All right brethren, if you will
let's open Romans 15. Romans 15. I was thinking when
this pandemic stuff started and so
many rules and restrictions and the church in the old days, this
ain't something new. We ain't all that special. We
want to be. We just ain't. Church in the
old days was persecuted. They was hanging people in the
streets, putting people's heads on pikes because they'd meet
to worship Christ together. And you know what they'd tell
folks if that old cop pulled them over, if that old centurion
got a hold of them, where you going? They'd say, we had a death
in the family. Is that the truth? We did, didn't
we? Our husband, has went to his
rightful place to the right hand of God. Our elder brother has
gone on before us. And we're going to sit around
and talk about it. Talk about what all he did. Where he's at
now. It just stuck with me today.
We're going to hopefully, Lord willing, stay in Romans this
evening. We'll be from chapter 1 to chapter
16, but we're going to be in Romans. It says in Romans 15
verse 13, Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace
in believing that you may abound in hope through the power of
the Holy Ghost. And I myself also am persuaded
of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled
with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. Paul was persuaded that these
brethren were giving saving faith in Christ. The Lord had given
them that through the power of the Holy Ghost, by the will of
the God of hope. He calls them my brethren. What's
our audience? Who's listening? Brethren. He's
talking to my brethren. He says, you are full of goodness. You're full of goodness. That's
fruit of the Spirit, isn't it? Love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. They're
full of goodness. There's none good but God, is
there? But He abides in my brethren. He abides in me. You who believe
Him, He abides in you. There is goodness in these believers
who Paul is writing to. And they are filled with knowledge.
They know all things. And you do too. You and I may
not have an understanding of all things, but we know all things. We have a knowledge of all things.
Christ Jesus is the Lord of Lords. He is the King of Kings. He rules
and reigns in all things. He is holy. We know Him. We follow Him. What else do we
need to know or do? We know all things. His sheep
hear His voice. He knows them and they follow
Him. He gives them eternal life and
they shall never perish. Rest. He commands peace in the
heart of His children. Having this goodness dwelling
in us, these brethren in Rome, you in here tonight who love
Him, have this knowledge of all things.
All things are of Him, through Him, and to Him. Having these
two things, we are able to admonish one another. Always consider
an admonishment to be a bold, daring thing, don't you? We'll see this next week. There
in verse 18 where it says, I will not dare to speak of any of those
things which Christ hath not wrought by me. These words are
just about the same. Many people I know, they get
very motivated and they get very excited when it's time to do
some admonition. Somebody's going to tell it like
it is. What if it's coming to us? We
may change our minds pretty quick, huh? But do we know what that means?
We can admonish one another. The Oxford Dictionary. You can
sit down with a Bible and a dictionary, can't you? The Oxford Dictionary
says that admonishing means to firmly disapprove or to firmly,
sternly warn someone, to chide them, to scold them harshly. You know what my concordant says
this Greek word means? To put in mind. To caution. to instruct to reprove gently. A dictionary and a concordance
cannot teach you what the heart of a believer is. God must. Those who are the least equipped
to admonish someone to gently reprove a brother or sister are
the first ones eager to do it. And they most often overdo it.
I'll say that one more time. Those who are least equipped
to admonish someone, a brother or sister, to gently correct
them are the first ones to do it and they most often overdo
it. Those that are most qualified,
those that are most equipped to admonish one of God's sheep
to correct one of His children, they are the least likely to
do so. They are the most hesitant to do so. Maybe if I keep my
mouth shut, Lord will fix this. You know which one's harder to
do? Keep your mouth shut. You pray to the Lord, keep my
mouth shut. Let him correct his children. They're the most hesitant
to do so. How quick throughout my life
How quick I've been to admonish someone in the modern word, in
the Oxford word, harshly. Knock it off. Far too quickly. My pastor growing
up, he said, never give advice unless it is asked for. And then
when they ask for it, only give it half the time. That's good
advice, isn't it? Unasked for advice is always
considered criticism. Unsolicited advice is always
taken as criticism. We would be pretty bold, pretty
daring to outright give someone harsh disapproval, but it would
take a great deal of boldness to give guidance gently. to reprove
tenderly. That's God-given tenderness to
be able to do so. That is the fruit of the Spirit
being gentle, peaceful, long-suffering to a brother or sister. God has
to give that. I want to be admonished. I want
the Lord to gently put me in mind, put me in my right mind,
stir up my pure mind. Someone that cannot bear being
admonished. Somebody that just can't take
any correction whatsoever to be put in mind. They have no
business admonishing anybody else. The Lord humbles us to
be receiving of that instruction. Paul tells these brethren, and
he tells me and you, though this goodness is dwelling in you,
though you've been given all knowledge, and you've been grown
in grace to the point that you can properly, gently reprove
another one of God's children, This is speaking to you mature
believers, not one that thinks they're mature, somebody that
is mature. That's who he's talking to. Paul says, even so, even
though you're so strong in the faith, nevertheless, verse 15,
nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto
you in some sort as putting you in mind, admonishing you, putting
you in mind because of the grace that is given to me of God. God
has given a great deal of grace to Paul to preach. And he has
boldly declared the gospel to him, this whole letter he's been
writing to the church at Rome. Some commentators say that they're,
where it says, in some sort putting you in mind, that's Paul apologizing
for being so bold. That's him apologizing for preaching
the gospel to him. Not so. I disagree. What he's
declared in this whole letter is not something to be sorry
for. He starts off telling us that in Romans 1.16, doesn't
he? He says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. I'm
not ashamed of it. I ain't apologizing. I hate if
it hurts your feelings. Sorry that that's the truth won't
happen. He said, I've written to you mature believers in some
sorts, in some parts of this letter, and I'm not fully giving
you both barrels, but in a manner, in a gentle way that puts you
in mind, puts you in the right mind. That's what he's writing
to us for. He has been bold in a few parts more than others
to admonish them, to stir up their pure minds gently. But
these are some hard sayings throughout this book of Romans, isn't it?
Yes, but to the believer, they're precious. To the believer, they're
good news. It's precious. They're the truth.
But to the unregenerated, that's an offense of the gospel. How
dare you say something like that? It's bold, daring statements.
There in our text in verse 15, that word bold, that's the adverb
for you people who like English. And then down in verse 18 where
it says, for I will not dare to speak of any of those things,
that's the verb. Same Greek word. That's whenever
we say, if he's speaking something bold, and we were to hear that,
and we say, how dare you say that? How bold of you, how forward
of you. He said some bold statements.
I want to go through, I want to look at one in each chapter.
We'll go through all 16 chapters. Proverbs 1. Here's one of the first bold
statements that Paul says, gives us. He says, God is. He is all-powerful and He deserves
all glory for who He is. That's a bold statement. Look
here in Romans 1, verse 20. For the invisible things of Him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead,
so that all are without excuse. God is. We can go outside, walk
out them doors, and look at his power and have full evidence
of his Godhead. We're sitting on a ball that's
doing 19,000 miles an hour in orbit around a sun that could
burn us if we're closer or freeze us if we're further away. What
would we do? Turn to ourselves and say, let's
make a God like us. We could figure this out better,
couldn't we? Put on funny underwear and little green men and all
kinds of nonsense. God has all power. He's God,
the Godhead of heaven and earth and the universe and you can
go outside and there's proof of it. There's evidence. People
say, well you've got to show me proof. There's a virus that
scares people to death in this nation and you can't see it.
Unless you've got a microscope. You can't see it. How do you
know it's there? It is because there's evidence.
There's proof of it, isn't it? Of it working. Of it doing something.
How do we know that God is? There's evidence. There's proof
of it. Go outside. Let the sun hit you.
You're taking vitamin D pills that give you 12,000 units of
vitamin D. Your body makes 23,000 units
an hour. You got to pay somebody for them,
don't you? Buy them out of Walmart. Walk
outside. Let the S-U-N hit you. He may
teach you something about the S-O-N. All men's without excuse,
ain't we? How bad is this being out of
excuse? Is it only this moral law of God? That's what it is.
Believe God. That's what Adam's charge was,
wasn't it? The Lord said, don't eat of that tree. That's an implied
task. We wake up, we're born, we go
outside, there's a sun, there's birds chirping on a tree. You
ought to worship God. And we don't. You broke the moral
law. That's all it is. give God the
preeminence in all things. How bad is this? Is it just those
things of God deserving honor and all things whether we know
it or not? It's a little worse than that.
Look at chapter 2, verse 1. Is our finger dipped in sin or
are we drowning in it? Here's a bold, daring statement
Paul gives us. All of mankind is sin. Everybody We don't, we say that. My mother
was so sweet to me in this world, so kind to me, so patient to
me, and she was a sinner and she'd have cut my throat if the
Lord took her hand off of it. She'd have boiled me and ate me just
like Israel did when they're surrounded. Everybody. Look here in Romans
2 verse 1. Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever
thou art that judgest. Whoa, wait a second. You ever
done that? Wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself.
For thou that judgest doest the same things." Anything we look
down our noses at. Guilty. What is that? That's pride. That's a proud
look. What's God hate? First thing
on the list, a proud look. If we ever say and we do a thousand
times a day, I wouldn't do that. Y'all not do that. Y'all do that
a different way. inexcusable. This is terrifying things. Inexcusable
before the Holy God. People shouldn't do those things.
We say, et cetera, et cetera is what I wrote down. It just
goes on, don't it? It doesn't stop. We are eternally
without excuse in front of the God of heaven and earth. Our
nation is going south quick, isn't it? This is where I'm building
you up, get you nodding north and south. Why? I'm going south. I'm in it. And millions just
like me. 375 million people just like
me. Ain't no different. Boy, this
place used to be good. Until I showed up. Things started going down about
August of 1980, didn't they? Good before that. The good old
days. Ain't no good old days. There's the day that the Lord
gave and that's today. If I'm not part of the problem,
if I'm not part of the problem, I'm judging. That's wrong. They ought not be doing that.
I'm judging. My proud eyes are looking down at my fellow Americans,
whatever that is. They ought not be kneeling on
them football fields. What business is that of mine? You think I
wouldn't if God took his hand off of me? I'm condemning myself. I do it all by myself with nobody
looking and my mouth not even open while I'm sleeping at night.
Condemning myself. In ourselves, mankind is fully
inexcusable in front of that judgment seat of truth. Turn
over to Romans chapter 3. Here's another bold statement
about some of these fallen sinners. Romans 3 verse 23. for all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God." That is true. That is bold. That is to the point. But concerning
these fallen, depraved enemies of God, God-hating rebels, read
on. This is speaking to them, verse
24, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus. Those horrible people, this horrible
person, justified freely. Justified. Justified. That's not, I was taught from
a young age, just as if I had not sinned. That's not what it
means. Don't tell your kids that. Justified means there is no guilt. There's no sin. There's no inequity. As my old brother used to say,
there's no inequity. Couldn't say iniquity. There's
no debt. That's good too. Ain't none of that. Justified.
This is speaking to those very ones that are guilty in setting
of judgment and becoming guilty of whatever they were judging
others on. Justified. They are born knowing there's
a God and they willfully turn from Him and they make gods like
themselves, all coming short of the glory of God. They have
no guilt. Those that Christ died for, justified. No guilt. They are just before
a holy God. How? How are people justified? That ought to be a more important
question. What's the next word say? Freely. That means without a cause in
us. There was no reason in us that God justifies sinners. I
don't have to bring anything to the table. What do I have
to do to be justified to God? You didn't have to do nothing.
He did it freely. There was nothing in us to initiate
it. I found God. Where did you find
Him? Was He lost? That's nonsense, isn't it? That's
our feeble minds. I found Jesus. I didn't know
He was missing. You didn't do nothing for Him.
He did something for you. There was nothing in us to initiate,
and get this, there was nothing standing in the way of God justifying
His people. We always look at it from our
point of view, don't we? That's all we can see. God justified me freely.
He freely justified His people. There wasn't nothing in the way. We ain't gonna resist Him. When
I hold on, give me a week to think about it. No, freely, just
as the wind blows, He'd come into His people. There was nothing
restricting Him. It was irresistible. What was
the cause to freely justify fallen rebels? All chapter 1 and chapter
2 is talking about. Heathens. By His grace. How does that happen? Through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. A sinner from before birth
turning from God, hating God, hating mankind around Him, that
hell-deserving sinner is going to be made just before the Holy
God freely because of God's grace through the blood of Christ.
Do you say, how dare you? Or do you say, amen? It must
be this way. Is that precious to you? Is that
good news? Or does that make you angry? Here's another bold statement,
Romans 4. Here's a bold, daring statement
about these that are justified by Christ freely. Romans 4, verse
5. But to him that worketh not,
but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness. If salvation or sanctification
or redemption or regeneration or perseverance or anything else
has anything to do with me working, with me exerting energy to accomplish
a task, I have no hope. There's no cheerful expectation. No hope. I don't have any. But
to him that worketh not, who is justified freely by grace
in Christ Jesus. Who's that? Someone that doesn't
work to approach God. That's who's justified freely.
Someone that believes on Christ that justifies the ungodly. Someone that knows, truly knows
that they are ungodly. Because that old man's still
in us. I used to be a sinner. I am a sinner. How do I know
that body of death is still in me? Do you see it? He's here. Pinch him. I cannot work to save myself.
I am ungodly. But I have been given faith to
believe. To believe that what Christ did
allows God to remain just and justify this ungodly worm. How
long has there been this need? How long has this happened? Look
here in Romans 5, verse 12. Romans 5, 12. Here's a bold statement. Wherefore,
as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,
so death passed upon all men, for they all have sinned. When
Adam sinned, I sinned. It was actually me that fell
in the garden. Old Brother Barnard used to say,
did Adam get wounded or did he die? Did he have one eye plucked
out or both? Was he blind or was he just kind
of fuzzy? That was me. Some say that isn't
fair. I didn't fear us starting out
like that. Could you do any better? Adam was morally innocent. Didn't
know what sin was. Had one thing to do. Don't eat
of that tree. And he harkened unto his wife.
What would I do? Some say it isn't fair, but they're
setting in judgment on Adam, ain't they? I wouldn't do that. It's down the nose. Let's say
you didn't fall in Adam. How have you fared ever since
birth? Just as much as we were born
in the flesh, united to Adam, fallen in Adam, one with him,
I fell there, Adam fell there, I fell there, I'm one with Adam,
his flesh is. Just as much so, God's children
are united to Christ. However united you are to that
first Adam, that's how united you're going to be to that second
one. We are united with him and his righteousness and it's counted
to us completely because we are. The result of Adam's accounting
of sin, when the Lord looked at Adam and there was sin in
him, God removed his spirit from him. God forsook Adam in the
garden and all born of him. After that, after Adam fell,
every one of us, none of us was born in the garden. You can't
go there. The Lord said no. We're in Him,
aren't we? We weren't born in Eden. But
my sin was accounted in Christ. The Lord looked at Christ, at
His Son on that cross at Calvary. And He said, right there's Kevin
Thacker. God removed His presence from Him. God forsook Him. And in that second Adam, in His
payment for sin, all born of Him are made His righteousness. Just as much as we were made
sin and failed and everything in Adam, those who were born
in Christ, made one with Him, were made His righteousness.
Adam turned immediately, didn't he, to that woman, to his bride. And he said, Lord, this is her
fault. You gave her to me. He blamed God, didn't he? Christ
maintained. Without sin, He bore the sin
of His bride given to Him by the Father, upheld her. I won't be made one with Him.
I won't be made one with Him. There in Romans 5, verse 18.
Romans 5, 18. Therefore, as by the offense
of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation. That's the
first Adam. Even so, by the righteousness
of one. That's the second Adam. The free gift, freely, came upon
all men unto justification of life. Here's a bold statement. I'll add two paws. What Christ
did on this earth, I did. When he obeyed his parents, his
mother and his father, I obeyed my mother and father. When he
was baptized, he said, it becometh us. Didn't he tell John that?
It becometh us. I was baptized 2,000 years ago. When he died, I died. When He was buried, I was buried.
When He rose, everyone that was in Him throughout time, from
the first saint to the last, they rose with Him. A sinner's
only hope is to be made one with Christ. It's a person. How united is this justified
belief? Look here in Romans 6 verse 11. Romans 6.11, Likewise reckon
ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto
God through Christ our Lord. When the Lord tells us to reckon
ourselves dead to sin, what are we supposed to do? I'm supposed to reckon myself
dead to sin. It doesn't reign over us anymore.
There's no charge against us. We're dead to it. But when I
read that, what am I reminded of? My sin. All of my sin. And each year I live on this
earth, the sin that I am seems to get a little bit uglier. Seems
to get worse. Deteriorates more. How can this conflict be? How
could it be when it's justified of God, freely, by His grace,
by the blood of Christ, and said, don't, you catch yourself dead
to it. It ain't got no claim on you. How could this conflict
be? Look here in Romans 7, verse 14. This is what boldness ought
to be in most places. Ain't a whole lot of preachers
that ever say anything about being a sinner, I guess. Romans 7,
14. For we know that the law is spiritual. This is Paul the Apostle writing,
not Saul of Tarsus. Paul the Apostle. For we know
that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. This flesh that I'm walking around
in, that I was born with, I am carnal right now. I wasn't carnal before God saved
me. No, I'm carnal right now. I'm
carnal. I'm sold under sin. People who
have a hard time believing there's two natures unless they've got
two natures. I'm both. I'm fully convinced
I'm holy and upright before God because Christ did all the work
for me. And at the same time I'm trapped in this body of death.
That's why Paul finished his chapter out and said, Oh wretched
man that I am, right now, who shall deliver me from this body
of death? Paul, how can I listen to anything
you say? How can I listen to him preach?
How can I read Romans and all these epistles? That's an honest
man writing to you. A good friend of mine, preached
for a long time. And people commented on this,
I guess never heard him preach. They heard him, they don't do
it. But they've corrected some other preachers and said, you
ought not say things like, your carnal and you struggle with
sin and you struggle with assurance, things like that. That one fella
didn't. He did, they just didn't hear him. You know what somebody's
saying when they say that? I want a preacher that's strong
enough that's everything I ain't. They don't want a God that's
strong enough. They don't want a Christ that's strong enough.
They want a man, not the God man. That's the problem. I'm a sinner. I'm an earthen
vessel. I just have this water in me.
And I got a spout. And I ain't quite yet learned
what kind of stream comes out of it. Y'all ain't either. But
the water ain't no different. What does a person like Paul,
like me, somebody that's just tore apart inside with demons,
it feels like. You don't know if you're coming
or going. Can't make no sense of nothing. If I'm looking at
myself, when I look at Christ, I have peace. What a mess. What does somebody like that
need? They need grace. They need for God Almighty to
be for them. Be on their side, don't they?
Look here in Romans 8, verse 31. Romans 8, 31. What shall we say
to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. I
got who highlighted in my Bible and I said, not even me, so I
got right next to it. Who can lay a charge to this
child of God? This man can't. Battle inside
of him. Trials, don't it? Who is He that
condemneth? It's Christ that died, yea rather,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. Where is He now? He's at
the right hand of God, ruling and reigning. What's He doing
for His people? Making intercession for us. So the Holy Spirit, when
we pray, we don't know what we pray, and the Holy Spirit says,
here's what He means. Christ makes intercession for
His people. What if this justified sinner just commits habitual
sin in this life? They don't want to. Somebody
said, if I believe what you believe, I'd sin all I wanted. I sin way
more than I want. What if a justified sinner just
habitually sins over and over throughout their lives? Are they
going to be with Christ in glory? Absolutely. They sure are. How
quick we are to judge one another in our day, isn't it? And we
look back, everything's always rosier in the past, isn't it?
Especially if you go back a couple thousand years, and oh, it's
old English, and everything's just so sweet, and they're heartless. That almost sounds appealing,
or nice, doesn't it? It's a horrible thing. Most people
would have had some serious charges against the bulk of their brethren
in the Old Testament. If they were sitting in church with us
today, most people wouldn't like it. We'd drown. We'd have our
nose so high up in the air if it rained. Think about David,
Moses, Hosea, Jonah. Jonah would have been a horrible
one to deal with. The list goes on, doesn't it? Samson had some pretty
bad habits. Christ died for sinners. of whom
I am chief." Paul said it, he was chief. And I think that's
pretty sweet. He's probably really convinced of that, but that ain't
correct. I am. I am. Some say, well, if salvation's
of the Lord, I'll just be a fatalist. I'm just going to cross farms.
If God's going to call somebody, He'll just have to come get me.
He will, if He already is. We ought not live that way, huh?
Look here in Romans 9, verse 18. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth? Thou wilt
say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath
resisted his will? If all this is in God's hands,
how can he charge me with my sin? I don't even have a fighting
chance. That's what the heathen says
in his heart. That ain't fair, is it? Verse 20. Nay, but old
man, who art thou that replyest against God? Shall the thing
formed say to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus?
If we could get our heads and our hearts wrapped around this,
it would benefit us greatly. What I'm about to tell you. God
does not do what's right. What he does is right. It's right because he does it.
He doesn't do what's right. He does it, that means it is
right. Proverbs Romans 10, I'll hurry up. Paul's been very bold
and he quotes the boldness of Isaiah. It says in Romans 10
verse 20. But Isaiah was very bold and
saith, I was found of them that sought me not, I was made manifest
unto them that asked not after me. That's those things, I'm
looking for God. No, you ain't, you don't know
Him. You're looking for a God, but you don't know what you're
looking for. That's what the woman of wealth said. Well, we were,
my father's worshiped out in the mountains. He said, you don't know what
you worship. I mean, Karen's watching that scavenger hunt
show. They go around the earth to circumnavigate. And then people
was digging through a big old pile of dirt. And there's partners,
two of them. And that one says, what you looking
for? They thought they had a clue what to look for. They said,
I don't know, but I'm looking. I don't think you're going to find it.
You don't know what you're looking for. If a man or woman seeks the true
and living God, it's because they were drawn by Him. The Lord
that loved His people first came to His people to cause them to
come to Him. Isn't that amazing? Cry out, why me, Lord? Why me? Why would He do this for me?
I know what I am. bold. God graciously elected
a people to come to. Turn over to Romans 11, verse
5. Romans 11, 5. Even so then at
this present time there's also a remnant that ain't much. A
remnant according to the election of grace. This is the context
which Paul's writing. He's talking about electing grace.
Verse 6. And if by grace then it is no
more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be
of works, then it's no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work.
What a bold, daring statement that is. How much of salvation
is by grace? How much of election is by grace? All of it. All of it. How much
is redemption by grace? He said when He by Himself purged
our sins. It's all by His grace. How much
is regeneration by grace? How much does that have to do
with that first birth? Just the same amount as I had to at that
second birth. It's by grace, by Him. How much is justification
by grace? We just read that. We're justified
freely by His grace. Fully and freely. How much is
perseverance, preservation of the saints? By grace. Me being
alive up to this point in my life. We can look at that in
Providence, can't we? How much of the Lord's Providence
is by grace? Absolutely all of it. We had a lug nut fall off the
van. I went outside the castle, there were four lug nuts on that
wheel. What kept them other four on? The Lord did. 100% by His
grace He did. Any part of God's eternal salvation
of His people is absolutely fully all by His grace. Salvation by
this grace always produces a result. When the Lord works in somebody,
There's a result to this. There's a response to His ability
to save His children. Look here in chapter 12, verse
1. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto
God, which is your reasonable service. This graciousness of
God through Christ towards His people demands the bride of Christ
submit completely to our Lord, the whole of I fail at this second by second. But my heart's moved to cry,
Lord, here am I. Lord, lead my feet. Do with me
as you will. To preach the person and the
work of Christ produces this. Works won't produce this. It
produces anxiety and doubt and depression and everything else
nonsense. Only a priest in Christ can do that. But to hear what
Christ did in and for His bride, we have a desire to give ourselves
over to Him willingly, completely, and that's totally reasonable.
I've had people tell me I was unreasonable. The life I lived
moved to Southern California. They said, you're crazy. I said,
that's completely reasonable. That's perfectly fine. How long
is this life going to last? What if I live 60 more years?
What if I make it to 101? I have crossed after that forever.
That's reasonable, isn't it? In everything. Chapter 13, verse
1. Let every soul be subject unto
the higher powers, for there is no power but of God. The powers
that be are ordained of God. Let's not forget that the powers
that be are put there and are ruled by Him just like everything
else on this earth. Israel was wanting a king, weren't
they? We want to be like every other
nation on this earth. Give us a king. What did the
prophet of God say? Better knock it off. It ain't
going to work out good for you. And the Lord said, you tell them.
They'll be mad at you if they're mad at me. Don't worry about
it. He gave them salt, didn't he? What happened? They got upset,
didn't they? What's happening in our state? We want a new governor. We want to be like all them other
states. We want governors like they got. What's running now? Whoo! That's jumping out of the
frying pan into the fire, isn't it? I don't want to have a hand
in any of it. I want the Lord to keep me still,
to shut my mouth, and for me to wait on Him who rules heaven
and earth to sort it out. This is my Father's world. Aren't
you glad? Aren't you glad? Romans 14, verse
17. For the kingdom of God is not
meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy and the Holy
Ghost. That's bold. That is a daring
statement. It's not do and don't. It's not
improvement. How can we improve ourselves?
I could write all kinds of self-help books of how-to, but that ain't
no good, is it? It's righteousness, peace, and
joy in the Holy Ghost. Any message that points sinners
to anything other than righteousness of Christ, the peace made between
God and man because of Him, and the joy we have because of it,
Anything other than that is wood, hay, and stubble. We looked at
that a couple Sundays ago, didn't we? It's going to burn. There's
nothing profitable in it. As daring, bold. That's the Kingdom of God. It's
not what needs to be done, it's what's already done. Romans 15,
verse 13. Now, the God of hope fill you
with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope through
the power of the Holy Ghost. What must we do to work the works
of God? That's what they asked Christ,
wasn't it? He said, this is the work of
God, that you believe on Him who He has sent. What else we
got to do? That's it. How do we work the works of God?
Believe on Him. You believe Him? How dare you? Can't give us nothing more to
do than that? Sorry. Christ is all I've got. That's
all that's needed and that's all I want. There's more than
we can handle. What more could we do? Nothing.
But what joy and peace and hope there is in simply believing
Christ and believing that anything required of me by God the Father
is fulfilled. It's filled full by Him. How do we get filled up with
this hope in Christ? God must do it. The God of hope
must give it to us. How do we get that? Pray to Him.
Lord, teach me. Give me eyes to see. Everything bold that Paul has
told us is the Gospel. It concerns how God saves sinners
in Christ and how He preserves them for eternity. Look here
in Romans 16, verse 17. I'll let you go. Now I beseech you, brethren,
mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the
doctrine which ye have learned." What doctrine did Paul tell us?
Christ. And avoid them. You mark them and avoid them.
Anyone that tells you something different than what I've just
told you is what Paul's saying and that's what I'm saying to
you. You mark them, that's them, and avoid them. Steer clear of
them. Leave them alone. I put an extra
O in my alone by accident. I thought, I'm going to leave
that. Leave them alone. Avoid them. That's thin. That's
a bold statement, isn't it? Well, maybe we all go up and
hug them and love on them and maybe we can serve some homeless
food together and then they can come. They might learn something
then. Leave them alone. Leave them alone. Those are some
bold statements. I ask you. Do you cry out, how
dare you? How bold of you to say something
horrible like that? Or do you cry out, oh how merciful. How merciful, precious Lord,
how merciful thou art to me. Somebody's sitting on a fence.
Somebody climbs up a fence and they sit on it. You're going
to have to come down. And you're going to have to come
down on one side or the other. You can't come down the middle of
that fence. You say how bold or do you say how thankful I
am? Amen.