Book of Romans - Unity in the Church | Contemplating God's Greatness, Pt. 1 (09/12/2021)

Okay, well let's have a let's have a word of prayer and and we'll get started this morning Lord Thank you so much for allowing us to have a time to be together today

Thank you for our online members and friends out there bless their families with safety and protection bless our church group here the same and Lord we're living in Unusual times now and we see things accelerating and that's both

Frightening and exciting so Help us Lord to be focused on the good things thinking on things that are lovely of good report

Things of virtue and keep our minds off the negatives and help us to pull together

Do things more together and be of one mind and help us to stay in the word

And Lord, we just ask you to give guidance each day for what we're supposed to do With you in these last days, thank you so much for this group here and the unity that they have and we just ask you to bless each person this week with safety and protection and zeal and Power and bless the preaching of the word today in Jesus name.

Amen Alright last time we started talking about five steps to unity in the church and that's basically what chapter 12 is talking about the main big idea and Of course, here's our verses.

We've been talking about the last a couple of weeks and I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice

We spent a little bit of time talking about how to do that And that's really what we've been talking about the last couple of Sundays Holy acceptable unto

God, which is your reasonable service always remember the word holy means different than the world

It does not mean perfect with regard to us with regard to God It does mean both perfect and different separate

With us, it's just separate Acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service

I don't say that about holiness to try to make you think you don't have to be perfect to try to be perfect You should try to be perfect.

It's just you probably won't Be perfect, but but it technically it means separate or different than the worldly people that aren't saved

Be not conformed to this world says that right but be transformed by the renewing of your mind

That you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God We spent a little bit of time talking about how you don't find

God's will you prove it That means you got to take some steps you step into God's will right pretty cool things to think about so basically

We've talked about three of the five points so far of how to have church unity one is you must be a people of prayer

Number two and that kind of is alluded to that in verse 1 of chapter 12. It's really discussed in detail in Romans chapter 8

Second step is walk in God's will you know? Proving his will Talked about that and then this last thing we were talking about mostly last week contemplate

God's awesome nature and being And that will help you Give your body as a living sacrifice because when you stop and think about who

God is And what he has done and what he is doing And the enormous nature and awesome nature of God It makes the little petty things of this world become very small

And we have to think that way if we're going to continually every day get up and go and say lord

What are you doing today? I want to do it with you rather than just doing our stuff So we have to always be thinking about the enormity of God and All the end of chapter 11 talks about that But then we went into the book of joe and started talking about it a little bit last time

And i'm going to pick up where I left off there. So we're not quite through talking about the how do we

Give our body over as a living sacrifice. I mean, how do you just make a list of rules? That doesn't work.

We know that that doesn't work. So the best way is to learn to contemplate

Who God really is knowing God better? And being in awe of him more often throughout the day

That in itself in and of itself will cause us to walk with him If this happened to jobe and you remember the story of jobe uh

God Instructed satan on some things satan could do to jobe and some things he could not do to jobe which shows that satan serves

God god is sovereign Satan and all of his demons serve god all the lost people serve god and all of us are supposed to serve god, right?

All the animal kingdom the stars everything serves god. He's sovereign So he instructed satan on some things he could do to jobe and with jobe and some things he couldn't

Satan had to work within those parameters And so joe was in a bad place.

He lost all 10 of his children. He lost all of his wealth And he lost his health

And he was miserable He was out just miserable And he has these three self -righteous friends kind of going to comfort him, right?

And each one of them had god in a different box like they graduated from different seminaries All right And they had it all figured out each one thought they totally had god figured out all three of them got it wrong

And god said so in the book of jobe and jobe got it wrong, too But he was more nearly correct than those three were because jobe was not a legalist jobe actually knew god

The other three knew about gods they thought they knew little bits about him And they thought they knew all about him, but they didn't they didn't and that's a great lesson in and of itself, isn't it?

So this is the context we find this in so we get out to the place where Jobe, you know his wife probably is a lost person doesn't bible and say she was but she has the fruits of it

She just told him to curse god and die. That was her advice So, uh, that was the worst advice of all but jobe didn't jobe never did that.

He never cursed god He never just said just kill me, but he did question god And our flesh will question god won't it sometimes

And our spiritual man our new man or woman will not And when we're walking in the flesh

Sometimes our first thought would be why god why'd you let that happen to me? Have you ever had that thought? You know, but you but if you've walked with the lord a long time

You've been in the word a lot. You will correct that thought instantly You'll say to yourself your new man will take over and say no you don't talk like that if you had that happen

I have it happen every day pretty much No, you don't talk like that. No, you don't think like that Right.

That's what we're supposed to do We're exhorted for the new man to control this brain, which is part of the old man, right?

But our spirit lives in there too. So we got to walk with the spirit. We have no chance Right, so we walk with the spirit.

Well jobe is finding himself having some fleshly thoughts And he even argues with the lord a little bit and here's where we are is where god comes in As he did in the old testament hebrews 1 1 through 3 says he does not do that now

Although he will again In the last three and a half years of the tribulation period during the church age.

God does not come down talk to us He doesn't appear to us. He doesn't give us dreams You can debate it all you want but hebrews chapter 1 verses 1 through 3

Show and many other scriptures where paul said some of these things will cease and tell told when and why they would cease

They did cease And they're coming back. Joel said your sons and daughters shall prophesy

So you can't start something up again if it never stopped So there's another proof that it did cease all these sign gifts ceased when the apostles went to be with the lord

And then when we had the word of god canonized we live in a dispensation of faith not sight

It's put in one phrase. That's the best way to put it faith not sight God deals with us during God himself the father is invisible.

The holy spirit is invisible and jesus is not but he's not here. He's in heaven so you can't tell me that these

Deceiving spirits can't act like the holy spirit And and tell you to do good things and go tell your friend and I just told you about him this

And you think that's god, but it's not god because you know how I know You say well, you're awful dogmatic when probably two -thirds of every person in the country is charismatic

You're awful dogmatic, you know how I know because hebrews 1 1 through 3 says he won't do that and god can't lie

So the holy spirit will not operate in a way that he said he won't operate you got that it's simple, right?

Good math good logic. He won't do it. So I know you have friends and you're tempted to think wow They're so sincere and so sweet.

I do too Some sweetest people in the world believe like that and you tend to well, maybe there's something to it stay in your bible

Because you'll be misled with them if you don't especially in the end times we were texting last night about The thing that says so much so that even the elect might and if the elect could be deceived something like that, right?

If it were possible the elect even the elect could be deceived in the end times and we're in those times now

There are so many deceived elect people all around us people that buy into these false spirits that are mimicking the holy spirit and I You know,

I get very frustrated dealing with this issue, but i've studied it 40 years And I know what the scripture says and I know what church history proves

And they're wrong. Okay. So anyway, that's not concerned about it's good. It's a good thing to know but um

Back in joe's day God would often not often about every 600 years

Historically, he he would do a miracle major miracle. He just appeared to somebody and start talking to him

Guess what the first thing they did when that happened you talked about it in sunday school. They fall flat on their face

It's another way. I know the charismatics are lying about it Oh god spoke to me. Well, I don't see your blood your nose hadn't been bloodied lately

So I don't think you fell on your face You know, anyway, i'm going too far with that issue.

It's not today's message but It did god did deal with people that way in that dispensation.

He does not do it in our dispensation But he did so here he appears to joe and he begins to ask him some interesting questions then the lord answered joe out of the whirlwind and said

Who is this that darkened counsel by words without knowledge? Who is this man? He's talking about joe

Who is this man i'm hearing down here? Talking as if he's got wisdom and he has no knowledge

Of how anything works and he's speaking out of a whirlwind now, that's interesting in itself When jesus left this world, how did he leave?

Clouds received him out of his eye. That's same thing here. How is he coming back? in the same manner

How does god appear here in a cloud? and I i'm of the opinion that the

Angels come back and forth in a spacecraft and it's hidden in that cloud. You can't see it That's how they get here and it says exos on it.

But anyway So that's what I think but anyway It's always in the cloud

And so they're somehow coming into our dimension when that happens right from a higher dimension.

So god appears to joe in a whirlwind He says who is this ignorant fool down here saying stuff about me?

That's not right I paraphrase that a little bit So it's interesting what he tells him.

He says now look at verse three. This is how I know he's on his face Buried in the sand hiding because god just appeared is because god says gird up now the lord your loins like a man stand up like a man

For I will demand of thee an answer I want you to answer me some questions.

Now. How would you like to be job right now? Well, we are He's not talking to us verbally like that and appearing visually like that But the word of god is there and the spirit of god the water and the spirit are here with us

It's more real. It's just I won't say more real you can't get more real than god appearing. But I mean, it's just as real

Because god is a pure spirit being you don't have to see him There's somebody back there.

I guess it was ben said or somebody in sunday school said well, he's I was you it was his debut.

He said We're always kind of in god's presence. I mean, we're in god's presence all the time.

Well, yeah Because he's invisible. He's pure spirit, which means he's everywhere at once And he's in us so he's all around us and he's in us

That's what it means when it says we're baptized by the spirit. We're immersed in god So we ought to be on our faces more often than we are

But we can't we're human right we don't seem so we don't fear him quite as much but we should but I mean he could easily and does

Have talks like this with us. It's just not audible But the spirit puts thoughts in your mind that are from god.

I mean satan can put thoughts in there, too That's where you have to try the spirits God wouldn't say try the spirits if you didn't have to try the spirits, which means satan can mimic the holy spirit

I'll say it when we're dying Try the spirits and one way to do that the best way is match it up with the word of god because he will never

Contradict himself. So what if one spirit comes to one of your brothers and says well I spoke to you in an audible voice and and i'm telling you to go tell your friend.

He needs to go Jump in the lake tomorrow Do you need to go do that? Well, I would try that spirit and I would hold it up to hebrews chapter one one through three where it says he won't do

That so wait a minute. That wasn't the holy spirit So i'm not going to do that. Thank you very much

I still love you though, but i'm not going to do it. You need to study your bible more in meekness, right

So He demands joe to stand up like a man And he said i'm gonna ask you some questions joe

You can learn from this You know what the best way for you to win an argument ask questions

I mean if god does it jesus did it all the time They asked jesus or like you have god or you have man.

He said well i'll answer that but you got to answer this first Can you ask them a question?

right so um That's god even does it here. He says where were you when

I laid the foundations of the earth Well now that's an interesting question Where are you when

I created everything that exists out of nothing, where were you joe And joe was thinking well,

I was part of the nothing Well, you still are part of nothing without me god would be saying without me you would revert back to nothing did you know that if jesus took his finger off of All that is everything physical including us because we're physical we have a physical component

But in even including our spiritual part that if he took his finger off of us and took the energy away

We revert to nothing In an instant, but will he do that?

He promised in the bible. He won't do that so We'll know he keeps his promise or else we would just walk in fear all the time

Maybe we need a little bit of that fear. I mean, what if he just let the earth just stop rotating for a second? Well gravity would just crush you in a nanosecond,

I guess bill is that right something like that Yeah But what if he turned the gravity off We'd fly and before long we'd be a little bit above the altitude where we could breathe

Oh, man So, isn't it nice that he stays in control all the time and that man's not in control

All right, so he says I laid the foundation of the earth Declare if thou hast understanding of that So, do you know how

I made everything that is out of nothing joe when joe's thinking? Can I get back on my face, please?

Nope, stand up like a man Still talking to you Who is like who has laid the measures of the earth?

If you know tell me Who has stretched the line upon it? Who did all the physics that created this if you know tell me well, who's joe thinking?

Well, you did lord Whereupon are the foundations of the earth fastened? What holds it up? How can it just be out in space?

What makes it not just fall or float away or whatever? And joe, you know joe just standing there with his jaw open

Who laid the cornerstone of the earth is it sitting on a giant turtle like the ancients thought or not

When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of god shouted for joy What the heck is that talking about?

Were you there when that happened? Were you there? You know when the sons of god the angelic beings were created

Bill were they created before the earth or after? Let's say before genesis 1 -1 or after Well They might have been but they might have been right between genesis 1 -1 and when the earth was

Put together because Wouldn't you think you'd have to have time to have angels? So you'd have to have something physical

So but they're they were they're one of the first things created were these angels long before I say long

A good three or four days before man We don't know we don't know though. How long? Honestly, we don't know how long the angels

Lived with god before because think about it when you when you come into genesis 1 -1 very quickly

You see that the world the earth was without form and void. We don't know how long you stayed in that condition

There you've heard of the gap theory, right? That's between genesis 1 -1 and genesis 1 -2.

Isn't it bill? I think I haven't looked at that in a while But I think it's right between the first two verses of genesis if it exists at all

But and I don't believe in the gap theory But I do believe that we don't know how long certain things lasted like we don't know how long adam and eve were in the gardens two of them before the fall

We really don't know but we know it took a number of days to name all those animals didn't Or would you say years?

I don't know But there's things like that. We don't know But we know that joe had no clue what was going on when these angels are created.

He wasn't there was And that's what god's pointing out Or who shut up the sea with doors?

What makes it where the sea? Comes up to the shore and just stops and then just go right on over the skyscrapers and ground everybody

How does it just stop right there who makes that happen? That's what he's talking about when

I made the clouds the garments There are in the thick darkness. He's starting to talk about the water cycle The water cycle which is scientific concept that hasn't existed forever in fact

When it first was talked about it was in a d 8 15 80 It was the first time scientific world ever talked about or understood anything about the water cycle

But did you know that 3 100 years about before that? God talked to joe about it

So it's in the bible 3 100 years before science discovered it How can that happen?

How can man know about it before man knew about it? Well, because god knew about it and told man about it and the scientists don't listen to the bible anyway, do they?

They don't care about it. They don't think it's real. It's a story story book unfortunately A lot of science they're missing true science because they won't look at it.

But I mean, there's just one example the water cycle existed For 3 000 years before bernard pallacy or how do you say his name?

felicity He talked about it wrote about it It just talks about how it evaporates from the oceans creates the clouds comes over Drops rain hail snow sleep and god talks about all that I didn't put all of it in here because we don't have time to read it all right now

But he talks about all that the snow He talks about the ice he talks about all of that in this discussion of the water cycle with joe

And joe is the oldest book in the bible So man has had understanding of some of these scientific things for thousands of years before the secular

Agnostic or atheist lost world came up with a scientist who thinks he figured it out All he had to do was like his great great great grandfather could figure it out

If he'd read the book of joe, but he didn't so there you have it. I love hearing dr

Karl ball talk about that. He talks about the hydro hydrological Some some people call it hydrologic cycle

A lot in his writings and give some detail about what joe knew about it that the scientists didn't know about it

And then it goes on in chapter 38 has thou entered into the springs of the sea or hast thou walked in search of the depth

Had the gates of the deep Had the gates of death been open unto you or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death

He's talking about the depths of the oceans, you know, what's interesting about that he's asking joe have you uh put on your snorkel gear and You know gone to see how deep the oceans are even

You know, we have theories about how deep it is, but nobody's been down there yet even in our modern existence

So did you know that more than 80 percent of our ocean is unmapped unobserved and unexplored today

More than 80 percent And god says well, I know all about it joe. Do you know much about it?

You know, we know less about the ocean than we do the depths of the ocean than we know about space Has now perceived the breadth of the earth declare if you know about that Why is the way where light dwells?

Where is the way that light dwells? And as for darkness, where is the place of that?

So is light a particle or is it a wave? Well, joe doesn't know but god does

And he's pointing it out to joe Even physicists are puzzled by that it exhibits both characteristics

It acts like a wave until it acts like a particle That thou should take it and bound thereof.

Can you control light? And that thou should know the paths to the house of that.

Where does light come from? How does it work? I mean, isn't it interesting that that was discussed?

Over 3000 bc that there was a discussion between god and a human being about that that's

Took physics years to get the place. I should have put that date on there I don't think I did I meant to but bill might could estimate about when was it einstein that talked about light being uh

Photon about when was it after the 1600s? During the renaissance or a little after after 1800 night early 1900s

So that would have been four thousand nine hundred years Before man discussed it god discussed it with joe on the face of the earth.

Isn't that something? And then he talks about uh Pleiades, uh, how do you say that's the right way to say it pleiades

Pleiades it's one of the constellations that ben probably Ben's not in here, but he's got pictures of it probably on the camera

It's an open star cluster containing middle -aged hot b -type stars modern science thinks

In the northwest of the constellation torus It is among the star clusters nearest to the earth and most obvious to the naked eye in the night sky

And there's a picture of it And god asked joe, do you understand?

The sweet influences Can you bind or understand the sweet influences of pleiades or loose the bands of orion?

Now we'll talk about orion a minute. I've heard dr. Ball discuss this in a lecture before It is fascinating What oh i've only got five minutes, okay, it was fascinating because the

Gravitational effect of even a small particle in the universe affects everything else in the universe

So the gravitational effects of objects like that have enormous effects even on the earth and on each other

And man actually talked about that 3200 years before christ

And he was talking about it with the creator of it and had that information before the scientific world ever even thought about it

So orion is another cluster. So that's still It it's more obvious in the winter sky.

I think I know charles spurgeon talked about that and charles spurgeon felt like that this passage had to do with the fact that uh pleiades reminds us of spring

And god's creation and orion reminds us of winter And things like that, but I actually think it's a reference to the gravitational influence

Which the scientific world didn't understand that till newton But joe predated that by 3375 years

Before science ever talked about it Yeah Yes, sir, please do the two stars that are bound together.

They are bound together by gravity Most stars look like they're close together. They just look like they're close together.

They'd be millions of miles apart These two are in a star system orbiting around one another they're bound together

He's saying who can Unbind them Yeah, so we knew that a couple hundred years ago, so You know 5 000 years ago

Joe knew it and modern science needed a couple hundred years ago. Yeah Fascinating stuff

Who has put wisdom in the inward parts or who has given understanding to the heart So joe, do you understand why man has wisdom why does man have love why does man have emotions because if darwin was correct and everything came from a primordial soup and crawled out like a

Tadpole Grew legs jumped up the tree like a monkey and came down became a phd If that happened, why how do we have those kinds of things?

How can that come from inert material? Emotions love. How does that come from inert material?

It can't It doesn't so it comes from god. But I mean, that's what he's asking joe here

Who provides the raven his food? What about the wings of the peacock? That's interesting to read that little thing about the peacock um and He lays his eggs in the earth

And the earth warms him and then he forgets about him and the foot of man the foot may crush him

In other words, he doesn't have any sense at all So god talks about the wisdom he puts in the heart of man and talks about the foolishness of this animal

That doesn't even take care of her own eggs and crushes their own eggs Why is that why is man different than the animals is what he's asking joe and yet modern science says we are animals

All the kids in public school are taught that we're animals Aren't they? Well that some exhibited that around your apartment last night acting like animals out there attacking each other

So animal husbandry is discussed there that that predated modern science by 3280 years

Isn't that interesting? brother rocky wrote a book on scientific illusions in the bible and He discusses a lot of this cool stuff

Or the lord answered joe and said shall he that contended with the almighty instruct him

Are you like you you you're upset with me joe because you have lost some things and you have sores on your body

And are you going to instruct me that I was wrong to let that happen to you? Wow, you know

I don't think so. Shall he that contended with the almighty instruct him he that recruits god let him answer it

Give me the answer joe. Where am I wrong here? and then joe answered the lord and said

Now he's in the physical presence of god we talked about being in the spiritual presence of god in sunday school

But you also mentioned this that before the church age people sometimes were found in the physical presence and of course it was jesus it was god on the earth

And Here's what always happens. Look at verse four. Job says I am vile

What shall I answer you I will lay my hand upon my mouth That's what his three friends needed to do too

Once and god did rebuke them by the way Once have I spoken but I will not answer yay twice, but I will proceed no further

So job said well, I was saying some stuff about you lord And I was wrong and i'm going to shut up at this moment

Good healthy things for us to think about then answered the lord and job out of the whirlwind and said gird up the loins now

Stand up like a man Don't tell me you're not going to talk to me Would this be a little uncomfortable

Heard up thou loins now like a man I will demand of you and declare thou unto me

You said you've spoken twice. You're not going to speak anymore. I am commanding you to speak tell me where am

I wrong joe Wow Will thou also disannul my judgment job?

like did I Did my judgment, you know my justice my rightness?

Did I come amiss in your life joe? Will thou condemn me that thou mayest be righteous

Job answered lord and said I know that thou can't do everything And that no thought can be withholding from thee.

I don't have to speak lord. You're already reading my mind He got that right didn't he He got that right

Who is he that hides counsel without knowledge therefore have I uttered that I understood not

Things too wonderful for me, which I knew not now here He is in sores miserable lost all his kids lost all his wealth and he's saying but everything's wonderful Why because he's standing in the presence of god and he understands he is actually in control

He is actually just he's actually right and everything's okay in the universe Totally a total change of mind here

Because of his time he spent with god So what would happen with us if we spent a little bit more time reading the word every week?

A little bit more time studying the word and the words in the sentences in the word every week here

I beseech thee and I will speak I will demand of thee and declare thou unto me. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear

But now I have seen you joe said Now see that's a little difficult for us

We don't get to see god yet, but he's coming back physically so we have to be in the word of god and we have to be walking in the spirit to Sense the presence of god, but sensing that presence of god is what causes us to yield our body as a living sacrifice

Which is what romans 1 1 12 1 is all about. This is how you do it right here Isn't that interesting?

This is the only way you can't make a list. Oh, i'm going to be good I'm going to read my bible. I'm going to pray 30 minutes every day

I'm gonna do this, but you won't keep the list very long What you have to remind yourself is this is who you're dealing with And he's dealing with you this way all the time and you just bow down before him for a little bit every day

And it makes a huge difference Wherefore I abhor myself joe said and repent in dust and ashes joe said look

I have seen you face to face I knew about you now. I know you and I now abhor myself and love you

Wouldn't that help us be better christians? So that's the message for today And I got to go get on the airplane.

So pray for the safety for my wife and I and dave and katie hubert and others

Boyce and christie as they traveled to a business meeting All right. Good to be with you guys.

I'm going to Stop the share for a moment And um