WEBVTT 00:00:23.849 --> 00:00:27.370 If you have a copy of God's word, turn with me, Romans chapter 9. 00:00:27.689 --> 00:00:31.050 Let me be looking at Romans 9 and 10 this morning. 00:00:31.210 --> 00:00:32.649 You'll see a Pew Bible. 00:00:32.730 --> 00:00:35.530 If you need one in front of you, you can turn. 00:00:35.689 --> 00:00:39.450 If you need the Pew Bible, it's on page 962. 00:00:39.849 --> 00:00:43.210 We have been studying as a church the book of Romans. 00:00:43.370 --> 00:00:46.489 We've been in chapter 9 for a couple of weeks. 00:00:46.730 --> 00:00:50.009 And chapter 9 answered a who question. 00:00:50.570 --> 00:00:53.609 Who receives mercy and why? 00:00:54.409 --> 00:00:59.609 And if you've been tuning into the study, you'll know it was all sovereignty. 00:01:00.170 --> 00:01:04.969 God's free election, the potter and the clay. 00:01:05.209 --> 00:01:08.969 And this morning, you're going to pick this up as we read. 00:01:09.129 --> 00:01:11.609 It's going to sound very familiar. 00:01:12.090 --> 00:01:27.129 Paul is returning to a familiar argument that he's already been making over and over and over again in some ways in Romans chapter 3 through 5, where he says, righteousness isn't achieved by our own effort. 00:01:27.290 --> 00:01:30.729 It is something that we receive by faith. 00:01:32.489 --> 00:01:42.729 And so in this passage before us this morning, he transitions from who receives mercy to how a person receives mercy. 00:01:43.689 --> 00:01:47.849 And he also shows us in this passage how it is often missed. 00:01:48.489 --> 00:01:53.530 So with that in mind, follow along with me as I read, this is God's Word. 00:01:54.969 --> 00:01:56.649 What shall we say then? 00:01:56.969 --> 00:02:11.610 That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained 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 that law. 00:02:11.849 --> 00:02:12.409 Why? 00:02:12.650 --> 00:02:19.450 Well, because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. 00:02:20.090 --> 00:02:23.610 They have stumbled over the stumbling stone. 00:02:23.930 --> 00:02:34.330 As it is written, Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and whoever believes in me will not be put to shame. 00:02:34.650 --> 00:02:40.570 Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. 00:02:41.050 --> 00:02:55.370 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge, for being ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. 00:02:55.770 --> 00:03:01.050 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. 00:03:01.450 --> 00:03:09.210 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandment shall live by them. 00:03:10.090 --> 00:03:24.969 But the righteousness based on faith says, Do not say in your heart, Who will ascend into heaven, that is to bring Christ down, or who will descend into the abyss, that is to bring Christ up from the dead. 00:03:25.450 --> 00:03:27.130 But what does it say? 00:03:28.330 --> 00:03:35.689 The word is near you, in your mouth, and in your heart, that is the word of faith that we proclaim. 00:03:36.170 --> 00:03:45.290 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. 00:03:45.770 --> 00:03:51.290 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 00:03:51.930 --> 00:03:56.810 For the Scripture says, Every one who believes in him will not be put to shame. 00:03:57.290 --> 00:04:01.610 For there is no longer, or for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. 00:04:01.850 --> 00:04:07.370 For the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 00:04:07.930 --> 00:04:12.330 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 00:04:12.730 --> 00:04:14.250 This is the word of the Lord. 00:04:14.409 --> 00:04:18.250 Let me pray again and ask for the Spirit's help this morning. 00:04:18.329 --> 00:04:19.449 Let's pray. 00:04:21.209 --> 00:04:25.290 Holy Spirit, we do pray that you'd fall on this place. 00:04:27.529 --> 00:04:31.529 That you would make this word clear, that you would put it inside every heart here. 00:04:31.689 --> 00:04:32.569 You've brought us here. 00:04:32.730 --> 00:04:40.250 It's no accident that we're here on October August the 30th receiving this word. 00:04:41.930 --> 00:04:43.609 And so make it real. 00:04:45.049 --> 00:04:46.729 Show us Jesus. 00:04:47.289 --> 00:04:49.289 Speak, O Lord, speak. 00:04:49.769 --> 00:04:51.930 Your servants are listening. 00:04:53.049 --> 00:04:54.569 In Jesus' name. 00:04:54.889 --> 00:04:55.529 Amen. 00:04:57.129 --> 00:05:06.649 Marina Abramovich, she is a performance artist, and she several years ago in the Museum of Modern Art had this art exhibit. 00:05:07.049 --> 00:05:11.849 And the title of the exhibit was The Artist Is Present. 00:05:13.049 --> 00:05:15.930 She actually sat at a table in a chair. 00:05:16.250 --> 00:05:21.049 On the other side of the table was an empty chair across from her. 00:05:21.289 --> 00:05:25.529 And she sat in this chair for two and a half months. 00:05:26.089 --> 00:05:30.889 And she invited strangers who would come by the exhibit to sit across from her. 00:05:32.729 --> 00:05:34.250 No talking. 00:05:35.209 --> 00:05:38.729 No cell phones, nothing. 00:05:49.769 --> 00:05:55.930 And person after person after person would start weeping. 00:05:58.250 --> 00:06:04.089 Now, why would something like that undo a person? 00:06:05.769 --> 00:06:11.689 Well, because for those few minutes, there was nothing to hide behind. 00:06:13.689 --> 00:06:16.089 Just being fully seen. 00:06:18.329 --> 00:06:21.129 And we were made for that. 00:06:22.569 --> 00:06:29.209 We were made to be fully known and to be fully loved, but sin brought into the world shame. 00:06:29.370 --> 00:06:41.049 And if you remember anything about those early chapters in Genesis, when sin came into the world, shame taught us to run and hide as fast as we possibly can. 00:06:41.129 --> 00:06:44.810 Remember Adam and Eve hiding in the garden? 00:06:46.810 --> 00:06:49.529 So shame teaches us to hide. 00:06:50.009 --> 00:06:53.049 And some of us hide by pretending. 00:06:53.289 --> 00:06:55.449 We just fake it till we make it. 00:06:55.930 --> 00:07:02.409 We fake what we are not, or we pretend to be better than we actually are. 00:07:03.449 --> 00:07:07.769 Some of us maybe the hiding comes through performing. 00:07:07.930 --> 00:07:10.729 We hide behind our performing. 00:07:11.930 --> 00:07:19.129 And we work really hard to earn approval because we're afraid that we won't get it otherwise. 00:07:20.250 --> 00:07:24.729 And most of us, if we're honest, if you're anything like me, well, we do both, don't we? 00:07:24.969 --> 00:07:29.529 We pretend and we perform, depending on the situation. 00:07:30.889 --> 00:07:43.049 And it's exhausting because the very thing that we were built for is the thing that you and I spend our lives avoiding. 00:07:45.209 --> 00:07:49.209 And that, friends, is a picture of Israel in this passage. 00:07:50.169 --> 00:07:53.209 They are hiding behind their performance. 00:07:53.930 --> 00:08:02.250 They're zealous, they're sincere, they're working really hard, terrified that they will not be good enough and won't be accepted. 00:08:02.409 --> 00:08:09.769 And so they just manage what God sees instead of simply being received by Him. 00:08:12.169 --> 00:08:16.729 And in our passage this morning, we're going to see something really good. 00:08:18.250 --> 00:08:25.609 Some really good news, something way better than someone sitting across the table from us and sitting across from a stranger. 00:08:26.729 --> 00:08:35.129 In this passage, we're going to see that there is a way for us to be fully known and fully received. 00:08:36.169 --> 00:08:40.409 With no pretending and with no performing necessary. 00:08:42.570 --> 00:08:43.610 Just Jesus. 00:08:43.769 --> 00:08:44.970 That's what we get here. 00:08:45.529 --> 00:08:53.210 Just a Christ who is not far off and who is very near. 00:08:54.169 --> 00:08:55.929 Here's the outline this morning. 00:08:56.090 --> 00:08:57.610 If you're a note taker. 00:08:58.730 --> 00:09:01.049 The diagnosis, the solution. 00:09:01.289 --> 00:09:04.090 Number two, the invitation. 00:09:04.809 --> 00:09:09.689 The diagnosis, the solution, the invitation. 00:09:09.929 --> 00:09:12.569 Let's look at those in turn this morning. 00:09:12.730 --> 00:09:13.929 The diagnosis. 00:09:14.169 --> 00:09:22.730 I think it's easy in Romans to, because it is so dense and weighty, and there's lots happening and lots of deep theology. 00:09:22.809 --> 00:09:30.409 It's easy for us to miss actually the context of Roman and who the book is actually written to and why it's being written. 00:09:30.889 --> 00:09:40.490 So the context, remember, years earlier, the Jewish believers were expelled from Rome, but when they left, the church kept going. 00:09:41.850 --> 00:09:44.490 And the church was full of Gentiles. 00:09:45.129 --> 00:09:50.329 And so the church is Gentile-led and Gentile-shaped. 00:09:51.289 --> 00:09:58.169 And how do you think that went over when the Gentile believers or the Jewish believers returned to the church? 00:09:59.049 --> 00:10:07.210 When they returned to Rome, they walked back into a church that felt nothing like them and like the church that they had left. 00:10:07.370 --> 00:10:16.169 And I say that just to say that Romans, as we often kind of can lean towards, is not the Apostle Paul writing an essay on reformed theology. 00:10:17.610 --> 00:10:27.449 No, he's writing to a real church in real conflict, where Jews and Gentiles were looking at each other with suspicion. 00:10:27.689 --> 00:10:37.289 And Paul writes Romans, and when he writes Romans, he steps right into the middle of this conflict and this church. 00:10:37.689 --> 00:10:45.129 And that is what makes, if you look at verses 32 through 33, so shocking and stunning. 00:10:46.569 --> 00:10:48.490 What shall we say then? 00:10:49.210 --> 00:10:50.730 Look at these verses. 00:10:51.850 --> 00:11:00.649 The Gentiles who were not chasing righteousness at all and really didn't care, they got it. 00:11:02.649 --> 00:11:09.129 And the Israelites who chased it with everything they possibly had didn't. 00:11:09.449 --> 00:11:13.449 You see, the Jews had every reason to expect standing with God. 00:11:13.610 --> 00:11:26.490 They had the law, they had the sacrifices, they had the temple, they had centuries of being told that righteousness would and the need for righteousness in order to approach the throne of God. 00:11:26.649 --> 00:11:29.769 And the Gentiles, on the other hand, they had none of that framework. 00:11:29.929 --> 00:11:31.610 They weren't seeking righteousness at all. 00:11:31.769 --> 00:11:35.689 They were pagans and they were living like it. 00:11:36.090 --> 00:11:39.769 And yet it's the Gentiles who obtain it. 00:11:41.370 --> 00:11:49.529 And it's the zealous insiders who were very sincere, but they miss it. 00:11:51.370 --> 00:11:51.769 Why? 00:11:51.929 --> 00:11:53.289 Well, look at verse 32. 00:11:53.449 --> 00:11:55.449 It tells us exactly why. 00:11:56.329 --> 00:12:04.730 They miss it because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. 00:12:05.689 --> 00:12:09.529 There are two ways for you to be righteous. 00:12:10.490 --> 00:12:26.009 You can be righteous through offering a righteousness to God, which is something that you build and something that you achieve, evidence that you come and perform and say, God, accept me. 00:12:26.169 --> 00:12:30.169 I deserve it based on how good I've been and what I've done. 00:12:30.809 --> 00:12:32.649 That's a righteousness to God. 00:12:32.809 --> 00:12:41.850 Or you can receive a righteousness from God as a gift that comes to you by faith. 00:12:43.210 --> 00:12:45.769 You see, Israel wasn't lazy. 00:12:47.689 --> 00:12:49.210 They were zealous. 00:12:49.929 --> 00:12:54.409 It's just that they were zealous and working in the wrong direction. 00:12:55.289 --> 00:13:07.610 They were working to build their own resumes instead of receiving Jesus' resume that he had won for them and gives them by faith. 00:13:08.169 --> 00:13:10.250 And that's exactly what trips them up. 00:13:10.409 --> 00:13:11.049 Keep reading. 00:13:11.210 --> 00:13:13.929 They stumbled over the stumbling stone. 00:13:14.569 --> 00:13:20.569 And he's quoting here Isaiah 28, the stone that God had laid in Zion, Christ Himself. 00:13:21.370 --> 00:13:36.809 And this stone would either be a plot, solid place for you to stand, or it would be the thing that trips you up, the thing that you trip over, depending on whether you trust it or whether you walk past it. 00:13:37.850 --> 00:13:47.610 And building your own record instead of receiving his is what it means to walk past it. 00:13:49.449 --> 00:13:51.289 And this is a hard word. 00:13:52.809 --> 00:14:01.210 I mean, zealous and sincere people missing the thing that was right in front of them that could have saved them. 00:14:01.850 --> 00:14:02.809 Here's a picture. 00:14:02.970 --> 00:14:05.769 Think about, and we've all had this happen at some point. 00:14:05.929 --> 00:14:13.449 You put an address in the GPS or put your trip in your GPS, you follow every turn with total confidence. 00:14:13.689 --> 00:14:19.049 And then 45 minutes later down the road, you realize something is not quite right. 00:14:20.889 --> 00:14:24.649 That you are not where you thought you were going. 00:14:26.090 --> 00:14:29.769 But the voice sounded very sure. 00:14:30.970 --> 00:14:33.610 Turn here and you turned there. 00:14:34.329 --> 00:14:37.610 Continue straight and you continued straight. 00:14:37.929 --> 00:14:44.569 You drove every mile in good faith, sincerely following, but sincerely wrong. 00:14:46.009 --> 00:14:50.889 You were confident the whole time that you were still headed in the right direction. 00:14:51.129 --> 00:14:54.409 That is exactly what happened with Israel. 00:14:55.210 --> 00:15:03.129 Sincerely convinced that they were on the right road, totally confident, completely lost. 00:15:05.769 --> 00:15:07.850 Question for you this morning. 00:15:09.129 --> 00:15:11.929 Where are you driving right past Jesus? 00:15:14.809 --> 00:15:27.850 If Jesus is not the center of your life, the rock that you are standing on, and instead you are standing on your own effort and doing and performance and track record. 00:15:28.169 --> 00:15:29.289 Stop the car. 00:15:31.689 --> 00:15:34.090 Stop the car because you're lost. 00:15:35.850 --> 00:15:46.809 Because you're offering a righteousness to him rather than receiving as a gift by faith a righteousness that he offers to you. 00:15:48.250 --> 00:15:55.769 And maybe this morning you're not the one who's lost like that, but you know someone around you that is. 00:15:56.970 --> 00:15:58.649 Who do you know around you? 00:15:59.049 --> 00:16:04.490 People who are very sincere and very zealous, but they're lost. 00:16:07.289 --> 00:16:11.929 Notice the Apostle Paul in chapter 10, verse 1. 00:16:12.250 --> 00:16:23.370 And this is the part that I had to sit with all week, and the part that really struck me and convicted me this week in my preparation. 00:16:24.809 --> 00:16:34.409 Notice here, Paul opens, not with an indictment, but he's on his knees in prayer. 00:16:35.689 --> 00:16:40.329 My heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. 00:16:40.490 --> 00:16:49.689 Notice, please notice, chapter 9, he spent the whole chapter talking about God's sovereign election. 00:16:49.769 --> 00:16:52.569 And notice what that does not do to Paul. 00:16:53.529 --> 00:16:55.769 It does not lead him to be fatalistic. 00:16:55.850 --> 00:17:00.409 Oh well, God's in control of everything, so I don't have to pray anymore. 00:17:01.289 --> 00:17:02.809 Doesn't lead him to silence. 00:17:02.889 --> 00:17:06.569 You know what election leads Paul to do? 00:17:07.289 --> 00:17:08.569 Pray harder. 00:17:10.569 --> 00:17:12.170 It drives him to his knees. 00:17:12.329 --> 00:17:16.569 Sovereignty was never an excuse for Paul to stop asking. 00:17:16.730 --> 00:17:22.730 It was actually the very foundation of his hope to keep praying. 00:17:24.730 --> 00:17:28.329 And what's striking about the prayer, look at verses two and three. 00:17:29.289 --> 00:17:31.369 Notice who he's praying for. 00:17:32.170 --> 00:17:37.769 People who have a zeal for God, who have established their own righteousness instead of submitting to God's. 00:17:37.930 --> 00:17:40.329 And this stopped me this week. 00:17:42.329 --> 00:17:44.970 Paul is weeping and praying. 00:17:45.529 --> 00:17:47.769 You get this earlier in chapter nine. 00:17:48.089 --> 00:17:51.690 Put these together over self-righteous people. 00:17:54.410 --> 00:17:55.849 Do you do that? 00:18:00.170 --> 00:18:01.609 I don't do that. 00:18:03.690 --> 00:18:06.089 You know what I do with self-righteous people? 00:18:08.089 --> 00:18:09.049 I get mad. 00:18:11.129 --> 00:18:12.730 They irritate me. 00:18:15.049 --> 00:18:16.970 I roll my eyes. 00:18:18.809 --> 00:18:23.769 And that reaction in me, friends, it says way more about me than it does about them. 00:18:23.849 --> 00:18:25.609 And you know what it says about me? 00:18:27.049 --> 00:18:32.410 That I've got a lot of self-righteousness that I need to deal with on my own. 00:18:33.609 --> 00:18:40.009 Because there's something in me that I still think that I'm better than them. 00:18:41.289 --> 00:18:43.609 And that's not what Paul does. 00:18:45.049 --> 00:18:54.329 He's already declared here that he would be cursed and he would be cut off from Christ if it meant his own self-righteous people could be saved. 00:18:54.569 --> 00:18:59.849 He doesn't want to defeat them, he wants to win them. 00:19:01.129 --> 00:19:08.889 And that ought to shape the way we feel and think and pray for the self-righteous people in our own lives. 00:19:09.049 --> 00:19:12.329 Who is the one self-righteous person around you? 00:19:12.490 --> 00:19:18.410 It could be at your work, it could be at your school, it could be a family member. 00:19:18.730 --> 00:19:24.650 Who is the one self-righteous person around you that you have written off that makes you angry? 00:19:24.730 --> 00:19:31.690 That instead of getting angry, you could actually stop and pray. 00:19:34.009 --> 00:19:36.009 Paul doesn't have contempt. 00:19:39.609 --> 00:19:41.609 That drives him to prayer. 00:19:42.730 --> 00:19:44.089 Secondly, the solution. 00:19:44.170 --> 00:19:45.609 Look at verse 4. 00:19:46.730 --> 00:19:47.849 We'll walk through this. 00:19:48.009 --> 00:19:51.769 Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. 00:19:51.930 --> 00:19:52.970 Now, a couple of things. 00:19:53.210 --> 00:19:58.329 Doesn't mean that the law was bad and that the law is somehow irrelevant now. 00:19:58.490 --> 00:20:06.569 No, it means Christ brings a close to the jobs, uh to the law's job of being a way of righteousness to God. 00:20:07.210 --> 00:20:08.569 And we see that with Moses. 00:20:08.809 --> 00:20:09.769 He states it plainly. 00:20:09.930 --> 00:20:10.809 Look at verse 5. 00:20:10.970 --> 00:20:14.089 The person who does the commandment shall live by them. 00:20:14.329 --> 00:20:17.210 In other words, do this and live. 00:20:18.809 --> 00:20:21.690 That's great advice, except there's one problem. 00:20:23.210 --> 00:20:24.730 We can't do it. 00:20:26.170 --> 00:20:28.569 We can't obey the law perfectly. 00:20:28.889 --> 00:20:31.609 No one has ever obeyed the law perfectly. 00:20:31.769 --> 00:20:36.170 The law, except Jesus, the law is holy and righteous and good. 00:20:36.250 --> 00:20:37.529 The problem is never the law. 00:20:37.690 --> 00:20:38.809 The problem is us. 00:20:38.970 --> 00:20:45.049 It is sinners who can't keep it well enough to live by it. 00:20:45.450 --> 00:20:50.970 And so the law was never meant to be a ladder that we climb to earn God's favor. 00:20:51.129 --> 00:20:59.450 It was meant to show you that you can't climb it and to point you to somewhere else and to the person who did. 00:21:00.410 --> 00:21:01.690 And that's where he goes next. 00:21:01.849 --> 00:21:04.170 Look at verses six through eight. 00:21:04.650 --> 00:21:07.609 He shows us that somewhere else. 00:21:07.930 --> 00:21:11.849 Where law righteousness says climb the ladder. 00:21:12.970 --> 00:21:16.970 Faith righteousness says that the ladder has already been climbed. 00:21:17.049 --> 00:21:18.329 And you see it in these verses. 00:21:18.490 --> 00:21:19.049 Look at it. 00:21:19.210 --> 00:21:22.889 Do not say who will go up to heaven and bring Christ down. 00:21:23.049 --> 00:21:27.450 Don't say who will go down to the depths to bring Christ back from the dead. 00:21:27.930 --> 00:21:30.650 In other words, Christ has already come down. 00:21:31.369 --> 00:21:33.769 Christ has already rose up. 00:21:34.170 --> 00:21:39.769 There is nothing left to climb because Jesus has done it all. 00:21:39.930 --> 00:21:41.690 That's what is being said there. 00:21:42.329 --> 00:21:47.609 And so the whole passage we could summarize really with two words do or done. 00:21:49.210 --> 00:21:53.129 Every religion in the world says do. 00:21:53.849 --> 00:21:56.889 That the path to God is through doing. 00:21:57.210 --> 00:21:59.849 Do enough, be enough, prove enough. 00:22:01.049 --> 00:22:03.609 The gospel says done. 00:22:05.210 --> 00:22:06.970 Already finished. 00:22:07.690 --> 00:22:09.210 Nothing left to add. 00:22:09.450 --> 00:22:14.889 And that's not just a slogan, that's exactly what we see verse four saying. 00:22:15.369 --> 00:22:23.369 When you trust in Jesus, it's his obedience, his death, his resurrection, his finished work that is actually credited to you, not built. 00:22:23.930 --> 00:22:24.809 Built by you. 00:22:25.049 --> 00:22:26.490 He has done it all. 00:22:28.410 --> 00:22:30.490 And here's the best news of all. 00:22:31.849 --> 00:22:38.490 You do not have to go on a spiritual scavenger hunt in order to find this finished work. 00:22:41.289 --> 00:22:42.569 It's already near. 00:22:42.730 --> 00:22:44.089 Look at verse 8. 00:22:44.410 --> 00:22:45.369 What does it say? 00:22:45.450 --> 00:22:53.289 That the word, okay, the gospel message, the word of faith proclaimed to you, is near, it is in your mouth and is in your heart. 00:22:53.450 --> 00:22:56.410 Have you ever had this happen? 00:22:56.569 --> 00:23:08.329 I've had this happen probably multiple times in my life, where you've spent 20 minutes or so tearing the house apart and you're looking for your sunglasses. 00:23:09.289 --> 00:23:13.609 Maybe you're looking for your keys and you're checking the cushions are coming out of the couch. 00:23:13.769 --> 00:23:27.769 You go to your car three times, you've looking, retracing your steps, and then you walk in and you see a mirror and you look, or maybe you see a reflection, or maybe you feel them and you realize that your glasses are actually on your head. 00:23:30.329 --> 00:23:33.049 Or you realize that the keys were actually in your pocket. 00:23:33.210 --> 00:23:39.849 The search was unnecessary, not because finding them didn't matter, but because they were there, they were never far off. 00:23:41.289 --> 00:23:43.129 They were already near. 00:23:43.849 --> 00:23:45.529 That's verse eight. 00:23:46.650 --> 00:23:49.450 We're not on a spiritual scavenger hunt. 00:23:50.170 --> 00:23:53.369 You don't have to climb up or dig down to find God. 00:23:54.569 --> 00:23:56.089 He's already come. 00:23:57.609 --> 00:24:03.769 Jesus made the journey that you and I exhaust ourselves oftentimes trying to make. 00:24:05.930 --> 00:24:09.369 Some of you this morning feel distant from God. 00:24:12.329 --> 00:24:17.049 And you feel like, I need one more breakthrough. 00:24:18.650 --> 00:24:27.450 Or maybe in your heart, you're like, I need one more spiritual high so that I can really feel that he's near. 00:24:27.609 --> 00:24:36.569 I need one more mountaintop experience or an emotional experience, or I need one more season of being really disciplined so that I know that he's close. 00:24:36.809 --> 00:24:40.089 Or maybe we say, I need to be rebaptized. 00:24:40.970 --> 00:24:43.289 Then I'll feel like he's close. 00:24:45.369 --> 00:24:46.889 Hear this passage. 00:24:48.410 --> 00:24:49.450 He's here. 00:24:51.529 --> 00:24:52.809 He's near. 00:24:54.329 --> 00:24:55.849 Jesus is not far off. 00:24:55.930 --> 00:24:56.650 He's not hiding. 00:24:56.730 --> 00:24:59.210 He's not waiting for you to earn your way to him. 00:24:59.450 --> 00:25:04.889 He is right in front of you, the same stone Israel walked past without seeing. 00:25:06.650 --> 00:25:12.809 And in a few minutes, that nearness is going to stop just being a word that is preached to you. 00:25:14.250 --> 00:25:16.650 And we're going to come to this table. 00:25:18.809 --> 00:25:25.849 And you're going to have something that you can hold and taste and eat. 00:25:27.289 --> 00:25:29.690 And this table is not just a memorial. 00:25:29.849 --> 00:25:31.769 Memorials are for dead people. 00:25:33.450 --> 00:25:36.970 The Lord Jesus is spiritually present at this table. 00:25:37.450 --> 00:25:40.089 And he feeds us spiritually every single week. 00:25:40.250 --> 00:25:43.930 It's not a symbol of a distant God that we're reaching for. 00:25:44.170 --> 00:25:51.369 This table is proof that God is already near and that he has reached for us. 00:25:54.490 --> 00:25:57.289 Lastly, the invitation. 00:25:58.730 --> 00:26:00.410 Verses nine and ten. 00:26:01.049 --> 00:26:02.970 Notice a couple things. 00:26:04.329 --> 00:26:06.410 Notice heart and mouth. 00:26:07.369 --> 00:26:14.410 Believe on the inside, so heart, say out loud, mouth. 00:26:17.049 --> 00:26:20.569 Real faith doesn't stay silent forever. 00:26:21.849 --> 00:26:26.490 So if you actually believe it, at some point you will say it. 00:26:27.690 --> 00:26:29.609 And what is it that we say? 00:26:31.210 --> 00:26:34.410 Jesus is Lord. 00:26:36.569 --> 00:26:37.849 And I don't have time. 00:26:38.009 --> 00:26:40.009 I wish I did, but let me just say this. 00:26:40.170 --> 00:26:42.329 Notice what you're actually saying. 00:26:43.690 --> 00:26:46.089 Not Jesus is my busboy. 00:26:48.170 --> 00:26:52.650 Not Jesus is my helper to get me out of a jam. 00:26:53.849 --> 00:26:57.609 Not Jesus is my fire insurance and my ticket out. 00:27:00.170 --> 00:27:03.609 No, Jesus is Lord. 00:27:06.410 --> 00:27:12.490 Verses 11 and 12 tell us exactly who that offer is open to. 00:27:13.529 --> 00:27:14.410 And get this. 00:27:14.490 --> 00:27:16.809 And if you've been tuning in, hear this. 00:27:17.129 --> 00:27:22.889 Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame. 00:27:23.049 --> 00:27:24.970 There is no distinction. 00:27:26.809 --> 00:27:36.569 For the same Lord is Lord, not just of some people, of all, bestowing his riches on all who call upon him. 00:27:36.889 --> 00:27:38.490 Wait just a minute. 00:27:39.529 --> 00:27:42.730 I mean, have you been here through Romans chapter 9? 00:27:45.849 --> 00:27:48.730 We're now saying everyone who believes. 00:27:49.210 --> 00:27:50.410 No distinction. 00:27:50.650 --> 00:27:52.490 All who call up on him. 00:27:52.809 --> 00:28:00.490 Didn't Paul just finish saying for an entire chapter that God's sovereignty chooses those who will receive mercy? 00:28:01.769 --> 00:28:03.529 What do we do with that? 00:28:04.650 --> 00:28:06.250 Here's the answer. 00:28:07.450 --> 00:28:09.769 Both are 100% true. 00:28:12.889 --> 00:28:14.809 Get your mind around that. 00:28:16.089 --> 00:28:23.289 God is 100% sovereign, and you are 100% responsible. 00:28:25.049 --> 00:28:30.170 Chapter 9 explains why anyone would want to call on the name of the Lord in the first place. 00:28:31.369 --> 00:28:36.970 No one calls unless God has not first drawn them. 00:28:37.210 --> 00:28:41.769 Ephesians chapter 2, faith is a gift. 00:28:43.609 --> 00:28:44.889 That's God's side. 00:28:45.049 --> 00:28:46.250 Well, what about us? 00:28:46.329 --> 00:28:47.609 What do we do? 00:28:50.009 --> 00:28:51.529 We call on him. 00:28:53.210 --> 00:28:57.849 The call itself, once it happens, has no qualifiers. 00:28:58.009 --> 00:29:07.129 Paul does not say with an asterisk, notice, he does not say, everyone who calls as long as they're on the elect list. 00:29:08.329 --> 00:29:10.250 That's not what he says. 00:29:11.369 --> 00:29:13.049 He says, everyone. 00:29:14.490 --> 00:29:17.129 Everyone who calls will be saved. 00:29:17.289 --> 00:29:25.849 You are a hundred percent responsible to call on him and a hundred percent dependent on God to draw you there. 00:29:27.529 --> 00:29:29.849 That's not a contradiction to resolve. 00:29:29.930 --> 00:29:35.289 That is a paradox that the Bible holds side by side. 00:29:37.450 --> 00:29:40.250 And that is exactly what verse 13. 00:29:40.329 --> 00:29:43.289 I mean, think Paul is driving this home, this idea of everyone. 00:29:43.450 --> 00:29:44.569 Look at verse 13. 00:29:44.730 --> 00:29:45.769 He comes stronger. 00:29:45.930 --> 00:29:51.049 Everyone, one more time, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 00:29:51.210 --> 00:29:56.170 Comprehensive, no exceptions, no fine prints, everyone. 00:29:59.369 --> 00:30:00.809 Jeffrey Dahmer. 00:30:01.690 --> 00:30:09.609 That name might sound familiar to some of you, but he was convicted of the most horrific and gruesome crimes in American history. 00:30:10.889 --> 00:30:14.889 If you know his story, he became a Christian while he was in prison. 00:30:16.410 --> 00:30:24.329 And after he became a Christian, he was killed by an inmate, but before then he had given his life to Christ. 00:30:24.490 --> 00:30:35.529 He had been going to chapel, praying, reading his Bible, reading all sorts of Christian books. 00:30:36.889 --> 00:30:40.250 He said how sorry he was for what he had done. 00:30:40.650 --> 00:30:53.930 And he said, I realize maybe not everyone will forgive me, but I know the one person in the world that will forgive me, and his name is Jesus Christ. 00:30:55.930 --> 00:31:03.369 And we hear a story like that, and what disturbs most people isn't the crime itself. 00:31:03.529 --> 00:31:07.849 Yes, that's disturbing, but everyone already knew he was a monster. 00:31:10.009 --> 00:31:12.650 You know what's disturbing is the conversion. 00:31:14.250 --> 00:31:29.769 A man like that, cleansed, forgiven, and welcomed, on the same terms as everyone else, friends, that is grace. 00:31:31.849 --> 00:31:39.369 It's the shocking reality of the grace that Paul is bringing to this church and bringing to us this morning. 00:31:39.450 --> 00:31:50.809 And if our gut reaction to that is resistance, if our gut reaction is surely not him, God can't save people like that. 00:31:51.529 --> 00:31:54.889 If that is our reaction, please pay attention to that. 00:31:57.129 --> 00:32:00.569 Because that is a sign that you're focused on the wrong debt. 00:32:03.049 --> 00:32:03.930 Because I do this. 00:32:04.089 --> 00:32:06.490 The math in our head goes, wait a minute. 00:32:07.289 --> 00:32:09.210 This guy's a serial killer. 00:32:09.609 --> 00:32:12.009 Of course he needs a savior. 00:32:12.889 --> 00:32:13.849 But me? 00:32:15.289 --> 00:32:16.889 I've never done anything like that. 00:32:16.970 --> 00:32:17.690 I'm good. 00:32:17.930 --> 00:32:21.529 I need a little small savior. 00:32:23.529 --> 00:32:25.769 Friends, it misses the math. 00:32:26.970 --> 00:32:29.849 That math misses the actual debt. 00:32:30.889 --> 00:32:37.450 Because every sin, yours included, is what put Jesus on the cross. 00:32:38.970 --> 00:32:45.769 Martin Luther is famous for saying, we carry his very nails around in our pockets. 00:32:48.009 --> 00:32:51.849 Meaning that we didn't need less saving than Jeffrey Dahmer. 00:32:51.930 --> 00:32:53.450 We needed just as much. 00:32:56.490 --> 00:33:05.450 And if that makes you mad, if that makes you angry, that is not something to shrug off. 00:33:07.849 --> 00:33:12.490 That is actually a warning light on the dashboard of your soul. 00:33:14.569 --> 00:33:16.889 If it makes you mad, slow down. 00:33:18.250 --> 00:33:20.410 Check what's under the hood. 00:33:21.930 --> 00:33:30.490 Get curious about your own heart because it's telling you something that some part of you still thinks that you're better than him. 00:33:32.889 --> 00:33:36.569 That some part of you thinks that your case is stronger. 00:33:39.129 --> 00:33:40.889 That is not righteousness, friends. 00:33:40.970 --> 00:33:42.809 That is self-righteousness. 00:33:44.410 --> 00:33:46.009 Grace is radical. 00:33:47.769 --> 00:33:49.769 Grace is scandalous. 00:33:51.529 --> 00:33:57.609 And we better be very thankful because if it were not, then we would be in trouble. 00:33:58.329 --> 00:33:59.289 All of us. 00:34:02.170 --> 00:34:09.289 Maybe this morning you're in the middle of a mess that you have made because of your sin. 00:34:13.210 --> 00:34:23.530 And you hear this and you say, Yes, but the everyone who calls, I'm the exception, that time has passed me by. 00:34:23.769 --> 00:34:26.970 It does not say everyone except you. 00:34:29.369 --> 00:34:31.530 Grace is deeper still. 00:34:33.449 --> 00:34:35.369 There is grace for you. 00:34:36.250 --> 00:34:41.610 Because that grace that Jesus offers you is a well that never runs dry. 00:34:41.929 --> 00:34:43.210 Come home. 00:34:45.050 --> 00:34:46.889 You're invited this morning. 00:34:47.050 --> 00:34:51.849 If you don't know Jesus, this is an invitation for you to come to Him. 00:34:53.130 --> 00:34:57.210 And you don't have to ask, you're not asked to prove anything. 00:34:57.929 --> 00:35:06.730 You're not being asked to get your life in order first and then come or to be sorry enough or to understand all these theological things before you come. 00:35:06.889 --> 00:35:09.610 No, you're being invited to call. 00:35:11.369 --> 00:35:12.489 That's it. 00:35:14.329 --> 00:35:16.170 Call on the name of the Lord. 00:35:17.929 --> 00:35:19.610 Jesus help me. 00:35:20.409 --> 00:35:21.769 And you will be saved. 00:35:21.929 --> 00:35:24.250 He invites you, and he is near. 00:35:26.250 --> 00:35:29.289 And maybe this morning you're already a believer. 00:35:30.809 --> 00:35:36.409 And if that's you this morning, please know that we never get past this passage. 00:35:38.570 --> 00:35:40.570 We don't graduate from this. 00:35:43.530 --> 00:35:44.409