Called To Be Encouraged - Part 2 (Romans 1:7-17)

book of romans chapter 1 this morning diving right in church you know the drill you know the section that we're looking at by the way we're looking at a message titled called to be encouraged and we're going to be looking at that and we need that we saw it last week we see it this week and by god's grace we'll finish off down to verse 17 today and uh we need to get ready for that because uh what's coming is going to need our encouragement to stand strong in a day of darkness so romans chapter 1 beginning at verse 7 i'll read the odd numbered verses if you'll join in the new king james version bible please on the screen if you don't have that in the even numbers so here we go paul to all who are in rome beloved of god called to be saints grace to you in peace from god our father and the lord jesus christ for god is my witness whom i serve with my spirit in the gospel of a son that without ceasing i make mention of you always in my prayers for i long to see you that i may impart to you some spiritual gift so that you may be established now i do not want you to be unaware or uninformed brethren that i often plan to come to you but was hindered until now that i might have some fruit among you also just as among the other gentiles so as much as is in me i am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in rome also [Applause] and i'll end here in verse 17 for in it that is the gospel the righteousness of god is revealed from faith to faith as it is written the just shall live by faith father speak to us now we pray in jesus name and all god's people said amen amen church you can be seated and i don't know about you i it just dawned on me as you were reading verse 16 does it automatically put a smile on your heart verse 16 i mean that is a powerhouse declaration and and again by god's grace we'll get to that verse today we need to get to it today but we're talking about being encouraged and last time we saw this that you and i are called we learned saints we are called righteous by god we are called forgiven we are called his children the bible here tells us that we are also called to be encouraged and we need that very very much and we saw in and started in verse 7 last time that this is true because of where we are where you are that we are the church of the living god the bible tells us that as believers the church remember it's not the building it's not the building it's where you wherever you and i gather is the church and i love that by the way that's one of the arguments for the church listen in this age that the world takes it upon themselves to define if the church is essential or non-essential which is a shocking thing i understand them doing it them being the world because they don't understand but what i don't understand is that the church and its leadership allowing the world to define what the church is when the world says well these are essential uh needs and these are non-essential needs and here in our state they placed us you know in the non-essential i had to laugh at it because the church is transcendent it is birthed out of heaven it is the holy spirit's work and presence in the church it is an entity that is organic listen it doesn't listen the church doesn't sell anything the church doesn't have a business id and a structure we don't sell widgets we don't have a an online ordering service this is the gospel of the living god it's what the church is living to do and when you and i come together this is what's fun wherever you and i gather to worship god is the church it could be out in the open sea in a raft it could be at the top of a hill it could be on the sand at the beach it could be in the deserts of mojave it doesn't matter wherever the church gets together that's the church and it's absolutely awesome because wherever you and i come together you can expect the power of god to work assuming that it's his people coming together around the word of god opened up that's called doctrine and we know that the holy spirit takes over we saw that it matters in three areas that we're all in this family together this family of god that we are called to be witnesses and that god has called us to take action to be believers that put our faith uh in practice so church here we go we dive into where we left off number two now in verses 13 to 15 that we are called to be encouraged because of who you are who you are and mark it down verse 13 it's regarding god's affection god's affection in your life and god's affection through your life to other people verse 13. now i do not want you to be unaware some of your bibles might use the word ignorant which is a fine word it's not an insult ignorant means to be uneducated about something you can fix ignorance you can't fix stupid ignorance you can overcome with education a stupid is a choice in light of education being in front of you and paul says i do not want you to be unaware uninformed or ignorant brethren that i often planned listen up church to come to you this is amazing look at the parenthetical insert here but was hindered until now i want to ask you right now before we press on who do you think hindered paul from getting to rome all right that's a great answer i heard the lord and i heard satan that's actually a very very good division because it might appear to be satan holding him back it's not until we read the book of acts that we find out that it was the lord holding them back wow hey it speaks about the timing of god the timing of god is all important that's what paul is announcing i desired to come to you he's saying but we know from the book of acts that the holy spirit withstood paul from being able to go the natural question for us would be why the answer is we don't know listen has god told you to do something and be involved in something and to show god's witness by god's affection in some area and you think man this is absolutely the will of god let's do this and it just doesn't happen it doesn't come together it's a great vision you sense god leading but then it's hindered and unless we seek god for discernment in the word of god we could get really really messed up because god has his timing church be encouraged many times god will speak to you but it has to go through a process of birthing or incubation listen when a woman gets pregnant that baby doesn't come out right then in there that baby's got to grow and that listen from that act of affection to the delivery of a brand new human being is god's process and god was speaking to paul's heart to go and to be affectionate to the church at rome to show them the love of god and you would think that he would have a bee line a direct flight that would be there in a matter of days and yet it didn't happen that way i want that to be an encouragement to you god's got his timing a lot of young people today are stressing out i'm not married yet i'm not married yet god's got his time so i'm ready i'm ready well maybe the person god has for you is not ready well why doesn't god get them ready because because god doesn't put anybody in a headlock powerful he says that i might have some fruit among you also just as among the other gentiles so here's some examples about the affection of god working in our lives by the way i don't know if you're new here today or not but you need to get ready to take notes i'm warning you right now that's how you're going to grow that's how you're going to memorize that's how you're going to remember messages in scripture and so write small because we have a lot of verses today it's very important titus chapter 3 verse 1. listen to this titus chapter 3 verse 1 and verse 8 says remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities to obey and to be ready for every good work that's an act of affection coming from god verse 8 titus 3 8 this is a faithful saying and these things i want you to affirm constantly that those who have believed in god should be careful to maintain good works these things are good and profitable to men we're talking about you and i being instruments of god and being loving instruments to not only one another but to the world around us the roman empire by the way made mention about how loving the christian church was in the first and second century isn't that neat what a witness that's the greatest witness of all we need to underscore that in our lifetime churches might think they're a success because they're big that's not success churches might think that they're successful because they've got money that's not success churches might think that they've got success because they're this or they're that or the other no you know what the criteria is that church is successful if god says that church is loving and when i say love i mean god's love not this wimpy weak worldly love we talk about in this day and age which is so ill i'm talking about the love of god which you and i need to discover and part of the discovery of knowing god's love in our own life is asking god to use you and i to love others look at the word fruit here by the way the word fruit that i might have some fruit among you also the word fruit here is a word that means ongoing benefits long-term effects for what is good it's actually the word that we could say that the work that paul is saying i want to be and do among you will have its descendants it will have its children jesus said listen wisdom is justified by her children which means there's an offspring to wisdom there's an offspring to love ephesians chapter 2 i love this next verse it sounds like love ephesians 2 10 says for we are his workmanship you guys know already anybody remember what that word means workmanship in the greek language poema have you ever heard that word before poema of course you have poem for we are god's poem what does that mean it means that god is writing your life out before his throne and before the world and it's a writing of love for we are his workmanship created in christ jesus for good works which god prepared before him that we or you should walk in them for us to walk in them now i want to say this and then move on remember this works do not save you nobody goes to heaven by good works the bible's very clear but because you are saved one of the evidences is the fruit that comes out of your life and that is fruitfulness or good works the christian church first service should go all around the world that you're exposed to and be known for doing good works not once should we be stopped and asked oh wow you're going to go to heaven aren't you right right because of all your good works oh no no because god has done a good work in me and saved my soul from hell set my course to heaven i'm going to go out and do good things to bless him because listen i want to be god's affection towards other people and that produces fruit all of it to the notice of the world into the glory of god okay here comes those verses are you ready it was weak all seven of whom are ready here we go here we go john chapter 15 verse 4 abide abide in me and i in you jesus is saying as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine neither can you unless you abide in me the word abide is the word meno it's a fun word it just it's and it's spelled like it sounds me no m-e-n-o what does it mean it means to stay to remain to last to live life together it means to dwell with one another to draw near to god and dwell with him it's what jesus said when he said come to me come and dwell with me it's the dwelling of god let me read it again john 15 verse 4 meno in me dwell live together in me and i in you you hear that see he just he just gave the definition in that second statement you and me i in you this is a bye this is meno as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself is this not obvious the moment you cut the branch off does it not wither of course unless it meno dwells abides lives in the vine neither can you unless you abide in me this is the key to a fruitful christian life just hang in there church grab your faith as it were by the boots and demand that you now of yourself you are going to apply yourself to the obedience of god or how about this i'm going to apply myself to abiding in christ i'm going to say what jesus has said in the bible i'm going to do what jesus said to do and i'm going to be like jesus said to me and in all of that yet that is your prayer life now if you are a person today saying i don't know what to pray for when i when i go to pray well that's it start right there god make me like jesus that ought to keep you busy for the next 100 years john 15 verse 5 i am the vine you are the branches he who abides in me and i in him bears much what fruits for without me you can do nothing john 15 verse 7 this is one of my favorite verses i have to tell you personally this is a key verse to my private prayer life i believe this verse and it's because this verse is true that i have boldness when i pray i don't have eloquent prayers i probably sound like a three-year-old when i pray to god but you know what i think he likes it here's the reason why john 15 verse 7 if you abide meno and me and my words the bible abide in you you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you now why is it quiet in here you should have cheered at that you want to know why we got quiet because it sounds like a lotto a lotto verse a lottery ticket verse wait you mean i just need to scratch john 15 7 and i win off exactly like when what whatever you desire really yeah it's actually true but there's a prerequisite to that see you were you were not you weren't even listening to the verse until you heard the word the part where jesus god will give you what you desire see what what was that write it down honey write that down write that down we'll use that after today is that a rabbit's foot it's amazing because the qualifier is if my word abides in you if you and i are living together jack says jesus and my word is in you those two realities presupposes that what i'm going to desire is going to be biblical and honor god and it's going to be right there in scripture so that when we pray we can pray in faith knowing that god is going to answer he's going to answer what you and i need to rest in is his answer why is it why is it in the last two weeks okay i prayed for i prayed for a man i actually didn't even pray for him to be healed i was praying for him regarding another issue and he was dramatically physically healed as and the part was when they when they got a hold of me and said you know what happened today what no who are you you you prayed and this is what happened i didn't even know i didn't even pray that you didn't god wanted to do something but then why is it that i prayed for somebody else this week and nothing happened at all you know what's amazing i leave that up to god's hands god's sovereignty i just know this if his word abides in me and if i pray according to the will of god and that will because i live with him right is my desire to you know when you walk together hand in hand or what's that game we used to play way back when they didn't have video games you put one leg you put one leg in a sack and you put another leg in a sack i mean i mean not i mean somebody else's leg in the sack remember that anybody know that game what is it sack race anyway you got to get the you'll never work because one one of your legs is in a sack and then you get your friend's leg in the sack and you got to get both your legs in sync in the sack for you to go forward and if you don't get together it ain't going to happen you go flat on your face listen when you walk with god amos 3 3 says how can two walk together unless they're in agreement how can two walk together unless they're in the sack they've got to get their legs in the sack they've got to go together and when jesus christ walks with us his desires become our desires it's an awesome way to live john 15 verses 9 through 10 as the father loved me i also have loved you abide me no in my love if you keep my commands i can't keep those commands but i can if he is abiding in me then he does it you will abide in me and my in my love just as i have kept my father's commands and abide this is amazing me know in his love jesus is saying you do what i do because this is what the father has asked of me in these 33 years here on earth is what jesus is saying so you i'm your prototype you do what i'm doing with the father i'm showing you how to do this christian walk put your leg in the sack my leg is in the sack we'll go together and i'll show you how to do that john 15 11. these things i've spoken to you that my joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full guess what the word in the greek language for remain is meno isn't that great let me read it again and change it up john 15 11. these things i have spoken to you that my joy may let me know abide in you ooh and that your joy may be full well obviously if jesus's joy is in us it will be full joy you know joy that doesn't mean like it doesn't mean you're bouncing off the walls and you're a hyper uh overly caffeinated person oh look at the joy of the lord and that person the joy that's not what it means listen joy joy is having a great deep abiding peace of god's presence in the midst of an impossible situation joy's not happiness you are not happy when a loved one dies you're not happy when you lose your job you're not happy when you're injured or insulted of course not because happy means happenstance joy on the other hand never changes joy is always there it's always constant and all of those things from being insulted to the death of a loved one you've got joy are you weeping are you crying are you mourning yes but down deep inside when you get down to the surface go through the surface down through the layers down to the foundation there's joy amen that's the christian life that's one of the indicators of the presence of god that's how we can love people in difficult times because we know this john 15 verse 16. i love this this is so great i mean i know he's saying it perfectly lovingly but to me sometimes it sounds uh like a joy like like an awesome anointed sarcasm when he says in in verse 16. you did not choose me i like that jesus is just saying you did not choose me but i chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should me know abide forever and ever and ever the next thing we look at this is the fact that you and i we can be encouraged and we can be an encouragement because you and i are assigned to the world you think about that right now in the age in which we're living in here and now in the 21st century christian you are a sign to friends and family those who know christ those who don't you are a sign you're an indicator you're like a barometer needle pointing to the culture that you're exposed to and verse 14 he says i am a debtor both to the greeks and to the barbarians both to the wise and to the unwise this is absolutely amazing circle the word debtor absolutely awesome deep and incredible debtor paul the apostle says i am a debtor the word debtor means to be in debt as a slave to a debt that is owed it means to be under the obligation in this context under the obligation of gratitude it means to be a co-conspirator with another working hand in hand listen to this it can be translated to take back what has been lost or stolen from you or to listen oh others that which you have received it's a strange word listen to ow others that which you have received watch this you ever it's a real popular saying these days pay it forward pay it forward you know pay it forward pay it forward the world says that but i want you to know that that is a christian principle it means this paul says i am a debtor i am a slave to jew and gentile to greek and to barbarian in other words you can put it this way paul says and believes that he's been called to be a debtor to everybody why paul i owe the world the example of showing them god's affection and god's love and god's care and to be like a a signal a sign to that world for this reason church don't miss it for this reason what god has done in my life i could never repay him it's so amazing that what i'm gonna do is take the greatest thing in the world that could ever happen to somebody because it happened to me and i'm gonna say it and speak it and preach it and tell it to every human being they come in contact with i owe it to them see come on really maybe that's poetic no it's not listen please listen he understood what god had done for him and to him and in that beautiful package god could say to him by the way paul you actually owe me nothing i did this for you and paul looked at jesus so to speak and said i got to give you something back well just so easily understand you can't give it to me but i tell you what if you want to tell others about what happened to you that's cool and paul said oh then okay i'm indebted to every human being to tell them about what you've done to me true christianity has given it away because you have it makes a big difference a sign we are happily to give away that which has been given to us romans chapter 13 verse 8 says o no man anything except to love one another that's our great christian debt we'll never pay it off in this life what is it love other people why because we owe nothing think of it i love this and he says greeks and barbarians simply this i don't want to belabor it greeks were the educated highly refined people of the day barbarians were anything that the greeks viewed as uneducated non-greek barbarian and by the way rome considered themselves the greeks they weren't greek but they considered themselves greek in this sense highly cultured highly educated in fact the romans got their government think about it from the grecian empire they just perfected it if you called somebody back in those days a greek you're giving them a great compliment if you're saying of them that they're barbarians you are saying that they're not refined not educated if you're saying to them that you are wise you are notable that's to be saying something if you say to the unwise you're saying to people who are extremely common did not jesus christ preach the gospel to the emperor so to speak right pilate caesar herod of course did he not find himself as friends among the prostitutes and debased commoners of the day and children yes remarkable truth awesome power it's to have an iou to the human race and i got to tell you personally i look around and i see what the human race does to one another and it makes me sick as it makes you sick and listen we have to fight i'm fighting this right now i see the evils of the world and it makes me want to just cut myself off from it and then i then i hear god's conviction say jack i love them so i don't jesus i don't love them and then he reminds me do you know where they're going if they die without me oh now you got me listen god now you got me because i don't like them but i'm going to heaven and i'm totally happy and fine with that because of what you've done without you i would be over there with them oh so i get it you want me to be assigned to them that's right jack what do people say when they see you this is our great burden as a believer what is our witness what is our sign when somebody sees us do they say you know what i can't stand that person that person makes me sick i get that a lot by the way you guys think what do you guys think it's all roses with me look i'm among friends right now as soon as i leave this building it's not easy out there i see a lot of fingers and they're not one-way signs here's the thing when people see you they see a sign indicating a direction if people are upset with you because they don't like the the direction your sign of your life is if your sign is pointing to heaven if your boss or your employer see you and they know you're a believer and you're pointing as with the lifestyle to heaven they don't like it they don't want to go there because they want they don't want anything to do with heaven so they hate you for that but if they don't know what's what direction you're pointing then they don't care but the moment your sign is pointing the direction now something's up and we are to be assigned to the greek to the barbarian what does that mean today i don't know i'm guessing to the to the self-proclaimed intelligence of our day right the phds and the college grads and the whatever they say they are we'll cover more of that in romans chapter one coming up to those who can barely read or write or just scratch out a living it matters it matters i'm going to give you a string of verses again we'll go as fast we can you guys ready are you guys okay okay listen get ready this is a big one here you go why am i going to bring this up watch this is very very important we have we we now we now uh have declared because of god because god has saved us because we're christians because we have been so encouraged by him we have an iou to the world we have an iou to the world you say why and how why why why and how number one genesis chapter one verses one to three now the lord said to abram watch everybody remember paul just said to the greek and to the barbarian right to the wise and to the unwise um he's also obviously paul being a jew he's speaking to the jews watch this this gets fun now the lord had said to abram abram was the first jew would you agree with that he was the first jew he said wait wait if he was the first jew he was the first jew you said i'm jewish and i know abraham he's jewish true but before abraham was jewish he was a gentile right this is encouraging because we read in the bible that we are to be loving and ministering and sharing and preaching the gospel to jew and gentile to wise and unwise greek and barbarian right why would we do that because there's a there's a thinking in some people well we're god's people we don't talk to you gentiles wait a minute the guy that you claim to be your father was first a gentile abraham give us a break so watch this god said to him get out of your country from your family and from your father's house to a land that i will show you and i will make you a great nation and i will bless you and make your name great and you shall be a blessing i will bless those who bless you my argument begins right here regarding god's salvation through to others and working it through those who know him is the fact that do you think god is somehow parsed up and divided regarding these go to heaven and these go to hell and it goes like this these are jews and these are gentiles listen absolutely not god says first of all i'm going to create a land that i'm going to call my land and i'm going to create a people they're going to call my people and i'm going to do it with a guy by the name of abram who will be later renamed abraham he goes from being a gentile in ur of the chaldees a pagan worshiping man to becoming the first jew monotheist worshipping the one god of heaven and earth so we start there that god first saves a gentile and makes him a jew and i love that because the word jew means to praise the lord is your name judy if your name's jude it means praise the lord i like that it is awesome psalm 22 27 all the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the lord and all the families of the nations shall worship before me listen my dear friend if you're jewish thank you the very old testament scriptures that you've preserved for us it is the god of abraham isaac and jacob that says i'm going to save the nations of the world enter fill in the blank that's me that's you the remarkable declaration found in isaiah 49 5-6 listen to this and now the lord says who formed me from the womb this is a messianic statement this is the messiah speaking now listen this was written 743 years before jesus was born it's going to describe the the mission of the messiah and there's a holy dialogue going on here right now and the lord says who formed me from the womb to be his servant to bring jacob back to him that's israel so that israel is gathered to him for he says i shall be glorious in the eyes of the lord and my god shall be my strength this is the messiah speaking indeed he says it is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of jacob and to restore the preserved ones of israel i will also give you as a light to the gentiles say amen you're going to heaven right now because i've because of isaiah 49 verse 6 we could go home right now church is done seriously it's done the god of abraham isaac and jacob says in the old testament i'm going to save gentiles that's awesome that you should be my salvation to the ends of the earth isaiah 56 6 also the sons of the foreigner who joined themselves to the lord to serve him and to love the name of the lord to be his servants everyone who keeps from defiling the sabbath and holds fast my covenant even them i will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable or accepted on my altar for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the word nations is gentiles isaiah 60 verse 3 the gentiles shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising you guys okay with us you don't sound encouraged to me i want you to be encouraged listen god is going to save the nations who turn to him the peoples who turned to him the question is have you turned to him this is awesome jeremiah 16 verse 19 oh lord my strength and my fortress my refuge in the day of affliction the gentiles shall come to you zechariah 2 11 many nations shall be joined to the lord in that day and they shall become my people says god wow what is awesome malachi i know it looks like an italian prophet but it's hebrew it's you want to say malachi but it's malachi it's hebrew malachi 1 verse 11. for from the rising of the sun even to its going down the name of the lord shall be great among the gentiles second timothy 1 11 second timothy 1 11 to which i was appointed says paul a preacher an apostle and a teacher of the gentiles god wouldn't send paul or anybody else to preach the gospel to the gentiles unless he wanted them to be saved amen i'm not going to quote this verse it just came into my memory it should have come into my memory when i was studying i forgot it it's a good one the book of romans teaches us paul teaches us that we as believers who are gentiles our love for god is to provoke the jew to jealousy have you ever had that happen that's awesome it's awesome when a jew sees how much you know about his old testament bible that it gets him all messed up and upset oh i see oh i can't even stop i got to keep going the things i see in my head and the moments where this has happened oh i've argued with so many jews i love it that what's weird about it you know have you ever spent like too much time maybe down south i don't mean san diego i mean down louisiana alabama how about just going to texas for the weekend you come back and you say let's turn on our bibles y'all you know that thing i preached one time listen i wish they would invite me back i guess i didn't do a good job but i i spoke at an all-black church in arlington virginia i was only lisa and i were the only white people in the church it was so awesome because i'm talking i'm just totally totally white i'm just talking jesus and jesus and they're going come on now and i'm like and then and they're i'm i'm going i remember it was in matthew's gospels about the uh the deity of christ and somebody then says bring it bring it down and i'm like yeah [Applause] and i found out man by the end of that service i was talking come on [Applause] and number one i found out that i was actually black on the inside which is awesome but what happened what happened was this this oneness that i'm i'm joking i'm not i mean i'm telling you exactly how it was but i'm repeating it was no doubt funny but the amazing thing was there was this association and love one for another that just could not be denied and what what i love about that what i love about that is the fact that that's a picture of heaven to me look if you think that there should be a black section in heaven and a white section and a yellow section and a red section over there and this kind of section over there listen you're not gonna you won't be there you're not you have because listen because your heart's messed up that's sick that's sick it's just weird when you look at heaven it's all together different why because god will save people out of the nations absolutely thrilling second timothy chapter 4 verse 17 but the lord stood with me says paul and strengthen me so that the message might be preached fully through me and that all the gentiles might hear ephesians 3 8 to me who am less than the least of the saints this grace has uh was given that i should preach among the gentiles the unsearchable riches of christ acts 15 14 simon or peter has declared how god at the first visited the gentiles to take out of them a people for his name acts 15 verse 3 so being sent on their way by the church they passed through phoenicia and samaria describing the conversion of the gentiles and they caused great joy to all the brethren isn't that awesome we're almost done galatians 3 verse 8 and the scriptures foreseen that god would justify the gentiles by faith preached the gospel to abraham beforehand saying in you all the nations shall be blessed acts 17 17 therefore he reasoned this is paul in the synagogue with the jews and with the gentile worshipers that's a miracle and the marketplace daily with those who happen to be there i owe you god saves you dear church if you're saved you already know you already knew this message before i got out here you owe the world the message if it's inside of you it has set you on fire and you've got to tell somebody remarkable thirdly is this you and i we are a light to the lost romans 1 15 says so as much as is in me i am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in rome also he said well jack wait a minute i thought there's a bunch of christians he's writing to he is he is but listen to this it's very smart what paul is announcing very smart the correct way to look at this verse is in twofold two answers to this verse one is every time we hear the gospel preached it equips us more and more to preach the gospel you and i need to be reminded you know this i forget his name it doesn't matter great preacher preacher of yesteryear said that every day he would preach the gospel to himself notice i'm not saying and he didn't say you need to get saved every day he only gets saved once but to set his rudder his compass for the day he would preach the gospel to himself that's good the second thing is this every time we hear the gospel preached it should challenge us personally to embrace it again so when we first get up in the morning we preach the gospel to ourselves because we're reminded it's in us it's cooking it's like a crock pot it's there and it's not it's not cooling down amen and the second thing is that being true then it's got a it's got to be shared it's got to be the hey take out of the crock pot what's in it and serve it a lot of fun a lot of lot a lot of great joy in that number three church we'll go as far as we can on the third one and i want i'm asking god please stop the clock break it if you must cause the sun to go back a little bit but we're called to be encouraged church and that's because of what you are of what you are number one you are now you are compelled of god god has gotten a hold of your life and he is the one that now takes you uses you and applies you to life to the world around you you are being compelled by god you come to bible study you get the word of god in you and listen if god is at work in your life when you leave the building it's like what are we going to do let's let's let god has done such great things let's go for it okay listen you can go to home depot or lowe's right now and there's this little guy there's he's lime green he's got an orange hat on he's a little guy got one eyeball over here he's a little silhouette of a guy he's made out of plastic he's all weather he got a little handle on his back you can grab him he's got a little flag too he's got a little flag he sticks in his hands he's got one little hand and he get and he look he's there listen you can put him out you can set these guys up like terra cotta warriors they're everywhere you can set them up and there he is right there he's a good little sign all weather okay it can be 100 degrees outside or it can be 30 degrees outside he's just right there never complains never gripes never says a word right uh but listen he's got a handle on him and you grab him and you just put him wherever you need him that's the believer god says you know what i need this done over there okay i'm gonna boom grab you and you're just like yay you're like listen that would be that you're compelled that means that he's doing he's got you what does that look like the scripture says right here for i am not ashamed of the gospel of christ paul is saying can you imagine he's standing there he's gone through the stuff that he's gone through paul says i'm not ashamed of the gospel listen he would say that he'd go to sofie stadium right now and say that today he'd go to he'd go to the rose bowl hundred thousand seats paul would go right to the 50 yard line i'm not ashamed of the gospel he would do it he said man those people those people really they look there's obnoxious people who ought not to be doing stuff like that and then there's people who are called to do that who are compelled by god and you know the difference one is a total turn off even to christians it's like oh boy god please put those guys away and then god speaks through someone and it's and people listen people are wanting to hear more it's quite amazing why because you're being compelled by god when he says that i'm not ashamed of the gospel listen to this it's one of the most powerful beautiful declarations and it should encourage us the word actually means i'm proud of the gospel but it's not it's not the pride that you and i disdain paul is saying the gospel is everything i owe the world the preaching of the gospel says paul and i'm not ashamed of it the word of shame means to turn away from it it means to step away to shriek back the word means to deny association with it means to enacting and recoiling back it means to deny or to reject remember when jesus said if you acknowledge me before people i will acknowledge you before my father which is in heaven if you deny me before people i will deny you i said this verse a couple of months ago and i shared a situation where a young man that was attending this church that day would not he did not ex he did not acknowledge the opportunity was given people were going coming forward but he didn't do it and then later he won he came to me and he said i want to do it with nobody looking. and i said i'm not going to do that i'm not going to do that and people wrote me letters of how mean i was yeah how could you dare do that you might have condemned this person to hell first of all if i have that kind of power that's scary that's not how it works thank god you're not going to go to heaven or hell based upon someone else's faithfulness but the guy wanted the benefits of jesus but he didn't want to have any embarrassment of really being seen with jesus oh i love you honey so much i love you so much i'll see you soon and then when you see them soon you treat them like a stranger no no paul says i'm not ashamed of the gospel what an awesome statement very quickly here's why he believed it acts 9 verse 6 and his conversion so paul trembling and astonished said lord what do you want me to do in his moment of his conversion i believe you jesus what do you want me to do secondly he confessed openly the gospel first corinthians 2 verse 2 for i determine not to know anything among you except jesus christ and him crucified that's the gospel thirdly he suffered for it he suffered for the gospel look i never want to put anything in front of the rapture of the church it would be theologically wrong for me the lord could come back today there's no prerequisites of bible prophecy that preempt the rapture none the rapture could happen any second having said that if it doesn't happen any second it's possible that in the next few minutes hours days or months persecution could be launched against you against us against me suffering solidifies a lot of things suffering makes things real clear when you're suffering you check to see what's really beneath your feet it's not money it's not people it's not anything in this world can give i'm not saying those things are bad but if you trust in them they're bad but is he there in your suffering second corinthians 11 23 he says are they ministers he's talking about others who proclaim true or false are others are they ministers of christ i speak as a fool i am more and labor is more abundant in stripes that's beatings above measure in other words i've been beaten so much nobody can count how many times i've been beaten can you imagine what paul's body looked like because this happened to him over years man does that shock you i thought i thought god's ministers had had diamond rings on their pinky fingers with motorcades and and uh crowns on their head and lives they live in palaces paul wouldn't have known anything about that you know that in prisons more frequently what if this was a what if you're interviewing to hire pastors hey take off your shirts what well we're going to see if we're going to hire you we just want to make sure we're hiring the right person take your shirt off we want to see how many beatings and scars you have on your back oh and one other thing can we can we see how many times you've been arrested can you imagine yes we're hiring pastors this week at calvary if you'd like to apply bring your rap sheet let's see how many times you've been arrested for being a christian oh my gosh in deaths often left for dead yikes from the jews five times i received forty stripes minus one thirty nine five five times thirty nine i got beat up three times i was beaten with with rods once i was stoned not listen this is not drugs this is not california this is with rocks can you imagine taking stones to the head three times i was shipwrecked not once three times three times the ship went down a night and a day i've been in the deep can you imagine swimming for a night in the day wait wait can you imagine what's on his mind am i this is this how i die is this the end think about it god if you're if you're here to rescue me send a log by or a turtle or something right paul what remarkable verse 26 in journeys often in perils of waters and perils of robbers and pairs of my own countrymen and perils of the gentiles and perils in the city in perils in the wilderness in perils in the sea in perils among false brethren in weariness and toil and sleeplessness often i hunger or in hunger and thirst and fastings often in cold and nakedness besides the other things what comes upon me daily my deep concern for all the churches this is paul's life this is paul's life he's compelled you see jack wait he's going to tell people to become a christian after all that absolutely absolutely yeah because what listen what you're compelled to do is worth it it's worth it secondly listen secondly we're ambassadors oh boy do i have to hurry ambassadors verse 15 verse 16 ambassadors of god church you and i are ambassadors of god and so it says in verse 16 for this is for it is that is the gospel the power of god to salvation for everyone who believes for the jew first and also to the gentile i'm going to do this very very quickly church listen up very very carefully we are called to be ambassadors that means that what you and i this is remarkable because it doesn't mean that you and i have been born into an earthly setting and that is our ambassadorship that that because you might have been born into the church because your mom and your mom played the organ at the baptist church and your dad was a lutheran minister that automatically you're going to go to heaven no no no not at all you've got to become an ambassador and god selects his ambassadors any king is the one who chooses his own representation to other countries the word used here as an ambassador in our lives is the word throughout the bible that speaks of us being christians who are ambassadors being sent to a hostile nation as representatives of jesus god wants us to be an ambassador to the jew first why because the gospel came to the jew first and to the gentiles to the rest of the world that's what we're supposed to be doing and this is precious and then i'll move on to the end it's this to be an ambassador for christ you have to be born again into the family of god amen you can't assume it and for you to be born again into the family of god you have to be adopted by god into the family think of that older kids of siblings often would torture the younger one by saying you know mom and dad we don't know what happened they came home with you one day didn't you didn't your brother tell you that yeah of course we you're all nodding yes your brother or your bigger sister always said you know what we were born here you were adopted you need to know that so wait a minute biblically speaking the christian comes right back and says yeah i'm really sorry for you so what do you mean well yeah you're right i was adopted into this family that means they absolutely picked me out they walked the hallway they were praying they're they're looking not that one not that one no maybe that one not that one no way that hmm this you know what we're gonna take that guy we're gonna we want him right there this one right here wait which one the one big nose big ears this one this one and they picked and you became an ambassador of that family god looks down from heaven and says this one right here so listen that's why you must be born again because you have to be adopted you cannot be adopted in the family of god unless you're born again when you're born again because you've been adopted by god then you become an ambassador of jesus christ and you'll tell anyone the gospel who's standing up and breathing jew gentile barbarian greek wiser unwise and then we end here it's boldness we're the boldness of god to this world how else do you think church listen you guys can stand really because i'm in so much trouble right now it's so late let's stand you guys listen boldness you and i are to be the boldness of god to this world how do you think god's gonna show his boldness to the world and when i mean boldness i mean good when it says for in it the gospel the righteousness of god is revealed from faith to faith that is written the just shall live by faith when we start up in our next teaching here in romans allow me to hover a little bit on verse 17 before we go in to verses 18 and on god says the just shall live by faith it has o friends listen it's always been the case from abraham to the end of time those who are declared righteous by god are declared righteous by god by their faith in him well hey thanks for listening and we appreciate you and of course we do in this time and in this age us being together and linking up together to get the word of god out is actually ministry being fulfilled and in fact if you would like to subscribe please do so hit the subscribe button tell your friends about us and listen if you'd like to help us get this out on a broader scale you can support us by hitting on the give now button and look we're going to continue on with or without you we're inviting you to join us no pressure but if you'd like to link arms in this venture you'd be greatly appreciated so listen keep praying for us we're praying for you god bless you and we'll see you back here real soon

Channel: Real Life with Jack Hibbs

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Id: -CxghgCAzfw

Length: 62min 40sec (3760 seconds)

Published: Sun May 23 2021