WEBVTT 00:00:05.599 --> 00:00:07.360 Hey, I'm Pastor Steve Hole. 00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:11.759 I want to empower you today to walk in your true identity as a worshiper and warrior. 00:00:11.919 --> 00:00:15.839 Today, embrace the power of God's Word and the Holy Spirit. 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:19.120 Welcome to the Born for War podcast. 00:00:24.640 --> 00:00:28.079 So today we're we're again we're back in Romans. 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:33.280 And last week we took one of the hardest passages in all of Scripture, Romans 9. 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:35.439 And I thought it went really well. 00:00:35.520 --> 00:00:37.359 I thought it was an anointed time. 00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:39.280 Many of you have commented on it. 00:00:39.439 --> 00:00:41.600 And what we talked about was the foreknowledge of God. 00:00:41.759 --> 00:00:43.600 We talked about predestination. 00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:57.439 And the way I explained it was this way: that on one side of the door, God invites anyone, and he's going to say, anyone, he's going to say, whoever, in Romans 10 to us again. 00:00:57.600 --> 00:01:01.840 Whoever wants to come, whoever's thirsty, whichever hungry, come. 00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:04.239 That's the invitation of Jesus. 00:01:04.400 --> 00:01:06.000 That's the invitation of the Lord. 00:01:06.400 --> 00:01:08.719 If you're weary, if you're heavy laden, come. 00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:23.200 Now, if you can figure that one out, then you just, you need to have three PhDs. 00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:27.519 But on the one hand, the Lord says, anyone is invited. 00:01:28.560 --> 00:01:33.439 For God so loved the whole world that he gave his only begotten son. 00:01:34.560 --> 00:01:38.159 But on the other side of the door, God knew you were going to make that decision. 00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:38.719 Okay? 00:01:39.280 --> 00:01:45.040 So you can focus on the Jesus knew you'd make the decision part, or you can focus on the calm. 00:01:45.359 --> 00:01:46.239 Doesn't matter to me. 00:01:46.400 --> 00:01:48.959 I don't try to wrap my head around all of that. 00:01:49.120 --> 00:02:19.120 The way I've described it to my kids when it's come up has been, I didn't even talk about this last week, but the fact that if I were to have a piano in a room, and I had a baseball and a glove, two gloves, preferably for a right-handed thrower, in a room, and I put Samuel in the room, and I put Isaac or Josh in the room, I can tell you what where they're gonna go. 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:21.120 Josh is not gonna go to the piano. 00:02:21.280 --> 00:02:23.520 That will never happen in a hundred years. 00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:32.800 But Samuel will, he's a he's a trained piano performance major from DU. 00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:46.639 So he's gonna go straight to the piano, and uh Josh or Isaac, in Isaac's case, a collegiate baseball player, high school and college, and then Josh, a high school player, they're gonna pick up the gloves and they're gonna throw the ball. 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:47.919 Well, who made that decision? 00:02:49.439 --> 00:02:50.479 They made that decision. 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:53.199 Did I know as a dad the decision they were gonna make? 00:02:53.360 --> 00:02:54.240 Absolutely. 00:02:54.479 --> 00:02:56.960 Because in this case, we can take it even a step further. 00:02:57.039 --> 00:02:57.840 I created them. 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:07.280 I guess I did physically create them, but God, the creator, created them, for in Samuel's case to have a love for music, and in Josh and Isaac's case, a love for athletics. 00:03:07.439 --> 00:03:14.879 And so that's as good as it gets right there, folks, is that we don't understand that, but that's it. 00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:23.439 Now, Romans 10, the theme he started in Romans 9 wasn't just about foreknowledge, but it was also about the nation of Israel and their rebellion. 00:03:23.599 --> 00:03:28.159 In Romans 10, he talks about the present state of Israel. 00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:33.840 And then next, the next time I speak on Romans 11, we're gonna talk about the end times revival. 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:41.919 There's going to be a revival, a mighty move of God, and he's gonna say in Romans 11, all of Israel shall be saved. 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:54.719 Now, I don't believe that means every single person, but it means there'll be such a mass movement of God in Israel that the nation of Israel will become Christian. 00:03:54.800 --> 00:03:56.319 It will become a Christian nation. 00:03:56.479 --> 00:03:57.439 Isn't that crazy? 00:03:57.599 --> 00:04:00.479 But God's prophesying that in Romans 11. 00:04:00.639 --> 00:04:07.520 But in Romans 10, here's what I've decided to call it: believe with your heart, confess with your mouth. 00:04:07.759 --> 00:04:11.520 Believe with your heart, confess with your mouth. 00:04:11.759 --> 00:04:19.680 And I believe that what we're gonna look at here is the best summation of how one gets saved. 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:31.839 So if you could pick two verses in Scripture and say to someone who doesn't know the Lord and they want to come to Christ, you couldn't go wrong with Romans 10, 9 and 10. 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:45.680 So I've taken that as my theme, that you have to, in your life, at some point, believe with your heart, Jesus is Lord, confess with your mouth that he rose again on the third day to be saved. 00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:48.800 And this is the formula that Paul gives us. 00:04:49.040 --> 00:04:50.399 So let's look at verse 1. 00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:57.199 It starts off this way: Brethren, my harsh desire in prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. 00:04:57.279 --> 00:05:01.360 Now that sounds exactly the same beginning of Romans 9. 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:10.160 It's obviously Paul's passionate desire is that his people, the Jews, would get saved. 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:15.920 And I would challenge us this morning, two words here: heart's desire and prayer. 00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:16.560 Look at that. 00:05:16.639 --> 00:05:21.680 It says, Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God. 00:05:22.160 --> 00:05:28.800 So, church, that's the best, that's the best kind of prayer to pray, is something you have a desire for. 00:05:29.040 --> 00:05:31.600 Don't pray for stuff you have no desire for. 00:05:31.839 --> 00:05:34.800 Pray for the things that God's put on your given you a desire for. 00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:39.199 And so the question here, even this morning, is what are what's on your heart? 00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:43.199 Not just what you pray about, but what is your prayer? 00:05:44.639 --> 00:05:51.040 What is it that you find yourself going back to again and again? 00:05:51.680 --> 00:06:07.360 I'm willing to wager that for many of us in this room, that's someone that you love, that may be a child of yours, or it might be a spouse of yours, or a relative of yours, might be someone at work, that you have a passionate desire that they would come into the kingdom, that they would be saved. 00:06:07.519 --> 00:06:11.920 And for Paul, it was the Jews, for you, and for me, it could be something else. 00:06:12.160 --> 00:06:15.519 But what's what's that desire? 00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:26.160 You know, I want to I want to challenge you as you pray those to believe that God is going to someday move in a mighty way. 00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:29.759 The victory of God is going to come. 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:31.920 Tell the devil to leave. 00:06:32.079 --> 00:06:34.800 Tell the devil to get out of that person's life. 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:39.759 Tell the devil that that in the name of Jesus they have no right. 00:06:39.920 --> 00:06:52.480 They cannot put, he cannot put his hands or it cannot put its hands on your child or on that situation, and you bind his power over that person. 00:06:52.879 --> 00:06:55.759 You've been given the keys of the kingdom. 00:06:56.240 --> 00:07:05.839 Matthew 16, you've been given the keys of the kingdom to bind on earth first, that's your prayer, then it's bound in heaven. 00:07:06.079 --> 00:07:10.639 To loose on earth, that's your prayer, and it's loosed in heaven. 00:07:10.959 --> 00:07:16.240 To start believing God that the desires of your heart are from Him. 00:07:17.040 --> 00:07:23.920 Paul continues, for I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 00:07:24.240 --> 00:07:36.800 So, ever since Israel had come back from the Babylonian activity church, they hated, passionately hated, idolatry. 00:07:38.319 --> 00:08:00.800 So, for a committed Jew hating idolatry after the Babylonian captivity, what they did is they began to look at the commandments of Moses, the law of God, to figure out how can we be holy? 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:05.519 If it says keep the Sabbath holy, what does that mean? 00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:07.600 What does it mean to keep the Sabbath holy? 00:08:07.759 --> 00:08:18.560 Now, you know, Jacob over here, he goes out and he milks his cows on the Sabbath. 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:26.000 But Larry over here, we'll just say his name is Isaac. 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:33.120 Isaac over here, probably a better of a Jewish name, he believes you shouldn't milk your cows on the Sabbath. 00:08:33.279 --> 00:08:34.399 So how do you know? 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:41.120 So they came up with two documents called the Mishnah and the Talmud. 00:08:41.840 --> 00:08:49.039 And what the Mishnah and the Talmud attempted to do was define the laws of Moses. 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:53.039 Interpret and explain the law. 00:08:53.279 --> 00:09:03.279 By the time of Paul, when he's writing this, these had become inscribed in the belief system of the Jews. 00:09:04.159 --> 00:09:10.879 These laws were arranged according to subject matter, and the Pharisees emphasized these laws. 00:09:11.279 --> 00:09:24.480 An example would be, you know, keeping the Sabbath holy, and now there's hundreds, and you can, this is interesting, you can even go into the Jewish sector of New York. 00:09:24.879 --> 00:09:42.159 It's probably true in Boston too and places like that, but I think New York has the highest concentration of Jews in the United States in New York on the Sabbath, and you see these wires going and crisscrossing all over the neighborhoods. 00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:43.759 Well, you say, what's that about? 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:49.519 Well, they have come up with a law that you're not supposed to leave your house on the Sabbath. 00:09:49.759 --> 00:10:02.159 So if you have a wire that begins in your house, then you're still in the house if you hook up to the wire, and you can go to the store and you can go shopping and stuff as far as that wire will take you out of their house. 00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:13.519 So what had happened for the Jews is they were beginning to worship the law to keep them holy, then worshiping God who keeps you holy. 00:10:14.240 --> 00:10:20.000 They had six categories in the Mishnah: agriculture, feast, women. 00:10:20.639 --> 00:10:25.840 I see women, it's nothing on men, but there's a category for women. 00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:28.559 Okay, women, see, it's your problem. 00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:30.240 We have to have a whole category for you. 00:10:30.320 --> 00:10:32.080 You're too complex for us. 00:10:32.480 --> 00:10:40.080 Agriculture, feast, women, civil and criminal law, sacrifices, unclean things, and purification. 00:10:40.320 --> 00:10:46.879 These chapters were then subdivided into tracts, of which there were 63 tracts. 00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:56.559 Of those, they were divided into chapters and verses, which resulted in thousands of laws, procedures, attitudes, and obligations. 00:10:57.200 --> 00:10:59.600 So that's what Paul's talking about. 00:10:59.840 --> 00:11:05.120 You have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 00:11:05.279 --> 00:11:10.320 In other words, you're worshiping the law, not the lawgiver. 00:11:11.440 --> 00:11:27.840 For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seek, see what he's saying, and seeking to establish their own righteousness through the Mishnah, through the Talmud, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. 00:11:28.159 --> 00:11:34.240 For Christ is the end of the law, for righteousness to everyone who believes. 00:11:34.879 --> 00:11:47.600 So the natural outgrowth of trying to find righteousness, if keeping the Sabbath holy, then if you want to be holy, how do you keep the Sabbath? 00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:50.720 It's a legitimate question. 00:11:50.879 --> 00:12:00.480 So instead of seeking God about why we keep the Sabbath holy from our heart, they sought the law itself to keep them holy through their outward actions. 00:12:00.879 --> 00:12:02.000 Does that make sense? 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:06.559 So, in other words, I meet Catholics a lot of time, I meet Catholics a lot like this. 00:12:06.639 --> 00:12:10.960 Sometimes with Lutherans and Episcopalians less so, but I see it a lot with Roman Catholics. 00:12:11.039 --> 00:12:28.080 Some of you come out of a Catholic, you may be visiting with us today, you come out of a Catholic Bank and see if I'm not accurate in this, that when I start asking them about their faith, most of the time I hear about being a Catholic more than about being a Christian. 00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:33.840 Okay, and if I talk to a Lutheran, it's more about being a Lutheran than it is about being a Christian. 00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:41.600 I hope and pray, men and women, that you never come to the place where you talk about, well, this is what it's like to be a Christian by being at the road. 00:12:42.399 --> 00:12:49.200 No, we want to be whole-hearted disciples of Jesus, of Christ. 00:12:49.440 --> 00:12:50.799 Not the road. 00:12:51.440 --> 00:12:54.799 The road did not go to Calvary and die for you. 00:12:56.000 --> 00:12:58.879 Luther did not go to the cross and die for you. 00:12:59.039 --> 00:13:01.120 The Pope didn't go to the cross and die for us. 00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:03.440 It's Christ, but we see what I'm saying? 00:13:03.600 --> 00:13:05.519 We have that tendency, don't we? 00:13:05.679 --> 00:13:07.279 We look for things. 00:13:07.759 --> 00:13:10.960 We look for outward manifestations of religion. 00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:13.919 And that's what Paul's talking about here, this battle. 00:13:14.159 --> 00:13:17.759 So Isaiah 64, 6, jot this down, really important. 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:21.360 All our righteousness are filthy racks. 00:13:21.759 --> 00:13:25.279 All our righteousness are filthy racks. 00:13:25.519 --> 00:13:33.919 Your righteousness, your being good, your being religious doesn't get you any more closer to God. 00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:42.639 For salvation, now it does get us closer to God for our sanctification, for us growing in Christ. 00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:46.720 So I keep the Sabbath holy as a family. 00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:55.120 We keep the Sabbath holy in the sense that we always go to worship and we have a worship time with a body of believers. 00:13:55.759 --> 00:13:57.360 And I take a nap. 00:13:57.440 --> 00:14:00.000 I don't know if that fits into the Mishnah or not. 00:14:01.759 --> 00:14:04.320 But for my sanctification, not my salvation. 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:05.120 Do you understand? 00:14:05.279 --> 00:14:07.519 I'm not trying to get saved because I have to. 00:14:07.679 --> 00:14:13.360 I do it because I want to, because I'm walking in the faith of the righteousness of Christ. 00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:16.000 So here's what Paul says in Philippians. 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:28.480 To be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. 00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:50.559 So it's the difference between my righteousness of trying to be right with God, versus by faith believing in Christ, worshiping him, surrendering to him, and then his righteousness has come into my heart through faith, and now his righteousness flows through my faith in him. 00:14:51.519 --> 00:14:57.279 In Galatians, Paul writes, Is the law against the promises of God? 00:14:57.440 --> 00:14:58.320 Certainly not. 00:14:58.559 --> 00:15:05.200 For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. 00:15:05.519 --> 00:15:15.200 But the scripture has confined all of us under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:25.039 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. 00:15:25.200 --> 00:15:34.799 Therefore, the law was our tutor, it was our coach, a good word might be, our coach to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. 00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:40.960 So, in other words, and I've said this so many times in our study of Romans, the law is a mirror. 00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:46.559 The law shows us our sin, it shows us our dirty face. 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:52.480 But you don't wash your face with a mirror. 00:15:53.759 --> 00:16:04.480 So, so all that the law was to do was to guide us and coach us toward the fact that we can't be righteous in our own power. 00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:06.559 That's what he's saying to the Jews right now. 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:13.759 That the righteousness of the law is not going to get you the righteousness of God. 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:20.480 But the righteousness by faith opens up the way to a personal relationship with Christ. 00:16:20.639 --> 00:16:22.559 And so look at Galatians. 00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:25.840 You know, look in your Bibles at Galatians 5. 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:30.399 So turn to the right till you come to Galatians. 00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:33.840 This is the fulfillment of the law. 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:41.600 This is what Paul is talking about in Galatians chapter 5, about what the fulfillment of the law looks like. 00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:43.120 Verse 22. 00:16:43.360 --> 00:16:45.200 Galatians 5, 22. 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:56.799 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. 00:16:57.279 --> 00:16:58.399 Look at what it says. 00:16:58.720 --> 00:17:01.840 Against such things there is no law. 00:17:02.960 --> 00:17:04.720 See, that's the greatest passage. 00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:17.039 That's one of the greatest passages in the New Testament on what faith in Christ does when we put our faith in Him, we actually begin to fulfill the law supernaturally. 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:23.680 With love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control flowing through it. 00:17:23.759 --> 00:17:26.319 Against such things, there's no law. 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:45.440 Whatever happens in Washington, whatever happens in Denver, about laws that come down, nobody, no government, no leader can stop love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and gentleness flowing through you. 00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:47.039 Nobody can stop it. 00:17:47.119 --> 00:18:01.759 And the greatest witness for Christ for a revival of the Spirit of God falling upon our land are believers who have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control. 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:08.079 If we saw more of that happening, we'd see an explosion of the gospel. 00:18:09.200 --> 00:18:12.079 That's through the righteousness of faith. 00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:13.920 It's not through the law. 00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:16.400 He continues, verse 5. 00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:23.920 For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, the man who does these things shall live by them. 00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:34.079 In other words, what he's saying here, if you're going to follow the law, and if you think righteousness comes through the law, you better follow every single one of them perfectly. 00:18:35.039 --> 00:18:37.200 Or you cannot have the righteousness of the law. 00:18:37.359 --> 00:18:41.839 Because you break one time, you break one law, it shows that you're unrighteous. 00:18:41.920 --> 00:18:43.839 It shows that you're a sinner. 00:18:45.359 --> 00:18:49.119 But the righteousness of faith. 00:18:50.400 --> 00:18:57.440 So if like my Bible, I underline on verse 5, underline righteousness of the law. 00:18:57.920 --> 00:18:59.039 Underline righteousness of the law. 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:05.359 But in verse 6 it says, the righteousness of faith, underline that, speaks in this way. 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:15.519 Do not say in your heart, who will ascend into heaven, that is to bring Christ down from above, or who will descend into the obvious, that is to bring Christ up from the dead. 00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:17.119 But what does it say? 00:19:17.440 --> 00:19:18.559 This is really important. 00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:23.440 The word is near you in your mouth and in your heart. 00:19:23.759 --> 00:19:26.319 That is the word of faith which we preach. 00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:27.440 Here's what he's saying. 00:19:27.680 --> 00:19:32.079 He's saying that salvation's not complicated, men and women. 00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:34.799 It's not difficult to understand. 00:19:35.279 --> 00:19:38.160 It's not like we have to go up to heaven. 00:19:38.880 --> 00:19:42.400 It doesn't mean we have to go down to hell or Hades. 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:44.160 It's right here. 00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:46.720 It's right near you. 00:19:47.279 --> 00:19:48.799 It is an act of faith. 00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:51.039 The word is all around you. 00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:52.400 It's very near you. 00:19:52.559 --> 00:19:56.240 He's even going to allude to creation later on in this chapter. 00:19:56.480 --> 00:19:57.920 That it's all before us. 00:19:58.079 --> 00:19:59.119 It's right before us. 00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:04.720 And even when Paul was preaching in Athens, remember Athens, he's speaking at Acts 17. 00:20:05.039 --> 00:20:21.200 Preaching in Athens, he says this to the idolaters in Athens, Greece, they should seek the Lord in the hope that they might grope for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 00:20:21.519 --> 00:20:23.039 You see what Paul's saying here? 00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:30.720 He's saying that the Bible that you open in your synagogue every day, the Messiah is right there. 00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:32.640 Faith is right there. 00:20:32.880 --> 00:20:36.960 Every time that the rabbi gets up and he preaches, he's right there. 00:20:37.759 --> 00:20:42.799 Every time you look at the rain falling and the crops coming, he's right there. 00:20:43.359 --> 00:20:47.279 His word, what does he say in verse 8? 00:20:47.519 --> 00:20:49.200 The word is near you. 00:20:49.440 --> 00:20:52.000 He's saying it's in your mouth and in your heart. 00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:57.039 He's saying to the Jews, look, you're already, you're already so close. 00:20:57.279 --> 00:20:58.559 You read his word. 00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:08.480 I remember my dad and I having many discussions over the years about how much of the Bible is spoken within the Lutheran service. 00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:12.240 You have an Old Testament lesson, you have a New Testament lesson, you have a gospel lesson. 00:21:12.319 --> 00:21:13.119 It's all right there. 00:21:13.200 --> 00:21:14.880 It's very near you. 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:21.279 In the Catholic Church, there's the readings, and that's where Luther, God has it came from his Catholic background. 00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:22.240 They're reading it. 00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:23.200 It's there. 00:21:23.839 --> 00:21:24.400 It's right there. 00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:31.920 He's saying to the Jews right now, look, in your synagogues, when you guys go on the Sabbath in the synagogue, the word is right there. 00:21:32.160 --> 00:21:32.960 Believe it. 00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:35.440 All you have to do is put your faith in it. 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:42.000 And it's called the righteousness of faith, not the righteousness of the law. 00:21:42.079 --> 00:21:55.279 And then he gets to his this is the crowning point of our passage that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and you believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you'll be saved. 00:21:55.680 --> 00:22:03.359 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the Mouth confession is made unto salvation. 00:22:03.599 --> 00:22:09.599 No better explanation in all of the Bible than Romans 10, 9 and 10. 00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:11.759 It's not practicing the law. 00:22:11.920 --> 00:22:13.200 It's not religion. 00:22:13.279 --> 00:22:14.960 No, it's confessing. 00:22:15.119 --> 00:22:17.519 And that's homologo in the Greek. 00:22:17.680 --> 00:22:19.920 It's agreeing with God. 00:22:20.160 --> 00:22:21.440 God already knows you're a sinner. 00:22:21.519 --> 00:22:23.599 You just need to agree with Him about it. 00:22:23.839 --> 00:22:27.279 And if you have any doubts, you know, ask your spouse about that. 00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:29.599 But, you know, it's confessing. 00:22:29.680 --> 00:22:30.640 It's agreeing with God. 00:22:30.799 --> 00:22:31.759 Look, I'm a sinner. 00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:33.759 I can't do it. 00:22:33.920 --> 00:22:35.279 I don't have the capacity. 00:22:35.359 --> 00:22:36.799 I don't have what it takes. 00:22:37.599 --> 00:22:40.319 And then believe, not just confess that. 00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:42.319 That'll leaves you in a quandary. 00:22:42.640 --> 00:22:43.839 But take the next step. 00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:46.880 The next step is believe in your heart that he rose again on the third day. 00:22:46.960 --> 00:22:54.400 And the reason he says that believe in the resurrection of Christ is because you can't believe in the resurrection of Christ without believing in the cross of Christ. 00:22:54.480 --> 00:22:59.359 And you can't believe in the cross of Christ without believing that he went to the cross to die for your sins. 00:23:00.160 --> 00:23:01.680 But he rose again. 00:23:02.880 --> 00:23:05.039 He conquered death. 00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:08.000 And what is the power of sin? 00:23:08.400 --> 00:23:10.160 The power of sin is death. 00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:11.839 The power of death is sin. 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:12.960 He's conquered it. 00:23:13.119 --> 00:23:15.519 He's broken its power over our lives. 00:23:16.799 --> 00:23:22.559 And we overcome, what does it say in Revelation says we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and what? 00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:24.319 The word of our testimony. 00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:28.720 So there's something about verbalizing, confessing with your mouth. 00:23:28.880 --> 00:23:32.799 Not just thinking in your heart, not just praying in secret. 00:23:33.119 --> 00:23:35.440 As good as that is, there's something better. 00:23:35.839 --> 00:23:38.640 And that's believing it, that's saying it out. 00:23:39.359 --> 00:23:44.000 That breaks the power of the devil over our lives. 00:23:44.640 --> 00:23:50.160 For the scripture says, whoever believes on him will not be put to shame. 00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:59.359 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord overall is rich to all who call upon him. 00:23:59.839 --> 00:24:08.319 And this is another one to circle or underline, for whoever, whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. 00:24:08.480 --> 00:24:09.920 So he's saying Greeks. 00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:12.079 He's saying Jews. 00:24:12.240 --> 00:24:16.880 So he's saying Jew and Gentile, whoever believes shall be saved. 00:24:17.119 --> 00:24:39.279 Men and women, it doesn't matter whether you're smart or not smart, whether you have a high IQ or a low IQ, whether you're black, whether you're white, whether you grew up in poverty, whether you grew up wealthy, whether you've you know been deeply, deeply embedded into sin, or you came out of a pretty strong Christian background, it doesn't matter. 00:24:39.519 --> 00:24:44.480 Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. 00:24:44.880 --> 00:24:48.319 It's open to all of us, it's open to everyone. 00:24:49.200 --> 00:25:08.640 So he said in 1 Corinthians 1 that the idea of the cross is considered foolishness to some, but to those who are getting saved, it is the wisdom of God, it is the power of God. 00:25:09.440 --> 00:25:19.279 So in our lives, I remember so many times looking at the Christian community and thinking, how boring. 00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:22.319 Why would anybody want to go to church on Sunday? 00:25:22.960 --> 00:25:27.039 But I did it because I had to, because I my mom made the meals. 00:25:28.720 --> 00:25:32.799 But then when I was 18, that whoever became me. 00:25:33.599 --> 00:25:37.519 And I put my faith in Christ, and I was born again. 00:25:37.599 --> 00:25:38.480 And same for you. 00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:42.079 If you've never been born again, it's whoever, it's for any of us. 00:25:42.240 --> 00:25:46.799 It's all available, every bit of it's available to every one of us in this room. 00:25:47.200 --> 00:25:51.119 And then in this last part, he talks about how people get saved. 00:25:51.279 --> 00:25:52.079 How does this happen? 00:25:52.240 --> 00:25:53.039 Verse 14. 00:25:53.359 --> 00:25:59.599 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed, and how shall they believe in whom they have not heard? 00:26:00.319 --> 00:26:02.240 So, first of all, hearing. 00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:06.160 So the first part of people coming to know Christ, they got to hear it. 00:26:06.240 --> 00:26:07.359 They gotta be able to hear the gospel. 00:26:07.519 --> 00:26:09.440 Then he explains how they hear. 00:26:09.680 --> 00:26:12.000 And how shall they hear without a preacher? 00:26:12.160 --> 00:26:15.440 So you need to hear, and to hear, you need a preacher. 00:26:15.599 --> 00:26:17.839 You need someone who shares the gospel with you. 00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:22.880 And by the way, there's gonna be four points here, and all of them have to happen for anybody to get saved. 00:26:22.960 --> 00:26:27.920 In most cases, I have heard of people having just divine encounters with God, but that's rare. 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:30.160 This is typically the way it works. 00:26:30.559 --> 00:26:32.640 And how shall they believe in whom they have not heard? 00:26:32.799 --> 00:26:33.759 So we have to hear. 00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:35.440 How shall they hear without a preacher? 00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:40.319 We need someone to share the gospel, and how shall they preach unless they are sent? 00:26:41.359 --> 00:26:50.319 So you're sent out every Sunday morning to be a preacher to someone, to share the gospel that God puts in your life. 00:26:50.559 --> 00:26:52.640 All of us, not a missionary. 00:26:52.720 --> 00:26:55.359 You don't have to have a passport that's been stamped. 00:26:55.599 --> 00:26:56.880 We're all missionaries. 00:26:57.440 --> 00:27:05.680 How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things. 00:27:07.039 --> 00:27:10.240 So you can't bring the good news if you're the bad news. 00:27:11.440 --> 00:27:13.119 And some of your bad news. 00:27:14.319 --> 00:27:15.759 You got a bad attitude. 00:27:16.640 --> 00:27:18.400 Work on your attitude. 00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:22.640 Everybody's got a bad attitude sometimes. 00:27:23.200 --> 00:27:24.240 But I like what it says. 00:27:24.319 --> 00:27:26.960 It says, you know, gospel of peace. 00:27:27.359 --> 00:27:29.680 So be a peacemaker wherever you go. 00:27:29.920 --> 00:27:34.480 But they have not all obeyed the gospel, for Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our report? 00:27:34.640 --> 00:27:37.359 So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. 00:27:37.440 --> 00:27:38.960 So the fourth point is you've got to have faith. 00:27:39.119 --> 00:27:40.240 So you've got to hear it. 00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:47.519 Somebody's got to share it, somebody's got to be sent to bring it, and then it's by faith that we accept it. 00:27:47.759 --> 00:27:49.599 But I say they have not heard. 00:27:49.759 --> 00:27:56.319 Yes, indeed, their sound has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. 00:27:56.559 --> 00:28:00.079 So actually, um, Paul is quoting Psalm 19. 00:28:00.240 --> 00:28:03.279 Let me read you the first few verses of Psalm 19. 00:28:03.519 --> 00:28:11.039 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows his handiwork. 00:28:11.359 --> 00:28:16.480 Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. 00:28:16.640 --> 00:28:21.119 There is no speech nor language with which their voice is not heard. 00:28:21.200 --> 00:28:22.079 You know what he's saying? 00:28:22.319 --> 00:28:24.640 He's saying, look, I'm talking about a preacher. 00:28:24.880 --> 00:28:27.039 I'm talking about a preacher being sent. 00:28:28.079 --> 00:28:31.759 I'm talking about you being able to hear and put your faith in that. 00:28:31.920 --> 00:28:33.839 And then he quotes Psalm 19. 00:28:34.000 --> 00:28:43.039 I think what he's saying here is, look, you have the witness of creation and the witness of revelation from the word. 00:28:43.759 --> 00:28:47.200 In other words, to those that he's writing, you have no excuse. 00:28:47.599 --> 00:28:59.119 If you haven't, if someone hasn't given you a clear explanation of the gospel, just walk outside and look at the rivers and look at the sun and look at the moon. 00:28:59.279 --> 00:29:03.519 They testify, they preach the gospel also. 00:29:04.480 --> 00:29:06.640 But I say, did Israel not know? 00:29:06.960 --> 00:29:16.319 First Moses says, I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish nation. 00:29:16.559 --> 00:29:22.319 But Isaiah is very bold, and he says, I was found by those who did not seek me. 00:29:22.640 --> 00:29:26.079 I was made manifest to those who did not ask for me. 00:29:26.400 --> 00:29:33.599 But Israel, he says, all day long, I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people. 00:29:34.319 --> 00:29:49.119 2 Peter 3:9, Peter writes, The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness, but he is long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 00:29:49.440 --> 00:29:54.480 So, church, God lifts out his arms to Israel. 00:29:54.640 --> 00:30:00.319 He lifts out his arms to us, and he says, I'm gonna provoke you to jealousy. 00:30:00.640 --> 00:30:02.720 I'm gonna provoke you to jealousy. 00:30:02.880 --> 00:30:05.599 May you provoke others to jealousy. 00:30:06.160 --> 00:30:18.880 May your righteousness, your love, your joy pervade your life enough that others are provoked to want that. 00:30:19.359 --> 00:30:20.720 I don't know what about this guy. 00:30:21.039 --> 00:30:27.759 I don't know what they go to some church about a it's about a high highway or something, or something like that. 00:30:28.160 --> 00:30:28.960 Oh, the road. 00:30:29.119 --> 00:30:34.640 They go to this church called the Road or something, and uh and they got crosses and stuff in their house. 00:30:34.720 --> 00:30:42.559 And I don't know, they've got these sayings on the wall with with a person's name and some numbers after it on the wall. 00:30:42.799 --> 00:30:49.039 But I don't understand all that, but here's what I do know is I want that kind of joy in my life. 00:30:49.359 --> 00:30:52.079 I want that kind of peace in my life. 00:30:52.400 --> 00:30:54.720 Let's provoke people to jealousy. 00:30:55.039 --> 00:30:57.839 That's the way God used the Gentiles for the Jews. 00:30:58.000 --> 00:31:00.799 May He use us in Colorado Springs to be that. 00:31:05.279 --> 00:31:08.079 Thank you for listening to the Forn for War podcast. 00:31:08.240 --> 00:31:11.680 We hope today's message has empowered you to make a difference in your world. 00:31:11.839 --> 00:31:17.680 To connect with Pastor Steve's sermons, books, and blog, visit Steve Holtonline.org. 00:31:17.839 --> 00:31:18.720 God bless.