Sermon Notes 11-29-2015

The Road to Romans!

The hard way (impossible way) or the easy way (the only way)

Romans 10:5–11 (NLT)

⁵For Moses writes that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands.

⁶But faith’s way of getting right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven?’ (to bring Christ down to earth).

⁷And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead?’ (to bring Christ back to life again).”

⁸In fact, it says, “The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.” And that message is the very message about faith that we preach:

⁹If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

¹⁰For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.

¹¹As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”

The Jews were at a crossroad, the hard way (their old way of doing things) that was impossible. Or the easy way (the only way to heaven through Christ). Paul continues to show them through the old Testament that God had reveled his plan to them and they didn’t see it. This reinforces to us to keep in Gods word, stay close to him.

The hard way!

⁵For Moses writes that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands.

·      Keeping all the commands

·      Never straying

·      Never breaking just one little law

·      EVER

Gut check time!

·      How are you doing?

·      You shall have no other gods before Me.'

·      You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.'

·      You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.'

·      Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.'

·      Honor your father and your mother.'

·      You shall not murder.'

·      You shall not commit adultery.'

·      You shall not steal.'

·      You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.'

·      You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.'

So how are you doing?

·      Ever break any

·      How about today?

·      Without Jesus, this is the only other way

·      And its impossible

Jesus said:

Matthew 22:36–40 (NLT)

³⁶“Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”

³⁷Jesus replied, “ ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’

³⁸This is the first and greatest commandment.

³⁹A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

⁴⁰The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

Where are you at with the saving Grace of Jesus?????

The easy way!

⁶But faith’s way of getting right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven?’ (to bring Christ down to earth).

⁷And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead?’ (to bring Christ back to life again).”

Its not hard!

He is again quoting the old (Deuteronomy 30;11-14)

·      You don’t have to go looking for it

·      Try to be perfect

·      You don’t need to have someone intercede for you

·      The way through Jesus is the path of least resistance

·      And unfortunately the path less traveled

·      There is scripture throughout the old testament pointing the way

Isaiah 35:8 (NLT)

⁸And a great road will go through that once deserted land. It will be named the Highway of Holiness. Evil-minded people will never travel on it. It will be only for those who walk in God’s ways; fools will never walk there.

·      Its forecasting a time when Jesus will usher in a new and perfect redemption

·      Its laying the foundation for a new way, a new purpose

·      Its setting the stage for Gods continuing ever evolving plan

The word is near you!

He is telling of a time when the holy spirit will descend upon all who believe!

⁸In fact, it says, “The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.” And that message is the very message about faith that we preach:

three scripture point to this!

Deuteronomy 30:14 (NLT)

¹⁴No, the message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it.

Jeremiah 31:33 (NLT)

³³“But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

Isaiah 59:21 (NLT)

²¹“And this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit will not leave them, and neither will these words I have given you. They will be on your lips and on the lips of your children and your children’s children forever. I, the Lord, have spoken!

Jesus said it!

Luke 17:21 (NLT)

²¹You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you.”

Matthew Henry: When we speak of looking upon Christ, and receiving Christ, and feeding upon Christ, it is not Christ in heaven, nor Christ in the deep, that we mean; but Christ in the promise, Christ exhibited to us, and offered, in the word.

·      Its not what you do

·      Or how you act

·      Or what you wear

·      Its who words are on your heat

·      That speaks for you, when you cant

·      We need to be

o   Looking for Jesus

o   We need to receive Jesus

o   We need to feed on the life of Jesus for our nourishment

o   We need to be thirsty of everything Jesus!

The key to it all!!!!!

Romans 10:9 (ESV)

⁹because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

·      Confess

·      Repent

·      Believe

·      Jesus does the rest!

·      How simple is that!

·      No more pretending to be something you’re not

·      No more boxes to check

·      No more guilt

·      No more same

·      Just the light of Jesus, covering your sin, your mistakes, your blemishes

·       

¹⁰For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.

·      WOW!

·      Its always been a heart issue

·      Searching your own heart

·      Dealing with Jesus one on one

·      Letting him in

·      Believing with everything you have that he is the answer

Back to what Jesus said!

Romans 10:11 (ESV)

¹¹For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”

·      No more worrying about what everyone else thinks

·      The most important relationship you will ever have is Jesus

·      The first person you get advice from

·      The one you lean on

·      The one you count on

·      Other may fail you, Jesus wont

·      All he wants is your whole heart!

Sermon notes 11-22-2015

The Road to Romans!

The End of the law

Romans 10:1–4 (ESV)

¹Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.

²For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

³For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

⁴For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

There is a lot in these 4 verses, its about how the old way of doing things (living by the law) and a new era of (Gospel centered faith) has been ushered in. but there is much more. And today we are going to see how Paul is a great example of how we as Christians are to act toward a hostile world, and even closer to home, how we are to treat loved ones and friends that aren’t followers!

What is your hearts desire?

¹Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.

Paul’s desire!

·      With out desire, our prayer is meaningless

·      The soul of prayer comes from the hearts desire

·      He desired that the Jews be saved

·      From the heart he says

And its God desire for us all!

2 Peter 3:9 (NLT)

⁹The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.

·      God could show us all what we deserve

·      He could dole out his wrath

·      But he doesn’t

·      And that should be a shining example for us all!

·      A lesson in patients

What is your hearts desire for your mission field God has given you?

·      What is your desire for those God has put in your path??

·      What do you long for deep in your heart?

o   Salvation?

o   Or are people just a means to a end?

·      We have to learn from Paul that we should first and foremost desire salvation for everyone God puts in our path!

Then he prayed

·      Your hearts desires must be vocalized in prayer

·      You take action first in prayer

·      Giving to God

·      Getting Guidance from the Spirit within you

·      Reach deep down to your deepest desires for those God has put in your path

·      Not the ones you want, but the ones God places deep with in you

After he found his desire, and prayed then he put it in to action!

²For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

·      He was a good witness, see the action?

·      He put his desires and prayers in to action

From Matthew Henry:

The unbelieving Jews were the most bitter enemies Paul had in the world, and yet Paul gives them as good a character as the truth would bear. We should say the best we can even of our worst enemies; this is blessing those that curse us. Charity teaches us to have the best opinion of persons, and to put the best construction upon words and actions, that they will bear. We should take notice of that which is commendable even in bad people.

·      We can’t simply attack the world

·      We have to find the good in them and bring it out

·      Paul says “they have zeal for God”

·      Thou misplaced, is gives them some credit

·      You can’t be argumentative and hard hearted and win souls

·      We never compromise the Gospel, but we find the good in them

Zeal without knowledge is dangerous!

VS2 they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge

·      They had all the zeal for God

·      But no knowledge of what god’s true plan was

·      That is a dangerous place

·      God ushered in phase two and they didn’t even see it

·      The promised Messiah was right in fornt of them

·      And they missed it

So what in Gods word, his plan for us do we miss??

·      Are we so zealous for part of the word that we miss the most important part

·      Do we over look, what Gods plan calls for?

·      Showing Grace

·      Mercy

·      Compassion

·      Loving the unlovable

·      Paul was talking to his enemies and was trying to save them

·      Do we??

o   Stop looking down your nose

o   Fall on your knees

o   Love those God puts in your path

·      Don’t compromise the Gospel

o   Jesus didn’t

o   But he showed it in a loving way

o   Can you?

  

They had a submission issues!

³For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

I see two major problems here! Ignorance and pride!

1. Ignorance

·      They didn’t fully understand Gods word

·      The true law

·      They went off half cocked

·      Sound familiar?

o   I have got in to more issues with people over their lack of knowledge of the bible

o   They have sound bits

o   Or heard a sermon on one thing and totally miss the point

o   And it is pure ignorance

·      We fix that by being humble and studying Gods word

2. Pride!

·      They sought to establish their own righteousness

·      Through their own works

·      They were full of pride in them selves

Mark 7:22–23 (NLT)

²²adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.

²³All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”

Proverbs 11:2 (NLT)

²Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

Proverbs 16:18 (NLT)

¹⁸Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.

·      Proud people fall

·      We get all wrapped up in ourselves

·      The church is the worst

·      We look down on people

·      We are ignorant to what Jesus calls us to do

·      And we let pride slip in

One thing fixes it all Submission!

·      We as Christian deny ourselves

·      We mean nothing with out Christ

Luke 9:23 (NLT)

²³Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me.

Paul knew this to well!

(read) Philippians 3:4-9

·      He lost his status

·      He lost his friends

·      He lost it all

·      And said it was all worth just knowing Jesus!

The end of an era

⁴For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

The design of the law was to lead people to Christ. The moral law was for the searching of the wound, the ceremonial law for the shadowing of the remedy; but Christ is the end of both

Moral Law

·      Showed us we need a savior

·      That we could not do it on our own

·      We can’t even keep the 10 commandments

·      And the Jew add 600 more, trying to fix something they could never fix!

·      Neither can we!

o   You will never be good enough

o   You will never be smart enough

Romans 6:23 (NLT)

²³For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Ceremonial Law

The sacrifices, and offerings, and purifications appointed under the Old Testament, foreshadowed Christ, and pointed at him; and their inability to take away sin discovered the necessity of a sacrifice that should, by being once offered, take away sin.

The sacrifices showed the coming of the lamb

·      The one true sacrifice

·      It was for told 700 years before his birth

·      After that all sacrifice are gone,

o   We need to stop trying to show the world how good we are

o   We need to show the world that Christ did it for us!

The offerings are gone

·      We don’t give out of need, we give out of want

·      We don’t help because we have to, but because we want to