Speaker 1: 1st Baptist Baptist El Dorado, will you join me now in listening to our sermon from this week If you'll open with me to Romans, chapter 9, that's where we'll be this morning as we continue in our walk through Romans, as we've completed our series through Romans, chapter 8.
Speaker 1: Today we'll be in chapters 9 and 10, a few verses from each I'm going to read for us, actually in chapter 10, starting in verse 9.
Speaker 1: Because 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.
Speaker 1: For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
Speaker 1: Pray with me, lord, jesus.
Speaker 1: We do thank you for that truth.
Speaker 1: Thank you for that truth that if we confess with our mouth that you are Lord, believe that you raised your son, jesus Christ, from the dead Lord, that we will be saved.
Speaker 1: And so, lord, I thank you for your salvation.
Speaker 1: As we've studied throughout Romans, chapter 8, this is the salvation that changes everything, both now and for eternity, a salvation that cannot be taken from us, that we can have full assurance in, and what a gift that is.
Speaker 1: So, Lord, now, by your spirit, would you speak to our hearts, lord.
Speaker 1: We ask this in Christ's name, amen.
Speaker 1: There's a work of literature we have in our home and actually I return to it often written by a man, first name Grover, and quite honestly I'm not familiar with what his last name is.
Speaker 1: But it is the monster at the end of this book.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you've heard of this one.
Speaker 1: The idea of it is and again we return to it often that at the end of this book I kid you not, there is a monster and Grover's job throughout the entirety of this book is just to keep you from arriving there.
Speaker 1: And whatever he can do to keep you from getting to the end of this book he will do.
Speaker 1: At one point he puts up these wooden planks over the door so you can't pass through.
Speaker 1: The problem is for James, for Olivia, even for dad we're too strong for that and we get through.
Speaker 1: Then he puts up a brick wall.
Speaker 1: Once again, we're able to get through it.
Speaker 1: What's fascinating is you arrive at the end of the book and Grover finds out there's really no monster there.
Speaker 1: The whole time it was just.
Speaker 1: It was just Grover, and he's so embarrassed by that.
Speaker 1: But it's an interesting book because I would argue this, that the book of Romans is very similar to that if we think about it.
Speaker 1: But the idea is not the monster at the end of this book, it's the monster that exists right in the middle of the book of Romans.
Speaker 1: Because we're all good in Romans one through eight and we love it, and rightfully so, and we've just walked through it.
Speaker 1: The story of our salvation, of our justification, of all that has happened to us in Christ Jesus, by the work of Christ.
Speaker 1: We've got that.
Speaker 1: And then in chapters 12 through 16, it gets unbelievably practical a transformed life.
Speaker 1: If you've been transformed by the gospel, what does that look like?
Speaker 1: We can handle the practical nature of that.
Speaker 1: And yet, right in the middle, romans 9 through 11 is what many would argue are some of the hardest passages in all of scripture, the most I don't know the right word debated.
Speaker 1: That makes it sound like we're on unsure ground.
Speaker 1: I don't mean that, but just there's been many commentaries written on just chapters 9 through 11, trying to figure out what exactly does it mean?
Speaker 1: We're dealing with complex issues of the people of God and salvation and God's good purposes and God's election.
Speaker 1: And what do we do with Romans 9 through 11?
Speaker 1: I just want to encourage us today that, much like Grover realizes as he arrives at the end of his own book, as we get to the middle of Romans, there's really nothing to be afraid of, that God has given us Romans 9 through 11, just as he's given us Romans 1 through 16, to encourage our hearts, to tell us more and more about the beauty of his salvation and to teach you and I how we live in light of what is written here.
Speaker 1: So, as we turn to today, look at a few moments in Romans 9 and 10.
Speaker 1: I want us to see three things, and the first thing is this that changed lives desire to see changed lives.
Speaker 1: If you are in Christ Jesus, you now have a changed life.
Speaker 1: I hope you know that, that if you are in Christ Jesus, you can't read Romans 1 through 8 and not know that that your life is now changed, that you are now different From the inside out, start to finish.
Speaker 1: You are a new creation and so changed lives.
Speaker 1: Those whose lives have been changed desire now to see that others' lives are changed as well.
Speaker 1: Look at with me in Romans 9, and I'm just going to read 1 through 5.
Speaker 1: I'm speaking the truth in Christ.
Speaker 1: I am not lying.
Speaker 1: My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart, for I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen.
Speaker 1: According to the flesh they are Israelites and to them belong the adoption, the glory in Romans chapter 8 and the excitement of it.
Speaker 1: There was nothing but joy over the last five weeks as we've walked through Romans chapter eight and the excitement of it.
Speaker 1: There was nothing but joy over the last five weeks as we've walked through Romans chapter eight.
Speaker 1: And yet from the very start of Romans chapter nine, it is a completely different kind of emotional environment.
Speaker 1: For the apostle Paul, like the second Romans eight ends you see verses one and two where Paul just says this hey, in Christ Jesus, I am not lying, I'm telling the truth that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
Speaker 1: And the question really is well, how in the world do you get there Again from Romans chapter eight where you've seen nothing but the absolute assurance of your salvation, that in Christ, nothing can separate you from the love of God, not depth nor height, nor anything else in all creation.
Speaker 1: Your foundation is solid in the person and work of Christ Jesus.
Speaker 1: And then the very next couple of verses.
Speaker 1: I have great anguish in my heart.
Speaker 1: How is this even possible?
Speaker 1: Well, we're going to see exactly why.
Speaker 1: It is possible because the joy of Romans 8 fills our heart with the joy and assurance of Christ.
Speaker 1: But it also lets us know something that in Romans 8, this is the great gift of Christ Jesus.
Speaker 1: That in Romans 8, this is the great gift of Christ Jesus.
Speaker 1: That, unworthy as I am, I have now received it.
Speaker 1: That great gift is here and for the taking for anyone who comes unto Christ.
Speaker 1: And then here's the turn to the sorrow.
Speaker 1: Yet there is so great a gift, and yet there are so even now, in our world, today, all around us, that for one of 10 trillion reasons, haven't come unto Christ, that this is the great joy we have received, the assurance that we have.
Speaker 1: And yet there are so many around that that walk through life without that joy, that walk through life burdened by shame and guilt, that walk through life unaware that the greatest gift of all is there, ready for the taking, and yet they will not come unto Jesus.
Speaker 1: Maybe they haven't heard, maybe they have just outright rejected.
Speaker 1: Whatever it may be, there's the joy of salvation and then even the sorrow as we look around and see those, even those we love deeply, maybe very close to us, that don't have that same joy.
Speaker 1: And Paul sees this very well because he is a Jewish individual who looks around at his Jewish brothers and sisters Brothers and sisters by lineage, not right now brothers and sisters spiritually, because they haven't come unto Christ.
Speaker 1: And he looks around and he is in anguish because, though he is a Jew, he has now seen the ultimate fulfillment of all that the Old Testament pointed to, and he wants nothing more than to share that gospel with the world.
Speaker 1: And yet, though many Jews, even in the church at Rome, have come to know the Lord Jesus Christ Paul knows this there are many of my ethnic brothers and sisters, ethnic Jews, that have not, that are still rejecting the savior, that are still rejecting the hope that's out there.
Speaker 1: Verse three, for I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.
Speaker 1: Think about the dramatic nature of that verse.
Speaker 1: You read that right.
Speaker 1: Paul says this I could wish that I were cut off, that I were on the outside looking in, if it could mean that these brothers, these Jewish brothers and sisters of mine could come be part of the family of God.
Speaker 1: Now I do want to say this that for Paul I do.
Speaker 1: I would argue that this is hyperbolic language, this is a exaggerated language.
Speaker 1: It would almost like if you and I said you know, I could almost wish this, I could just almost wish that I were cut off.
Speaker 1: I think that for two reasons.
Speaker 1: Number one no one rejoices in his salvation more than Paul.
Speaker 1: And Paul knows full well that one not only does one not have to be cut off, that others can come in, he also knows this.
Speaker 1: It's just not possible that he could be cut off, that others come in.
Speaker 1: There was only one that was cut off that others could come in, and that's Jesus Christ the righteous on the cross.
Speaker 1: So he knows salvation doesn't work that way.
Speaker 1: And yet still the anguish is there.
Speaker 1: If I could just almost say, hey, I'm on the outside looking in so that my Jewish brothers and sisters could come home to the person of the Lord, jesus Christ, I could just almost do it.
Speaker 1: It's the same language Moses says Exodus 32 and verse 32, the moment when Moses has been up on the mountain receiving the law.
Speaker 1: He comes down and what are the people doing in his absence?
Speaker 1: They've put all their jewelry together and they formed a golden calf and they began to worship this calf.
Speaker 1: They said here's your God that brought you out of Egypt.
Speaker 1: And God is not happy about that, nor should he be happy about that, and he's just about ready to cut off the people of God and start all over, just with Moses.
Speaker 1: And Moses intercedes for the people in Exodus 32, 32.
Speaker 1: My paraphrase he just says this God, if you could just blot me out of the book of life and keep them in, just blot me out and keep your people in.
Speaker 1: I think Moses knows, like Paul knows, that's not possible.
Speaker 1: Moses can't do that, but he does intercede for the people.
Speaker 1: God spares the people.
Speaker 1: He does intercede for the people and God spares the people.
Speaker 1: But you see this longing for brothers and sisters who are on the outside looking in.
Speaker 1: You see Jesus weeping Luke, chapter 19, weeping over Jerusalem as they have neglected or rejected the peacemaker.
Speaker 1: You see in Matthew 9, jesus claiming they are like sheep without a shepherd.
Speaker 1: I've brought up, katie and I our trip to Israel a few times, but I remember being there in Jerusalem If you've been there too, you know it arriving at the Western wall, there, right at the base of what was the temple in Jerusalem, and still to this day I mean right now, I'm certain there's many people out there, many Jewish individuals offering up their prayers to their God, waiting on redemption, waiting on this temple to be rebuilt, waiting on God to fulfill all of his promises.
Speaker 1: Meanwhile, we know that in Christ Jesus, fulfillment has already come and Paul sits here to the church at Rome.
Speaker 1: He is anticipating any objection.
Speaker 1: That's what he does throughout the letter.
Speaker 1: If you tell me in Romans 8 that God fulfills all of his good purposes, paul, what about the Jewish people?
Speaker 1: You know, way back in Genesis 12, god made a promise to Abraham that a great family would come from him who would bless the nations.
Speaker 1: What about the fact, paul, that if what you say in Romans 1 through 8 is true, then there are a lot of Jewish individuals who are on the outside looking in?
Speaker 1: So how can you say God fulfills his promise and yet there are so many Jewish individuals on the outside looking in?
Speaker 1: Paul wants to be ready for that objection.
Speaker 1: Verse 4, he continues they are the Israelites.
Speaker 1: To them belong adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, the promises.
Speaker 1: To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever.
Speaker 1: Amen.
Speaker 1: Paul says you're not wrong, you're right about the Jewish people.
Speaker 1: We've said it before.
Speaker 1: If they go to ancestrycom and press enter on their family, they scroll back all the way and they see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and they see Moses and they see David and all these great individuals of the faith.
Speaker 1: Here's what Paul even says in these verses as well.
Speaker 1: If they go further, in that they can track it all the way, humanly speaking, to the lineage of the person of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1: They have an unbelievable lineage.
Speaker 1: They've been given the covenant with unbelievable promises, given the covenant with unbelievable promises.
Speaker 1: But he's about to explain that it's more than just about physical lineage.
Speaker 1: It's about spiritual lineage, the spiritual promise.
Speaker 1: But before I get there, I just want to say this again change lives, desire to see, change lives, to see change lives.
Speaker 1: Paul's about to make his case in a beautiful way, but from the start, before anything else, all he can say, all he can get across, is simply this he is in anguish over his brothers and sisters who are lost.
Speaker 1: And I just want to ask you a question Are you in anguish over your brothers and sisters who are lost?
Speaker 1: They may be at the same office you work at.
Speaker 1: They may be in the community.
Speaker 1: They are in the community you live.
Speaker 1: They may be on the sports team you play on or your children or grandchildren play on.
Speaker 1: They may be at the water cooler at work.
Speaker 1: They may be at the coffee shop.
Speaker 1: They may be in your home.
Speaker 1: Are you burdened for the lost?
Speaker 1: Do you have a desire to see the lost found?
Speaker 1: Does the joy of Romans 8 and the assurance of your salvation and never lose that, never lose that joy?
Speaker 1: But does that lead you and propel you to tell about that salvation to those who don't yet know about it?
Speaker 1: Do you have a burden for the lost?
Speaker 1: I pray you do.
Speaker 1: But not only do changed lives desire to see changed lives?
Speaker 1: Look at this.
Speaker 1: Changed lives understand that only God's mercy can change lives.
Speaker 1: Only God's mercy can change lives, verse 6.
Speaker 1: But it's not as though the word of God has failed, for not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel and not all who are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but through Isaac, show your offspring be named Verse 8,.
Speaker 1: This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but it is the children of the promise who are counted as offspring.
Speaker 1: What Paul wants us to see is there is no doubt that in Genesis, chapter 12, god chose a people.
Speaker 1: God raised up Abraham through no merit of his own.
Speaker 1: In fact, at the time of Abraham's calling, abraham didn't know Yahweh from anyone else.
Speaker 1: In fact, it's likely in his culture and where he was in the day, he may have been worshiping all kinds of lowercase g gods until the uppercase g god, yahweh, came to him and called him out and in that moment he followed.
Speaker 1: The Lord Chose Abraham not of his own merit, not of his own worth, but just of his gracious choosing, and through him created a family.
Speaker 1: But what Paul wants us to see is that the family of God exists not simply through lineage, physical, earthly lineage, just being born into it, but a spiritual lineage, that those who are the children of Abraham, not simply by birth but also by the promise, but they are children of Abraham through the promise.
Speaker 1: I want to give you an illustration, and the reality is this.
Speaker 1: We have already seen the perfect illustration right here, right now.
Speaker 1: This morning we saw a baptism of Skip just a few minutes ago.
Speaker 1: There's no greater illustration than this.
Speaker 1: Because think about Skip for a moment.
Speaker 1: I don't want to embarrass him, but you just think about this young man and his faith in Christ Jesus.
Speaker 1: Now you know his parents unbelievably godly parents, I mean throughout this process they've had conversations with him about the Lord.
Speaker 1: He was raised in a Christian home.
Speaker 1: They were here at church.
Speaker 1: His parents know Jesus and know Jesus deeply.
Speaker 1: This is the home Skip lived in.
Speaker 1: But here's what we didn't do.
Speaker 1: We didn't look at Skip and say, hey, buddy, you're good to go, mom and dad are following the Lord, this is a Christian household, you're good to go.
Speaker 1: Here's what's exciting about Skip.
Speaker 1: Here's why this morning is a celebration because he came to a point where his faith became his faith.
Speaker 1: That it wasn't just about lineage, just because I was born into this home and what a blessing he had to be born into that home but his faith became his.
Speaker 1: And that's what's been so exciting about a lot of our baptisms lately.
Speaker 1: I think of Oakley, I think of Gavin, I think about many others that lately have been baptized.
Speaker 1: They've come to know the Lord, and it's been through conversations with parents where that faith became theirs.
Speaker 1: That now Skip and Gavin and Oakley and others, they don't just have the Christian lineage in the family, now they have the spiritual lineage, and it is their own in Christ Jesus.
Speaker 1: That's exactly what Paul is saying here.
Speaker 1: For my Jewish brothers and sisters, it's not just about being born into the physical family, but you must take the step to come into the spiritual family, be the children of the promise.
Speaker 1: Fast forward with me to romans 9, verse 30.
Speaker 1: What shall we say then?
Speaker 1: That the gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith, but that israel, who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness, did not succeed in reaching the law.
Speaker 1: Why?
Speaker 1: Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works.
Speaker 1: They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it's written.
Speaker 1: Behold, I'm laying in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.
Speaker 1: Paul explains this that so many Gentiles were not pursuing righteousness by works, and yet in Christ Jesus have now found a righteousness.
Speaker 1: And yet so many.
Speaker 1: Paul says of my Jewish brothers and sisters were seeking that righteousness through works, by their own merit, by their own power, and because they sought it by their own works, they've actually missed it.
Speaker 1: Now I do want to say this come back next week.
Speaker 1: I don't want to discourage you about our Jewish brothers and sisters, because Romans 11 is an exciting one.
Speaker 1: There is a day in the future where many of our Jewish friends Lord it's amazing to think about.
Speaker 1: There will be a revival among the Jews one of these days and I can't wait for that moment.
Speaker 1: So I'm not.
Speaker 1: I'm not leaving us on a downer.
Speaker 1: Come back next week.
Speaker 1: But Paul just sees his brothers and sisters who have sought a righteousness by anything other than the mercy of Christ.
Speaker 1: Changed lives.
Speaker 1: Understand that only God's mercy can change lives.
Speaker 1: Change lives as we saw at the beginning.
Speaker 1: Desire to see changed lives.
Speaker 1: I want to end on this Changed lives.
Speaker 1: Proclaim the truth that changes lives.
Speaker 1: Changed lives.
Speaker 1: Proclaim the truth that changes lives.
Speaker 1: Look with me at Romans 10 as I fast forward again Verse 9,.
Speaker 1: I read it earlier.
Speaker 1: But 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.
Speaker 1: For with the heart one believes and is justified.
Speaker 1: With the mouth one confesses.
Speaker 1: And Do you want to know where salvation lies?
Speaker 1: It lies right here Romans 10, 9.
Speaker 1: Confess with your mouth.
Speaker 1: Jesus is Lord.
Speaker 1: Believe that God raised him from the dead.
Speaker 1: I have sat across from a table of six, seven, eight-year-olds who are thinking about salvation and read that verse and asked them the very simple question do you believe that Jesus is Lord?
Speaker 1: And they say yes.
Speaker 1: Do you believe God raised him from the dead?
Speaker 1: And they say yes.
Speaker 1: And I say well, I got good news.
Speaker 1: Buddy, sounds to me like you know Jesus personally.
Speaker 1: Sounds to me like you've made a stand for Christ Jesus.
Speaker 1: But let me tell you what I've also done.
Speaker 1: I've sat across a table from Christians who have been Christians for decades and yet are just walking through doubt in their faith, just walking through questions of can I know that?
Speaker 1: I know that, I know that I'm saved, can I know that my sin can be forgiven?
Speaker 1: And again I look at this verse and just let me ask you this question Do you believe that Jesus is Lord?
Speaker 1: Do you believe that God raised him from the dead?
Speaker 1: And I just get to tell him hey, you should never take Pastor Taylor's word for it, just take God's word for it, that that is the way to salvation.
Speaker 1: Do you have that confession in your heart, in your life?
Speaker 1: Do you know that this is true of you and for Jews, and for Gentiles and for anyone?
Speaker 1: What is the way to salvation?
Speaker 1: Confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord.
Speaker 1: Believe God raised him from the dead.
Speaker 1: Know that it is from him and him alone that you are saved.
Speaker 1: Not by my works, my actions, my merits.
Speaker 1: I can't earn it, I don't deserve it, but in Christ it is freely given.
Speaker 1: That's the way to salvation.
Speaker 1: And we continue.
Speaker 1: Verse 12,.
Speaker 1: For there's no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Speaker 1: Verse 14,.
Speaker 1: How, then, will they call on him whom they have not believed?
Speaker 1: How are they to believe in him whom they have not heard?
Speaker 1: How are they to hear without someone preaching, and how are they to preach unless they are sent?
Speaker 1: Paul shows us, as he has been throughout all of Romans, the way to salvation, and then he makes this turn for the believer, whether you're talking to Jews or Gentiles or anyone in the world.
Speaker 1: It is now your job, your obligation, your duty to do what?
Speaker 1: To proclaim the gospel that you know, that you believe, that you have received.
Speaker 1: That is our next step, not just on Paul's authority, on Jesus's authority Matthew 28,.
Speaker 1: Go and make disciples, teaching them, baptizing them in the name of the Father, son and Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1: This is what the believer does proclaims the good news that he or she has been given.
Speaker 1: And you say this.
Speaker 1: You say Taylor.
Speaker 1: Here's the problem with verse 14 and 15.
Speaker 1: You're trying to, you know, trick me a little bit, because I see there it says preaching.
Speaker 1: It's about preaching the good news.
Speaker 1: So really, taylor, that's your job.
Speaker 1: And let me just tell you I will keep preaching the good news.
Speaker 1: I promise you that I won't change that.
Speaker 1: But I would think about it like this for every one of you.
Speaker 1: It's not just about being in this pulpit, it's about proclaiming in every area of your lives, because you are a proclaimer of the gospel.
Speaker 1: You are a preacher of the gospel everywhere you go.
Speaker 1: And I'm just going to tell you the truth there are people in your sphere of influence that need to hear you proclaim the gospel because the truth is, they'd never consider coming into a room like this, at least not at first, whether this room's just too big, too grand.
Speaker 1: I got to get dressed up on a Sunday morning.
Speaker 1: Whatever it might be, they might not consider coming here, but you know where they will hear you out the places you are every day, like I said earlier the water cooler, the sports field, your class at school, whatever it might be.
Speaker 1: You are a proclaimer of the gospel.
Speaker 1: Now, sometimes we object to that because we just say am I ready for that Lord?
Speaker 1: Do I have everything figured out in my spiritual life?
Speaker 1: Am I really worthy to be one that's now telling others all about the faith?
Speaker 1: Can I share the faith?
Speaker 1: I want to think about something for a second.
Speaker 1: Let's say this morning that I had a very unique gift.
Speaker 1: I had a coupon.
Speaker 1: This morning I wish it were true that, though it expired at the end of the year, I've still got a few months that I can hand you this coupon and you can turn it in to your lending company, your bank, and your mortgage is paid off.
Speaker 1: Literally, I just hand you that, you turn that little coupon in, mortgage is gone.
Speaker 1: You never have to worry, you're never making a house payment again.
Speaker 1: This is great news, is it not?
Speaker 1: But we get to the end of the year and you find out that I haven't actually given mine to anybody and you say what a waste.
Speaker 1: Why didn't you do it?
Speaker 1: And I tell you the few objections that I've made.
Speaker 1: Number one I was scared I couldn't articulate it well that I was just nervous with this coupon.
Speaker 1: I don't live in the mortgage lending world.
Speaker 1: I don't live in the bank world.
Speaker 1: I don't have all the terms to really explain what this means of how your debt can be paid off.
Speaker 1: I don't know all the terms and I was just nervous I wouldn't articulate it well.
Speaker 1: And number two is this I was actually afraid you were going to ask me a question I didn't know the answer to, because there's some specificity to every single mortgage.
Speaker 1: Are you 15?
Speaker 1: Are you 30 years?
Speaker 1: Your interest rate is this.
Speaker 1: Your interest rate is that.
Speaker 1: Again, I don't really speak the language because that's not the world I live in.
Speaker 1: So what if you had asked me a question I didn't know the answer to and I just kind of embarrassed myself, or even embarrassed the church or God because I illustration is losing there, or embarrassed the bank lender because I can't explain it well?
Speaker 1: Or what if this?
Speaker 1: What if, in that moment, I just offend you?
Speaker 1: What if you get offended and you say, taylor, my wife and I?
Speaker 1: Or you say my husband and I, we work hard, we don't need anybody to pay off our mortgage.
Speaker 1: We've never missed a monthly payment.
Speaker 1: We come together every month and we make that payment together.
Speaker 1: Well, why did you think we would need anybody to pay off that mortgage?
Speaker 1: And I come with these objections and you hear those objections and you realize how absolutely ridiculous every one of those is.
Speaker 1: And yet, you and I, every day because I shattered the illustration a moment ago we sit here with the greatest gift the reality of Romans 1 through 8, and we're tempted to not tell others about the very grace we've received.
Speaker 1: Why?
Speaker 1: What if I can't explain it right?
Speaker 1: What if they ask me a question I don't know the full or perfect answer to?
Speaker 1: What if I offend them?
Speaker 1: And all the while, there are people who are on the road to spending eternity outside of Christ.
Speaker 1: And yet you and I sit here on the road to eternal life in Christ Jesus.
Speaker 1: And how badly a lost world needs to hear of the gospel that you possess, and so for everyone in this room, in Christ Jesus, you are called to be a proclaimer of the gospel.
Speaker 1: This is your assignment, this is your duty.
Speaker 1: Let me take it a step further.
Speaker 1: This should be your joy.
Speaker 1: I want to be clear.
Speaker 1: You don't have to do this.
Speaker 1: Well, it is a command.
Speaker 1: But you get to do this.
Speaker 1: You get to tell others about the greatest news.
Speaker 1: Say for a moment, I did have that little coupon I mentioned.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't get out of this room before I handed it to somebody.
Speaker 1: I'd be so excited to give that away.
Speaker 1: And yet I possess something far greater.
Speaker 1: We get to tell a lost world that there is hope.
Speaker 1: Think about your life before Christ Jesus.
Speaker 1: Think about what Christ has done for you.
Speaker 1: Think about, in the good times, the bad times, every time in between, how Christ has impacted your life and changed everything.
Speaker 1: Think about the assurance you have in Christ Jesus and think about the joy of getting to tell someone else about it.
Speaker 1: That's not news we keep to ourselves.
Speaker 1: That's not news we hide.
Speaker 1: That's news that we can't wait to give away, because there is a Savior.
Speaker 1: He saved my life Through the cross.
Speaker 1: He forgives my sins and, like Paul, I can say and I'm the chief of sinners, and so if I know he can save me, I know he's got something for you, I know he can do for you what he's done for me Changed lives, desire to see changed lives.
Speaker 1: They know that lives are only changed by God's mercy and they cannot wait to give out that life changing news.
Speaker 1: I want to leave you with something, a piece of homework.
Speaker 1: Who is that person in your life that you know needs Jesus?
Speaker 1: I want you to put in your mind right now, a name and a face to it right now, a name and a face to it.
Speaker 1: Nothing general.
Speaker 1: I want you specific.
Speaker 1: Who is that person that needs Jesus, that doesn't know him, and that person in your life that you know that you are in the perfect position, that sphere of influence in their lives, that you can be the one to tell them about Jesus.
Speaker 1: Who is that person?
Speaker 1: Here is your job to pray for that person, to pray for the opportunity.
Speaker 1: Let me tell you a prayer God loves to answer.
Speaker 1: Hey God, would you give me an opportunity to share the gospel with this person?
Speaker 1: My goodness, you think God's sitting in heaven thinking I don't know if I want to answer that he can't wait to answer that one.
Speaker 1: Watch how fast you get the opportunity to share the good news of Jesus.
Speaker 1: But you pray for an opportunity and when that opportunity comes, cast every fear aside.
Speaker 1: What if they ask me some question?
Speaker 1: What if I don't articulate it?
Speaker 1: You know what I love more.
Speaker 1: I love the gospel articulated poorly, more than anything else in the world articulated well.
Speaker 1: Just give them the gospel and see what the Holy Spirit's up to in that moment.
Speaker 1: Pray with me, lord Jesus, thank you for the truth of changed lives in Christ Jesus.
Speaker 1: Lord, you are a life-changing God and there are so many in this room, lord, that can give testimony of your life change.
Speaker 1: And so, even now, if there's one in this room that doesn't have that testimony of life change, maybe this morning is their morning that they would boldly come and just chat with me or chat with their neighbor in the pew and just talk more about Jesus.
Speaker 1: Maybe there's someone that wants to be a part of this church and walk towards Jesus with this community.
Speaker 1: Would today be their day?
Speaker 1: I'll be down front.
Speaker 1: Would love to chat about that.
Speaker 1: Lord.
Speaker 1: Whatever the decision may be, let us respond because the truth is Lord.
Speaker 1: We all have a response.
Speaker 1: Our response may be just to pray right where we're at Pray for that one person in our mind that needs to hear about Jesus.
Speaker 1: Maybe our response is just in this moment of surrender, saying Lord, I surrender to you and to your will for my life, I surrender to your calling on my life to proclaim the gospel, even to that one person I'm thinking of now.
Speaker 1: Maybe our response is just worship, worship, the one who has saved us in Christ Jesus and calls us now to proclaim that truth far and wide, even to the ends of the earth.
Speaker 1: Whatever our response is, let us worship now and let us respond now in Christ's name.
Speaker 1: Amen.
Speaker 1: Would you stand as we worship?
Speaker 1: Whatever our response is, let us worship now and let us respond now In Christ's name.
Speaker 1: Amen.
Speaker 1: Would you stand as we worship?