Sermons

Churches all over the country will soon be making plans to re-create one of the most meaningful times of the year…the birth of Jesus…and with the Christmas season comes the Christian celebration of Advent.

Advent stands between the already and the not yet…the already is when the Old Testament saints waited expectantly for the coming of the Messiah that occurred when God came to earth in the form of a human on that first Christmas day.

Today is about the ‘not yet’ as we wait for the second coming of Jesus…one sentence sums up Advent…it’s the time for the celebration of Jesus’ birth as well as preparing our hearts for His second coming.

Advent is a time of waiting…whereas Christmas is about celebrating…with a desire that is more centered on moving products off store shelves than reflecting on the brokenness in our world that no cart full of Black Friday bargains can fix.

For centuries Christians all over the world have celebrated Advent as a way of preparing themselves spiritually for Christmas…the term ‘Advent’ means ‘coming’ or ‘arrival’ …Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas and ends on Christmas Eve.

For Pastors, Advent always presents pressure to create a Christmas sermon series that is unique…fresh…and creative…but really…how many people don’t know what Christmas is about?

With respect to Advent…that pressure is only heightened by preaching about something that is not even mentioned in the Bible…so the question is why is the church even observing Advent if it isn’t found in the Bible?…because Advent is celebrating the waiting.

This morning we’re looking at week one of Advent…the candle of prophesy and hope…and how that relates to Advent…to Christmas… and to our lives today.

Hope is one of the three classic virtues of Christianity…faith…hope…and love are foundational in that they draw us to God and to each other.

That’s what differentiates ordinary hope from Biblical hope…Biblical hope is not just a desire for something to happen in the future…Biblical hope expects it to happen…it is the confident expectation that something will happen in the future.

As part of the Advent celebration the Advent Wreath is a reminder of what happened more than 2,000 years ago when Jesus left Heaven and entered into our world bringing light into darkness.

Originally it had 28 candles…24 small red candles and four larger white ones…a German Pastor devised the wreath to satisfy the children at a mission school who would ask every day…’Is it Christmas yet?’

They would light a new red candle each day…to help the children count the days until Christmas, as well as a white candle on Sundays.

Eventually the red candles were discarded in favor of a wreath with just five candles…three purple…one pink…and one white candle in the center…the four candles are lit on each successive Sunday of Advent while the center candle is lit on Christmas Eve.

Today is the first Sunday of Advent so we light the purple Prophecy Candle…in remembrance of the prophets who prophesized the birth of Christ.

Why did God send His prophets? Prophecy is a prediction or a promise God gives as a preview of His future plans…unlike human predictions God’s predictions always come true.

Goes back to what I said last week with respect to ‘do you understand these things’ and the question of:

There are thousands of other religious texts, why do you believe your Bible is the only religious text inspired by God?

Take the Quran…the sacred scriptures of Islam…Muslims will argue that the Quran is the inspired Word of God given to Mohammed just like the Bible is the inspired Word of God given to the Jewish prophets…which makes the Quran at least on an equal with the Bible…Right?

Gabriel spoke to Daniel…Mary…and Zechariah—the father of John the Baptist – so Gabriel speaking to Mohammed over a period of about 23 years…should count the same as the prophets in the Bible. WRONG.

FIRST of all Gabriel is an angel from God…why would he appear to an unbeliever and give him a message that was already told about in the Bible?

What makes the Quran seem authoritative is that the narratives in the Quran center on the same people as in the Bible… Adam…Noah…Abraham…Moses …Mary…but the stories don’t align with what the Bible says about them.

In addition the Quran says nothing about Jesus’ teaching and healing ministry and even denies Jesus’ ‘divinity’…including that He was crucified and was resurrected.

SO…Why would God inspire a book—the Quran—that omits His Son’s sacrificial death? He didn’t.

Then there are those who believe that Nostradamus is a prophet of sort…that he predicted numerous events in world history including: the French Revolution; the rise of Napoleon and Hitler; the assassination of JFK the September 11, terrorist attacks and more recently that he predicted the onset of COVID-19.

Here’s the problem with Nostradamus…many scholars believe he paraphrased prophecies from the Bible…in most of his prophecies they are so general in nature that you can read whatever you wish into them…as a result most of his writings are pathologically noncommittal…for example his prophecy about COVID:

Near the gates and within two cities/There will be two scourges the like of which was never seen. Famine within plague, people crying to the great immortal God for relief.

Well…first of all…that is so general I don’t know how that relates to COVID and secondly the prediction…‘the like of which was never seen’ is invalid because throughout history there have been far worse plagues than COVID.
…Bubonic Plague killed between 75-200 million
…Influenza killed between 20-50 million
…HIV/AIDS killed 36 million

Two of those plagues occurred before his lifetime…so how has COVID which hasn’t killed nearly the people as those three…as of Nov. 22 COVID has killed 6.5 million…but COVID is the ‘like of which was never seen’?

How is that prediction even remotely referring to COVID?…due to the vagueness of his writings and the lack of specific dates it makes it easy to selectively identify his prophecies as referring to any major dramatic event and claim them as true.

BUT…When you look at the Bible the prophecies of the Bible leave nothing to the imagination …there’s not a ‘well it kind of fits’ meaning.

God doesn’t guess at what will happen…He makes a promise and God always keeps His promises…God doesn’t change His mind…let me just say it’s important to know the difference between a conditional declaration of God and an unconditional determination of God.

We claim that the Bible is the infallible and inerrant revelation from God… without the belief that the Bible is without error and incapable of being wrong, the Bible is nothing more than meaningless words on a page like today’s newspapers.

Believing the Bible is “infallible” and “inerrant” is believing the Bible was given by inspiration to the original writers who communicated God’s message to accomplish His divinely intended purpose.

There are over 350 Old Testament prophecies fulfilled in Jesus…that are specific in their statements…because everything that was written was from God.

To be the inerrant Word of God a document must be found reliable by using historical analysis…archaeology…and fulfilled prophecies…it must be proven to be true…that is what separates the Bible from the other religious books that claim to be inspired.

God gave His people Israel hope by speaking to them through the prophets… much of the Old Testament was centered on hope.

Hope had to do with waiting for…looking for…and desiring something:
…the hope to be delivered from their enemies (Psalm 25)
…the hope to recover from illness (Isa 38:10-20)
…the hope that God would provide land…peace…and prosperity (Gen.13:14)
…the hope in anticipation of the coming Messiah (Isa 9:6-7)

That’s why we celebrate Advent…it represents the hope of being ready for the coming of God’s Son.

The story of Jesus doesn’t begin with a baby in a manger and it doesn’t end with Jesus on the Cross.

The entire Bible anticipates and tells of the great Messianic King who has come to bring hope to a dark and dying world.

The anticipation of Advent is felt throughout the Scriptures…you can find whispers of the Christmas story from Genesis to Revelation…the very first mention of Christmas shows up in the first three chapters of Genesis.

Genesis 3:15
I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring.

God’s response to Adam and Eve’s sin isn’t only judgment; it’s Advent…God’s promise of a future Savior who will come and destroy the serpent which will be God’s means of reconciliation between Himself and man.

The prophecies of Jesus are specific…with names and places identified…there is no guessing about the accuracy of what is written in the Bible.

–Jesus would be born of a virgin [Isaiah 7:14] Fulfilled [Matt. 1:22 / Luke 1:26]
–Jesus would be born in Bethlehem [Micah 5:2] Fulfilled [Matt. 2:1 / Luke 2:4]
–Jesus would give physical healing [Isaiah 35:5-6 / 42:7-18] Fulfilled [Matt. 11:5 / Luke 7:22 / John 9:6-7 / 11:43-44].
–Jesus would come from the tribe of Judah [Gen. 49:10] Fulfilled [Matt. 21:5]
–Jesus would ride a donkey into Jerusalem [Zech. 9:9] Fulfilled Matt. 21:5-11]

The likelihood of a person predicting today the detailed prophecies about someone in the future is unimaginable.
—How does someone “arrange” to be born in a specific city in which their parents don’t actually live?
—How does someone “arrange” to be born in a specific family?
—How does one “arrange” their own death – and specifically by crucifixion?
—How does one escape from a grave and appear to people after having been killed?

Prophet after prophet spoke of the coming Messiah giving specific details about his ancestry (Genesis 12:3; Numbers 24:17), what tribe of Israel He would belong to (Genesis 49:10)…what town He would be born in (Micah 5:2) …He would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14) …what His name would be…and He would be an heir to King David’s throne and would reign forever (2 Samuel 7:12-13).

The writers of the New Testament wrote about the fulfillment of these prophecies…then when Jesus came, they cried in relief: we have found the one the prophets wrote about…He arrived on Christmas morning.

The Christmas story is full of examples of people who put their hope in and who waited patiently for Christ and were not disappointed.

Mary…was told by the angel that she would give birth to the Savior…when the baby was born she held the Savior of the world in her arms…Mary’s hope was not disappointed.

Simeon…a man who had been told by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord, appeared in the temple at the precise moment Joseph and Mary were bringing Jesus into the temple…his hope was not disappointed.

Anna was a prophetess…an 84-year-old widow…who put her hope in God… as a result she had an encounter with Jesus…she was not disappointed.

BUT…least we forget…Advent is not just about those who waited for Christ’s first coming…it is also about us who wait for His second coming when He will banish all evil…He will make all things right…He will restore the earth…we will see Him face to face…and all our hopes will be fulfilled.

The Christmas season is a wonderful time of the year for many reasons…but one of the most important reasons is the hope that Christ brings to a lost world.

At times we’re like Isaiah who prayed that God would come down and reveal Himself…‘that you would tear open the heavens and come down’ [64:1]. He prayed this because he says ‘I live among people who do not know you’ [6:5].

What a tragedy to know people who don’t know the Lord…if God would only come down and reveal Himself people would believe…NO they wouldn’t… but…maybe and hopefully during this time of year people will realize that Christmas is more than just a celebration…it is the coming of God to earth.

As we enter this season of Advent here’s the question…here’s what Isaiah was praying to happen…here is a trustworthy saying…Jesus came into the world to save sinners [1 Tim. 3:15] …that means He came to save you and to save me.

What are you doing during the time of in between…the time God allows us to let go of everything that stands in our way of receiving God’s gift to us, the gift of Jesus?

Have you understood all these things? They said to Him, “Yes.” [Matt. 13:51]

As a Christian you will face questions to which you don’t know the answer … don’t be afraid to say… ‘I don’t know’ …something I’ve shared with you before, one of the most important things I’ve learned in my years of going to seminary is… ‘Sometimes it’s ok to say…I don’t know.’

Being a Christian doesn’t mean pretending to understand or have an answer for every question concerning the Bible.

Here’s the error people have concerning Christians…we’re supposed to have everything figured out…why wouldn’t we?…we have an all-powerful…all-knowing God on our side…a book that supposedly has all the answers in it… and a place we can go to every Sunday with other Christians who have it all figured out as well…Right?

Problem is…most Christians can’t even define what the gospel is…they can’t even explain the essential message of their faith…or even know where to begin.

Goes back to something I said a few weeks ago…do you know your Bible well enough to explain to someone what the Kingdom of God is like? It’s there.

Is it any wonder that we live in a post-Christian America where the church is just a social gathering…where the Bible is not preached or taught…where the Church is no longer relevant to the culture at large?

As a result…most Christians don’t even know what the Bible says…or where to find the most basic of Christian doctrines.

Tragically…whatever influence Christianity used to have has been eroded away …what we need to realize is that public perception has shifted.

A recent Barna survey reports only 18% of Millennials…the generation of people born between 1981 to 1996…find Christianity relevant to their lives…does that give you an indication of the direction the church is heading?

The term “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism” is a term coined in 2005 by Sociologists (Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton) who after interviewing some 3000 teenagers found a common thread with respect to their spiritual beliefs.

It’s not a new religion or theology but reveals how grossly inadequate young people today are in the view of religion and Christianity…that:

1. God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.
2. The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
3. God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when God is needed.
4. Good people go to heaven when they die.
   See the simplicity in that?…that summarizes how many of today’s youth view religion and Christianity…no wonder when you look at what’s happening to Christians today…non-Christians see nothing but the same miserable set of problems they struggle with.

Christians whose homes are battered with strife and bickering…quarreling and fighting…divorces…sexual immorality in the lives of Christians…they see all the evils…struggles…heartaches…and loneliness in the lives of Christians that are occurring in their lives as well.

Then they say…‘And your message for me is what? And why should I be interested?…you’re doing no better than we are.’

That is why the Gospel stresses the fact that Christianity consists of far more than merely believing a set of doctrines or rules…or thinking that becoming a Christian is just a way to get to heaven.

Many Christians don’t seem to understand that when you become a Christian you are introduced into a continually transforming process which ought to exhibited itself in a number of ways.

…FIRST…an increasingly wholeness of life…so what’s that mean?… wholeness is the quality of being complete… it involves all of what makes us human …our mind…body…soul…emotions…and our relationships…as Christians we should have an increasingly wholeness of life in all those areas.

When non-Christians look at our lives they ought to see the effects of a change in all those areas of our lives…NOW…nobody ever arrives at the end of their life perfect in all those areas…but there ought to be evidence that a visible and continual progress is being made.

It is those changes in our lives that give non-Christians the evidence to believe that the message we preach is a genuine message of reality and truth.

…SECONDLY as part of the continually transforming process Christians are to be spiritually transformed…we will think and act differently…removing the bad habits…worldly values…and selfish desires that lead us into temptation.

Be willing to simply say ‘no’ to those distractions and desires that so easily entangle us and draw us away from what is truly important in life: Jesus.

…THIRDLY as Christians we ought to have a fundamental idea of what the Kingdom of God is like both on earth and in heaven.

That was the essence of Jesus’ question to the disciples…He had just finished giving them eight parables that did just that…explaining what the Kingdom of God is like both on earth and in heaven.

WHY parables…why didn’t Jesus just come out and plainly tell us what the Kingdom of God is like…why the use of parables?…Jesus’s answer is a little confusing…(Matt. 13:11).

Because it has been given to you (2nd P/P) to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.

So why would Jesus purposefully withhold truth from unbelievers? That seems kind of selfish.

It was not because He was hiding the truth from them…it was because they did not want to hear the truth…their unwillingness to receive Jesus’ messages was the reason He taught in parables.

Parables were given to reveal truth to those with spiritual insight and hide the truth from those without spiritual insight…again…why would He hide the truth… because they didn’t want to hear the truth.

The reason why Jesus taught in parables was not to explain spiritual truths to the crowds, but to keep spiritual truths from the crowds.

There are those who have neither interest in nor any regard for the deep things of God…don’t need to go to Church…don’t need to go to Bible study…they’re just like the disciples… ‘I understand it all’ so Jesus made a clear distinction between those who had been given ‘ears to hear’ and those who persisted in unbelief.

So when Matthew compiled his gospel he recorded the parables that reveal the mysteries of the Kingdom of God…how God is working in the world today… how Satan works in the world…and against the Church…why he is allowed to go on in his opposition to Christians…very briefly want to share those with you.

1. The Sower and the Soils (13:1-9)
   People need to have an open heart to hear the Word…some will accept… some will reject…freewill…John Calvin is wrong…people’s hearts must be prepared and ready.
2. The Tares (13:24-30)
   The Kingdom on earth will consist of those who have genuine faith and those who have counterfeit faith…it will remain that way until a future harvest when the two will be eternally separated. [13:24-30]
3. The Mustard Seed (13:31-32)
   Jesus is simply saying that the Kingdom on earth will start out small… with just Him and a few disciples…but would grow to great proportions in a very short time.
4. The Leaven (13:33)
   Like the Parable of the Mustard Seed the kingdom is like leaven in a lump of dough…it starts out small and eventually spreads to the whole world.
5. The Hidden Treasure (13:44)
   Kingdom of God is so valuable that we should give up everything to be a part of it.
6. The Costly Pearl (13:45-46)
   Like the Parable of the Hidden Treasure we should do everything possible to possess it…even selling all we have to purchase it.
7. The Dragnet (13:47-50)
   Much like the tares parable…we should bring as many as we can into the Kingdom of God…not knowing who is real or who is counterfeit…letting God sort them out…a warning to the wicked that judgement is coming.

After revealing to them the secrets of the kingdom of heaven…Jesus then asks the disciples… Have you understood all these things? [13:51] …all the things in the parables He had been teaching. They said to Him, ‘Yes’.

We are almost startled and amazed at the disciples’ immediate answer.
Naively and ingenuously they simply reply… ‘oh yea, not a problem seems pretty clear’ …without any questions…without needing any further explanation …without a single reservation on their part they say…‘Yes, we understand.’

The disciples said they understood…but how many times have you said the same thing when in reality you had no clue.

Jesus then goes on to show them something very remarkable about themselves and what it says about us as Christians… some say it’s actually the 8th parable:

8. The Household (13:52)
   Then He said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become
   a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”

OK…if this is referring to me…then what does it mean…couple of things are confusing right up front…FIRST…the word ‘scribe’ may cause a problem since we normally think of a scribe in the Bible as someone who was opposed to Jesus’ teaching.

But the wording here is describing a scribe as someone who has become a disciple…that’s why in the Greek the wording is ‘every scribe having been discipled’ referring to someone who has been taught…and is continuing to learn…meaning not only is he a teacher…but he is also a student.

As a preacher you must continue learning so you can continue teaching…the reason at 73 I continue to go to school.

SECONDLY…we normally think of a ‘scribe’ as someone who writes something down for another person…that’s what a scribe does…mentioned it before, Mark was a scribe for both Peter and Paul writing down the events of Jesus’ life.

That was part of the discipling process…being trained…and being taught the secrets of the kingdom of heaven…that’s everybody in this room.

Here’s the importance of being ‘discipled’ …I observe people getting into all types of arguments…people getting into shouting matches…using the Bible to validate their arguments when most of the time they’re using verses out of context or have a gross misunderstanding of what the verse means because they do not understand how God is working in the world today.

That is one of the benefits of understanding the eight parables I just mentioned …so you can speak about how God works in the lives of people…what His long-range plans are for us…His intentions when it comes to judgement.

Let me just share with you what happens when you don’t understand these things…why Paul told Timothy to ‘accurately handle the Word of God…[2 Tim. 2:15] …the intent is…if you are a disciple then you have an obligation to handle the Word of God accurately and correctly.

Here’s what happens when we don’t accurately handle the Word of God:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believes the kingdom on earth is the LDS Church and exists wherever there are members of the Church…they actually help establish the kingdom as they seek to become pure in heart (D&C 97:21), obey God’s commandments, and serve with dedication.

There is nothing remotely accurate about that statement…see the importance of knowing and understanding the Word of God?

The truth is that the kingdom of God is on the earth and reigns in the hearts of all believers in the form of the Holy Spirit living inside every believer…it has nothing to do with a particular denomination or cult.

That’s why Jesus starts off by saying ‘therefore’ …implying that because you say you understand you are to be the authoritative interpreters of the Word.

That goes along with the meaning of the phrase…like a head of a household …strange wording but it’s implying as preachers…teachers…as Christians we have a responsibility to be an authoritative interpreter of Scripture.

As disciples of Jesus… which I hope is all of us…we are to be authorities when it comes to knowing the Bible…especially in how God works in the affairs of men…that’s the purpose of the eight parables in Matthew.

Being a learned disciple can only be accomplished by being a student of the Bible…by being in Sunday school and in church learning the secrets of how God is working in history…and in the personal events in our own lives.

Jesus then says in the ‘things old and new’ making reference to the Old Testament.

Far too many people believe the Old Testament has been done away with… BUT as a citizen of the kingdom we are to teach both the new and the old by …carefully balancing the teaching of the Old Testament expectation of a literal earthly Kingdom…with the New Kingdom that is in existence now…the one you are all living in.

As Christians if we are going to turn the tide against inadequate and false teachings …keeping the truths of the Bible relevant…we have an obligation to understand all these things and be faithful to share them with accuracy.

Last Sunday I made a statement that got a reaction from some of you…that’s good because that tells me you’re listening to what I’m saying…what I said was prayer doesn’t change things…let me define that a little better.

There are three major objections to consider in the statement prayer doesn’t change things…which on the surface gives solid evidence why it doesn’t.

FIRST…due to predestination everything is already set in place…therefore our prayers can’t change anything.

SECOND…prayer doesn’t change things; it changes me so the only thing that changes is me.

THIRD…Since God knows all (omniscience) and is all powerful (omnipotent) His plans are perfect so my prayer won’t do anything.

After all…we’re not going to tell God anything He doesn’t already know…or come up with a better plan than the one He already has in place.

Christianity is not about having God change reality…it’s about changing our response to it.

Many times we can’t change the circumstances of life that make up our reality …we cannot control other people…we cannot control situations…the only question is “how am I going to respond to life’s problems?”

If prayer changes things how does that fit in with the Bible’s description of God as being sovereign…If God has already ordained that something will happen, does it really matter whether or not I pray for it to change?

Jonathan Edwards stated that prayer is unable to change things…that God is not moved by anything in creation…that He is not moved by our prayers.

This is the mindset that says
If God is all-powerful and if everything is preordained, then He’s going to do whatever He wills anyway…our prayers can’t have any significant effect in the grand scheme of things. So why bother?”

Here’s another objection:
You’ve been praying for someone to become a Christian, and God has done everything He can to bring them to Himself, but somehow they won’t surrender to Him…so why bother asking God to save them if human beings are free to make up their own minds?

Here’s the difficulty with prayer…part of God’s curse on the world after the fall of Adam and Eve was He gave Satan power over this world…Satan is the temporary ruler of this world [John 12:31] …Satan has dominion and legal right in this world because he is the god of this world [2 Cor. 4:4].

NOW…does that mean God has no oversight on what happens or occurs on earth?…NO…what it means is God’s ability to intervene in the affairs of man has been hampered.

See this in the book of Daniel [10] he prayed and asked God to give him spiritual understanding regarding a vision he had…Daniel did not receive any answer for 21 days because Satan was attempting to withhold God’s answer.

As a result some argue that because of that…God can do nothing on earth unless somebody down here asks God to be involved…that’s where prayer comes in.

God has ordained prayer as a means where He will do things through us as we pray…which He would not otherwise do.

Prayer is an invitation for God to act.

Prayer is the power that moves God to work in His own way…in a way He would not have worked if prayer had not been made.

Prayer is how we can participate in what happens…here’s what prayer does…it allows us to participate in God’s work.

I want to show you how this happens…it’s not that God can’t work without our prayers but that He has established prayer as a way in which we have a part in how God works in the lives of people…circumstances…and situations.

Through prayer we invite God to take part in our lives…in the lives of other people…God invites us to share in His work through prayer…as a result of our prayers things will happen that otherwise wouldn’t.

Here’s the KEY…the relationship between divine sovereignty and petitionary prayer can be stated in one word—participation.

That’s the FIRST key in realizing what prayer does…prayer is a joint effort between us and God…praying means inviting God to help…God does not come into our lives without being asked.

If you want to see a change concerning any issue you must pray for God to become involved in what it is you’re praying for before He will intervene.

“Well God you know what needs to be done” is not an invitation to intervene.
In 1 Kings [16-17] we see the interaction between a person praying and God’s will.

In Elijah’s prayer he prayed for a drought and for rain…both began and ended by prayer…NOTICE…both occurred because it was a cooperation between Elijah and God…both were in agreement with the will of God.

Here’s where things begin to go awry…TWO THINGS…

FIRST…what I’m praying for must be in agreement with what God wants…is what I’m praying for in line with God’s will?…if not…your prayers won’t change anything.

BUT…therein is the difficulty…how do I know if what I’m praying for is in line with God’s will…what is the magic formula for knowing that?

Goes back to that misunderstood verses about how God works…as if these verses are the formula for answered prayer…that all I have to do is ask.

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you…everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will
be opened. [Matt. 7:7-8]

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him (1 John 5:14-15).

That’s why I can say that prayer doesn’t change things, because when praying to God there are conditions.

The problem comes from people who think that all you have to do is believe that verse and God will give you everything you ask for…when you ask for it …how you want it…regardless of who you are or what you believe…seeing those verses as a ‘blank check’ for answered prayer.

If you’re asking God for something in prayer…four things you need to do:

FIRST – You need to be a Christian
We have the mistaken idea that God hears everybody…He doesn’t…there are conditions.

FIRST…God does not hear sinners [John 9:31] …God does not listen to a sinner praying in the same way He listens to the prayer of a believer…if you’re not a Christian…God doesn’t hear your prayer request.

SECONDLY…you need to be a worshiper of God and in His will…you can’t be living a lifestyle that is in disobedience to God and expect to be heard…sin hinders the effectiveness of our prayer life.

SECONDLY– Tell God exactly what you need done…[Phil. 4:6] Let your request be made known to God…we are told in Scripture to tell God what we need.

There’s a danger when we don’t ask God specifically what it is we desire because God deals in specifics…to get a clear answer from God you must ask God a clear and specific question…there’s a distinction between general prayer and definite prayer.

General prayer is limited by our lack of knowledge in regard to what specific details to pray about. General prayers are made on behalf of all people, all lands, all things, and at times are so vague that it’s hard to identify exactly what it is you’re asking.

Praying for world hunger or world peace…or that all Covid-19 people will be healed is so general it’s hard to identify the exact request…whereas…definite prayer is a request made in definite faith for a definite answer.

THIRD — Are you praying in Gods will
Goes back to the question…how do I know if what I’m praying is in line with God’s will…God’s Word is an expression of His will…so when you pray in accordance with the things He has promised or declared in the Bible you’re praying in His will…the Bible tells us some things that are in God’s will regarding prayer.

Pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:44).
Pray for missionaries (Luke 10:2).
Pray against entering temptation (Matthew 26:41).
Pray for those who minister the Word (Colossians 4:3; 2 Thess.3:1.
Pray for those who are in authority in government (1 Timothy 2:1–4).
Pray for healing of others (James 5:16).
Pray for the salvation of Jews (Romans 10:1).
Pray for mercy and forgiveness of your sin (Psalm 51:1–2).
Pray for boldness to tell others about Jesus (Acts 4:29).
Pray in secret (Matthew 6:5–6).
Pray to forgive others (Mark 11:25).
Pray prayers of thanksgiving (Colossians 4:2; Philippians 4:6–7).
Pray with persistence (Luke 18:1).
Pray God’s kingdom come, His will be done (Matthew 6:10).
Praying for any or all of those is praying in agreement with God’s will.

FOURTH — Are you persistent in your request
What’s that mean… persistent prayer means ‘I will continue to pray until either God answers my prayer or tells me to stop.’ Well I prayed once…I’m good. NO.

Jesus gives two parables to emphasize the importance of persistent prayer…to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart [Luke 18:1].

One parable is the parable of the persistent widow who continually sought help from a judge who refused to give it…BUT she was relentless until the judge finally admits ‘I will give her protection otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’ [Luke 18].

The second parable is the parable of the persistent friend who continued to knock on his neighbor’s door for food long after the door had been shut and his children were in bed…but because of the man’s persistence he finally gives him food.

What’s interesting is that the parable of the persistent friend is given immediately following Jesus’ instruction on prayer…I’d say persistence is a key factor in answered prayer.

That is the need to better define the comment ‘prayer doesn’t change things’. It’s because there are conditions that need to be considered when praying…we take a lackadaisical approach to prayer and wonder why we see no results.

In addition…we don’t see any results and assume prayer didn’t change anything …when in reality it did.

God’s purpose at times will be realized in different ways according to our actions and prayers…here’s how that works:

—Sometimes God doesn’t change the situation…He changes us…He changes your perspective…we are inwardly changed because of our prayers.

—Sometimes God answers prayer in unexpected ways…thereby changing my expectation.

—Sometimes He gives strength to endure the burden leaving the situation or the circumstances alone.

—Sometimes He changes our wants…not changing the situation or the circumstances…teaching us to be content with what we have.

—Sometimes He withholds His answers until we are ready.

—Sometimes what we’re praying is against what God desires.
On the surface would appear that in all those cases…prayer didn’t change a thing…everything remained exactly the same…BUT…in every instance…God was at work in making a change.

Think about this for a minute…another factor that needs to be considered in regards to prayer…we need to let God’s desires be blended with our desires and His thoughts be one with our thoughts…so that our wants are a duplication of His wants.

Here we see the real meaning of prayer:

1. God intends to do something according to His will.
2. He reveals His will to us through the Holy Spirit for us to know His will.
3. We return God’s will back to Him through prayer.
4. God accomplishes His work according to His will.

That’s the importance of Tuesday night prayer meeting…it’s when those here are lifting up the needs and concerns of others to God…a time when we join our will to God’s…so His desire becomes our desire.

It’s praying back to God His will .…it’s sometimes called ‘standing in the gap’ …an Old Testament term God used.

God was about to bring judgement on Jerusalem for their sins…but He would withhold that judgement if He could find just one man … ‘to stand in the gap’ …someone willing to intercede on behalf of the entire city and seek God’s mercy…just one person…God said there was no one…so He brought a devastating disaster on Jerusalem.

If you don’t think your prayer matters…God said if just one person prays…that person is known as an intercessor…someone who persistently pleads on behalf of someone else for a need.

Unfortunately…we have people we’re praying for who are stupid…just like the people of Jerusalem who couldn’t see disaster on their doorstep…there are people we pray for who lack the intelligence or common sense to realize what awaits them in the hereafter…so we stand in the gap on their behalf and seek God’s will for their lives.

Intercessory prayer is a pointed persistent pleading on behalf of someone else for a need…is where a person stands in the gap for another person and pleads with God on their behalf through persistent prayer.

God is willing to do many things but is limited by His people’s lack of prayer according to His will.

Do you see the complexity of prayer and why sometimes I can say with confidence…prayer didn’t change things…because we do not put ourselves in a positions to be used by God so His will can be accomplished in the person’s life we’re praying for.

I hope I have better defined the statement prayer doesn’t change things because it it’s dependent on us…the problem is we don’t realize or understand that there are conditions associated with how God works in answering that prayer.

For the past three weeks we have been looking at some of the over 300 questions Jesus asked during His public ministry…why so many questions?

Probably most of all…to hear what people had to say…the only real way to know what people are thinking…or to know their thoughts is to ask them…but more importantly…it is through His questions that He invites people into a relationship with Him.

I’ll say it for the fourth time…one of the biggest mistakes people make is that they read the Bible as a spectator…as a novel…or like a fictional story…not realizing the application it has for us today.

Scripture becomes nothing more than a collection of stories and events that took place thousands of years ago…with no seemingly relevance for us today.

This morning we’ll look at a question from Jesus that He asks twice in the span of 15 verses…as we read these stories…it’s important to imagine yourself in the stories…this is a question Jesus is asking to all of us.

MARK 10:35-37, 46, 49-51
35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
37 They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
46 Then they came to Jericho…Jesus…his disciples…together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus was sitting by the roadside begging.
49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.
51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.
The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”

Need some clarification…need to set this up…Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem for the last time…He’s going to the Cross…but the disciples see something different awaiting them…they’re looking at a pathway to glory…they see something in this for them.

Earlier the disciples had been discussing among themselves which of them was the greatest [33] …Jesus, perceiving what they were discussing, asks them… what were you discussing on the way?[33] …crickets…silence.

How do you tell God…Jesus…that after He’s gone you’re planning on racking in on the left overs…maybe set up your own personal ministry.

Essentially James and John are wanting to be the chief administrators in the forthcoming Kingdom of God…like the Secretary of State and the other the Secretary of the Treasury.

Mark did not have firsthand knowledge of this request…he was not one of the 12 apostles…SO…here’s the issue for all the skeptics…since Mark was not an eyewitness to these events:
…can I trust the information we have about Jesus as being accurate…YEP.
…do I still believe the Bible was inspired…YEP.
…do I still believe the Bible is without error…YEP.
…do I still believe the sayings of Jesus that were handed down from memory before finally being written down decades later are still accurate…YEP.

If you’re familiar with the Apostles then you know there was a pecking order within the 12…Peter…James…and John were Jesus’ inner circle…on several occasions…at the transfigurations [9:2-8] and in the Garden of Gethsemane [14:32-42] Jesus has these three accompany Him…excluding the other disciples.

Mark’s desire to know firsthand what Jesus preached is why any knowledge of this incident is even known…it came from the person who was present…that’s why you can be confident this occurred exactly as Mark wrote it…Mark was Peter’s secretary.

The answers given by these three men reveals how differently people approach God for favors.

The first question of 36 “What do you want me to do for you? is in response to the two disciples who are requesting to have top positions in the Kingdom.

Just looking at this request on the surface…we find it hard to imagine how James and John could be so dense…so self-centered…and so insensitive to Jesus’ pain as He prepares for the Cross.

They are asking Jesus to fit them into His plans rather than trying to see how they might fit into Jesus’ plans.

Part of the problem was the disciples were clueless regarding Jesus’ crucifixion …not understanding the significance of the Cross…three times in Mark Jesus tells them that He would be jailed… beaten… condemned and executed as a criminal…[Mark 8:27-32 / 9:30-32 / 10:32-34] …but…clearly the disciples are focused on their own personal desires.

Reading on in Scripture Mark records the other 10 disciples weren’t too happy with James and John either…being rather selfish and bold in their request [10:41].

BUT…notice Jesus’ response…He doesn’t rebuke them…He doesn’t say… ‘what’s up with you guys’ … ‘How can you be so arrogant’ …He doesn’t rebuff their ambition to be near Him.

In these few verses we find two different attitudes in regards to the question What do you want me to do for you?

In the first response to James and John Jesus says…you’re going about it entirely the wrong way.

The trouble was that they weren’t asking for the wrong thing…but asking for something with no understanding of what was involved.

The initial request by James and John reflects their misguided ideas about how God works…and how He answers prayer…unfortunately…our misunderstanding of Scripture doesn’t help.

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. [Matt. 7:7-8]

The problem comes from the people who never go to church…or who do but don’t follow Jesus…but when issues arise…they are not hesitant to pray to God…seeing that verse as a ‘blank check’ for answered prayer.

That God will give you everything you ask for… when you ask for it…how you want it…regardless of who you are or what you believe.

First error is that we can make the text say more than it does…if you’ve been around any length of time at all…you know that’s not the way it works…if you could make God do something at your command…then you’d be God and He wouldn’t.

So what does the text mean?…here’s an interesting fact about the Bible…you can’t just open it up…pick out a verse and claim it as a promise from God …you have to take the Bible in its entirety.

That’s the whole problem with salvation…said it before…John 3:16 is the starting point of salvation…if you love me keep My commandments is the narrow road that leads to eternal life.

The fallacy with James and John’s request…something we all can identify with…is essentially…they were ignorant of what they were asking for…Jesus even tells them…You do not know what you are asking.

Jesus goes on to tell them what it is they are ignorant of…they are ignorant of the cost of their request…we do the same thing…we do not understand at times the price involved if God were to grant our prayer request.

In the case of James and John…they tell Jesus…we can drink of the cup and be baptized with the baptism you received…not realizing the significance in making that agreement…SO…Jesus tells them OK…you will indeed drink of the cup that I drink from and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with.

Both did drink the cup and experience the baptism Jesus did…though in different ways.

James became an early martyr in the Church…he was beheaded by Herod.

John…on one occasion was put into a vat of boiling oil…then…forced to drink poison on another…eventually exiled to the island of Patmos for the rest of his life.

Goes back to the old saying…be careful what you ask for…wish for…pray for …or agree to…all the rest of the apostles all shared in Jesus’ death.

So many times we are so distraught about something in our lives…or we want something to happen so bad that we throw caution to the wind…we make a commitment to God that can have lifelong implications.

The example is the solider in combat who tells God ‘You get me out of here and I’ll become a preacher’ …be careful about how you approach God in your requests.

Then there’s the blind man Bartimaeus…both Mark and Luke [Luke 18:35-43] write about Bartimaeus. Scripture indicates that later on that day:

46 they came to Jericho… a blind man, Bartimaeus, was sitting by the roadside begging.
49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.
51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.

It’s an extraordinary moment …the entire crowd waiting breathlessly to hear Bartimaeus’ response…their attention focused on someone who just minutes before they were trying to shut up.

The healing of Bartimaeus is the last recorded healing miracle in Mark…so what can we learn from this poor, blind beggar?

Notice that when Jesus asked him what he wanted, the man didn’t say…
“Well, Lord…you know my heart…you know what I need…or…I have an unspoken request…Bartimaeus answers Jesus…I want to receive my sight… direct and to the point.

I’m not against unspoken requests…sometimes, it’s the most appropriate way to ask for prayer in public when wanting to conceal what it is you’re praying for…sometimes it’s not for common knowledge…it’s not everybody’s business.

That’s why I don’t share our prayer requests with anyone but those who come to Tuesday night prayer service because some of those requests are personal.

Let me share with you the danger when we don’t ask God specifically what it is we desire…because God deals in specifics…praying for world hunger or world peace…or that all Covid-19 people are healed doesn’t get the attention of God.

If you are asking God for something in prayer…two things you need to do: –Tell God exactly what the problem is
–Tell God exactly what you need done about it.

This is exactly the format Jesus used when addressing the issue of how to pray: [Luke 11:1] “one of His disciples said to Him, Lord, teach us to pray…” Jesus then tells them… pray this way…here’s where the confusion comes in.

When you look at the Lord’s Prayer it is unique among all the prayers of the Bible but it’s a bit confusing…even though it’s called the Lord’s prayer:
…it never mentions the Lord.
…it’s prayed in all churches, but it never mentions the church.
…it doesn’t mention the virgin birth…atoning death, or the bodily resurrection
…it never mentions the Holy Spirit
…it’s prayed by all denominations…but never mentions…priest, bishop or pope
…it’s prayed by Christians who split over doctrinal issues but it never mentions a single word about any doctrines.
…it’s prayed by Christians whose concern is heaven…but it never mentions heaven
or hell.

I have people tell me ‘I pray the Lord’s prayer everyday’ …and that does what?

Jesus didn’t say…regarding the Lord’s prayer…pray this prayer…or repeat after me…or…as most translations of [Matthew 6:9] begin with: “this is how (Οὕτως) you (ὑμεῖς) (should) pray (προσεύχεσθε).

The word ‘pray’ is in the imperative voice making it a command…translators insert the word ‘should’ which is not in the original Greek text… adding the word ‘should’ implies that you should pray this specific prayer just like it is written…using these exact words…but that is not the intent.

Jesus wasn’t giving us a prayer to repeat…He was giving us an example of how to pray…the confusion is not to pray these exact words…the command is to use this prayer as a pattern…a more suitable translation could be “pray in this way”.

Not wanting to get into a deep discussion on the Lord’s Prayer…and I’m not…I want you to see what Jesus’ intent was when He gave us what is known as the model prayer.

The Prayer falls into seven petitions…the first three are addressed to God:
thy name…thy kingdom…thy will!

The last four concern us and our needs that the Father fulfills:
give us…forgive us…lead us not…deliver us.

Our English translations fail to convey the imperative tenses found in the words of this prayer…an imperative word in both Greek and English convey the same thing…it is a word spoken as an order or a command, such as, “You do this!” or “Do that now!” …the imperative words in the Lord’s Prayer are:

PRAY this way
HALLOWED be your name means treat as holy…set apart as holy.
Your kingdom COME.
Your will of you be DONE
GIVE us this day
FORGIVE our debts
DELIVER us from evil.

When you pray those words you are telling God to make that happen…prayer springs from a sense of need…it must express a sincere desire.

We are all just like Bartimaeus…God is asking every person in this sanctuary this morning that same question…What do you want me to do for you?”

How would you answer that…would you be selfish and ask for something for yourself…hopefully for those who don’t know Jesus as their Savior they would ask Jesus to come into their lives and save them…or maybe ask Jesus to be in charge of your life…for most of us we’ve done a pretty good job of messing it up on our own.

Bartimaeus not only had his physical eyes opened…but his spiritual eyes of understanding were also opened…and he acknowledged Christ as the Lord of His life.

Here’s what’s important…Jesus is asking that very question of you every day of your life…know that? …how we respond to that question will have eternal implications…we can blow it off with the ‘there’s nothing you can do for me’ …or …we can trust Jesus to show us His purpose for our life.

Who do people say that the Son of Man is?
Who do you say that I am?

One of the bigger mistakes people make in reading Scripture is that they read it as a spectator…as a novel…or like a fictional story…Scripture becomes nothing more than a collection of stories and events that took place thousands of years ago…with very little application for us today.

To read the Bible as a mere spectator is to miss the truths God is wanting us to discover because when you seriously read Scripture you realize that the stories in the Bible are our own story.

You are Abraham…Sarah…Moses…Deborah…Jeremiah…Ruth…the disciples, as the narrative of these people unfolds you are in the story…we should not simply watch the reactions of what others say and do.

It’s been suggested that Jesus asked 305 questions…now I don’t know who has time to research all those…obviously someone who has very little to do…the only relevance I can see goes back to my opening statement regarding merely reading Scripture as a spectator.

What we should be asking ourselves is how we would respond and what would be our reaction to those 305 questions Jesus asked.

Jesus didn’t ask questions for His sake but for the sake of those being asked… goes back to the idea that when you read Scripture you are the person who is at the center of the story…the person who has to make a decision or answer the question.

Jesus was unafraid to issue challenging questions to His followers and those listening…regardless of the number of questions He asked…He never asked a question because He needed to know the answer…He already knew the answer …the question was for the person to think about their response before answering.

When you study the topic of ‘Questions Jesus Asked’ a couple of things become obvious.

FIRST…something that is significant is that Jesus never asked ‘when’ questions…now…you will find the word ‘when’ in 11 of His questions but never was ‘when’ the emphasis of the question.

SECONDLY…Jesus didn’t ask questions that could simply be answered ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ …they went beyond the superficial…they were questions that required the person to honestly think before responding.

In Scripture it’s obvious Jesus understood the value of probing questions… countless times He asked questions that challenged the person to evaluate their life…possibly changing their entire life’s priorities [Matt. 19:16, 21].

a man came up to Jesus and asked…what good thing must I do to get eternal life? Jesus answered…go, sell your possessions, and give to the poor.

NOW that is a life changing response…go and sell all your possessions and give them to the poor…what would be your reaction to Jesus if that were you?

BUT…all the while at times asking questions that seemed a bit foolish.

Jesus asked the paralyzed man — Do you want to get well? [John 5:6]
Jesus asked the blind man — What do you want Me to do for you? [Luke 18]

Do you know what those two questions have in common? …besides being a bit foolish…they center around someone in need…in asking those questions Jesus is revealing two attributes about Himself.

FIRST…Jesus wants His followers to have the same compassion He had with these men…one needed to hear the plan of salvation…the other two… the paralyzed man and the blind man…needed healing.

They needed someone who would help them…these stories draw attention to the people who are constantly around us…our response should be with the same compassion that Jesus responded with.

SECONDLY…Just for a moment I want to divert from the topic of ‘questions Jesus asked’ to the second attribute of Jesus.

That Jesus cares about the problems we face in life …that statement carries a lot of misconception…ever heard the phrase ‘Jesus is the answer’?

There’s a difference between Jesus caring about my problems and Jesus is the answer…my immediate response to Jesus is the answer is…What’s the question?

‘Jesus is the answer’ is a phrase thrown around a lot by Christians…BUT… really …is that true?…on the surface that sounds so genuine…BUT

When I’m in debt and need money— is Jesus the answer?
When I’m facing a hardship and need a solution— is Jesus the answer?
When I’m hungry and need something to eat— is Jesus the answer?
When I’m sick and need healing—is Jesus the answer?
When I’m homeless and need a place to stay—is Jesus the answer?

Here’s what I see…too many times people really don’t want Jesus…they just want what Jesus can do for them…they want Jesus to do something.

The mistake that’s made is there’s a difference between Jesus meeting our needs and Jesus meeting our desires…Jesus didn’t come into the world to meet our desires.

BUT…Hold it…I know my Bible and I know what Psalm 37:4 says regarding God giving me my desires:

Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Sounds pretty definite to me…BUT…that verse goes along with so many others that are misapplied promises of God…one I mention frequently…Rom 8:28:

We know that all things work together for good to those who love God

That is a statement regarding how God ultimately works everything that occurs in the world to His glory…not necessarily for your good.

Looking at the surrounding verses in Psalm 37 [3, 5] they clearly refer to those desires that are in harmony with the desire of God…not your desires that spring from selfish impulses.

Jesus didn’t come into the world to meet our desires…He came to change them …that was the very issue in the feeding of the 5000 [John 6:26] …people came only to have their desires met.

you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the (bread) and had your fill

All they wanted was their selfish desires satisfied…somewhere along the way we’ve adopted the idea that whatever the situation…whatever our desire… whatever the problem…Jesus is the answer…Jesus is not God’s solution to all of your desires.

Christianity is not about having God change reality…it’s about changing our response to it.

Many times we can’t change the circumstances of life that make up our reality …we cannot control other people…we cannot control situations…the only question is “how am I going to respond to life’s problems?”

Here’s the KEY…price of admission…TWO THINGS:
FIRST…the difference between a happy person and a miserable person is how they choose to respond to the trials, difficulties, and suffering in this world.

God’s ultimate purpose for us is to grow more and more into the image of His Son…that is the goal of a Christian…everything else in life…including trials… difficulty and suffering are a part of that process.

Go back to the feeding of the 5000…Scripture says everyone was filled…Oh happy days…but the next morning they’re hungry again…so what’s the lesson?

Just like with the feeding of the 5000 when the baskets of food were passed out, they were never empty.

Jesus has a basket for us…a basket that meets our needs…one today… another one tomorrow…and the next day and the day after…one basket per day …just enough to meet your personal needs… BUT…not necessarily everything you think you need.

SECOND thing regarding Jesus…He is the answer!
Jesus is the answer to our problem with sin.
Jesus is the answer to our separation from God.
Jesus is the answer to guilt and condemnation.
Jesus is the answer to fear and worry.
Jesus is the answer to sickness and disease.
Jesus is the answer of how to obtain eternal life.

In all these things Jesus wants to be an active participant in helping resolve them …BUT …He will only do it if we allow Him to.

He will not force anything on us…and He will certainly not just give it to us because He loves us…rather He extends an invitation…and will only be obliging if we allow Him to be.

THIRDLY…getting back to the topic of the ‘Questions Jesus asked’ …Jesus had a habit and was skilled at answering questions…by asking a question… someone has compiled a list of 29 questions Jesus asked in response to someone asking Him a question.

Because He was a controversial figure, He dealt with questions from listeners …His disciples…even His opponents…they often challenged Him in hopes that He would misspeak.

Example is in Mark 11 [27:33] Jesus is asked by the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders, by what authority are you doing these things?”

On the surface that seems like a simple enough question…just answer it… BUT…Jesus responds with a question to their question that exposes a flaw in their thinking…one that requires them to answer before He gives His reply.

Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?”

Being unable to come up with an answer to their advantage…they replied with “We do not know.” Jesus responds with:

Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

When you look at Jesus’ response…some people were able to accept His answers while others were left perplexed…Jesus had the skill to respond to questions that would ordinarily be impossible for anyone else to answer.

Jesus had the divine knowledge to know what was in the minds and hearts of others [John 2:23-25] so He could answer them in ways that ended their argument and made them look foolish [Luke 5:21-26 / Matt. 9:3-8].

One day Jesus and His disciples were in the region of Caesarea Philippi…He knows people have been talking about Him…saying various things about Him… but not saying them directly to Him…the disadvantages of being a single pastor.

He initiates a conversation with His disciples to hear from them what people have been saying about Him because they won’t say it directly to Him.

In Matthew 16 Jesus asks two questions…one was a general question and the second one was more of a direct question.

The FIRST question was ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’

There are two titles given to Jesus…one is the ‘Son of God’ that implies His deity and the second is His title ‘Son of Man’ that implies His humanity.

Jesus was 100% God and 100% man…referred to as the hypostatic union…He is both divine and human…two natures in one person.

Based on the miracles Jesus had been performing, people were talking and speculating about this man who was clearly more than a simple carpenter or untaught rabbi from Nazareth.

This was the issue that baffled the Jews: [John 7:15]

(They) were amazed and asked, ‘How did this man get such learning without having been taught?’

So Jesus takes His disciples away from the crowds and asked them a general question…who do people say I am?

There was a range of answers that were swirling around in the minds of the Jews at that time…some said that He was John the Baptist…others were saying that He was Elijah…obviously all were wrong.

Even today…there would be a wide range of answers to that question.

…some may only know Jesus by name…as a swear word
…some may only know Jesus as an historical peasant Jew.
…some may only know of Jesus as a good man…or a good teacher
…if you’re Hindu Jesus is just one of millions of Gods
…if you’re Muslim Jesus was just a prophet…He is not God
…if you’re a Buddhist Jesus was a wise and holy man but not divine
…if you’re a Mormon Jesus was the firstborn spirit-child of God
…if you’re Jehovah’s Witness Jesus is Michael the archangel
…if you’re an atheist you’d say He didn’t exist at all.

It was then that maybe Jesus was tired of hearing all the responses from His disciples about who people thought He was…so He moves on to the second question…the first question was the set-up for the second question.

Jesus asks the SECOND question…‘Who do you say that I am?’ [Matt. 16:15]…that is the one question that Jesus will personally ask of every person who has ever lived.

It’s been suggested that the heart of the Gospel is redemption…and the essence of redemption is the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ on the Cross…but it has also been suggested that the heart of the Gospel is an invitation to be in a life-giving relationship with God.

An invitation to follow Jesus is the most incredible opportunity any of us will ever have.

As a pastor I can challenge people to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior…but the push back comes when I challenge people to live a life of holiness…to truly live out the faith that Jesus is inviting us into…because that invitation comes at a substantial cost and that’s the rub.

That’s the issue…to truly live out the faith that Jesus is inviting us into means a change in my lifestyle…I’m OK with accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior…BUT now you’re infringing on my personal freedom.

That’s the intent in… Who do you say that I am…it challenges us to evaluate our life’s priorities.

One of the bigger mistakes people make in reading Scripture is that they read it as a spectator.

Jesus didn’t ask questions that could simply be answered ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ …they went beyond the superficial…they were questions that required the person to honestly think before responding.

In Scripture Jesus understood the value of probing questions…He asked questions that challenged the person to evaluate their life…possibility changing their entire life’s priorities [Matt. 19:16, 21].

Probably the most probing question Jesus asks in all of scripture…a question that will determine where you spend eternity…and how you live out the rest of your life…that will be determined by how you answer that question.

After 40 weeks…we are drawing to a close in our study of the book of Romans.

Paul’s letter to the church at Rome is filled with Biblical principles and doctrine to ensure that not only that church but every church in every age would have the knowledge necessary to be grounded in solid biblical truths.

That’s the problem with the church today…it’s gotten away from teaching sound doctrine…church leaders becoming increasingly passive or silent on controversial issues and worse yet…Pastors who want to engage in politics from the pulpit on matters that distract from their mission.

They spend most of their sermon time spouting misinformation and conspiracy nonsense rather than mentioning the forgiveness of sins…the resurrection of the body…or eternal life.

What happens is the Church gradually becomes so concerned about their public image that they fail to implement the most fundamental law of biblical exegesis …that Scripture is to be interpreted in accordance with the intent of the writer… when they fail to do that…they exchange the truth of God for a lie.

As painful as it is for a Pastor you can’t just ignore or brush over difficult topics in the Bible…you have an obligation to share those with your Church…exactly what Paul is doing in Romans…the fundamental teachings of Scripture.

Paul explains his reason for writing the book of Romans it was twofold:
–His PURPOSE is to remind the Roman Christians of the fundamentals of faith…to avoid what I just referred to.
–His MOTIVATION was to carry out his God-given mission to the Gentiles.

That should be the same purpose and motivation for every Christian…as Christians we have an obligation to know the fundamentals of the Christian faith …when we lack knowledge of the fundamentals of Christianity we leave ourselves open for false teaching.

For the past 40 weeks we’ve looked at what Paul defines as the fundamentals of the Christian faith…far too often Christians find themselves like the Sadducees who didn’t know the Scriptures or the power of God [Mark 12:24].

How sad it is for us who profess Jesus to actually know very little about the person we’re wanting to spend eternity with…failing to do what the writer of Hebrews says we are to do…to move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ [Heb 6:1] …and move forward towards Christian maturity.

Last week we looked at how Paul described this church…a church that was full of goodness…filled with all knowledge…and able to counsel one another in the deep problems of life.

Now…you would think a church with those attributes would hardly need anything more said to them…BUT…we all at times need to be reminded about the principals of Christianity…hence, Paul’s reason for writing Romans [15:15].

I have written (to) you …to remind you of them again

I want us to focus on that single verse today…I believe Paul is thinking about all the themes he has mentioned thus far throughout this book and the importance of remembering them so we can maintain a biblical worldview of how God functions in a sinful world.

Some of the themes we have looked at over the course of the last 10 months have included the fundamentals of the Christian faith…all from Romans.

If all you had was the book or Romans, you would be well-versed in the biblical principles that define how God deals with His creation.

Our natural inclination is to sin—there is none who does good [Rom. 3:12]
The consequence of sin is death—wage of sin is death. [Rom 6:23]

In the Bible there are 7 different kinds of death mentioned:

spiritual death (Gen 2:17)…physical death (Heb 9:27; John 11:11-17) …eternal death (Rev 20:14; Matt 25:46)…positional death (Rom 6:3-6; Gal 2:2)…relational death (Luke 15:24; 1 Tim 5:6; Rev 3:2-3)…operational death (Jas 2:14-26; Heb 6:1; 9:14) …sexual death (Rom 4:17-19). https://redeeminggod.com/dead-new-testament/
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Here Paul is referring to physical death…something we will all experience.

In chapter [3:9-19] Paul lays out the charge…the indictment…and the verdict for every person who has ever lived:

THE CHARGE — All have sinned. (Rom. 3:23)
THE INDICTMENT — Whole world is accountable to God (Rom. 3:10-18).
THE VERDICT — GUILTY (Rom. 3:19)

God provided a way to save us—Christ died for the ungodly [Rom. 5:6]
By believing and accepting Jesus as Savior we are saved [Rom. 10:13].
We are no longer condemned but declared righteous—[Rom 8:1] Jesus’ righteousness is credited to—those who believe [Rom 4:23]
Having been justified by faith— we have peace with God [Rom 5:1]
It is at that exact instant…when we by faith accept Jesus as Savior…that He performs a number of things for us:

We are justified…referred to as saved…all sins are forgiven.

We are indwelt by the Holy Spirit [1 Cor. 3:16] …He takes up residence in us…He lives within every believer.

We are baptized in the Spirit [1 Cor. 12:13] …into one single spirit of unity… we all equally belong to Christ which makes us all equal members of one body.

We are sealed by the Spirit [Eph. 1:13] …as a result nothing can separate us from God’s love [Rom. 8:31-39].

With respect to Paul’s motivation…for preaching was…his desire was to carry out his God-given mission to the Gentiles…Paul was fully aware of his purpose…a purpose that was evident to him at the time of his conversion.

Something I frequently mention in my sermons…I can’t think of anything more important as a Christian than being aware of God’s purpose for you in this life…and fulfilling that purpose…SO…with regards to God’s purpose…how do I know if God is telling me to do …or not to do something?

What we are not to do is to expect to hear directly from God…God is not going to have a conversation with you…I always love it when people say these Christianese terms: ‘well God spoke to me and said this’ …or ‘I’m seeking to hear a word from the Lord.’ …or ‘I just feel it in my spirit’ …I always have to say, ‘well what did God tell your spirit and how did He tell it to you?’

If you’re waiting to hear from God audibly…or from an angel…or in a vision or dream…you may be disappointed.

Here’s the problem when people respond with… ‘Well, God told me this…or God revealed this to me’ …most of the time it’s because they’re trying to sound extra-spiritual…or implying they’re some kind of a super-Christian.

Here’s the issue…what God ‘tells’ one person…especially regarding Scripture and what He tells another person often contradicts each other…how can that be?…here’s why…TWO THINGS:

1. These ‘revelations’ prove to be divisive as one person’s experience seeks to take precedence over another’s.
2. Or…far too often the response they think they hear from God is nothing more than their own personal desire. The result is chaos.

God does not give people a direct…individual…unmistakable call to a particular job or profession…what He does do is give guidance in less dramatic ways.

• Coincidences: when things happen without planning it… Albert Einstein: “Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous.” No such thing as luck in the life of a Christian.

• The Written Word: The Bible is God’s primary source of information to us… the most obvious way God speaks to us is through Scripture…the more you know the easier it is for God to communicate to you.

• The Holy Spirit: God often speaks to us by the inner witness of the Holy Spirit to our spirit (Rom. 8:14-16).

Earlier I referred to those who say ‘I just feel it in my spirit’ as if the Holy Spirit is personally guiding them…they mistakenly think that their thoughts are God’s thoughts…that God’s leading them to believe something is true …as if their feelings come straight from God when more realistically…it’s the result of their own personal desires.

There’s a difference between how they feel and how God feels.

So how does that ‘Spirit-leading-me thing’ work?…as believers we must learn to pay attention to the lack of peace we feel in our spirits…at times that lack of inward peace is God’s way of alerting us that something isn’t right.

Goes back to how God speaks to us by the inner witness of His Spirit to our spirit.

It’s what’s referred to as that ‘still small voice’ that can often only be heard by what you sense in your heart…if you’re lacking peace regarding something in your life it could be God’s way of saying proceed with caution or even stop.

• God speaks Through People…preachers…friends…family…through your spouse…kids… associates…and even your enemies…through anyone…God does speak through all those ways.

BUT…CAUTION…you can be assured that you have not heard God’s voice if what you’ve been told in any way contradicts His word.

• Through Our Conscience: an inner awareness of what is right and wrong.

NOW…With respect to God’s purpose for your life…Christians sometimes think that if God calls them to some job, it will be something they hate…that God is going to call you to some faraway place to be a missionary in a country that has no running water or electricity.

The calling of a missionary is a specific call to do a specific task…the best missionaries have a great desire for the place God has placed them in…and for the people they serve…it’s not something done with regret.

The job that God is guiding you towards will more than likely be a job you will find a deep desire for in your heart…here’s what’s even better…the joy and desire that you experience as you fulfill God’s purpose in your life will continue into heaven…SO…what is heaven like? The Bible gives us some clues.

1. All believers will receive resurrected bodies [1 Cor. 15:42] …we will not be floating around like Casper the Ghost.
2. We will never experience death…sorrow…pain…or getting older.
3. We don’t become angels when we die…angels are created beings.
4. What we do take into Heaven
   People often quote [Job 1:21] “Naked I came into the world and naked I will return’…to validate that we take nothing into Heaven when we go…NOT wanting to contradict that statement I’d like to clarify it…you do take something with you into Heaven.

ONE thing you take into Heaven is your personality…death is a relocation of the same person from one place to another…everyone will not be the same in heaven…just like we’re not all the same in this life…we will be individual people …the place changes but the person remains the same.

SECOND thing I think you take into Heaven is your prayer list…those you have prayed for who are still on earth…I believe those who have departed before us and are in Heaven can and do pray for us.

Scripture tells us that ‘He (Jesus) ever lives (in Heaven) to make intercessions for the saints’ [Heb 7:25] …if Jesus is praying for us in Heaven is it too far a stretch to believe that those who are with Jesus are praying for us as well?

THIRD thing I believe we take into Heaven with us is our knowledge of the Bible…it’s common to hear people say… ‘We don’t understand now, but in Heaven we’ll know everything…NO you won’t.

When we die, we’ll see things far more clearly and we’ll know much more than we do now…but we’ll never know everything…only God is omniscient.

We won’t ever know everything, and even what we will know, we won’t know all at once…we will forever be learners…few things excite me more than that.

The FOURTH thing is the memories and experiences you had with Jesus while here on earth…you will have the opportunity to personally thank Jesus for all the times He intervened in your life…I will forever be grateful that God chose me and allowed me to preach His Word.

The FIFTH thing will be all the people you had a hand in winning to Christ …all those you prayed for or shared the plan of salvation with will want to thank you for your effort.

Every person here this morning is here because someone prayed for you…when you get to Heaven you can personally thank them for their perseverance.

5. We won’t be tempted
   But we will never forget the ugliness of sin…what it caused…and what it cost.
6. We will have work to do.
   Work that will be satisfying and enriching…work that will never be drudgery… work that will be to God’s glory…if you experienced serving with joy on earth that will only increase in heaven. [Rev 22:3].
7. We will recognize one another.
   Scripture gives no indication of a memory wipe that will cause us not to recognize family and friends…it will be a time for reunion…we will be able to identify everyone in heaven [1 Thess. 4:17].
8. We will feast in heaven…in Revelation John mentions the wedding feast or marriage supper of the lamb [Rev. 19:7-9].
9. We will worship in Heaven…[Rev. 7:9-10].

Those are some of the things you can count on happening in Heaven.

The SECOND thing the Roman Christians needed in addition to being reminded of the main themes of the Bible was to be mindful that we are to live our lives in a manner worthy of Christ’s calling…being an example for others to live by.

Paul was called by God…as a minister of Jesus…[16] he was to be an example of how we are to live as strangers in this world…and at the same time to fulfill God’s purpose.

God didn’t just save us for Heaven…he saved us to live for Him and to work for Him.

That’s why Paul could boast…not arrogantly…but in being proud of what he had accomplished…I have reason to be proud of my work for God [17].

Paul was proud of what Christ had accomplished through him…Paul’s intent was that through his efforts as a minister of Jesus to the Gentiles…they might become an offering acceptable to God [16].

What does it mean to bring an offering that is acceptable to God?

Early in the book of Genesis is the story of two brothers who brought their offering to God…God accepted Abel’s and rejected Cain’s…WHY?

When you first read that you think… ‘that’s not fair’ …and the answer most often taught which is just as unfair to God…is that Cain’s offering was inadequate because it wasn’t an animal sacrifice…that’s not the reason.

It’s why God rejects people’s offering today…here’s the whole point in making an offering to God…any offering…it’s not bringing something we can afford…or something we don’t want…or something that makes us happy.

Cain’s attitude and motivation were all wrong…that’s why God rejected his offering. https://ready4eternity.com/the-real-reason-god-rejected-cains-offering/

Paul’s life was about proclaiming the gospel…his attitude and motivation was to serve God in a manner that would glorify God…that was his offering to God.

This goes back to Romans 12:1

I urge you…to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

In every New Testament letter there is an emphasis for us to be exactly what Paul did…as believers to be…examples in speech…conduct…in love…in faith …and in purity [1 Tim. 4:12].

We may have answered the call to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior…two things:

FIRST…does our life reflect that decision…are we truly living changed lives or are we still following the old…habits…patterns and attitudes of our former life?

SECONDLY…have we dedicated our lives as a living sacrifice…with the intent of serving God in a manner that would glorify Him?

This goes back to the opening statement Paul made to the Roman Church…same thing he is wanting us to be mindful of…that we remember the fundamentals of our faith and not to be led astray by erroneous teaching or beliefs.

I have written you quite boldly on some points, to remind you of them again.” [15:15].

Key Takeaways

1. Don’t lose sight of these key truths…they are an anchor for your faith.
2. Like Paul…boast in what Jesus has done in and through you as a testimony to the power and goodness of God.
3. Ministry is a lifestyle and it’s never done. We should always have ambition to continue to finish what God has called us to do.
4. Strengthen one another as we minister to one another.

As followers of Jesus it’s important that we understand the Kingdom of God… how it works…and what it’s all about…if you’re going to spend eternity there you really ought to know a little bit about the place.

Something I’ve said for the past two weeks…and I’m going to say it again… with respect to reading the Bible…one of the biggest mistakes people make is that they read it as a spectator…as a novel…or like a fictional story…

Scripture becomes nothing more than a collection of stories and events that took place thousands of years ago…not realizing the application for us today.

In Mark 4:30 Jesus said

How can I describe the Kingdom of God? What story should I use to illustrate it?

How does Mark know this…as far as we know Mark never heard Jesus speak and certainly wasn’t one of His followers…everything Mark knew about Jesus he heard from Peter…John Mark…wrote down not necessarily in order…all that Peter remembered about what Jesus said and did.

Ever thought about this verse?…can you see Jesus scratching His forehead and even talking to Himself?…gives you a little insight into the human side of Jesus.

Ever thought about how to tell someone what the Kingdom of God is like? Ever find yourself like Jesus…How can I describe the Kingdom of God? …do you know your Bible well enough to be able to share that with someone?

The term Kingdom of God encompasses several aspects…in one sense God is sovereign…supreme…over everything that is…on a small scale…He is the spiritual ruler over the lives of those who willingly submit to His authority.

Jesus didn’t want us just guessing about how things will work out until He returns…so he gave the disciples eight parables that describe how God is working on earth…and in Heaven.

Last year I preached through those eight parables that describe how God is working in the world today…and until the Lords returns…today’s verse comes from one of those parables…[Mark 4:30]
How can I describe the Kingdom of God? What story should I use to illustrate it?

In this verse we see how Jesus sought to describe what the Kingdom of God is like.

We don’t know what the disciples were thinking but it was obvious to Jesus they had the wrong idea of God’s Kingdom…Jesus felt the need to correct them concerning what the Kingdom is really all about.

The Kingdom of God is inauspicious…it takes things and people who show no future promise or success and uses them in incredible ways.

—Jesus takes a boy’s lunch and uses it to miraculously feed thousands.
—God uses a forgotten man Moses to lead Israel out of slavery.
—God used David…the youngest son of eight boys doing a job no one else wanted…taking care of sheep…to be a giant-killer then king of Israel.
—God used Gideon…from the smallest family in the smallest tribe in Israel to be a great military leader.
—God used a baby born in a stable to save the world.

That is the intent of the Parable of the Mustard Seed…if you’re not familiar with that parable Jesus uses the analogy of the mustard seed…making a comparison of how that small seed grows until it becomes larger than all the garden plants… an illustration to describe how the church will flourish to reach people.

Look at all the things that have been the result of Christianity in just 2000 years.

The Kingdom of God has been providing benefits for hundreds of thousands of people…everywhere the Kingdom of God has gone it has brought with it:

—hospitals…schools…morality…ethics…decency…compassion and salvation.
—wherever the gospel has gone it has abolished cannibalism…child abuse… slavery…racism.
—Wherever the gospel has gone it has built orphanages…cared for the sick and comforted the bereaved.
—wherever the gospel has gone it has provided halfway houses…recovery programs…shelters…food pantries…housing…and disaster relief.

Jesus is about to reveal things that no human has ever had the benefit of hearing or knowing concerning what Heaven is like.

I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world. [Matt. 13:35].

When describing the Kingdom of God Jesus shows that we won’t have to wait to enjoy the benefits of the Kingdom….WHY?

The Kingdom of God can best be seen as being ‘already but not yet’.

The Bible refers to the Kingdom of God as a present reality…as already “among you” [Lk 17:21] …the kingdom of God was near to them because the King of the kingdom was there…but at other times as a something in the future … at the Last Supper Jesus tells the disciples He’s looking forward to drinking new wine with them… “in the kingdom of God” [Mk 14:25] so also not yet.

In these eight parables Jesus illustrates the three phases of the Kingdom of God:

Present internal	In Hearts of Believers	Present Age (Between 1st & 2nd Comings)
Future Physically	On earth	Messianic Age (After 2nd Coming)
Eternally Visible	Literal New Earth	Eternal Age (After the Messianic Age)

After we die we go to Paradise where we wait with all the other Christians who have died…all waiting to go to Heaven.

Here’s what important…the necessity to make the distinction between the current place where all Christians who have died are at now…Paradise…and the final eternal place we will eventually all go to live in forever…Heaven.

Paradise is not our final destination…why the wait between Paradise and going to Heaven…waiting on what?… because we have not yet received our glorified bodies…that happens at the Rapture when Christ returns a second time…we must wait for that event…then we go to Heaven.

In describing the Kingdom of God which includes Paradise…the first point of discussion is do we take anything with us when we go….or…after death are we like a new born baby with no recollection or memory of anything?

Scripture would seem to indicate that we take nothing with us when we go to Paradise: “Naked I came into the world and naked I will return”…[Job 1:21] Isaiah 65:16 / 17 seems to validate that as well.

16 because the former troubles are forgotten
17 and the former shall not be remembered, nor come to mind.

These three verses would seem to suggest that we take nothing with us when we die…not even our memories…the former shall not be remembered
BUT…verse 16 specifically tells what will be forgotten…former troubles …‘troubles’ in Hebrew means…adversity…affliction …distress…hardship …these are the things we don’t want to remember…I don’t want to think about all the bad times I had while on earth.

These verses are showing what will be forgotten …things that will…not be remembered nor come to mind…it’s referring to our former ‘troubles.’

BUT…looking at verse [17] God seems to be saying there’s more to it than just forgetting the difficult times we had while on earth.

I (God) create new heavens and a new earth and the former shall not be remembered, nor come to (my) mind

When God says the former shall not be remembered, nor come to mind…it doesn’t mean that God will have a sudden loss of memory… rather… He’s referring to something else…God is saying…I also have the capability of choosing not to recall past sins.

So does that mean that we also won’t remember our sins on earth…why would we want to?…that would only diminish the wonders of being in Heaven.

Jesus’ nail-scarred hands and feet will be forever a reminder of what it cost Him for us to be in Heaven…there is no reason why we would want to possess memories from our earthly lives.

Not wanting to contradict Job…during our study of Romans I shared with you what we do take with us after we die…when we’re in Paradise waiting to go to Heaven.

Hopefully we are all familiar with the realm of salvation…how God saves us… how we get saved…how we grow spiritually…and where we are ultimately headed as believers…this segues into the second part of Jesus’s teaching.

Going back to the idea that we won’t remember our sins on earth…BUT that doesn’t mean that we won’t have memories about what we did while on earth.

That is part of the reason for believers receiving crowns and rewards…so we will be continuously reminded of the acts of faithfulness done in that small window of opportunity God gives us on earth.

When we get to Heaven…God is going to reward us for what we’ve done during our time on earth…that will be a reminder of the acts of faithfulness done while on earth.

Then we’re going to have the big marriage supper of the Lamb… good times a coming…NOT contradicting Job 1:21…but you do take something with you.

FIRST the memory of how you lived your life on earth…that is part of the reason for the crowns and rewards given out to Christians…we will forever be reminded of the faithful acts done on earth…no reason why we cannot possess memories from our earthly lives.

SECOND thing you take is your personality…death is a relocation of the same person from one place to another…everyone will not be the same…the place changes but the person remains the same.

THIRD thing I think you take into Paradise is your prayer list…those you have prayed for who are still on earth…I believe those who have departed before us and are in Heaven can and do pray for us.

Scripture tells us that ‘He (Jesus) ever lives (in Heaven) to make intercessions for the saints’ [Heb 7:25] …if Jesus is praying for us in Heaven is it too far a stretch to believe that those who are with Jesus are praying for us as well?

FOURTH thing we take with us is our knowledge of the Bible…it’s common to hear people say…’We don’t understand now but in Heaven we’ll know everything…No you won’t….God is omniscient…you’re not…He knows everything…you never will…we will forever be learners.
FIFTH thing is the memories and experiences you had with Jesus while here on earth…you will have the opportunity to personally thank Jesus for all the times He intervened in your life.

Biggest sin a Christians can make is ingratitude…not thanking Jesus for what He’s done for you…I will forever be grateful that God chose me and allowed me to preach His Word.

SIXTH thing will be all the people you had a hand in winning to Christ …all those you prayed for or shared the plan of salvation with…they will want to thank you for your effort.

Every person here this morning is here because someone prayed for you… when you get to Heaven you can personally thank them for their perseverance.

In every New Testament letter there is an emphasis for us to be exactly what Paul was…as believers we should be…examples in speech…in conduct…in love…in faith …and in purity [1 Tim. 4:12].

If we’re just content to live out our earthly lives
…believing that just being ‘religious’ should be sufficient,
…OR…being sincere is good enough
…OR…that we’re just all going to the same place cause God loves everybody.
…OR…I have an admiration and respect of Jesus
…none of those are good enough

This goes back to last week’s message regarding Luke 6:46…a statement that reveals the faulty assumption people make concerning their salvation…believing they are followers of Jesus only to find out they were self-deceived…here’s how self-deception works:

FIRST…sincerity is not salvation…those who claim to be ‘religious’ believe that that should be sufficient…it’s not.

They fail to realize that genuine saving faith always results in a life of progressive godliness…if a person claims to be saved but habitually and unrepentantly continues in known sin…has no hunger for God’s Word…and no growth in godly living …they need to examine where they are truly in the faith.

SECONDLY…The person who was told that all they had to do was make a profession of faith…walk an aisle…and say a prayer…. PROBLEM… salvation apart from obedience to God’s Word is useless…it lacks evidence of the fruit of the Spirit.

THIRDLY…the self-deception of trusting in religious activities such as… attending church…hearing sermons…reading the Bible…attending Bible studies believing just doing “church” equates to salvation.

FOURTHLY…the self-deception called ‘the fair exchange’…or the balancing out approach.

The person gives himself the benefit of the doubt by rationalizing about all the good he has done….which balances out or offsets all the bad…no need of confessing and asking forgiveness for his sins.

FIFTH…type of self-deception is the person who looks to feeling…experiences and earthly material blessing for proof of his salvation.

SIXTH…there’s those who believe they can work their way into God’s good graces…confident that all the things they did in Jesus’ name…praying …serving …worshipping… ‘I’m just a working fool for the Lord’…but never having a personal relationship with Him…BUT all the while thinking they had one because of all the things they’ve done. Are going to be disappointed.

All these reveal one thing…the futile efforts and extremes people go to trusting in themselves and their own efforts rather than trusting in Jesus and having a personal relationship with Him…if you believe you’re good enough on your own…that’s self-righteousness.

May have answered the call to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior…two things:

FIRST…does our life reflect that decision…are we truly living changed lives or are we still following the old…habits…patterns and attitudes of our former life?

SECONDLY…have we dedicated our lives as a living sacrifice…with the intent of serving God in a manner that would glorify Him?

How can I describe the Kingdom of God? …It is a kingdom where God reigns supreme…a kingdom ruled by His Son the Messiah…a kingdom that exists here and now…in part…in the lives and hearts of those who have accepted Jesus as their Savior…a kingdom where someday all who have made that decision will all live in.

46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?
47 everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like.
48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the river crashed against that house and couldn’t shake it, because it was well built. 49 But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the river struck that house, it collapsed. [Luke 6:46-49]

This is Luke’s version of the parable of The Two Foundations…also found in Matthew chapter 7…both accounts are recorded at the end of the Sermon on the Mount…it’s crucial in knowing this.

Jesus concludes the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew [7:24] with the word ‘therefore’ used as a term of conclusion…here’s why this is important…Jesus is saying take everything I have just told you…in chapters 5-7…stating what is involved in having a personal relationship with God…then apply those to your life.

Ever heard the saying… “Preaching to the choir”? …well in this morning’s message I feel that I’m doing just that…because I think I know my church well enough to know that what I’m about to share with you is common knowledge with respect to being a Christian.

BUT…not wanting to take anything for granted…especially if someone is watching us on youtube…I am going to share with you something that I hope is common knowledge.

Last week we began looking at some of the over 300 questions Jesus asked during His earthly ministry…I’m not going to look at all 300.

But I would like for us to look at some of the KEY questions He asked and examine what Jesus was expecting to hear when He asked those questions.

Last week we looked at two questions in Matthew 16.
The FIRST question was ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’

The SECOND question was ‘Who do you say that I am?’ [Matt. 16:15]…the one question that Jesus will personally ask of every person who has ever lived.

Probably the most important question any of us will ever answer…that question will determine where you spend eternity by how you answer it.

One of the biggest mistakes people make in reading Scripture is that they read it as a spectator…as a novel…or like a fictional story…Scripture becomes nothing more than a collection of stores and events that took place thousands of years ago…not realizing they have an application for us today.

People come across a question like that and just read through it with no thought to the eternal impact it presents.

They look at those two questions and fail to see the depth of what Jesus is asking…what we should be asking ourselves is what would be your reaction to those two questions if Jesus asked you.

How people answer the question of ‘Who do you say that I am?’ really depends on how they view their relationship with Jesus:
…some may only know Jesus by name…as a swear word
…some may only know Jesus as an historical peasant Jew.
…some may only know of Jesus as a good man…or a good teacher
…some see Jesus as their Savior…but obeying Him as Lord is optional.

That goes back to [46]

46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?

To a certain degree this is exactly what Jesus was referring to when He pronounced His judgement on the Pharisees.

You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?” [Mt. 23:33]

It’s been suggested that Jesus’ statement to the Pharisees was the most severe language Jesus ever used with anybody…but there are other instances when His response was less than cordial as well.

In Matthew 23 Jesus does not hesitate in His ongoing condemnation of them using the word ‘hypocrite’ six times when referring to the scribes and Pharisees even calling them fools…serpents…and brood of vipers.

Just like the Pharisees who thought their conduct would get them into heaven… in that statement Jesus is pronouncing the same thing on those who claim to be Christians but exhibit a lifestyle that is less than doing what Jesus says.

The Pharisees sought to teach others…to convert people and bring them into their understanding of how to please God…but because of their false teaching these new converts’ destiny would be the same as the Pharisees…bound for hell.

The problem hasn’t changed…there are those who are promoting the same erroneous teachings…mistakenly thinking they’re peaching the doctrine of salvation but denying the importance of submitting to Christ as Lord and Savior.

Which is the original issue:

46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?

Failing to do so reveals a fallacy in your understanding of what is involved in entering the kingdom of heaven…people who believe they are followers of Jesus and servants of God but will one day find out they’re not.

Have you ever thought of how devastating it will be…believing you’re saved only to be told you’re not?

So…who will inherit the Kingdom of God? …well the Bible’s pretty explicit on who is and who isn’t [1 Cor. 6:9-11].

Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

John adds to this list in Revelation 21:8.

(the) unbelieving…murderers…sexually immoral…sorcerers…and all liars.

NOW…there are some today who would classify those two verses as hate speech …recently YouTube removed one of John MacArthur’s sermons because it allegedly contained ‘hate speech’ by stating that there is no such thing as being transgender. You are either XX or XY.

Obviously…Biblical truth is no longer popular in our society…but it is still truth.

What these two verses contain is a list of some of the works of the flesh…BUT for many that kind of speech is too oppressive…it’s demeaning…it makes me feel bad about my personal choices.

It’s easy to look at this list and think… “Well, I don’t fall into any of those categories, so I’m okay.”

BUT…Before getting too self-righteous by comparing ourselves to people who have committed such acts we need to look closer at what Jesus says.

He also includes ‘all liars’ as those not getting into heaven…going out on a limb but I think I can safely say we’re all guilty of telling at least one lie in our lifetime.

Many people look at the lists in 1 Corinthians and Revelation and scoff at God’s Word…even professing Christians reject the clear teaching set forth in these passages…example:

Certain denominations have endorsed some of these practices by ordaining homosexual ministers…in addition many Christians have been guilty of some of these sins while pastors refuse to speak out against them…not wanting to offend anyone…by suggesting that in life things happen and it’s not your fault.

In fact…there’s a song out there titled… “It’s Not Your Fault”. The song suggests that ‘You’re only human’ as if that’s an acceptable excuse for how you act…and in the chorus it repeatedly says, ‘It’s not your fault.’

Just for a minute I’m going to talk about something I never talk about…I am not going to preach against any of the things I’m mentioning…I’m using them as an example.

I want to look at three conditions that are spoken about in the Bible and the argument of why they should be accepted as normal because it’s not my fault… I’m in a condition that God Himself created.

FIRST…is Homosexuality…the common claim is that I cannot help being homosexual …they argue that it is perhaps genetically determined…that idea is supported by neuroscientist (Simon LeVay) who argues that there is a significant difference in the brain between heterosexual and homosexual men.

Therefore the church and society should accept homosexuality as natural and in that sense, normal…and insist…it is unfair to condemn people for what they cannot help doing….in other words…it’s not my fault.

SECONDLY…Some years ago, it was learned that an abnormally high proportion of boys with double “y” chromosomes ”(xyy) engage in anti-social or criminal behavior… so, we should give leniency to those who possess this chromosome condition because they really can’t be held accountable for what they do…it’s not my fault.

THIRDLY…Scientists have discovered that a certain gene is associated with a relatively high percentage of alcoholics…should we then accept alcoholism as being an inescapable condition because it’s really not my fault.

We all know people who have gone to alcohol or drug rehabilitation centers and been successful in their rehabilitation…but many times fall back into their old ways.

I’ve talked to people who have gone to church sponsored centers for homosexuals but have yet to have anyone tell me it was successful.

WHY??? This goes back to the condition that every person who has ever lived is in…doesn’t matter what your human weakness is…could be sexual…alcohol or drug addiction…regardless of what you do… you will forever be continually tempted by that which is keeping you from being in a closer fellowship with God.

Recurrent temptation is a problem for all of us…people who have been addicted to drugs and alcohol often face continuing temptations in that area long after they have stopped…is the temptation for people who struggle with homosexuality any stronger than the people who struggle with heterosexual temptations?…recurrent temptation is a problem for all of us.

The bottom line is that the genetic element in sin does not excuse it.

As a Pastor I don’t need to specifically identify every sin mentioned in Romans
chapter one and wave my finger in your face…Paul is describing the condition that every person who has ever lived at one time has been in…or is still in.

Beginning in [18] Paul vividly portrays the sinfulness of all people…he elaborates on the hopelessness of human nature and the eternal destiny that awaits every person who has ever lived…and concludes…they are without excuse.

Luke 6:46 is a statement that reveals the faulty assumptions people make concerning their salvation:

FIRST…sincerity is not good enough…sincerity is not salvation…those who claim to be ‘religious’ believe that that should be sufficient…it’s not.

They fail to realize that genuine saving faith always results in a life of progressive godliness…if a person claims to be saved but has no hunger for God’s Word…has no growing hatred of sin…and no growth in godly living …they need to examine where they are truly in the faith [2 Cor. 13:5].

SECONDLY…inclusivism…that we’re just all going to the same place…we might all have different ideas on how to get there but ultimately we’ll all be there in the end…no we’re not.

THIRDLY…just like with sincerity…admiration and respect of Jesus is not salvation…that will not be good enough…this mindset is seen in the group of people who came to hear and see Jesus and to be healed…wanting what Jesus could do…but failing to make a personal commitment to follow Him [6:17-19].

This is seen in the remainder of today’s verses…[47-49]…a well known parable about two people building houses…one house has a foundation built on solid rock and the other one is built on the sand.

In this analogy Jesus says two men built two houses…one was wise the other foolish…but…you couldn’t tell which house was which by the outward structure because they were both alike in their appearance.

So what is Jesus teaching here?

Some have attempted to make these houses represent the storms of life that we all experience…the real-life issues we encounter every day…financial problems …sickness and physical suffering…and the hardest storm we’ll face in this life…physical death of those we love.

The idea that has been preached for years regarding what Jesus meant by this analogy is that when the storms of life come, lean on Jesus as He’ll overcome them…but look at the placement of this story in relationship to Jesus’ sermon… context reveals a different meaning.

For those of you were at the Sunday night Bible Study ‘The Chosen’ you remember in that movie it portrayed Jesus out in the countryside practicing His sermon…this very sermon…the Sermon on the Mount.

Jesus’ rehearsal of that sermon suggests that the placement of what Jesus said in that sermon was critical…it was the result of something He rehearsed and re-rehearsed rather than being an impromptu speech.

As you read the Sermon on the Mount…Luke’s version is called the “Sermon on the Plain”, both Matthew and Luke put this story at the end of Jesus’ sermon.

I don’t think it was just placed there by chance…it’s been suggested that both these sermons were spoken at various times and places…that they were a collection of bits and pieces of previous sermons and put into one long sermon.

BUT…if Jesus did not preach this as a single sermon why would the gospel writers mislead their readers to think that He did? (Robert L. Thomas, “Evangelical Responses to the Jesus Seminar,” Master’s Seminary Journal 7 (1996): 88-89).

This sermon was to serve as a radical wake-up call for Christians to live wholeheartedly for God…not simply through external actions of doing things.

It was not given simply as a list of rules to follow but as an invitation to live a life that reflects the commitment of professing Jesus as Lord and Savior… because when we don’t…there’s a storm coming.

That is the meaning of this analogy…the flood Jesus is talking about is not referring to the storms of life…or all the things that cause us distress in our life… or the hard times we encounter.

Jesus is referring to the judgement…there’s a storm coming…how do you think you will stand on the day of Judgement?

On that day…will you stand firm, or will you be like the house that is swamped and collapses?

That’s the difference…the wise man entered the straight gate and walked the narrow path that led to righteousness…the foolish man walked the broad path that ends in destruction…these houses represent what will occur in response to how you live your life.

As Christians…if we are content to live out our earthly lives…believing that being ‘religious’ should be sufficient,
…OR…being sincere is good enough
…OR… that that we’re just all going to the same place cause God loves everybody.
…OR…that I have an admiration and respect of Jesus and that should be good enough…
none of those are good enough…they won’t weather the coming storm on judgement day.

Jesus is using this passage to teach us that it’s necessary to live with the Kingdom of God in mind…not simply as a list of rules or a suggestion to follow.

Salvation is an invitation to live under grace and experience the blessings and rewards Jesus wants to give us as a result of living a Christ-like life both in this life and in the life to come.

As Paul starts to wind down his letter to the church in Rome…he gets personal…[15:14]

I myself am convinced about you that you also are full of
goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another.

A pretty praiseworthy statement considering he had never been in that church …a church he didn’t establish…had never pastored….didn’t personally know the people of that church…but speaks so admirably about them.

Paul is acknowledging his confidence that the Roman Christians were full of goodness…filled with all knowledge and able to counsel one another.

Makes you wonder how someone who had never been to that church could know so much about them and be so confident that they were living righteously and harmoniously by faith…and speak so favorably about them…

In this chapter of Romans Paul give us a little further insight into this church by identifying three things about this church…three qualities they possessed.

FIRST he says…”I am convinced…that you are full of goodness” … really…is that true…we are full of goodness?

If you’ve been with us through the 39 weeks we’ve been in Romans, then you remember that Paul’s clear argument in Rom. 3:10 is that ‘none is righteous, no, not one’ …we…by nature are not good in God’s sight.

Why would Paul tell a church they were full of goodness when he himself had earlier stated that we are not good in God’s sight.

There’s a profound psychological reality these people understood…and we should as well…they understood the nature of the flesh…and the need to be justified…the need to be forgiven of sins…they knew that even though they had been redeemed they still possessed the old sin nature.

That’s the frustration with Christianity…Paul shared the same frustration…what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do [Rom. 7:15].

Here’s what we need to remember when talking about doing good…the problem is that the word ‘good’ is used so frequently in our everyday lives that it almost loses its meaning…the word ‘good’ used here is only used 4 times in the entire New Testament and does not appear at all in any secular Greek writing.

When referring to believers it means the goodness that comes from God…not our living a ‘good’ life…because we will never achieve that.

Goodness is often seen in our actions…but while it is good to be connected to a local church…to serve…give…and minister…being religious does not make us good or restore us to goodness before God.

The Church is not a group of people who are good at obeying religious rules… we are people who are good because we are united to Christ by faith.

So, what is Biblical goodness? …Galatians [5:22-23] lists goodness as one of the fruit of the Spirit…so how’s it relate to our Christian faith?

This spiritual fruit…just like with physical fruit, will not grow or ripen in our lives overnight…spiritual fruit will grow as we mature in our faith…that’s why it’s not wise to judge another person regarding their Christian commitment because some people mature faster than others.

The true test of goodness is seen in our hearts…the goodness of Jesus is to be demonstrated in our lives every day.

For any genuine follower of Jesus spiritual growth should be our central desire …should be the core of our ambition…and in parallel…goodness should not merely be in our moral behavior alone but in our character as well.

Paul is stating that although he had never been to that church, from what knowledge he had of them, they were a compassionate church…a church that reached out to people who were in need…responding to those who hurt…had burdens…and concerns.

Looking at our Church…I think this is one of the qualities I appreciate about this congregation…wherever there is a need…inside the church or a legitimate need from someone outside the church there is always a compassionate response.

The SECOND thing Paul remarks about the church is that they were complete in knowledge.

That is a remarkable statement…to be complete in knowledge…Paul is saying that if we are to continue to please the Lord and genuinely grow in Christ it is necessary that we ‘be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding’ [Col 1:9].

In Colossians [1:9] Paul prays the same thing for that Church…that they would have the knowledge of God…what that does that mean?

Paul’s request to be filled with all knowledge is implying do you know it well enough to apply it in every situation in life…not just whether or not we should take a different job…or what person to marry…but that we might be filled with the knowledge that would control our thoughts…words…and actions.

Paul’s prayer for the church is that they would have more than just a general head knowledge of God…His Son…and the Holy Spirit…BUT…to grow in a knowledge that ought to be the guiding decision in their lives.

This knowledge should want us to obey Him in every way…not just in lip service…or in coming to church periodically…our desire should be for God’s will to be in all areas of our lives…at work…school…our family…our careers… at church…in our daily thoughts…our attitudes…our plans and desires all focusing on one thing…God’s will.

That should be our desire as Christians…to grow in spiritual maturity…some may ask… “Well, doesn’t everyone in Church want to grow?” …sadly no… many people who attend church have no interest in growing.

They attend because it’s what they’ve always done…or to please a spouse …or so they can socialize…or out of guilt…or maybe just in order to feel good about themselves…having no real intention or ambition to grow in the knowledge of Christ.

This goes back to something I refer to a lot…Lordship Salvation…whether a person who claims to be a Christian yet does not show evidence of good works is truly a Christian…are they truly united to Christ.

The Bible teaches faith in Christ will cause a person to live differently.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

Why…because without biblical insight and the knowledge of the truth we become motivated only by selfish concerns and personal desires.

God does not permit every church member to grow and develop in the faith just because you come to church…it is dependent on your commitment and sincerity to want to grow.

Spiritual knowledge requires spiritual wisdom to know how God wants us to live…what God expects of us…the purpose that God has for all people… something that can only be achieved by reading and studying the Bible.

As Christians the most important thing in life is to know that purpose and accomplish it…because God in His Sovereign Providence has a purpose for us being here.

If you’re truly serious about a relationship with Jesus then you know there is a reason for your existence.

Do you have an adequate knowledge of God’s will for your life?

Not asking about how well you know the Bible…but…are you aware of God’s purpose for your life?

Paul is asking if the answer is ‘no’ then you must aspire to have a fuller and deeper knowledge of it by studying Scripture…and by maintaining a close walk with the Lord through prayer.

The THIRD thing Paul remarks about the church is that they were able to instruct one another.

Paul then says that because you are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge (you are) able to instruct one another.

TWO THINGS:
FIRST…There are countless ‘one another’s’ in the New Testament…Paul used that same phrase earlier in [12:16] – honor one another about yourselves… [12:10] –love one another…and here in [13:8] to instruct one another.

SECONDLY…The Greek word that we translate…instruct one another…is to admonish…in English many think the world ‘admonish’ means to ‘rebuke’, and while one connotation can mean that…the sense here does not fit that context.

Look at how this word admonish is used in other places:
[Acts 20:31] — for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.

[Colossians 3:16 ] Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another.

[1 Thess. 5:14] — we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle,

So, depending on context, the word ‘admonish’ can mean a number of different things…to encourage…to warn… to counsel…or advise…but here Paul is referring to our instruction of one another.

There are lots of non-profit and charitable groups that can inspire us to do good deeds…but the family of God is meant to be a place where we not only serve one another…where we build one another up…but also…where we instruct one another.

I’ll say it again…the importance of being in Church…if we are going to grow in Christ then we need to be instructed in Christ…who He is…what He has done… what He says about Himself…about us…His promises…His truth…His ways.

God has given us the Church…a community…a family of believers who do know Him…and as the word in the Greek implies, we should be more than willing to instruct one another.

When is the last time you instructed another Christian?…notice he doesn’t say judge one another…are you ‘instructing’ one another?

Now the immediate response is… ‘hey, you’re the preacher, that’s your job’ …so…when Paul uses the word ‘instruct’ does he have the gift of teaching in mind? NO.

In spite of our imperfections…God has chosen to use each of us in one another’s lives…as such…we should be observant of those who are weak and downcast with the burdens…anxieties…and fears…of living in a sin riddled world…not being hesitant to encourage one another regarding a lapse of spiritual truths that would hamper their spiritual growth.

So…the question God may be bringing to us this morning is… “if Paul were here today, would he write Romans 15:14 about us” …are we full of goodness and knowledge and ‘able to instruct one another?’ …even more important…if we are…are we actually doing it?

In [15:5] Paul begins a prayer for the Christians in Rome…a prayer for unity:

5 Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ 6 so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Something we talked about last week…the paramount importance of church unity…which can only be achieved when we are of the same mind with one another according to Christ…that’s what Paul prays.

The word ‘mind’ used here means the seat of consciousness…it means looking at life from Jesus’ point of view…having His values…His desires…His thoughts…the ability to maintain the same focus as Christ did.

How do we achieve that…having the same mind with one another according to Christ… it doesn’t come naturally or without effort.

Although it’s a gift that is given to every believer…we must develop that gift in order to experience its full impact…HOW…by reading…memorizing…and meditating on Scripture…spending time in prayer…that is the only way by which we can have the same mind as Jesus.

In [13] he closes out that prayer with a benediction…a blessing he wants every believer to experience:

May the God of hope fill you—Paul uses the Greek plural pronoun (ὑμᾶς) you
which means all the saints in Rome, whether they are Jews or Gentile believers—
with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in
hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

In this closing prayer Paul mentions three marks of a Christian…joy… peace…and hope…all which come from God.

When you read a verse like this you have to ask yourself…does this verse even come close to describing the way I feel…can I honestly say that my life is filled with joy…peace…and hope?

Would my family or friends describe me as a person who is filled with joy… peace and hope?

Probably if we were honest with ourselves…we would admit that to varying degrees we all fall short of experiencing what that verse is suggesting.

I’m sure that we all want these qualities in our life…and yet I suspect that few can legitimately claim to be filled with joy, peace and hope.

How is this accomplished?…notice that Paul identifies the source…the God of hope…He is the ultimate source of hope…everything starts with God.

So, the most basic question is: What is hope?

Ordinarily, when we use the word hope, we are expressing uncertainty rather than certainty…most often hope is wishful thinking…a desire for something to happen but not having any control over whether or not it will happen.

That is not the Biblical definition of how hope is used in the Bible…for the Christians…hope is the response to the promises of God.

Hope is the confident expectation that what God has promised will happen.

One facet of hope is the certainty that believers will one day be given the same imperishable body like Jesus ( 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 ; 1 Thess. 4:13-18 )… that is a promised reality…it will happen.

Paul’s awareness of how hope was understood in the Old Testament is his reason for Christians to adapt the same enthusiasm.

For the Jews their hope was being delivered from their enemies (Psalm 25)…the hope to recover from illness (Isa 38:10-20) …the hope that God would provide land… peace…and prosperity.

Much of the Old Testament was centered on hope…their hope had to do with waiting for…looking for…and the fulfillment of something.

Here we run into the issue of how Old Testament saints were saved if they didn’t know who Jesus was…compared with how we are saved today?

Before the Cross people were justified the same as we are today…by faith…and by hope in something they had never seen…they looked ahead into the distant future to their promised Messiah Who would one day redeem them from sin.

Those early believers listened closely to the words of God as they were revealed by the prophets and the Scripture…as a result, they understood the nature of grace…and were saved on the basis of their hope and faith in a coming Savior.

We are saved today in exactly the same way…by faith…and by hope in something we have never seen.

To encourage Christians to have the same hope of looking ahead into the distant future Paul in Romans mentions hope more than in any of his other letters:

—in 4:18 he mentions God’s promise to Abraham that he would have a son… in hope against hope he believed.

—in 8:20 Paul mentions the hope of fallen creation to be restored from the decay that has been occurring since the Fall in the garden.

—in 12:12 Paul says to rejoice in hope…what hope? …the hope of the redemption of our bodies and being united with God forever.

—in 8:24…one of my favorite verses in the Bible…Paul defines what Biblical hope is with regards to salvation:

24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man sees why does he yet hope for it?
25 But if we hope for what we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
Hope is one of the three classic virtues of Christianity…faith…hope…and love are foundational in that they draw us to God and to each other.

Hope is like a reservoir of emotional strength.

—If I am down, I look to the emotional reservoir of hope for the strength to raise me up…without hope we only sink into self-pity.

—If I experience a setback in my planning — I get sick, or things don’t go the way I would have liked…I look to the emotional reservoir of hope for the strength to keep going and not give up.

—If I face a temptation to be dishonest…to steal…to lie…or to be unfaithful in my Christian walk…I look to the emotional reservoir of hope for the strength to hold fast to the way of righteousness.

That’s what differentiates ordinary hope from Biblical hope…Biblical hope is not just a desire for something good to happen in the future…it expects it to happen …Biblical hope is the confident expectation that something good will happen in the future.

Now the part that far too many people are discouraged about…how can we achieve joy and peace in a world of social…political…and religious turmoil? …for many it is just an elusive dream.

There are a large number of persons who profess to believe in Jesus but who admit that they have no joy and peace…they don’t usually make this profession to anyone in the church…or in any open manner…but when they are hard pressed upon the matter of personal salvation, they will sometimes say: “I do believe in Christ, but still I am so unhappy and so miserable…I cannot believe that I am saved;” Charles Spurgeon May 20, 1866.

That was preached by Charles Spurgeon over a hundred and fifty years ago.

People don’t change much in how they view their salvation…people had doubts then and they have doubts now.

There are two errors associated with people who experience joy and peace:

One kind are the people who seek cultural joy as opposed to Biblical joy…they often say ‘I just want to be happy’ …or despite not being a Christian they somehow believe God is obligated to make them happy… “Well, God wouldn’t want me to be unhappy would He?”

Here’s the error in this type of thinking…it has the potential to result in the complete opposite…leaving people miserable…their joy is seen in somehow believing life should be fair… not accepting the reality that regardless of who you are you will always be subject to the evils of this world…trials…troubles …tribulation…sin…natural disasters…disease…death…and all the other miseries we face in this life.

And in their misplaced concept of joy they view eternity the same way…a God of love would never exclude me from heaven…that is how they view eternity… their confidence in salvation is based on feeling.

To trust Christ because you just feel happy is irrational…to say…“I know I am saved, because I am happy,” is unreasonable.

Their joy is the result of something done by themselves…the result of their own doing…when things are going fine…they’re happy…when circumstances are less than desirable…misery and emotional distress are present.

That’s what separates Christians from unbelievers…for Christians, ‘joy’ comes DESPITE circumstances…for unbelievers, joy is based ON circumstances.

The SECOND kind of people are believers whose joy is the result of:
1) standing firm concerning the promises of God…that despite my circumstance God knows and is aware of my situation.

2) being secure in my faith…being confident that I am saved.

NOW…at times…not to contradict myself, it may seem that joy has departed us depending on the circumstances of life.

Because in this life we will not always have joy and peace as the world defines it…even Jesus promised us that…‘Through many tribulations (θλίψεων) we must enter the kingdom of God [Acts 14:22]

That word tribulations in the Greek encompasses all the futility that comes with living in this fallen world… you will always be subject to the evils of this world…mentioned them earlier.

Trials… troubles… suffering…sin…calamity…natural disasters… disease… death…and the other miseries we face in this life all fall under the heading of tribulation…no one is exempt…that is why we should not look at joy as the assurance of salvation…BUT…as the result of being in a relationship with God.

With regards to peace…most of Paul’s letters begin with ‘Grace and peace’.

So what is peace? …it is a state of tranquility or quietness of spirit that transcends circumstances…that’s important…what circumstances…that’s why there is a difference between Christian peace and Christian joy…at times they are interlocking circles but they are something we should not lump together.

Before we were Christians we had no peace…we thought we did…but we didn’t. WHY?…there was hostility between us and God…we were enemies of God… something I mention frequently…BUT Satan has convinced the unbelieving world that God just loves everybody…no he doesn’t.

It is only through the blood of Jesus that God’s wrath was satisfied…that our guilt was covered…and the result is there is now peace in our hearts.

That’s why Jesus taught that the peace He gives is not as the world gives [John 14:27] …worldly peace is: The absence of war…living however you want… focusing only on your needs…from seeking other’s approval.

Godly peace is found in any circumstances…even in the midst of trials…it’s found through serving others…but mostly Godly peace is found when we are sincerely repentant and seek to be better disciples of Jesus.

Here’s what’s interesting…the New Testament never talks about joy that way… we have joy in knowing that our relationship with God has been restored as a result of God’s work in Christ…we have peace in knowing that nothing can ever sever that relationship with God.

A couple things about God’s hope…peace…and joy:

FIRST…it is only achievable when we submit to and trust the commandments of God… you cannot have the peace of God while you continue to persist in doing what God does not tell you to do.

SECONDLY…The hope…peace and joy Paul is describing is supernatural…
here’s the KEY…it’s not in feelings…it’s not in Christian fellowship…it’s not even in reading the Bible or in praying…it’s in believing.

Are you believing what you read in Scripture?…if the Bible is nothing more than just words on a page…that’s not believing…are you believing that Jesus dwells in you…are you believing that He intends to act through you to accomplish His purpose?…if so…then the result is peace and joy.

God cannot fill us with joy and peace if we don’t believe…it is only when we believe that the power of the Holy Spirit begins to work through us and causes us to abound in hope. https://www.preceptaustin.org/romans_1513_commentary

This is all accomplished when we experience this by faith…the more we practice it the more joy…peace…and faith will spill out into our lives.