Good evening, let's all stand
together. We'll sing hymn number 449. 449. So loved He the world that He
gave us His Son, Who yielded His life in atonement for sin,
And opened the life-gate that all may go in. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
let the earth hear His voice. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
let the people rejoice. O come to the Father, through
Jesus the Son, and give Him the glory, great things He hath done. O perfect redemption, the purchase
of blood to every believer, ? The promise of God ? The proudest
offender ? Who truly believes ? That moment from Jesus ? A
pardon receives ? Praise the Lord, praise the Lord Let the
earth hear His voice Praise the Lord, praise the Lord Let the
people rejoice O come to the Father Through Jesus the Son
And give Him the glory ? Great things he hath done ? Great things
he hath taught us ? Great things he hath done ? And great are
rejoicing ? Through Jesus the Son ? But pure and higher and
greater will be our wonder, our transport when Jesus we see. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Let the earth hear his voice. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Be seated, we'll sing hymn number
295. He leadeth me, O blessed thought,
O words with heavenly comfort fraught. What e'er I do, where
e'er I be, Still tis God's hand that leadeth me, He leadeth me,
He leadeth me, By His own hand He leadeth me. His faithful follower I would
be, For by His hand He leadeth me. Sometimes mid scenes of deepest
gloom, Sometimes where Eden's bowers bloom, By water still
or troubled sea, Still tears His hand that leadeth me. He leadeth me, He leadeth me,
By His own hand He leadeth me. His faithful follower I would
be, For by His hand He leadeth me. Lord, I would clasp Thy hand
in mine, Nor ever murmur nor repine, Content whatever lie. Since there's my God that leadeth
me He leadeth me, He leadeth me By His own hand He leadeth
me His faithful follower I would be, For by His hand He leadeth
me. And when my task on earth is
done, When by Thy grace the victory's won, In death's cold waves I
will not flee, Since God through Jordan leadeth me. He leadeth me, He leadeth me,
By His own hand He leadeth me. ? His faithful follower would I
be ? ? For by His hand He would lead me ? We'll start out in Romans 9 tonight
and I'll finish up the introduction. But
I'll read the first eight verses of Romans
9. I say the truth in Christ, I
lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost.
that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself
were accursed or separated from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen,
according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertaineth
the adoption and the glory and the covenants and the giving
of the law, the service of God and the promises. whose are the
fathers, of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is
over all, God blessed forever. Amen. Not as though the word
of God hath taken none effect, for there are not all Israel
which are of Israel, neither because they are the seed of
Abraham are they all children, but in Isaac shall thy seed be
called. That is, they which are the children
of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children
of the promise are counted for the seed. Oh, our blessed, blessed, blessed
God, worthy to be praised, worthy to be worshipped, worthy to be
glorified, worthy to be honored, worthy to be worshiped. Oh God,
to bow down before you and worship you in spirit and in truth, to
have the Holy Spirit in our presence, to take the things of Christ
and show them to us. Oh, what a blessing that would
be if you'd be pleased to do that for us this evening. And
Lord, we pray for this service. Oh God, we need your presence.
We need your presence. I do. And I know these dear saints
do. I know they've worked today.
Some of them are very tired. Some of them bodies are weak.
Some of them frail. And there's those who are not
with us through sickness or because of your blessed providence. So
Lord, we ask for your mercies and blessings for Christ's sake
to be with us. Forgive us of everything that's
unlike you. Please have mercy on our brothers and sisters in
Christ. We pray for James. Lord who just had surgery, we
ask for your mercies to be given to him to meet his needs. And please bring glory to yourself
tonight. Have mercy upon our lost loved
ones. Keep your people as they travel. And we bless you and
praise you in Christ our Lord's name. Amen. Oh soul, are you weary and troubled? No light in this darkness you
see. There's light for a look at the
sea. and life more abundant and free. Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look
for His wonderful face, and the things of earth We'll grow strange
again In the light of His glory and praise Through death into
life everlasting He passed and we followed Him Over us sin no more hath come
in young, For more than conquers beyond. ? Your eyes upon Jesus ? ? Look,
for it is wonderful to see you here ? And the fields of earth will
grow strangely dim In the light of His glory and grace. His word shall not Then go to a world that is dying
His perfect salvation to tell Your eyes upon Jesus Look full
in His wonderful face And the things of earth will grow strange,
sweet dear It is. In the light of His glory and
grace. You know, salvation starts with
a look, look unto me and be you saved, all the ends of the earth. Looking, and it continues with
a look, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
And it will end with a look, looking for the blessed and glorious
appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Keep your
eyes, oh my, keep your eyes on Him. I'll try to finish up this second
introduction to Romans 9 through verse 16, but the apostle had
a particular order in which he generally followed. First of
all, he had his salutation, he introduced himself, Paul the
apostle, who he was in his office, and then he expressed his personal
feelings towards the people he was writing to. much he loved
them, how much he looked forward to seeing them, and hopefully
impart some spiritual gift between them. And then the SUBSTANCE
of the theme of his letters, the GOSPEL, the GOSPEL, you know,
the GOSPEL being the power of God unto salvation. And I tell
you, because in the GOSPEL God reveals His righteous nature,
His righteous character, and the way He GIVES righteousness
through the Lord Jesus Christ. And this righteousness of God
is apart from law, apart from works, apart from merit. And
I tell you, in fact, the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel
of faith as opposed to the righteousness of the law. God s righteousness,
I tell you this, everybody needs it. We ve proved before all Jew
and Gentile all have sinned, all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God, so everybody needs a righteousness. And then
God s wrath is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness. And I tell you what, and you
know how God provided His righteousness and how we get it? By Him giving
His blessed Son, He set Him forth as a perpetuation through faith
in His blood. And oh, bless His name. And we
receive it by faith. You know, Christ was made an
atoning sacrifice for us, and we receive it by faith, not by
doing, not by earning, not by personal worth. And He used Abraham
as an illustration. Abraham believed God. that was
before the law was given, that was before circumcision was given.
Abraham believed God, and God said, You are a righteous man.
And I tell you, God s righteousness is the power of God for believers,
for right now, and for all of our future while we re on this
earth, God s righteousness is. You know, it s the power of God
that God uses to set us apart, set us apart. We re not under
the law, But we re under grace, and I tell you what, in the gospel
of righteousness and the gospel being the power of God, it s
got the power to preserve us. Paul said, I am persuaded that
neither life nor death nor angels nor principalities or powers
shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is
in Christ. So it provides us a righteous right from the very
beginning. then it provides us grace to continue on, and then
it preserves us and will refuse us to let us go. Nothing shall
separate us from the love of God. That s how God s power is.
Once it saves you, it s got the power to keep you and preserve
you till you get all the way to glory. Oh, I believe that
with all my heart. But now I want to look at the
rest of this epistle, give you kind of a broad outline. And
you know, Chapter 9, 10, and 11 deals with Israel, deals with
the Rizro. And you know, I want to talk
about the Gospel of God s Righteousness as it relates to Israel. You
know, back years ago everybody s interested in what s going
to happen to the Jews. You know, right now, especially
since they re in war, I mean either you re for them or you
re against them, but it s ALWAYS been that way. But especially
the premillennials and them, they wanted to know what s going
to happen to the Jews, what s going to happen to the nation of Israel.
What does God intend to do with them? Well, the apostle tells
us in these next verses. What does God intend to do with
them? Now, there s some people that I ve heard them preach that
say, If you ever run across a Jew, pat him on the head and say,
God bless Jerusalem, peace be on Jerusalem. But Jerusalem s
no more holy than this place right here. That s the FACT of
it, and oh, I tell you, they want to know what God s going
to do with the Jews. And I tell you, there s people
that believe that every single Jew will be saved one of these
days. That s a real, true Jew, but
it s so hard to find some of them. But here it tells us, here
s the first thing they do. Israel rejects God s sovereignty. is rejects God s sovereignty.
You know the apostle, he said his heart was heavy here, and
he goes on to tell us his heart s heavy, and he s very sorrowful
concerning them, and they said, Well, why in the world ain t
God doing something for them? He said, Yes, let God be true,
and every man a liar. the scripture tells us here that
God makes a distinction between the spiritual and the naturalism,
and salvation is a matter of not human PREFERENCE, but of
the will of God and the sovereignty of God. Now, look what He says
down here again. He says, You know, it looks like
the Word of God s taken effect, but none effect, because it looked
like these Jews ain t going to be saved. But He says, and look
what He says here in verse verse 6 and verse 9, chapter 9, Not
as though the word of God taketh none effect, but it hath, for
they are not all Israel which are of Israel. Neither because
they are the seed of Abraham are they the children. But in
Isaac shall thy seed be called." You know, the Jews said when
our Lord told them, If you were of Abraham your father, you d
believe Me. And they said, We re not born of fortification,
we re Abraham s seed. He said, If you was Abraham s
seed, you d believe Me. But here our Lord Jesus, here
He talks about the children of promise. There's the children
of the flesh and the children of promise. And you know when
God took Israel out of Egypt, there's only two people over
the age of 20 that went into the promised land. Moses didn't
even get to go. You know why? They could have
went into the promised land in just a few days, but you know
why they went around and around and around and around and around
and around for 40 years? for God to kill children after
the flesh, and that s what happens. I mean, He makes a distinction
between the children of the flesh and the Spirit, and I tell you,
look what He goes on to say in verse 9, For this is the word
of promise. God made a promise. He made a
promise to Abraham, and He said, At time I will come, and Sarah
will have a son. He waited years and years and
years and years and years before he had that son. That son was
Isaac. That son was Isaac. Miracle-born. And then not only this, but when
Rebecca, Isaac's wife, remember how they went and got that bride
for Isaac? Well, it was Rebecca. And she
conceived by one, even by her father Isaac. Now watch, watch.
Here's where the Jews really miss it, right here. He said,
For the children, showing the difference between them, spiritual
and fleshly, for the children not being yet born, neither having
done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. And this
is just the opposite of what the elder is supposed to be the
firstborn and gets all the inheritance. But here it says the elder is
going to serve the baby. The elder s going to serve the
young. God s going to turn it upside down. And look what He goes to
say, As it is written, Jacob hath a love, Defal have I hated.
Well, they s going to start up and say, Well, that s not right.
And that s what the Jews say. It s not right. And you know
how they hated Christ. And he said, God said, he says
to Moses, I'll have mercy. He went all the way to Exodus
and every one of them Jews back in them days heard that. He come
down off that mountain and God said, I'll have mercy on whom
I'll have mercy. I'll have compassion on whom
I'll have compassion. It's not of him that willeth,
it's not of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
And oh my, and salvation, salvation's not a matter of being a Jew or
a Gentile, salvation's a matter of the sovereign will of God,
and God saves whom He will. He said, I love Jacob, but I
ain't having a thing in the world to do with Esau. And oh my, and
you know, and he even showed here, he said, they know exactly
what kind of power I've got. I raised up Pharaoh to do one
thing, to destroy him, to put him in the, drown him in the
Red Sea. And oh, my! So whether salvation,
in salvation or reprobation, God Almighty is free and sovereign. And I tell you, He called the
Gentiles and He said, There be a remnant, a remnant be saved. And oh, look what He goes on
to say down here at verse 20. Oh, man, why do you reply against
God? Shall the form they say to him
that formeth? Why, if he made me thus? Doth
the potter have power over the clay? of the same lump to make
one vessel of honor and another to dishonor? Who can do that? God said, I ll make one of honor
and another dishonor. He does that. He does that. Why in the world out of all my
family, I had three uncles, and I had I don t know how many on
my mother s side, I mean, oh, way on back under, whoa, way
on back out of all the people in my family,
I m the only one that God singled out. That s a mysterious thing, ain
t it? Why is that? Because God chooses to save whom
He will, and now He goes on to show us here. Then He calls the
Gentiles, and look what He says down here in verse 27, talking
about Jews. We re talking about the Jews
and God s righteousness, Gospel. They reject God s sovereignty.
They reject God s sovereignty. They KNEW that God had all power.
And look what it says here in verse 27, Isaiah crieth concerning
Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as
the sand of the sea, just a remnant is going to be saved. Just a
remnant. just a remnant. That s all that
s going to happen. That s all that s going to happen.
And oh, I tell you, so they reject God s sovereignty, and I tell
you, God Himself leaves them to themselves. And then here
s another thing about Israel, Israel s rejection to God in
relation to their own responsibility. You know, they had everything. They had the prophets, They had
the law, they had the Word of God, they were a chosen people,
they were adopted above all the rest of the nations. And oh,
what did they do? Oh, the true explanations right
here in front of us. Oh my, God rejected them because
of their unbelief and disobedience. Look what He says down here in
verse 30. What shall we say then? Now here's
the difference. What shall we say then? except
God had left us a seed, we had been like Sodom and Gomorrah.
And he's talking about the Jews now. What shall we say then,
that the Gentiles, that's us, not Jews, Gentiles, which followed
not after righteousness, we didn't know anything about it, have
attained a righteousness, even the righteousness which is of
faith. But now look at the difference between Israel and us, the Israel
and those that believe. But Israel, which followed after
the law of righteousness have I not ATTAINED to the law of
righteousness." And what s the difference? Because they didn
t seek it by faith, they sought it by the works of the law. Why
did they do that? They stumbled over Christ. They
stumbled over the Lord Jesus Christ. And oh, my, And so these
fellas, you know, the Gentiles attained righteousness, Israel
didn t. You know, remember when Paul
said in Galatians, no, Philippians, he said, After the righteousness
of the law I was blameless. I was blameless. And And when
a person's blameless, when he looked at the law, he said, and
they're not just talking about the moral law, they're talking
about every ceremony, every ritual, every Sabbath day, every holy
day, every new moon, every feast, three feasts a year, all the
things that a person has to do to fulfill the law. But the scripture
also said, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things
written in the book of the law. So if a fella, he goes out here,
he said, I m going to work, work, work, work, I m going to keep
the law, and I ll have a righteousness. God said, Israel, You stumbled
over that. You stumbled over Christ. He
s the righteousness of God and the only righteousness God s
got for anybody, and you will not have that righteousness,
which he goes on to say here in verse 3 of chapter 10. You know, there s a great difference.
I tell you what, people, I ve said this before, I m a true
son of Abraham, I really, truly am. I know several Jews, I mean
people that are Jews, They fly the Jewish flag, they attend
Jewish synagogues. I know four, I believe three
or four right now, and I converse with them occasionally, and they
STILL, STILL go to the synagogues. They STILL go to listen to rabbis.
They STILL go and deal with the law. But look what he said here, so
they stumbled, they sought righteousness by the works of the law. And
look what he said here in verse 3 of chapter 10, and here s the
reason, they had a zeal for God. I mean, they loved to pray standing
in the street corners, they loved to pray long prayers, they loved
to tithe, and they loved to do pray men of anise and cumin,
but they being IGNORANT, IGNORANT of God s righteousness, That
s the thing that almost everybody you run across in this world
is IGNORANT of, the righteousness of God. What IS the righteousness
of God? They re IGNORANT of it! How can
you be IGNORANT of the righteousness of God? Somebody s got to tell
you about it! that s what the gospel does,
it reveals the righteousness of God, and so they re being
IGNORANT of God s righteousness. How do you know? That they re
going about to establish their own righteousness. How do they
do it? By law-keeping, by works, by merit, by worth. Oh, it s a sad, sad thing. Oh,
my, it s a sad thing. And they re going about to establish
their own righteousness, And listen to this, have not submitted
themselves unto the righteousness of God. I'm not going to bow
to God's righteousness. And there's people, I have kin
folks, I have kin folks that told me that. I don't want your
religion. I don't want to hear about you,
Jesus. I don't want to hear about what you got to say. Herman's brothers, I tried to
talk to them, one getting ready to have a heart surgery, and
I tried to talk to him. He grinned and he said, I don't
want to hear it. They want to hear it. Bruce Crabtree's
dad, he told it right here. He said, Son, Bruce, you know
how Bruce is and how tender he is, how sweet he is. He begged
his dad, his dad getting ready to die. And he talked to him,
go down and stay with him days at a time and preach the gospel
to him. And he told him, Dad, you're
going into eternity. There's only one righteousness
that God will accept, and that's the righteousness of Christ.
He says, son, I'd be scared to death to face God with just that
righteousness. I've got to have some of my own
and I won't let it go. Establish your own righteousness. Go into eternity with your own.
I'VE WORKED FOR THIS, I'VE EARNED THIS, I'VE GOT THE RIGHT TO THIS,
I'VE LIVED RIGHT, I'VE BEEN GOOD PERSON, I'M NOT THAT BAD, I'M
A GOOD PERSON, I'M A GOOD MAN, I'M A GOOD WOMAN, AND THAT'S
WHAT THE JEWS SAID, WE'RE GOOD! And that's why they said they
hated Him without a cause. Oh my, they go about to establish
their own, but here's the thing that they wouldn't submit to.
We got to have the law, we can't let the law go. And look what
he said here, Christ is the goal, the fulfillment of the law for
righteousness. To the person that works for
it, person that goes to Moses for it, person that goes to the
law for it, person goes to ceremonies for it, no. to everyone that
believes. Oh my, everyone that believes. And I tell you, Jew and Gentile
are equal right here. The gospel has to be preached
to all of them. Look down here in verse 12, Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10. If the Jews
would listen to the message and heed the message, the reason
they don't is their own fault. And because of the sin, look
what he said here in verse 12, for there is no difference between
the Jew and the Greek for the same Lord over all is rich upon
all that call upon him. He's rich, if you're a Jew, you
call on him, he'll hear you. You're a Jew, Gentile, call on
him, he'll hear you. He's rich, he's rich to all that
call. And then next verse says, for
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord be saved. saved. Oh my, and I tell you what, the
Jews won't listen, it's their own fault, it's their own fault.
Look down in verse 16, chapter 10. You know he talked about preaching
the gospel and how beautiful the feet of them that preach
the gospel and bring glad tidings of good things. But he says,
But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah saith,
Lord, who hath believed, I report, Who hath believed our report?
Who hath hearing us? Who hath believed our preaching?
Who has believed it? And he says, for they have not
all obeyed. And oh my, and he said, so he preached the gospel
and hearing by the word of God. But he said, have they not heard?
Oh yes, they've heard. Yes, they've heard the gospel.
Yes, the sound went into all the earth. God taught right from
the very beginning that there ain t but one way to be saved,
through the blood and righteousness of a substitute. And I tell you,
the words that went into the ends of the world, and everywhere
you look you can see where God s been, and then look what God
said about Israel. But I say, Did not Israel know?
Oh, yes, they knew. Moses said this to them, said,
I m going to provoke you, Israel, to jealousy by them that are
no people. You know, there was a time that
we didn't, God, the only people He had was Israel. But He said,
I'm going to take another people. And He called them, He says that
they were a nation that had never been existed
before, and a jealousy of people that are no people, a foolish
nation, and I'm going to anger you by them. And you know they
were called a holy nation. Now, we're a holy nation, a peculiar
people. called out of darkness into his
marvelous light. And Isaiah went on, and was very
bold, and said, I was found to them that sought me not. That's
us. We wasn't seeking him. We wasn't
seeking him. But he was found. He was found,
and listen to this. I was made manifest to them,
didn't even ask after me. We wasn't looking for me and
didn't ask for me. But I manifested myself to them
anyway. But look what he says to Israel, all day long, God
said, all day long, I've stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient,
and you know what that word gainsaying means? Denying. See, everything
right's about us, everything's wrong with Him. And they deny
the disobedient and deny God. And so they rejected because
of their unbelief and disobedience. And I tell you, we've all got
to have the same gospel. And let me tell you about the
future. Everybody thinks that the future, what's going to happen
to the future of Israel. But the future of Israel, God,
I'm going to tell you something. God's not forgotten His people.
Look what He said here in chapter 11. I say then, hath God cast away
His people? God forbid. I also am an Israelite. I am of the seed of Abraham,
of the tribe of Benjamin. And he said, God hath not cast
away his people, which he foreknew. Don t you know what the scripture
saith of Elijah, how he maketh intercession to God for Israel?
And look what he says, Lord, they ve killed all your prophets,
every single one of them. Tore down your altars, And I'm
left by myself. But what did God say to him?
Here's that remnant again. Here's that remnant again. I've
reserved to myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to
the image of Baal. And this is what he said. You
know, there's millions of Jews, but he only kept 7,000. Look
what he said. even at this present time there
also is a remnant according to the election of grace." A remnant,
just a remnant. We buy remnants, we bought carpet
remnants and we use them to walk on in our house, remnants, things
that they just had little pieces left over, and that s all they
said. God said, Out of all these people,
going to cut me out of a little bit of peace over here, and that
s my remnant. That s all He s going to save,
and that s the Jews He s talking about, and oh, my! And He goes on down here to say,
Even so, and in verse, at this present time, there is a remnant
according to the election, and if it s by grace, and if it s
by grace, it s the elections of grace, Then no more works,
forget your works, he's saying. Otherwise, grace is not really
grace. But if it's of works, then forget grace. Otherwise,
work is no more work. Israel have not attained it,
that which he seeks for, but the election hath attained it.
And God said, I blinded the rest of them. Oh, my. But I tell you, all Israel will
be saved. All of them will be saved. Is
that what it says down here in verse 27? And I don t know how
to, I don t want to belabel this point, but I mean people are
really interested in what the Jews are going to do. All Israel
will be saved. And you know what, when it says
in verse 27, For this is my covenant unto them, and in verse 26, excuse
me, And so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, Thou
shalt come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness
from Jacob." Jacob, God s elect, and that s what He s talking
about. And He says, For this is the covenant that I will make
with them, when I shall take away their sins. So I tell you
what, all Israel will one of these days be saved, all of them,
but the rest God blinded them. And here s another In chapter 11 here, I want you
to see this. This is just, this is the long
and short of it right here. Well, then because of unbelief,
they were broken off. We stand by faith. So don't be
high minded because God gave you faith, but you be fearful. you be fearful. And then look
what he says down in verse 23. And they also, if they abide
still not, and if they abide not still in unbelief, shall
God not graft them back in? But it's unbelief, it's unbelief,
it's their problem. And I do know this, let me tell
you this, God has never saved one soul, not one soul, from
the creation of this world till the end of this world, without
his faith in his blessed son and by his son alone. He never
has saved anybody. Moses was saved looking to Christ.
Abraham was saved looking to Christ. Noah was saved by the
grace of God. Everybody that's ever been saved
was saved by the grace of God. And I tell you what, not one
soul has ever been saved apart from faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ and His atoning death, and no Jew or Gentile will ever
be saved except that way. God's NEVER, NEVER changed His
gospel. Galatians 3 says this, Abraham
had the gospel preached before him. Had the gospel preached
before him. Where did he have the gospel
preached before him? Went up on that mountain, take his son
up there to make him an offering. And Paul Mayhead said somebody's
ram that he had in a pen got out, got to the top of that mountain,
got caught in a thicket. But anyway, he getting ready
to kill him, and he put that ram, and he's dead. That's the
gospel. the ram, the lambs put in our
stead. And Abraham and Isaac came back
down off that mountain. They went up there and worshiped
and come back down off that mountain. And that's what we do. We went
up to the mountain. We went up where Christ was crucified.
We've seen the lamb slain. We've seen his blood shed. We've
seen him suffering on our room instead. And God put him on the
altar in our room and place. and we come down off the mountain
after we worshipped Him. That s the only way it can be.
And let me hurry on and tell you this. Go to chapter 12, talk
about the gospel of God s righteousness is to be manifested in how we
live every day, every day. The gospel has an effect upon
us. Look what it says, I beseech
you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present
your bodies a living sacrifice, a holy sacrifice, an acceptable
sacrifice unto God, and ask ye reasonable service. Don t be
conformed to this world, be ye transformed by the renewing of
your mind, that ye may prove the good, acceptable, and perfect
will of God. I tell you what he s talking
about here, the believing life as it relates to God. And I tell
you, he said LIVING sacrifices, the motive to give ourselves
up to Christ. And I tell you, I used to get
out an ink pen and I say, Boy, you know, we need to get up every
morning and say, Lord, I give myself again to you. This morning
I give myself to you, Get to the end of the day, Lord, I gave
myself to you. I'll give myself again to you
through the night. And that's what he's talking about. You
know, not dead sacrifice, living sacrifices. We give our hearts,
our souls, our being and everything we've got. It's Christ, it belongs
to him. And he said, I beseech you by
the mercies of God. Oh, my, how many mercies has
God given us! How VAST are God s mercies, all
given to us through our Lord Jesus Christ, and given to us
for Christ s sake! And look at the gospel and the
believer s life about the body of Christ. Look what He said
down in verse 4, For as we have many members in
one body, and all members have not the same office, You know,
our bodies have lots of members. Two hands, two eyes, two ears,
two feet, two legs, eyes, ears, head, tongue, mouth. Oh, we're made up of a lot of
things. But look, he said, but we're one body. So we being many,
many, many, many, are one body in Christ. And here's the thing
about every one of us as members one of another. Just like this
arm is part of my body, we're all members one of another. We're
all joined together. We're in Christ, joined together
into one body. And then everybody's got different
gifts, different gifts. Houston's got gifts, all of you
have different gifts. I think Brad's got an incredible
gift of prayer. I think God, he's been so blessed
to pray. And there's other folks that's
blessed to give and other folks are blessed to pray. Other folks
are blessed to be great encouragement to people and be a comfort to
them, but there's different gifts. And oh my, look what we're supposed
to be one toward another down there in verse 10. Romans 12, 10, Be kindly affectioned
one to another, with brotherly love and honor, preferring one
another. Oh, preferring one another. Oh, my. And then let me give
you this. You know, our thing to one another
is to love one another, be good to one another, distribute to
one another, and pray for one another. But then look in chapter
13 and we'll look at the believer's life as it relates to the state
and to government. You know we live in governments,
we got a local government, we got a county government, got
county commissioners, then you got city government, a mayor
and all of that kind of people, and you've got all these elected
officials. We've got law people. We've got
sheriffs and we've got policemen. So we've got all this government.
Then we've got the federal government. We've got the state government.
And here's all this government, and look how we're supposed to
do with it. Now, for local government, I'll
let ever so be subject to the higher powers. For there is no
power but of God. The powers that be are ordained
of God. I wished I really, really believed
that. I really wished I did. Because
I tell you, oh. Whosoever there resists the power,
resists the ordinance of God. And they that resist shall receive
to themselves damnation. Rulers are not a terror to good
works. but to the evil. Don t be afraid
of the power. You know, if you do that which
is good, you ll have praise of the same. I mean, you know, you
get stopped by a cop, be honest with them. And I tell you, he
s just a minister of God to thee for good, to protect you and
preserve you. That s what they re supposed
to do. But if you do that which is evil, BEARETH NOT THE SWORD
IN VAIN, FOR HE IS THE MINISTER OF GOD, A REVENGER, TO EXECUTE
WRATH UPON HIM THAT DOETH EVIL." That's why our prisons are so
full, because of that, because of that. And we're citizens as
well as church members, and God help us, we must obey the temporal
powers and give them the due. And then let me show you this
in chapter 14. There are two types of people
in a congregation. There is the weak, he said in
verse 1, him that is weak in the faith, you receive him, but
don't you doubt him, don't set judgment on him, don't you doubt
him and argue with him over his weak faith. For one believes
that he may eat, eat all things, eat everything that there is.
Another who is weak, he's got to eat herbs, he's got to be
a vegetarian. So let not him that eateth the
one that can eat anything he wants to, that not despise him
that don't eat, because he's got a weak conscience. And O
let not him which eateth not judge him that does eat, for
God's received both of them, both of them. And O am I, who
art thou that judgest another man's servant? To his own master,
to Christ, he stands or falls. GOD'S ABLE TO MAKE HIM TO STAND.
AND HERE IT USES ANOTHER ILLUSTRATION. ONE MAN ESTEEMS ONE DAY ABOVE
ANOTHER. THERE'S PEOPLE THAT, YOU KNOW, SUNDAY'S EVERYTHING.
EASTER, YOU KNOW, EASTER'S COMING ALONG, EASTER'S GONNA BE, OH,
THEY'RE GONNA STEAM THAT DAY LIKE YOU WOULDN'T BELIEVE. CHRISTMAS
DAY, OH, THEY STEAM THAT DAY MORE. TWO DAYS OUT OF THE YEAR,
THEY ESTEEM MORE THAN ANY OTHER. EASTER AND CHRISTMAS. AND THEY GOTTA GET, Well, I won't
get into that. They can do what they want to
with it. If you've got little kids and you want to make them Easter
baskets, help yourself. I'm going to do like the Bible
says. You know, you'll stand or fall by the Lord Jesus. But
oh, he goes on to say, and another esteems every day exactly the
same. Every day is the same to Him. Every day is God s day. Every day is the Lord s day,
not just Sunday, not just Wednesday, every day. But let every man
be fully persuaded. If he regards the day, he regards
unto the Lord. If he has one day that he esteems,
he regards unto the Lord. And he regardeth not the day,
he don t regard to the Lord. And oh my! So no man lives to
himself, or dies to himself. And oh my! And then let me get
over here in Romans chapter 15. I got to hurry. I got to hurry. I'll tell you
this. And here he goes and he gives
us the relation to particular situations and things. And here's
the first thing he tells us. We then that are strong ought
to bear the infirmities of the weak and not to please ourselves.
There are people that are weak, that are weak, and all of us
don't please ourselves. Let every one of us please his
neighbor for his good, to edify him, build him up in the faith.
And he uses it, Christ again, he says, but Christ please not
himself, please not himself. And oh my, so what we need to
do is You know, now the God that whatsoever things are written
aforetime were written for our learning. And He says, Oh my! And look what He said in verse
5, Now the God of patience and the God of consolation grant
you to be like-minded one toward another according to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Whatever Christ thinks of us,
we ought to think that of one another. That's what He's telling
us right here. And Oh my! So let's go down in verse 13,
look what he says here, and he said, Oh, may the, may the, now
the God of hope fill with you, all of you with all joy and peace
in believing that you may abound in hope through the power of
the Holy Ghost. And all my, so the key is that
we do what like Christ did, you know, Christ bore us, let us
bear one another, let s bear one another s reproaches. And
then let me wind it up here in chapter 15, verse 14. Paul s
given the REASON expressing his personal feelings toward these
people. And he said, I myself, brethren,
am persuaded of you, that you are full of goodness, You're
full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able to admonish
one another, to instruct one another. But I've written, oh,
I've written some boldness towards you that my ministry might be
acceptable to you Gentiles by the Holy Ghost there in verse
16, ministering the gospel of God. And oh, listen, he says,
in verse 18, listen to what he says here. For I will not dare
to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought
by me, to make the Gentiles obedient by word and deed. And he said
in the last part of verse 19, I fully preached the gospel everywhere
I went, the gospel of Christ. And here's what he says, Yea,
I have strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was
named, because I don't want to preach on another man's foundation.
I don't. I don't want to preach on another
man's foundation. And then he goes down here and look what
he says in verse 727, he says, You know, he said, It
hath pleased them verily that, and their debtors, for the Gentiles
have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duties
also to minister unto them in carnal things. If you re blessed
to help somebody out, then you partake of the spiritual things. And then he says here in verse
29, And I am sure that when I come to you, oh, what a statement
here, I am sure that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness
of the blessing of the gospel of Christ. Now I beseech you,
brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love
of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in your prayers
to God, that I may be delivered from the JOYS, and I may come
by the will of God, and with you be refreshed. And then look
what he shows us here in Galatians chapter 16, and all this is here
is he's telling, saluting all the people that he knew, the
people that was blessing to him in his life. And the first thing
he says, I commend unto you, Phoebe, our sister, A SERVANT
OF THE CHURCH WAS A CITIAN GREEK. He's at Gaius' house when he
wrote this letter. Phoebe was the one who brought
the letter to the Romans. She carried this letter over
to the Romans. And he says, Receiver in the
Lord, a sister in whatsoever. And he goes down through here
and he names all these people and how what a blessing they've
been to him and all the things. And then he warns us of one thing.
One thing in verse 17 and 18, and it says here, Now I beseech you,
brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary
to the doctrine which you've learned. When somebody comes
in and starts causing trouble and causing divisions and setting
people against one another and bringing offense contrary to
the doctrine of grace, contrary to the doctrine of Christ that
you've learned, avoid them, avoid them. For they that are such
serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly. They want
to eat it up on their own flesh, and by good words and fair speeches
deceive the simple. For your obedience has come abroad
unto all, and I'm glad therefore on your behalf, but I would have
you wise, listen to this now, under that which is good. You
need to be wise under that which is good. and simple concerning
evil. Know the difference between what's
right and what's wrong. And then here's the last thing
he says, and the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your
feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you. Amen. Amen. And he closed with
this statement, opened up with the gospel and he closes with
the gospel. Now in verse 25, now unto him, THAT IS OF POWER
TO ESTABLISH YOU ACCORDING TO MY GOSPEL AND THE PREACHING OF
JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO THE REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY WHICH
WAS KEPT SECRET SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD, BUT NOW IS MADE
MANIFEST BY THE SCRIPTURES." And you know, let me give you this in closing.
I'm done, but let me tell you this. And I am done. Let me give you this in closing. SIN is mentioned 58 times in
the book of Romans. LAW AND WORKS, 57 times. RIGHTEOUSNESS AND JUSTIFY, 49
times. FAITH AND BELIEF, 55 times. THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, 37 times. GRACE, GIFT AND MERCY, 36 times. And Old Testament scriptures
are mentioned 62 times out of 16 chapters. 62 times. Our Father, in the blessed name
of Christ our Lord, I thank you for your Word. Sorry I have to rush through
it so quickly. But Lord, you know what we need.
You know what time has allotted us. And I pray that you'd be
pleased to make this fruitful, make this edifying and good to
the hearers, food for their heart and food for their soul. And
Lord, bless it to our understanding. And God, enable me to deal with
these scriptures honestly, truly, and deal with them in a spiritual
truth, spiritual things. Never ever talk about this flesh
and what it got to contribute nothing to our salvation. Our Lord Jesus Christ is truly
our all in all. God bless these dear saints as
they go their way. Give them strength and grace
and abundance of mercy for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Amen. Good night and God bless
you.