this kind of a bondservant, they won't preach this book, they won't live this book or believe it. Paul could never have carried on his ministry if he were a pleaser of men and of women. Instead, he would stand up here and he would simply say, "This is the truth, whether you believe it or not. I hope you believe it for your sake, but not because I'm concerned what you think about me while I change even a single line of this gospel." That's the freedom that he had. He was a bondslave of Jesus Christ. Secondly, he was an apostle of Christ Jesus. Now there were certain requirements to be an apostle. First, you had to see Jesus with your own eyes, the resurrected Christ with your own eyes. Secondly, you had to be commissioned by Jesus Christ to preach and teach the gospel for the building of the church. Paul met both of those criteria. And therefore, Paul with the other apostles and also with the prophets who was in Ephesians 2:20, the foundation of the church. The doctrine that he taught and that the prophets bring forth, which we have a record of here in scripture, is the foundation of the church. It's unshakable, it will never move. There is no, as I heard earlier today, I love this, "There is no millennium bug in the Bible. It roles over just fine, it never changes." And so it's an unshakable foundation. And Paul preached it. And a large section of the New Testament was committed to him by Revelation, and he communicated it to us. He was an apostle of Jesus Christ and Finally, he was set apart for the gospel of God. Now, “set apart” means you have to be set apart from something. He was set apart from the world, he was set apart from his own career. He was a career person, he was climbing the ladder of success in Pharisee as in getting higher and higher. He turned his back on it all, turned his back on it for Jesus Christ. He was set apart for a different purpose. Well, when was he set apart? He was set apart from his mother's womb. Now, this is interesting. Galatians 1:15 says, "When God has set me apart from birth, was pleased to reveal the son in me." He was called to preach, but set apart from birth to do it. Well, you could say, "What a detour, Paul. What happened to you, so that you became an enemy of Jesus Christ? You hated him, you rejoiced when Stephen, his martyr, was slain and then you went on the war path and personally destroyed Christian household after Christian household. What happened to you?" And you know what he would say? "I'll tell you what happened to me, the grace of God happened to me. So that I might be a trophy for God's grace. God allowed me to wonder into rebellion, to be a prosecutor of the church." He says in 1 Timothy 1:16, "I was shown mercy, so that in me the worst of all sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life." "God let me wonder into rebellion so that I could be an encouragement to others who would do the same. " And for centuries, he's been just that, hasn't he? You look at the apostle Paul, almost a paradigm example of conversion. The Damascus Road Experience, as he's riding into Damascus, going into Damascus, trying to arrest Christians. And just like that, God's grace grabs hold of him and brings him into the kingdom. And what does he set apart for? He set apart for the Gospel of God, he set apart to preach this gospel. And I love that expression, “Gospel of God.” We'll talk about it more next week. This is God's gospel. This isn't Paul's gospel. We had a discussion earlier today about the authority of Paul and in effect, "Who does Paul think he is?" Well, it really doesn't matter that much who Paul thinks he is. He is a prophet, communicate in gospel, but the gospel comes from God. This is God's gospel. And it is the gospel of salvation. "I am not ashamed therefore of the gospel, [says Paul] because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, first for the Jew, then for the Gentile." Now, as we've looked at Paul and we've tried to understand him, I would like to now move to his gospel and try to understand what this gospel is. What is this message of our salvation and how is it the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes? I think that Romans answers one central question. Many others as well, but one main question for us. How can a sinful, human being escape the just wrath and condemnation of God and come into an eternal relationship with Him in glory, in face-to-face fellowship? How can that happen? How can we be moved from vessels of wrath and just condemnation into vessels of glory in his presence, in heaven forever. And Romans answers that story. It describes the whole journey. Describes the power of God to accomplish it all. But it is primarily the gospel of God's grace. We're going to talk a lot about grace, but you have to understand grace properly. You will understand grace properly when we go carefully through chapters one and two and three. And when you understand from the scripture who you were apart from Christ, you will know grace at that time. But we'll wait for that. I'm going to ask now nine major questions to partition the book into nine major divisions. We're going to see the book divided in this way. The first has to do with justification itself and that is, "Why do we need it? Why do we need justification?" So we subtitle this, The Universal Problem of Sin, Romans 1, 2 and 3. The second division is in Romans 3 itself and that is, "How is justification made possible? How is it possible for sinners like us to be saved?" Romans 3:21-26, I believe, is the center theologically of your entire Bible. I'll say that again, Romans 3:21-26 is the center, theologically, of your entire Bible. If you understand those verses properly, you get it. You understand the gospel. So, like Christ's atonement. Number three, "How does one receive justification?" Okay, Christ provided justification, but how does it become beneficial for me? How do I get it? And that is justification by faith alone, Romans 3 and 4. Question number four, "How does justification guarantee final salvation? How does justification guarantee that in the end we will be saved?" Romans 5, assurance of salvation. Romans 5:1-12, 12 of the most encouraging verses you'll find in all scripture. Assurance of salvation, alright? Next question, how should a justified person wrestle with the ongoing problem of sin in his or her life? And may I say to you, if you're not wrestling with sin, you're not a Christian. If you're not struggling and fighting sin, if you're not seeking to put sin to death, you're not a believer. Romans 8 tells us that, we'll get to that. The spirit of God is put in you and leads you to put sin to death in your life. Romans 6, 7 and 8, answer that problem, that question of ongoing struggle with sin in your life. Romans 6 talks about sanctification. Romans 7, the problem of indwelling sin in our fleshly nature. In Romans 8, the liberating power of the Holy Spirit of God and all that that means, Romans, 6, 7 and 8. Then the question, what about the Jews? If all this is true, then how can it be true in effect if the Jews aren't receiving their own messiah? If so many Jews are rejecting Christ, how can it be true? And so Romans 9, 10, and 11 are set apart to answer that. First he answers it personally, talking about God's freedom in election personally in Romans 9. Romans 10, some great verses on calling on the name of the Lord so we understand how people are saved. They quote it all the time. Romans 11, talking about the national election or choosing of the Jews as God's people. Romans 9, 10, and 11, dealing with the problem of the Jews. And then, how should a justified person live daily life in this world? Well, in the beginning of Romans 12, it says we should be “living sacrifices.” We should be living sacrifices. And that will mean certain things, Romans 12 and 13. Number eight, how should a justified person live with other weak believers? We have to get along with one another don't we? And how do we do it? Freedom tempered by love, Romans 14 and 15. And finally, how should a justified person follow Paul in service to Christ? The gospel for the Gentiles, Romans 15 and 16. While I've given you a big overview now, my strategy always in teaching the Bible is give the big picture and then come in a little bit more and then come in more and more that way. So now let's look at each of these topics a little bit and try to understand them. Why do we need justification? The Universal Problem of Sin (Romans 1-3) Topic one, the universal problem of sin. Why do we need justification? That is the purpose of Romans 1, 2, and 3. Paul introduces the whole gospel in Romans 1:1-7. And he says that his ministry is to bring about the obedience of faith among the Gentiles. And to that end, he's going to preach the gospel. It is the gospel, which brings about the obedience of faith. Verses 8-17 of chapter one, Paul says that he desires to visit Rome. "Don't think Romans that I've neglected you. I haven't forgotten you. Yes, I'm the apostle to the Gentiles and yes, you are the pinnacle church among the Gentiles because you're at the center of the Roman Empire. I have not forgotten you, but I have been prevented from coming to Rome up to this point. I've been praying for you. And I'm yearning even now that I might be able to visit you." Romans 1:16-17, as I've said is the thesis statement of the entire book. "I'm not ashamed of the gospel because of the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. First for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel, a righteousness from God is revealed. A righteousness that is by faith. And first to last, just as it is written, the righteous will live by faith." Now in verses 18-32 of chapter one, God or Paul, goes through verse by verse to explain God's wrath against sinful humanity. And he talks about two descents, they go down from the glory in which they were created. They were created in glory. Remember we saw that in Genesis. Created in the image of God, but there is a descent down from that. It's not a matter in history of evolution, but of devolution, going down. And the descents are described in chapter one. A descent into gross idolatry in which the images of God were made to look like moral man and birds and animals and reptiles, idolatry. And the descent into gross immorality where the natural function between man and woman was exchanged for perversion. The twin descents of chapter one and God's wrath against that. Chapter 2:1-16, he says that everyone who lives in this life is storing up wrath against themselves for the day of God's wrath, when His righteous judgement will be revealed. That is the problem the Romans seeks to address whether you believe it or not. If you're a non-believer, you are storing up or accumulating wrath for the day of judgement. This message is the only one that will save you from that wrath. And that's why it is the power of God for salvation. Wrath of God verse 5, key verse, Romans 2:5. "Because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed." In the end of chapter two, he deals with self-righteous Jews who feel that just because they are Jews, just because they have the law, just because they have circumcision, they're okay. And He says, "It isn't true. You don't keep the law. Now if you're truly a Jew, circumcised on the heart, now that'd be a different thing. But you're only circumcised in the outside, it hasn't transformed you from within. And so the Gentiles, they will be judged apart from the law. You Jews will be judged by the law. But either way, you will be judged if you don't believe this gospel." He culminates the whole thing in a tremendous statement of the universality of sin, Romans 3:1-20, in which he cites one verse after another from the Old Testament to show that sin touches everybody and everything. There's no one righteous, not even one. He says in Romans 3:9-10, "There is no one righteous, not even one." Jesus said this, "There is no one good but God alone." This sin has come and perverted everything and therefore, we need justification. That is the first great lesson of the Book of Romans. How was justification made possible? Christ’s Atonement (Romans 3) Second of all, how is justification provided? Romans 3:21-26 explains it plainly. Romans 3:23-25 says, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a propitiation or a sacrifice of atonement through faith and His blood." That's the gospel. Jesus died in your place. He took the wrath of God on Himself and extinguished it for all who believe in Him. And there is no wrath, there is no condemnation for those who have faith in Christ because of Romans 3:21-25. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement. Well, was that good for everyone? No. It's good for those who believe. The gospel is the power of God for who…? For the believers, for those who believe its message, not for the unbelievers, but for the believers. How does one receive justification? Justification by Faith (Romans 3-4) So, how do I get it? How does it come to me personally? How do I receive the benefits from Christ's death? He says so on Romans 3 and 4. How do we receive justification? We receive it simply by faith. Key verse there, Romans 3:21, "But now righteousness from God apart from law has been made known to which the law and the prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe." There is no difference. Everyone gets it by faith. And Abraham was set up as the example of our forefather in faith. Abraham heard a promise of good news, and he believed it and he was justified. So, you also, even now, even right now are hearing a promise of forgiveness through faith in Christ's name. And the believers receive it. They say, "Hey man. I want it. I believe it." Do you realize that salvation could be going on right this moment? I prayed this morning it would. I'm opening my heart to you, I'm telling you that I prayed when I got to this point in my sermon that someone would be saved because faith comes from hearing this message. I'm quoting Scripture, I'm quoting Romans, Augustin's example, Luther's. It could be happening right now. Look at your neighbor, you can't see it, but it might be happening. Justification by faith might be occurring right this moment. If you have faith, if you trust in this message and in the savior portrayed here, you will be saved. It's just that simple. How does justification guarantee final salvation? Assurance of Salvation (Romans 5) What of assurance? We don't see it, God doesn't send the angels down, what do we do? How do we know? Well, God just deals with that, in Romans 5, the assurance that we have. But not only the experience we have now is just not one-time only, but it will carry on till the end of our lives. What we have begun, we will finish. We can't fail, but God will bring us right on through Judgement Day and to heaven. Praise God. Judgement Day hasn't occurred yet. And so, we're all standing in confidence. Is it going to work? It's one thing for an athletic team to be confident, they're going to win the victory, or for a student to say, "I'm going to pass that test." but that test hasn't come yet. The game hasn't occurred yet, how do you know? You know, because God keeps his promises, Romans 5, assurance of salvation. How should a justified person wrestle with the ongoing problem of sin? Sanctification by the Spirit: (Romans 6-8) Alright. What about the problem of sin in my life? Alright. If I'm justified, then why do I still sin? Have you ever asked that question? Are you wrestling with sin? Are you weary of it? Are you weary of temptation working? Aren't you tired of it being effective? I wish that temptation would come and not touch me, the way that magnetic attraction doesn't touch wood, I wish I would be like a block of wood in a magnetic field, doesn't touch me, but it does touch me, and I grieve over it. Why is that? What can I do about it? Romans 6, 7 and 8. Romans 6 says you're free. You're not a slave to sin anymore. The son has made you free. You don't ever have to sin again. There's no compulsion to sin anymore. Romans 6, you're free. You're a slave to righteousness now. You're the slave the way that Paul was, a slave to goodness and to obedience. So therefore, if that's true, then present the parts of your body to God, to serve him. Don't use the parts of your body for sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather use the parts of your body in slavery to righteousness leading to ever increasing holiness, that's how you should use your body now. Alright. I want to. It's new year's, let's make some resolutions. You know how I love to do that. From now on, I'm never going to sin again. Does that work? No. And if it works for you, I want to know your secret. Romans 7 tells you why it's not going to work, because of the power of the flesh. Oh, it's strong. And the key verse there in Romans 7, Paul says, "What a wretched man I am. Who will free me from this body of death?" If this body had its way, it would take me right to hell. Who's going to free me from it? It's good at sin, it's been doing it a long time. Oh God, free me from it, but thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. And that brings us in to the great answer, Romans 8, the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit in your life, for triumph over sin, by the spirit you can put to death the misdeeds of the body. By the spirit, you have the power to say, NO! "No. Satan I won't do that." and he will flee from you. Praise God. Romans chapter 8, the spirit filled life. And now comes all kinds of fruitfulness, you can say, "Okay. Now, here I am. Filled with the spirit. Nothing can separate me from the love of God. It's absolutely guaranteed. It's... Nothing shall separate us from the love of God. Shall trial, a persecution, a hardship or nakedness or peril or danger or sword, nothing will separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus." Why are so few of the Jews justified? God’s Chosen People (Romans 9-11) But wait a minute Paul, what about your countrymen there? What about the Jews? It seems like they've fallen away from God. If then can fall away, then I can fall away too. Not so. And Paul explains it in Romans chapter 9, God bringing together an elect group, 7000 who have not bowed their knee to bail. He says, "I'm an Israelite, I haven't fallen. I believe. I'm a Jew. And I'm praying for my people that they may be saved." You should pray for the Jewish people that they may be saved. Paul did. Nowadays Jewish evangelism is very unpopular, did you know that? We caught some heat…Southern Baptists did on this. We'll talk about it more next time. The Jewish people who do not yet believe in Jesus as their messiah, they need to be saved. Paul said so. Because he prayed for his own people that they would be saved. Romans 10 explains how if they confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in their heart that God raised him from the dead, they will be saved. And the gospel is going out to the ends of the earth, they're hearing it. That some of them are responding and some aren't. Why is that? The remnant chosen by grace, he explains it very plainly. But what about the nation, aren't they God's chosen people? Yes they are God's chosen people. And therefore in the end, all Israel will be saved. That does not mean every single solitary individual Jew will be saved. That's not true. Judas was a Jew and he's in hell. It's not true that every single solitary person (Jewish person), is going to be saved but the bulk of the Jewish nation will come to understand that their messiah is Jesus Christ. Praise God. You should pray for that, Romans 11:25, "All Israel will be saved." So that's God chosen people, Romans 9, 10, 11. How should a justified person live daily life in this world? Living Sacrifices (Romans 12-13) Alright, now we've looked at 11 chapters of doctrine. It's good to ask at that point, how should we then live? How should I live? How should I live my life? It's just another Sunday, it's just another Monday. I have to get up and go to work. How should I live? What should I live for? Only God would bring me to heaven when I become justified, wouldn't that be great? Born again, you disappear, wouldn't that be great? God doesn't do that. At least not for most people. For most of us, we have years to go before we see God. Well why are we here? Romans 12:1-2 says that we are in view of all of God's mercy to present ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. This is your spiritual act of worship. Don't be conformed by the ways of the world and thinking like the world does. But be transformed. How? By reading this. Can I challenge somebody to memorize Romans this year? Can I challenge somebody? I'm not going to ask for a show of hands, alright then just pick your favorite chapter, pick Romans 8, its 39 verses, some of the greatest, it will transform your life to just understand it. Saturate your minds in the Word of God, saturate your minds. Romans 12:2, alright well then what? Okay now that my mind's saturated, I'm a living sacrifice, what am I to do? I am to do, you know what the answer is? Spiritual gifts. Isn't that amazing? That's Paul's answer. I'm going to use my Spiritual gift to build the body of Christ. Oh it's very same thing he said in Ephesians 4. That key moment after three chapters in Ephesians of doctrine. The answer is what should I do? Spiritual gifts. Use my gifts to build up the church. Each one of you has a Spiritual gift, are you using it? If your gift is teaching, you should teach. If it is encouraging, you should encourage. If it's administration, we need you. Give us a call. Anything. Whatever... However God has gifted you, if you don't know what it is, it's part of our job as ministers to help you find out what it is so that you can use it. I've said before about Spiritual gifts, it's not yours. God's going to want it back with interest. Are you using it? Spiritual gifts, that's how you're used. And you're also to walk in holiness, Romans 13, the very verse that converted Augustine. You put on the lord Jesus Christ and you don't walk in ungodliness, you walk in purity and in holiness. How should a justified person live with other weak believers? Freedom Tempered by Love (Romans 14-15) Alright, how do we get along with one another? Not very well. That's the answer to that. Well we should. Romans 14 and 15, we're not to be judging someone else's servant. We're not to be criticizing one another. We're supposed to be building each other up in love. We're supposed to build up one another in love. Yes we can eat food sacrificed to idols. Yes we can drink but if my eating and drinking causes someone else to stumble, I'm not going to do it. Because I love my brother and I love my sister. Romans 14, 19 is the key verse there. "Therefore let us make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification." Mutual edification, that means building up the body of Christ. I'm going to do anything I can to build you up in your faith. You should do anything you can to build me and others up in our faith. Anything that leads to peace and to mutual edification that's what we're going to do. How should a justified person follow Paul in service to Christ? The Gospel for the Gentiles (Romans 15) And finally, what shall we do for the rest of our lives? How should a justified person follow Paul in service to Christ? Preach the gospel. Paul's determination was that he would preach the gospel in a place where Christ have not yet been named. He was going to take the gospel to regions beyond. He was a tent making missionary. We should let his example challenge us to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. The lord will not return until the work is finished. We are to follow Paul as an example. Relentlessly pursuing unbelieving gentiles until they come into the obedience of faith and praying for Paul's countrymen, the Jews that they may do the same. Well you now have the jet tour through the Book of Romans. Are there some details we skipped? Well, according to Barnhouse, 11 years worth of details. So of course there's all kinds of details, but you see the big picture, it is the gospel of your salvation, it takes you from being dead basically as it says in Ephesians in your transgression and sins under the wrath of God takes you all the way into glory in heaven. That's what this message does. By the way of application I guess I want to urge you as we preach through this. Make the most of this opportunity. I think of the New Year in terms of opportunity. Opportunity, there's time. God has given us time today. Let's make the most of it. As I go through Romans, allow yourself to be saturated by it's message, don't blow it off. You may never again hear the book of Romans preach through, you may never hear it again, I've never heard of up to this point, it's the first time for me, make the most of it, learn the gospel, it is a scandal in American churches today how little we understand this book. It's the scandal how little we understand the doctrines in this book and this is the gospel of our salvation. May God be pleased to bless First Baptist, that that can't be said of us after we get finished. Make the most it, if you are a believer take in the message, allow it to challenge you along those twin paths of sanctification in service to God. And if you're not a believer, I pray that you entered here not a believer, but you're believer now, you heard the gospel today. Jesus Christ dead on the cross raised from the dead by the power of God, all you need to do is confess that He is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead and you will be saved. Let's pray.

I. Introduction: The Lesson from the Acorn I really love this time of year. Don't you? Fall, that gorgeous weather. I love the way the sky looks, the blue. There's no humidity, it's just crystal clear, and the way the sun just grabs the trees, and just causes them to glow, yellow and orange, I just love it. Been living in the city the last five or six years, and it's just wonderful to get out here in the country where it's so gorgeous, isn't it beautiful? I was thinking about a story I heard a little while ago as I thought about this text. It's a story of a grandfather walking through the woods with his grandson, and the leaves were crunching under their feet and they had that... There was that musty smell that's just so beautiful in the fall and they were looking all around. Beautiful day, just like today. And the grandfather stopped under a big old oak tree, maybe 100 years old, and they looked up and grandfather said to the grandson, "How many acorns do you think there are up there on that oak tree?" And the little boy said, "Oh I don't know, Grandpa. That would take us hours to count them, if we could climb up all those branches and get to them." He said, "Well," the grandfather said, "Well, how many acorns do you think there are in this whole forest?" He said, "Well, we need an army to count all of those. Take us probably two or three weeks." Then the grandfather reached down and picked up a single acorn and said, "How many acorns do you think there are inside this acorn?" That's a profound question, isn't it? How many acorns are there inside a single acorn? If you had the time and wanted to follow it, you'd see that acorn drop down into some soil and grow up into a sapling. And over a period of time, it would become an acorn bearing oak tree itself. The tree will outlive you, by the way, but if you wanted to stick with it year after year and count all those acorns, you could do it. But that wouldn't be the end of the story, would it? Because then those acorns will reproduce as well. This is the principle that God has built in to his physical universe and we see it everywhere, don't we? It's from the very beginning, where God created trees with fruit and seeds according to their kind. And God gave the command also to Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply physically. It's one of the few commands that we've actually obeyed from God, subdued this world, filled six billion people. But what we don't realize and what we don't think about is that God works the same way spiritually, in multiplying the church. And as we look at the passage today, 2 Timothy 2:1-13, we're going to see some very practical principles of how God builds churches. These are things that God has been doing for 2000 years. He's not going to change. And if First Baptist Church Durham is going to be built up to be strong and to glorify God, we're going to follow these same ways. Now, we've already seen in Chapter 1, the aged apostle at the end of his life, under the persecution of the Emperor Nero. He knew his time had come. He knew it was time to die. And so he sat down with a the few days that God had left to him, and he wrote a letter to Timothy, and he entrusted him a sacred charge, the gospel ministry. And as we've been reading through, we've already looked at three of those charges that he's given. And in Chapter 1:6, he tells Timothy to fan the flame of his spiritual gift through his preaching. And then in Verse 8, he tells him to not be ashamed of Christ, but ro stand firm as a Christian. And then in Verse 14, what we discussed last time was the command to guard the good deposit of the gospel, to protect it so that we pass it on unchanged. But all of that really is just preparation for what goes on in this chapter. It's getting Timothy ready to advance with the gospel, not just to stay protected and in a shell, much like that acorn has a protective shell, but it's not to be split open, and out comes that oak tree at the right time. In the same way, we're not just supposed to protect the gospel. We're supposed to advance with it. We're supposed to see it multiply. And then he uses in Chapter 2, a series of six metaphors. We're going to look at three of them today. The metaphor of the good soldier, the dedicated athlete, and the hardworking farmer. Next week, we'll look at the approved craftsman, the clean vessel and the servant of the Lord. But all of these are taken together to show how God wants the church to grow and how he wants it to multiply. So, let's look at the 13 verses of Chapter 2:1-13, and see what God has to say to us. "You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. Endure hardship with us, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs, he wants to please his commanding officer. Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules. The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this. Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel for which I am suffering, even to the point of being chained like a criminal, but God's word is not chained. Therefore, I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with Christ, we will also live with Him. If we endure, we will also reign with Him. If we disown him, he will also disown us. If we are faithless, He will remain faithful for He cannot disown himself." II. Paul’s Fourth Charge: Take Strength in Christ (vs. 1) Now, I think Verse 1 contains the main charge of this chapter. Take strength in Christ, we could call it. Strengthen yourself in the grace that's in Christ, but then there's a wisdom to how that strength is to be used. In Verse 2, the strength is to be multiplied widely. In Verses 3 through 7, the strength is to be concentrated totally. In Verses 8-13, strength is to be unchained conditionally unconditionally. Now, let's look at the first charge in Verse 1. It is the fourth charge in this letter. And he says in Verse 1, "You then my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." That's really kind of a fascinating way that he says it. First, he reminds him of his love for him. "My son," he speaks gently to him. But then he gives him a command. It's an imperative in the original language, a command, but it's passive. It's a command to do something, but it's really a command to receive something, that you get something. Now, how can that be? How can we be commanded to receive something? Well, that's the mystery of the way that God works in building His kingdom. We step out in faith. We challenge ourselves to grow. We take the gospel and share it and that puts us in a position of being needy. We need the strength of Christ. And I believe the kind of strength that we're talking about here, in these 13 verses, is only given to some Christians. It's given to the Christians who need it. To those Christians who don't need it, this strength is a foreign and alien thing. They don't understand it. But you see the Apostle Paul, he knew all about this kind of strength, didn't he? He knew about a strength that came from inside, from Jesus Christ. You really see Paul's whole Christian life this way. Now, we know that Paul was on the road to Damascus. He was going to Damascus to persecute Christians. He ended up becoming a Christian. Only the grace of God can make such a change. What an awesome thing. But what's fascinating is what happened immediately after that. He wasn't a baby for long, if you can say it that way. He immediately began studying the scriptures, and he saw in the Old Testament that Jesus of Nazareth was definitely the Messiah predicted there. And you know what he did? The first Sabbath, he got up in front of all those Jews and proclaimed openly that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah. What a shock that must have been. Wouldn't you have loved to have been at that worship service, to see the looks on people's faces, when Paul got up, and instead of saying the things he'd been saying, went 180 degrees the opposite way and started preaching Christ? And it says in Acts 9:22: "Yet, Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews." Isn't that a great word? He confused them, baffled them, "by proving that Jesus was the Christ." See what it said there? Saul grew more and more powerful. Where did that power come from, that strength? It came from the Holy Spirit, who is now in him. You will receive what? Power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth. Paul immediately came under the control of that power, and He preached Christ fearlessly. And you see that power actually working through all of Paul's Christian life. He describes it doctrinally in Colossians 1. He says, "We proclaim Christ, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ." Now, listen to this. "To this end, I labor, struggling with all His energy, which so powerfully works in me." Who's doing the labor there? Paul says I'm the one doing the work. But where does the energy come from? It comes from Christ. I think there's a labor in the gospel that we don't know much about these days. That word labor, I think we associate it with pregnant women who are about to go through it. And we say, "Oh they're laboring." That's hard, it's difficult. There's work. Or we think about the labor of a farmer that we're going to talk about. There's hard work. Do we know that hard work, that labor? Do we understand what Paul is talking about? Paul says, "To this end, I labor with his energy." Paul needed that energy, didn't he? He was constantly being drained and needing to be charged back up again. And so, he says, this is familiar to many of you, Philippians 4:13 "I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength." He knew about that strength. And in Ephesians 6:10, he recommends it, even commands it, to the Ephesian Christians. He says, "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God…" So be strong in the Lord. There's a strength that you need. And then at the end of his life, here in 2 Timothy, turn over, if you would, in Chapter 4. Chapter 4 verse 17, Paul describes his trial. And in Verse 16, "At my first defense," he says, "No one came to my support. Everyone deserted me." And then he says this, "Yet, the Lord stood at my side," and did what? "Gave me strength, so that through me, the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it." You see, there he is at the end of his life, taking strength from Christ again. He needed it his whole life. He needed it every day. Do you need that strength of Christ or is this a foreign thing to you, an alien thing? If it is, then learn how to be a witness for Christ and get to the point where you need the strength, renewing so that you're in the labor of the Kingdom. Now, you could ask, "How do I strengthen myself? How does it work?" I think there's a beautiful illustration of this in Romans Chapter 4. In Romans 4, there's a description of Abraham. Now, God had made a strange promise to Abraham, you remember? He said, "You're going to bear a child in your old age. Even Sarah, your wife, is going to be the one." And it says in Romans 4, it says, "Without weakening his faith, Abraham faced the fact that his body was as good as dead, since he was about 100 years old, and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised. That's where the strength comes from. God has given us a promise, hasn't he? He's given us a promise that we have the power of the Holy Spirit to be his witnesses to the end of the world and to the end of time, to the end of the earth. And we've seen that promise fulfilled for 2000 years. Jesus Christ has advanced his kingdom, hasn't he? We're on the winning side, we really are. We're seeing the power grow. There's a promise. If you're feeling weak or wavering in your faith, as God has given us a mission field here in Durham, you wonder, can we really do it? Can this be a strong church, a powerful church? If you're feeling like that, look to God, the one who made the promise, the way Abraham did. That's where the strength comes. He was able to draw strength from that by understanding who God was. Now, that's the charge. "You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ." III. Strength Multiplied Widely (vs. 2) But there's a wisdom to how the this strength is to be used. And Verse 2 shows the wisdom of God. This is a tremendous verse. I really don't know any other like it in all of scripture, for it describes very clearly the power of multiplication spiritually. He says "The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men, who will also be qualified to teach others." Now, when I was a student at MIT, as I've told you, I was involved in the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. This verse was their foundational verse for multiplication ministry. They derived a the principle from this, just like the acorn. That Christians are to be multiplying. They're to come to faith in Christ, and they are to learn how to share their faith and lead others to Christ. And so they have what we call a win, build, send ministry. They win people to Christ, they build them up, and then they send them out to win others to Christ. That should be our approach too, here at First Baptist. I love their slogan that they're using now. Their slogan is that they're turning lost sinners into Christ-centered laborers. Isn't that beautiful? Turning lost sinners into Christ-centered laborers. That's our goal, our desire. To see people come in through these doors, to come into our ministry, who don't know Christ. And to see them come to faith in Christ, be built up through the discipleship here, and go out and lead others to Christ. It's a multiplication. The whole point is growth. But it takes the strength of Christ to make it work, because there's obstacles that Satan puts in our way at every turn. I've said to you before, I love to see this row upon row of spiritual grandparents and great grandparents. You know what I mean by that? You can be 30 years old, and be a spiritual grandparent. Lead someone to Christ. Train them up in their faith. Send them out and see them lead someone to Christ. Now, you're a spiritual grandparent. Well, or become a great grandparent. Keep working with those people. That's multiplication. Isn't that beautiful? That's how the strength is to work. IV. Strength Concentrated Totally (vs. 3-7) Now, in Verses 3-7, we see the strength concentrated totally. God is a God of means. And I think this is something that we have neglected to consider recently, how much work it takes for a church to grow, how much work it takes for this multiplication ministry to occur. Only by dedication, by a concentration of effort, do we get anywhere in a Christian life. And so Paul brings in three metaphors, three illustrations: The good soldier, the dedicated athlete, hardworking farmer. Metaphor #1: The Good Soldier (vs. 3-4) Verse 3-4, he says, "Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs. He wants to please his commanding officer." That's a good soldier. Now, I don't think anyone has ever enlisted in the Army looking for a life of comfort and ease. If so, they were sold a bill of goods by their enlistment recruiting officer. But I don't think they're supposed to do that. They're supposed to tell the truth, at least. "Be all that you can be," and all that. But the first thing you end up doing is going to boot camp where you're trained. Hardship and discipline, right? They get you ready. They break you down. They build you up into a unit, so that you're able to serve as a good soldier. Of course, nothing compares to the hardship of the actual warfare itself. Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to visit Valley Forge. I don't know if any of you have been there outside of the city of Philadelphia. It's a marvelous place. I was there right before January first, I think it was December 31st, New Year's Eve Day, and it was cold. There was no snow on the ground, but it was cold. And I thought to myself, can you imagine spending a winter out in these shacks, where wind was blowing through? And why did those men of in the Continental Army endure that hardship? Because they believed in the cause that they were fighting for. And many time, George Washington would kneel in prayer, as he'd see blood on the snow from people who had no shoes as they're walking through the ice in the snow. Dedication. And he would pray. God raised up a Prussian drill instructor named Baron von Steubing, who came in and trained those men how to drill. And by the time that winter was over, they were a well-structured, organized army. What Paul is saying here is it doesn't work any differently in the church. There's a discipline, there's an organization, there's a structure to being a servant of Jesus Christ. "Endure hardship with us," he says. And then he says, "no one serving as a soldier gets involved…" That's a little too weak, actually. I love the NIV, but here's a little too weak, gets "entangled" is a better word, "entangled in civilian affairs." Imagine, if you will, a woolly sheep wandering off and going where it shouldn't go, and suddenly brushing up against some thorns. What do you think is going to happen with that wool? It's going to get entangled and it can't get away. It can't pull away. Well, if we go back away from the sheep idea to the soldier, that soldier has gone AWOL. It's gone over the hill. Now, it's entangled in something, can't get out. A lot of Christians like that these days. They get away from what God wants them to do, away from serving Christ as their commanding officer, and they get involved in civilian affairs. What's a civilian affair? Just something that's not part of your job as a soldier. It might be okay in itself, but we are an age of entertainment, aren't we? We're an age given to things that we like to do. Satellite TVs with 395 stations. I don't know how many there are now. VCRs and Internet and all kinds of things, which are fine in themselves, but they can entangle us if we're not careful. We can get involved in things and we waste the most precious thing that God's given to us, which is time. And God's given us that time to build his kingdom, and we as good soldiers can't get involved or entangled in things that are beside the point. Metaphor #2: Dedicated athlete (vs. 5) But then he brings in another metaphor, another illustration of the dedicated athlete in Verse 5. I think, here in Verse 5, of an Olympic athlete. I was talking earlier this week to some people about Olympic athletes. I think they're some of the biggest gamblers in the world. Don't you think? They give absolutely everything for one moment every four years. And if they get injured right before the Olympics, they're out. And all those many hours, at least in terms of their goal, are wasted. I was thinking about Olympic race walkers. Have you ever watched that? The 50K race walk. Don't they look odd the way they kinda waddle, like ducks? It's a strange kind of thing. You know we've actually never won a medal in race walking before. So, any of you, you might be the first. Give yourself totally and dedicate yourself to be a race walker. But you see, according to the rules, you have to keep your foot on the ground at all times, one part of your foot at all times. And so they're trying to move as fast as they can while keeping some part of their foot on the ground at all times. Runners, they're flying through the air, really. If you ever see a photo of a race, you might not see any feet on the ground at all. But a walker has to keep a foot on the ground at all times. You have to compete according to the rules, and they have people watching the whole time to see if you keep your feet down on the track. And if you don't, you're disqualified. In the same way, we as athletes for Jesus Christ have to follow the rules. There's certain ways that Christ uses us. And if we don't follow the rules, we're disqualified. There are moral laws. There are certain things we're going to talk about next week. 2 Timothy 2:19 says, "That everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness." You have to be holy in order to be a servant of the Lord. But you also have to give yourself totally in dedication, the way an Olympic athlete does. And don't underestimate the amount of dedication it takes to really be useful to God. Metaphor #3: Hardworking farmer (vs. 6) And the final metaphor is that of a hardworking farmer in Verse 6. He says, "The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops." Now, I'm thinking now about Jamestown in Virginia. I don't know if you know anything about that, but the English settlers came over there. They got busy right away and planted some crops and did some things to get ready, but then they noticed some dirt, some clay that was in the area that had a slight kind of orange or maybe even a gold color to it. Now, what do you think they started to do? They stopped their work and started digging for gold. Do you think they found any in Jamestown, Virginia? No. No, that was out in California and it would take another 300 years before they would find that. But this was a big diversion, and they were looking for gold. And they got into more and more trouble because the crops, the harvest, the work out in the garden was being neglected. And so, the famous John Smith, you know about him from the story of Pocahontas. I don't know about all the things in that story, but this is true. What he did was he called the whole colony together and said, "You will not survive if you keep doing what you're doing. You must work the fields." And therefore... And he took a line from the Apostle Paul. "If you won't work, you won't eat." If you keep looking for gold in the clay, you're not going to eat dinner tonight. Well, what do you think that did? That brought them to, very quickly, didn't he? They all started working and that colony survived. It was the first successful English-speaking colony in the New World. Well, God is calling us to the same kind of dedication to a task. He's calling us to give ourselves fully to working the field that he's given us. He's given us the field, hasn't he? He's given us an area. We're not responsible for every place in the world. We're responsible for here. This is the field that's been committed to us. We must work that field with that dedication. Now, we see three metaphors. We see the good soldier, dedicated athlete, we see the hardworking farmer. What holds these three together? I think it's one thing. Total concentration to achieve a worthy goal. Do you see that? Total dedication to a task, to achieve the task. The good soldier concentrates on the pleasure of his commanding officer. The dedicated athlete wants that victor's wreath. The hardworking farmer wants to survive, wants a share the crops. In the same way God is calling us to a total dedication for a purpose. V. Strength Unchained Conditionally (vs. 8-13) Now, what is that purpose? It's right in the middle of the next section, Verses 8-13. Now here, we see the strength. We've seen the strength, which is supposed to be multiplied widely, a strength which is supposed to be concentrated totally, but now, we get to the whole point of it. What is the purpose of all this? And Paul brings in the Lord Jesus Christ, he brings himself in as an illustration or a motivation, and then he brings in an ancient Christian hymn. All of them are for the same purpose, to say this, that nothing that is worthwhile is ever easy and nothing that's easy is ever worthwhile. That's total dedication, willingness to suffer. And he starts by saying this. Remember Jesus Christ. Now, isn't that a little strange that he needs to tell Timothy to remember Christ? But you remember last week, we had the Lord's supper. The Lord instituted that so that we should not forget what He paid for us. We are not our own, are we? We've been bought with a price. And so the Lord's supper comes in to remind us regularly of the price that Jesus paid and that he owns us. He gave Himself for us, fully. So he says, "Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel..." So he reminds Timothy of Christ. And it's very similar to the words in Hebrews where it says, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning, and shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." That's the way Jesus lived his life. A total focus on the pleasure of the Father, an accomplishment of an end, no matter what it cost, and it cost Him His life, but he did it for joy. He did it for the joy that would come at the end. He did it for our joy. The fact that on that final day, we are going to get to stand with Him and look at the face of the father and enjoy the glory that comes only through Christ. Well, you know that same joy was motivating Paul too. He said, "This gospel has gotten me into trouble. It's actually gotten me into chains, but God's Word is not chained." Isn't that powerful? Think about that, the unchained Word of God. You may chain the messenger, you may even kill the messenger, but you can't stop this gospel message. Brothers and sisters, we're on the winning team. And the more you invest in this gospel, the more you're going to see fruit in your life, the more you're going to see victory, the only kind of victory that Jesus gives through the gospel. God's Word is not chained. Now, what do you think of when you think of October 31st? What's the first thing that pops in your mind, October 31st? Halloween. I thought you'd say that. Well, when I was a kid, the first thing that popped in my mind was Halloween and candy and all that kind of thing. You know what pops in my mind now? Reformation Day. I think about Martin Luther. I'm a church historian, so I have re-trained my thinking. I'm not thinking about Halloween anymore. I'm thinking about Reformation Day. Because on October 31t, 1517, Martin Luther took his life into his hands and he nailed those 95 theses up, up on that door and began the Protestant reformation. Now, back then, you didn't just get shunned, or people ignore you, or treat you like you were something strange when you preach that kind of a gospel. They killed you. They hauled you up in front of the authorities, and they burned you at the stake, that's what happened. But God preserved his life and he did a great work and the reformation was born, powerfully. Well, he put that sentiment, the motivation into a hymn. We sing it frequently. A Mighty Fortress is our God. How about that fourth verse where he says, "Let goods and kindred go." That means that your material possessions and your family, let it go. Don't be concerned about it. This mortal life also. Don't hold your life dear to yourself. "The body they may kill, God's truth abideth still." Isn't that powerful? It's the same thing Paul said, "You can kill me, you can enchain me, but you can't stop this message." "The body they may kill, God's truth abideth still. His kingdom is forever." Isn't that powerful? And Paul says, "I'm willing to go through all of this for a purpose." "Therefore I endure everything he says for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory." Now, do you remember last week, we talked about the river of salvation, remember the Nile River? We traced it back to its source. The source of your salvation was what? The grace of God. The grace of God was given to you before the world began. God has chosen you, and loved you, and called you out from this world to be his own. And Paul said there are people who God has been loving since before time began, and I'm enduring everything for them, so that they may have eternal life. It's all for a purpose. And Paul, just like Jesus, kept that purpose in front of him and he said, "I'm willing to do it, just so that they may know salvation." We have to be inflamed by that same purpose. The Ancient Christian Hymn Paul finishes with the words of an ancient Christian hymn, said it's the trustworthy saying. "If we died with Him, we will also live with Him." What does he mean by that? Some people say he's talking about martyrdom. Willingness to lay down your life for Jesus. I think not. I think, actually here, he's talking about the same thing he was talking about in Galatians 2:20, when he said, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me." "I died." Saul of Tarsus said, "I died. That's an old life, it's gone. I have a new life now. And this life, I'm living for Jesus. And everything I do, I do for Him." So, if we died, we'll live with Christ. And if we keep at it, if we endure, we will reign with Him. There's the positive motivation. But then the negative motivation, or really warning. If we disown Him, He will disown us. If we are faithless, meaning unbelieving, the word in the original means having no faith in Christ, God will be faithful because He can't change. Our faithfulness doesn't change God. He's always gonna be faithful to who He is. That's the kind of God He is. And that faithful God is working through people just like you and me, to bring a harvest in, a harvest for Jesus Christ and for eternal glory. VI. Conclusion Now, God has committed this harvest field to us. He's called us to work. He's given us the strength that is in Christ Jesus. He's called us to multiply that strength as we make disciples for Him. He's called us to total dedication just like that good soldier, that dedicated athlete, and that hardworking farmer, giving it all for a purpose, and that purpose is that the elect may know the eternal life that is in Christ Jesus with for the eternal glory. That's Paul's purpose. That should be ours as well. Now, it could be that some of you are part not of the harvesters but of the harvest field. Maybe that some of you haven't given your life to Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for sinners just like you and me. Today could be the day of salvation for you.