Okay, let’s have a Christmas pageant. Let’s just pretend for a moment:

Who wants to be the innkeeper? Raise your hand

Who wants to be Joseph? Raise your hand, someone be Joseph.

Who wants to be the camel? Ha ha, come on someone play a camel.

Who wants to be the wisemen? Raise your hand.

Who else do we need? Who wants to be shepherds? We need several raise your hands.

Who wants to be the doctor? The doctor? She was having a baby, do you think there was a doctor there? No, there was not. Who wants to be the nurse? Who wants to be the mother of Mary.

No nurse.

No doctor.

No Mother.

Who wants to be Mary? Someone raise your hand.

Do you think Mary wanted to be Mary?

Have you ever been asked to did a difficult task, maybe an honorable task, a noble task, but you did not know that you could do it? Have you been there?

I am thinking that is where Mary was at. Mary was a world changer. She changed the world as the mother of Jesus. We would not be here if it were not for Mary. Think about this: We have a mission statement from Matthew 28:19-20: Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit… We wish to reach the lost, nurture faith and meet family needs. This could not happen without Mary. Mary gave birth to the One who gave that commission.

Let’s look at Mary’s commissioning: Luke 1:26-38:

²⁶ In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

³⁴ “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

³⁵ The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. ³⁶ Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.³⁷ For no word from God will ever fail.”

³⁸ “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Theme:

I wish to show you that Mary was highly favored for a difficult task which she humbly accepted.

Application:

Sometimes God’s call is not easy. Accept the call as Mary did.

1. I want to focus on one word and that is “Highly Favored.”
   1. This word is the word for “grace.”
   2. It is only used in this way in Ephesians 1:6 having to do with God giving us His grace.
   3. This verse is saying that Mary has received God’s grace or God’s favor.
   4. This is Gabriel’s greeting to Mary. Gabriel says, “The Lord is with you.
   5. She is twice told that she has received grace or favor, in verse 28 and verse 30: But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 
   6. As one writes about grace: Grace is at the center of what God was doing in Christmas. The child to be born of Mary would embody and incarnate grace. His message would be a message of grace. His life would demonstrate grace to sinners, tax collectors, and prostitutes. They had been taught that there was no place for them in the synagogue, that God’s judgment and wrath was upon them; Jesus devoted his life to showing them that it was God’s love, mercy, and kindness that were offered to them. Jesus showed them grace.[1]
   7. Do we realize who she would be the mother to:
   8. Those who wrote the great hymns of Christmas know it.  They’ve always known it.  Our carols celebrate it.  “Joy to the world, the Lord is come.”  “Yea, Lord, we great Thee, born this happy morning,” “Come adore on bended knee Christ the Lord,” “Christ by highest heaven adored, Christ the everlasting Lord,” “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, hail the Incarnate Deity.”  “Jesus, our Immanuel.”  “Yet in the dark street shineth the everlasting light.”  “Oh come with us, abide with us, our Lord, Immanuel.”  The carol says, “Jesus, Lord at Thy birth,” “Incense owns a Deity nigh,” “The virgin’s sweet boy is the Lord of the earth,”  “Word of the Father now in flesh appearing,”  “How that in Bethlehem was born the Son of God by name,”  “God with man is now residing, suddenly the Lord descending.”  The carol says, “Thou didst leave Thy throne and Thy kingly crown when Thou camest to earth for me.”  “And the Father gave His Son, gave His own beloved One.”  Son of the Most High, Son of God, God in human flesh; this amazing child is God come down. Grace has power. When you show kindness, compassion, goodness, or love to someone who does not deserve it, the act of grace has the power to change hearts, to heal broken relationships, and to reconcile people and even nations. Grace changes the one who receives it, but it also changes the one who gives it.[2]
   9. She certainly is the mother of God, she raised Jesus.
   10. Do you think she was happy for this task?
2. Let’s talk more about Mary.
   1. Mary was from a tiny town called Nazareth.
   2. Nazareth would not even make it on a list of cities. It was just a tiny little village.
   3. We would think if God was going to send His Son into the world He would pick a woman from Rome or Jerusalem, but He didn’t.
   4. I believe God wanted to show that He chooses the nobodies.
   5. Mary was likely 13 years old. Think about that.
   6. She was from humble beginnings.
   7. She was likely uneducated.
   8. She was likely raised to be very devoted to God.
   9. Mary is told how things will happen. The power of God, the Most High, will overshadow her. Mary is not told exactly what is going to happen, but if God did not cause her to conceive then Jesus would be a clone of her. People have lacked faith in the virgin birth in the past, but with all of the science these days and how we can artificially inseminate, do we really need to doubt God?
   10. So, Mary is told exactly what will happen.
   11. We know that Mary could be stoned because it looks like she committed adultery. (Lev. 20:10)
   12. Again, I come back to the question: Do you think Mary wanted to be Mary?
   13. Do you think Mary wanted to go and tell Joseph she was pregnant? Do you think Mary was scared? Do you think Mary was concerned to tell her parents? Having a baby in itself was scary back then, but all these responsibilities and the great humility as well.
       1. Mary would tell her relative and Joseph. Mary goes to visit Elizabeth and then we have the Magnificant…
       2. Chrissy Rigney

• Let’s look at Mary’s response. Verse 38: “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered.
  1. Sometimes the Lord’s calling is not easy but we must follow through.
  2. We must follow through like Mary did and just respond, “I am the Lord’s servant.”
  3. Can we respond this way? Can we respond to God’s Word and honorably say, “I am the Lord’s servant I will tell the truth.”
     1. “I am the Lord’s servant I will follow the rules.”
     2. “I am the Lord’s servant I will walk in integrity.”

• “I am the Lord’s servant I will not spread that rumor.”

1. “I am the Lord’s servant I will not gossip on Facebook.”
2. “I am the Lord’s servant I won’t look at that website.”
3. “I am the Lord’s servant I will not have road rage.”

• “I am the Lord’s servant I will apologize for my behavior.”
• “I am the Lord’s servant I will treat people with respect.”

1. “I am the Lord’s servant I will share the Gospel with people, pray, read the Bible, work at the food pantry, help someone with a meal, give someone grace.”
2. I am the Lord’s servant… you pray about it and live like Mary.

Remember grace, favor, it is such a gift. That was such a privilege for Mary. Give people grace this week. Give people favor this week.

Remember the quote I shared:

Grace is at the center of what God was doing in Christmas. The child to be born of Mary would embody and incarnate grace. His message would be a message of grace. His life would demonstrate grace to sinners, tax collectors, and prostitutes. They had been taught that there was no place for them in the synagogue, that God’s judgment and wrath was upon them; Jesus devoted his life to showing them that it was God’s love, mercy, and kindness that were offered to them. Jesus showed them grace.[3]

Be encouraged we have all received God’s grace.

So I ask, would you want to be Mary? But remember Mary’s response, you can respond the same way.

Do you know Jesus?

God created us to be with him. (Genesis 1-2)

Our sin separated us from God. (Genesis 3)

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Gen 4-Mal 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)

Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life. (John – Jude)

Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever. (Revelation 22:5)

Pray

[1] Hamilton, Adam (2011-09-01). The Journey: Walking the Road to Bethlehem (Kindle Locations 238-242). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition.

[2] http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/42-7/the-greatest-child-ever-born

[3] Hamilton, Adam (2011-09-01). The Journey: Walking the Road to Bethlehem (Kindle Locations 238-242). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition.

Baxter, that marvelous pastor of the seventeenth century, wrote this: He said:

O, if you have the hearts of Christians, let them yearn toward your poor ignorant ungodly neighbors. Alas, there is but a step betwixt them and death and hell. Many hundred diseases are waiting ready to seize on them, and if they die unregenerate, they are lost forever. Have you hearts of rock that cannot pity men in such a case as this? If you believe not the Word of God and the danger of sinners, why are you Christians yourselves? If you do believe it, why do you not bestir yourself to the helping of others? Do you not care who is damned as long as you are saved? If so, you have sufficient cause to pity yourselves, for it is a frame of spirit utterly inconsistent with grace. Dost thou live close by them…or meet them in the streets…or labor with them…or travel with them…or sit and talk with them and say nothing to them of their souls or the life to come? If their houses were on fire, thou wouldst run and help them and wilt thou not help them when their souls are almost at the fire of hell?[1]

Are we thankful for our salvation?

Are we thankful for opportunities to share that salvation with others?

Today, I wish to look at 1 Timothy 2:1-4 and I want to focus on evangelistic praying.

Theme: We pray with thanksgiving for all and we pray for all to receive Christ.

Let’s read 1 Timothy 2:1-2:

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— ² for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 

1. In verses: 1-2: The apostle Paul writes about the objects and contents of prayer
   1. Let me say right away that the point of our prayers is salvation for others. Look at verses 3-4: This is good, and pleases God our Savior,⁴ who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
   2. I see a principle once again that thankfulness is part of prayer, but I also see within this that it is all about salvation.
   3. I once heard Ray Ortlund Jr. say not to insult God with small prayers and then he said “God can save the Supreme Court.” We’ll come back to that idea. But let’s start at the beginning.
   4. Notice as we look at verse 1 that Paul urges the people; he writes, “I urge…” The verb this is translated from just carries the idea of encouraging or exhorting. Paul is exhorting us, challenging us to take this instruction on prayer so seriously. Now, what does he say?
   5. He says that we pray with petitions. This doesn’t simply mean that we make a list and get many people to sign it. No, this has the idea of our prayer life being a humble list to God. This carries the idea of pleading to God.
   6. Then Paul simply says, “Prayers.” I urge you to pray. The noun used for “pray” is the most general word we can use to pray. In fact, prayers of thanksgiving, prayers of praise, prayers of intercession and all other types of prayers fit under this noun’s definition.
   7. Then Paul urges us to intercession: this is praying on behalf of other people’s needs.
   8. Then we are urged to pray in thanksgiving. Never forget what God has given you.
      1. It is so easy to simply come to God with our needs while forgetting what we have been given. Things like giving thanks prior to eating a meal are not that common anymore.
   9. We pray in petition, intercession and thanksgiving: One source tells me: “These three terms indicates that the initial prayer term distinguishes the element of insufficiency by the requester, the second highlights devotion by the seeker, and the third underscores the childlike confidence of the petitioner.”[2]
      1. So these prayer terms are all very important. Prayers of petition show that we are merely human coming before God. We are insufficient and we ask for God’s help in humility. We pray in intercession simply coming to God with the needs of others. We come giving thanks recognizing what God has provided.
   10. Now, Paul writes under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that these prayers are to be offered for all mankind. No one is left out. Now, this doesn’t mean that we are to list everyone by name. We might, but this just means that we can pray for anyone. Don’t leave people out because you don’t like them, or because they are a different social class, or because they vote different, or because you didn’t vote for him or her.
   11. But verse 2 specifies a few groups to pray for. We must pray for kings and all those in authority. This is not the only time Paul mentions praying for our leaders. Our leaders have a great task on them; pray for them.
   12. Do you ever thank God for kings and leaders? Do you ever thank God for those in authority? How do we pray with thanksgiving for politicians? We are told to pray with thanksgiving.
   13. By the way, thanksgiving is the only element of prayer that will continue forever. Everything else will fall after we’ve entered His presence. For there we’ll only thank Him forever and ever. So this…that only eternal element of prayer must be a part of those prayers we offer even here.
   14. I am sure that we have a lot of great leaders: local, state, national to pray in thanksgiving for. However, we can also be thankful for our salvation.
2. Now, in verse 4 the Bible says, God wants all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth. Now that verse is redundant. “Saved” and “knowledge of the Truth” are both used to mean salvation.
   1. This is a major principle: God loves all. It doesn’t matter whether you are male or female, black or white, American, or French, German, Egyptian, etc, etc and etc. God loves all. God wants all to be saved.
      1. False teachers likely taught that salvation was only for Jewish people, but that is not true. God loves all.
      2. Now, this doesn’t mean that all will be saved. God still gives us choice and we must choose Him.

So, a goal of our prayer is salvation. As we pray for people, pray for their salvation. Pray for their spiritual state. Ask God to make you think like an evangelist.

I have talked and prayed about an evangelical mindset. This means that we would be asking God to show us the real need out there. We ask God to show us the reality of heaven and hell. We ask God to help us to see people and ourselves the way that He sees people and us. This means we would see the grossness of sin, but also potential in Christ.

Close:

So, as we go into Thanksgiving, as we go into the holiday season, let’s pray. Let’s pray with thanksgiving. Let’s pray for salvation for all. Let’s pray that God shows us the need for salvation. Let’s pray that God opens our eyes. Let’s thank God for salvation.

Let’s pray.

God created us to be with him. (Genesis 1-2)

Our sin separated us from God. (Genesis 3)

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Gen 4-Mal 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)

Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life. (John – Jude)

Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever. (Revelation 22:5)

Pray

[1] http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/54-11/evangelistic-praying-part-1

[2] New American Commentary

Slavery… think with me about slavery:

Frederick Douglass grew up as a slave in Maryland in the early nineteenth century and experienced slavery’s every brutality. He was taken from his mother when he was only an infant. For years as a child, all he had to eat was runny corn meal dumped in a trough that kids fought to scoop out with oyster shells. He worked in the hot fields from before sunup until after sundown. He was whipped many times with a cowhide whip until blood ran down his back, kicked and beaten by his master until he almost died, and attacked with a spike by a gang of whites.

But even so, when Frederick considered trying to escape to freedom, he struggled with the decision. He writes in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave that he had two great fears.

The first was leaving behind his friends:

I had a number of warm-hearted friends in Baltimore, friends that I loved almost as I did my life and the thought of being separated from them forever was painful beyond expression. It is my opinion that thousands would escape from slavery, who now remain, but for the strong cords of affection that bind them to their friends.

His second fear was this: “If I failed in this attempt, my case would be a hopeless one it would seal my fate as a slave forever.”

Today, people who find themselves in slavery to sin, and who think about escaping to freedom in Christ, may have similar fears. They may fear leaving behind friends. They may fear they’ll fail in their attempt to break from sin and live free for God.

They should take heart from Douglass’s experience. On September 3, 1838, he remembers:

I left my chains, and succeeded in reaching New York without the slightest interruption of any kind I have been frequently asked how I felt when I found myself in a free State It was a moment of the highest excitement I ever experienced I felt like one who had escaped a den of hungry lions.[1]

So, I wonder, are you a slave?

Let’s read Romans 6:23:

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in  Christ Jesus our Lord.

Please keep your Bibles opened I want to apply this passage and this chapter. I will point out key passages in order to show how we got to this place.

My theme:

We are dead to sin, alive to God

Application:

Live for Jesus, we no longer have to be slaves to sin.

1. First, in this passage I see that we died with Christ to the old self; therefore, we no longer have to live in sin. (verses 2-3)
   1. Look at verses 2-3: We are those who have died to sin;how can we live in it any longer? ³ Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
   2. How many of us have been baptized?
   3. This means that we are baptized into Jesus.
   4. Paul gives this analogy of dying with Christ in baptism.
   5. Think with me about the cross. On the cross Jesus died for our sins. He died for all of our sins. If He did not take care of all of our sins then we would still have a problem.
   6. So, in that manner, Jesus died for all of our sins, they are dead. He died for them. In this way when we are baptized into Christ Jesus the sins are dead. Our old slavery is dead.
   7. By the way, do you think Frederick Douglas ever wanted to go back to slavery? NO! So why do we go back to our sin slavery?
2. We have risen with Christ (Verses 2-3)
   1. Jesus died but we know that He is not dead anymore.
   2. Also we have been risen with Him.
3. We have been risen with Christ and Christ is not living in sin, so we must live for Christ. (Verses 4-5) Look at the next few verses: We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the deadthrough the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. ⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— ⁷ because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
   1. We are joined with Christ, Christ does not sin.
   2. We are joined with Christ, Christ can help us conquer sin.
4. In verses 16-17 I read we will serve someone or something, it must be Jesus.

Look at verses 16-17: Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷ But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 

5. Verse 23: sin has a wage and it is death, but God freely gives us eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. We can trust in Jesus freely and receive the eternal wage.

The guinea worm is a parasite found in certain areas of central Africa. It begins its life as a larvae and often hitches a ride in a millimeter-long crustacean called cyclops.

When a human drinks water from a stream, the cyclops enters the stomach where gastric juices make short work of the cyclops. The larvae of the guinea worm, however, are not destroyed. The worms poke holes in the human’s intestine and go for a swim.

After about three months, the male and female larvae get together. About one year later a full-grown guinea, the width of a paper clip wire and up to three feet long, begins to move through the body of its human host, causing tremendous pain. Finally, the worm pokes out of the host’s body—probably through the foot. If not removed, the parasite will eventually lead to its host’s death.

Once the worm exposes itself, it can only be removed a few centimeters a day. Otherwise the worm will pull apart and die, resulting in infection and possibly death for its host. Sometimes the painful process takes weeks or months.

The guinea worm is like sin in three important ways:

First, sin is easy to get involved in. Just like drinking the water from a stream seems simple and harmless, so often does sin.

Second, sin is difficult to get rid of once it has taken hold. When sin “pokes its head” out of our lives, and we recognize it has to be dealt with, we should act. Forgiveness comes quickly, but many times the process of getting free from its pull is slow and agonizing.

Finally, like the guinea worm, sin when left unchecked can kill you.[2]

Close:

In Decision, Karen R. Morerod writes:

I was in a store shopping for a sweater. The cost needed to be minimal, so I went to the clearance rack to start looking. As I flipped through the sweaters, one caught my eye. It was the right color and the right size, and best of all, the price tag was marked $8.00. Without much more thought, I made my purchase.

At home I slipped on the sweater. Its texture was like silk. I had made my purchase so quickly that I hadn’t noticed how smooth and elegant the sweater was. Then I saw the original price tag: $124.00!

I gasped. I had never owned any clothing of that value. I had come home with what I thought was a “cheap buy,” but the original price was quite high. I had been oblivious to its value.

Just as with my sweater, I have often treated the power of Jesus’ blood like a “cheap purchase.” His grace, though free to me, carried a high price tag the life of his very own Son.[3]

God created us to be with him. (Genesis 1-2)

Our sin separated us from God. (Genesis 3)

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Gen 4-Mal 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)

Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life. (John – Jude)

Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever. (Revelation 22:5)

Pray

[1] Kevin Miller, vice president, Christianity Today International, Wheaton, Illinois

[2] Kevin Bidwell; source: Men’s Health (December 1999)

[3] Karen R. Morerod, writer, “Lesson Learned from a Sweater,” Decision (November 1999), p. 39

We talked extensively about justification last week, so today we are going to talk about the results of justification.

Recall that justification gives us complete forgiveness but also gives us Christ’s righteousness. Several years ago I was working on a roof and got roof tar on my shoes. I liked those shoes but for some time that tar was still sticky on the bottom of the shoes. So eventually I was told that gasoline would take care of it and that is what I did. I rubbed gasoline on the bottom of the shoes and it cleared things up. The gasoline made the shoes perfect, like a brand new pair of shoes. It still happened in time and space, meaning the situation with the roof tar actually did happen, that was not erased. But the gasoline made the shoes pure as if they were a brand new pair.

In justification we are forgiven and we receive Christ’s righteousness. We still sinned, but we are right with God because of Jesus.

There are two results of justification that the Bible talks about which I wish to focus on today. Today, we focus on Peace with God and reconciliation with God.

Let’s read Romans 5:1-11:

 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

⁶ You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

⁹ Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! ¹⁰ For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! ¹¹ Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

My theme today is that we have Peace with God and reconciliation with God.

1. First, because of our justification we have Peace with God (v. 1).
   11. I am only focusing on verses 1 and 11. This list is not complete. We also have access to God. We have Christian character, we have God’s love within, we have salvation from wrath.
   12. We have so many benefits because of justification. Our salvation is great.
   13. Think about “Peace with God.”
   14. You see, God does not need peace with us, we need peace with Him. We violated His standard. As a consequence of our sins we were at war with God. But as a consequence of Christ’s death and resurrection we are at peace. This is awesome.
   15. Amen!!!
   16. I believe that Peace with God goes along with reconciliation, so let’s look at that.
2. Reconciliation with God (v. 11).
   1. In these 11 verses every time I see the verb “to justify” I also see Paul talking about reconciliation. In verse 1 Paul is talking about how we have peace with God. Then in verse 9 Paul is talking about how we are saved from God’s wrath. That is really what reconciliation is.
   2. Simply put to reconcile means to restore friendship or harmony. In Genesis, Adam walked with God in the Garden of Eden as friends. But then sin came and this separated him from God. ((I am extrapolating this from Gen 3:8-9 and the setting of the Garden of Eden. I am sure I have heard other scholars say this.)
   3. Have you ever had a time when you have a dispute with someone? We all have. When we are reconciled with God it makes God have peace with us. The dispute is gone. God has a dispute with us. He has a rightful dispute with us. We have offended Him. In a Biblical sense we have offended God’s holy law. Verse 6 says that we were ungodly when Jesus died for us. Verse 8 says that we were still sinners when Christ died for us. Verse 9 says because of this we are enemies of God. Ungodly! Sinners! Enemies!
      1. We need reconciliation.
      2. We need to be reconciled to God.

• We had offended Him. We still offend him.

1. We had and still do cross His perfect law.
2. Review Romans:
3. In Romans chapter 1 Paul spent most of the chapter writing about our ungodliness. In verse 18 He says the wrath of God is being revealed from Heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

• You may say that that is not you. But it is. It is all of us.
• Romans 2:1: You, therefore have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.

1. Romans 3:23: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
   1. We all sin.
   2. It is amazing that for most of history people have tried to reconcile themselves to God or the gods. It’s true. For most of history there have been pagan religions making sacrifices or doing other religious things to try to appease the gods. We can see this in Native American religions. We can see this in Eastern religions. We can see this in Egyptian religions. We can see this in the Middle Eastern religions. You know that there were Israelite kings in the Old Testament that sacrificed their own children to Baal? They did this because they got into the pagan religions of Palestine.
   3. It took blood to cover sin.
   4. There is a movie “Kicking and Screaming” which is about a children’s soccer team. The team is trying to win and then they realize these Italians are their secret. So, they use them all the time, but they work for their uncle cutting meat and their uncle says, “Meat comes first.” One day they have too much meat to cut so they would miss the game. So a part of the team all goes to help cut meat. They show up just in time for the game with blood all over their uniforms. These young children are scared, seeing blood. The other team forfeits.
   5. That is what happened in the Old Testament. They would have been covered in blood in the sacrificial systems.
   6. But really if you read through the Old Testament they had several animal sacrifices to make in order to attempt to reconcile the relationship with God. But Hebrews says it doesn’t work. It wasn’t enough.
   7. Heb 10:11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
   8. In Christianity Jesus came to us. We couldn’t do this on our own.
   9. So we also, as Christians, have forgiveness through Christ, our sins are erased through justification and we have peace with God in reconciliation. Adam walked with God in the Garden of Eden and we also can walk with God as friends because of Jesus. (I am extrapolating this from Gen 3:8-9 and the setting of the Garden of Eden. I am sure I have heard other scholars say this.)
2. We couldn’t be reconciled to God without being justified; however, reconciliation naturally follows justification.
3. Hebrews 4:16 says let us approach the throne of grace with confidence. We can because of reconciliation.
4. Ps 103:12: as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Let’s apply this. Every sermon should have encouragement and conviction. Every sermon should have grace and truth. This is because the Word of God gives us encouragement and conviction.

Are you living as free? Are you living as though you are forgiven by Christ, not only that, are you living with an understanding that you are pure to God, that you are righteous in God’s sight? Are you living knowing that you can approach God’s throne without a human mediator? Because of justification and reconciliation.

Or, are you trying to earn your salvation? Do you feel like you can’t approach God? Do you have a secret sin? Confess your sins to God. Accept God’s forgiveness and know that you are forgiven. Know that you are more than forgiven; you are pure, righteous, and reconciled to God. Your relationship with God was broken but it is restored. Many times we get self worth from trying to please people and trying to do things. Trouble is, we can never do enough to earn our salvation and make things right with God. But Jesus did it for us. Jesus has accomplished what we couldn’t accomplish. Lean on Him! Stop trying by yourself! Lean on Jesus. Then Jesus will give you the assurance of your salvation.

1. Our Salvation is complete. Forgiven: Our sins are forgiven; our debt is paid by Jesus. Justified: we are righteous in God’s sight. It is as if we never sinned. Reconciled: There is no longer a barrier between us and God.

Close:

There is an old hymn by John Newton:

Approach My Soul the Mercy Seat

Approach, my soul, the mercy seat,
Where Jesus answers prayer;
There humbly fall before His feet,
For none can perish there.

Thy promise is my only plea,
With this I venture nigh;
Thou callest burdened souls to Thee,
And such, O Lord, am I.

Bowed down beneath a load of sin,
By Satan sorely pressed,
By war without and fears within,
I come to Thee for rest.

Be Thou my Shield and hiding Place,
That, sheltered by Thy side,
I may my fierce accuser face,
And tell him Thou hast died!

O wondrous love! to bleed and die,
To bear the cross and shame,
That guilty sinners, such as I,
Might plead Thy gracious Name.

“Poor tempest-tossèd soul, be still;
My promised grace receive”;
’Tis Jesus speaks—I must, I will,
I can, I do believe.

God created us to be with him. (Genesis 1-2)

Our sin separated us from God. (Genesis 3)

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Gen 4-Mal 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)

Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life. (John – Jude)

Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever. (Revelation 22:5)

Pray

From:  The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel, pages 256-259.

Scene #3:  CHANGING A LIFE

This third episode occurred after my Atlanta interview with Craig about the issue of miracles.  I got into my rental car and took a leisurely drive up Interstate 75 to Rome, Georgia.  The next morning was cool but sunny, and I got dressed and headed over to a church for Sunday services.

Outside, politely greeting everyone with a handshake as they arrived, was William Neal Moore, Looking handsome in a tan suit with dark stripes, a crisp white shirt and brown tie.  His face was deep  mahogany, his black hair was close-cropped, but what I remember most was his smile:  it was at once shy and warm, gentle and sincere, winsome and loving.  It made me feel welcome.

“Praise the Lord, Brother Moore!” declared an elderly woman as she grasped his hand briefly and then shuffled inside.

Moore is an ordained minister at the church, which is sandwiched between two housing projects in the racially mixed community.  He is a doting father, a devoted husband, a faithful provider, a hard-working employee, a man of compassion and prayer who spends his spare time helping hurting people who everyone else seems to have forgotten.  In short, a model citizen.

But turn back the calendar to May 1984.  At that time, Moore was locked in the death-watch cell at the Georgia State Penitentiary, down the hallway from the electric chair where his life was scheduled to be snuffed out in less than seventy-two hours.

This was not the case of an innocent man being railroaded by the justice system.  Unquestionably, Moore was a murderer.  He had admitted as much.  After a childhood of poverty and occasional petty crimes, he had joined the Army and later became depressed by marital and financial woes.  One night he got drunk and broke into the house of seventy-seven-year-old Fredger Stapleton, who was known to keep large amounts of cash in his bedroom.

From behind a door, Stapleton let loose with a shotgun blast, and Moore fired back with pistol.  Stapleton was killed instantly, and within minutes Moore was fleeing with $5,600.  An informant tipped police and the next morning he was arrested at his trailer outside of town.  Caught with the proceeds from the crime, Moore admitted his guilt and was sentenced to death.  He had squandered his life and turned to violence, and now he himself would face a violent end.

But the William Neal Moore who was counting down the hours to his scheduled execution was not the same person who had murdered Fredger Stapleton.  Shortly after being imprisoned, two church leaders visited Moore at the behest of his mother.  They told him about the mercy and hope that was available through Jesus Christ.

“Nobody had ever told me that Jesus loves me and died for me,” Moore explained during my visit to Georgia.  “It was a love I could feel.  It was a love I wanted.  It was a love I needed.”

On that day, Moore said yes to Christ’s free gift of forgiveness and eternal life, and he was promptly baptized in a small tub that was used by prison trusties.  And he would never be the same.

For sixteen years on Death Row, Moore was like a missionary among other inmates.  He led Bible studies and conducted prayer sessions.  He counseled prisoners and introduced many of them to faith in Jesus Christ.  Some churches actually sent people to Death Row to be counseled by him.  He took dozens of Bible courses by correspondence.  He won the forgiveness of his victim’s family.  He became known as “The Peacemaker,” because his cellblock, largely populated by inmates who had become Christians through his influence, was always the safest, the quietest, the most orderly.

Meanwhile, Moore inched closer and closer to execution.  Legally speaking, his case was a hopeless cause.  Since he had pleaded guilty, there were virtually no legal issues that might win his release on appeal.  Time after time, the courts reaffirmed his death sentence.

“A Saintly Figure”

So profound was the depth of Moore’s transformation, however, that people began to take notice.  Mother Teresa and others started campaigning to save his life.  “Billy’s not what he was then,” said a former inmate who had met Moore in prison.  “If you kill him today, you’re killing a body, but a body with a different mind.  It would be like executing the wrong man.”

Praising him for not only being rehabilitated but also being “an agent for the rehabilitation of others,” an editorial in the Atlanta Journal and Constitution declared:  “In the eyes of many, he is a saintly figure.”

Just hours prior to Moore’s being strapped into the electric chair, shortly before Moore’s head and right calf would be shaved so that the lethal electrodes could be attached, the courts surprised nearly everyone by issuing a temporary halt to his execution.

Even more amazingly, The Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole later voted unanimously to spare his life by commuting his sentence to life in prison.  But what was really astounding – in fact, unprecedented in modern Georgia history – was when the Parole and Pardon Board decided that Moore, an admitted and once-condemned armed robber and murderer, should go free.  On November 8, 1991, he was released.

As I sat with Moored in his home overlooking a landscape of lush pine trees, I asked him about the source of his amazing metamorphosis.

“It was the prison rehabilitation system that did it, right?”  I asked.

Moore laughed.  “No, it wasn’t that,” he replied.

“Then it was a self-help program or having a positive mental attitude,”  I suggested.

He shook his head emphatically.  “No, not that, either.”

“Prozac?  Transcendental Meditation?  Psychological counseling?”

“Come on, Lee,”  he said.  “You know it wasn’t any of those.”

He was right.  I knew the real reason.  I just wanted to hear him say it.  “Then what was responsible for the transformation of Billy Moore?”  I asked.

“Plain and simple, it was Jesus Christ,” he declared adamantly.  “He changed me in ways I could never have changed on my own.  He gave me a reason to live.  He helped me do the right thing.  He gave me a heart for others.  He saved my soul.”

That’s the power of faith to change a human life.  “Therefore,” wrote the apostle Paul, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

Billy Moored the Christian is not the same as Billy Moore the killer.  God had intervened with his forgiveness, with his mercy, with his power, with the abiding presence of his Spirit.  That same kind of transforming grace is available to everyone who acts on the ample evidence for Jesus Christ by making the decision to turn away from their sin and embrace him as their forgiver and leader.

It’s awaiting all those who say yes to God and his ways.

Today, I wish to talk about how Jesus changes us.

I want to talk about “justification.”

Everyone say, “Justification.”

The theme:

Abraham was justified by faith and we also may be.

Read with me Romans 4:1-3:

What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh,discovered in this matter? ² If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. ³ What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

1. First, let’s talk about justification.
   1. In Romans 3:23 the Bible says that we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
   2. Then Romans 3:24 says that we are justified freely.
   3. Romans 6:23 says the same thing.
   4. Romans could be complete but Paul is now illustrating that we are justified by faith alone and Jews and Gentiles need Jesus.
   5. So, what is justification? Is it “just-as-if-I-never-sinned”?
   6. Not really. Unfortunately, I have used that but there is so much more to justification then that.
   7. Justification is a legal term.
   8. Justification has two parts:
      1. Forgiveness of sins
      2. Imputed Christ’s righteousness
   9. Without forgiveness of sins we are guilty so this removes the guilt.
   10. Imputing Christ’s righteousness takes the wrath of God away from us and makes it so that we can stand before God. Imputing Christ’s righteousness restores our relationship with God.
   11. Stand before the JUDGE— He examines the defendant against the evidence (using omniscience). The judge is God and He is examining us.
   12. He pronounces judgment. Later will follow the pronouncing of sentence.
   13. HIS JUDGMENT = NOT GUILTY by reason of the Atonement of Christ.
   14. Rom 4.5 “Justifies the ungodly”
   15. The definition of justification is To Declare Righteous
   16. NOT, To Make Righteous (Sanctification, and finally glorification)
   17. Therefore, your right standing is a declaration of the judge, not the result of your actually being good.
   18. Forgiveness of sins:
   19. Forgiveness of Sins

Romans 4:6-8

“Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.”

1. Negative Side – clearing away
2. Imputation of Christ’s righteousness.

Rom 3.21-22:  But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. ²² This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile…

Positive Side – the merit of God’s son.

1. Justification implies a freedom from guilt.
2. Not that we are not guilty, but that we have been freed from its condemnation. Rom 8:1
3. The forgiveness of sins by confession (1 Jn 1.9) should be fully accepted. To do less implies an ineffective atonement.
4. “Go and sin no more.” (John 8)
5. Not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. Phil 3.9
6. Implication: God receives me as he would his own son. Heb 4.16
7. So, that is justification
8. Isn’t that awesome! We are not just forgiven!

1. Example Abraham and his faith
   1. In verse 3 we have the quote from Gen. 15:6: Abraham believed God and it was credited to Him as righteousness. Abraham was justified by his faith.
   2. This was a big deal because the Jews would have thought Abraham was right with God because of circumcision, but as verses 9-12 say the justification happened prior to the seal of circumcision.
   3. Abraham was justified some 14 years prior to circumcision.
   4. The chronology of Genesis proves Paul’s case. Abraham was 86 when Ishmael was born (Gen. 16:16), and Abraham was 99 when he was circumcised. But God declared him righteous before Ishmael had even been conceived (Gen. 15:6; 16:2–4)—at least 14 years before Abraham’s circumcision.”
   5. We are grafted in:
   6. Look at verses 23-25: The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone,²⁴ but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. ²⁵ He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

Close:

So, how does a death row inmate become a pastor? It has nothing to do with him but everything to do with God.

This passage is not about Abraham but about God. God transforms people!

Have you been transformed? Is that worth sharing?

Go and share it!

Go and worship that you are not just forgiven but you are righteous.

Let’s review the Romans road to Salvation:

Walking Down the “Romans Road” to Salvation . . . .

• Because of our sin, we are separated from God.
  For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  (Romans 3:23)
• The Penalty for our sin is death.
  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
• The penalty for our sin was paid by Jesus Christ!
  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
• If we repent of our sin, then confess and trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we will be saved from our sins!
  For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.  (Romans 10:13)
  …if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9,10)[1]

Go and share the Gospel:

God created us to be with him. (Genesis 1-2)

Our sin separated us from God. (Genesis 3)

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Gen 4-Mal 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)

Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life. (John – Jude)

Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever. (Revelation 22:5)

Pray

[1] http://www.davidjeremiah.org/site/about/becoming_a_christian.aspx

Introduction:

Think with me for a moment about justice:

The traditional view of justice is the picture of the blindfolded statue with the scales in hand, trying to weigh out equity without being influenced by the appearance of anyone.  This idea that justice is blind simply means that justice does not want to take into account anyone’s looks or anyone’s position in life or anything other than the truth itself.

Years ago in ancient Greece and Rome, justice was pictured not only with eyes that were blindfolded but with no hands, so that justice could not see and justice could not receive.  It could not choose on the basis of appearance and it could take no bribes.  It could not be bought.

There’s an ancient story of a man who, in spite of all of the passions of a father, had to pass the death sentence on his own two sons for he was the leader of his country and his sons had conspired to overthrow the government.  According to the historian, the youth stood before the man, who was named Brutus the Elder, and they pleaded and they wept and they hoped their tears would be the most powerful defense with a loving father.  The men who sat behind the ruler whispered, “What will he do?  These are his children.”  He said, “To you, the executioners, I deliver my sons.”  And the historian wrote, “In this sentence he persisted inexorable, notwithstanding the weeping intercession of the multitude and the cries of the young men calling upon their father by the most endearing names.  The executioner seized them, stripped them naked, bound their hands behind them, beat them with rods, and then struck off their heads, the inexorable Brutus looking on the bloody spectacle with unaltered countenance.  Thus, the father was lost in the judge.”

That may be a good picture of how it will be someday with God, who offers Himself as a loving father, but someday the father will be lost in the judge.  And God’s justice is even more inexorable.  God always does what is just.  In Leviticus 19:15, God indicts the people in anticipation, as it were, of their sins of injustice, which will become a part of their life.  He says, “You shall do no injustice in judgment.  You shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly.  You shall have just balances, just weights, and a just ephah” – ephah was a measure of grain – “and a just hin” – another form of measure.  “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” [1]

So as we think about justice let’s let those thoughts stir as we think about our salvation.

Some day God’s wrath on sin will be manifested and none of us are ready for that. In Romans 2:11 the Bible says that there is no partiality with God.

God is the just judge.

Does anyone get a free pass into Heaven?

Actually we all do, everyone of us…

However, we do not get into heaven based off of birth, country of origin, culture, etc.

So, I want us to look at Romans 2:12 and tell you that we all need Jesus. Everyone needs Jesus.

Here is a personal application:

We don’t get into Heaven simply based off of being “Raised in the Church.” In other words, God does not have grandchildren.

Let’s look at this:

Read with me Romans 2:12:

All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.

13. God will be a just judge, there is no impartiality with God. We see this in verses 11-13.
    1. We don’t get into Heaven simply based off of being “Raised in the Church.”
    2. I said this already but allow me to elaborate. At some age we must make our faith our own. I believe strongly that some never make their faith their own. Some are still committed to Jesus based off of the parents faith, grandparents or even further back in the heritage. We cannot be saved because of a tradition.
    3. Others laugh at your witness. They actually laugh. They laugh because they see through your hypocrisy. They see what you miss. They see that you are committed to a history of religion, not a relationship with Jesus.
    4. You are committed to a history of religion, not a relationship with Jesus.
    5. I know this because I see it too often and in my family.
    6. Then you wonder why your kids don’t go to church.
    7. How does this fit into this passage?
    8. The Jews thought they got a free ticket into Heaven by simply keeping the law.
    9. The Jews thought they got a free ticket into Heaven because they were circumcised.
    10. The Jews thought they got a free ticket into Heaven because they were Jewish.
    11. Nothing could be further from the truth.
    12. This is why verse 11 says God is not partial.
        1. Just because you are Jewish does not mean that you are Heaven bound.
        2. Or, just because you were baptized as a baby or dedicated or raised in the church or serve on a board or team or teach Sunday School or whatever else does not mean you are Heaven Bound.
    13. So verse 12:

All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.

1. The Gentiles are without the law and that is how they will be judged.
2. The Jewish people have the law and that is how they will be judged.
3. Later in verses 17-24 Paul turns his attention to the sinfulness of the people of God.
4. Then in verses 25-29 focus on the circumcision.
5. Many of you know that being circumcised was very important in Judaism. In that day and age the Jewish people would think they had a free pass to Heaven because of circumcision.
   1. Circumcision is of no value if you do not practice the law.
   2. Verse 26: if the uncircumcised man practices the law it is as if he is circumcised.

• Verses 27-29 are saying that circumcision and being a Jew is about the heart.

1. We see that God is the just judge. God is impartial and we all need Jesus.
2. This fits with the overall theme of Romans. Romans is all about salvation. We are saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8). We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Where are you at?

Are you committed to Jesus?

Share Jesus with everyone.

Walking Down the “Romans Road” to Salvation . . . .

• Because of our sin, we are separated from God.
  For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  (Romans 3:23)
• The Penalty for our sin is death.
  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
• The penalty for our sin was paid by Jesus Christ!
  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
• If we repent of our sin, then confess and trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we will be saved from our sins!
  For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.  (Romans 10:13)
  …if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9,10)[3]

Go and share the Gospel:

Pray

Go and share the Gospel:

[1] http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/45-20A/principles-of-gods-judgment-part-4a

[2] Janet Wise shared this with me in comments on the sermon.

[3] http://www.davidjeremiah.org/site/about/becoming_a_christian.aspx

[4] http://www.davidjeremiah.org/site/about/becoming_a_christian.aspx

I read recently:

I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “The Race to Nome.”

In January of 1925, Nome was this remote outpost, faced suddenly with a deadly outbreak of diphtheria, and virtually no vaccine to stop it. The National Health Department in Washington concluded “an epidemic of diphtheria is almost inevitable.” That meant up to 75% of the children in and around Nome could die.

Well, a train brought the needed antitoxin as far as the train could go – to Nenana. That’s 640 miles from Nome. From there, it had to be dog teams, taking the mail route that they called the Iditarod Trail. But that was usually a 25-day trip, and that was way too long to save the lives in Nome.

Knowing that their mission was life-or-death, the mushers and their dogs defied the weather; they defied the odds to do what had never been done before. Like the Pony Express, one team went as far as they could and then handed it off to another musher and his dogs. And history records that the winter of ’25 was one of the worst ever, with temperatures that plunged to 60 below. Then the blizzard closed in around them. The only doctor in Nome said, “All hope is in the hands of the dogs and their heroic mushers.”

At 5:30 in the morning on January 30, the final musher drove his dogs – and the serum – into the streets of a sleeping Nome. It took twenty men; it took 150 dogs to get it there. Amazingly, they made the trip in just five and a half days, breaking the world record, and more importantly, saving hundreds of lives.

The drama of that desperate race to Nome touches something deep inside me, because it’s a picture of a race for life where the stakes are even higher; a race that began on an old rugged cross 2,000 years ago. Our word for today from the Word of God in 1 John 3:16 and chapter 4, verse 9, says this: “Jesus Christ laid down His life for us that we might live through Him.” The news of His death for our sins and His game-changing resurrection – that’s the only “serum” that can save a person from a hellish eternity and give them heaven instead.

And from generation to generation that life-saving message has been entrusted into the hands of every person who’s been saved by hearing it. And today, it’s in my hands and the hands of every person who belongs to this Jesus.

Getting Jesus’ message to the people within my reach is not some casual, “get around to it sometime” thing. It is urgent beyond words. In the Bible’s words, it’s snatching “others from the fire” (Jude 23 ), it’s rescuing “those who are being led away to death,” it’s holding “back those who are being led away to slaughter” (Proverbs 24:11 ). People I know. People I see all the time. People whose forever depends on what I know about Jesus. They are one heartbeat away from meeting God. Waiting any longer to tell them is gambling with their eternity.

Somewhere along the way, the cause for which Jesus died has become, well, like the Iditarod, a spectator sport, lots of activity but no thought about the lives at stake. But those of us who’ve been saved by the serum of the Gospel are responsible before God to get that serum to those who are going to die without it. Jesus expects that the driving passion of His people and His Church, will be the passion that kept Him on the cross, “to seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10 ). In a very real sense, we hold their eternities in our hands.

It really is a race for life

So, this is the purpose of Romans. Romans is all about the Gospel. Romans is all about Paul getting the good news of our salvation out to the world. He wanted to spread the serum.

Let’s look at the thesis statement:

Read with me Romans 1:16-17:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.¹⁷ For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

Now, turn to Romans 15:20:

It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.

My theme and application:

Don’t be ashamed of the Gospel. Take the Gospel seriously.

1. Let’s look at Romans 1:16-17 and 15:20
   1. We already read them, but we can see a corresponding passage in 2 Timothy 1:12, turn there:

That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.

1. Verse 17 references “The righteous man shall live by faith and this is a quote from Habakkuk 2:4: The Righteous shall live by faith
2. Now, let me talk about these two verses with applications for us:

1. We must be also eager to preach the Gospel.
   1. Paul says that he is not ashamed. If we go back and look at verse 14 he says that he is under obligation to preach the Gospel to Greeks and Barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.
   2. Barbarians would be anyone who did not speak Greek. This is based off of their language.
   3. 1 Cor. 9:16 Paul writes: For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 
2. We must not be ashamed of the Gospel. Let’s make this more personal.
   1. We must not be ashamed at school.
   2. We must not be ashamed at work.
   3. We must not be ashamed in public.
   4. We must not be ashamed on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
   5. We must not be ashamed at church. At church? You are wondering what I mean by this. Even churches are compromising the Gospel. We are compromising the Scriptures and compromising our Savior.
3. We must proclaim the Gospel.
4. We must have a Gospel mindset, always praying and thinking of opportunities to share.
5. We must recognize the exclusivity of salvation and the inclusivity of the Gospel.
   1. The Gospel is the only means to salvation. So in that way Salvation is exclusive, only through Jesus. But the Gospel is inclusive, opened to all.
   2. John 3:16-18; 14:6

 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 

John 14:6:

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

1. So, get this in John 3:18, rejecting the Son means rejecting the Father.
2. Notice John 14:6: Jesus is the only way.

1. Luke 9:23:

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.

6. We must recognize that the Gospel represents the Power of God. I must be compelled to worship our Mighty Savior.
7. We must recognize that God’s righteousness is revealed. We are only righteous by faith in Christ. We are only right before God by faith in Christ. (Eph. 2:8-9) This must compel us to worship.
   1. This passage, this phrase “righteousness of God is revealed” has brought a lot of theological debate. I had a note in my Bible that says “our faith alone for salvation, not works.” I think that is key. Some would say this is talking about God’s righteousness in the way we are saved. Others would say that we only receive righteousness by trusting in Jesus. I really like both. God is righteous. But we only receive right standing before God by trusting in Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Close:

A bazaar was held in a village in northern India. Everyone brought his wares to trade and sell. One old farmer brought in a whole covey of quail. He had tied a string around one leg of each bird. The other ends of all the strings were tied to a ring which fit loosely over a central stick. He had taught the quail to walk dolefully in a circle, around and around, like mules at a sugarcane mill. Nobody seemed interested in buying the birds until a devout Brahman came along. He believed in the Hindu idea of respect for all life, so his heart of compassion went out to those poor little creatures walking in their monotonous circles.

“I want to buy them all,” he told the merchant, who was elated. After receiving the money, he was surprised to hear the buyer say, “Now, I want you to set them all free.”

“What’s that, sir?”

“You heard me. Cut the strings from their legs and turn them loose. Set them all free!”

With a shrug, the old farmer bent down and snipped the strings off the quail. They were freed at last. What happened? The birds simply continued marching around and around in a circle. Finally, the man had to shoo them off. But even when they landed some distance away, they resumed their predictable march. Free, unfettered, released . . . yet they kept going around in circles as if still tied.

Until you give yourself permission to be the unique person God made you to be . . . and to do the unpredictable things grace allows you to do . . . you will be like that covey of quail, marching around in vicious circles of fear, timidity, and boredom.

Excerpted from Day by Day with Charles Swindoll, Copyright © 2000 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. (Thomas Nelson Publishers). All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.

People need Jesus.

Do you see the Gospel as healing serum which people need?

Paul was not ashamed. He wanted to preach the Gospel. He wanted to preach to those who have never heard.

Let’s review the Romans road to Salvation:

Walking Down the “Romans Road” to Salvation . . . .

• Because of our sin, we are separated from God.
  For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  (Romans 3:23)
• The Penalty for our sin is death.
  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
• The penalty for our sin was paid by Jesus Christ!
  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
• If we repent of our sin, then confess and trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we will be saved from our sins!
  For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.  (Romans 10:13)
  …if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9,10)[1]

Go and share the Gospel:

[1] http://www.davidjeremiah.org/site/about/becoming_a_christian.aspx