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Well, it is good to be back here at Bethlehem Bible Church, my home church. I was at Omaha Bible Church last week preaching, and I like preaching there because I've been there so often. It seems like home, but it's better to preach to your own people, and better to be here with you, and thank you for praying.
It was a bittersweet week. Mom died five months ago, and so we closed up her house this last Tuesday, and so I had to go home a little early and take care of some things and going through the old pictures.
Everything was kind of fine until I got to my old Hot Wheel box that Mom saved, and I just started bawling, thinking about Mom and home and over Hot Wheels, and then someone said at Omaha Bible Church, are they the kind with red wheels, red stripes, and I thought, I'm trying to pour my soul out to you and tell you about I was crying about my mom, and it was sad, and he said, well, those are the good ones.
Those were made in the 60s, and I thought, oh, those are the ones I have. So I just took care of all that, and I know it's just a house and everything, but a lot of good memories, and I'm just thankful to God for his faithfulness in my life with unbelieving and then a believing mother.
Then on Tuesday, I got to spend the day with John MacArthur from about 1 .30 in the afternoon till about 9 at night, and it was just good hanging around John, and John's one of those men that in the pulpit sound very definitive and dogmatic and maybe not even nice, but in person, he's very kind.
He realizes that he has been given a ministry from God, by God. He owns nothing, and he just is there to teach the Word of God, and so I like those men in my life to influence me. Thank you for praying.
One last note, you may want to pray. Next month, I go to San Francisco and preach at a church there. The pastor's my age. He has a tumor that started the size of a melon in his stomach and shrunk down to the size of a peanut, and I love other pastors because I know what pastors go through, and so the elder board said we'd love to come out, and I could preach there or minister to you and meet with your men, love on your family, and the church there in San Francisco has said yes, so I fly out.
I think it's the third week of December, and so we as a church are going to minister through me to this man, Ron Porch, and you might want to pray that the chemo would be effective, and the whole church is saying, who's coming from Massachusetts to visit us?
Who's coming? Just a group of no ones sending nobody to just try to love on them and show them the love of Jesus Christ in San Francisco. What is truth? Pilate said that a long time ago to Jesus in John 18 .38.
What is truth? I have a question for you. Where is truth? It's one thing to ask the question, what is truth, but I'd like to know where truth is. MacArthur asked me, how's the spiritual life of New England?
Oh, I should have said, where is truth? Where is truth these days? Proverbs 23 .23 says, buy truth and do not sell it. We worship the one who is full of grace and truth. Jesus called himself and gave himself the name when he said, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
Where is truth? Something that's more than just what we think about something outside revealed truth we need. Francis Schaeffer said a long time ago, beware, neither experience nor emotion is the basis of faith.
The basis for our faith is that certain things are true. The whole man, including the intellect, is to act upon the fact that certain things are true. That, of course, will lead to an experiential relationship with God, but the basis is not content on experience.
We experience things. We are emotional creatures, but it all stems from truth. And when truth is thrown out, we get the trivialization of God. We get what I call the Plato God. Remember Plato? I always remember that smell of Plato with a kind of salt flower.
Tastes funny, doesn't it? Kind of tastes, don't do that, kids. It is non-toxic, though, thankfully. We get a God of kind of more manageable proportions when we don't have to look to the scriptures to see that he's not only full of mercy, but he also has rules.
Kind of a safer deity we get where we just cut the corners and contour God. After all, Jesus said things, and sometimes the people said, that is a very hard saying. And when you tell people the truth, sometimes it is difficult to hear, but God in his love and his mercy wants us to know the truth.
Never does the Bible put a premium on ignorance. Of course, we could sway too far and have only an intellectual faith, but faith has to be full of truth. Otherwise, we get the God of my preferences. We get the God of health and wealth and the God of, well, I feel good after that.
If you'll turn your Bibles to the book of Romans, we will look at what the Bible says about the truth of salvation. How men become right in God's eyes. What it means to be perfect in God's eyes. How can a Christian be sure that he goes to heaven?
How can a sinner make sure she gets to heaven? And it is all contained in this book of 16 chapters. And I'll call this, as it's called of all the Bible, the word of truth. And this is not one of those books that just kind of feels good.
It feels good when you learn about God and then can worship him properly, but it takes some thinking. And so we are in a short four-week journey on the jet tour style of the book of Romans instead of verse by verse by verse, and Lord willing, we'll start that next week through the book of Matthew, specifically the Sermon on the Mount.
But now we want to come to this word of truth. You say, well, there's a lot of big words and big concepts. My encouragement would be keep studying those concepts. If you know them, good. If you don't, keep studying them because this was written to a group of people that mostly were what?
Illiterate. People weren't walking around Rome, nor Galilee, nor Judea having an education or background. No, these are truths that God wants you to know even if you can't read. How about that? Or just as a manager of a baseball player or something I just heard about who was illiterate, went through...
Pardon me? Hockey. Well, that makes sense. Sorry. Coming from someone who plays hockey but never plays baseball. William Booth said, the chief danger that confronts the coming century will be religion without the Holy Spirit, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration.
But I think he was kind of off because it will be Christianity without the truth. Feels good for you if you like that particular attribute. It's just cafeteria Christianity. I like two lumps of that and none of that because that's got five syllables.
Yet God wants us to know the deep things about God. And friends, when you have hard trials, you will rely on the doctrines of God who's taught you the things about His sovereignty and how He always does the right thing and how He never changes and how He cares for you.
You can't go through big trials in life with the ABCs of Christianity and that's why I love Romans. Someone said, you kind of lost me on Romans 9 to 11 last time. That's okay. You see my preaching style, I could pick between college level and preschool.
I'm shooting here when I preach. That's why it is incumbent upon you, the mature congregation, when new people come to the church that you disciple them and that you take care of them because they're going to walk in here saying, I didn't really get that.
It was over my head. But if they get 5 of it, that's worth it. I'm preaching to the mature ones so you can grow as well so you can disciple better. No matter where I pick to preach, I'm going to lose some, right?
If you pick a third grade Christianity where most churches pick today, then they have large numbers but they're a mile wide and what? An inch deep. I want you to learn. I want you to grow. I want you to listen to preaching and then become a person who can reproduce themselves with the Spirit of God's help in the life of another.
That's what discipleship is. God, you've taught me this. I found someone who knows less than I do. I pour my life into them and teach them and now they are a disciple of Christ after I follow Christ and they follow me.
That's Christianity. So intentionally, we're shooting up here because I want you to grow up to that. When I was a basketball player, what I would do is I would go play with all the guys at the University of Nebraska.
Why? Because I got better. Then when I played with the guys who weren't on the team, I was the best. And so when you play basketball at a higher level, you'll grow up to that and that's exactly what I do when I want to preach and I think it's going to be substantiated in Scripture because what does Romans do?
Romans gives you the deep doctrines of God so that you might better worship Him. As you know, there are 16 chapters of this book. If you don't have a Bible, there's a Black Pew Bible in front of you and you'll be lost without a Bible.
So you want to make sure you get a Bible. As a matter of fact, I heard this week MacArthur told me there are some churches that are telling their own people do not bring a Bible to church because it will intimidate visitors.
The Nelsons wouldn't go too far because they pick churches where people bring the Bibles in. If you go to a church and nobody brings the Bible, maybe you shouldn't go to that church. And if you didn't bring a Bible today, I'm not trying to shame you.
I'm just encouraging you. We have a Bible for you to read from because we want you to see the truth from God. Am I loud enough, by the way? Do you have to strain to hear me? All right. I don't think...
The sound people need to have one message and here's the message, louder, right? Wherever we go, just louder. The easy way to outline Romans is by using all S's. We don't have to alliterate everything, although Scripture many times alliterates.
For instance, in the Sermon on the Mount, we'll see how that's alliterated. But there are seven main points and it's very logical. Sin, and we'll go through these quickly now, but more in detail, sin, salvation, sanctification, security, sovereignty, service, and salutation.
It's just we need Christ. God saves us. Here's how we're more like Him. Here's how we can be secure in Christ. Here's why God, what He does with Israel. How we should serve, and then some final greetings, and this is a book that will really revolutionize your life as you think about how good God is, how gracious He is, and it will increase your gratitude to the Lord.
Chapter one, please. Let's look at verse 20 of chapter... Let's go to chapter three. Let's just skip chapter one. You can get the tape four weeks ago. All of chapters one, two, and 3A up to 320 is summarized in chapter three, verse 20.
Men need to realize and women need to realize that they are under the power of sin. Sin has captured them. They are slaves to sin and that they are not right before God. They contain no righteousness before God.
They come to God and the only thing they offer Him to get Him to be pleased with them is what? Sin. Here's my offering, and even if the offering is a good lamb, it still comes with bloodied sinful hands, and so how do we worship a God that is holy, holy, holy when we are by nature sinful?
And He uses this dagger here in 320, so we know we have a need by saying, because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified, declared righteous in His sight, God's sight. Maybe the government's sight, maybe your neighbor's sight, maybe your own dog's sight, you might be good, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin, but in God's sight, on the bell curve, we all fall short of the glory of God.
Large, large church, the number one TV church in all the world, their pastor said that it is potentially dangerous if you put a person down when you preach the gospel before you lift them up. It's not dangerous, it's mandatory.
We have to know that we have a need to be saved. How can we cry out to God for His mercy unless we know we're under His justice? And so the whole of chapters 1, 2, and 3a could be summed up by man, humankind needs God's righteousness.
Man isn't righteous, he needs to be righteous, and so God then, in chapters 3b, 4, and 5, gives men and women, without distinction from all races and backgrounds, Jew and Gentile as well, salvation. Let's look at chapter 3, verse 21.
This is under the category of salvation. We are all under sin, and now can we be saved? Can we ever be right with God? Are we going to be like the angels? What happened to the angels when they sinned?
Was there a salvation plan? No. Was God still good and righteous by not redeeming the angels? Yes. And so what do we do? We have to wait for God to help us. Sinners will be made right on the ground of who Christ is, and we receive that by faith.
Look at 321. But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been manifested. As a matter of fact, He was manifested. This is a person being witnessed by the law and the prophets. What happens in this chapter, the end of chapter 3, 4, and 5, we see, as Ephesians 5, 2 says, that Christ's death was an aroma to God.
He liked the fragrance. Have you ever smelled something really good? And here, God was so pleased with Christ's death on the behalf of sinners, as a substitute, as a Passover lamb. John the Baptist said, behold, the lamb of God that takes away the what? Sin of the world.
Not just a Jew and a Gentile. He takes away all kinds of sins. And so here we have this substitution, and we have this fragrant aroma that Christ's death was so great, God the Father said, I'm pleased with that.
As a matter of fact, in chapter 4, verse 25, He was so pleased with that sacrifice that He raised Jesus from the dead. You say, I know all this, but isn't it good to hear it again? Is Jerry Bridges correct when he says that a Christian needs to preach the gospel to Him every single day?
It's true. We worship a risen Savior, and we want to hear the gospel. Sing it over again to me. Wonderful words of what? Life. That's exactly right. There's an illustration of God's righteousness and how He changes someone in Romans chapter 4, and that would be Abraham.
Romans 4, 5 says, but to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, I could say it this way, but the one who knows he can't work for salvation, but believes in the God who works for our salvation, his faith is credited as righteousness.
Luther once said, what makes you think that God is more pleased with your good deeds than He is His Son? Did you get that? He isn't pleased with our good deeds. He's pleased with His Son's good deeds.
The godly justifying the ungodly. God said, if you believe in what I've done through my Son, I will treat you as if you were perfectly holy and you always obeyed me. Matter of fact, then I'll treat my Son as if He perfectly lived your sinful life, even though He didn't, and that I will punish Him even though you deserve it.
And it's the great transaction. What did we just sing? Our righteousness exchanged for what? His sin? May it never be. His righteousness, Christ, exchanged for our sin, and what's the response? Oh, ho-hum, oh, what a Savior, oh, what a friend, that He would treat the ungodly as godly.
Say, I wish my praised life would get better. Then back up and take a look at what God has done for you, eternally. There are benefits to being declared righteous. Take a look at chapter 5. Therefore, having been justified by faith, chapter 5, verse 1, by the way, faith is even a gift.
We don't offer that to God. It's a gift, Philippians 1 .29 says, as well as Ephesians 2. We have peace with God. He used to be an enemy. He used to be at war with us. Now we're at peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and might I say only through Him.
It gets better, verse 2. We have an introduction by faith. We exalt in hope, verse 2. Verse 3, we exalt in our tribulations. Why? Because tribulation will make you stronger. You'll have endurance and perseverance.
And then he says something very theological if you go down to chapter 5, verse 12. And 5 .12 ends, and then you have a parenthesis that picks back up in verse 18. So I'm going to read 12 and 18 like they're one sentence.
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, that would be Adam, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. We're sinful by nature, not because we sinned, as those following Adam.
Verse 18, so then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all, even so through one act of righteousness, Christ's, there resulted justification of life to all men. As Adam's life affected others, Jesus Christ's life affected others.
Well, if that's true, then we should just go sin all we want to. If we don't ever have to answer for our sin, if God is so great that he says, if you sin, I've got extra grace for that because my son paid for all your sins, even the future ones, then let's just have a sin party.
And the answer is found in verse 1 of chapter 6. And this is the third point, sin, salvation, sanctification found in chapters 6 and 7. Again, review, if God saves you from your sin, you won't want to ever.
That's a sign of a Christian. What should we say then, verse 1? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? May it never be, no way, how shall we who died to sin still live in it? It should have the opposite effect.
In chapter 7, Paul says in verses 7 through 13, the law showed me that I needed a savior. It showed me that I was sinful. It showed me that I was spiritually dead. I've got to get out from under this law.
I need the one who fulfilled the law for me. That's Christ. And then he says, I still struggle with sin. Do you, by the way? These should be wonderful words of life for us. Chapter 7, verses 14 through 25.
Let's just look at one verse, verse 15. For what that which I am doing, I do not understand. I'm redeemed. I'm regenerated. I'm new. For I'm not practicing what I'd like to do. I'd like to act like Christ.
I'd like to be holy in my practice. But I am doing the very thing I hate. That's a sign of a Christian. Christians struggle with sin. I struggle with sin. Do you? And if you do, welcome to new life. Because in the past, we only struggled with the what? Consequences of our sin.
By the way, it is getting super hot in here. Are you? Should we open up some of the windows or something? We don't need any sleepers today. I was in Omaha last Friday, two Fridays ago. On Saturday, we were in the lake wakeboarding, 74 degrees outside.
Monday night, there was four inches of ice and snow and the airport was about ready to be closed. I thought, am I home in Worcester? What do Christians do who still struggle with sin? Are you safe and secure?
What if you sin right before you fall asleep? Will you go to heaven? Chapter eight's written just for us. Because we all struggle, we all fall short. And God is the kind of savior that saves the gutter most to the uttermost, one man said.
You don't have to worry about confessing every little sin because we probably don't know every little sin. They have already been paid for and we have security in Christ. Chapter eight, there is therefore, verse one, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
For all the Christians, the opposite word of justification is condemnation. We are not condemned because we have been declared not guilty by Christ's work alone. Many reasons we have security, but one being verse 28, again in review, and we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, even sin, even Satan.
Where's Israel in all this? I thought Israel was guaranteed salvation as well. Have they fallen off the face of the earth? If Israel's not saved, how can we be saved? And he spends chapter nine, 10, and 11 to answer the question and have, is God's righteousness vindicated because Israel's gone?
And basically he says, in the fifth point of our outline today, the sovereignty of God in restoring Israel, the ethnic nation of Israel. Chapters nine, 10, and 11. Chapter nine, God does what he wants and he's in his sovereignty, said Israel, you're on the shelf.
Chapter 10, Israel is responsible even though God's sovereign and they've been obstinate and stubborn and therefore they've got what's coming to them. But in chapter 11, the Abrahamic covenant still will be fulfilled, if you will.
There will be an ethnic national future for Israel because that's what Israel means when it's found in the epistles, especially the Pauline epistles. And he ends in chapter 11 with the praise. When Israel is restored, people will praise God.
Oh, the depths and the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. This is like Wesley saying, I'm lost in wonder, love, and praises. If someone's been saved, if someone's been sanctified, if someone is secure, if someone has been given the righteousness of Christ, how do you think that will change their behavior?
Should you be different or should you be like everyone else in the world? You will be different. And now we come to chapter 12, 13, 14, and 15a, how we should serve other people. Is doctrine appropriate?
Is doctrine relevant? Does what you know change the way you do things? Does theology determine your what? Methodology? Of course, we know these things. Now let's do these things. I think the great problem in churches today in America is they want to go right to chapter 12 and following and they don't want to learn any doctrine because it takes time and effort and sweat and toil.
And it's really not full of all kinds of felt needs. Chapter 12 gives us some sections that spin out of the doctrine of salvation. And the first one, I think there are seven. How should we act towards God?
How should we act towards God? Verses one and two of chapter 12. I urge you therefore brethren, therefore based on chapters one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, all those mercies of God back in those chapters to present your bodies.
A present is a technical term that the people in the Old Testament would present an offering, a victim to God in a sacrificial system. Jesus' parents went to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. Jesus is for you God, here's my son and may he be pleasing to you.
And this is what? Logical or reasonable service of worship. It's spiritual service. It's only logical. If God has saved you from yourself, shouldn't you live for him? I like James Boyce. He said that God does not want your money or your time without yourself.
You are the one for whom Jesus died. You are the one he loves. He wants you before he wants your money and your church attendance and your nursery work and everything else. He wants you. And it's logical because what did he do for us?
Isaac Watts, but drops of grief can ne 'er repay the debt of love I owe. Here Lord, I give myself away to all that I can do. It's logical. I like this. Christian woman said to a pastor, what is your idea of consecration?
Consecration, we don't use that word very often anymore. What's your idea of consecration? He held out a blank piece of paper, said write your name on the bottom of that blank piece of paper and be willing to let God fill in the rest.
It's just kind of an edge to that. I'm thinking, where are the missionaries at BBC? Where are those that say, I'm just gonna go off and I'm gonna serve and I'm just, you know, I know God has put that burning in my heart and I'm just gonna go serve.
One thing I don't want in our church and I'll try to encourage in every way, shape and form is I don't want Sunday only Christians. If you are a Sunday only Christian, then please read chapters one through 11 and think about the logic of you getting saved from your guilt and what kind of love should you show and what kind of gratitude should you have?
And you say, oh, God is just so pleased to have me come and warm that seat on Sunday. He must just be up in heaven going, oh, he came to church. I want you to come to church. We are to corporately worship.
There's an aspect of corporate worship that is transcendent. We're supposed to do it. But if the God who gives you divine and sovereign mercy has called you, you can't be a Sunday Christian. You can't just come and that's it.
Jesus cannot be served with your hands and your feet and you can't wash his feet today. So you have to do something that's a lot worse is wash the hands and feet of other Christians. I think it was Nietzsche who said there's only one problem with Christianity, Christians.
Jesus isn't here on earth. If he was, would we have a line to serve him? Absolutely, but he's not here. So he says, I want you to serve my children. I want you to serve the other saints and by serving them, you will serve me.
And this is so freeing because if you have a ministry, beloved, people will let you down. People won't respond well. People will just assume that you just do the right thing and they'll assume you don't even need any thanks or encouragement.
It's probably the easiest for me to serve you because I'm kind of up and in front. So people, I'm gonna get that out of arm's distance there. People more often encourage me. Every time you want to encourage me, pick somebody else here at the church to encourage.
But if you don't get encouragement and you serve, you serve the Lord. He is the one, Lord, you've given me salvation. I deserve eternal wrath and you've given me salvation. So I just want to serve you.
Well, yeah, but I'm not the leader of the Sunday school department. So I don't know if I can, because you know my background. I kind of know these things. Just have an opportunity and serve the Lord. He'll put you in the right place.
Nobody ever recognizes me. Well, then you'll get your reward by God in secret because you won't have to go around here asking for that. Animal sacrifices will not do. Your money, I think you should be a good giver.
It won't do. Oh, I just come and I give money. That's my service. That won't do. God wants you and it's logical and it's reasonable. And one of the things that prevents us from doing that is our mind.
Look at verse two of chapter 12 of Romans. And do not be conformed to this world because the world will try to conform you. It'll try to put you, as Philip's translation says, into its mold, but be transformed.
Don't think like the world does by the renewing of your mind. That's what's good and acceptable and perfect. The world has an agenda. The media has an agenda. By the way, does advertising have an agenda?
Advertising didn't start until about 120 years ago or so. And it has one agenda. What is that? To make you dissatisfied. So you'll have to buy something new. Satan is alive and well and he wants us to think in an untransformed way.
I want you to think Christianly, if I can make that up. Henry Blamers wrote a book called The Christian Mind. His thesis in chapter one, there's no longer a Christian mind. Besides that, what should you think about properly?
Look at verse three. If you've been saved and you realize your body is for God and your heart's for God and your hand's for God and everything you have's for God, what's the first thing that you should think properly about?
What do you think? Evangelism. Evangelism's good. But if you're a mature Christian, you will evangelize. Growing Christians reproduce. What's the first thing to think about properly? You know what it is?
Shockingly, I can already tell we're gonna go one more week on this series. I don't want to though, so we're gonna go fast. Spiritual gifts. If you've got to think about one thing properly, here's what you think about properly, spiritual gifts.
And if you're a Christian, God has given you gifts to serve one another. Verse three, four times the word think is used are a close synonym. For through the grace given to me, I say to every man among you, not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think, but to think as to have sound thinking or judgment as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.
Here, self-indulgence and a lack of service to other is treated as insanity. It is insane to be a Christian and have a spiritual gift and not use it. It's like having a straight jacket on and going to the loony bin.
It is insane. Did I say that word before? It's insane. It is Nebuchadnezzar-like to be the recipient of full and free and eternal salvation and the gift of eternal life, knowing Christ Jesus, and then not using your spiritual gifts for unity, for service, for the sake of other people.
It is crazy. That's why you can't be a TV Christian. I'll just be a TV Christian. George Barna has a new book out called Revolution. And here's the book. You don't need the church anymore. And in 20 years, the churches will be gone.
We need the church for lots of reasons, but one reason we need the church is so we can think properly about our gifts as we serve those. Verse four, for just as we have many members in one body and all members do not have the same function.
We're not all teachers. We're not all cleaners. We're not all helpers. So we, who are many, are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. We're all needed. We all need to serve. If you don't serve, you affect us.
And we live in this world where we need transformed thinking. Here's the world we live in. My rights, self-centered. Don't tell me what to do. I can do whatever I want as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else.
That's my business. No, the wonderful metaphor of the body of Christ. If your leg is hurting, everything's hurting. We have all kinds of gifts, service and teaching. And he goes on to talk about that in chapter 12.
Well, what else do we do if we're Christians? We think right about our spiritual gifts. And then something else is around. And that is duties towards society and others. Look at chapter 12, verse 9. We should be lovers without hypocrisy.
We should abhor what is evil. We should cling to what is good. We should be devoted to one another in brotherly love. We shouldn't be lazy and in diligence, verse 11. We rejoice in hope, verse 12. We're hospitable, verse 13.
The way we treat others is we bless them when they persecute us. As Steve said today, we rejoice in verse 15 with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. What about our enemies? There's another section, verse 17 and following.
Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Don't, why? Verse 19, vengeance is mine, I will repay. Don't think about the way you used to think about things. If somebody got you, you'd wanna get them back.
And you'd wanna think revenge is a dish best served what? Cold, no. What about to the government? Look at verse 13. We have duties to the government. Righteous people who have been vindicated by God and who have been saved by him act differently towards the government because I know what we do towards the government.
The government is out to get you and it's the infernal revenue service. And Christians get together, we're not gonna pay our taxes. And what is our duty as Christians to the government? Verse 13, chapter 13, verse one.
Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. Wow, every person. That's a command and that's an ongoing command by the way. No exceptions. Governing authorities and that kind of authority by the way is not anything except delegated power.
It's God's authority ultimately that he's delegated to them. Jesus said, you would have no authority over me unless it had been given you from above. How could Paul say this? All of Christian persecution.
Well, he gives three reasons why he can say submit to the government. Verse one is the first reason. Government is divinely ordained. There is no authority except from God and those which exist are established by God.
See there in the text, from God and by God. Here's the fundamental premise. God is sovereign and he delegates authority. And if God has delegated authority, how should you treat the government? How should you treat the Massachusetts government?
How should you treat our government that has Barney Frank and John Kerry and Ted Kennedy? And what if you're a Republican? What should you do? Submit to them. Let me give you another reason. Because if you don't, you'll have consequences to pay for verses two through four.
Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God. Oh, I don't wanna do that. And they have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. Not by God, but certainly there can be condemnation by the government.
Verse three, for rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior. Christians who don't speed don't need a radar detector. I won't even go there. You wanna have no fear of authority? Don't speed. Oh, sorry, don't do what is good.
And you will have praise from the same. And then twice, can you believe it? Verse four, it is a minister of God to you for good. Can you imagine the government's a minister? The policemen are ministers.
The firewomen are ministers. That person who takes the tolls on the pike, you could say to them as you give the buck 60, to them, thank you, minister. And drive off with a grin. And it says it again. It doesn't bear the sword for nothing.
It can kill, it can have capital punishment for it is the minister of God. We should be subject to the leaders because God tells us to, there's consequences. And this is even in the context of Nero who was planning to marry the 13 year old boy, Dysporas at the time.
And here, God says through Paul, you submit to them. Of course, if we have to disobey, we don't. Emperor Trajan presented to the provincial governor on starting for his province, a dagger. And this is what the word says, for me, if I deserve it in me.
If I deserve it, you kill me. God's minister. I remember one time I was probably 18 or something. Not a Christian. And we broke into a pool. And by breaking into the pool, we just slipped through this little fence.
And my friend Joel and I were swimming. We're just jumping off the diving board. And we'd stand up on the rails of the handles for the high diving board and then jump down to the diving board and then jump up.
And just the middle of the night, it was midnight or something. And a policeman comes up and we both start just running full blast. And I really wasn't a bad kid. I mean, yes, I was bad on the inside, but I knew how to do things on the outside.
And up comes a canine police car. And he rolls down the window and the dog's sticking his mouth out. And he said, get over here. And I knew you were supposed to be respectful to policemen. And so I said, pardon me.
And then I ran up the hill, stupidly because there's a dog in the car. So I ran to my friend's house, opened up the door, ran inside soaking wet. And his dad said, what are you doing? My friend, Joel, he got caught.
He said, the dog kind of had him, just enough to kind of make him scared. He said, what's your friend's name? So I just met him here swimming. I bet you if I went back to your house, he's probably in your living room right now.
The right response should have been, yes, minister, stop. You were ordained by God. And first of all, the right response would have been not to break into some pool that I could have swam in anytime. He's God's minister.
And if you want a clean conscience, verse five, that's the last reason to submit to human government. It's divinely ordained. It brings consequences. And you want a clean conscience? Wherefore, verse five, it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience sake.
It's bigger than just obeying. It's that internal standard that we have that tells us right and wrong our conscience that we want to submit. We don't want to just say outwardly, I comply. We want to have our conscience soothed by internal attitude obedience to government.
And just on a side note regarding this whole government issue, it is the mandate of the local church to be redemptive in nature, correct? We don't care about Republicans and Democrats and libertarians.
We care about do people go to heaven or not? That is the mandate of this local church. It is never to get involved in moral issues, civil issues, or economic issues. Is it okay to sign the Massachusetts anti-gay marriage thing?
Absolutely. But we won't push it as a church, why? Because our philosophy is redemptive. As a church, that's what we do. We think about the redemptive issues. I keep getting asked, can we sign up for those things out in the parking lot?
If we do this or do that, if you want to sign it, you sign it. But this church forever and for always will not be a morally addressed issue and pulpit, it will be redemptive. It's not in Romans 13, but he didn't say to get involved in any of those.
He just said, obey them. You can be against gay marriage in Massachusetts and go to hell. Did you know that? Our job is to submit to God, proclaim the gospel. People that send in all their taxes with pennies, what are they thinking?
Look at verse six of Romans 13. For because of this, you also pay taxes. For rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. I read about that. The guy said, I'm gonna send in thousands of dollars worth of pennies just to make it hard on the people.
No. Do you know you can write a check on April 15th? I think I heard Scott Brown preach about this. If he didn't, good job anyway. And if he did, I'll steal it. Can you write the check on April 15th and say to God be the glory?
I think you can. Thank you for the sewer systems. Thank you for the police. Thank you for the fire departments. Thank you for the FDA. Thank you for all those things. And just in case we wanted to weasel out of it, do you see what the passage says in verse seven?
Tax to whom taxes due. That's property, personal income tax, capital gains taxes, inheritance taxes. Custom to whom custom is due, import taxes, export taxes. Fear to whom fear is due, recognizing their position of God.
And oh, the worst, I wish this wasn't in the Bible. Honor to whom honor is due. If you're a Republican, you give those Democratic leaders honor. And if you're the opposite, then do the same. How should we treat neighbors?
Verse eight of Romans 13. We just want to love each other. Verse eight. Verse 10, love does no wrong to a neighbor. You don't need a list of a thousand commandments if you just love your neighbor. That's why Jesus could say, love your neighbor as yourself.
How do you treat weak Christians? Verses one and following in chapter 14. We have a duty to weak Christians. There's a weak Christian and maybe they don't think they can eat some food that's been offered to idols.
Maybe you go to a Chinese restaurant and you see the little God there, that kitty God. I don't know what it's called. And they think, I can't eat that. It's been sacrificed to idols. How do we treat those kinds of folks?
Some think you could drink. Some think you can't drink. Some people think you can smoke a pipe. Some don't. All kinds of issues. What day do you worship on? Verse one of Romans 14. Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions.
Yeah, welcome to our fellowship. Can you get a load of this guy? That's why I say, beloved, and I said it on Sunday night quite a few times. If you don't practice Halloween, but other Christians at this church do, then let them.
They answer to God. And if God has died for them, then just give them a break. Some people here, they don't wanna have any Christmas tree around because it's that Jeremiah-like Antichrist tree that's found there.
I guess I've just told you my position. No, it has nothing to do with the Christmas tree. But if your convictions are no Christmas trees, we will not celebrate Christmas, then you're welcome here. And if your convictions are, we like to have Christmas, and we like to have some hot cider, and we like to carol and sing joy to the world, then just do it.
Verse 13 of the same passage says, therefore, let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this, not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way. Similarly, verse 19. So then let us pursue the things that make for peace and building up of one another.
You don't need to get a thousand chick tracks against Halloween and Christmas. Hand them out to all your friends. You think, well, Bruce, we're gonna put a little chick track on Bruce's chair because he always sits in the front now.
He's gonna know. No, build them up. Do you know jack trick? I mean, jack trick. Jack chick, the chick tracks. There's one good chick track, but. How do you end? Well, how did Paul end? Number seven, salutation.
Sin, salvation, sanctification, security, sovereignty, service, and now salutation. There's just some ending things. Salutation chapter 15B and 16. He gives the purpose in writing in 1515. I've written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again because of the grace that was given me from God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles.
I wanted to remind you. And then he praises 26 people, eight of which, and this is a revolutionary thing in those days, eight of which are women, regular Joes and Janes. And let me show you some of my favorite ones.
Chapter 16, verse one. I commend you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church, which is at Chintria, that you receive her and the Lord in a worthy manner of saints. And that you help her in whatever matter she may have need of, for she herself has also been a helper of many.
What a good commendation. Verse three, greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, whom for my life risk their own necks. Look at verse six, greet Mary, who has worked literally to the point of exhaustion for you.
How about verse nine? Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ. And Stachys, my beloved. You know what Stachys means? It means the ear of grain. Verse 12, greet Dainty and Delicate. They still worked hard.
Tryphena and Tryphosa mean Dainty and Delicate. They were workers in the Lord. Greet Persis, the beloved who has worked hard in the Lord. These people were turned upside down by the righteousness of Christ.
They knew they had no righteousness. Christ granted them his righteousness and they submitted their entire bodies to God and they worked hard. They worked under a horrible emperor. Verse 13 is great too.
Greet Rufus, a choice man in the Lord, also his mother and mine. Just in case we forget, this is a battle and he gives four trumpet blasts, the battle cry to end all of his message in Romans. The first battle cry.
Watch out for people who teach what has been, teach the opposite of what's been taught in Romans. Verse 17, I urge you brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learn.
As a matter of fact, number two, run from them and turn away from them. Turn aside, deviate, take a different path. When people come into the church and split that thing right down the middle because they have people follow them or they cause dissensions or hindrances, you run.
Why? Verse 18, for such men are slaves not of our Lord Christ but their own appetites. They're in it for them. By their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. New Christians were in this group of Romans and so they can't withstand some false teachers ranting so you've got to run.
Watch out, run. Number three, be wise in what is good. This is good advice from Paul to many of us. Verse 19, for the report of your obedience has reached all. Therefore I'm rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in that which is good and innocent in what is evil.
When I first got saved, guess what almost the first book I bought was? Right from the get-go. It's not that popular anymore, but it used to be very popular. Walter Martin's The Kingdom of the, what? Cults, why?
I don't know, I just think that's what Christians do. I came out of a certain background. I want to learn about that background. I want to learn all the details of that. I think it's okay, but if you're a new Christian, I don't want you to be wise in anything but that which is good.
I don't want you to know the Doctrine of Trent, Council of Trent, 1547. Here's what they did. I don't want you to know the Doctrine and Covenants of Mormon Church and all this stuff and Second Nephi or Nephi.
You've been saved by grace after all you can do and you know all this stuff about the false religions. I want you to know the Bible first. Good news, verse 20, and the God of peace will soon crush Satan and all that evil under your feet.
The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. And a man after my own heart, Paul tries to stop, but he can't. The final battle cry, watch out, run, study the good things and finally praise Jesus Christ. Verse 25, not a hymn who is able and constantly able to establish you according to my gospel, the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past.
How could the God man become God man and die on the cross for sinners? But now we know, but now as manifested by the scriptures of the prophets according to the commandments of the eternal God has been made known to all the nations leading to the obedience of faith to the only wise God through Jesus Christ be the glory forever, amen.
And he just launches on that final point. And you could probably summarize the book of Romans by John Stott's quote, the essence of sin is when man substitutes himself for God, but the essence of salvation is that God substituted himself for man.
And the response should be to him be the glory forever and ever, amen. Let's pray. Father, thank you for our day to day. Thank you for the word of truth. Thank you that you sanctify us in truth. You convict us of truth.
Your word is truth. And Father, you even comfort us in truth. And Lord, I know enough to know that there are many hurting people here today that have all kinds of issues. And Father, I just pray that you would show them those issues, the temporal issues in their lives underneath the auspices of their great standing before you that they are right in your eyes and they could never undo what you have done.
And Lord, for those who are visiting or those who are in our own church who don't know you as personal Lord and savior who have not been born again. Father, you didn't even tell Nicodemus what to do. You just said, be born again.
And Lord, I would ask that you would do a great work and be merciful to their souls and that you would grant them saving faith in the risen Christ today by granting them faith and repentance unto eternal life.
In Jesus name, amen.