1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,520 Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church Podcast 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:06,480 where we are proclaiming the truth to the world. 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,720 My name is Pastor Josh and I want to thank you for listening to 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:10,480 this podcast. 5 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,680 I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen 6 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:16,080 you in the word of God. 7 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:20,160 Now come along, let's look into the Bible and see what God has 8 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:21,440 for us here today. 9 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:25,440 We're going to be in Romans chapter 10. 10 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:29,200 We're going to continue our sermon series in the Book of Romans. 11 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:33,040 And I hope that it's been a blessing for you as we've been able 12 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:36,360 to study this wonderful book as we were even reminded about the 13 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:40,760 power of Romans chapter 8, the reminder that there's no more condemnation 14 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:42,640 to them who are in Christ Jesus. 15 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:46,720 And really the whole book of Romans is painting a picture for 16 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:51,200 the believer to understand the gospel, to understand what it means 17 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:54,910 to trust in Jesus Christ, what it means to have faith, what that 18 00:00:54,910 --> 00:00:58,070 means for the believer individually and corporately as the 19 00:00:58,070 --> 00:00:58,430 church. 20 00:00:58,590 --> 00:01:00,630 And then we're going to get to Romans 12 and on. 21 00:01:00,630 --> 00:01:04,350 And Romans 12 and on is really all about how to practically apply 22 00:01:04,990 --> 00:01:06,990 those truths that we've learned. 23 00:01:07,070 --> 00:01:10,390 And so the Bible says that theology does matter, whether we 24 00:01:10,390 --> 00:01:10,950 believe it or not. 25 00:01:10,950 --> 00:01:14,030 What we believe about God affects the way that we live. 26 00:01:14,110 --> 00:01:17,150 What we believe about God affects the way that we share our 27 00:01:17,150 --> 00:01:20,110 faith, the way that we what we believe about God affects the way 28 00:01:20,110 --> 00:01:23,410 that we love, the way that we forgive, the way that we a deal with 29 00:01:23,410 --> 00:01:24,410 the world around us. 30 00:01:24,410 --> 00:01:27,970 But we have been studying Romans 9 and then we're studying 31 00:01:27,970 --> 00:01:31,130 Romans 9, 10 and 11, which is essentially right in the middle of 32 00:01:31,130 --> 00:01:35,450 the Book of Romans, an instance in which Paul is addressing 33 00:01:35,770 --> 00:01:39,570 Israel's rebellion to the truth of who Jesus Christ really 34 00:01:39,570 --> 00:01:39,850 is. 35 00:01:40,490 --> 00:01:43,330 Obviously, the people that were living in Jesus time had no 36 00:01:43,330 --> 00:01:45,130 problem believing that he existed. 37 00:01:45,130 --> 00:01:47,050 They saw him right in front of them. 38 00:01:47,050 --> 00:01:49,970 They saw him preaching, they saw him working miracles. 39 00:01:49,970 --> 00:01:53,210 But essentially what Paul is explaining here is that the vast 40 00:01:53,210 --> 00:01:56,530 majority of people from the nation of Israel at that time, his 41 00:01:56,530 --> 00:01:57,050 own people. 42 00:01:57,050 --> 00:02:00,810 By the way, Paul's own people had turned their backs against the 43 00:02:00,810 --> 00:02:03,370 Messiah and essentially chosen that they were going to do their 44 00:02:03,370 --> 00:02:03,890 own thing. 45 00:02:04,050 --> 00:02:06,770 And even Paul was facing much persecution. 46 00:02:06,930 --> 00:02:09,730 Romans 9, though, tells us his heart for his own people. 47 00:02:09,970 --> 00:02:13,530 Remember, if you go back, Paul says, I have a heaviness of heart. 48 00:02:13,530 --> 00:02:17,490 I have continual sorrow in my heart for my people who have turned 49 00:02:17,490 --> 00:02:18,290 their backs against Christ. 50 00:02:18,290 --> 00:02:22,180 He says, it's my desire that they would come to Jesus, that they 51 00:02:22,180 --> 00:02:24,340 would come to him in faith. 52 00:02:24,340 --> 00:02:27,380 And he says they've experienced all these wonderful things. 53 00:02:27,620 --> 00:02:32,300 The, the law was given to them, the adoption, the glory, the 54 00:02:32,300 --> 00:02:36,060 covenants, all of these things that God used in the Old Testament 55 00:02:36,060 --> 00:02:39,180 to reveal Himself came through the people of Israel. 56 00:02:39,180 --> 00:02:42,260 But yet at this time, he explains in Romans chapter 9 that 57 00:02:42,260 --> 00:02:47,310 because of their disobedience, God had allowed them to fall into 58 00:02:47,310 --> 00:02:48,510 a place of blindness. 59 00:02:48,510 --> 00:02:52,030 And it says at the end of Romans 9, essentially he. 60 00:02:52,030 --> 00:02:53,390 He could con. 61 00:02:53,710 --> 00:02:55,070 Pulls it all the way back together. 62 00:02:55,070 --> 00:02:57,790 He summarizes it by saying essentially this. 63 00:02:57,950 --> 00:03:00,430 Jesus was the stumbling block for people. 64 00:03:00,910 --> 00:03:04,030 It wasn't religion, it wasn't God, it was Jesus. 65 00:03:04,030 --> 00:03:07,150 Jesus is the stumbling block for those who are in disobedience. 66 00:03:07,470 --> 00:03:10,110 And if you have to remember what we talked about last week, if 67 00:03:10,110 --> 00:03:12,710 you weren't here, I'll essentially summarize it for you. 68 00:03:12,870 --> 00:03:14,470 That Jesus is precious. 69 00:03:14,710 --> 00:03:18,590 Jesus is a rock of the corner for us that believe in Him. 70 00:03:18,590 --> 00:03:19,430 He's precious. 71 00:03:19,510 --> 00:03:21,670 He's something that gives us comfort, it's something that gives 72 00:03:21,670 --> 00:03:22,230 us joy. 73 00:03:22,310 --> 00:03:25,710 But to those who are in disobedience, Jesus is a rock of 74 00:03:25,710 --> 00:03:26,070 offense. 75 00:03:26,070 --> 00:03:27,229 It's what holds people up. 76 00:03:27,229 --> 00:03:29,830 And that's what he ended Romans chapter nine with. 77 00:03:29,910 --> 00:03:33,710 And if you remember in the Bible, the chapter divisions weren't 78 00:03:33,710 --> 00:03:34,390 originally there. 79 00:03:34,390 --> 00:03:37,510 So his thought continues into chapter 10. 80 00:03:38,060 --> 00:03:40,460 And so he says, brethren, my heart's desire. 81 00:03:40,780 --> 00:03:44,340 So he's restating his heart that he started with in Romans chapter 82 00:03:44,340 --> 00:03:44,540 nine. 83 00:03:44,540 --> 00:03:47,660 He says, it's my heart's desire and prayer. 84 00:03:48,140 --> 00:03:49,940 And so I love how he puts that. 85 00:03:49,940 --> 00:03:50,940 He says, it's. 86 00:03:50,940 --> 00:03:52,100 It's my heart's desire. 87 00:03:52,100 --> 00:03:54,580 And I'm also praying for this because sometimes in our life we'll 88 00:03:54,580 --> 00:03:57,500 have a desire for something, but maybe we don't put it to prayer. 89 00:03:57,500 --> 00:03:59,660 Maybe we just wish that it would happen. 90 00:03:59,660 --> 00:04:03,460 But he says, no, this is my heart, this is my desire, and this 91 00:04:03,460 --> 00:04:08,140 is my prayer to God for Israel, that they might be saved. 92 00:04:08,140 --> 00:04:13,460 He reiterates the theme that he desires that his people, his nationality, 93 00:04:13,460 --> 00:04:17,300 his ethnicity would come back to Christ, that they would turn their 94 00:04:17,300 --> 00:04:19,340 hearts to the Lord, that they might be saved. 95 00:04:19,820 --> 00:04:22,220 Now, we use that word saved a lot within the church. 96 00:04:22,620 --> 00:04:23,380 What does that mean? 97 00:04:23,380 --> 00:04:24,540 What does it mean to be saved? 98 00:04:24,540 --> 00:04:25,140 I, I've. 99 00:04:25,140 --> 00:04:27,060 I've asked some people in the past, like, are you saved? 100 00:04:27,060 --> 00:04:28,220 And they said, saved from what? 101 00:04:28,380 --> 00:04:29,660 Like, do I need to be saved? 102 00:04:29,660 --> 00:04:32,940 I mean, what's, what does that mean when we use that word, saved? 103 00:04:32,940 --> 00:04:34,260 In a theological sense? 104 00:04:34,260 --> 00:04:37,500 It means essentially saved from sin, saved from punishment, 105 00:04:38,060 --> 00:04:41,660 saved from spiritual death, saved from an eternal hell. 106 00:04:41,660 --> 00:04:44,500 The Bible says that when we preach the Gospel, we need to preach 107 00:04:44,500 --> 00:04:47,659 it clearly and we need to preach it completely. 108 00:04:47,980 --> 00:04:50,940 If I just come and tell people, hey, just add Jesus to your 109 00:04:50,940 --> 00:04:52,380 life, he'll make your life better. 110 00:04:53,500 --> 00:04:55,700 Well, some people might say, well, my life is pretty good. 111 00:04:55,700 --> 00:04:56,860 I don't need it to be any better. 112 00:04:57,620 --> 00:04:59,540 Well, come to Jesus, he'll make you rich. 113 00:05:00,100 --> 00:05:03,140 Well, maybe this person's already rich. 114 00:05:03,380 --> 00:05:07,660 Or, or maybe somebody that comes to Jesus doesn't receive the 115 00:05:07,660 --> 00:05:08,820 things that they were promised. 116 00:05:08,820 --> 00:05:10,300 And there might be some confusion there. 117 00:05:10,300 --> 00:05:12,900 And so when we preach the gospel, we need to preach it completely. 118 00:05:13,060 --> 00:05:15,700 Jesus doesn't just come to add to our life. 119 00:05:15,940 --> 00:05:18,500 Jesus doesn't come just to make our life better. 120 00:05:18,820 --> 00:05:20,980 Jesus comes to save us from death. 121 00:05:21,140 --> 00:05:22,980 He comes to save us from sin. 122 00:05:22,980 --> 00:05:24,380 And so that's what Paul's prayer is. 123 00:05:24,380 --> 00:05:24,700 He just. 124 00:05:24,700 --> 00:05:27,240 He's not like, well, I just hope that they add Jesus to their 125 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:28,720 life and they become more religious. 126 00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:32,000 It wasn't Paul's heart that they become more religious. 127 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:33,280 They already were religious. 128 00:05:33,280 --> 00:05:34,720 And that's what he's going to talk about here. 129 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:38,320 He's going to talk about their zeal, their passion for religion, 130 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:41,679 but the fact that their passion and their zeal was misplaced. 131 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:45,240 So as hard as this, that they might be saved, that they might be 132 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:48,120 saved from their life of sin, that they might be saved from their 133 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:51,720 life of disobedience, that they would come to know Jesus, that 134 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:52,600 they would come to know. 135 00:05:52,670 --> 00:05:53,470 To know salvation. 136 00:05:53,470 --> 00:05:56,950 And that should be our heart and our desire and our prayer as 137 00:05:56,950 --> 00:05:57,230 well. 138 00:05:57,950 --> 00:06:01,350 As we saw this morning, there's many ministries with the 139 00:06:01,350 --> 00:06:05,470 Gideons and many, many others that the whole purpose is to spread 140 00:06:05,470 --> 00:06:09,310 the truth of the gospel so that the world can hear who Jesus 141 00:06:09,310 --> 00:06:11,230 Christ is and what he has done for us. 142 00:06:11,710 --> 00:06:12,430 That's the point. 143 00:06:12,430 --> 00:06:16,510 The point of church is to proclaim Jesus, as the Bible says 144 00:06:16,510 --> 00:06:20,130 in Matthew chapter 28 in what we call the Great Commission, to 145 00:06:20,130 --> 00:06:22,530 proclaim Jesus to the world, to. 146 00:06:22,530 --> 00:06:25,810 To lead people to Christ so that we can make disciples for Jesus 147 00:06:25,810 --> 00:06:26,130 Christ. 148 00:06:26,370 --> 00:06:28,050 That's the purpose of the church. 149 00:06:28,450 --> 00:06:31,530 The purpose of the church is not just to come together and have 150 00:06:31,530 --> 00:06:33,570 a good time, even though we have a good time together. 151 00:06:33,730 --> 00:06:36,730 The purpose of the church completely is not just to have fellowship, 152 00:06:36,730 --> 00:06:39,330 even though fellowship is a huge part of the church. 153 00:06:39,810 --> 00:06:42,170 It's not just about coming together and breaking bread, even 154 00:06:42,170 --> 00:06:44,850 though, amen, we love to come together and break bread. 155 00:06:45,220 --> 00:06:49,500 The idea would be this, that all together collectively, it's to 156 00:06:49,500 --> 00:06:54,620 glorify God by adding folks to the saved, those that are believers. 157 00:06:54,620 --> 00:06:57,820 And so that's his prayer here in verse two, he says, for I bear 158 00:06:57,820 --> 00:07:01,540 them record, meaning this is the truth about them, that they have 159 00:07:01,540 --> 00:07:07,060 a zeal of God, they have passion, they have a heart to be 160 00:07:07,060 --> 00:07:07,780 religious. 161 00:07:08,180 --> 00:07:10,900 They have tradition, they have their actions. 162 00:07:10,900 --> 00:07:11,780 They're committed. 163 00:07:12,380 --> 00:07:15,260 And I would say this, even when I had a chance to go to Israel, 164 00:07:15,340 --> 00:07:17,980 I saw some of the most committed religious people I've ever 165 00:07:17,980 --> 00:07:18,860 seen in my life. 166 00:07:19,580 --> 00:07:23,180 But what we're going to see here is that Paul makes a very important 167 00:07:23,660 --> 00:07:24,060 point. 168 00:07:24,300 --> 00:07:27,660 And the point is this zeal does not equate salvation. 169 00:07:28,700 --> 00:07:32,340 Passion for something, if it's wrong, does not equate the truth. 170 00:07:32,340 --> 00:07:34,940 There's a lot of people that will even say in the world today, 171 00:07:35,260 --> 00:07:39,300 as a general statement, that, hey, as long as you're passionate 172 00:07:39,300 --> 00:07:43,330 about something, as long as you have a desire and a zeal for 173 00:07:43,330 --> 00:07:46,090 something, that's your purpose, that that will save you. 174 00:07:46,090 --> 00:07:49,610 We all kind of reach the same point, folks, that, that type of 175 00:07:49,690 --> 00:07:53,010 mountaintop theology with you go up the mountain that side, I go 176 00:07:53,010 --> 00:07:53,490 up this side. 177 00:07:53,490 --> 00:07:56,649 But we reach the same point that is not biblical because the 178 00:07:56,649 --> 00:07:59,770 Bible says that there is one way, that there is one truth. 179 00:07:59,770 --> 00:08:02,250 And so he says here that they have a zeal for God. 180 00:08:03,290 --> 00:08:06,550 They have a zeal for God, but not according to. 181 00:08:06,700 --> 00:08:09,500 To knowledge, not according to the truth. 182 00:08:09,900 --> 00:08:12,940 The Bible says that we're to worship God with spirit. 183 00:08:12,940 --> 00:08:13,380 Amen. 184 00:08:13,380 --> 00:08:16,700 We're supposed to be passionate about our worship to the 185 00:08:16,700 --> 00:08:18,540 Lord and our service to the Lord. 186 00:08:18,540 --> 00:08:21,900 John chapter four tells us to worship in spirit, but then it also 187 00:08:21,900 --> 00:08:23,980 says something else that says to worship in truth. 188 00:08:24,620 --> 00:08:28,340 And so we marry those two together, our zeal for the Lord matched 189 00:08:28,340 --> 00:08:28,940 with truth. 190 00:08:29,500 --> 00:08:32,300 Because I've even heard people say this, maybe you have as well, 191 00:08:32,940 --> 00:08:34,860 that, hey, it doesn't matter how you worship God. 192 00:08:34,860 --> 00:08:37,940 It doesn't matter what you do, it doesn't matter how you pray, it 193 00:08:37,940 --> 00:08:39,060 doesn't matter how you serve. 194 00:08:39,060 --> 00:08:41,580 Just do it with all of your heart and everything will be okay. 195 00:08:42,140 --> 00:08:44,700 I understand the sentiment there, like, I'd rather you be doing 196 00:08:44,700 --> 00:08:45,620 something than nothing. 197 00:08:45,620 --> 00:08:50,700 But at the end of the day, the Bible clearly gives us truths that 198 00:08:50,700 --> 00:08:54,020 we are to obey and to apply when it comes to our service, when 199 00:08:54,020 --> 00:08:57,420 it comes to our worship, when it comes to our prayer, when it comes 200 00:08:57,420 --> 00:08:59,700 to anything that God calls us to do. 201 00:08:59,700 --> 00:09:03,540 And so here the condemnation from Paul is not, hey, they're, they're 202 00:09:03,540 --> 00:09:06,620 atheist or they're not religious or, or they're just evil 203 00:09:06,620 --> 00:09:06,820 people. 204 00:09:06,820 --> 00:09:09,700 He says, no, they, they have a zeal for God, they have a passion 205 00:09:09,700 --> 00:09:10,260 for God. 206 00:09:10,580 --> 00:09:13,220 And if you know anything about the people that he's talking about, 207 00:09:13,540 --> 00:09:14,420 they had traditions. 208 00:09:14,500 --> 00:09:15,060 They had. 209 00:09:15,060 --> 00:09:18,380 They had many different types of ceremonies and things that they 210 00:09:18,380 --> 00:09:21,540 would do to be very specific on the fact that they're worshiping 211 00:09:21,540 --> 00:09:21,740 God. 212 00:09:21,740 --> 00:09:24,820 And some of them people call the Pharisees, which Paul was one 213 00:09:24,820 --> 00:09:25,060 of them. 214 00:09:25,060 --> 00:09:28,250 So he would have understood completely the way that they were 215 00:09:28,330 --> 00:09:31,570 so focused on the minuscule things that they would go. 216 00:09:31,570 --> 00:09:32,970 They would take the law as. 217 00:09:32,970 --> 00:09:35,170 As you guys know about, and they would take the law and they 218 00:09:35,170 --> 00:09:36,890 would go above the law just to be safe. 219 00:09:36,890 --> 00:09:39,850 They would go beyond the law and say, you know, we're extra special 220 00:09:39,930 --> 00:09:43,330 because we take the law, and then we go a step further and maybe 221 00:09:43,330 --> 00:09:45,370 two steps further and three steps further. 222 00:09:45,370 --> 00:09:46,890 So essentially what he's saying is this. 223 00:09:46,890 --> 00:09:49,890 It's not a matter of whether or not they worship or they go to 224 00:09:49,890 --> 00:09:52,570 church or they have zeal or they're working hard. 225 00:09:52,570 --> 00:09:55,690 It's a matter of the truth of who they are believing in. 226 00:09:56,280 --> 00:10:00,720 And so that goes for us today, when we look at our culture, when 227 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:03,880 we look at our country, when we look at even our church. 228 00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:04,560 What. 229 00:10:04,560 --> 00:10:07,120 What is the focal point to our worship? 230 00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:09,400 What is the focal point to our assembly? 231 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:12,480 What is the focal point to anything that we do within our Christian 232 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:12,680 life? 233 00:10:12,680 --> 00:10:16,560 Is it just a. I'm passionate about it, I enjoy it, it gives me 234 00:10:16,560 --> 00:10:18,160 some type of pleasure, or is it. 235 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:21,640 I'm doing this because God has called me to do this. 236 00:10:21,780 --> 00:10:21,940 I. 237 00:10:22,090 --> 00:10:28,330 And the truth of God is what's fueling my passion, not my passion 238 00:10:28,650 --> 00:10:30,650 fueling my view of who God is. 239 00:10:30,650 --> 00:10:33,490 I want you guys to see the difference of that, because sometimes 240 00:10:33,490 --> 00:10:37,450 what happens is that my passion and my zeal drives my truth. 241 00:10:38,090 --> 00:10:38,410 So. 242 00:10:38,410 --> 00:10:41,650 So if I'm passionate about this ministry over here, that's my 243 00:10:41,650 --> 00:10:42,330 truth today. 244 00:10:42,410 --> 00:10:44,970 This ministry is my truth, and I'm excited about that. 245 00:10:44,970 --> 00:10:47,210 But the question might come to us with this. 246 00:10:47,940 --> 00:10:49,700 What happens when we lose that zeal? 247 00:10:50,020 --> 00:10:53,100 What happens when we lose that excitement for that? 248 00:10:53,100 --> 00:10:54,180 Does our truth change? 249 00:10:54,980 --> 00:10:57,500 We've even seen in our culture today that's happened. 250 00:10:57,500 --> 00:11:00,180 There were certain things that people saw, and they said, you know 251 00:11:00,180 --> 00:11:00,300 what? 252 00:11:00,300 --> 00:11:01,020 That is truth. 253 00:11:01,020 --> 00:11:01,980 That that is wrong. 254 00:11:01,980 --> 00:11:02,660 That is right. 255 00:11:02,820 --> 00:11:07,220 But as time changes and as culture changes and as opinions change, 256 00:11:07,460 --> 00:11:10,420 things happen where maybe truth actually starts to begin to 257 00:11:10,420 --> 00:11:10,660 drift. 258 00:11:10,660 --> 00:11:12,180 Now, we know truth doesn't drift. 259 00:11:12,340 --> 00:11:13,460 Truth stays the same. 260 00:11:13,940 --> 00:11:15,780 But culture might define things differently. 261 00:11:15,780 --> 00:11:17,380 And so what Paul is saying is this. 262 00:11:17,460 --> 00:11:21,220 Don't allow your zeal to dictate your truth. 263 00:11:21,540 --> 00:11:24,180 Allow your truth to dictate your zeal. 264 00:11:24,500 --> 00:11:27,180 Because when I wake up in the morning knowing that Romans chapter 265 00:11:27,180 --> 00:11:29,220 8, verse 1, I have no more condemnation. 266 00:11:30,180 --> 00:11:33,420 Romans chapter 8, verse 28, that all things work together for 267 00:11:33,420 --> 00:11:36,540 good to them that love God, to them who are the called according 268 00:11:36,540 --> 00:11:37,380 to his purpose. 269 00:11:37,780 --> 00:11:41,380 Then I say, okay, that's the truth that's going to drive my zeal 270 00:11:41,380 --> 00:11:41,700 today. 271 00:11:41,700 --> 00:11:48,470 Not my feelings, not my knee pain, not my headache, not my crazy 272 00:11:48,470 --> 00:11:52,230 day at work today, not the person that says things against me, 273 00:11:52,310 --> 00:11:55,110 but the truth of what the Bible tells me. 274 00:11:55,350 --> 00:11:56,750 Go back to Romans chapter eight. 275 00:11:56,750 --> 00:11:59,630 I mean, I love that Romans chapter eight was, I might put that 276 00:11:59,630 --> 00:12:01,110 as my, my license plate. 277 00:12:01,110 --> 00:12:02,150 I like that idea. 278 00:12:02,150 --> 00:12:03,270 But the idea would be this. 279 00:12:03,270 --> 00:12:04,310 Romans chapter 8. 280 00:12:04,310 --> 00:12:07,390 It tells us at the end of the chapter that nothing can separate 281 00:12:07,390 --> 00:12:08,390 us from the love of God. 282 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:10,360 Nothing can separate us. 283 00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:12,400 And he lists a bunch of things. 284 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:16,240 Now sometimes we're tempted to think that something separates the 285 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:17,160 love of God from us. 286 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:20,520 Maybe it's, you know what, I had an opportunity not too long ago 287 00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:22,640 to have some, some issues in my life. 288 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:26,200 And you know what my flesh was telling me is that if God loved you, 289 00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:28,120 he wouldn't let you go through that. 290 00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:29,720 He wouldn't let you have that. 291 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:31,280 That's what my flesh is telling me. 292 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:33,320 That's, that's what the enemy wants us to think. 293 00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:35,160 He wants us to believe the lies. 294 00:12:36,030 --> 00:12:37,110 But what do we do in that moment? 295 00:12:37,110 --> 00:12:38,350 We don't go to our zeal. 296 00:12:39,150 --> 00:12:40,190 We go to our truth. 297 00:12:40,190 --> 00:12:41,430 And that truth dictates that. 298 00:12:41,430 --> 00:12:43,150 So we worship God in spirit and truth. 299 00:12:43,230 --> 00:12:45,350 So he goes on to talk a lot about a little bit more. 300 00:12:45,350 --> 00:12:50,030 In verse three, he says, for they being ignorant of God's righteousness, 301 00:12:50,990 --> 00:12:52,430 wow, those are some strong words. 302 00:12:52,430 --> 00:12:54,350 He says that they're ignorant. 303 00:12:54,510 --> 00:12:56,630 Ignorant just basically means they don't know about it. 304 00:12:56,630 --> 00:12:57,870 They, they're missing the mark. 305 00:12:57,870 --> 00:13:01,230 They're ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to 306 00:13:01,230 --> 00:13:03,880 establish their own righteousness. 307 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:06,280 There's so much that we could talk about just right there. 308 00:13:06,680 --> 00:13:10,440 He says, instead of appealing to the righteousness of God imparted 309 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:13,160 to us, as we've read about in the book of Romans, they say, you 310 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:13,400 know what? 311 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:16,360 We're going to try to be righteous before God on our own way. 312 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:19,720 Don't we sometimes do that? 313 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:23,920 We say, okay, I know that God's word says this, but I'm going 314 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:24,920 to try to do it my way. 315 00:13:25,720 --> 00:13:28,880 I, I, I know that God's plan for me as a believer is to do it 316 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:31,700 this way, but this seems right because this is what every other 317 00:13:31,700 --> 00:13:32,580 church is doing. 318 00:13:33,460 --> 00:13:35,060 This is What I read on the Internet. 319 00:13:35,380 --> 00:13:38,620 By the way, please be careful on what you read and what you watch 320 00:13:38,620 --> 00:13:39,100 on the Internet. 321 00:13:39,100 --> 00:13:42,540 I'm not saying that everything that you find there is bad, but what 322 00:13:42,540 --> 00:13:45,540 I'm saying is there's a lot of bad teaching out there. 323 00:13:45,940 --> 00:13:46,900 So he says, don't. 324 00:13:46,900 --> 00:13:49,500 Don't follow your path to righteousness. 325 00:13:49,500 --> 00:13:51,540 He says, follow God's path to righteousness. 326 00:13:51,540 --> 00:13:56,620 Now, I think, I hope that all of us understand where true righteousness 327 00:13:56,620 --> 00:13:57,060 comes from. 328 00:13:57,060 --> 00:13:59,620 Well, if you don't, here's what it says at the end of verse 329 00:13:59,620 --> 00:14:02,340 three, he says, they don't have this type of righteousness. 330 00:14:02,340 --> 00:14:05,580 They have not submitted themselves unto what? 331 00:14:05,580 --> 00:14:06,940 The righteousness of God. 332 00:14:06,940 --> 00:14:07,620 Verse 4. 333 00:14:07,940 --> 00:14:10,260 For Christ is the end of the law. 334 00:14:10,820 --> 00:14:14,420 So what the Bible tells us here is that the way we find righteousness 335 00:14:14,420 --> 00:14:18,580 is not through our own works, but through a relationship with Jesus 336 00:14:18,580 --> 00:14:18,900 Christ. 337 00:14:19,140 --> 00:14:22,500 And it's his righteousness that is big word here. 338 00:14:22,580 --> 00:14:25,930 Imputed to us, given to us so. 339 00:14:25,930 --> 00:14:27,410 So that we might know righteousness. 340 00:14:27,410 --> 00:14:30,050 So if I look at you and I say, hey, are you a righteous person? 341 00:14:31,410 --> 00:14:33,410 You might start thinking, well, am I a righteous person? 342 00:14:33,810 --> 00:14:35,410 Did I obey all the laws this week? 343 00:14:35,730 --> 00:14:37,410 Was I nice to my spouse today? 344 00:14:38,370 --> 00:14:39,250 Did I do it? 345 00:14:39,890 --> 00:14:44,210 Righteousness is not defined by our perfection. 346 00:14:45,010 --> 00:14:47,330 Because the truth is, is that none of us could be righteous. 347 00:14:47,330 --> 00:14:50,850 Then the Bible actually says, in and of ourselves, there is none 348 00:14:50,850 --> 00:14:51,330 righteous. 349 00:14:51,980 --> 00:14:53,020 No, not one. 350 00:14:54,060 --> 00:14:56,420 So I thought you just said, Pastor, that we're supposed to be 351 00:14:56,420 --> 00:14:56,860 righteous. 352 00:14:57,260 --> 00:15:00,940 Well, we are, but we're called to be righteous in Jesus Christ because 353 00:15:00,940 --> 00:15:04,340 it's his righteousness given to us that we're able to walk in 354 00:15:04,340 --> 00:15:05,260 the truth of God. 355 00:15:05,260 --> 00:15:08,420 But when we fail, it's his grace that flows upon us. 356 00:15:08,420 --> 00:15:10,460 And we're reminded that there's no more condemnation. 357 00:15:10,860 --> 00:15:13,780 We're reminded that his forgiveness is forever. 358 00:15:13,780 --> 00:15:17,380 Not just for my past sins, not just for my sins today, but my sins 359 00:15:17,380 --> 00:15:17,860 forever. 360 00:15:17,860 --> 00:15:20,680 And the idea would be this, not to abuse that, because that's 361 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:21,800 what Romans chapter six says. 362 00:15:21,800 --> 00:15:23,520 He says, don't just continue to sin. 363 00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:25,000 That grace just keeps abounding. 364 00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:28,320 He says, no, we're supposed to have a change of heart because of 365 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:29,560 the Spirit living within us. 366 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:32,440 And so what Paul is telling us here in Romans chapter 10, is that 367 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:36,680 his people, the people of Israel at that time were so caught 368 00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:40,760 up in works, they were so caught up in tradition, they were 369 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:44,360 so caught up in the law that they believed that they could achieve 370 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:48,380 salvation through their own righteousness, through their own 371 00:15:48,380 --> 00:15:48,700 works. 372 00:15:48,700 --> 00:15:50,140 And he says, that's a mistake. 373 00:15:50,140 --> 00:15:50,500 Why? 374 00:15:50,660 --> 00:15:53,980 Because none of Us can reach the fullness of God's righteousness. 375 00:15:53,980 --> 00:15:57,460 And so verse three, he says they're ignorant to God's righteousness 376 00:15:57,460 --> 00:16:00,500 because why they're trying to find their own righteousness. 377 00:16:01,460 --> 00:16:06,100 Now, we often look at people that we read about in Scripture and 378 00:16:06,100 --> 00:16:08,180 say, well, man, they're really bad. 379 00:16:08,980 --> 00:16:11,140 We, we, we would never do that. 380 00:16:12,030 --> 00:16:13,190 But I would encourage you guys. 381 00:16:13,190 --> 00:16:16,110 This is something that I did recently that I found very interesting. 382 00:16:16,590 --> 00:16:19,230 I don't know if you guys kind of put yourselves in what you're 383 00:16:19,230 --> 00:16:21,030 reading, but when I was reading through the New Testament 384 00:16:21,030 --> 00:16:24,150 not too long ago, I try not to see myself as one of the disciples, 385 00:16:24,150 --> 00:16:24,830 like Peter. 386 00:16:25,150 --> 00:16:26,630 That's where I always, like, put myself. 387 00:16:26,630 --> 00:16:28,350 I put myself as Peter and Paul. 388 00:16:28,590 --> 00:16:33,350 I often don't think about myself being the Pharisee, about 389 00:16:33,350 --> 00:16:35,790 thinking about myself being the one that's the negative one in 390 00:16:35,790 --> 00:16:36,190 the story. 391 00:16:36,590 --> 00:16:39,430 But if I'm actually inspecting my own life, there's times in my 392 00:16:39,430 --> 00:16:41,910 life where I am the Pharisee because of some of the things that 393 00:16:41,910 --> 00:16:44,030 I say and because some of the things that I do, I have to be careful 394 00:16:44,030 --> 00:16:44,430 of that. 395 00:16:44,830 --> 00:16:47,710 And so when I read this passage of Scripture, I just identify 396 00:16:47,710 --> 00:16:51,430 myself as, yep, I'm the one that does it God's way and not my 397 00:16:51,430 --> 00:16:52,030 own way. 398 00:16:52,030 --> 00:16:54,470 But if we're honest with ourselves and we look into our own 399 00:16:54,470 --> 00:16:57,910 life and we allow God to inspect our lives, maybe some of 400 00:16:57,910 --> 00:17:01,230 us would identify areas in which we try to reach God. 401 00:17:01,230 --> 00:17:04,430 Our own way, our own path, our own righteousness. 402 00:17:04,750 --> 00:17:07,310 And we might even say this, well, I'm not as bad as. 403 00:17:07,980 --> 00:17:10,940 I won't say anyone's name, but I'm not as bad as so and so over 404 00:17:10,940 --> 00:17:11,260 there. 405 00:17:11,980 --> 00:17:13,700 And I hope we don't do that within the church. 406 00:17:13,700 --> 00:17:14,620 That would be terrible. 407 00:17:14,780 --> 00:17:16,820 But some of you might be tempted to say, well, my neighbor 408 00:17:16,820 --> 00:17:17,700 over here, you know what? 409 00:17:17,700 --> 00:17:18,780 I'm better than them. 410 00:17:19,180 --> 00:17:22,420 And the truth is that you probably could find somebody that 411 00:17:22,420 --> 00:17:24,700 you live around that you're more religious than. 412 00:17:25,660 --> 00:17:26,860 It's easy to do, probably. 413 00:17:27,420 --> 00:17:29,060 But the other side of the coin would be this. 414 00:17:29,060 --> 00:17:32,340 There's probably someone who you could find that's more religious 415 00:17:32,340 --> 00:17:32,780 than you. 416 00:17:33,670 --> 00:17:34,630 So that's a problem. 417 00:17:35,190 --> 00:17:35,590 So. 418 00:17:35,590 --> 00:17:38,470 So the problem is not being more and more religious, more and 419 00:17:38,470 --> 00:17:40,790 more devout, and following a list of rules. 420 00:17:41,030 --> 00:17:46,030 The point is verse four, for Christ is the end of the law for 421 00:17:46,030 --> 00:17:49,110 righteousness to everyone that believeth. 422 00:17:49,270 --> 00:17:50,550 Now, what that means is this. 423 00:17:50,950 --> 00:17:56,110 The Bible says that Jesus came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill 424 00:17:56,110 --> 00:17:56,550 the law. 425 00:17:57,670 --> 00:18:00,550 So it's not saying here that Christ came and just destroyed everything 426 00:18:00,550 --> 00:18:01,710 and just broke the law. 427 00:18:01,710 --> 00:18:02,230 That's. 428 00:18:02,530 --> 00:18:03,890 Jesus did not break the law. 429 00:18:04,050 --> 00:18:04,570 Okay? 430 00:18:04,570 --> 00:18:05,850 Jesus did not break the law. 431 00:18:05,850 --> 00:18:07,130 He kept the law perfectly. 432 00:18:07,130 --> 00:18:08,130 That's what the Bible says. 433 00:18:08,210 --> 00:18:11,650 And because of that, he can give that offering for us in sacrifice. 434 00:18:11,810 --> 00:18:13,170 So what does this mean in verse four? 435 00:18:13,170 --> 00:18:16,130 Well, essentially it means this Jesus Christ is the only way 436 00:18:16,130 --> 00:18:17,290 to find this righteousness. 437 00:18:17,290 --> 00:18:18,170 And how do we find it? 438 00:18:18,170 --> 00:18:19,090 Through Jesus Christ. 439 00:18:19,170 --> 00:18:22,770 It says to everyone that believeth, it's a matter of faith. 440 00:18:23,330 --> 00:18:25,570 And really, if you look at the book of Romans, it's. 441 00:18:25,570 --> 00:18:29,010 It's a picture of a story of faith versus works. 442 00:18:29,490 --> 00:18:31,250 Is it works or is it faith? 443 00:18:31,810 --> 00:18:35,890 Well, the truth is that some people teach it's faith plus works, 444 00:18:36,610 --> 00:18:41,410 or it's works alone, or it's faith plus works plus going to church 445 00:18:41,410 --> 00:18:43,530 or faith plus works plus giving to the church. 446 00:18:43,530 --> 00:18:45,410 And by the way, I'm all for going to church. 447 00:18:45,570 --> 00:18:45,970 Okay? 448 00:18:45,970 --> 00:18:48,730 I'm the first person that will tell you, attend church, please attend 449 00:18:48,730 --> 00:18:49,130 church. 450 00:18:49,130 --> 00:18:50,690 I'm all for giving to the Lord. 451 00:18:50,690 --> 00:18:51,570 That's a good thing. 452 00:18:51,730 --> 00:18:54,130 But I'm saying is that's not what saves us. 453 00:18:54,290 --> 00:18:55,610 And you've heard me say this before. 454 00:18:55,610 --> 00:18:58,050 I hope you've heard me say this before or someone else say this. 455 00:18:58,470 --> 00:19:04,390 It's not our works or our good deeds that save us, but it is our 456 00:19:04,390 --> 00:19:08,350 salvation that should drive us to those good works and to those 457 00:19:08,350 --> 00:19:11,270 things that God calls us to do in our life. 458 00:19:11,830 --> 00:19:14,990 And so verses 1 through 4 is essentially him saying, this is the 459 00:19:14,990 --> 00:19:18,630 problem with so many people today is that they're turning their 460 00:19:18,630 --> 00:19:21,750 backs against the Lord by trying to do their own thing. 461 00:19:23,110 --> 00:19:28,400 And so I can't explain it any differently than this. 462 00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:35,680 Today, the warning is not to be more religious, to be more devout, 463 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:37,560 to. 464 00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:38,880 To do more works. 465 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:42,800 He says the true test on where your righteousness falls, the true 466 00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:45,880 test and where your eternal destination will be, is whether or 467 00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:49,040 not you believe in Jesus Christ, whether or not you believe 468 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:51,400 not in his existence. 469 00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:53,920 And by the way, I mentioned that at the very beginning, those 470 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:56,720 people that saw Jesus earthly ministry, they didn't sit there and 471 00:19:56,720 --> 00:19:58,320 go, I don't really believe Jesus existed. 472 00:19:58,320 --> 00:20:00,360 They believed he existed because they saw him right in front 473 00:20:00,360 --> 00:20:00,720 of them. 474 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:05,520 And so the Bible today tells us in, in application today, it's 475 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:07,840 not just telling people, hey, do you believe in Jesus? 476 00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:10,520 Because there's a lot of people that believe in the existence 477 00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:12,000 of a person named Jesus. 478 00:20:12,560 --> 00:20:13,600 But it's more than that. 479 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:15,910 It's believing in the complete Gospel. 480 00:20:16,300 --> 00:20:16,460 It's. 481 00:20:16,460 --> 00:20:20,660 I would say it this way, it's believing in the person and work 482 00:20:20,660 --> 00:20:25,100 of Jesus Christ, believing in what the Bible says about his deity, 483 00:20:25,180 --> 00:20:28,500 believing what the Bible says about his sacrifice, believing what 484 00:20:28,500 --> 00:20:30,300 the Bible says about the resurrection. 485 00:20:30,460 --> 00:20:34,180 And so a lot of people this time were thinking and even to who 486 00:20:34,180 --> 00:20:35,020 the law came through. 487 00:20:35,020 --> 00:20:39,660 So he says verse 4, verse 5 for Moses describeth the righteousness 488 00:20:39,820 --> 00:20:44,500 which is of the law, meaning the law does tell us God's perfect 489 00:20:44,500 --> 00:20:45,920 standard, right? 490 00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:48,200 The the law is the schoolmaster. 491 00:20:48,360 --> 00:20:49,520 So there's righteousness there. 492 00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:51,160 It shows us the heart of God. 493 00:20:51,400 --> 00:20:54,000 But the law was never there to show us the fall. 494 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:56,400 Even back in the Old Testament, it wasn't about following 495 00:20:56,400 --> 00:20:57,480 the law to be saved. 496 00:20:57,560 --> 00:21:00,120 The book of Hebrews tells us that it's always been about faith. 497 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:04,640 The law was just there to show people that they needed God, that 498 00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:06,560 they needed something bigger than them because they couldn't keep 499 00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:07,480 the law perfectly. 500 00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:10,080 And so the law of righteousness was revealed through 501 00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:12,220 Moses, ultimately by God. 502 00:21:12,300 --> 00:21:14,820 But then it says that a man which doeth those things shall live 503 00:21:14,820 --> 00:21:15,180 by them. 504 00:21:15,180 --> 00:21:19,660 Meaning if you want to keep the law for your righteousness, you 505 00:21:19,660 --> 00:21:21,020 have to live by them in every way. 506 00:21:21,660 --> 00:21:25,100 Even if you miss one part, the Bible says you've offended them all. 507 00:21:25,260 --> 00:21:29,500 And so he essentially explains here in verse 6 that this righteousness 508 00:21:29,740 --> 00:21:33,940 that we are desiring does not come from following or living the 509 00:21:33,940 --> 00:21:34,220 law. 510 00:21:34,220 --> 00:21:37,180 But verse 6 he says, but the righteousness, which is of faith. 511 00:21:38,430 --> 00:21:41,390 So again, contrast between works or the law and faith. 512 00:21:41,470 --> 00:21:43,830 He says, this is what this says. 513 00:21:43,830 --> 00:21:46,390 This is the type of righteousness of faith. 514 00:21:46,390 --> 00:21:46,990 What does it say? 515 00:21:46,990 --> 00:21:50,950 It says this, say, not in thine heart who shall descend into 516 00:21:50,950 --> 00:21:54,830 heaven, that is to bring Christ down from above, or who shall 517 00:21:54,910 --> 00:21:58,390 descend into the deep, that is to bring up Christ again from the 518 00:21:58,390 --> 00:21:58,750 dead. 519 00:21:59,390 --> 00:22:02,190 So, so you're probably saying, what is he talking about here? 520 00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:06,080 Well, as you know, through this study, Paul loves to quote the 521 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:06,920 Old Testament. 522 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:09,080 All right, We've been doing this each week. 523 00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:13,480 Last week we looked at Isaiah and HOSEA In Romans 9, he quotes, 524 00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:15,800 he actually quotes another Old Testament passage. 525 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:18,840 And he quotes Deuteronomy chapter 30. 526 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:22,200 If you want to cross reference this, it's actually Deuteronomy chapter 527 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:22,520 30. 528 00:22:22,760 --> 00:22:25,760 And he quotes really just two or three verses there. 529 00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:28,040 I believe it's three verses. 530 00:22:28,040 --> 00:22:35,630 He quotes Deuteronomy 30, 11, 12 and 13, actually, and 14, he quotes 531 00:22:35,630 --> 00:22:36,510 those four verses. 532 00:22:36,510 --> 00:22:42,910 And essentially what we see here is that he's tying what Moses 533 00:22:43,070 --> 00:22:47,070 said to the people from God back when the law was given. 534 00:22:47,390 --> 00:22:49,870 Because essentially the covenant was given, the Mosaic covenant 535 00:22:49,870 --> 00:22:50,270 was given. 536 00:22:50,350 --> 00:22:53,750 And Some of the people, even back at the time of Moses said, well, 537 00:22:53,750 --> 00:22:54,910 that's too hard to do. 538 00:22:55,180 --> 00:22:55,420 We. 539 00:22:55,500 --> 00:22:56,780 We can't obtain that. 540 00:22:57,020 --> 00:23:00,620 And back In Deuteronomy, chapter 30, this same quote happens. 541 00:23:00,620 --> 00:23:03,260 And it's basically a reminder that you don't have to go up to heaven, 542 00:23:03,420 --> 00:23:07,220 you don't have to go down to the abyss to reach this type of perfection, 543 00:23:07,220 --> 00:23:10,780 that the Word of God is close, that he's a personal God, that you 544 00:23:10,780 --> 00:23:13,700 don't have to jump over hoops, that you don't have to do all of 545 00:23:13,700 --> 00:23:18,860 these amazing actions with your life to reach this type of faith. 546 00:23:18,940 --> 00:23:20,460 The faith is there and it's close. 547 00:23:20,460 --> 00:23:23,140 And so if you go back to Romans, chapter 10, and he quotes 548 00:23:23,140 --> 00:23:27,700 it, he says there in verse number six, he says the type of righteousness 549 00:23:27,700 --> 00:23:32,620 found through faith is found not by saying in your heart, who 550 00:23:32,620 --> 00:23:33,420 can do this? 551 00:23:33,420 --> 00:23:34,940 Who can ascend to heaven? 552 00:23:35,020 --> 00:23:37,660 Because that's essentially sometimes what people say when they're 553 00:23:37,660 --> 00:23:38,700 trying to be religious. 554 00:23:39,100 --> 00:23:39,580 Well, how. 555 00:23:39,580 --> 00:23:41,460 How can any of us reach God? 556 00:23:41,460 --> 00:23:43,260 How could we ascend to heaven? 557 00:23:43,260 --> 00:23:44,620 Do we have to do all of that? 558 00:23:44,620 --> 00:23:48,140 Or as it says in the next verse, or who shall descend into 559 00:23:48,140 --> 00:23:48,540 the deep? 560 00:23:48,540 --> 00:23:50,440 Or as some say, the. 561 00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:51,600 The abyss out far. 562 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:54,360 And the picture would actually be to go out into the deepest part 563 00:23:54,360 --> 00:23:55,040 of the ocean. 564 00:23:56,480 --> 00:23:58,240 You don't have to go up to heaven. 565 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:00,480 We don't have to ascend in the deep. 566 00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:03,320 And he actually gives those parenthetical statements, that is 567 00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:07,720 to bring Christ down from above, or as it says that, to bring 568 00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:10,800 Christ again from the dead, for from the deep. 569 00:24:11,360 --> 00:24:12,160 But verse 8. 570 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:14,280 But what saith it so. 571 00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:16,100 So what does faith say? 572 00:24:16,100 --> 00:24:17,700 What does the truth say? 573 00:24:18,420 --> 00:24:20,420 The Word is nigh. 574 00:24:20,820 --> 00:24:21,220 The. 575 00:24:21,620 --> 00:24:22,540 The Word is close. 576 00:24:22,540 --> 00:24:23,380 The Word is personal. 577 00:24:23,940 --> 00:24:26,980 Now we know in the New Testament, John chapter 1, Jesus 578 00:24:26,980 --> 00:24:27,780 is the Word. 579 00:24:28,180 --> 00:24:31,300 But in this case he's talking about the truth of God, salvation 580 00:24:31,300 --> 00:24:31,940 found in him. 581 00:24:31,940 --> 00:24:34,900 He says that righteousness that's extended through salvation. 582 00:24:34,900 --> 00:24:37,300 He says verse eight, it's close to us. 583 00:24:37,300 --> 00:24:38,060 God is a. 584 00:24:38,060 --> 00:24:39,020 Is an imminent God. 585 00:24:39,020 --> 00:24:39,340 He's. 586 00:24:39,340 --> 00:24:40,740 He's present in our lives. 587 00:24:40,820 --> 00:24:44,670 He not sitting up a thousand miles away from us above, watching 588 00:24:44,670 --> 00:24:47,950 down and hoping that we reach him through some type of good work. 589 00:24:48,110 --> 00:24:51,590 Or he's not down in the abyss and we have to go down or bring him 590 00:24:51,590 --> 00:24:52,270 back from there. 591 00:24:52,350 --> 00:24:53,470 No, God is with us. 592 00:24:53,470 --> 00:24:56,350 That's what the book tells us in John chapter one. 593 00:24:56,350 --> 00:25:00,550 That he came unto his own and his own received him not, but as 594 00:25:00,550 --> 00:25:01,630 many as received him. 595 00:25:02,350 --> 00:25:02,750 Right? 596 00:25:02,750 --> 00:25:04,990 Those are the ones that are called the children of God. 597 00:25:04,990 --> 00:25:06,230 So Jesus is there with us. 598 00:25:06,230 --> 00:25:08,450 The Bible tells us his name is Emmanuel. 599 00:25:08,530 --> 00:25:12,330 The word Emmanuel means God with us, God became flesh. 600 00:25:12,330 --> 00:25:13,250 That's Jesus Christ. 601 00:25:13,250 --> 00:25:15,090 And so that's what verse eight is talking about. 602 00:25:15,250 --> 00:25:20,090 The way to find faith is simply humbling ourselves and coming 603 00:25:20,090 --> 00:25:21,450 to him and trusting in him. 604 00:25:21,450 --> 00:25:26,410 He says, the word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy 605 00:25:26,410 --> 00:25:26,650 heart. 606 00:25:26,650 --> 00:25:29,250 That is the word of faith which we preach. 607 00:25:31,410 --> 00:25:36,240 So this is a way for Paul to explain that Israel's hang up or 608 00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:39,800 anybody's hang up to come in to find true righteousness and true 609 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:43,160 salvation is found in having faith or no faith. 610 00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:44,320 That's, that's really the hang up. 611 00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:47,320 Some, some people are like, well, I want to believe, but I can't 612 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:47,600 believe. 613 00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:50,080 I've got to see it to believe it. 614 00:25:50,879 --> 00:25:52,640 God, prove this to me, then I'll believe. 615 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:55,520 That's, that's actually what the Bible says is a lack of faith. 616 00:25:56,080 --> 00:25:58,200 If you go to the book of Hebrews, we don't have time to go 617 00:25:58,200 --> 00:25:58,360 there. 618 00:25:58,360 --> 00:26:04,040 But Hebrews chapter 11 is a wonderful explanation of the definition 619 00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:07,560 of faith, the importance of faith, the examples of faith. 620 00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:11,280 And I would tell you folks, faith is believing, not, not just 621 00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:12,160 blindly believing. 622 00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:15,320 Because the Bible gives us many different opportunities to see 623 00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:16,800 that God is true. 624 00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:18,640 And there's evidence to believe that God is true. 625 00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:21,480 There's archeological finds that believe that God is true. 626 00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:23,400 History tells us that God is true. 627 00:26:23,560 --> 00:26:25,240 Everything tells us that God is true. 628 00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:26,840 Creation tells us God is true. 629 00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:29,560 Our conscience tells us our heart that God is true. 630 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:33,400 But the idea would be this, that it's not necessarily about evidence, 631 00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:35,880 it's not necessarily about religion. 632 00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:37,200 It's not about works. 633 00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:40,320 It's about coming to God and saying, I believe in your path. 634 00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:41,960 And that's what he says in verse number nine. 635 00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:45,240 He says it's the word of faith which we preach. 636 00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:46,120 And what is that? 637 00:26:46,280 --> 00:26:48,440 He essentially states the gospel here. 638 00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:53,920 He states the gospel of how we can believe and how we can be saved. 639 00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:57,720 He says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus. 640 00:26:58,280 --> 00:27:01,200 So the idea that that word confess means, it's a Greek word 641 00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:03,800 that means to say the same thing, to agree with. 642 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:06,200 So I agree with who Jesus is. 643 00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:09,120 I confess with my mouth who Jesus is. 644 00:27:09,120 --> 00:27:10,760 I agree with the word of God. 645 00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:12,800 I believe that he is 100% God. 646 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:14,240 I believe that he's 100% man. 647 00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:15,920 I believe that he came to this earth. 648 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:17,480 I believe that he lived a perfect life. 649 00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:19,600 I believe that he died on the cross for my sins. 650 00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:21,920 I believe he conquered death through the resurrection. 651 00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:24,780 That's what he says there in verse nine, and shall believe in 652 00:27:24,780 --> 00:27:28,420 thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead. 653 00:27:29,380 --> 00:27:32,500 Folks, that's important to note, because there's a lot of people 654 00:27:32,500 --> 00:27:35,700 in this world today that will believe that Jesus existed. 655 00:27:35,700 --> 00:27:40,060 They will even say, I agree with his teachings, but I don't really 656 00:27:40,060 --> 00:27:42,020 believe that he was God. 657 00:27:42,100 --> 00:27:47,220 I don't really believe that he had conquered death through the resurrection. 658 00:27:48,340 --> 00:27:49,740 That's a little bit extreme for me. 659 00:27:49,740 --> 00:27:51,900 I just was listening to a podcast not too long ago, a very 660 00:27:51,900 --> 00:27:56,190 famous podcaster, and he was saying, I like Jesus. 661 00:27:56,270 --> 00:27:57,550 He's like, I go to church. 662 00:27:57,550 --> 00:27:59,390 He's like, I've been going to church for three years. 663 00:28:00,590 --> 00:28:04,190 And he says, I think that it's very clear that people that live 664 00:28:05,390 --> 00:28:07,870 with Jesus's teachings are better people. 665 00:28:08,910 --> 00:28:12,590 He says, I. I believe that all the Christians there are good people. 666 00:28:12,590 --> 00:28:13,950 I believe it helps your life. 667 00:28:14,110 --> 00:28:16,590 But then when it really boiled down to it, he says, do I believe 668 00:28:16,590 --> 00:28:18,030 that the Red Sea was parted? 669 00:28:18,660 --> 00:28:20,380 Do I believe that he died on the cross? 670 00:28:20,380 --> 00:28:20,780 Maybe. 671 00:28:20,780 --> 00:28:22,940 But I don't believe that he conquered death through the resurrection. 672 00:28:22,940 --> 00:28:25,140 I. I believe that's a fairy tale, folks. 673 00:28:25,220 --> 00:28:28,580 Someone like that is what we consider to be close. 674 00:28:29,620 --> 00:28:31,500 But, hey, you know, you've heard this analogy before. 675 00:28:31,500 --> 00:28:32,540 I could go to the Grand Canyon. 676 00:28:32,540 --> 00:28:34,299 I've never been there, but I know some of you have been there 677 00:28:34,299 --> 00:28:35,060 to the Grand Canyon. 678 00:28:35,060 --> 00:28:36,740 So you could even see this better than me. 679 00:28:37,460 --> 00:28:39,060 And let's say I go to the Grand Canyon. 680 00:28:39,060 --> 00:28:39,780 I say, I can. 681 00:28:39,780 --> 00:28:43,020 I can jump really far, and I'm. 682 00:28:43,020 --> 00:28:43,500 I've got. 683 00:28:43,500 --> 00:28:43,750 I've got. 684 00:28:43,820 --> 00:28:45,020 I'm still a pretty spry. 685 00:28:45,020 --> 00:28:48,620 And I run and I launch out over the edge at the widest part. 686 00:28:49,100 --> 00:28:53,220 Most of you know, I could maybe jump, I don't know, 10ft, but 687 00:28:53,220 --> 00:28:53,700 I'm going. 688 00:28:53,700 --> 00:28:54,020 I'm. 689 00:28:54,020 --> 00:28:56,060 I'm falling, I'm falling. 690 00:28:56,380 --> 00:28:58,140 And that's not going to be a good end for me. 691 00:28:58,140 --> 00:29:00,860 And then someone like, let's say an Olympic long jumper comes 692 00:29:00,860 --> 00:29:04,220 up, and he's like, I know I can jump farther than that guy. 693 00:29:04,460 --> 00:29:06,940 So he runs up there and he jumps and he doubles me. 694 00:29:08,300 --> 00:29:09,020 But you know what? 695 00:29:09,590 --> 00:29:11,310 Even if he doubles me, he's still not going to make it across 696 00:29:11,310 --> 00:29:11,990 the whole way. 697 00:29:12,790 --> 00:29:14,750 And so if we say someone, well, someone's so close. 698 00:29:14,750 --> 00:29:15,750 Like, they're so close. 699 00:29:15,750 --> 00:29:16,630 Yes, they are close. 700 00:29:16,630 --> 00:29:18,830 And we need to keep being persistent with them and preaching 701 00:29:18,830 --> 00:29:22,070 the gospel and praying that the Holy Spirit will convict someone's 702 00:29:22,070 --> 00:29:22,310 heart. 703 00:29:22,310 --> 00:29:24,550 But just because someone's close does not mean that they're 704 00:29:24,550 --> 00:29:27,630 Saved because you could be an inch away from it. 705 00:29:27,630 --> 00:29:30,790 But the Bible says that ultimately has to be what verse number 706 00:29:30,790 --> 00:29:31,510 nine says. 707 00:29:31,830 --> 00:29:36,440 Confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, who he is, and believe 708 00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:40,440 in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead. 709 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:41,560 Thou shalt be saved. 710 00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:44,920 Now some people will read that and they'll say, well, believe. 711 00:29:44,920 --> 00:29:47,480 I mean, like, is it just enough to believe in Him? 712 00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:49,080 Well, it's this, okay? 713 00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:52,760 It's faith and believing everything that he says about himself. 714 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:55,120 It's, it's believing the word of God. 715 00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:58,040 It's believing that he died on the cross for our sins. 716 00:29:58,040 --> 00:30:00,120 It's believing that he resurrected. 717 00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:01,920 It's believing that he rules and reigns. 718 00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:03,560 It's believing that he is Lord. 719 00:30:04,060 --> 00:30:06,060 And so faith and belief are interchangeable. 720 00:30:06,780 --> 00:30:11,660 Faith, belief, he says, have a belief in your heart that has essentially 721 00:30:11,820 --> 00:30:13,100 a thought process of this. 722 00:30:13,180 --> 00:30:17,660 It's not just an intellectual ascent to a truth, but it's a heart 723 00:30:17,740 --> 00:30:18,140 belief. 724 00:30:18,140 --> 00:30:19,980 It's, it's complete trust in. 725 00:30:20,940 --> 00:30:22,660 And that's what we need to see here this morning. 726 00:30:22,660 --> 00:30:25,740 I, I could preach longer here, but I'm, I'm not going to, I'm going 727 00:30:25,740 --> 00:30:29,260 to stop at verse number nine because I think that that is a lot 728 00:30:29,420 --> 00:30:32,930 to think about here today, and a lot of it is probably things that 729 00:30:32,930 --> 00:30:33,690 we agree with. 730 00:30:34,330 --> 00:30:36,450 I don't think anyone here would say, well, I can reach God 731 00:30:36,450 --> 00:30:37,050 my own way. 732 00:30:38,170 --> 00:30:40,850 I, I, I, I hope that there aren't a lot of people here that 733 00:30:40,850 --> 00:30:43,490 would say, well, it's not about believing in Jesus, it's just 734 00:30:43,490 --> 00:30:45,290 about being a good person. 735 00:30:46,090 --> 00:30:49,210 I, I would hope that there's people that would say that, hey, 736 00:30:49,210 --> 00:30:51,650 it's, it's about believing in everything about Jesus, not just 737 00:30:51,650 --> 00:30:53,370 about his existence. 738 00:30:54,410 --> 00:30:57,530 But I, but I would challenge us to look at verses one through 739 00:30:57,530 --> 00:30:58,410 nine and say this. 740 00:30:58,830 --> 00:30:59,470 Number one. 741 00:31:00,750 --> 00:31:05,870 Am I like those that were back at the time of Paul, that were religious, 742 00:31:06,750 --> 00:31:12,230 that had a zeal for God but no truth there? 743 00:31:12,230 --> 00:31:14,590 I, I've been part of churches that there were some people that 744 00:31:14,590 --> 00:31:18,110 really, I think they believe that they love the Lord, but they 745 00:31:18,110 --> 00:31:21,190 maybe were misguided or maybe didn't want to see the truth. 746 00:31:21,190 --> 00:31:24,920 And they believe that certain things that they did allowed them 747 00:31:24,920 --> 00:31:26,360 to earn God's love more. 748 00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:28,520 You know why I know that? 749 00:31:28,520 --> 00:31:29,720 Because I struggle with that. 750 00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:33,320 I grew up in an environment that was a very godly environment, 751 00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:37,040 but because of my human inadequacies, I don't want to blame 752 00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:40,560 any other church, but because of my human inadequacies and my lack 753 00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:43,240 of understanding and my fleshly desires I thought that if 754 00:31:43,240 --> 00:31:45,560 I just read my Bible more, God would love me more. 755 00:31:46,520 --> 00:31:49,520 If I just went to church every single time the doors are open, God 756 00:31:49,520 --> 00:31:50,360 will love me more. 757 00:31:51,650 --> 00:31:55,730 If I made sure I looked the part, if I made sure that I served 758 00:31:55,730 --> 00:31:58,370 in, like, every single ministry that they offered and signed 759 00:31:58,370 --> 00:32:01,090 up for every single thing, maybe God would love me more. 760 00:32:02,050 --> 00:32:05,530 But, folks, the Bible says in Romans, chapter 5, verse 8, that 761 00:32:05,530 --> 00:32:07,570 God already demonstrated his love for us. 762 00:32:07,570 --> 00:32:11,690 He already said how much he loves us by dying on the cross for 763 00:32:11,690 --> 00:32:12,290 our sins. 764 00:32:12,850 --> 00:32:14,210 You can't earn his love. 765 00:32:14,530 --> 00:32:16,210 You can't earn more love. 766 00:32:16,810 --> 00:32:17,010 You. 767 00:32:17,010 --> 00:32:20,650 You can't get in God standing even better, because he already proved 768 00:32:20,650 --> 00:32:21,770 himself on the cross for us. 769 00:32:21,770 --> 00:32:23,810 So it's not about a matter of him loving us more. 770 00:32:23,810 --> 00:32:27,010 It's about us loving him more and understanding that love more 771 00:32:27,010 --> 00:32:27,930 and more each day. 772 00:32:28,570 --> 00:32:30,330 And so what I would say is this, folks. 773 00:32:30,330 --> 00:32:32,609 I'm not preaching against zeal in the church. 774 00:32:32,609 --> 00:32:33,570 I want you to be zealous. 775 00:32:33,570 --> 00:32:35,730 If anyone in this church wants you to be zealous about serving, 776 00:32:35,730 --> 00:32:36,690 it's me, okay? 777 00:32:36,690 --> 00:32:39,130 Because it helps me out a lot when you guys help and when you guys 778 00:32:39,130 --> 00:32:41,690 are involved and when we're starting ministries and when we're 779 00:32:41,690 --> 00:32:42,170 doing things. 780 00:32:42,440 --> 00:32:45,520 But I don't want us to get in our minds that that is what's saving 781 00:32:45,520 --> 00:32:48,360 us or that's what's making us a good church. 782 00:32:48,440 --> 00:32:51,120 What makes us a good church is a church that glorifies and follows 783 00:32:51,120 --> 00:32:52,520 God, okay? 784 00:32:52,520 --> 00:32:54,440 It's not a matter how many ministries we have. 785 00:32:54,440 --> 00:32:57,760 It's not about how many things we do for Him. 786 00:32:57,760 --> 00:33:01,840 It's a matter of what we are doing in light of his plan and purpose 787 00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:02,360 for our lives. 788 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:03,800 I would encourage you to think about this. 789 00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:05,400 This is something that I'm really working through in my own 790 00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:06,040 life as well. 791 00:33:06,040 --> 00:33:10,740 What is my eternal purpose as a pastor? 792 00:33:10,740 --> 00:33:11,820 I've thought about that a lot. 793 00:33:11,820 --> 00:33:12,660 Because you know what? 794 00:33:12,660 --> 00:33:14,460 It's so easy for me to get into a rut. 795 00:33:14,460 --> 00:33:16,900 I preach on Sunday mornings, I preach on Sunday nights. 796 00:33:16,900 --> 00:33:18,180 I preach on Wednesday nights. 797 00:33:18,180 --> 00:33:21,540 I go do everything that I'm supposed to do. 798 00:33:21,620 --> 00:33:26,100 But sometimes, if we're not intentional and purposeful about 799 00:33:26,100 --> 00:33:29,420 the mission that God has give us, we're missing the effect of nature 800 00:33:29,420 --> 00:33:31,420 that God has called us to have in our life and the fruitfulness 801 00:33:31,420 --> 00:33:32,580 that God has called us to have. 802 00:33:33,060 --> 00:33:35,260 So I want each and every one of us to think about this here this 803 00:33:35,260 --> 00:33:35,530 morning. 804 00:33:35,530 --> 00:33:38,390 We what is my purpose for the cause of the kingdom? 805 00:33:39,350 --> 00:33:41,910 Your purpose might be different than my purpose, but at 806 00:33:41,910 --> 00:33:42,510 the end of the day. 807 00:33:42,510 --> 00:33:44,470 The ultimate purpose is to glorify God. 808 00:33:45,590 --> 00:33:49,910 I think that most of you, I would assume and hope that most of 809 00:33:49,910 --> 00:33:54,110 you want to have a purpose in the Lord, but sometimes it's difficult 810 00:33:54,110 --> 00:33:54,430 to find. 811 00:33:54,430 --> 00:33:56,750 And so what I would encourage you to do is think about this, boil 812 00:33:56,750 --> 00:33:57,790 it down to the gospel. 813 00:33:57,790 --> 00:33:59,950 Where is my gospel ministry? 814 00:33:59,950 --> 00:34:02,030 I think it's 2 Corinthians tells us it. 815 00:34:02,030 --> 00:34:04,070 It's called the ministry of reconciliation. 816 00:34:04,310 --> 00:34:07,630 We all should have a ministry of reconciliation, meaning we should 817 00:34:07,630 --> 00:34:11,830 always have a ministry at some capacity that helps other people 818 00:34:11,830 --> 00:34:15,110 be reconciled to the truth of who Jesus Christ is in the Gospel. 819 00:34:15,910 --> 00:34:20,230 And so we see here Israel's rejection of Christ was a burden 820 00:34:20,230 --> 00:34:24,110 for Paul's heart, and anyone's rejection of Christ should be a burden 821 00:34:24,110 --> 00:34:24,630 for us. 822 00:34:25,430 --> 00:34:29,420 And so we see here it's not about the zeal, but it's about the 823 00:34:29,420 --> 00:34:31,140 truth that drives the zeal. 824 00:34:32,020 --> 00:34:33,340 It's not about our works. 825 00:34:33,340 --> 00:34:34,340 It's about our faith. 826 00:34:34,980 --> 00:34:36,900 It's not about our righteousness. 827 00:34:36,900 --> 00:34:38,420 It's about his righteousness. 828 00:34:38,500 --> 00:34:41,140 And ultimately, it's summarized there in verse number 829 00:34:41,300 --> 00:34:42,500 7, 8, and 9. 830 00:34:42,740 --> 00:34:46,300 God is not sitting far away from us, and we have to do some crazy 831 00:34:46,300 --> 00:34:47,140 thing to get to Him. 832 00:34:47,380 --> 00:34:48,340 He's right here. 833 00:34:48,820 --> 00:34:52,660 The Bible says that Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us. 834 00:34:53,460 --> 00:34:55,300 That James, chapter 4, verse 8. 835 00:34:55,940 --> 00:34:58,820 We draw near to God, he draws near to us. 836 00:34:59,380 --> 00:35:02,580 And that's not, hey, I work hard and then God meets me. 837 00:35:02,580 --> 00:35:03,580 God's already there. 838 00:35:03,580 --> 00:35:07,260 But when we draw near to him, we're perceptive of his, his closeness 839 00:35:07,260 --> 00:35:07,860 to us. 840 00:35:08,420 --> 00:35:10,500 I've used this analogy before as well. 841 00:35:10,580 --> 00:35:12,980 When my kids were little, particularly Micah. 842 00:35:12,980 --> 00:35:14,020 They're not here right now. 843 00:35:14,020 --> 00:35:14,580 Okay, good. 844 00:35:14,580 --> 00:35:15,140 He gets. 845 00:35:15,140 --> 00:35:17,900 They get mad when I use them as examples in church, so hopefully 846 00:35:17,900 --> 00:35:19,140 they don't watch back the live stream. 847 00:35:19,300 --> 00:35:22,460 But when they were little, specifically Micah, my oldest, when 848 00:35:22,460 --> 00:35:25,620 we would go out to a store, he. 849 00:35:25,620 --> 00:35:26,020 He's. 850 00:35:26,020 --> 00:35:27,260 He's always bought, even today. 851 00:35:27,420 --> 00:35:29,460 Like, if I don't know where Micah is, I usually have to look 852 00:35:29,460 --> 00:35:30,500 on my left side or my right side. 853 00:35:30,500 --> 00:35:31,060 He's like, right here. 854 00:35:31,060 --> 00:35:31,940 Okay, there he is. 855 00:35:31,940 --> 00:35:32,700 So, buddy. 856 00:35:33,420 --> 00:35:35,540 Well, when he was little, sometimes he would get distracted 857 00:35:35,540 --> 00:35:38,500 and he would, like, be walking around the store, and I'm right there 858 00:35:38,500 --> 00:35:38,820 with him. 859 00:35:38,820 --> 00:35:39,420 But he got. 860 00:35:39,420 --> 00:35:41,100 He was looking away and he was distracted. 861 00:35:41,100 --> 00:35:42,500 And he, I, I saw his panic. 862 00:35:42,500 --> 00:35:43,260 He's like, where's my dad? 863 00:35:43,260 --> 00:35:43,700 He thought he. 864 00:35:43,700 --> 00:35:44,380 I was gone. 865 00:35:45,100 --> 00:35:45,420 And. 866 00:35:45,420 --> 00:35:47,820 And it wasn't because I had left his presence. 867 00:35:47,820 --> 00:35:51,180 I was there with him, but because his eyes had been taken away 868 00:35:51,180 --> 00:35:54,300 from me and was looking at the toys and looking at the screens that 869 00:35:54,300 --> 00:35:58,180 he felt for that moment that God had left him and, or not God, 870 00:35:58,180 --> 00:35:59,780 his dad at that point had left him. 871 00:35:59,780 --> 00:36:01,260 But the, the analogy would be this. 872 00:36:01,260 --> 00:36:05,299 Sometimes as Christians, we, because we get distracted with the 873 00:36:05,299 --> 00:36:06,780 things of this world, our eyes get turned away. 874 00:36:06,780 --> 00:36:09,660 And for a moment, or maybe even for an extended amount of time, 875 00:36:09,820 --> 00:36:13,740 we perceive that God's not with us, but God is there and it's 876 00:36:13,740 --> 00:36:15,860 us turning back to him and turning our hearts to Him. 877 00:36:15,860 --> 00:36:18,350 And so I would encourage you to think about that, and I'm going 878 00:36:18,350 --> 00:36:20,430 to encourage you to think about professing the truth of Jesus 879 00:36:20,430 --> 00:36:20,750 Christ. 880 00:36:21,550 --> 00:36:23,310 Don't over complicate the gospel. 881 00:36:24,510 --> 00:36:27,030 We can complicate it as they start to grow in the faith, right? 882 00:36:27,030 --> 00:36:29,070 There's things that we need to teach every Christian. 883 00:36:29,710 --> 00:36:31,070 That's, that's called sanctification. 884 00:36:31,070 --> 00:36:32,270 That's called discipleship. 885 00:36:32,510 --> 00:36:35,830 But don't over complicate the fact that it's about believing in 886 00:36:35,830 --> 00:36:38,590 Jesus Christ in faith for the person and work of who he is and 887 00:36:38,590 --> 00:36:39,470 what he's done for us. 888 00:36:39,870 --> 00:36:42,030 From there, we can start teaching about all the different 889 00:36:42,030 --> 00:36:42,350 things. 890 00:36:42,900 --> 00:36:45,500 But I would encourage you, when someone's seeking after the 891 00:36:45,500 --> 00:36:47,380 Lord, don't over complicate the process. 892 00:36:47,700 --> 00:36:48,660 Just say it's. 893 00:36:48,660 --> 00:36:51,220 And actually the Bible calls it the simplicity of the gospel. 894 00:36:51,540 --> 00:36:53,100 And so let's think about that here. 895 00:36:53,100 --> 00:36:55,300 We're going to come back next week and we're going to talk more 896 00:36:55,460 --> 00:36:59,380 about this idea of the gospel and who can receive the gospel. 897 00:36:59,460 --> 00:37:02,500 Because even at that time in the book of Romans, there were people 898 00:37:02,580 --> 00:37:05,540 that were against certain people receiving the gospel. 899 00:37:05,860 --> 00:37:09,780 And then we understand that there's importance of preparing the 900 00:37:09,780 --> 00:37:14,300 gospel, presenting the gospel, but there's specific ways in which 901 00:37:14,300 --> 00:37:15,580 we send the gospel out. 902 00:37:15,580 --> 00:37:17,940 And that's what we're going to talk about at the end of Romans chapter 903 00:37:17,940 --> 00:37:18,220 10. 904 00:37:18,860 --> 00:37:21,780 And essentially we're going to see in verse 17, one of my favorite 905 00:37:21,780 --> 00:37:22,180 verses. 906 00:37:22,180 --> 00:37:25,020 And this ties right along with the theme this morning of having 907 00:37:25,260 --> 00:37:27,580 the Gideon's Bible distribution ministry here. 908 00:37:27,660 --> 00:37:31,420 He says, so faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of 909 00:37:31,420 --> 00:37:31,820 God. 910 00:37:32,940 --> 00:37:36,980 Faith comes through when people believe in what God has said. 911 00:37:37,460 --> 00:37:40,180 And we're going to talk more about that as this study comes along. 912 00:37:40,260 --> 00:37:43,420 So this morning, if you're able to stand with me, every head 913 00:37:43,420 --> 00:37:45,540 bowed, every eye closed, we're going to have a few moments where 914 00:37:45,540 --> 00:37:46,500 the music is playing. 915 00:37:46,900 --> 00:37:49,940 I know it's been a very simple message, but here this morning, I 916 00:37:49,940 --> 00:37:52,820 think it's an important message for us to stand upon when 917 00:37:52,820 --> 00:37:55,980 it comes to what we're trusting in when it comes to our 918 00:37:55,980 --> 00:37:58,780 faith, when it comes to our righteousness, when it comes to our 919 00:37:58,780 --> 00:38:00,900 service, really, when it comes to our zeal. 920 00:38:02,550 --> 00:38:05,150 Now, maybe some of you and I haven't touched on this too much 921 00:38:05,150 --> 00:38:08,590 this morning, have said, you know, I'm all about truth, but I 922 00:38:08,590 --> 00:38:10,310 don't get excited about the Lord anymore. 923 00:38:11,430 --> 00:38:12,950 I don't get excited about his work. 924 00:38:12,950 --> 00:38:16,150 When I hear someone getting saved, it's like, yeah, okay, someone 925 00:38:16,150 --> 00:38:16,790 got saved. 926 00:38:17,910 --> 00:38:19,430 That's such a sad thing to see. 927 00:38:19,830 --> 00:38:21,830 Because actually, that's what the Pharisees were all about. 928 00:38:21,830 --> 00:38:24,430 The Pharisees were all about truth, truth, truth. 929 00:38:24,430 --> 00:38:26,230 But there was no passion, there was no zeal. 930 00:38:26,720 --> 00:38:28,800 There was no intimate heart relationship. 931 00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:32,160 And so here this morning, maybe you stand on the word of God, 932 00:38:32,160 --> 00:38:36,000 but maybe you've lost some zeal and passion for what God has 933 00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:38,720 done in your life and maybe someone else's life around you. 934 00:38:39,600 --> 00:38:42,320 Maybe you need to soften your heart to the work of God. 935 00:38:42,640 --> 00:38:44,400 Maybe it's okay to shed a tear. 936 00:38:45,040 --> 00:38:47,960 It's okay to have a time in your life which you're calling out 937 00:38:47,960 --> 00:38:48,640 to the Lord. 938 00:38:48,800 --> 00:38:51,560 Look, we don't have any problem cheering our favorite sports 939 00:38:51,560 --> 00:38:52,160 teams on. 940 00:38:53,270 --> 00:38:56,390 Maybe some of us as Christians need to cheer the Lord on more as 941 00:38:56,390 --> 00:38:59,350 he's working in our midst and he's working in our church and he's 942 00:38:59,350 --> 00:39:00,390 working in our culture. 943 00:39:00,710 --> 00:39:01,990 So maybe that's something that. 944 00:39:01,990 --> 00:39:03,750 That that's speaking to you here this morning. 945 00:39:03,750 --> 00:39:06,950 If you're not a believer in Jesus Christ, maybe you've believed 946 00:39:06,950 --> 00:39:10,470 in his existence, but you have not believed in the person and work 947 00:39:10,470 --> 00:39:12,230 of Jesus Christ, as it says there. 948 00:39:12,470 --> 00:39:14,070 Romans, chapter 10, verse 9. 949 00:39:14,550 --> 00:39:17,430 That he died on the cross for you, that he rose again on the third 950 00:39:17,430 --> 00:39:22,130 day, that his sacrifice is the payment for your sin. 951 00:39:22,450 --> 00:39:26,610 This morning you can come and you can see from the Bible what it 952 00:39:26,610 --> 00:39:30,290 means to put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ for salvation, 953 00:39:30,530 --> 00:39:35,010 for everlasting life, for that forgiveness that the Word of God 954 00:39:35,010 --> 00:39:35,570 tells us. 955 00:39:35,730 --> 00:39:38,210 And so, Lord, I pray that you be with us this morning. 956 00:39:38,370 --> 00:39:40,810 I pray that you work in hearts and lives. 957 00:39:40,810 --> 00:39:45,450 I pray that you give us the type of passion and zeal that is 958 00:39:45,450 --> 00:39:47,650 aligned with the truth of your word. 959 00:39:48,260 --> 00:39:50,100 Lord, help us to be resting in that truth. 960 00:39:50,100 --> 00:39:51,940 Help us to have a passion for the lost. 961 00:39:52,100 --> 00:39:54,260 Help us have a passion for our family. 962 00:39:54,340 --> 00:39:57,180 Help us have a passion for our community so that the gospel can 963 00:39:57,180 --> 00:39:58,100 be presented. 964 00:39:58,260 --> 00:40:02,580 But, Lord, help us to rest in that gospel that we don't get distracted 965 00:40:02,980 --> 00:40:06,060 and deceived to think that it's our works that's earning your 966 00:40:06,060 --> 00:40:09,380 salvation, Lord, but that it's our works that are proving your work 967 00:40:09,380 --> 00:40:11,780 in our life and showing our love for you. 968 00:40:11,940 --> 00:40:14,500 So Lord, I pray that you bless us in this time working hearts and 969 00:40:14,500 --> 00:40:14,620 life. 970 00:40:14,620 --> 00:40:16,180 So we ask all these things in Jesus name. 971 00:40:16,440 --> 00:40:16,720 Amen. 972 00:40:16,720 --> 00:40:19,000 As the music plays, follows the Lord leads here this morning. 973 00:42:07,440 --> 00:42:09,920 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 974 00:42:09,920 --> 00:42:10,560 podcast. 975 00:42:10,800 --> 00:42:13,120 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 976 00:42:13,760 --> 00:42:16,120 If you would like to find out more information about our church 977 00:42:16,120 --> 00:42:19,600 or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org 978 00:42:19,840 --> 00:42:22,400 or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 979 00:42:23,200 --> 00:42:27,560 You can also email me directly at Josh Massaroiddletownbaptistchurch 980 00:42:27,560 --> 00:42:32,060 dot com if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow 981 00:42:32,060 --> 00:42:34,860 along for future podcast and updates. 982 00:42:35,500 --> 00:42:36,460 Thank you so much. 983 00:42:36,700 --> 00:42:37,420 God Bless. 984 00:42:37,660 --> 00:42:38,940 Have a wonderful day.