Pastor Joe's Jottings

ROMANS 9B

2011-04-18T10:23:00.000-04:00

ROMANS 9B
Introduction:
Recap Sunday AM
The heart cry of Paul is Israel’s salvation.
That salvation does not come through your earthly father.
I want to try and cover the rest of chapter 9 tonight.
Going to the end of chapter 9 before we try to unfold this passage beginning at verse 14.
The promise talked about is set before us as a stone laid in Zion.
Verses 32 & 33
Trusting in Him who is that stone brings about our salvation.
Stumbling over that stone takes us down that darksome path.
Let’s try to put the pieces together from verse 14 to this point.
These verses bring to the forefront the predestination thought some more.

I.    God’s sovereign righteousness   Vs. 14-18

A.    The question is raised, Is God unjust?
This goes back a few verses.
Is God unjust because he chose Jacob over Esau before they were even born.
How can he do that and be just and right?

B.    Paul answers no, not at all.
He quotes from Exodus 33:19.
Moses is experiencing the glory of the Lord on the mountain.
God is telling him there that he will have mercy and compassion on whom he does.

C.    The key is God and not man.
It does not depend on man’s desire or effort.
He sites Pharaoh as an example.
Vs. 17
This is what God said to Pharaoh in Exodus 9:16
There are times that the hardening of his heart is attributed to God and at other times to Pharaoh himself.
We need to understand that Pharaoh’s heart was already in opposition to God.
God judged appropriately.
Pharaoh resisted God’s will so God hardened his heart further.
God did not arbitrarily harden his heart. He hardened the rejecting heart.     This goes back to Romans 1:21-32.
Vs 18 says that God will have mercy on who He wants to have mercy on and harden who he wants to harden.

II.    A defense of that sovereign righteousness   Vs. 19-23

A.    So it is not my fault but God’s.
He relays what might appear to be a conversation back and forth.
You might very well say so why does God blame me.
So how can anyone resist God’s will.
If I can’t resist God’s will how can you blame me?

B.    The example of the potter and the clay.
How can what is formed criticize the one who formed it?
Can’t the potter make what he desires to make out of the clay?
He can make simple everyday bowls and cups.
He can also make fancy, collectable, beautiful pottery.

C.    God is doing all that he can to get man to accept the mercy that he desires to pour out.
Vs. 22,24 What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? 23. What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— 24. even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?
We know that accepting God’s mercy translates into glory.
We have already talked a bit about glory.

III.    God’s calling of the Gentiles and the remnant of Israel.   Vs. 24-29

A.    God has called Jews and Gentiles alike.
Vs. 24 even us references his calling us as objects of his mercy to receive glory.

B.    Verses 25-29 are quotes for the OT.
Hosea 2:23
God is referencing a nation and a people group.
He is not referencing an individual.
He is talking about the Jew and the future acceptance of the Gentiles.
God brought Israel out of Egypt to establish a covenant relationship with them.
God’s desire is a covenant relationship with all people.
The last part of this verse includes the Gentiles into the church, this covenant relationship with God.
I Peter 2:9,10
Hosea 1:10
In spite of Israel’s sin and wickedness God would find a way to see a remnant saved.
That remnant would end up being many.
Genesis 22:17
God’s promise to Abraham.
This happened on the Mount where Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac.
Isaiah 10:22,23
Again as numerous as the sand.
Destruction will come as decreed.
Isaiah 1:9
The rebellious nation.
The impending destruction on the nation.

Conclusion:
The bottom line of the election process is still our acceptance or rejection of the stone laid in Zion.

ROMANS 9A IT IS SAD BUT WHO’S YOUR DADDY

2011-04-18T10:21:00.000-04:00

ROMANS 9A IT IS SAD BUT WHO’S YOUR DADDY
Introduction:
There are two things that come to mind as I read Romans 9.
Extreme sorrow and sadness
Who’s your daddy?
And you ask why do those two things come to mind.
Let’s get down to business and I will try to show you.
In addition to talking about each of these things I am going to combine them and relate that the extreme sorrow and sadness will go away when you have the right daddy.

I.    Extreme sorrow and sadness, Vs. 1-5

A.    Extreme sorrow and sadness come to my mind right now when I think about the very difficult situation in Japan.
Those people need our prayers.
I want us to take a moment and pray for them and then we will go on.

B.    Paul’s great sorrow and unceasing anguish in his heart.
Paul explains his pain and anguish
Paul begins by saying I am speaking the truth.
I am about to drive home the feelings of my heart.
He says my heart is full of unceasing pain and severe grief.
The reason for this pain and sorrow will unfold as we go on.
The extent of his distress
He is so distressed that he wishes that he could be cursed and cut off instead of his brothers and sisters.
He wishes that he could take their place.
He wishes that he could throw himself in front of the bus to spare his family.
He is a Jew.
He is speaking of his Jewish family.
The reason for his distress
We read in Philippians that he is a very well educated, trained in the law Jew.
He loves his heritage.
However he has been sent by God to take the gospel to the Gentiles.
The indication by this and more so in these next couple of chapters is that the Jews have rejected Christ.
The surprise of it all
The surprise of it all is that Israel was given so much, had so much set before them, that this should not have happened.
Verses 4&5
The adoption
The patriarchs
The ancestry of Christ.
The sadness of Paul doesn’t seem to go away anytime soon.

C.    Are we as broken for the lost as Paul was for his people?
Do we cry in anguish for the lost?
We need to follow Paul’s example.
We need to pray harder for the lost than we do for the sick in the hospital.
The second thing that comes to mind is …

II.    Who’s your daddy?

A.    That statement brings many things to mind in today’s world.
It may appear to be quite a bit lighter in nature than the first part of our conversation. But it really is not.
I bet that you are saying that you know that I have lost it.
I researched that statement.
The statement in today’s world.
Who's your daddy? is a slang expression that, in one use, takes the form of a rhetorical question. It is commonly used as a boastful claim of dominance over the intended listener.
It was also greatly popularized with the Duke basketball team of the late 90s.
It is song sung by Toby Keith.     Toby said that he had wanted to write the song for a couple years but never could get the melody the way he wanted it. In 2001 he was home and discovered the perfect melody for it. Keith explained that the song is about a young woman and a sugar daddy who can’t get their love life in order. Toby also says that "It's everything that I ever wanted to put into a song, it's got the groove, it's got the attitude, it's humorous, it's about a sugar daddy.     I certainly don’t have good feeling in my heart about that song.
It has been attached to video games and TV shows.
But it is really not a light casual statement.
The more I looked into the heart of that statement the less I liked it.
This is a serious question.
I am going to take a serious look at this statement as the second point of our message today.
Looking at it from a Romans 9 standpoint.

B.    Who is your daddy Romans 9.
The heart of the matter is the unbelief of Israel.
Paul is making known here that your biological daddy isn’t your ticket to all that God has to offer.
He says that not all descendants of Israel are Israel.
He says that not all of Abraham’s descendants are Abraham’s children.
Ishmael is a descendant of Abraham.
Yet he and his children offer nothing to us.
God said he would be a great nation but not God’s nation.
I don’t have time to go down the Ishmael road.
Paul says in verse 7 it is through Isaac….
Did God determine that Ishmael would be a wicked man and that his descendants would be wicked unbelievers? No Genesis 17
But God did say that Isaac would be the channel that He would use.
Starting in verse 10 Paul says it is through Isaac’s son Jacob and not his son Esau.
Before they were even born God said this is what is going to happen.
God loved Jacob but hated Esau.
Why did God hate Esau? Because he knew that Esau would take the wrong path.
He knew that Esau would become bitter.
God didn’t want Esau to take the dark path.
But He did want Jacob to carry out the work that God has set forth.
Paul says in verse 6 that this is not a failure of God’s word.
To a great extent this working of God and His word is explained from here through chapter 11.
These next 2 ½ chapters unfold why God’s word did not fail

III.    The extreme sorrow and sadness will go away when you have the right daddy.

A.    The children of promise
The key is not your earthly father. Verse 8
Paul says it is not the children by physical descent.
It doesn’t matter who your earthly daddy is?
It doesn’t matter what your last name is or what town you were born in.
What matters is if you are a child of the promise.
Your spiritual, heavenly father is what matters.
Philippians 3:4-11
Paul says I am a physical descendent of Abraham.
What matters to me is Christ.
I have considered my physical descent and my elite education and all that goes with it as garbage.
I have put it all in the trash can because I want Christ.
I want to know Him and the power of His resurrection so that I too can experience the resurrection of my own.

B.    The children of promise will experience the joy of knowing Christ.
Paul’s sorrow would have lessened if his fellow Jews would have accepted Christ as the Messiah.
Listen to the words of Jesus
John 15:9-11    “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
The right daddy will remove your sorrow and sadness.

Conclusion:
Who’s your daddy is not a sad question of dominance. It is a question of life or death..
I ask you do you have the right daddy?
Are you concerned about those around you whether they have the right dad

Romans 8 Living by the Spirit or by the flesh

2011-03-22T11:36:00.000-04:00

ROMANS 8C LIVING SPIRIT VS. FLESH
ROMANS 8:5-17
Introduction:
Living by the flesh verses living by the Spirit.

Example 1: A young boy called the pastor of a local church to ask the pastor to come by to pray for his mother who had been very ill with the flu. The pastor knew the family, and was aware they had been attending another church down the road.   So the pastor asked, "Shouldn't you be asking Pastor Smith down the road to come by to pray with your mom?" The young boy replied, "Yeah, but we didn't want to take the chance that he might catch whatever this is that Mom has."
The young boy and his family, living by the flesh or by the Spirit.
The pastor living by the flesh or living by the Spirit.

Example 2: Grandpa and Grandpa were sitting in their porch rockers watching the beautiful sunset and reminiscing about "the good old days," when Grandma turned to Grandpa and said, "Honey, do you remember when we first started dating and you used to just casually reach over and take my hand?" Grandpa looked over at her, smiled and obligingly took her aged hand in his. With a wry little smile, Grandma pressed a little farther, "Honey, do you remember how after we were engaged, you'd sometimes lean over and suddenly kiss me on the cheek?" Grandpa leaned slowly toward Grandma and gave her a lingering kiss on her wrinkled cheek. Growing bolder still, Grandma said, "Honey, do you remember how, after we were first married, you'd kind of nibble on my ear?" Grandpa slowly got up from his rocker and headed into the house. Alarmed, Grandma said, "Honey, where are you going?" Grandpa replied, "To get my teeth!"
Grandma, living by the flesh or living by the Spirit”
Grandpa, living by the flesh or living by the Spirit?

Today’s verses covers a lot of area.
The ending of last Sunday’s verses 3b and 4 connect or set the tone for today’s verses.
Christ condemned sin in the flesh.
Fulfilling the righteous requirement of the law.
That we would be able to live according to the Spirit and not the flesh.
We are going to see how Paul contrasts living by the flesh and living by the Spirit.
We will see the results of both as well.

I.    Living by the flesh, vs. 5

A.    How does that look?
Have their mind set on what the flesh desires?
Paul gives us a pretty good idea what these desires look like in Galatians 5:19-21 “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21. and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Share a brief comment on each one.
Living by the flesh can not submit to God’s law nor can it do what the law of God says.
I believe the law mentioned here is the moral law.
The 10 commandments.
The first and greatest commandment.
The do unto others….
The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God.
That is not a very good thought to be hostile to God.

B.    What are the results?
One result is the inability to please God.
One living in the flesh is not even able to please God.
They may want to and may even try to but is unable.
We should certainly have a desire to do that.
The mind governed by the flesh is death.
vs. 13a
Flesh and death go together.

II.    Living by the Spirit

A.    What does that look like?
vs. 13b putting to death the deeds of the body.
When any of those acts of sinful nature try to come into play in your life stomp on them and put them to death.
Have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
How do we know what the Spirit desires?
The fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22 relate a good picture of what the Spirit desires.
Opening our heart and mind to the Spirit.
Reading and meditating on the Word of God.

B.    What are the results?
Have life and peace.
John 10:10, full, abundant life.
Eternal life.
Paul talked a bit about peace in Romans 5.
The removal of fearing God’s judgment. VS. 15a
Fear of judgment or punishment is not a bit fun nor desirable.
It is not a bit nice to know that you are in trouble when your father gets home.
But to go through life knowing that you do not have to fear judgment at all is so nice.
The body is still subject to death.
That is a result of sin.
This is still an earthly body subject to the impact of the fall.
Yet the resurrection awaits.
God is our father.
We can call out Abba Father.
We are God’s children
Heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.
We look forward to sharing in God’s glory.

III.    Our obligation

A.    To let the Spirit lead us.
If our obligation is not to the flesh then it is to the Spirit. Vs. 12
We have no debt to the flesh.
This flesh has done nothing for us but get us in trouble and set us up to die.
The Spirit’s leading will line up with the will and the Word of God.

B.    To share in His suffering.
We talked about this a bit on Wednesday.
Without a cross there will be no crown.

Conclusion:
Lord, help me live by the Spirit.
Lord I want
Life and peace
No fear of judgment
God to be my Father
To be an heir of God and a joint or co heir with Christ.
To share in God’s glory.

Romans 8 No Condemnation

2011-03-22T11:35:00.000-04:00

ROMANS 8B NO CONDEMNATION
ROMANS 8:1-4
Introduction:
I am sure that you have heard the statement, Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink.
I am going to come up with a new statement.
Laws, laws everywhere and some are pretty dumb.
Have you ever thought about some of the interesting laws that are on the books in some parts of the country.
Here are a few from PA.
It is contrary to Pennsylvania law to discharge a gun, cannon, revolver or other explosive weapon at a wedding.

It it illegal to sleep on top of a refrigerator outdoors.

Any motorist driving along a country road at night must stop every mile and send up a rocket signal, wait 10 minutes for the road to be cleared of livestock, and continue.

A special cleaning ordinance bans housewives from hiding dirt and dust under a rug in a dwelling.

You may not sing in the bathtub.

Fireworks stores may not sell fireworks to Pennsylvania residents.

A person is not eligible to become Governor if he/she has participated in a duel.

Any motorist who sights a team of horses coming toward him must pull well off the road, cover his car with a blanket or canvas that blends with the countryside, and let the horses pass.

In Maine   Shotguns are required to be taken to church in the event of a Native American attack.
In Delaware It is illegal to fly over any body of water, unless one is carrying sufficient supplies of food and drink.
We are going to talk about 3 different laws that are mentioned in Romans 8.
One of which is helpless.
One of which is hurtful.
The other of which is very helpful and very important.
Romans 8 is a very beautiful and powerful passage of Scripture.
It has some more familiar verses in it.
Mention a few.
We are going to start with one of the more familiar ones this morning and let it be our building point.
Verse 1
No condemnation
We are going to begin with the because in verse 2 and explain the steps that bring about this no condemnation.
The three references to the law show us these steps.
In many ways this passage becomes a brief summary of what we have talked a lot about already in Romans.

I.    The law of sin and death
We could look at this as one law or as two.
The law of sin
The law of death
Or we could look at it as one law that results in death.
Either way the bottom line of this law is death.

A.    The law of sin
Sin entered into the picture with the fall of man.
Genesis 3
Sin has impacted every life since that time.
Sin has impacted our life.
Romans 3:23
Romans 5:12 tells us that sin entered into the world through one man.
That one man is Adam.
We talked more extensively on that earlier here in Romans on a Wednesday night.

B.    This law of sin brings about death.
Romans 5:12
“Death through sin.”
“Death came to all men.”
Romans 6:23

C.    This law of sin and death is still very real today.
Sin still impacts many lives.
Death is still very real to all of us.
The natural death has not yet been done away with.
Spiritual death and eternal death has been overcome. ( We will continue to see and learn that.)

II.    The law was powerless

A.    The Mosaic, the OT law.
This is a discussion that we have had several time here in Romans.

B.    The law told us what was wrong, what to do and what not to do, but not how to fix it.
Paul adds here in verse 3 that the law was weakened by the flesh.
Because we are a part of Adam’s flesh and blood the law is weakened.
It was given by God through man.
However man’s weak flesh could not do as the law has directed.

C.    The letter kills
2 Corinthians 3:6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
We move to the law that brings it all together for us.

III.    The law of the spirit

A.    The key is Jesus Christ.
Through Christ Jesus….
God sending His own son.
John 3:16

B.    In the likeness of sinful flesh
Jesus became flesh and blood.
He was 100 percent human.
He was as human as you and I are.
He felt what we feel, was tempted as we are tempted, put his pants on one leg at a time.
Likeness refers to the fact that he was sinless.
The virgin birth, conceived of the Holy Spirit and not sinful man.
Lived a completely sinless life.    “Tempted in all points as we yet He did not sin.”
Paul refers to Him as the 2nd Adam.
It is in him that we all are made to live.

C.    to be a sin offering
He who knew no sin became sin for us.
Hebrews 2:14-17 14. Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15. and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.
He was our atonement.
He paid a debt He didn’t owe, I owed a debt that I could not pay….
He took our sins and nailed them to the cross.

D.    Placing in our hands the law of the Spirit that gives life.
Living a life led by the Spirit.
Letting the Spirit be in control.
The Spirit gives life.
Live by the Spirit and you will live.
Live apart from the Spirit and you will die.

Conclusion:
I am thankful for the day that I realized that the life that I was living under the law was powerless to save me and that I was encouraged to rely on the law of the Spirit brought to me by Christ Jesus leaving the law of sin and death behind and living.
Are you in Christ Jesus?
If not you are under condemnation.
You are locked into the law of sin and death.
We all need to be locked into the Spirit brought to us through Christ Jesus.
If you are not make that connection today.
We are going to celebrate communion today and in so doing we celebrate the life, the death, and the resurrection of Christ enabling us to live by the law of the Spirit and live.

Romans 8:18-39 3 Weeks of Bible Study

2011-03-22T11:32:00.000-04:00

ROMANS 8 A & D HOPE
Introduction:
Romans 8 is a very beautiful, a very powerful passage of Scripture.
There are some very familiar Scriptures in this chapter.
We are going to look at verses 1-17 on Sunday am and pm
We are going to talk about verses 18 to the end of the chapter tonight and next Wed.
Thomas Schreiner breaks the rest of the chapter into 4 sections and builds them around the word hope in his commentary.
Hope of a new creation
Hope in prayer
Hope of glorification
Hope in suffering
Hope
Dictionary: The feeling that what is wanted can be had.   to give up hope.
Paul explains hope in vs. 24-25
Hope looks for what we do not have yet.
He says that hope is not in what we already see or have in our hand.
Hope certainly takes patience.
Paul describes hope in our first area of study but it can be applied to the others that we will talk about in this chapter.

I.    Hope of a new creation

A.    Present suffering and future glory
Suffering is very much a reality of life.
It is a sad, challenging reality.
We do not like the pain that comes with the sufferings.
But suffering precedes glory.
Earlier in Romans we talked about tribulation generating patience, and patience generating endurance, and endurance generating hope in the glory of God being revealed.
Without the cross there would be no crown.
Paul says the future glory to be revealed in us far exceeds the present suffering.
Paul is talking about the glory of God.
He is certainly relaying that this glory will be revealed in us.
Hold on through the suffering because the end result is amazing.

B.    Creation waits
Vs 19
Creation is waiting for us the children of God to be revealed.
Waiting for this corruption to put on incorruption and this mortal to put on immortality.
Why is creation waiting for this to take place?
Because creation was subjected to frustration.
Creation was drastically impacted by the fall of man.
Genesis 3:16-19
The struggles of creation, the thorns and thistles are all a result of our fall.
Just let that sink in.
Our sin has caused the pains of creation.
The bondage to decay is our fault.

C.    Creation groans
Creation wants this new change to happen.
Creation is feeling like it is in pain about to give birth to a child.
Creation wants this new day to come.
We are groaning for this change to take place in us and this adoption to be completed.

II.    Hope in prayer

A.    The Spirit’s aid in our weakness.
The weakness referenced here is prayer.
Many times we do not know how to pray.
We do not know what to pray for.

B.    The Spirit’s groaning
The Spirit helps us to pray.
He knows the mind of God.
He knows exactly how to pray for us.

ROMANS 8 A & D 2

Introduction:
We are filled with hope because the Spirit prays for us.
He prays according to the will of God.
The Spirit always gets a positive answer to His prayers.
The next several verses show us that the Spirit’s goal is that we, believers, conform to the image of Christ ultimately resulting in glorification.
This is possible because God works all things together for the good….
This begins with the foreknowledge of God and ends with glorification.
     Let’s look at this and our 2nd area of hope tonight.

III.    Hope of glorification, vs. 28-30
Note the transition from Spirit to God in vs. 28

A.       All things work together….
Paul begins verse 28 with “And we know”.
This is great knowledge that we are about to learn.
All Things
It is great to know that God has everything under control.
The good and the bad.
The trials and the tests.
God works for good.
They will all somehow contribute to the good.
They teach us that we are weak.
They teach us to lean on the Lord for support.
They point us to the ultimate good.
Those who love Him.
Paul is using this phrase to refer to believers.
Believers love Jesus or they would not be believers.
Those who have been called according to His purpose.
This phrase begins the transition to vs. 29.
Whosoever will may come. We will read that in chapter 10.
God has invited us all to Him.
The called here appears to reference those who have accepted the call and have come to Christ.
God has a plan for everyone that has accepted Him.
God’s plan guarantees the good to those whom God has chosen.
We often reference vs. 28 as a stand alone verse.
But I believe that it is connected to next several verses.

B.    The golden chain
One commentator calls the next 2 verses the golden chain that charts the course from God’s foreknowledge of believers to their glorification.
Foreknowledge
To know before hand.
To be acquainted with future events.
God sees the whole picture from beginning to end.
He knows the future.
Predestination
To determine before hand.
Ephesians 1:5
God determined before hand that we would be conformed to his image.
Christ is the firstborn setting the example for us.
We can look to Him as the example of what is yet to come.
This can be a very controversial subject. Explain
Called
He called those whom He predestined.
It was not a phone call but a call of the heart.
It was a calling to a relationship with Jesus.
Justified
This relationship with Jesus results in our justification.
The easiest way to understand justification is in God’s eyes it is just as if I’d never sinned.
Paul told us earlier in Romans that we are justified by faith.
Glorified
This is a reference to eternity, to heaven.
The result of our justification is eternal life in the presence of the Lord forever.
Everything in life works together to bring us from outside the fold to a relationship with Jesus and eternity awaits in the end.
The challenges that we face are not obstacles but steps, the means to the glorious end that awaits.

Recap our hope in chapter 8

IV.    Hope in suffering, vs. 31-39
This passage climaxes this section of Romans from 5:1 to here.

Read 5:1-5
This section of Romans on hope begins in chapter 5.
Verse 4, suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character and character hope.
Vs. 5 Hope does not disappoint.   Why? Because God has poured out his love into our hearts.
Here in Romans 8:39 we read that nothing can separate us from the love of God.
Our passage tonight would reference all of the above and concludes with nothing can separate us from the love of God.
So both passages feature the confidence that comes from the hope of believers.
Friends, we need to understand that the hope that has been building can not be shaken.

A.    If God is for us who can be against us.
What shall we say then….
What is the conclusion that we can come up with?
That if God is for us than who can be against us.
God is on our side.
Who can defeat us?
Who can destroy us?
Psalms 118:6,7 The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? 7. The LORD is with me; he is my helper. I look in triumph on my enemies.
God gave us the greatest gift in His Son.
“He who did not spare….
God gave his best for us.
He did not even spare his own son.
Because we have his son in our heart God will grant his best to us.
Once you have done the hardest thing there ever is to do it is easier to do other things.
We have the assurance that God with Christ will give us all that we need.
Connecting verse 28-32
Since God works all things for the good of believers everything given to them turns out to be a gift for our benefit.
We do not deny the pain and the challenge.
However the ultimate benefit is out of this world.

B.    A closer look.
No one will ever be able to bring a charge against us.
Vs 33
God has chosen us.
God has justified us.
No one will be able to condemn us on judgment day.
Christ died, He was raised to life, He is at the right hand of the Father interceding for us.
That means He will not condemn us but defend us.
1 John 2:1
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
Nothing will be able to successfully separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus.   vs. 35
Many obstacles and opponents will come our way. vs. 35
As it is written…. This is a quote from Psalms 44:22. Christians have experienced adversities down through the generations.   The believer lives in a hostile world.
But we are more than conquerors.
The hostilities of this life can not take away what we have in our Father though His Son our Savior Jesus Christ.
Vs. 38,39

Conclusion:
If we fail it is our choice to fail.
No external force of adversity can pull us away.
The Divine love and grace will do its part to keep us.
We have the choice to remain or not remain in Christ.
I hold on to that precious 4 letter word, HOPE.
I pray that believe that you are doing the same.

ROMANS 7C OUR VIEW OF THE LAW

2011-03-15T11:55:00.000-04:00

ROMANS 7C OUR VIEW OF THE LAW
ROMANS 7:12
Introduction:
    I want to use verse 12 as our focus tonight.
“The law is holy….”
I have been saying that we are not under law but under grace.
Paul will continue to tell us that here in Romans.
The law brought sin and death.
How can the law be holy, righteous, and good?
We are going back and read the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:17
Let’s go forward to the words of Paul in Romans 8:4.
I want us to understand tonight that the spiritual requirements of God’s law is to be fulfilled in the lives of you and I followers of Jesus.
Our involvement with the law ….

I.    Involves the ethical and moral principles set there in.

A.    Set in the OT
Scriptures
Matthew 7:12
Matthew 22:36-40
Galatians 5:14

B.    Set in the teachings of Jesus
Scriptures
Matthew 28:20,   teaching them everything that I have commanded you.

C.    Set in the teachings of the apostles.
Scriptures
I Corinthians 7:19, 9:21
Galatians 6:2

II.    Does not involve a system of legal commandments and sacrifices.

A.    Hebrews 10:1-4
Routine sacrifices will not save us.
The blood of bulls was of no benefit to us.
That system of sacrifices were fulfilled in Christ.

B.    Galatians 2:16,19
We are justified by faith and not by observing the law.
I died to the law that I might live for God.

III.    Moves beyond God as our lawgiver to God as our Father.

A.    Through faith in Christ God becomes our Father.
John 1:12
Galatians 4:6

B.    Our obedience is
Not because it is a law.
Out of a relationship.
We may be or have been around a demanding father a time or two in our lives.
A demanding father is not fun.
Making a father be demanding father does not result in much fun for anyone.
God is not that kind of Father.
However the relationships that encourage obedience is so precious.

IV.    Moves into an inner compulsion.

A.    We are blessed with the Spirit.
Galatians 3:5,14

B.    The Holy Spirit gives us an inner desire and drive to love, follow, and serve God.
Hebrews 10:16
Romans 16:25,26

Conclusion:
The law that should rule in our hearts and minds is the law of Christ.
I Corinthians 9:21
Galatians 6:2
Let the Spirit, the heart of the law that is fulfilled, delivered to us through Christ reign in our hearts.

ROMANS 7B I DO & I DO NOT

2011-03-15T11:53:00.000-04:00

ROMANS 7B I DO & I DO NOT
ROMANS 7:1-25

Introduction:
Have congregation stand.
Read the opening to a wedding ceremony. “We are gathered together….
Open the ceremony in prayer.
Have congregation be seated.
Read the “I Do” vows.
Questions about our keeping of our vows.
Gentlemen, How many of you have kept every single vow completely?
Ladies, How many of you have kept every single vow completely?
How many of you would be honest enough to say that there are times that you do what you don’t want to do and there are times that what you want to do you don’t end up doing?
I am sure that is true with most of us.
We are in Romans 7 today.
Paul references marriage here as an example.
He also gets into the “I Dos” and the “I Do Nots“.
It is the I Dos and the I do nots that I want to focus on this morning.

I.    Briefly highlight Paul’s comments about marriage. Verses 1-3

A.    By law a married woman is bound to her husband.
If her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage.

B.    An adulteress is one who is married to another while still under the law of marriage.

C.    Application
Paul is using this comment about marriage as an example to get a greater point across concerning law and grace and our marriage to the law being broken by our death to the law and our new life in grace.
Man was bound by the law.
Man is set free from the law by grace.
This freedom came through Christ.
This freedom came through our dying to the old man and coming alive to the new.
Paul is still talking about this law and grace issue.
He is still talking about dying to sin and living in it no longer.
But living a new in Christ.
He is telling us today that it is not as easy as it might seem to be.
Was it easy to complete to a T every vow that you made on your wedding day?
The same is true even more so in our walk with God.
One of the commentators that I used breaks this inward conflict of the Christian heart down this way.
Desire and Delight
Conflict and Captivity
Trial and Triumph

II.    Desire and Delight, vs. 21,22

A.     A desire to do the good.
When I want to do good.
Paul has a desire to do what is right and good.
That is great to have that desire.
I believe many people have that desire.
Paul had more than a desire or a want.

B.    Paul had a delight
“For in my inner being I delight in God’s law. “
I don’t think he is talking about the OT law there.
I am thinking his delight is in the heart of God.
Many have a desire to do good.
There is not as many who delight in the Word, the commands of God.
The Word shows us the desires, the delights, the will of God.

C.    I challenge you today to desire the things of God and to delight in the things that God delights in.
But a desire and a delight is not enough we need to carry through.
There is often times conflict to get to the triumph.

III.    Conflict and Captivity, vs. 23

A.    Under the captivity of sin,
vs. 14
vs. 17
The believer is not, nor can not be under the captivity of sin.
Only an unbeliever can be under the captivity of sin.

B.    The conflict with sin.
vs. 15
Sinless perfection is impossible in this life.
I believe that the closer we draw to God the more we realize that we are imperfect and that there is a struggle within us.
I am sure that we all want to do good.
But sin has a way of sitting on our other shoulder speaking into our other ear.

C.    This conflict even for the believer is real.
Romans 8:13
Galatians 5:16-18 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
We need to get beyond this conflict and trial to triumph.

IV.    Trial and Triumph

A.    What a wretched man I am?
Paul is saying that this conflict makes me feel like such a wretched man.
I hate sin.
I wish I was never tempted to sin.
I wish that we would never ever yield to temptation.
The closer we get to God the more awful we feel about sin in our lives, even the smallest of sin.

B.    What are you feelings about sin?
Do you think one little one won’t hurt?
Do you hate and feel guilty every time you slip?
Do you think that grace will wash it away so its ok?
We need to loath, to hate sin and do our best to avoid it.
We need to see sin as the abominable thing that God hates.

C.    Who will rescue me?
Thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Conclusion:
Lessons for us to learn.
We need to watch and pray that we do not fall into temptation.
We need to do our best to think on the right and the good.   “Whatsoever… think on these things.”     Philippians 4:8   Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
This is a lesson on humility as well.
This should teach us love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness toward others that slip and fall.
This should teach us to even more rely on the Spirit of the Lord to help us.
This passage could be looked at from 2 sides.
It could be looked at from the standpoint of a non Christian trying to do good or right.
It could be looked at as a Christian struggling with continually doing what is good and right.
There are those that say it is from one or the other standpoint.
I have been looking at it today from the standpoint of a Christian hearing two voices and doing his or her best to listen to the right voice.
Verse 14 however makes it clearly sound like its application is to a non Christian because a believer can not be a slave to sin.
If you are a slave to sin you need to turn to the Lord and be set free.
If you are a believer struggling from time to time with sin then we need to let the Spirit of God help us overcome that conflict.
Chapter 8 gives us some great help to move beyond this struggle.

ROMANS 7 A ADULTERESS, AUTHORITY, & FRUIT

2011-03-15T11:52:00.000-04:00

ROMANS 7 A ADULTERESS, AUTHORITY, & FRUIT

Introduction:
We are starting Romans 7 tonight instead of ending it.
I am going to try and not give you to much of a hint about Sunday. (Just to me mean.)
I want us to start by reading Romans 7.
There are several things in the first 6 verses that I was us to talk about tonight.

I.    Adulteress

A.    Who is an adulteress?

B.    Why is Paul talking about an adulteress?

C.    Why did Paul not mention adulterer?

II.    Authority

A.    The law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives?

III.    Fruit

A.    Raised from the dead. vs. 4
Speaks about our salvation.
Speaks about baptism as referenced in chapter 6.

B.    To bear fruit for God.

C.    Not bearing fruit for death.

Conclusion:

ROMANS 6B SLAVES TO WHAT?

2011-03-15T11:50:00.000-04:00

ROMANS 6B    SLAVES TO WHAT?
Introduction:
We talked Sunday morning about dead men walking.
The old man died when we gave our hearts to Christ.
The sinful man died.
We are walking as a new man.
So yes we are a dead man walking.
We are walking in abundant grace.
We move to verse 15 today.
There must truly be a problem in Rome with believers continuing to want to or look for excuses to sin.
Paul brings the idea of just continuing to sin up again.
He brings it up in a slightly different light. Shall we sin because we are no longer under the law.
Our study tonight takes a look at Paul’s answer.

I.    We are slaves to the master that we choose to obey.

A.    By no means.
Paul starts his response with a resounding no way.
The root of their thinking must be well if the law is gone then we don’t have to worry about carrying out any of it.
So does that mean that nothing is sin?
The law is gone so we won’t even know what is sin or not.
That does not mean that we are free from the moral commands of the commandments or the law.
Grace means with God’s help we have the power to keep the moral commands of the law.
The moral still stands.
Righteousness is the heart of the matter now.
The thought of slavery dominates these verses.
Words related to slavery is used 8 times in these short verses.
We will realize here that we are either sin’s slave or God’s slave.
Vs 16

B.    A slave to sin
Obeying the temptation to sin makes you a slave to sin.
Vs 19 speaks of being weak in your natural selves.
Paul elsewhere says that spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
The old man keeps trying to come out of the grave and lead us astray.
We need to keep this body and its parts away from slavery to impurities.
Paul talks here about ever increasing wickedness.
Good habits are hard to establish.
Bad habits seem to come about so easy.
When I read about this ever increasing wickedness that reminds me about how it becomes easier to yield to temptation each time we yield.
It is so easy for wickedness to increase.
A slave to sin is outside of the control of righteousness.
We know that sin leads to death.
Vs 23, The wages of sin is death.
Vs 16b, which leads to death.
Vs. 21b Those things that result in death.
The lead us through shame in the road to death.
Vs. 21
The pleasures of sin are only for a season.
They quickly lead to guilt and shame.
The quote benefit is short lived but the shame carries on for a long time.
The benefit is not very good if the end result is death.
This death is more than a physical death.
It is an everlasting destruction and being shut out from the presence of the Lord.
II Thessalonians 1:9
The opposite of eternal life, verse 23.

C.    A slave to righteousness
This is what we need to be.
We need to be a slave to obedience which leads to righteousness.
Paul is rejoicing in verse 17 in their whole hearted obedience to the teachings that they were entrusted with.
He is excited that they have been set free from sin.
He loves the reality that they are so attached to righteousness.

II.    The great benefit of being a slave to righteousness

A.    He adds in verse 19b that their slavery to righteousness leads to holiness.
Holiness is a benefit.
Hebrews 12:14 says we will not see God without holiness.
God longs for us to live holy and upright lives.

B.    The end result is eternal life.
The gift of God is eternal life.
That is a great ending to the story of life.
It is not an ending.
It is an amazing forever.

C.    The heart of this all is Jesus Christ our Lord.
His birth, sinless life, death, and resurrection has made this gift and this life possible for us.

Conclusion:
Thank you Lord for the gift of your son and the life that He brings to us.

ROMANS 6A DEAD MEN WALKING

2011-03-15T11:48:00.000-04:00

ROMANS 6:1-14
Introduction:
I came across the phrase this week in my research that I found interesting, “dead man walking“.
I discovered that it was the title of a 1995 movie about a death row inmate.   The movie was based on a book by the same title. It is a story about a nun and a death row inmate. I didn’t see the movie. I understand in my reading that the heart of the story is anti capital punishment.
I am not getting into those discussions today.
I also found that statement, Dead Man Walking, is used in some of the death rows in the USA.
In some of the Death Rows in the USA – when a prisoner is taken to be executed the guard that leads the procession shouts out, “dead man walking”. It means, get out of the way this man is on his way to his execution. Have some respect and stand or give a last word of encouragement for he is about to leave this life.
I know that sounds a little morbid.
I am going to go a little further.
You and I, children of God, are just that.
We are dead men walking.
Let’s talk about that.

I.    Background
We need to look at the last 2 verses of chapter 5 and the first verse of chapter 6 as a background.

A.    But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
The increase of sin brings the increase of grace.
The addition of the law added to the list of sin and wrong.
Without a speed limit you can go as fast as you want and not be breaking a law and therefore not need the grace of an officer.
So as sin increased it required more grace to forgive it.
Illustration:    I know I told some this story of grace. Scratching dad’s car trying to take a trailer load of wood to the end of the yard for a sleep out.   I showed it to dad and apologized. He said to me did you learn a lesson from that. I said yes. He said ok that’s good. My dad was a gracious forgiving man. Maybe just to me but I won’t ask my siblings about that. Now once I was legally allowed to drive on the road and not just in the yard if I would have come home with a much bigger scratch on his car he might or he might not have said the same thing.
Hold on to that thought a moment.
Paul reminds us in verse 21 that sin and death go together.
On the other side grace through righteousness that is ours in Christ Jesus bring eternal life.

B.    Since grace is a good thing shall we purposely cause more grace to abound, or increase. Verse 1
Back to my illustration about the car.
Would that have been smart of me to get in the car and head down the road with the idea that dad is a gracious man so if I put a big scratch on the car he will forgive me.
No! It would not have been smart o put his grace to the test.
When dad road with me I knew where every curve was before I got there. There is a curve up there you better slow down. Oh but dad you are a gracious person let me see just how fast I can go around that big curve ahead.
The same is true with sin and the grace of God.

C.    This background sets the stage for the concept of dead men walking.

II.    Dead men

A.    Dying to sin
Vs. 2 “By no means, we died to sin.”
Believers died to the power of sin.
We talked Wednesday night about all of us dying in Adam.
Sin and death came to all of us through the sin of Adam.
We also talked about all of us being able to come alive through the second Adam Christ who shed His blood in penalty for our sin that we might live.
This passage paints a beautiful picture of water baptism,
Paul says all you who were baptized.
This passage speaks of baptism as a picture of what happened.
Jesus Christ
Died
Was buried
And he rose again.
He died carrying our sins.
He buried our sins.
He rose again setting us free to live a new life.
So when we accepted Christ we died to sin.
Our water baptism symbolizes that.
You do not bury a live person.
So in your baptism or at your conversion you said I am a dead man. I have died to sin.
Not only did we die to sin but we were buried with Him.
We buried the old man and his sin when we were buried with Christ.
II Corinthians 5:17
We come to life a new man.

B.    Some things that a dead man doesn’t do.
Dead men don’t sin.
Dead men don’t insist on their own way.
Dead men don’t demand their rights.

C.    Paul says to answer your question we died to sin so we can’t live in it any longer.
He says so that the body of sin must be done away with.
We should be no longer slaves to sin.
You see a dead man can’t sin.
Count yourself dead to sin.
If you are a child of God you are a dead man.
If you are alive in Christ then you had to have died first in order for that to happen.
You can not serve 2 masters.
You can not be alive in sin and alive in Christ all at the same time.

III.    Walking
Now let’s go to the walking part.

A.    We are now alive to God in Christ Jesus. Verse 11b
We are united with Christ.
Verse 5
In His death
In His resurrection
Verse 8 says that we will also live with Him.
I have said that we are alive to God in Christ Jesus.
The life that Christ lives He lives to God.
vs. 10b
The same is true, should be true with us. The life that we live we should live to God.

B.    We have been brought from death to life. vs. 13
We are not a dead man in the grave.
We are a dead man walking.
Dead to sin, its penalty, and it’s power.
Alive to Christ and the righteousness that He gives us through His amazing grace.
When I look at you and you look at me we see the same person that we saw before our relationship Christ.
We see the same person that died when we gave our heart to Christ.
But yet we are up and walking.
We are more alive than ever before.
I might look like the same man that died but I am a new man on the inside.
I am a dead man.
But I am walking a new life.

C.    Verses 13,14 give us a couple of nuts and bolts as to how that might look like.
The dead man walking a new in Christ does not offer parts of his body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness.
The dead man walking a new in Christ offers himself to God and the parts of his body as instruments of righteousness.
For sin shall not be your master.

Conclusion:
I ask you two questions.
Are you a dead man?
Are you walking as a new man in Christ.
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

ROMANS 5C ROMANS 5:12-21 THE POWER OF ONE

2011-02-14T08:43:00.002-05:00

ROMANS 5C ROMANS 5:12-21
THE POWER OF ONE
Introduction:

I.    One man Adam

A.    Sin and death entered the world through one man, Adam.
How did this happen?
We are all related by the blood of Adam.
Acts 17:26
Our blood carries the sentence of death because of Adam’s sin.

B.    Life is in the blood
Lev. 17:11
Blood is fluid, moveable.
It is the only part of our body that touches every area of the body.
Death happens when there is no more life in the blood.
We could say that eating of the tree of knowledge caused blood poisoning.
Adam and Eve died.
That poison has been passed by Adam to us all.
I know that I have explained this before.
Page 17 The breath of God….

C.    Something happened to the blood to cause death.
Sinful flesh is sustained and nourished by sinful blood.
That sinful nature has been instilled in us.

II.    One man Christ

A.    Forgiveness and life enter through Jesus Christ.

B.    The innocent and incorruptible blood of Christ.
Page 35 Innocent blood
Page 35 Incorruptible blood

C.    The chemistry of Calvary
Page 53

Conclusion:
Readings are from
The Chemistry of the Blood by M. R. De Haan (Paperback - Sept. 1, 1974) Out of Print--Limited Availability

ROMANS 5B GOD’S LOVE

2011-02-14T08:39:00.000-05:00

ROMANS 5B GOD’S LOVE
ROMANS 5:5B-11
Introduction:
We read tonight’s verses as we closed this morning.
We are going to pick up tonight with why this hope doesn’t disappoint us.
The answer is because of God’s love.
Because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
I am going to build our thoughts around verse 6 completing this sentence three times.
God’s love

I.    Knows the right time

A.    You see at just the right time….

The birth of Jesus was at the right time.
Galatians 4:4,5
Luke 2:6

The death of Christ was at the right time.
Matthew 26:18
Luke 17:22

The 2nd coming of Christ will be at the right time.
Mark 13:26-33
Luke 21:8
Luke 21:27

B.    God’s love knows the right time in your life and in mine.
Sometimes we might wonder.
Sometimes we think His time is off.
Many times we wish his timing better suited ours.

II.    Can overcome our weakness

A.    When we were still powerless.
We have seen here in Romans that we were powerless to save ourselves.
There is none righteous
All have sinned.
The law offered no life or hope.

B.    When I am weak then He is strong.
His strength is made perfect in our weakness.
II Corinthians 12:9-11

C.    We need to let his love overcome our weakness.
Don’t fight our weakness.

III.    Was demonstrated by death

A.    “Christ died for the ungodly.”
Verse 7
Verse 8 While we were still sinners, still an enemy of God Christ died to make us a friend of God.

B.    Verse 10,11 says that we were reconciled to Him.

Conclusion:
This love of God ultimately results in rejoicing.
Verse 11
I thank God for his peace, grace, and hope.
I also thank Him for his great love that has done these things for us.

ROMANS 5A AN AMAZING TRIO

2011-02-14T08:38:00.000-05:00

ROMANS 5A   AN AMAZING TRIO
PEACE, GRACE, & HOPE
Introduction:
The Last Impression

Since this is the SuperBowl weekend, I thought I would share with you some football plays you might just see this Sunday... in church!

Quarterback Sneak – Church members quietly leaving during the invitation.
Draw Play – What many children do with the bulletin during worship.
Halftime – The period between Sunday school and worship when many choose to leave.
Benchwarmer – Those who do not sing, pray, work, or do anything but sit.
Backfield-in-Motion – Making a trip to the back (restroom or water fountain) during the service.
Staying in the Pocket – What happens to a lot of money that should be given to the Lord's work.
Two-minute Warning – The point at which you realize the sermon is almost over and begin to gather up your children and belongings.
Instant Replay – The preacher loses his notes and falls back on last week's illustrations.
Sudden Death – What happens to the attention span of the congregation if the preacher goes "overtime."
Trap – You're called on to pray and are asleep.
End Run – Getting out of church quick, without speaking to any guest or fellow member.
Flex Defense – The ability to allow absolutely nothing said during the sermon to affect your life.
Halfback Option – The decision of 50% of the congregation not to return for the evening service.
Blitz – The rush for the restaurants following the closing prayer.

As we move into Romans 5 I am going to talk about an amazing trio this morning.
The trio is not big Ben, Mendenhall, and Hines Ward.
This morning’s trio is peace, grace, and hope
Chapter 5 begins a new focus in the book of Romans.
Chapters 1-4
The first 4 chapters centered on the need for salvation and the provision of salvation, righteousness, justification, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Our faith in Christ puts us in right relationship with God.
Jews and Gentiles alike can be a part of Abraham’s family, better yet a part of God’s family.
Chapters 5-8
Paul begins to tie our righteousness by faith with hope as we move into the next 4 chapters.
He talks about the hope that belongs to us who are right with God.
Jews and Gentiles alike have tapped into this great hope.
Writers reference the first 5 verses here as consequences of our righteousness and justification.
Define consequence: The effect, result, or outcome of something occurring earlier.
I prefer the word result.
There are three very vital results of our righteousness spoken of here.
Peace
Grace
Hope
They are the trio that we are going to look at.
Each of them are familiar to us.
I want us to pay closer attention to how they become ours.

I.    Peace

A.    Define peace
Dictionary.com
the normal, non warring condition of a nation, group of nations,
an agreement or treaty between warring or antagonistic nations, groups, etc., to end hostilities
a state of mutual harmony between people or groups,
cessation of or freedom from any strife or dissension.
freedom of the mind from annoyance, distraction, anxiety, an obsession, etc.;
a state of tranquility or serenity:

B.    Who is this peace with?
Paul says here that this peace is with God.
Ultimately He is the one that you want to have peace with.
It is great to know and understand the impact, the trickle down effect of this peace with God.

C.    What is the key or what did this peace come to us through?
The key to this peace with God is Christ.
Isaiah 9:6,7 For to us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.
Isaiah 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
Colossians 1:19,20 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Our key is faith in Christ.
Paul tells us here that our justification through faith in Christ puts us at peace with God.
I love being at peace with God.
I love the way that my peace with God provides peace throughout the many other areas in my life.

II.    Grace
The second result is into this grace in which we now stand.

A.    There are several facets of grace.
This reminds me of the message I shared on grace in our Noah series.
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
Saving grace, the building of and the entering of the ark.
Securing grace, when all had entered the ark God shut the door keeping them safe inside.
Sufficient grace that kept them safe the entire time.
There is the saving grace.
Ephesians 2:8,9
This is not what Paul is talking about here.
There is the securing or the keeping grace.
I am glad that I just wasn’t saved by grace and that was a thing of the past.
Too many times Christians just hold onto a past experience.
Today is a new day and it has it’s own experience.

B.    Paul is talking about the securing grace.
“grace in which we now stand.”
This grace is an abiding and immovable status arising from a past action. (John Murray in commentary)
Believers have an on going access to grace and continue to stand in grace. (Thomas R. Schreiner)
God did not save us by grace and then drop grace out of the picture.
Just like the grace that Noah found in the eyes of the Lord didn’t just build the ark but it keep them safely secured in the ark.
We need to walk daily in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

C.    I believe that this flows into the sufficient grace.
His grace will keep us all the way to the end.
It is the grace of God that will enable us to stand upright before the Lord in that final day.

III.    Hope
The third result is hope.

A.    This hope is qualified as the hope of the glory of God.
This is not I hope you have a good day today hope.
This is not even I hope you have a good life hope.
This is I hope you experience the glory of God forever hope.

B.    The door is open for us to share in God’s glory.
The vast experience of that glory is in eternity.
Notice that those who scorned and fell short of God’s glory are now given an opportunity to share in it.
Romans 1:21-23
Romans 3:23
Romans 8:17,18,21,30
Again we realize that this is not really a present possession.
We await future glorification that will bring moral perfection, and restore the glory that Adam lost when he sinned.

C.    This is a life long process to experience this hope.
The peace that we talked about is a result of our faith in Christ.
The grace that we talked about is a result of our faith in Christ.
There is a process to obtain this hope.
Afflictions produce endurance or perseverance. Troubles have a way of toughing us up. Andre Crouch sings through it all.    It goes through it all I learned to trust in Jesus, I learned to trust in God. One verse goes if I never had a problem I would never know that God could salve them, I’d never know what faith in God can do.
Endurance, perseverance produces character.    They have a way of building a stronger character in us.   The challenges that we face can make us bitter or better. Being made better is a great building of character.
Tested character generates hope. A change in character shows God at work in our lives. The more we let God work in us the more our faith and confidence in God are built up. We become assured that what God started He will finish.
Hope in God will not disappoint us or bring shame on us.
Philippians 1:6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
I Corinthians 1:8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
None of us like the process but we certainly will like the end result.

Conclusion:
Read Romans 5:6-11
We are going to focus on these verses a few minutes tonight before we go home and eat some hot wings and finish watching the super bowl.
Communion

ROMANS 4B CREDIT

2011-02-10T21:12:00.000-05:00

ROMANS 4B CREDIT
Introduction:
We are going to talk about that word credit tonight.
The word credit is used 29 times in the NIV of the Bible.
Ten of those times is in Romans 4. The focus of those here are on Abraham.
There are 3 other Scriptures where it is used about Abraham, 1 in the OT and 2 in the NT.
Credit has many definitions.
credit
1. commendation or honor given for some action, quality, etc.: Give credit where it is due.
2. a source of pride or honor: You are a credit to your school.
3. the ascription or acknowledgment of something as due or properly attributable to a person, institution, etc.: She got a screen credit for photography.
4. trustworthiness; credibility: a witness of credit.
5. confidence in a purchaser's ability and intention to pay, displayed by entrusting the buyer with goods or services without immediate payment.
6. reputation of solvency and probity, entitling a person to be trusted in buying or borrowing: Your credit is good.
7. influence or authority resulting from the confidence of others or from one's reputation.
8. time allowed for payment for goods or services obtained on trust: 90 days' credit.
9. repute; reputation; esteem.

I.    Abraham

A.    Romans 4:1-3   Part of our message this morning.

B.    Romans 4:9,10
Paul is saying this credit was before circumcision.

C.    Romans 4:11
He is speaking of our righteousness being credited to us by our faith.
Paul tells us that the uncircumcised receive righteousness a credit to their believing.

D.    Romans 4:22
Beginning in verse 17 Paul reminds us about Abraham’s belief in God giving him a son in his old age.

II.    Paul for Philemon

A.    Read Philemon

B.    In verse 18 Paul is saying if my friend Onesimus owes you anything put it, charge it to my account.
Paul is saying credit his account as paid.
Charge what he owes to my account.
What a blessing that is.

III.    Christ for us

A.    Romans 4:23-25
This righteous credit was not for Abraham alone.
This righteousness is credited to us as well.
Our belief needs to be in Jesus who died for our sins and rose again for our justification.

B.    Thank you Lord for the payment that your Son has made to my account.

Conclusion:

Romans 4A Being A Truely Blessed Man

2011-02-10T21:10:00.000-05:00

BEING A TRULY BLESSED MAN
ROMANS 4A R0MANS 4:1-8
Introduction:
The Visitor

One day, a man went to visit a church. He arrived early, parked his car, and got out. Another car pulled up near him, and the driver told him, "I always park there. You took my place!"
The visitor went inside for Sunday School, found an empty seat, and sat down. A young lady from the church approached him and stated, "That's my seat! You took my place!" The visitor was somewhat distressed by this rude welcome, but said nothing.
After Sunday School, the visitor went into the church sanctuary and sat down. Another member walked up to him and said, "That's where I always sit. You took my place!" The visitor was even more troubled by this treatment, but still said nothing.
Later, as the congregation was praying for Christ to dwell among them, the visitor stood, and his appearance began to change. Horrible scars became visible on his hands and on his sandaled feet. Someone from the congregation noticed him and called out,
"What happened to you?"
The visitor replied, "I took your place."

I am ever so grateful that Jesus took my place.
We are truly blessed because He took our place.
We are in Romans 4 today.
Paul recites the words of David in verses 7,8 talking about a blessed man.
I am going to make a statement that I know will rattle your cage.
A truly blessed man is not a working man.
A truly blessed man is a man who gets credit handed to him without earning it.
I am sure all of you have just said that Pastor has lost his mind.
I am going to back track. That statement is not my statement. It is Paul’s statement.
We are going to begin in Romans 4 verse 1 and see who then is a truly blessed man.
Paul shares three pictures to help us understand that a blessed man is not a working man.

I.    Abraham

A.    The question is asked about Abraham.
It is well known, understood, and accepted that Abraham was their, the Jews, forefather.
He is a vital part of their foundation.
Abraham carries a lot of weight.
What does Abraham teach us about this works and faith issue?
What do we learn from him about this boasting thing?
Was he justified before God by his works?

B.    The answer
The second part of verse 2 says he had nothing to boast about before God.
Paul begins the answer as he begins verse 3.
We will find the answer in the Scripture.
“Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness“.
This is a quote from Genesis 15:6
Paul is even going earlier than Moses to Abraham.
Abraham is a great example of faith.
He maintained a loyal attachment to God and believed in his promises.
We read about that a bit further here in chapter 4.
Genesis 12:1-3
Genesis 15:5,6
Hebrews 11:8-19
James 2:20-22
Faith generates actions.

C.    We begin to see that a blessed man is a man that has faith.
I did not become a child of my father by what I did.
You can not become a descendant of Abraham by what you do.
We can not become a child of God by what we do.

II.    The worker and his wages
The second picture is a worker and his wages.

A.    The working man gets wages.
A working man’s wages is not a gift.
How far would you and I get if we listed our income last year as a gift?
I didn’t earn anything last year.
My employer just gave me a gift.
How would you feel if your employer came us to you on payday and said I don’t feel like giving you your pay check this time.
Your check has been a gift check and I don’t have it in me today to give you a gift.
Wait a minute you agreed to pay me.
I earned it and you are obligated to pay me.
We could and probably would go further up the ladder in the company, or go to the labor union, or better business bureau.

B.    Earning and obligation are not a part of God.
Works necessitates debt or an obligation.
When a man works, someone owes him something.
If a man could work for righteousness, that is, work so God would owe him righteousness, then God would owe man.
But God, being God, is completely self-sufficient; therefore, He cannot be put in debt to any man.
He cannot be made or forced to do anything.

C.    We find that a blessed man is not a working man.

III.    David’s painting of a blessed man vs. 6-8
The third picture is the picture that David paints about a blessed man.

A.    God credits righteousness apart from works.
Paul says that David’s picture says much the same thing to us.
Paul says he is telling us about the blessedness of a man.
Whom God credits righteousness.
This righteousness is credited apart from works.

B.    Paul is quoting from Psalms 32:1,2
Listen to this entire chapter.
Blessedness, righteousness, forgiveness, are all a heart issue.
They are not the result of our hands.
They are a result of His nail starred hands.

C.    Psalms 1 shares some very powerful words.
He says the blessed man does not
Walk in the steps, the ways of the wicked.
Stand in the path that sinners take.
Sit in the seats or the company of the mockers.
The blessed man
Delights in the law of the Lord.
Meditates on that law day and night.
Delighting and meditation
Meditation has nothing to do with our hands or our feet.
Neither does delighting.
They are mind and heart issues.

Conclusion:
Look at these pictures of a blessed man one more time.
A man of faith like Abraham who believed before the law was even given.
A man given gifts by a loving and merciful God not out of obligation like a employer, employee relationship.
A man blessed with righteousness from God and forgiveness of sins not because of what he has done but because of what God has done through His Only begotten Son.
I am blessed because that one with horrible scars on his hands and feet took my place.
I want to be a blessed man and my prayer for all of you is the same.

Romans 3 C Boasting

2011-02-07T13:54:00.000-05:00

ROMANS 3C,
BOASTING, ONE, FULFILLING THE LAW
Introduction:
Paul concludes this chapter with three very vital statements.
Boasting must go.
Jews & Gentiles are all one.
Faith does not destroy the law but fulfill it.
Let’s look at these vital statements and learn from them.

I.    Boasting must go vs. 27

A.    The heart of this conversation is to the Jew.
It is interesting that Paul begins this chapter with the question about advantage.
He says that there is an advantage to being a Jew.
He also says that there is value in circumcision.
But in verse 9 he says that we, the Jews, are not at all better than the next guy, especially the Gentile.
In fact he says that none of us are any better.
For all have sinned and all are justified freely, vs. 23,24

B.    But boasting must not be a part of any of our lives.
Where then is boasting?
It is excluded.
It is excluded on the principle that our righteousness is by faith and not by observing the law.
Ephesians 2:8,9

C.    A man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.
Romans 1:17
Galatians 3:11
Hebrews 10:38

II.    Jews & Gentiles are all one vs. 29, 30

A.    A vital verse to aid this argument.
Deuteronomy 6:4
If there is only one true God then surely he must be the God of the whole world.
He can’t just be the God of the Jews.
He is your God and mine.

B.    How can the one God justify you in a different way than He justifies me?
That would be favoritism.
That would be unbalanced.
The old covenant was distinctively Jews.
Righteousness by faith fits better for all.

C.    Ephesians 4:1-6
1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

D.    An understanding is needed by American believers.
Sometimes we think that believers everywhere need to be just like us.
Our faith is very Americanized and built around our culture.
Our ideas can throw a little boasting in it for us. Paul says no.

III.    Faith does not destroy the law. vs. 31
I believe there are three aspects that we can look at here.

A.    The law is fulfilled in that it convicts and condemns the sinner.
If there is no law one would never be a law breaker.
This prepares the way for faith in Christ.

B.    The law is fulfilled in that it points to faith.
The law and the prophets point to faith in Christ.
Chapter 4 begins by telling us that Abraham had faith.
The answer to the sacrifices under the law was Jesus Christ.
What Christ offers is by faith.
The just, righteous will live by faith.

C.    The moral norms of the law are fulfilled by those who walk in faith.
The moral code of the law, the 10 commandments, are not thrown out of the window.
Walking in faith helps us live out those moral codes of the law.
Conclusion:
We have learned 3 simple things in the last part of chapter 3.
Boasting must go.
We are one in Christ Jesus.
Our faith helps us live out the life set before us by God.
Let’s put those into practice.

Romans 3 B Righteousness By Faith

2011-02-07T13:43:00.000-05:00

ROMANS 3B, RIGHTEOUSNESS BY FAITH
ROMANS 3:21-26
Introduction:
Duct Tape or a Nail?
A man dies and goes to heaven. St. Peter meets him at the Pearly Gates and says, "Here's how it works. You need 100 points to make it into heaven. You tell me all the good things you've done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. When you reach 100 points, you get in."
"Okay," the man says, "I was married to the same woman for 50 years and never cheated on her, even in my heart."
"That's wonderful," says St. Peter, "that's worth two points!"
"Two points?!"
"Well, I attended church all my life and supported its ministry with my tithe and service."
"Terrific!" says St. Peter. "That's certainly worth a point."
"One point!?!!"
"I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter for homeless veterans."
"Fantastic, that's good for two more points," he says.
"Two points!?!!"
Exasperated, the man cries, "At this rate the only way I'll get into heaven is by the grace of God."
"Bingo! 100 points! Come on in!"
We often try to fix problems with WD-40 and duct tape. God did it with a nail. Only by the blood of Jesus!

We addressed the first 8 verses on Wednesday evening.
Brief recap
I am going to read through verses 9-20.
Paul is wrapping up the charges that all are under sin, that there is no one righteous.
Everyone has turned their own way.
He says that the whole world is held accountable to God. vs. 19
Our text today begins with the two words, But now….
Many say that this passage is the heart of the Epistle.
From chapter 1:18 to this point Paul has been expounding the idea that all people deserve wrath and judgment.
This passage turns the corner.
We begin to see and read about the saving righteousness that is made available through Jesus Christ.
So Paul is telling us to throw the duct tape and wd 40 away and grab the nail scared hands of Jesus.
Let’s hear what Paul has to say about this righteousness of God.

I.    The revelation of the righteousness vs. 21

A.    But now
That three letter word but is a very big word.
I remember years ago a time that Sis Douglas was speaking right here.   I remember 2 words that she shared that she emphasized in her message.   But God!
I now that she referenced several situations in the Bible sharing that they were one way but God and things turned out differently.
But now takes us today into a new area of the book of Romans.
We are moving beyond, through, on the other side of the law.
There is a new kid, a new man, a new boss in town.
There is a new factor to be reckoned with.
The new man, this new factor in town is the righteousness from God.
A key is that this righteousness from God has been made known.
It has been revealed.
The light has been turned onto it.
It is not something that is talked about coming at some time.
This righteousness of God is now right before their eyes and heart.

B.    The two sides of this righteousness
The one side is the verdict against sin.
Establish justice and righteousness by calling out the verdict against sin.
The word righteous very often occurred in the context of ruling or judging in the OT.
Genesis 18:24-26 Abraham is pleading the case for Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah. Will you not spare the place if you find 50 righteous? You won’t kill the righteous with the wicked will you? Will not the judge do right? God do right and judge our enemies.
Yet we do not want God to judge us.   Psalms 142:1 “I cry aloud to the LORD; I lift up my voice to the LORD for mercy.”
The verdict against sin says God do what you need to do against sin but spare me.
The other side is vindication.
It is the deliverance from sin.
We want God to clear us.
Psalms 51:1-17

C.    Paul is telling us here that the righteousness from God has come to do just that.
We see that the righteousness of God then consists both of God’s desire to establish his justice throughout the earth and his deliverance of the sinful.
It holds in balance both God’s wrath to condemn evil and his love to save.
Paul is going to expand deeper here in Romans God’s love to save.

II.    The Availability of God’s Righteousness to all on the basis of faith (vv. 22-23)

A.    Through faith in Jesus Christ
Faith
Faith means firmly believing and trusting in the crucified and risen Christ as our personal Lord and Savior.
Faith involves repentance, in true sorrow turning from sin.
Faith includes obedience to Jesus Christ and His Word as our way of life.
Faith includes a heartfelt personal devotion and attachment to Jesus Christ.

B.    To all who believe
The all includes the Jew and Gentile alike.
This fulfills the promise made to Abraham in Genesis 12:3 “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
Your race or religious background does not matter.
As Paul said to the jailer in Acts 16:31, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved and your house.
Here in Romans 10:13 Paul says for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

C.    The key that makes this all inclusive is that all have sinned.
Everyone is in the same boat.
We are lost sinners condemned to die.

III.    The source of God’s righteousness, Vs. 24,25a

A.    The source is the provision of Christ for our sins on the cross.
There are 4 key phrases in these two verses that show us the source of this great righteousness.
Through faith in His blood.
The object of our trust is the blood of Jesus.
Now that is interesting because a crucifixion is not a very bloody act.
The blood refers to a blood sacrifice.
In the OT the animal would pay the price for the one offering the sacrifice.
God dwelt with our sins by transferring them to Christ.
A sacrifice of atonement
Propitiation or to appease
A holy God can not stand sin.
A holy God has to deal with sin in a judgmental way.
Christ took the beating for us for our sin.
Redemption that came by Christ Jesus
We have a tendency to think of redemption as a football player who drops a pass and then turns around as the game is winding down and catches the winning pass.
In the Bible redemption is the requirement of someone else to step in.
If you lost your land to debt another family member could step in a redeem or buy your land back.
Israel’s redemption from Egypt was done by none other than God.
The one who intervened for us was Christ.
These three combined provides our justification freely by God’s amazing grace.
Faith in His blood that was offered by Christ Jesus as an atonement for our sins graciously provides for us justification before God.
We can not do it alone.
We need to go to the source.

B.    Thank God for his amazing grace.

Conclusion:
I hope that you are not still trying the duct tape and WD 40.
We need faith in the blood of Jesus that was offered by Christ Jesus as an atonement for our sins providing that justification for us.
Invitation:

Romans 3 A Advantage

2011-02-07T13:41:00.000-05:00

ROMANS 3A ADVANTAGE
ROMANS 3:1-8
Introduction:
I am sure that as I look out across here tonight I realize that most of us were born and raised in church.
We have an advantage over those who were not raised in church.
We might even think that we have an extra star in our crown.
We might feel that we are just a tad bit better than the next guy.
We will just see about that.
We begin in Romans 3 tonight.
Paul uses that word advantage right at the start of chapter 3.
We will look at what Paul has to say then make application.

I.    Paul’s questions for the Jews?

A.    Do you have an advantage because you are a Jew is Paul’s first question.
We know that Paul was sent to the Jews first.
However they rejected the gospel of Jesus Christ so he was then sent to the Gentile.
That transition must be playing a part in Paul’s writing here.
You wear the badge proudly.
What is behind that badge?
Does that badge have value?
Where will that badge get you?

B.    What value is there in circumcision?
He asks about the same question about circumcision.
He already addressed that in chapter 2;25 where he says circumcision has value if you observe the law.
Paul adds at the conclusion of chapter 2 that the greatest value of circumcision is when it is of the heart and not a physical ritual.

C.    He answers the questions with much.
He says much in every way.
The first and the most powerful advantage is that they have been entrusted with the very words of God.
That reference certainly appears to be referring to the OT Scriptures.
Here is a people who have heard directly from God, received the law of God, was given many, many promises from God.
Yes that is an advantage.

II.    Paul talks about the impact of their lack of faith and acceptance of the work of God.

A.    There are many with a lack of faith.
That is very obvious.
The crucifixion
The rejection of the message of Jesus in the earlier parts of Acts.
Their rejection of Paul’s message to them.
Their lack of faith is causing problems.

B.    But God is faithful.
Paul asks a couple of more questions about their faith.
What if some don’t have faith? We addressed that is certainly true.
Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness?
Does their lack of faith impact God’s faithfulness?
No!! Paul says not at all. 2 different stronger translations are given for this. Far from it and God forbid.
Man’s lack of faithfulness far from impacts the faithfulness of God.
God forbid that man’s lack of faith impact God’s faithfulness.
Men may very well have a tendency to say since the men of God are not faithful God must not be faithful.
That is the furthest from the truth.
Paul says even if every man does not have faith and is a liar God will still be true and faithful.
Paul adds to this conversation as it is written.
That is referencing Psalms 51.
Paul is saying that God is the judge and how He chooses to judge is right.     David knew he was wrong in Psalms 51 and was confessing. The Jews do not appear to be understanding that they are wrong and that God will be right and just in judging them.

C.    God brings the right out in spite of our wrong.
God is able and willing to carry out His will in spite of man’s actions.
Verse 5 brings out a contrast.
The darkness, our unrighteousness, appears to make the light shine brighter.
Light is going to look brighter in the darkness.
My headlights look brighter at night than in the day.
Paul adds would man insinuate that God is wrong in bringing wrath on us for our wrong.
Paul is using a human argument.
Human thinking can be so far off. So why if my bad makes God look good I am judged for being a sinner.
Paul expands the thought in verse 6 and 7.
Why don’t we just say let’s do evil so good may result?
Paul is really saying no.
Condemnation of bad is deserved.

III.    Application to today.

A.    Paul could be writing to us.
He could be writing to believers.
He could be writing to the church.
He is not but we can make a comparison.

B.    Advantage
Have you ever met a Christian who thought he had an advantage over the next guy?
I am sure we have met a few.
Not in or near Hollentown though I am sure.
We like the Jews have an advantage.
We have heard the Word from little up.
We have sit in church.
We know the right things to say and do.

C.    We are like the Jews.
We have a tendency to let our name and heritage carry us.
We can try to slide by.
We can slack off a bit because we know it.
We can give God a bad name once or twice.

D.    What might Paul share with us about that?
We can not stop the faithfulness of God.
We know that all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord.
And yes we too should not do evil that good my come.
The end does not justify the means.
I am reminded of the statement in the Word that to whom much is given much is required.
Luke 12: 47-48 “The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. 48 But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. 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.
We can’t let our knowledge puff us up.
We need to use what we know for God.

Conclusion:

CIRCUMCISION: IT IS NOT EFFICIENT

2011-01-18T09:26:00.000-05:00

ROMANS 2C ROMANS 2:25-29

Introduction:
We are finishing up chapter 2 tonight.
We talked Sunday about Judgment and impartiality in the morning.
We talked about Judgment for all in the evening.
Tonight we talk about circumcision and does it really work.

I.    Circumcision is a sign of God’s covenant with Israel.

A.    Genesis 17:9-14
It was a part of God’s covenant with Abraham.
It was an absolute requirement.

B.    The law was only meaningful if the entire law was kept.
Galatians 5:3
Breaking the law meant that the circumcision was broken.
Verse 25b says that if one transgresses the Mosaic law then his circumcision is gone.
Paul appears to reevaluating the covenant.
The covenant with the sign does not and cannot save.
No one can perfectly obey.
We need to understand that those living under the covenant now verses those living under the covenant in the OT are likely on different plains.
The old covenant pointed them to the new covenant. That is what made it work. Now that the new has come the old can not work.

II.    Salvation of the uncircumcised.

A.    The disobedience of the Jews is contrasted with the obedience of the gentiles in verses 26-27.
The Gentiles are designated as uncircumcised.
Paul is talking about the salvation of the uncircumcised.

B.    The obedience of the Gentiles is their source of salvation.
The Gentiles kept the moral norms of the law.
Verse 26
I believe that Paul is applying the remaining verses to Christian Gentiles.
He is not making a hypothetical case.
He is not talking about those who are just responding to the light that they have seen.
He talks about the Gentile keeping the ordinances of the law and in vs. 27 fulfilling the law.
So a Gentile who keeps the commands of God is a child of God.

C.    Paul is still preparing to let us know that sins forgiven is only through Christ.
Sins forgiven is now only through Christ and we will continue to see that as we go.
He is the fulfillment of what was promised in the OT.
The salvation that the OT was looking for has come.

III.    Judgment of the circumcised

A.    The judgment theme simply means that having the letter and circumcision will not save.
Transgress the law and face judgment.
Physical circumcision offers no saving advantage.
Physical circumcision alone does not make one a true Jew.
Paul continues to undermine that the old covenant provides salvation.

B.    We get the picture that the Gentile is the judge. vs. 27
A circumcised Jew who did not keep the law was unsaved.   vs. 27
They are not the judge but their obedience without circumcision will make the circumcised Jew look bad.

IV.    The circumcised heart

A.    The circumcision of the heart is what is required.
Paul says that physical circumcision and being an ethnic Jew are not necessary to belong to the people of God.
Under the new covenant is the requirement for a spiritual circumcision.
Scriptures
Romans 2:25
Deuteronomy 10:16
Deuteronomy 30:6

B.    The circumcision is by the Spirit.
Scriptures
Galatians 5:2-5
Romans 7:5,6
II Corinthians 3:3-11
Joel 2:28,29
It is this Spirit that circumcises the heart, that makes obedience possible.
In the new covenant God will write the law on the heart. Jeremiah 31:31-34
God will take out the heart of stone and puts His spirit in.   Ezekiel 11:19-20, 36:26-27
Paul is saying that promise has become a reality.
In Romans 8 we see where the gift of the Spirit enables believers to observe the law.

Conclusion:
The last phrase in this chapter points to an eternal reward for obedience.
The heart of what Paul is trying to relay is
To convict the Jews of their sin.
Paul is trying to convince the Jews to repent and believe in Jesus as Messiah.
This chapter sort of foreshadows Romans 10:19, 11:11 that also highlight the entrance of the gentiles into the people of God in order to provoke the Jews to Jealousy.
It is all about faith in Jesus Christ.

JUDGMENT FOR ALL ROMANS 2:12-24

2011-01-12T09:15:00.000-05:00

JUDGMENT FOR ALL ROMANS 2:12-24
Introduction:
We are working our way to Romans 3:21-24
We still have more territory to cover to get there.
Paul is driving home the point to the Romans and to all, that apart from this righteousness of God we are terribly lost.
Have you ever been scolded or put in your place?   That is not fun. In your mind all dad needed to say was I thought I told you not to do this or that. But dad thinks you need a 25 minute lecture. We are probably crying uncle. I get it Paul. Enough already. But Paul is saying I am not done yet.
Since Paul is not done yet and I have chosen to go chapter by chapter each week. I guess we can’t be done yet either.
So let’s pick up where we left off and more on and learn from the apostle here.
In the pledge to the American flag we say at the end of the pledge and justice for all.
Because we are in Romans 2 I am saying liberty is yet to come but right now it is judgment for all.

I.    Those under the law will be judged.

A.    “All who sin under the law will be judged by the law.”
Those under the law have no advantage over those not under the law.
It is important for us to understand that.
Sinning under the law is not doing what the law commands to do.
Those failing to do the law are guilty of breaking the law therefore judged by it.
Hearing the law is not the ticket to salvation or the lack of judgment.
We were told the other day that the US House Of Representatives were reading aloud the constitution of the USA.
There was excitement in the air.
But reading the constitution is not going to change anything.
One thing about the Mosaic law is that a law breaker is just that a law breaker.
The judgment is all the same.
The wages of sin is death.
You break the law you die.
Whether I was going 1 mile an hour over the speed limit or 31 I was breaking the law.
There is no graduated system of penalty.

B.    The faults that we can find with those under the law.

The first fatal flaw is pride. In Romans 2:17-18, we see that the Jewish people had been given four advantages that ultimately led to arrogance: “Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God; if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law.”

Fatal Flaw #2: Presumption (19-20). When pride captures our heart, we then feel compelled to act like presumptive prophets by focusing on others, making people know how much we know.

Fatal Flaw #3: Pretenders (21-22). They loved to point out the problems that others had, but they were in the group Jesus warned others about in Matthew 23:3, “Do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.” They were quick to find fault with others while quickly forgiving their own. Take a look at verses 21-22: “You, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?”

Fatal Flaw #4: Profaning (23-24). Once pride takes root, we become filled with presumption and start blasting others, when in fact we’re just pretenders who end up profaning the holy name of God. This can have disastrous consequences in two areas. First, verse 23 states: “You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?” C.    To those much is given much is required.

II.    Those not under the law will be judged.

A.    Verses 14-16 tell us why.

B.    Our own law.
We don’t have a written law.
But Paul says by nature we know some right and wrong.
So in a sense we become a law unto our self.
But we all have a law.
Every home has a list of laws. They may not be written on the wall inside the door.   But you can tell by the look, by the comment, by what you may hear later that you broke the law.   You know what I am talking about. I know what door to go to. I know if I take my shoes off the moment I enter the door. I know if I even knock on the door.
Every church has their laws. They may not all be written but. You don’t sit where Aunt Susie has her cushion. I sat in a man’s seat the Sunday we candidated in Lock Haven.
The point is there is a lot of laws that are not written.
Break them and you are judged.

III.    Those hiding from the law will be judged. Verse 16

A.    There is a judgment day.

B.    We will be able to hide nothing on that day.
God will judge man’s secrets.
Notice that judging will be through Jesus Christ.

C.    God’s judgment is compressive.
It has every side of the story.

IV.    What in our heart makes it so hard for us to understand?
What do we need to be careful of?

The 4 things that I mentioned earlier.

A.    Pride

B.    Presumption

C.    Pretending

D.    Profaning

Conclusion:
I want to hear well done.

JUDGMENT & PARTIALITY, ROMANS 2:1-11

2011-01-12T09:13:00.000-05:00

ROMANS 2A
JUDGMENT & PARTIALITY, ROMANS 2:1-11
Introduction:
The Last Impression
Sitting on the side of the highway waiting to catch speeding drivers, a State Police Officer sees a car puttering along at 22 MPH. He thinks to himself, "This driver is just as dangerous as a speeder!" So he turns on his lights and pulls the driver over.
Approaching the car, he notices that there are five elderly ladies-two in the front seat and three in the back-wide eyed and white as ghosts. The driver, obviously confused, says to him, "Officer, I don't understand, I was doing exactly the speed limit! What seems to be the problem?"
"Ma'am," the officer replies, "you weren't speeding, but you should know that driving slower than the speed limit can also be a danger to other drivers." "Slower than the speed limit? No sir, I was doing the speed limit exactly...Twenty- two miles an hour!" the woman says a bit proudly.
The State Police officer, trying to contain a chuckle explains to her that "22" was the route number, not the speed limit. A bit embarrassed, the woman grinned and thanked the officer for pointing out her error.
"But before I let you go, Ma'am, I have to ask... is everyone in this car OK? These women seem awfully shaken and they haven't muttered a single peep this whole time," the officer asks with concern.   "Oh, they'll be all right in a minute officer. We just got off Route 119."

For those of you who weren’t here last week we are looking at the book of Romans for the next several months.
As I shared last week a chapter a week. Looking at a part of it AM, PM, and BS.
So you can breath because we won’t be taking the Rt 119 speed but the Rt 22 speed.

I love the book of Romans.   Let me tell you a few reasons why.
Romans 1:16,17
Romans 6:23
Romans 5:8
Romans 8:1,2
Romans 8:37-39 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:14-17 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Romans 10:9-11 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.
Romans 12:1,2 1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
I am sure I could relate a few more reasons.
However I share just one more. Romans 2:11 For God does not show favoritism. “For God is no respecter of persons.”
I wish the first 10 verses of Romans 2 were as pleasant or could be added to my reasons I like Romans.
But they are a bit harder.
I probably should have put over the door today steel toed shoes recommended.
I am going to combine two thoughts from these verses this morning.
Judgment
Favoritism
The message that Paul shares is for all.
We are pretty fond of judgment as long as it is not against us or those close to us.
We don’t like it when others show partiality toward us.
And of course we never unjustly show partiality.
Now that I have got that out of the way let’s get started.
Let’s see what Paul has to say about all of this.

I.    Judgment

A.    Man’s way
We love to pass judgment and we make a lot of excuses why we are right in doing so.
We are hypocritical in our judgment.
We are also quite condemning and unjust.
We generally look at the facts that we want to look at.
I am sure that a whole lot of us have condemned many people.
Were we any better for it?
It probably really didn’t make us feel any better.

B.    God’s reaction to our way.
Paul starts verse 1 with “you have no excuse“.
If the Jews were like many they would be sitting there reading chapter 1 and saying go God give it to them because they deserve it.
Or wow I am glad that I am not like they are.
That reminds me of the Scripture that speaks about the man praying. I am glad that I am not like that man over there.
Luke 18:10-12 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
Paul says you are judging yourself, even condemning yourself while you judge others.
Why do you say that God? God says, because you are doing the same things.   The exact same things or things that are just as sinful?
Remember the Scripture that says about trying to get the speck out of our friends eye while we forget the log in our own eye.
O, but we think we can escape judgment.
Many times we are guilty of doing what we judge others for doing.
You might not want to agree with me.
There are times we may be guilty of worse.

C.    God’s way
Paul says that God’s judgment is based on truth as if to say ours is not.
God is often gentle, kind, patient.
I want Him to be that way to me.
I don’t really care that He is that way to you.
I really don’t want God to be kind to the guy I want to judge.
Does any of that sound familiar?
The last part of verse 4 says “is intended to lead you to repentance.”
That reminds me of the quote, “but for the grace of God there go I“.
Maybe instead of being judgmental we need to say God I am realizing the bad, the wrong in me. I am sorry. Fix me.
God is saying you might think that you are so much better today but you are just storing up judgment for later.
His righteous judgment will be revealed.

II.    Partiality vs. Impartiality

A.    Man’s partiality
How many times in life have you been completely impartial.
It is next to impossible for man to be impartial.
We see things the way we want to see them believing that we are seeing the truth.
What does God say through Paul about us?
He says that our stubborn and unrepentant heart is storing up wrath against ourselves for the day of God’s wrath.
Have you ever thought maybe you got by with one?
It sounds like we haven’t got by with anything.
His righteous judgment will be revealed that day.

B.    God’s impartiality
God will repay each person according to what they have done. 6b
He won’t repay based on our name, our family, our status in life.
He will repay based on what we have done.
He shows impartiality to those doing good.
Paul expands on that in verse 7.
The end result of our appropriate actions is eternal life.
He equally shows impartiality to the self seeking who reject the truth and follow evil.
He says that there will be wrath and anger upon them.
He says in verse 9 that there will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil.

C.    God’s abundant blessing.
Verse 10,   but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
Verse 11, For God does not show favoritism.

Conclusion:
Have you been passing judgment?
Have you been showing partiality?
The rewards of both are not good.
Let’s determine to have the heart, the attitude, and live the life that will result in as verse 10 says glory, honor, and peace.

AN UGLY REVELATION, ROMANS 1:18-32

2011-01-12T09:11:00.000-05:00

AN UGLY REVELATION, ROMANS 1:18-32

Introduction:
A recap to our start in Romans and to Romans 1.
Notice verse 17. “For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed. “
Notice the direct opposite in verse 18 where we begin tonight in our Bible Study.   “The wrath of God is being revealed.”
There are four things that I want us to study in this passage tonight.
We are without excuse.
We are without excuse because the light has been revealed.
The problem is that the light has been rejected.
So ultimately as a result of the light being rejected the wrath of God is revealed.

I.    Without excuse, Verse 21 “So that men are without excuse.

A.    All mankind is without excuse.
We are men and women of excuses.
We love to, we always make excuses.
It wasn’t my fault.
Adam and Eve had their excuses.
We often hesitate to excuse others. But we like to excuse ourselves.
God is the searcher of the hearts.
He makes no mistakes.
Those who have seen the light have no excuse.
Matthew 22:8-14
Go into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in.
One came without his wedding garments on.
Was he excused?
No the king said, tie him up hand and feet and throw him out.
No, he had no excuse.

B.    One thing that stands out to me here.
We often times ask about those who have never heard about Jesus.
Will they be saved?
Will we see them in heaven?
They may not have heard a message about Jesus.
But verse 20 tells us that they have seen and heard enough about the power and the nature of God to not have an excuse.

C.    No one will ever be able to stand before God and say I didn’t know.
What does verse 20 mean?
That doesn’t mean that they will be saved and in heaven.
That does mean that they can not say God I didn’t know.
We know that if not all most of the time man does not think right and ends us worshiping the created and not the creator.
That puts him inline for wrath and not for life.

II.    The light revealed

A.    For since the creation of the world.
God’s invisible qualities have been seen.
Those invisible qualities are
His eternal power
His divine nature
They have been clearly seen.
They have been clearly understood.

B.    It is possible to have a clear knowledge of God from His handy work.
Behind the sun, the moon, the starts, and the sea is a mighty power.
The order of the season did not just happen.

C.    We have seen that light and more.
We have God’s word in our hands and our heart.
We certainly have no excuse.

III.    The light rejected

A.    For although they knew God, they neither glorified him and God….
Their thinking became futile.   Their foolish hearts were darkened.   Verses 20-21.
Verse 28 says that they did not think it was wise to retain the knowledge of God.
Nations reject the light.
The Jewish nation rejected the revelation that God gave to them.
Many other nations did the same.
Are we doing the same thing?
Men reject the light.
King Saul rejected the light that was given to him and God rejected him from being king.
Belshazzar had much light revealed to him by Daniel and the three Hebrew children.    Daniel 5:20-31 He rejected the light and was found wanting.

B.    They exchanged the glory of God for images made to look like mortal man and birds, and animals.
Paul talks about God giving them over to their own sinful desires in verse 24.
Verse 28 says he gave them over to a depraved mind.
In verse 25 he says that they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served created things rather than the creator.
Because of this God said just go ahead and do what you want to do.
Men and women are doing just that.
They are now filled with every kind of wickedness.

C.    They do those things and approve of them being done.
Verse 32

IV.    The wrath of God revealed, verse18

A.    Paul tells us in Galatians that what ever a man sows that will he also reap.
Suffering comes when we disregard what we know to be right.
Fire will burn
Water will drown
Bad air will poison
We could go on.
So if we defile the moral laws what else can we expect.

B.    Commentary
This does not mean that the wrath of God can be confined only to the past (cf. S. Porter 1994: 39), but it does suggest that the moral desolation of human society from the beginning of the world (v. 20) and continuing up to the present day is a manifestation of God’s wrath. The coming of the gospel reveals that the moral deterioration of human society is a result of God’s judgment. For those who do not repent this wrath will culminate ―in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God‖ (2:5). God’s judgments in history, then, anticipate the culmination of his wrath on the day of judgment.
    Thomas R. Schreiner, vol. 6, Romans, Baker exegetical commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, 1998),

C.    Footnote from Full life study Bible

Conclusion:    What will you take away from tonight’s study?

Romans 1 B Longing

2011-01-05T13:26:00.000-05:00

2nd message in series on Romans.

ROMANS 1B
PAUL’S EARNEST DESIRES AND LONGING FOR ROME ROMANS 1:8-15
Introduction:
Briefly recap the intro and the salutation of Paul in the letter to the Romans.
I want to look at the verses between the salutation and our text this morning.
They relay more of Paul’s feelings toward them and his longing to be with them.
We are going to look at the rest of the chapter on Weds at God’s wrath against the wickedness of mankind.

I.   Paul’s expression of thanks

A.   Paul is thanking God for them.
That is pretty much Paul’s norm for him to move from his salutation to giving thanks to God.
Paul emphasizes that this is the first thing he is doing.
He is thanking God for all of them.
Note that he is thanking my God through Jesus Christ.
This speaks of how personal Paul’s relationship with God is.
It sounds like they are having the same type of personal relationship with Him.

B.   He is thanking God for the report that he is hearing about them.
The report that he is hearing is a very good, a very exciting report.
He is hearing about their faith.
Their faith is not just being heard of by a few here and there.
Their faith is being heard about my many all over the world.
That is powerful that their faith is resounding all over the world.

II.   Paul’s prayers

A.   He remembers them constantly in his prayers.
God is my witness as to how constantly I remember you in my prayers.
I remember you in my prayers at all times.
Why is Paul using an oath relating to how much he is praying for them?
I want you to know how much I am praying for you.
I want you to know how interested I am in you.

B.   He prays that it would be soon God’s will for him to visit Rome.
An emphasis of his prayer is that he may soon be able to go to Rome and visit them.
I want it to be God’s will to open the path for me to get there soon.
However Paul wants nothing else but the will of God.
He can not dictate nor control the will of God.
But he can pray.

III.   Paul’s longing

A.   He longed to see them in person.
There are many avenues of communication.
The avenues are growing every day.
The best the ideal form of communication is face to face.
Paul wanted to see the believers in Rome face to face.
He had a key purpose to want to see them face to face.
He wanted to impart a spiritual gift on them to make them strong.
Paul does not want to congratulate them or pat them on the back.
He wants to help them advance.
Why do we do what we do here?
Because we want God to pat us on the back.
We do what we do here because we want to see the kingdom advanced, souls saved, and believers strengthened to be all that God wants them to be.
He proposed that they advance by a gift from the Spirit.
The Spirit of God can do wonders in our heart and lives.
Oh how we need to be open to the Spirit.
He wanted them, he and those in Rome to be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.
He didn’t want this growing in strength to be just for those in Rome.
He wanted to become stronger in the faith, the Spirit, and the walk with God as they.
Iron sharpens iron.
We can help each other grow and stay strong along the way.

B.   He planned many times to get to Rome.
Things have come up in Paul’s way every time he has planned to go to Rome.
But I want o get there and gather in the harvest.
Paul has had a successful harvest in many other places.

IV.   Paul’s obligation

A.   He expresses his sense of obligation to preach the gospel.
To the Greeks and non Greeks.
To the wise and the foolish.

B.   This obligation makes me so eager to be there in Rome with you.

C.   “ I am not ashamed of the gospel….

Conclusion:
We need to pray for the will of God in our lives.
We need to long to be where God wants us to be.
We too need to understand that we are obligated to be a messenger of the gospel.
I want us to follow Paul’s example of prayer and close our service with a prayer time tonight.

Romans 1 A Gospel

2011-01-05T13:20:00.000-05:00

The first of a series on Romans.
ROMANS 1A
I AM NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL…. ROMANS 1:16-17
Introduction:
Things to Ponder as
The New Year Begins
I had amnesia once – maybe twice.
I went to San Francisco. I found someone's heart.
All I ask is a chance to prove money can't make me happiness.
I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous.
They told me I was gullible, and I believed them.
What if there were no hypothetical questions?
One nice thing about egotists is that they don't talk about other people.
A flashlight is a case for holding dead batteries.
I used to be indecisive. Now, I'm not sure.
Is there another word for synonym?
If swimming if so good for your figure, how do you explain whales?
Show me a man with both feet firmly on the ground, and I'll show you a man who can't get his pants off.
Is it my imagination, or do buffalo wings taste like chicken?   Copied

I am taking you on a new journey with me.
I believe that it will give you many more points to ponder in the new year.
I believe that it will have a few more serious points than what I just read.
I believe that it is a journey that God will have for us to take.
It is a journey that I have not taken before.
It is a journey that we will take together.
It is a journey that will take several months or more.
I am going to journey through the 16 chapters of the book of Romans.
My goal is a chapter a week, looking a part of that chapter in the AM, PM, & Weds. Bible Study.
This is not a journey that I have on file so I hope it goes as I feel in my heart that it will go.
I want to share two things with you this morning.
An introduction to the book.
The overall theme of the book of Romans.

I.    Intro to Romans
A.    Author: The apostle Paul
This book was Paul’s longest, most theological and most influential letter.
This is perhaps why it was placed first among his 13 NT books that he wrote.

B.    Background
This letter was wrote as a part of Paul’s mission to the Gentile world.
Paul did not start the church in Rome.
He had not been in Rome before.
It is not believed that the church there was started by Peter or any other apostle.
The church could have been started by
Some Jews who were among the 3000 that were saved on the day of Pentecost in response to Peter’s message.
Or some of Paul’s converts from Macedonia or Asia could have started the church there.
It is believed that Paul wrote Romans near the end of his third missionary journey.
We will learn more about this much later in chapter 15.

C.    Purpose
Paul wrote this letter to prepare the way for his ministry there.
It seems that they were misinformed about Paul’s message and theology.
He felt it necessary to tell them about his preaching of the gospel.
He sot to correct some wrong attitudes that they had.

I see a directive for all of us in this new year from this first chapter.
Pray
Proclaim
Live Righteously

II.    Salutation, Verses 1-7
This is a rather lengthy salutation.

A.    Paul introduced himself as a servant.
A servant of Jesus Christ called to be an apostle.
Many of his other letters he began with Paul an apostle.
He humbly called himself a servant.
He was committed to Jesus Christ as his Lord.
He wasn’t writing out of his own doing but out of obedience as a servant.
This servant was called to be an apostle.
His call and his being an apostle go together.
He was set apart for the gospel of God.
The gospel is the message proclaimed.
This gospel is very much connected to the promises of the prophets that were given in the OT.

B.    This gospel is regarding or concerning the son of God.
He was a descendant of David.
Conceived of the Holy Spirit to be the Son of God.
Jesus was not appointed to be.
He was conceived to be the eternal Son of God.
Then a reference to His resurrection is made.

C.    The Son of God has called me.
We received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.    Verse 5
You in Rome have been called to belong to Jesus Christ.
Verse 6 & 7
John 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.
Grace and peace to you….
I want to go to verses 16,17 for the heart of our message today. These two verses appear to be the theme of the book of Romans.
As we look at this theme we will see why Paul was so determined to preach the gospel in Rome.

III.    Theme: I am not ashamed of the Gospel.
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, suggests eight reasons why we should not be ashamed of the gospel.

A.    It is good news
The word gospel means good news.
No rational person should be ashamed to share good news.
I understand why one would be hesitant to share bad news.
We should be ready, willing and able to tell good news to all.
Paul was eager to go to Rome and tell them the good news.
Verses 10,11,14,15 relay his eager desire to be in Rome and share the good news to them.

B.    It is about salvation
This good news is about salvation.
… for the salvation of everyone who believes.
Do we understand our need for salvation?
Paul helps us understand our need of salvation a bit later in Romans.
Romans 3:23
Romans 6:23
Paul was eager to proclaim the good news about the gift of God that is eternal life.

C.    It is about God’s way of salvation
Man can not save himself.
All have sinned means that all mankind is condemned.
There is none righteous no not one.
Adam and Eve tried to cover themselves. They made fig leaves into garments. But God made them garments of skin.
God’s way is through Jesus Christ our Lord.   Romans 6:23
Romans 8:1-3 1. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2. because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering
John 3:16
John 14:6

D.    It is powerful
“Because it is the power of God….
It is powerful enough to do what God wants it to do.
When you and I relay the gospel we are relaying the power of God to save.
I believe that the most powerful tool ever used by mankind is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

E.    It is for everyone
The salvation of everyone who believes.
Acts 16:31
The Philippian jailer ask Paul what must I do to be saved.
Paul replies believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved and your house.
It is for the Jew first.
Is the Jew better than you and I.
Salvation came through the nation of Israel, through the tribe of Judah.
The human ancestry of Christ came through the Jews.
They were given the first opportunity to receive this salvation.
He came unto His own but His own received Him not but to them that received Him He gave the power to be the sons of God.
Then for the Gentile.
That is you and I.
We are the whosoever that believes in Him.
Acts 2:21 This is Peter on the day of Pentecost. “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” .
“The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life” (Revelation 22:17).

F.    It is revealed to sinners
Revealed means that it is not something that we could have figured out ourselves.
Man has invented religion.
He has invented many religions.
He has invented many religious ways.
The gospel is a light that has been revealed.
The light has come to shine in darkness.
We didn’t create the light it was revealed by God to us.

G.    It is about a righteousness from God
We are not at all righteous.
All have sinned, There is none righteous.
God has imparted His righteousness to us through His Son Jesus Christ.
Romans 3:21-22, “But now a 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.”

H.    It is by faith from first to last
What does Paul mean when he says “by faith from first to last”? A more literal translation of the phrase suggests it means, “from the faith of one who has believed in Christ and received the righteousness of God to another who comes to believe as a result of the first Christian’s testimony.”
I received my salvation by my faith.
I pray that my faith encourages you to have faith and receive that same salvation.
Then I pray that your faith will prompt you to share you faith with others and that they will receive the faith.

Conclusion:
Philip Henry, brother of the well-known Puritan Matthew Henry, calling one day upon a tanner, found him so absorbed in tanning a hide, that he did not notice his pastor’s approach until he tapped him on the shoulder. In confusion the man said, “Sir, I am ashamed you found me thus.”

“Nay,” replied Philip Henry. “May the Lord Jesus, when He comes, find me discharging with the same faithfulness, the duties of my calling.”

Brothers and sisters, like Philip Henry, and like the Apostle Paul, let us not be ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for everyone who believes. Amen.

I believe that the Lord wants each and everyone of us to begin this new year
Knowing and understanding the gospel as our source of salvation.
And not being ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe.
Paul was eager to get to Rome and share this good news with them.
I want you and I to have that same sense of urgency and eagerness to tell the good news to others.

BOLD PRINT, BOASTING, AND THE CROSS, GALATIANS 6:11-18

2010-02-15T13:49:00.000-05:00

That was the title of the message I shared a week ago and it is the title of our blog post today. What does this passage in Galatians have to say about these?
Paul states in verse 11 that he is writing this letter with his own hands and in bold print. Bold print: “See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!” Why was Paul using bold print? It may have been because of a sight problem that he had. He was blinded by the light on the road to Damascus at his conversion in Acts 9. There were scales that fell from his eyes when Ananias prayed for him. He speaks about a thorn in the flesh in II Corinthians 12:7 that God would not take away from him.
Boast: Paul uses the word boast twice in this passage. He said that he never wanted to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. He said that the Judizers wanted to boast but their desire was to boast in the flesh of the Gentiles. Paul says in Philippians 3:2-11 that he certainly has reason to boast but he choose to push all that he could boast about aside to win Christ. This reminds us of the heart of the book of Galatians. Paul did not want the Galatians to go back to Judaism. He wanted them to stay true to Jesus.
Cross: That takes us to our last thought today, the cross. My boasting will not be in myself nor in man but my boasting will only be in the cross. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:1-3, 1. When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.
I don’t know if Paul was writing in bold print because of an eye problem or if it was for an emphasis because he wanted the Galatians to hear his heart. However I do not want to miss Paul’s heart, his message about the value and the importance of the cross. He was nailed to the cross for me. So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross. Lord, Lead me to Calvary. I pray that you have a deep love, respect, and appreciation for the cross.

Sowing & Reaping 2, Galatians 6:9

2010-02-01T10:36:00.002-05:00

The law of sowing and reaping is a very powerful law. Last time we talked about the seeds sown and the corresponding harvest. Let’s talk about Paul’s words in verse 9 of Galatians 6; “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. “
There are three individuals in the Bible that you and I are very familiar with who experienced the weary in well doing. They provide great examples for us. Think about them with me for a few moments.

Moses: He was called by God to do a very good work, the leading of Israel out of bondage in Egypt and into the promise land. It was a tremendously challenging task. Moses became weary in his well doing. At one point his father in law visited him and encouraged him to teach some of the people to carry some of the load. That worked well for Moses. However there reached a point where the weariness was too great for Moses. The people needed water and God instructed Moses to speak to the rock that was near by and there would be sufficient water for them all to drink. Moses was so weary and frustrated that he did not speak to the rock but he struck it with his rod. Numbers 20:6-12 Moses let his weariness get the best of him and he lost the privilege and honor of leading Israel into the promise land. Read about it in Deuteronomy 32:48-52. He could see the promise land from a distance but he could not enter it because he let his weariness take control of him.

Elijah: He was a great prophet of God. God did great things through him. We can read about some of them in I Kings 17 & 18. We read about the weariness setting in I Kings 18:22 “Then Elijah said to them, "I am the only one of the Lord's prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets.” I Kings 19:10, “He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too." Elijah did not let his weariness overtake him. Instead he threw himself into the hands of God. He gave up yes but he gave up into the hands of God. In I kings 19:1-5 we read about him falling down under a tree and just crying out to God to take his life. He didn’t do something stupid like Moses. We find God’s answer in I Kings 19:5-9 He was fed by an angel and given some much needed rest. Elijah went in the strength of that nourishment and rest for 40 days and 40 nights. He continued his great work under the power of the Lord and saw great things taking place. Let’s be like Elijah and when we become weary throw yourself into the hands of God.
Jesus: Our third example is Jesus. He was doing good to all, healing the sick, casting out demons, teaching the multitudes. He became weary. But amazingly his weariness really didn’t set in until it came time for Him to go to the cross. He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me, yet no as I will, but as you will. Read about this in Matthew 26:36-42. He overcame his weariness and went all the way to the cross. We are apart of the great harvest that has come from His life, death, and resurrection.
There are many reasons that we become weary. Not seeing any observable results in one. The lethargy of others can cause the faithful to become weary and discouraged as well. The criticism of others also can bring about weariness. Lastly let talk about how to fight this weariness. We must focus on our eternal reward which we will reap if we keep on sowing good work. We need to maintain focus on the Lord and doing His will. We must focus on the example of Jesus who endured in the face of great hardship “for the joy that was set before him.” Don’t give up victory may be just around the corner! How many times do we give up just as God is about to reveal His blessings to us. We quit and leave the harvest for the Lord, because we get tired, both physically, and often spiritually.
Let the words of the prophet Isaiah encourage us today. Isaiah 40:30-31 “0 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Galatians 6:7-10 Sowing & Reaping 1

2010-01-29T13:59:00.002-05:00

I read an interesting story that goes like this.
The phone rang. It was a salesman from a mortgage refinance company. He asked, “Do you have a second mortgage on your home?” “No,” she replied. Continuing his pitch, he asked, “Would you like to consolidate all your debts?” “I really don’t have any,” she said. Undaunted, he asked once more, “How about freeing up cash for home improvements?” She quickly said, “I don’t need any. I just recently had some done and paid cash.” There was a brief silence, and then he asked, “Are you looking for a husband?”
That story reminds me of the text in Galatians 6 that we are talking about today. Paul tells us about the law of sowing and reaping in verses 7-10. That mortgage refinance company salesman was sowing seeds. He was hoping to reap a sale. He changed directions thinking if he couldn’t reap a sale perhaps he could reap a wife. The lady on the other end of the line must have been very effective in sowing her financial seeds to have such an effective harvest. Paul says, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” Paul talks about the two different kinds of seeds in the field of life and the corresponding harvest.
Sowing to please the sinful nature will reap a harvest of destruction. Paul lists acts of sinful nature in chapter 5:19-21. 19, “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” It is hard yet very important that we do not sow to satisfy the sinful nature.
The challenge is to sow to please the Spirit. Sow to please the Spirit. It is renouncing of self and living to God. It is the laying up of treasures in heaven. It is spoken of as sowing in righteousness. Paul encourages us in II Corinthians 9:10 “Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness.” We shoud be Living a life led by and pleasing to the Spirit. I believe that a life lived in the Spirit is a life lived by the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22,23 “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23. gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” The promise is that from the Spirit we will reap eternal life.
Do you know what eternal life is? Eternal life is in paradise with Jesus. Eternal life is in the new heaven and the new earth. Eternal life is far more than I can describe.
We may not always like nor wish that the law of sowing and reaping is in effect but it is. So the challenge is to live to please the Spirit and not the desires of sinful nature. Because the results of satisfying the desires of the sinful nature are far worse than the amazing results of pleasing the Spirit.

Galatians 6:1-10 Do good to all

2010-01-18T20:04:00.002-05:00

We are going to talk about some more great inspiration from the words of the apostle Paul in Galatians 6. He challenges us in verse 10 to do good to all people. That is a great goal to reach for as we set the tone for a new year. Let’s take a closer look at who the all people are that Paul is talking about.
Paul talks about the one caught in sin as one of the who we should do good to. I have heard the allegation a few times in my life and ministry that the church shoots it wounded. That is a sad allegation. I do not deny that may happen. Paul is encouraging the opposite, to restore, to mend, to fix back up gently. There are a few things that we should not do in the process. We should not diminish the seriousness of the sin. We need to be like Jesus, easy on condemnation but firm with the understanding that sinning must not continue. Remember what Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery. “Neither do I condemn you," but He quickly added "Go and sin no more" (John 8:11). more" (John 8:11). We must avoid the temptation to witch-hunt. We should not be quick to cast judgment. There are a few things that we should do. Face the facts: don’t face the rumors or the gossip. We need to watch our attitudes and motives. We need to seek to "restore" him. The word for restore is the same used for "mending nets" or for a surgeon "setting a dislocated bone." Restoration means becoming my brother’s "repairman." We are to get involved in helping the Christian to his feet again, putting him back where he belongs.
Paul encourages us to do good to the one that we identify the most with, ourselves. We can not ignore ourselves. We need to watch ourselves that we do not fall into temptation. We dare not get caught up with mending our brother and sister that we forget to keep our heart healthy. We need to watch ourselves for Pride. Verse 3 “If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” A part of looking out for ourselves Paul says is not comparing ourselves to others. Comparing opens the door for unnecessary challenges.
The third person Paul encourages us to do to is the person with a burden. We often times use this verse to encourage helping everyone with a burden. There is not a problem with that application. The context connects the burdens to the sin. We certainly understand that sin causes burdens. It brings burdens upon ourselves and our families. And as a brother I should do my part to ease the burden that sin has brought to you and your family. Is ones sin causing pain for his family as a brother in Christ I should help his family through the pain. In doing so we will be fulfilling the law of Christ. Remember 5:14 the single command of the law is to love you neighbor as yourself.
The last person that Paul encourages us to do good to is the one who is a blessing to us. In verse 6 we read “returning good to the one who was good to you. The idea of the apple for the teacher came from the apostle Paul. A thank you goes a long way. You have been good to me. I want to do something good in return to you. I encourage you to continue to follow the advise of Paul as we continue to set the tone for this new year. Do good to all.

LIVE BY THE SPIRIT, GALATIANS 5:16-26

2010-01-12T11:14:00.002-05:00

We have been looking at the writing of Paul to the church in Galatia. He has been providing us with some great inspiration for the new year here in chapter 5. He offers some very powerful advise in verse 16, “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. “ Paul reminds us of what we will not do and what we will do when we live by the Spirit.

He says that we will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. The amplified version for the second part of verse 16 says, “then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God).” Paul tells us back in verse 13 But do not use your freedom, (the freedom that we have in Christ) to indulge the sinful nature. Paul list many of the desires of the sinful nature in verses 19-21. A key reason that Paul tells us not to gratify the desires of the sinful flesh is found in verse 17, “For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.” It is very logical then if I plan to live by the Spirit that I do what the Spirit would want me to do.

So what does living by the Spirit look like? Paul gives us a 9 part package of what living by the Spirit looks like. They are known as the fruit of the Spirit. Notice that Paul does not say fruits of the Spirit. Fruit is singular not plural meaning that the fruit is not a list that we can choose from but that all nine traits, characteristics make up the fruit.
These fruit are qualities of disposition and temperament that occur in the child of God who has allowed the Spirit to have His way in our hearts and lives. Paul lists these fruit in verses 22 & 23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23. gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

My challenge to you is make Galatians 5:16 one of your new years resolutions. I will remind us what it says. “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” As we live by the Spirit we will be allowing the fruit of the Spirit to be developing as a key part of our character. In addition to recapping our Sunday am message I am going to be recapping our evening message for the next several weeks. This recap will be a brief breakdown of each of the fruit of the Spirit. Blessings to all on your journey to live by the Spirit.

Walking In Christ’s Freedom, Galatians 5:1-15

2010-01-05T14:31:00.002-05:00

The words of Galatians 5:1 are very powerful. “It is for freedom that Christ has set you free.”   Paul is continuing to challenge the Galatian believers to walk in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and not under the law that the Judiziars are pressuring them to walk in. Christ has come to set you free so that you can be, will be free. Jesus Himself says in John 8:36 “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. Paul relates three very important factors, three challenges to the Galatians about this freedom in these 15 verses.

Paul calls on them to remain free. Stand firm don’t let anyone take that Freedom from you. Do not let yourself be burdened again by the yoke of slavery. Paul makes this strong statement. Mark my words, “If you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.” The only thing that counts according to Paul is faith in Jesus Christ.

The second part of Paul’s challenge is for the Galatians to be free enough to let their faith express itself in love. Paul is telling them to use their freedom to serve one another in love.   He is applying the JOY principle here. Jesus first, others second, then yourself. Paul said the entire law is summoned up in this one command, to love your neighbor as yourself. They weren’t getting it. They were still biting and devouring each other. Paul says that you are going to end up destroying each other. There were those who were not free enough to love each other.   There were those who were not free enough to serve each other. There were those who were just free enough to be critical of others.   They were free enough to be judgmental of those not quite like them.   I don’t want that limited amount of freedom. I want to be free enough in Christ to love and serve each other.

The third part of Paul’s challenge is not to be too free that we indulge the sinful nature. Paul says in the first part of verse 13 “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature,”   Paul lists some acts of sinful nature in verses 19-21 19. “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20. idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21. and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”   We are free in Christ Jesus to walk in righteousness.

Let’s include in our new year’s resolutions, new years goals, to walk in the freedom that is ours in Christ Jesus. Determining that we will remain free, Be free enough to love and serve each other, loving our neighbor as our self, but not being too free to indulge the sinful nature.

BREAKING FREE TO LIVE THE PROMISE, GALATIANS 4:21-31

2009-12-30T13:04:00.002-05:00

The old year, 2009 is quickly winding down and the new year is very quickly coming upon us. I am sure that all of us have things that we would like to break free of in the new year. I don’t just want to break free of things I want to live the promise. Today’s portion of Paul’s letter to the Galatians gives us some inspiration and encouragement to do just that.
Paul is visiting the law verses the gospel topic yet one more time. He uses the births of Abraham’s children Isaac and Ishmael to reinforce that the gospel is the source of life. Abraham’s one son was born to Hagar Sarah’s bond servant, slave woman. He was born in the ordinary way. This made her son, Ishmael, a slave. Abraham’s second son, Isaac, was born to Sarah, the free woman. He was born by the power of the Spirit in Sarah’s old age. He was the son of promise. He was a free man. Paul told them that the Scripture says to get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share the inheritance with the free woman’s son. Paul said to the Galatians in verse 31 “Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.”
The challenge before us is to break free and live the promise. We are ready to break free from the old year. I ask Is there pain, sorrow, grief, challenges that have a hold on you? Are there places that 2009 has you in bondage? We could use the analogy that 09 is an old covenant. Break free of the bondage that it may have brought you. Let’s break free from the slave woman, the grip that 2009 has on us and live the promise. As believers in Jesus Christ, children of God, children of promise.
My challenge to you today as we come to the end of 2009 and enter into 2010 is to break free from any bondage that 09 brought to you and live the life of promise that comes from God to you in 2010.

The Time has fully come. Galatians 4:1-20

2009-12-15T10:54:00.002-05:00

I have been conducting a series on Galatians with one of my build to points being Galatians 4:4-5. We will begin the new year in Galatians 5 talking about living by the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit. Chapter 6 will be an encouragement to us to press on in the new year with the law of sowing and reaping.
I have to admit that I usually look at Galatians 4:4-5, “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons” simply in light of the birth of Jesus Christ. But now looking at these verses in context with the message of Paul to the Galatians they have an even deeper meaning.
Paul is continuing to urge his readers to walk by faith in Jesus Christ and not follow the legal system nor the traditions of the Jewish believers who are still attached to the past. Their biggest requirement that Paul is refuting is circumcision. Paul is using another means of explaining how faith in Christ overrides the legal system of the Old Testament.
He paints the picture of a child heir stating that a child heir is no different from a slave. The estate belongs to him yet he has no control over it. The guardians and trustees have control of the estate until the time, the age set in place for the guardians to step aside and the heir has full control of his estate. Paul says we were like that child heir. We were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. But the time set in place has come, “God sent His Son, born of woman, born under the law to redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the full rights of sons.” We are no longer a slave but a son. The Spirit of God is now in our hearts so we can call God Abba Father.
We have a one on one relationship with God through Jesus Christ so that we don’t need the guardianship of the law any longer. Paul is perplexed as to why the Galatians are even considering going back to the old way. He compares the pain that he has right now for the Galatians to the pain of childbirth.
My prayer for all as we enter the Christmas season is that we would take a hold of God’s Son to be the Lord and Savior of our lives.

IT IS ALL ABOUT THE PROMISED SEED, GALATIANS 3:15-29

2009-12-11T12:05:00.002-05:00

Paul continues to emphasize to the Galatians that we are justified by faith, that the righteous live by faith, that is about trusting and not trying.   This is a part of his effort to combat the Jewish believers that came to Galatia teaching that obeying the law is a requirement to salvation.
In today’s verses Paul is saying that it is all about the promised seed of Abraham.   Paul emphasizes that the law came to show us the expectation of the Holy God, to put us into protective custody until the promise came, therefore leading us to Christ. The law could be compared to an x ray machine that reveals the problem but is not the solution. It has also been compared to a light that shows the dirt but it is not the broom that sweeps it up.   Therefore the law does not set aside the promise. The promise has priority over the law. The promise is the solution to the problem.

The promised seed of Abraham is the key to our new life, our righteousness, our eternal inheritance, and so much more. We are getting nearer to the celebration of the birth of that Promised seed. I am so glad for that seed, Jesus Christ. I am so thrilled to be an offspring of that seed who has done so much for me.   Thank you Lord for your Son.

The righteous will live by faith Galatians 3:1-14

2009-11-29T22:50:00.002-05:00

The statement the righteous will live by faith is a very beautiful and important statement. It addresses the key to our righteousness, faith. Paul is addressing the conflict between two alternate roads to righteousness, trusting and trying. Trying is to act in a way that seems pure and Godly. Trusting puts our trust in a Savior who paid the price for sin. Paul appeals to their experience of faith in his effort to convince them to stay on the faith track.
He asks, did you receive the Spirit By observing the law, trying, or by believing what you heard, trusting. He knows that they began in the Spirit. They are now trying to reach the goal through human effort. Paul further emphasizes his point by reminding them that their experience is in harmony with the Scriptures. He shows them through Abraham their experience is Scriptural. In Galatians 3:6 Paul says Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Then in verse 7 Paul says “Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham.” Paul is talking about a spiritual kinship to Abraham. Those who believe are kin, children of Abraham. He is not talking a physical action, trying, that makes one a kin to Abraham. Listen to a very powerful verse 9. “So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.”
I came across a very applicable very applicable illustration. “Consider the difference between a sailboat and a rowboat. In a spiritual rowboat the sailor is dependent upon human effort, In a spiritual sailboat the sails are raised in faith and the undying power of the wind of the spirit moves the boat--it is still entirely necessary that the boat move, but the power source of the sailboat is unquenchable.”
Let’s be men and women of faith who trust.

Galatians 2:11-21 Speaking The Truth In Love

2009-11-24T23:49:00.000-05:00

Have you ever dwelt with a relationship issue and struggled to deal with it? This week’s message from Galatians records one of the best known conflicts in the early church and in it we see a model for how we should deal with controversy and end up with the good Christian fellowship that we talked about last week.

We begin with the source of the conflict. These verses bring out three factors that brought about this controversy. The first factor is fear. Paul records in verse 12 Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group.” Peter drew back from his close association with the Gentile believers because of fear. It was not fear of God but fear of men. The second factor is Hypocrisy. Peter would associate with the Gentile believers when the law keeping believers were not present. Peter would then pretend that He didn’t associate with the non-law-keeping gentile believers when the law-observant Jews came to visit. Hypocrisy, it’s hurtful to people, it discredits the cause of Christ, it causes struggles in relationships. The last factor in the conflict is legalism. The forcing of the Gentile believers to follow Jewish customs. When we try to force our customs on others we are causing conflict. Legalism is when I tell you that you must practice my custom.

Paul lays out the solution for us in these verses as well. The first part of the solution is confrontation. Paul confronts Peter in verse 11. “When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.” Paul didn’t get on the phone nor did he whisper behind Peter’s back. Instead he went to Peter and said let’s talk about it. Many of us fear confrontation, but without it wounds fester.

Let’s bring the issues to the surface so we can deal with it. Another vital part of the solution is truth. Paul deals with the problem by reminding Peter of the Truth He already knows verses 15,16,21. Before you jump into confrontation, make sure you know the truth. When we confront error with truth we must do it according to the Scriptural admonition to speak the truth in Love. If we do this it will lead to the final step in the solution to conflict, Reconciliation. In II Peter 3:15,16 about the thoughts and feelings of Peter. At the end of his life Peter looks to Paul not as a rival but as a dear brother and he acknowledges Paul’s apostleship and the fact that Paul’s letters are in fact Holy Scripture. Confrontation with the truth, in a spirit of humility and prayer and love does not divide, it unites. If you have a relationship issue use this example that Paul gives us and resolve it. Resolving relationship issues will help each of us have a better Thanksgiving.

The right hand of fellowship 2, Galatians 2:1-10

2009-11-17T16:35:00.000-05:00

Finishing our conversation about the 7 keys to solid Christian fellowship from Galatians 2
Unity, Vs. 6b The leads of the church in Jerusalem added nothing to Paul’s message. There was a unity between Paul & Barnabas and the leaders in Jerusalem. Unity among believers is very important. Unity among Christian leaders is so valuable. We will watch this unity play out in the next several keys to good solid Christian fellowship.

Responsibility, vs. 7,8 Everyone there in Jerusalem knew and accepted their responsibility. They saw that God had called Paul to take the Gospel to the Gentiles. They knew that God was working in and through his life. Just like they saw that God had sent Peter to take the Gospel to the Jews. They knew that God was working in Peter. This observation of Peter and Paul both taking the Gospel to their respective groups shows the unity, the distribution, and the acceptance of responsibility.

Congeniality, vs. 9 Peter, James, and John gave to Barnabas and Paul the right hand of fellowship. Paul is saying that he not estranged from the apostles in Jerusalem but that he has a friendship with them. He not only has a friendship with them he says we have shaken in agreement. They have sanctioned our ministry. Sometimes we can be all of the above and not very congenial. Congeniality is a picture is one of genuine warmth. We don’t just tolerate one another in the church, the basis of our Christian Fellowship is the love of Christ. We let the Lord love others through us, even when it’s hard to generate that love on our own.

Charity, vs. 10 Paul says that the leaders in Jerusalem didn’t add any additional requirements. Paul says there was one request. The request was that we should continue to remember the poor. Paul said that I had already planned to do that. The poor referenced here is the poor in Jerusalem.

Paul said I received the right hand of fellowship in Jerusalem. I learned some great keys to that fellowship. I want you to know, accept, and live by these keys and experience the great fellowship in Christ. Review these keys with me. Humility, Diversity, Loyalty, Unity, Responsibility, Congeniality, and Charity. These keys will play a solid role in making your Christian fellowship great.

The right hand of fellowship, Galatians 2:1-10

2009-11-16T11:13:00.002-05:00

Galatians 2 begins with Paul telling the Galatians about a visit that he made to Jerusalem. This visit was to meet with some of the apostles, leaders of the church there. We read in verse 9, “James, Peter and John, those reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews.” Good solid Christian fellowship is so valuable and extremely beautiful. I have come across 7 keys to good solid Christian fellowship in these verses.

Humility, Vs. 1,2 Paul is telling the Galatians about his second visit to Jerusalem which happened to be 14 years after his first visit. We see his humility expressed in verse 2, “I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain.” When Paul uses the phrase “for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain” he was saying I wanted to be sure that I was getting it right. It takes humility to do an evaluation of yourself.

Diversity, vs. 3 This diversity involves Titus who Paul had taken along with him to Jerusalem. Titus was an uncircumcised Greek. His being with Paul gave to them a personal example of the effects of his ministry to the Gentiles. Titus this uncircumcised Gentile was not compelled to be circumcised. Diversity does not mean compromise. There are black areas. There can be little diversity in the black areas. There are white areas. There can be diversity in how you and I move in the white areas. There are gray areas. The greatest diversity lies in those gray areas. Diversity is a part of the path that solid Christian fellowship walks on.

Loyalty, vs. 4,5 There were Judaizers who came in the form of false brothers and infiltrated the ranks in the churches in Galatia. They concealed their real motives. and their hidden addenda. They gained access to the church. They were spying on the freedom that we had in Christ. They were sneaking around seeing what they could learn. Paul makes a bold statement that they wanted to take our freedoms away and make us slaves. They saw that we weren’t obeying the law and the traditions of men so they wanted to put us back under that bondage. “We did not give in to them for one moment” vs. 5. Paul is saying that we remained loyal to the Gospel. We want the truth of the gospel to remain with you.

We will visit the other 4 keys tomorrow. Remember that Humility, Diversity, and Loyalty are vital keys to good solid Christian fellowship.

Galatians 1:12-24, Called By God

2009-11-09T10:32:00.000-05:00

Have you ever had to make a bold, a strong, or a difficult statement? Many time we have a tendency to make known our authority to make that statement before we even make it. I have been appointed the foreman on this job. I’m the one who takes the heat if things don’t go right around here. Paul has made a bold statement already and he gets even bolder here in Galatians so he seems to be qualifying his authority.

There are three things that stand out in these verses. Paul is called by God to preach the Gospel to the Gentles.

Paul is called by God. He is saying, I want to make known to you with certainty, I want to make it clear that the gospel I preach is not man made. It is good news from God and not bad news from man. He adds, I had a direct revelation from Jesus Christ. Paul had a personal encounter with Jesus. We have a tendency to listen a whole lot more to men than we do to God. It needs to be the opposite way around. We need, must listen to God.

Paul is called by God to preach the gospel. Paul became a different man. He went from persecutor to preacher almost immediately. He hated the Gospel, the good news that men were announcing about Jesus. He was a murderer for the sake of Judaism. God set Paul apart, called him even from birth, to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God.

Paul is called by God to preach the gospel to the Gentles. Paul says in verses 15, 16 “But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased 16. to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man,” Paul was saved to serve. He was called to preach Him. Paul was not called to preach a message to the Gentiles he was called to preach a man, a Savior, Jesus Christ.

We have been called by God…to go. We have been promised the power to carry out the call.
John 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.
Matthew 28:19,20 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20. and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Galatians 1:1-11, No Other Gospel

2009-11-03T10:28:00.000-05:00

Paul begins Galatians with his salutation. It contains the three customary elements found at the beginning of an ancient letter, the announcement of the writer, the designation of the readers, and the salutation itself.

Paul expands his announcement of himself as the writer. He says I am not an apostle of man, but of Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead. Paul seems to include the brothers that are with him as a part of his writing team. The designation of the readers, to the churches of Galatia, and the salutation itself seem quite basic and straight forward.

Paul adds to his salutation an even longer description of the work of Jesus in verse 4. “who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father”. He concludes his salutation with his doxology, “To Him be glory forever and forever“.

It is here that Paul’s opening takes a much different turn than in many of his other letters. His openings are typically very positive. You can read examples of positive openings in Romans 1, I Corinthians 1, Ephesians 1, and Philippians 1 to name a few. He cuts to the heart of the matter very quickly. I am astonished that you are letting yourselves get pulled away from the gospel that you have heard and accepted. You are quickly deserting the one who has called you. You are turning to a different gospel.

Paul speaks of the severity of preaching another gospel. Presenting a hypothetical case he says, “If we or an angel would preach to you another gospel than the one we preached that one would be eternally condemned. The curse of God would be on the one preaching the other gospel. Paul practically repeats verse 8 in verse 9. I know what I am saying. I mean what I am saying.
Paul understands that he is not making friends with or gaining the approval of man. That is not his desire. His desire is the approval of God because he is a servant of Christ.

We live in a world today that presents many gospels. There is only one gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let us accept the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ and live by the Spirit.

Sermon series on Galatians

2009-11-02T14:13:00.000-05:00

I began a new series of messages through the book of Galatians yesterday at the church. I am going to use my blog to highlight each weeks message for those not able to be in the service and for those who would like to have some of the information that I shared in print.

My goal is to build into chapter 4 during the Christmas season. The birth of Christ is spoken of in verses 4-6. “4.But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5. to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. 6. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father."

My prayer is that chapters 5 & 6 will be an inspiration to all as we begin the new year. They focus on living by the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit, and the law of sowing and reaping.

I am combining Galatians 4:6 with Galatians 5:16a for our series theme. “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts;… so I say live by the Spirit.” It is beautiful to know that we are children of God, that His Holy Spirit lives in our hearts. It is very important that we seek to live by the Spirit.

I will recap Sunday’s message tomorrow.

Are we in a position to listen?

2009-09-29T09:38:00.000-04:00

I want to make a second visit to Joppa today. Peter is at the center of this visit. As we talk about Peter in Joppa I want to ask us the question are we in a position to listen.

We begin in Acts 9:32 with Peter traveling and visiting the saints. He is visiting the saints in Lydda. He says Jesus Christ heals you to a paralytic. Tabitha, a disciple in Joppa becomes sick and dies. When the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda they sent for him to come immediately. Peter listened to their request and went to Joppa at once. A great miracle took place. Peter stays in Joppa for some time at the house of Simon the tanner.

While Peter is staying in Joppa a man named Cornelius in Caesarea heard from God. Send to Joppa and bring back a man named Peter who is staying with Simon the tanner in a house by the sea. The next day as Cornelius’ men are preparing to enter Joppa Peter goes on the roof top of the house he is staying at to pray. It is about lunch time and Peter is starting to get hungry. He sees an amazing vision that confuses him. While he is thinking about this vision the men sent by Cornelius knock on the door of Simon the tanner looking for Peter. These men said Peter God spoke to Cornelius and told him to send for you. That was not allowed to happen because Peter was a Jew and Cornelius was a Gentile. However Peter was in a position to listen and the vision on the roof top spoke to him that God wanted him to go. Great things happened in that household when Peter arrived and spoke the Word to them. Peter’s visit with Cornelius is recorded in Acts 10.

Very simply there was a whole lot of listening going on in these verses bringing Peter to Joppa and taking Peter from Joppa to the house of Cornelius. Great things took place because of this listening.

Are you in a position to listen? Let’s have ears to hear and place ourselves in a position to listen. When we do great things will happen. Listen and be blessed.

A Visit To Joppa

2009-09-28T11:25:00.000-04:00

I visited Joppa in our messages yesterday at the church in Hollentown. I would like to share those visits with you today and tomorrow. The current name of that city is Jaffa. We enjoyed our visit there. The look out across the sea was beautiful. Joppa was a very important port and station on the ancient trade route of “Via Maris” which connected Egypt with Mesopotamia and the north.

Let’s talk about some activity that took place in the Old Testament at this sea port. We read in II Chronicles 2:1-18 that Solomon, who has taken over as king in place of his father David is preparing to build the Temple. Solomon sends a message to Hiram King of Tyre asking him to send cedar logs for him to use to build the temple. King Hiram replied “we will cut all the logs from Lebanon that you need and will float them in rafts by sea down to Joppa. You can take them up to Jerusalem.” (Vs. 16) Similar events happened in Ezra 3:1-13 with the rebuilding of the Temple after Israel‘s captivity. Verse 7 says “Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters, and gave food and drink and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so that they would bring cedar logs by sea from Lebanon to Joppa, as authorized by Cyrus king of Persia.”

I want to move to Jonah 1:1-17 and reflect on that seaport activity in Joppa. Jonah was given a command from the Lord to go to Nineveh and preach against that wicked city. He choose to go to Joppa, buy a ticket, and board a boat for Tarshish instead of obeying the Lord. That was not a good move. We know the story about the big storm and the big fish.

I am going to draw a conclusion that Joppa became a good point of entry and a bad point of escape. I like the picture of those logs for the building of the Temple, floating into Joppa on the rafts. I don’t like the picture of Jonah getting on a boat in Joppa and sailing away from the will of God.

My question to us is this. Are we going to take the wisdom and knowledge that God gives us, like he gave to Solomon, and use Joppa as a good point of entry to build the Temple? Or are we going to reject the plan of God like Jonah and use Joppa as a bad point of escape? My challenge is this. I don’t want to see any boats leaving Joppa for Tarshish but I want to see rafts with cedars on to build the Temple floating into Joppa.

Processing Holy Land Tour - 3

2009-09-18T08:26:00.000-04:00

We visited many churches on our tour of the Holy Land. There was the church at the Shepherds field, the church of the Nativity, the tear drop church, the church of the Holy Sepulcher, and St. Anne church to name a few. Some were very old and dark, others were very beautiful. Some had great acoustics and some were decorated with amazing painting and pictures. All of them commemorated a place or a time in the life and ministry of Jesus or an event in the Word.

Many of these churches are full of religion and religious activities. I saw many people who were very attached to religious practices. I saw the kissing of stones, pictures, and icons as well as many lit candles.

I appreciated seeing the churches, their great architecture, and the many furnishings. However my heart was not stirred by these places built by man, nor was my heart stirred by the religious practices of many. My heart was stirred by the reality that the Word of God had come alive in the person and work of Jesus Christ in this area, near to these places. I was reminded once more that it is not about religion but it is about a relationship. Not just any relationship but a relationship with Jesus Christ. I pray that you have a relationship with the Lord and that you are constantly working on making that relationship better.

Processing Holy Land Tour-2

2009-09-16T08:11:00.000-04:00

It was amazing what we saw, where we walked, what we observed, and what we heard. We visited many churches and saw many ruins of ancient cities, buildings and the like.

As I continue to process this trip in my mind and heart I am reminded of two words that we heard quite often by our guide on our tour “tradition says”. Let me give you a couple of examples of where we heard those words. We were leaving the Mount of Olives for Jerusalem and we stopped at a garden and church complex. That was what they called the teardrop church. Tradition says this is where Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem. We traveled on to Gethsemane. There is a large garden of stately old olive trees. A beautiful church was erected in this garden. This church was built around a large rock in the back corner where tradition says that Jesus knelt and prayed at the rock asking the Father to remove this cup of suffering from Him. There were numerous other places where we heard those two words.

Do those words add to or take away from what we saw? They don’t add to because they reveal the uncertainty that this is the exact place where Jesus said this or prayed that. Neither do they take away from the experience. We were certainly in the land and the area and did not have to be at the exact spot to reflect on these many events in the life and ministry of our Savior Jesus Christ. Being so close just made the Scriptures that we read come alive all the more. I did not expect nor desire tradition to come alive but I did expect and desire the Scriptures to come alive. Let the Word of God be alive in you today and always.

Processing Trip To Israel-1

2009-09-15T09:12:00.000-04:00

I have appreciated getting some good rest the past two nights after a long journey back across the ocean. I am going to process what I saw, heard, and experienced over the next few days. My goal is to share some of that processing with you on this blog.
We walked in many places, many areas where Jesus walked. That was a very beautiful and powerful experience. My desire is to do more than walk where Jesus walked but to walk in the footsteps of Jesus everyday of my life. That thought brings to mind the words of the hymn Stepping In The Light.

Let the words of that song speak to your heart as you read through it.

Chorus 1
How beautiful to walk
In the steps of the Savior
Stepping in the light
Stepping in the light
How beautiful to walk
In the steps of the Savior
Led in paths of light

Verse 1
Trying to walk in the steps of the Savior
Trying to follow our Savior and King
Shaping our lives by His blessed Example
Happy how happy the songs that we bring

Verse 2
Pressing more closely to Him Who is leading
When we are tempted to turn from the way
Trusting the Arm that is strong to defend us
Happy how happy our praises each day

Verse 3
Walking in footsteps of gentle Forbearance
Footsteps of Faithfulness Mercy and Love
Looking to Him for the Grace freely promised
Happy how happy our journey above

Verse 4
Trying to walk in the steps of the Savior
Upward still upward we'll follow our Guide
When we shall see Him the King in His Beauty
Happy how happy our place at His Side

Read these two beautiful Scriptures that connect so well this hymn.
I Peter 2:21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
Psalms 89:15 Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O LORD.
Peter challenges us to follow our Master’s steps and the Psalmist says blessed are those who walk in the light of our Lord’s presence. Let’s do that today and always.

COMMENTS WELCOME

Wailing Wall and Garden Tomb

2009-09-11T11:24:00.000-04:00

Day 8 began a little later than most days. We left the hotel at 9:00 am We traveled to the city of David visiting the Gihon Spring and the pool of Siloam where Jesus healed the man born blind by spitting on the ground, making mud, and putting it on the eyes of the blind man. He sent the man to the pool to wash. He was healed. We toured some ruins there and I bought a special souvenir for me, an oil lamp found in the ruins from Jesus day. We traveled a little further to the Temple mount and visited the wailing wall. That was a very interesting experience. There were a number of Bar Mitzah's going on in the area at at the wailing wall. That was very interesting to see. I prayed a short time at the wall for the peace of Jerusalem, that the eyes of the blinded would be open to see Jesus. I also prayed for the coming of the Lord. We visited the old city. Had lunch there and spent some time in the shops.

Our last stop on tour today was the garden tomb. It was a very beautiful quiet place. Our guide there shared with us the story of the Crucifixion. This could have been the place of the skull. They showed us an empty tomb on that sight. That was very interesting. The most powerful part of that visit was a private communion service in the garden. The presence of the Lord was so strong. The presence of God has been so real so much of this trip.

We visited another one of Julie's close friends. We had desert there before we came to the hotel for dinner. We enjoyed dinner and called it a day.

Continuing on

2009-09-10T00:39:00.000-04:00

We did a lot of traveling today. We left Nazareth for the Golan Heights area. We visited Caesarea Philippi looking at some of the ruins of the city reading about our Lord's ministry there. We went up to the Hermon springs. It is one of the three springs that feeds the Jordan river its water. There were some ruins from the mythology time period there.
We drove into the Jezreel valley and up to Megiddo. There is where we believe that Armegeddon will take place. What a massive valley you see before you from Megiddo. We viewed some ruins from King Solomon's time. We ended our tour there decending into the cave to see the water system set up to supply water for that ancient city. Water is such an important part of Life.
I have drank a lot of water this week. It is very refreshing in the hot sunshine. I am also being refreshed and renewed at the Springs of Living Water. True satisfaction for the soul comes when we drink at the Springs of Living Water. Take a drink today and be refreshed.

An amazing day

2009-09-08T23:33:00.002-04:00

We visited numerous sights in the Galilee area. This was one of the most powerful days of our trip. Our first stop was the Annunciation church in Nazareth built to commemorate the angels announcement to Mary that she was going to give birth to a son our Savior, Jesus Christ. After boarding the bus we proceeded to the mount of the Beatitudes. Again there was a beautiful church built and gardens to commemorate the sermon on the mount and the beatitudes. We sat in the grove and read from Matthew 5 and prayed. We visited the church of multiplication in the area where Jesus fed the 5,000 with 5 loaves of bread and 2 small fish. We found a quiet spot and read that great miracle. It was time for lunch at St Peter’s restaurant by the

Sea of Galilee. Our deep fried fish came to us head and all. It was very good tasting but there wasn’t much fish on them bon es.

It was time for perhaps the best part of the day. We boarded a boat, our group alone on the boat and headed across the Sea of Galilee. What a powerful time it was as we sang, read Scriptures and prayed. Let me just say the Spirit fell on that boat and our guide said that he had never seen such a powerful Spiritual experience in any of the groups he had ever taken. Before we left the sea we took our shoes off and walked in the sea for a bit. No none of us walked on the water. Our Lord spent much time in and around the sea.

Our last stop of the day wasn’t any less blessed. We visited the Jordan river stepping in the water that our Lord was baptized in by John The Baptist. We watched many being baptized. It was a great time to reflect.

The Holy Spirit certainly descended on us today. What a great blessing it is to walk in the power and blessing of the Spirit. Walk in the Spirit today and allow him to calm the storms that you may be facing in life today.

A Journey North

2009-09-07T23:29:00.000-04:00

We checked out of our hotel in Bethlehem this morning and will return to the hotel there on Wednesday evening. We began a journey north along the coastal plains and along the Mediterranean Sea. We stopped at many interesting places.

Our first stop was Jaffa, the Biblical city of Joppa. It was a beautiful picture out across the sea. We reflected on Peter raising Tabitha from the dead as well as Peter’s vision while at the house of Simon the tanner in Joppa by the sea. That vision opened the door of his heart to take the Gospel to the Gentiles.

Our next stop was Caesarea Martima where Herod the great had built a palace, and fortress by the Sea. We walked along the sea and saw the ruins of this massive complex.

We visited Mount Carmel where we had lunch at a small shop. We reflected on the prophet Elijah’s fleeing to the cave from Jezebel and Ahab. We visited a church built onto a cave on Mount Carmel that tradition says was the cave that Elijah hid in. We looked from the top of Mount Carmel over the city of Haifa again out into the sea. That was a breath taking view.

We finished our journey for the day into Nazareth for our stay at the Hamayan Hotel. We checked into our rooms, had dinner, and spent some down time chatting and relaxing.

My reflection today is on the refreshing and the strength for the journey that God provided for the prophet Elijah while hiding out in that cave. Don’t let the battles you face wear you down. Daily allow the Lord to refresh and strengthen you.

What a beautiful Lord's Day

2009-09-07T00:03:00.002-04:00

Our day began a little latter than most days. We had a leisure breakfast then went to church at 11:00 AM in Ben Jalla, the church that Julie attended most of the time that she lived here. That was a very precious and powerful experience worshiping with this small group of Palestine believers. I had an opportunity to great the church and share briefly with them. The political situation between Israel and Palestine makes life so very hard for these believers. Pray for these brothers and sisters in Christ. We enjoyed dinner with them at a local restaurant. Our worshipping with them touched their hearts because very few pilgrims worship with the local believers.

We spent the afternoon visiting Herodion, the remains of the palace of Herod the great on Herodion mountain. We also visited what they call Solomon’s pools. They have nothing to do with King Solomon but are a part of the water system.

This is a quick morning because we are leaving this area at 8:00 am for the Sea of Galilee area staying in Nazareth the next two nights.

Israel Trip Day 3

2009-09-06T02:40:00.002-04:00

We had an amazing day for our first full day in Bethlehem. It was long and tiring but worth every step. We jumped in our bus and traveled about 6 miles to the Mount of Olives. We looked across the Kidron valley to the other hillside at the city of Jerusalem. What an amazing view. Then our journey began. We began our decent at an angle to the right. We stopped at the tear drop church commemorating the place where Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem. We read from Luke 19 about Jesus weeping about Jerusalem, and Revelation 21 about the new heaven, the new earth, and the new Jerusalem. Proceeding down the hill we visited the Garden of Gethsemane, the garden grove where Jesus prayed Lord if it be possible let this cup pass from me. Walking onto the city of Jerusalem. We visited the pool of Bethesada. We walked the Via Dolorosa, the way of suffering stopping at all of the stations of the cross. visited Mount Calvary and the church of the Holy Sepulcher. We visited the upper room before we left Jerusalem.

We returned to our hotel, freshened up a bit then went and did a little shopping. Ate a late dinner at the hotel and called it a day.

I sense in my heart at so many of these sights much religion and tradition. Large church complexes have been built at so many of these sights. They are very old and very large but also hold so much tradition. I pray Lord let there be a relationship here with the one we are honoring at these places.

Today we are visiting the Palestinian church to worship with them. This is the church that Julie was a part of during her stay here in Bethlehem. It is small church but the people are so excited to be meeting us. Pray for me because I have been invited to share a brief thought, testimony with them. Psalms 24:1, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world and all who live in it.”

Be blessed this Lord’s day.

A journey to the Holy Land days 1 &2

2009-09-04T12:22:00.000-04:00

Wow! We are here. We had a very long but safe and uneventful journey. I didn't sleep much Wed. before we left and just a few minutes on the plane so I am about spent. It is noon at home and 7:00 pm here. We are about to have dinner here at the hotel then call it a day. We have a very long day planned for tomorrow.

My heart is so wide open to receive from the Lord on this trip. Julie our host encouraged us to ask God to open our hearts to what He desires to teach us. My openness is from two sides. I want to walk where Jesus walked and learn what the Lord desires to teach me. It is going to be so amazing to see where so much of the Bible unfolded. My heart is open to the missions aspect of this trip as well. There is such a mission field in the Holy Land. Our guide told us today that there is only 1.4 % of the Palestinians that are believers. What a mission field. Where will my greatest inspiration come from walking where Jesus walked or seeing a whitened harvest field? Lord Bless I pray.

Anticipation

2009-09-02T09:59:00.000-04:00

All that I can say is that today is a day of anticipation. I will be taking care of a few small errands. The majority of the day will be packing and checking lists. Trusting God for a wonderful Bible Study tonight at the church with the folks who were so kind and generous to us by helping us with the cost of this trip. About 40 hours from now we will be landing in Tel Aviv, Israel. Lord this amazing trip is in your hands.

The Lord's Supper

2009-09-01T07:46:00.000-04:00

I am still rejoicing because of the powerful presence of the Lord in our communion service yesterday. It is such a joy to celebrate the Lord’s Supper remembering the sacrifice of Christ on the cross for my sins. I am so glad that He was nailed to the cross for me, that He was willing to die that I might live.

Julie, our tour host has ask me to lead our group in communion when we visit the upper room. Wow! I am getting so excited to be a part of such an awesome experience. "I know He rescued my soul, His blood has covered my sin, I believe.... My Redeemer lives."

The Cart Before The Horse

2009-08-31T08:14:00.000-04:00

Perhaps I got the cart before the horse. Before I blogged about the Holy Family Hotel and walking where Jesus walked in Israel I should have shared that my wife and I are blessed to be taking a trip to Israel. I was assuming that everyone who might read this would know that bit of information. There will be 10 of us leaving in 3 days for a 10 day tour. We are expecting to have a blessed time.

My jottings will likely take on the form of a journal over the next 2 weeks. I am looking forward to sharing thoughts and inspirations from this trip. My mind and heart is beginning to race with excitement.

Holy Family Hotel

2009-08-30T07:28:00.000-04:00

We will be staying at the Holy Family Hotel in Bethlehem for the majority of our stay in Israel. That name stands out to me bringing back memories.

After I spoke at a Lenten lunch several years back I was approached by Father Tom one of my pastor friends in town who said that he never thought he would see the day that the Assembly Of God pastor spoke on the holy family. I quickly understood that he was talking about Mary, Joseph, and Jesus the earthly family of our Savior Jesus Christ. I spoke about Mary and Joseph taking their 12 year old son to the Passover. I briefly shared about their short coming in leaving Him behind sharing how important it is that we keep our eyes on Jesus.

I then realized the emphasis that he was placing on this entire family unit. I have deep love and respect for Mary and Joseph our Lord’s earthly parents but my heart belongs to Jesus. I believe that the greatest blessing of this trip will not be staying at the Holy Family Hotel but will be walking where Jesus walked.

It is time.

2009-08-28T15:47:00.000-04:00

It is time to get with the program. I have thought about and started to develop a blog last spring when I was transitioning to Hollentown. I even set up an account, made a post or two, didn't really tell anyone I started a blog, then dropped the ball. My goal is to be somewhat consistent in jotting down some brief, inspirational, encouraging, and thought provoking notes to share.

My motto in life is the brief thought I am choosing to share today: "Live & Love Like Jesus".