Pastor Lutzer | Rescued By A Hand From Heaven

hi pastor lutzer here you are about to hear a sermon from god's word we here at moody church media believe that the best way to see the transformation of lives is the preaching of the word of god and the power of the spirit of god to the people of god if you enjoy this ministry we hope that you will subscribe to this channel or follow the link to our website where we regularly publish blogs and videos and have the opportunity even to answer some of your questions and now i hope that you will enjoy this sermon i begin today with a question for you what is so special about christianity why be a christian rather than being a buddhist or a hindu or a muslim what's so unique about christianity anyway the answer very briefly is that christianity has some good news directly from god i realize of course that there are other religions who believe that they also have heard from god but when you read their revelations what you'll discover is that god is always telling them what he expects of them what they are supposed to do for him christianity is some good news that exemplifies and explains what god has done for us in a word he's come to us with a rescue mission and the book i suppose that best explains all of this is the book of romans in the new testament and you may take your bibles at this point and turn to the book of romans and what we discover is that paul is writing a letter to the church in rome the question of course is how did the church in rome begin well we have some indication in the new testament because in acts chapter 2 where you have the holy spirit of god coming upon people and they are speaking languages that they didn't learn it says in chapter 2 verse 10 and there were also visitors from rome so evidently the church in rome was begun by jewish christians who heard the good news about christ there went to rome began to spread it abroad and the apostle paul if you'll notice in chapter 1 he is talking about the church there and he says in verse 8 first i thank my god through jesus christ for all of you because your faith is proclaimed in the whole world how could that happen well there was a roman emperor who years after the churches began had all of the jews that were in rome they all had to leave and evidently these christians who had come to saving faith in christ and they became messianic believers they began to go to different parts of the country and they spread their faith and so the faith of the roman church began to grow and it was known worldwide if you look at the world in terms of its limitations of that day and the apostle paul goes on and says that he would like to be with this church he says verse 9 for god is my witness whom i serve with my spirit in the gospel of his son that without ceasing i mention always you in my prayers asking by god's will i may now at last come to you and if you know anything about history you discover that the apostle paul eventually did get to rome and tradition says that he was beheaded there for the cause of the gospel let me ask you this question what would the church be like in rome what were the conditions of the roman empire and its subjects it's easy for us to romanticize ancient rome because we go to rome today and we see there in the roman forum all of the great buildings that were built and the tall columns that still stand would you remember that all of those beautiful buildings were built by slaves i read a report regarding what life was like in rome in those days and it was very depressing i mean i want you to visualize rows of homes with a great deal of poverty what you'd find is that the sewer was basically the street christians living in squalor all over the place so that was true economically politically the caesars the roman emperors were ruling and they were very very hard on the christians as you know eventually in decades ahead they would be putting hundreds if not thousands of them to death so that was the situation what's interesting is that as you read the book of romans the apostle paul doesn't deal with politics the political problem or the poverty problem are they important problems absolutely as a matter of fact the reason that christianity spread is because of the concern of christians for the poor and and helping the downtrodden and through hospitality but that isn't the most urgent message that we could possibly have because the apostle paul is saying that god came on a rescue mission and this is even more important than the issue of poverty or the political loss of religious freedom this is absolutely critical so i say to you today be wrong about social security be wrong about politics be wrong about political philosophy but don't be wrong on the message that is given in the book of romans because that is an eternal message the bible says that god came to rescue us from our sins he came to rescue us from the selfishness that is imborn within us that causes strife and anger and wars and and all kinds of conflict and guilt that we don't know what to do with and and god decided to rescue us and his rescue attempt was just in time so to speak possibly you saw that item on the news recently where a father was with his two daughters and they were on a jet ski that overturned in the midst of a storm and there was nothing between them and the falls in the merrimack river there was nothing between them and the falls except a cable that they were able to hung on to hang on to a cable with boys that warned people of the speed of the river and whatever you do don't go beyond this because the falls are close by and there they hung and we saw the rescue attempt how a boat was able to come and and to take them and to put them into the boat and the great relief when they realized that they'd been rescued and they said that they had only seconds to go before they'd have to let go and go over the falls if you're in a situation like that this is not a time to discuss philosophical questions it's not a time to have a discussion regarding nutrition and poverty it is a time to be rescued and the book of romans says that god came to this planet to rescue us from our sins and from eternal damnation as we shall see next time god actually came to rescue us from his own wrath because the wrath of god is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness we are going to learn and so the apostle paul writes this book to help people to understand god's rescue program the good news called the gospel which will become plain not only in this message but in the ones that follow now when you open your bible to the book of romans you are in one of the most important books of the new testament all of them are important but the book of romans perhaps like no other has had a huge impact upon christianity we think for example of martin luther whom we will talk about how in his study of romans he began to understand the gospel and he says it was as if i was reborn and entered into the gates of paradise what incredibly good news for sinners is in this book and then also nearly two centuries or so later you have john wesley who was a missionary to america here and he said that he came to convert the indians but then wesley says who will convert me he came here as an unconverted missionary remember that they exist and he went back to london and at alder's gate he attended a meeting in which luther's preface to the book of romans was read and he was gloriously converted and he says that his heart was strangely warmed and he understood the gospel and believed while the reading was taking place maybe later on in another message i'll actually give you a little excerpt of luther's preface to the book of romans and why it is that anyone could be converted reading it but the impact of this book in other ways throughout history has been great it is an ocean of christian doctrine it answers all kinds of questions like who is jesus christ why did he come how sinful are we what is the greatest sin that anyone can commit how can we have assurance of salvation is god finished with the nation israel what's predestination all about all of it is in the book of romans and so we begin today and i introduce you to the good news of the gospel three features are found here in the opening verses of the book of romans of the gospel the first is this that please notice that the source of the gospel is god now your bibles are open paul a servant of jesus christ called to be an apostle set apart for the gospel of god underline that phrase it doesn't simply mean that the gospel is about god though thankfully that's true it is but it's the gospel that belongs to god the greek text is what we call possessive it belongs to god it's god's gospel it's not ours as we begin to understand the gospel we'll see very clearly that nobody could make it up and it is indeed the best news that anyone could ever possibly hear and it is god's gospel because he owns it it's god's gospel because he planned it remember the words of titus chapter 1 verse 2 in hope of eternal life which god who cannot lie promised before the world began well you talk about it being god's gospel before the world begins and then we have these words in the book of second timothy he saved us and called us to a holy calling not because of our works but because because of his own purpose and grace which he gave us in jesus christ before the ages began another translation says from all eternity wow what that really means is that it's not too strong to say that god created in order that he might redeem redemption is his finest work to create the heavens he needed only his sovereignty and his power to redeem us justice mercy love all those attributes had to be involved and fully satisfied what a message of the gospel we have it is god's gospel he planned it he he promised it paul goes on to say you'll notice it says promised verse 2 beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures concerning his son and in the old testament you find maybe a couple of hundred references to the coming of jesus christ god promises the gospel that he originated that he ordained and that was part of his plan from all of eternity so that is of course the source of the gospel and what's the substance of the gospel what is it all about well you see there in the text concerning his son jesus christ and you'll notice it says who was descended from david according to the flesh declared to be the son of god with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection of the dead jesus christ our lord through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all nations including you who are the called to belong to jesus christ i throw this in are you called to belong to jesus christ are you called i'm speaking to all of you now including those who are watching us today perhaps listening on the radio or watching on the internet are you called you say well how do you know that you're called we'll answer that at the end of the message but the point is that that what he's saying is is that the substance of the gospel is jesus who was born of the flesh that is to say he had a human family virgin born to be sure to preserve his sinlessness but nonetheless born of the seed of david he came into the world fully man and then declared to be also the son of god with power he always was the son of god using that terminology and that analogy from all of eternity but he is declared to be the son of god with power by the resurrection of jesus christ from the dead bottom line fully man fully god welded together we can use that terminology brought together united it's a better word united in one person forever that's why when we get to heaven we're actually going to see jesus christ and we are going to see him as a man because this man it says in the book of hebrews continues forever and here's the point because jesus was both god and man he's the only one you know who can bring man and god together you've heard me say it many times and i hope you hear me say it many times in the future there is nobody else out there like jesus all right let's just get that straight bring me your prophet bring me your guru let's look at him and then let's compare him to the lord jesus christ both man and god king of kings lord of lords forever and ever and you'll see that there is no comparison so the gospel the substance of the gospel is jesus christ and what he did for us what is the scope of the gospel let's look at verse 14. he says i am under obligation both to greeks and to barbarians what he means is the educated and the uneducated i i have to smile here at this point you'll have to forgive me but about 20 years ago i was invited to barbados the island of barbados where i spoke i think some of you know what's coming don't you you're laughing already where i spoke at a bible conference and i said how wonderful it was to be among the barbarians and i think the correct word was barbadians and i said barbarians now everybody laughed they were very kind but maybe i should point out in passing that i've never been invited back all right oh no the apostle paul says i am called not only to preach to the greeks to the educated i am called to preach also to those who are uneducated and guess what the message for the educated the greeks and the message for the i hope i get it right this time the barbarians is the very same message because there is only one message and no matter what religion you belong to no matter what your background is no matter the color of your skin or where you were born there is only one gospel and it applies to you there aren't a lot of gospels hanging out there some other message because you fit into a different category paul is not saying he's going to pay back what god has done nothing like that but what he's saying is i feel an obligation to preach the gospel to everybody just like you and i should feel an obligation to share the gospel with everybody co-workers whatever and then paul says in verse 16 for i am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of god for salvation to everyone who believes to the jew first and also to the greek why jew first well the jews were chosen of god the whole old testament is based on a jewish understanding and revelations that god gave to the jewish people abraham isaac and jacob so in a sense they were first but following close behind to the greek and paul means basically to everyone this is a gospel for notice what the text says to everyone everyone who believes and then he says for in it the righteousness of god is revealed from faith to faith as as it is written the righteous shall live by faith now the reason that the gospel is the power of god unto salvation the reason for that is because you and i can't change human nature can we we can try to motivate people we can help them to see how they can alter their behavior how they can begin to try to manage their temper and manage their sins and we can help them do that but we cannot get down to the level of desire we cannot change the affections of the human heart you cannot go to the human heart and turn it on and on like a faucet on or off and and suddenly have people love god and then say i'm gonna wake up this morning and i'm going to start to love god in jesus you can't do that the gospel is the power of god unto salvation because it actually changes our motivations and our desires it's an old illustration that preachers used to use but i will throw it in here it's the old story of taking a pig you know and dressing him and putting on a bow tie and making sure that he's nice and clean and you do everything that you possibly can but the minute he begins to see a mud puddle and dirt you know where he will be you and i need a hand from heaven we need god's intervention to actually change human nature jesus referred to it as the new birth and said that unless you are born again you'll never enter into the kingdom of god so i ask you today have you been born again i'm not asking you if you were baptized because you don't get born again by being baptized or that you belong to a church or that you did this and this it is a miracle of god whereby something new is created within us that wasn't there before we believed and so you have the miracle that takes place within but then there's another miracle that takes place representing the power of god and that takes place outside of us it is god's declaration of his righteousness look at what the text says here for in it the righteousness of god is revealed from faith to faith you see there is a righteousness that belongs to god as his attribute but there is also a righteousness which god gives to those who believe so that something intervenes between us and the anger of god against sin and that something is the work of christ and the righteousness that he credits to us who believe and and therein as we shall see in future messages therein is the power and the wisdom and the glory and the wonder of god and god says this is the gospel the power of god for salvation paul says i'm not ashamed of this gospel why would anybody be ashamed of a message like this well just think about it for a moment have you as a christian ever been ashamed of jesus have you kept your mouth shut because you don't want to be branded as strange or weird that you believe that salvation comes through jesus christ you see there's something offensive about a crucified messiah in fact there are religions who tell us that the fact that jesus was crucified proves that he was he was weak how can he be a redeemer so there's that problem the other problem is that the gospel doesn't speak very highly of our own ability because it's saying that we cannot attain the righteousness of god on our own it's not something that we're able to do just like you can add a billion oranges and never get a banana in the very same way all the human righteousness that has ever been done on planet earth cannot change god's mind regarding a single sinner and that message doesn't go down easily to human beings who are versed in this idea look at what i've done and look at my works and how good i am though if you talk to their friends they may have a very different opinion so that's that's the reason why it is easy to be ashamed but paul says look simple though it is i'm not ashamed of the gospel it's the power of god when i was working on this message i thought to myself you know i'm preaching a very simple message here you know i've always prayed that god would keep me simple and my staff thinks that he's overdone it and they're saying you know stop stop praying that prayer it's a very simple message but i was reminded of the fact that it is the power of god unto salvation to all who believe and i'm really preaching today however helplessly or insufficiently i am preaching the power of god unto salvation because that's what the gospel is how do we wind all of this down and help us to summarize the effects and the power of the gospel first of all would you keep in mind that the gospel is god's plan not ours it's his plan not ours you know getting back to the question with which i began namely what's the uniqueness about christianity the average person thinks that all the religions of the world are essentially the same and only superficially different i'd like to turn that around and say that the opposite is true that all of the religions of the world if you compare them with christianity are essentially different and only superficially the same they may all believe in god they may have some similarities morally and ethically but what they do not have is a god who chose to intervene who did work on our behalf who grants us a gift that he himself worked out and it is not given to the rich it is not given to those who are are able to be well educated it is given to anyone who believes as a free gift of necessity free and and there is no other religion that has that so remember that that it's god's plan it is god's good news and i do have good news for you today thanks to god's holy word so first of all keep in mind that the gospel is god's plan not ours secondly the gospel is not just information i see some of you writing this down and i need to tell you that when i see that i i'm looking at people who are going to be well rewarded in heaven thank you for writing this down because this is important the bible is not just information it is intervention it's intervention oh there is information as to what you need to believe but but it's not just hey here's something to believe and then try to work on it no no no it is it is the intervention of god breaking in to our sinful selves and saving us that's what it is seneca was a philosopher and a statesman who lived at the same time as the apostle paul seneca for all of his other abnormalities perhaps did understand something and that is that human beings are desperate sinners i want to quote his words men are overwhelmingly conscious of their weaknesses and he says we need a hand led down from heaven to lift us up another person quoting him perhaps a paraphrase said oh that a hand would come down from heaven and rescue me from my besetting sin when you're desperate you don't need more information only what you really need is intervention you need god to intervene in your life that's what the gospel is some of you are struggling with addictions and those addictions are really symptomatic of a more basic problem that we have as human beings and that is our selfishness and our penchant for always going with our own desires you need the intervention of god today some of you are going through a time of meaninglessness and hopelessness and you also need the intervention of god today and the message to you is the gospel as well some of you overcome by guilt frustration anger because of your past because of what has taken place because of what you've done and perhaps even what others have done to you you also need god's intervention today and that's what the gospel is it's not just more information it is god was in christ reconciling the world unto himself bringing us into fellowship with almighty god and only the gospel can do that and in subsequent message that will become more clear and more clear as we go along there is no other option out there but the gospel of jesus christ and so please keep that in mind finally let us say also that the gospel is costly to god it's costly to god but it is free to us it is given to those who believe from faith to faith as we shall learn as it says here in the text the righteous shall live by faith quoting the old testament book of habakkuk and so it is really a free gift given to those who believe those who recognize hey i've given up the weapons of a rebel i i can't save myself i come cap in hand as a beggar i bring nothing to the table except my sin that's my contribution my contribution is my sin but even though my contribution is my sin god's contribution is his gift of righteousness to me his gift of the miracle of the new birth i said earlier how do you know whether or not you are called well the only way really you can find out whether or not you're called is to believe on jesus and if you if you come and trust him and are born again that will prove that you are the called of jesus christ there's no other way to find out and so i encourage you to do do that so today let's just understand that it cost god plenty because we were redeemed not with corruptable things such as silver and gold but with the precious blood of christ god gave his son and he died for us and went through the agony of gethsemane and the cross that was costly to god but it's not costly to us that's why it's such good news because you and i can't contribute to what god needs anyway we can only receive we cannot we cannot think that our giving somehow impresses him and so i encourage you today stop trusting what you can do stop trusting what you can do and begin to trust what god has already done in jesus that is the good news and that is the gospel chicago in many regards is a very religious town you can go to many many churches today in chicago that will tell you this jesus christ is absolutely necessary for salvation they'll tell you that what they will not tell you is that jesus christ is enough for salvation and i'm here today to tell you that he's not only necessary he's enough and so we can sing i have no other argument i need no other plea it is enough that jesus died and that he died for me it's enough that he died and as he took that bread and took the cup and said this drink in remembrance of you me and eat in remembrance of me he was saying to all of us today in that blood and the broken body there is enough done for the vilest of sinners who truly believes that moment from jesus a pardon to receive that is very good news very good news let's bow together in prayer a father at this point we have nothing more to say except to trust your holy spirit because in this congregation today undoubtedly there are many who have never received the gift of salvation i'm talking about good people who sometimes are the last to see their need i pray that you might cause them to see the gospel today with new clarity to come and to say i'm a sinner i can't save myself i bring nothing to this except my need and i receive your grace thank you for the hand from heaven that saves us and that jesus isn't just necessary he really is enough we love him in his name amen you're watching pastor lutzer on moody church media if you enjoyed this and would like to hear additional teaching from god's word please subscribe to this channel or visit our website at moodymedia.org may god bless you richly

Channel: Moody Church Media

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Id: No7eH9Y0iDM

Length: 33min 4sec (1984 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 29 2020