The Love and Grace of God | Romans 1 | Lesson 10

Hopa get him all fixed up good to go okay Romans chapter them one oh one more word about the dis hurricane you you knew you knew that as soon as the winds died down people would look around and see all that damage and all that debris and all that their neighbors had suffered and they would realize there's no power no electricity and the first thought would be I should go steal a TV and we're just happy with we're just happy to report that no hardware stores were looted no places selling tools or work boots were looted oh all the places that had supplies there would help people work to restore their neighbours property in their community were left untouched by the looters but several of them do now have nice television so they can't plug into anything but you know in the early days of this country when that does hurricanes they saw somebody looting they just shoot them just right there on the spot no questions asked just drop them and you say you think we ought to go back to that well if I did somebody be upset by it it would stop it if you shot the first one the rest of them go home if they weren't too spaced out to realize what had just happened anyway all right Romans chapter one Bible time Romans chapter one let's read together starting verse 1 Paul a servant of Jesus Christ who would you rather serve you gonna serve somebody might as well serve one that loves you called to be an apostle separated unto the gospel of God which he had promised afore by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures help us to read these the things we've studied come to your mind there's some clarity to them and some depth that wasn't there a few weeks ago concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord which was made of the seed of David according to flesh and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead there will be a resurrection of the dead but is some real power to be to rise from the dead and that's what Jesus Christ did by whom we have received Grace and Apostleship we talked about that in our first lesson I believe for obedience to the faith and true faith true to salvation will make you obedient we talked about that the last time we were together or well the last time we looked at Romans we weren't together when we did it but we looked at Romans if you're not obedient to the faith you've got the wrong faith the right faith will make you obedient to the faith among all nations for his name among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ to all that being Roland beloved of God called to be Saints grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ now just before we pray on what you look with me for a minute look at the end of verse 1 comma n 2 verse 2 comma into verse 3 semicolon into verse 4 : into verse 5 : into verse 6 : into verse 7 . that's 1 son it's your teacher to marked that wrong she said that's a run-on sentence but the Holy Spirit said watch what I can do and just just gave you all that one in one breath it's pretty amazing all right let's pray father guide us direct us into the truth of your word give us what to help us tonight please may may what we say be right and and said in the right way and taken in the right way and Lord me would just please you this evening we thank you in Jesus name Amen okay so obedience to the faith among all nations among all nations you know Jesus said that the original Commission was going to all the world and preach the gospel every creature when Saul of Tarsus was saved in acts 9 on that Damascus Road the Lord said I'm gonna send you far I'm gonna send you far off two kings and Gentiles and Jews and and everybody but the Lord can give a commission and he can give a commandment but you know who has taken the faith to all nations obedient Christians saved people haven't carried the faith to all nations obedient people have carried the faith to all nations it is one thing for a school to have saved students in that school what they need are obedient saved students in that school it is one thing for people to have saved people on their jobs and in their neighborhoods what they need is to have obeyed n't save people in their jobs and in their neighborhoods every saved person knows that the Lord has told them to take the gospel to to the Lost but it's the obedient ones who do so and then let's let's add to that just because you go to a foreign field doesn't mean you'll be obedient when you get there just because you enter the ministry doesn't mean you all beat it be obedient once just because you use I'm gonna witnessed everybody give out tracks and where Jesus shirt doesn't mean you're an obedient Christian and if you're proclaiming the way of salvation but you're not an obedient Christian you won't get the gospel to the nation's either because they'll have no respect for you and as a result no respect for the message so what the Lord has always had hallelujah and what he needs to continue to have in this day and time are people obedient to the faith among all nations everybody needs to hear the gospel it takes obedient Christians to get the gospel to them and that gospel is going to be received if it's proclaimed by obedient Christians I don't want you to tell me about the life saving power of Jesus Christ if it hasn't changed your life I don't want you to tell me the greatest thing ever happened to you was Jesus when every chance you get you skip Church if the greatest thing that ever happened to you is Jesus then you won't be murmuring complaining about what he asks you to do you'll be obedient to the faith and it'll be evident then you really got something there I I want to know what that is what that's all about then also this idea of love obedience to the faith among all nations people that really understand this Christian faith and obedient to it they no longer care about someone's odor or cultural habits or dietary traditions or skin color you got Jews and ax8 preaching to black people from Africa and you got Jews and acts ten preaching to white people from Italy and then you've got white people from Italy preaching the gospel to slobs and and Nordic people in northern Europe and then you've got black people from Africa taking the gospel to white people in India another listen when you're obedient to the faith you lay aside all that other stuff because the gospel suddenly becomes or I trust it does as important to you as it is to Jesus Christ he didn't say go ye to the people that look like you and smell like you and act like you and people you're comfortable with he said go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature and people that are obedient to the faith that's what they do all of a sudden the love of God is shed abroad in their heart and they say if Jesus Christ died for people in the jungle or the inner city or the country-club neighborhood or the people that accent different than mine if Jesus loved them enough to die for him then I love him enough to go tell him about Jesus and that that ought to be the call the outworking of that faith the faith that is Christ died for sinners he gave me life so for his sake I'm gonna go and tell others about that life and then then look at the next phrase obedience to the faith among all nations for his name for his name there's a lot going on today that calls itself Christian but it really just magnifies the name of the preacher or the name of the church or the name of the group or the name of the denomination Paul didn't go around starting Saint Paul's Church though some people today are trying to have st. Paul's Church not all not just Catholics but you know in the Bible it's the Church of God over here in the Church of Christ over there and the church which is his body over here and Christ is the head the church over there it was about his name about his name what are you I'm Methodist what are you I'm Presbyterian what are you I'm Baptist I'm independent Baptists I'm King James only independent Baptist but what are we going to get around to Jesus anybody gonna mention him can we can just somebody kind of work Jesus in there somewhere it ought to be about him it ought to be his name we talked in Bible class of the night I guess was last night the the Pharisees were rebuked by Jesus they went into all the world they tried to make proselytes now proselyte is someone who changes religions you talk somebody about out of leaving one religion you convert them to another religion that's proselytizing we get accused of that and we don't like you people out here proselytizing we're not nobody's asking you to join a religion we're asking you to repent of your sin and trust Jesus Christ we're preaching Jesus Christ Christ died for our sins according to scriptures Christ was buried the third day Christ rose from the dead believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved you get you just pick any any time in 40 years that I've gone out preaching in a public place and you will not you if you if you had a recording of that audio or video you'd never hear me one time say you need to be a Baptist you need to be a Protestant you need to join our church you need to leave your church we're going to go to the nations with his name now they get saved we'll get them in church we'll put a name on the church so they know it's a when they want spaghetti they're not going to get a taco nobody ever drives into town so why can they put these names on these restaurants they put the names on their restaurants so you can find what you're looking for and we put a name on our church so people find what they're looking for so be be looking for something also keep looking come on if you get up in the morning and you want to go someplace and call on your hands and knees and bark like a dog and get knocked over backwards and and carry on like that why would we lure you in here you're not gonna like it so we're gonna put a sign up to tell you what we do in here and you go find most it's just off the track but if what you do in your church you hope the people you work with never find out about then that make you wonder if that's something you ought to be doing if you imagine going to work say hey let me show you this don't put this on my facebook page this this is me barking like a dog why were you doing that all right there's a power of the Holy Spirit you're not going to convince anybody that not outside your church if I 1st Corinthians says somebody comes in that place saved or lost they'll think you're mad they see you carrying on like that they'll think you're crazy anyway anyway a lot going on in his name in his name the Bible says that the name of Jesus every knee should bow Bible says neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved all right so obedience of faith among all nations now verse 6 among whole are you also the called of Jesus Christ and then he says to all that be enrolled not interesting among whom so wherever you are among those people Jesus Christ has called you to represent him he's called you to be an example of the faith that it saved and to the Lost alike the original recipients of this letter were saved men and women who had been added to the body of Christ who were living in the capital city of the Empire pretty much anywhere in the world if there's a bad city it'll be the capital city if there's corruption it will be in the place with the power where people have power to do what they want and no one has the power to stop them generally a capital city is more corrupt than any other city as a rule now some of you get some cases where you got a Sacramento and a San Francisco I understand that but but as a general rule now assuming Paul was converted 34 AD beheaded in 68 AD he lived up until two years before the destruction of Jerusalem that means he was contemporary with the emperor Tiberius the Emperor Caligula the Emperor Claudius the Emperor Nero now you say what you want if you had a choice save it or loss just say you're just a decent moral person trying to raise a family in a society you'd be better off with two hilary's and two Barack's then you would be with Tiberius Caligula Claudius and Nero total reprobates total reprobates everybody built-in Hillary club had to keep secret these guys just kill you at the drop of a hat in public full view no questions asked that's just that's the power they had that's the corruption they had you know I would say you ought to read about you know you should not as a Christian you shouldn't even read about these men and how they governed and how they lived and what they did and what was allowed and they're come on you have it's preached tomorrow or Saturday as a church church going up there and people go to the these big football games and they get drunk and some of them smoke some dope and some of them take some pills and and some of them go out and party the following night and they go to watch people play football you'll take them when these guys were Emperor's they went and they got their beer and they sat in the stadium and they watched Lions rip people to shreds and they didn't watch people in a cage fight until somebody tapped out they watched people fight until somebody cut the head off the other one and it was sport it was entertainment that's that's really depraved you think about a society so far gone that it can't get a thrill unless it can buy a ticket and sit in a seat and watch a wild animal tear a human being apart and consume them that's pretty bad that's the day in which these Christians live that's the city in which these Christian lived in these days the Jewish liberties were gone Roman officials held dominion over them the freedom was formally enjoyed by the Greek and Roman citizens were almost extinct and cruel oppressors and wicked subordinates made life miserable for all but a privileged few what religion existed was worthless the Jews heartlessly went through their rituals while denying God's Authority their spiritual leaders were gross hypocrites and former Fable meant more to them than the word of the Lord I know that sounds familiar they've proven all of this by crucifying the Redeemer and condemned themselves an appeal to make themselves and their children guilty of his blood it's a horrible thing the Greeks had long been given over to abominable idolatries first Corinthians 10 2021 says they worship devils now you got some kids and you got some people in their 20s and maybe a few even in their 30s that in in your country that actually worship Satan and and we're pretty far gone it's not even shocking anymore just accepted thing but it is not the predominant religion of the nation the Greeks this is a blanket statement by the Holy Spirit the Greeks worshiped devils that's that's a messed up thing the Athenians were worshipping a variety of imaginary gods and had elected an altar to the unknown God their immorality was boundless and unrestrained 1st Corinthians 5 they had people committing sexual immorality that would shocked a modern American and they were attending church I mean most people wouldn't when they they get so far gone that they're just going to start living in adultery and committing adultery and define they drop out a church to do it these people didn't see any problem with going to a house of worship and live in a filthy life at Rome the Pantheon was crowded with representations of the idols worship into the provinces foreshadowing the Roman Catholic Church the Empire would not eradicate the religions of the peoples it conquered but would incorporate them none of it was valued and all of it was despised cruelty and corruption prevailed most men were skeptics and the schools of philosophy taught frivolity on the one hand and brutal coarseness on the other and into that world came the light of the cross of Calvary and out of those people one man one woman one young person one family stepped forward and said I'll take Jesus Christ as my savior and I'll join myself to that church and I will have a real God and be serious about him and worship Him and live for him and will not allow myself to be influenced by the unbelievable corruption of my society now some people at Rome could step out and do that and form a church that lived right and did right the people in our town today could step out and trust Jesus and live right and do right and shine a gospel light that would attract some people that could be done at Rome in those days it can be done here in these days I know I don't always say well you know things are just so bad now they're not so bad they're not this bad they're not as bad as they weren't wrong when missionaries like some of ours come and talk about the conditions they face in their field you know why it's amazing to us because we don't face those things it's not like that I mean you might have one weird person in in your side of the county who thinks he's a witch doctor or some woman who thinks she can conjure up spirits and this and that but the whole town doesn't give them credence what as far gone as America is if some guys showed up in a loincloth with a bag of bones on the end of a stick and said I'm going to pronounce a curse on you and your house the people in your town had laugh at him but that's very real power in the regions of the world where some of our missionaries go and if they can go there and win people to Christ and start a church we can't make the excuse that America is so bad and people's hearts are so hard and there's so much sin not so the Gospels still powerful if it's proclaimed by people obedient to the faith now think what think what we're up against I I didn't want to get sidetracked tonight so we'll just pretend this isn't a sidetrack if Paul went to wrong you can't imagine this you cannot imagine this there's there's nobody I don't care what church you go to you cannot imagine Paul going the world and seeing people thrown into an arena and tortured and killed because they're Christians and Paul seeing multitudes in that Coliseum and saying you know what I'm gonna start a church where we do that because that's what the people like you cannot imagine Paul going to Corinth and seeing prostitutes working in the temples because love is God and Paul's saying you know I'm gonna do I'm gonna start a church that does that because that's what the people like there's no there's nobody alive that would say that happened I don't care what kind of church do you go to if I said if I told you Paul went to Athens and when he saw the people worshiping 12 different dodds he said you know what I'm gonna build a church and I'm gonna put a statue of one of those gods all 12 of those gods because because then the people will feel you know that I'm with the culture there's not one person living who goes to any church that believes that's what happened in the book of Acts so where did you get the idea that God wants you to bring the music and the malls and the dress of this world into your church because that's what the people want where'd you get that idea you had to just you had to get that from a reprobate you couldn't possibly think that has any connection to Bible Christianity anywhere in in the history of the establishment of the church the book of Acts is not about people who win into a town and found out what was the cultural norm and adapted to it it's the record of people that lost their lives to say to those people repent turn from these vanities to the Living God now you've got people looking around okay let's see that's the music they like that's how they like to dress that's the level of commitment that they're willing to give that's that's the kind of language and conduct they want to have let's let's let's form a church that appeals to those people there already is one it's called Disney world it's called JB's lounge it's called the Hard Rock Cafe called Church Street Station you don't need to put a sign out front and pretend it's a church I'm telling you if if the Holy Spirit could send men that knew next to nothing except that Jesus Christ is the savior of sinners died on the cross and rose from the dead could send them into the teeth of the roaring lion in Lowell and start a church and win people the Lord we cannot use our culture as an excuse we cannot use how bad things are is an excuse we got to be obedient to the faith and see what God will do amen alright verse verse seven this amazing thing told that being well beloved of God beloved of God I hope you never get over the wonder of that that man should love God is perfectly understandable but that God would love man that's the greatest wonder of them all you know that preface be be it means just so often you can't you can't count it I mean so many times it's just a state of being the Bible says some chasing thy son while there's hope and and do it B times you know what that means means as many times as they're necessary didn't say eight times or nine times you'd be times God doesn't just love us he be loves us he doesn't just love us a little and he doesn't just just love us now and then and he doesn't just love us when we've got a special need he loves us so often you can't count it he loves us so many times during the day that one time runs into another time and there's there's so many of those times that there's never a time when he doesn't love us we are beloved that's really great and it you know people say cuz because they don't know what what love is they think love is receiving not giving and so they say well I used to love her but now I don't love her anymore what you mean is I'm not getting out of the relationship what I thought it was gonna get so my emotions have shifted and gone somewhere else people say I just love this restaurant I'm never gonna eat anywhere else I just love this place you'll get sick of it I love these shoes you won't wear them a year from now well you you men will you wear them till they fall apart and there's nothing left to glue but and you hope for hurricane go steal another pair I'm just kidding anyway but but the Lord the Lord never says I sure used to love that guy but then he did that I sure used to love her but then she disappointed me you are be loved it not wonderful your beloved you know if if I've ever loved you and then I stop it's just a testimony that Christ doesn't have enough of my heart if you've ever loved someone and then you quit loving that person just show Christ don't have enough of your heart so they did this they did that yeah but you you did this and you did that and we're beloved it's amazing in it beloved Wow of God how about that now the men in this church it's different situation because all the men in this church just married way over their heads but most ladies in this church apparently had to settle for less than what they'd hoped for and that's that's that's how those things go but you think back to the days I'm so glad listen I'm so I'm so glad I don't like being as old as I am I don't like being as stiff and worthless as I am but pretty much the best day of your life is the day that you get out of high school if you I mean if you went to school I'm talking about home school and some of you think that's not just oh but that that pressure and and the the constant build-up of expectations and desires and competition it's just the most horrific thing that pretty much any of us will ever go through in our life and and you know these guys what they do is it's you know the homecoming dance is coming up or the or the the prom is coming up and they all talk among themselves y'all gonna ask her and their friends all say in your dreams right and then the guy says okay well I yeah I've got property progress you wouldn't go out with me but I've but I'm gonna ask her and it already yeah you're not even gonna ask her you wouldn't dare ask her she she said and so you know the guy finally ends up facing reality and asking the girl that says yes and he makes the best of it but he's always looking at the other girls and thinking you know if she knew how great I was and but you know what to be beloved of God do you know how far below his status we are do you know how off-the-charts we are compared to what he could have had it's it's really amazing see Hollywood and before Hollywood that the novels and the fiction writers I just I don't mean to say all Holly whatever I've read the literature most Hollywood stuff from the literature what they've done is throughout people's lives they've given them cheap substitutes for the Bible the handsome prince would never love Cinderella but he did and one story after another about you know the poor guy the prince and the pauper and if we could just trade places and the Tale of Two Cities if I could be in your shoes and you could be in my shoes how many movies have been made about this guy that couldn't possibly that that woman in that movie would she'd call the cops if he sat down talked to her at lunch but in the movies she's so flattered because really in her heart she always wanted a guy with two teeth and no money and then the end of the movie she passes on the millionaire and she passes on Robert Redford and she marries the total nerd because because it sells and the whole idea of that is my goal in life is to have the unattainable and in the movies I can have the unattainable and in the Bible God makes me his beloved cherub around the throne Seraphim around the throne angels around the throne the worship and adoration of the heavenly host and he says I'm gonna go down there and get that guy I'm gonna set my love upon her I'm gonna set my love upon him look it's it's not the phrase is not I'm beloved beloved of God I mean when you consider who it is that loves you this relationship it just can't happen but it did it's beyond any fairy tale it's beyond any romance novel it's beyond any crazy movie it is the absolute greatest falling in love with someone who can do nothing for him who can add nothing to his status it's just love and that's what the Bible says told it being wrong beloved of God it's just amazing called to be Saints called to be Saints the silly Roman Church misses the address of the Holy Spirit's letter to the Roman Christians and they invent this religion where Christian Superstars get to be Saints the Bible says that everybody that saved is called to be a saint thank God for that the notion of exalting certain men and women to elevated status and then to imagine and after their death they provide aid in various forms to the living is non scriptural folly every born-again child of God is a saint now if I told you I know you're gonna laugh at this but after if I told you that people actually taught their children that they could get help if evil people are bad people were around there are people to come to the rescue like Batman or spider-man or Superman or it's all that's that's just so silly that's that's kid stuff what if I told you people believe that st. Thomas or Saint Jude or Saint Christopher or st. Francis was going to come and help them I mean once it's big a bunch of nonsense as the other why would I pray to Francis a when I know Jesus Christ it's weird isn't it st. Jude help me in my trouble how about Lord Jesus Christ clear the heavens and the earth helped me in my trouble if I can come boldly to the throne of grace why would I stop at your lemonade stand it's weird isn't it I mean these these religions man it's it's anything but Jesus Christ by so doing they dishonor Jesus Christ you you go door knock in and work in the bus routes and I'm not I know it sounds like I'm so hateful if I was hateful I'd just stay home and enjoy being same with the world go to hell I'm not hateful I'm a little abrasive rude harsh insensitive come on help me out another some more this is this is your chance I know people just doing what they've been taught to do but when you couldn't know the creator of the heavens and the earth in your times of trouble and you've been taught to light a candle in front of a porcelain image of a blonde woman somebody told you was a jewish woman named Mary something's wrong with you can't you see what you're doing there what I shouldn't tell you these things when I go in these restaurants and they get these into these Buddhist statues on the counter and I just I just tip them over and and you know the person working there don't turn over the Buddha so let him sit himself back up so just wait just wait I was in a hospital one time I'm talking the nurse that said I'm here to see so-and-so and he said their room such-and-such and there's a mary statue there and i just laid it down on the counter and she said she crossed a hole go don't do that why not well that's the Blessed Virgin is it is I thought it was a statue let her get herself up how do you pray to something can't get up off the counter if I'm more powerful than the thing you pray to you got problems people are crazy man but you mess with those statues people lose their minds you tear up a Bible that's what good it's just hate literature everything else is offensive attacking Christianity's fair game strange business isn't it you know I could you tear up a Koran Muslims get upset you tear up a Bible most Christians don't read it anyway they don't care they're busy going the next Batman movie they get more upset if you told their kid Spiderman wasn't real then if some Muslim burned a pile of Bibles well I don't think so we'll try it just just try it sometime not a good news club but this country man it's it's messed up alright so verse seven says beloved of God called to be Saints grace to you and peace from God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ there's only one place to get grace only one place to get peace its source is the Father and it may be had by all who trust the son you want grace we got to go to God he's got a monopoly on it he's called the God of all grace you can't find another God anywhere that's that's even proclaimed to be a God of grace because they're bankrupt our God has all the grace all the grace belongs to God now there's a man named beat be eet he lived a long long time ago and he wrote a commentary it's very hard to read but there's some great expressions or sayings in that commentary am I read your quote from from mr. beat on this verse notice the beauty and symmetry of Paul's opening sentence it is a crystal arch spanning the gulf between the Jew of Tarsus and the Christians of Rome Paul begins by giving his name he rises to the dignity of his office and then to the gospel he proclaims from the gospel he ascends to it's great subject matter to him who is the son of David and son of God from this summit of his art she passes on to the Apostleship again and to the nation's for whose good he received it among these nations he finds the Christians at Rome he began to build by laying down his own claims he finished by acknowledging there's the Gulf is spanned across the waters of national separation Paul is flung an arch who's firmly knit segments are living truths whose Keystone is the Incarnate son of God over this arch he hastens with words of greeting from his father and their father I bring you grace I bring you peace from a God who loves you hallelujah God is love first John 4:8 God commendeth his love toward us Romans 5 and verse number 8 grace to you and peace none of these things that we enjoy would be ours if God was not a God of grace we don't deserve them we haven't earned them we couldn't pay for them thank God for grace and every believer has reconciled to God immediately upon trusting Christ think of it peace with God peace with God you might never achieve peace with some of your kinfolk but if you live 90 years it's still a temporary thing you might never achieve peace with some of your brothers and sisters in Christ but we'll all soon be gone but the eternal God who gave us a never dying soul to have peace with him Wow think about it peace with God grace from God beloved of God we're millionaires incredible just incredible and how about this unlike my heart I wish it wasn't so unlike your heart I hope you wish it wasn't so he says in verse 7 to all that be in Rome beloved of God no favorites nobody left out no save person gets grace and another person doesn't get grace no save person gets piece another save person doesn't get piece no save person is loved by God another save person's not loved by God that's our bad hearts God's hurts not like ours are you saved grace is yours peace is yours be love that has to do with you st. that's your title we might not feel that way about everybody saved but God does we might not be treated that way by everybody that's saved we're treated that way by God hallelujah grace in your Bible I think we can do this we've and you've been stuck at home I'll tell you who tonight is not saying I wish you'd hurry up and get done the people don't have their power back on yet praise the Lord we got a shower here you're welcome to use it for love offering you you welcome to it grace in the Bible has seven different meanings seven different meanings the word means a general favor which is active and bestows great gifts and benefits upon its objects in acts 433 the Bible says let me read this to you acts 433 and when great power gave the Apostles witness of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and great grace was upon them all in Luke chapter 2 and verse 40 and the child grew elect strong in spirit filled with wisdom and the grace of God was upon him aren't you glad that God is generally favorable towards you aren't you glad that God bestows great benefits upon our lives that's grace second grace is sometimes used for the blessing which it bestows second thines nine-eight grace is money given by one to another in John wart 1:14 Jesus Christ is full of grace and truth that is in in giving of himself come into the world to bring salvation to sinners in 1st Corinthians 1 for I thank my god always in your behalf of the grace of God which has given you by Jesus Christ so look the general favor look my life is just good because of God but sometimes he gives me special little things that's grace both is grace the general good life we enjoy and the particular blessings that fall along the way aren't defined as grace third it's used as a summary term for the full cause effects and doctrines of the gospel the whole thing the law was and the prophets were until John but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ now we know God's always been a God of grace and there's grace all through the Old Testament but grace in that sense is the entire package everything that's contained in salvation is called grace think about this Acts 1343 now when the congregation broken up many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas who speaking to them persuaded them to continue in the grace of God please not saying continue to be saved right thought he couldn't say that what he says continued in the grace of God he's meaning keep living in the entirety the fullness of the Christian life and all that goes with it similar verse 1st Peter 5 and verse number 12 by Sylvanus a faithful brother unto you as I suppose I've written briefly exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God wearing east and you know what he's just done in first Peter he's just written five chapters about how to live in suffering and how to live under persecution and how to treat people right and how to how to have treat your family right and how to live for God and when he gets all done he said I just wrote to you about the grace the grace so it's not just a one-time momentary salvation though that is we are saved by grace see special gift given by God and our lives are wonderful why because of the grace of God but grace is also the the full entirety of the Christian life is called in the Bible by this designation grace number four it signifies all the blessings and benefits purchased by Christ and given to believers both in time and in eternity listen to this or look at this Romans 5:15 but not as the offence so else is the free gift first through the obedience of one many be dead much more by the grace of God and the gift by grace which is by one man Jesus Christ at the bound and unto many and not as it was by one that sinned so is the gift for the judgment was by one to condemnation but the free gift of is of many offenses unto justification for by one man's offense death reigned by one much more they which receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ so there he says the God that saved you by His grace gave you this whole life to live that's going to go on and on and on for her and that life is Grace see it's not just grace that I'm saying it's not just grace that my life is good and it's not just grace that that some special things fall in along the way it is grace that what I have is just beginning and I'm just beginning to understand it and I'm just beginning to appropriate I'm just beginning to start getting a hold of a little bit of it that's going to go on forever and forever and forever this grace praise God first Corinthians 16 first Corinthians 16 and verse 23 16 23 the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all so as long as I live which will be forever I'll be in the presence of Christ Christ to be with me I'll just be living walking in grace just what it is is grace 40 years ago I was saved by grace for 40 years I've been living in grace if you if you meet up with me six billion years from now it'll be grace be grace that's talking this week a little bit talking with Jessica about evolution she going to school and go to school you got to be taught evolution you know it's just how it is you take a class in developmental psychology and they teach you about evolution let me let you in a little something if you have problems emotionally if you have problems physically if you have problems socially you not going to live long enough to evolve out of them what a dumb thing to teach in a psych class well what's your problem I've just I've just I have this horrible phobia in my life we'll just hang in there in 450 million years your genes will adapt until that fear is gone what a bunch of nonsense the heading the chapter heading says the theory of evolution and the first sentence says according to the law of evolution you liars if it's a theory it's not a law if it's a law it's not a theory oh just drive you crazy anyway great ones gonna say why do you bring up evolution I'll tell you why because right now I'm saved but I'm not everything that I'm gonna be but 500 million years from now I will be everything I'm going to be but if the rapture happens neither if I die tonight I will go from this that I am right now to what I am supposed to be in the twinkling of an eye see 500 million years now I'll be what I'm supposed to be but it won't take me 500 million years to become that it will take me that that see right there wake your blink your eye that that's how long it's going to take to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ it's not evolution its transformation praise God number 5 on rare occasions grace denotes the impartation of gifts or authority necessary for a leadership role within the body of Christ you see it in Romans 1 5 by whom we have received Grace and Apostleship for obedience to the faith will men's 13 verse 3 Romans 13 3 for rulers are not a terror to good works but to the evil at the right reference yeah and six four which calls pay tribute also for they are God's ministers attending continually on this very thing so I don't think that's the right reference I'll look at up later I think that's supposed to be 16 anyway let's just stick with 1 5 that reference is wrong write that down he admitted in front of everybody he was wrong II think he's never wrong there Aaron just that was one that's the one for this year he he said about whom we've received Grace and Apostleship I March in on something I'm let you in on something and I'm be careful how I say this because I don't I don't I don't want to be a whiner and a complainer and I don't I don't want to give anybody the impression that I want to be doing something else ok but if you guys go into ministry you you you listen to these things in Bible School and you watch these things go on in church and you see what your pastor that shirt what church you're from has been through I'm just gonna tell you something you look at you look at the splits you look at the accusations you look at the heartaches you look at the people insulting you in front of your children and you say I could never do that I'm telling you the truth you could never do that but if God gives it to you to do he will give you grace and apostleship so that somehow you can do what you couldn't do so you can't look at the ministry and say there's no way I could ever do that so I'm not going wing - you need to say Lord I will do that if you promise you'll give me the grace to do it okay and and this has nothing with me this just general thing I'm looking at you know whenever wherever I preachers there's other preachers there I'm not saying it's about me I'm saying it's about other preachers if you build houses there is nobody in the world that's gonna say I'm not gonna let you build a house for me unless you're all of your children grow up to be house builders you work on computers I'm not going to take my computer you to fix unless all your children grow up to work on computers people got this weird idea that a preacher's kids are all supposed to be preachers or that guy isn't fit for the ministry let me tell you something if God doesn't give somebody the grace to put up with that kind of talk they shouldn't set their toe in the water of the ministry much less dive into the pool people will destroy you unless God gives you the grace to somehow just continually get destroyed without being destroyed you can't explain that stuff I'm dead listen I'm on three hours ago I was on the phone with a preacher calling me and saying I got a guy who left your church and he's told me all these lies about you and the guys in the church and I don't believe them but I just want to call and confirm with you and this and that I poured 10 years of love and care into that guy and and two hours after that phone call I've got to greet you at the door with a smile and I got to stand up here and tell you how great it is to be a Christian and I'm gonna tell you something if there isn't some kind of grace from God that he puts in somebody when he puts them in the ministry you can't survive that now losing your mind now I'm not saying that for sympathy and I'm not saying that to get to get bragged on I'm saying don't sit in Bible School and watch people drop out and do things and watch church people act in ways that church peeps and so that's it I'm not gonna do that you can't do it but if God puts you in it you can do it because he will give you a grace that it doesn't even make sense even to you I thank the Lord for it thank God for it I mean there's some guy right now he's sitting with his wife and he's just poured 20 years of his life into a church and somebody with no talent no ability and and no calling of God is just split that church and taken 60% of the people down the road and that guy's sitting there with his wife and she said well honey we could we could quit and honey you could get a job doing this and that and that guy's sitting there and there's two things he wants to do die and start over again and he'll take either one from God because it's just what God's put in his heart and I'm telling you do not say I could never be a missionary because I couldn't take all that hardship I could never get involved in the Lord's work because of the way people treat people and treat ministers and all that there is a grace that comes with the Apostleship or with the ministry that just somehow lets you keep on going keep on doing it I don't know how else to tell you but thank God for it are you still saved that grace you'll be saved forever didn't that grace God put you in the ministry you think he can keep you there you know what that is it's grace it's grace you said well you know I just don't know if I could forgive all those people I'll forgive them what talk about forgiving people we're talking about going on and doing right people so they're so funny your net Bible says he said if a man offends you and he turns and asks for forgiveness you forgive him and Peter said seven times Lord as if he turns seven times 17 asks you forgiving me forgive him he didn't say anything about somebody that doesn't turn and doesn't ask you to forgive them I don't have to track you down and tap you on the shoulder and say hey by the way I forgive you you and go live like I just keep on going you want to turn and come back and say I'm sorry okay well then now we got no but get some ground to work on you never spend your life running down everybody that hurts you and try to fix it you can't fix that stuff one half of them don't know they hurt you and to the other half are enjoying it so much it would thrill them if you came and told them you were hurting I better move on here number six grace signifies man I hate that I wasted all my preaching time signifies a gift of salary or money collected from the Lord's people for the Lord's work I just love grace how about this grace 1st Corinthians 16 turn to it he turned all the other ones return to this one pic oh ha first good 16 verse 1 first Corinthians 16 1 now concerning the collection for the Saints that's why we don't take Church money and give it to drug addicts it wasn't collected for lost people it was collected for Saints as I have given order to the churches of Galatia even so do ye it's an order upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store which means there's an expectation that every saved person is going to be somewhere on the first day of the week where an offerings taken that's not your living room and let him lay by him in store as God hath prospered him that there be no gatherings when I come and when I come whosoever you shall approve by your letters then will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem what's that call that money they took up an eight they sent along the way 2nd Corinthians chapter 8 second Corinthians chapter 8 so he takes the money he delivers the money and here comes the report verse number 1 moreover brethren we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia how that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded under the riches of their liberality for to their power I bear record yea and beyond their power they were willing of themselves praying us with much intreaty that we would receive the gift and take upon us the Fellowship of the ministering of the Saints you only called the money they gave grace grace so what I do I receive from God I receive from God I received from God I received from God as if I just love this grace I love this grace this great grace is so wonderful Lord said okay well why don't you why don't you do for somebody what I've done for you why don't you just give somebody something well how often Lord first day of the week 52 times a year well I just every now and then you know I just like to give God a little something how many of you would work for somebody gave you some a little something every now and then man we we want it coming in on a consistent regular basis I better not dwell on that where you get you got house repairs and stuff and all that you want to hear about this number seven grace means words spoken with kindness and gentle demeanor for the purpose of procuring favor or gaining influence okay you talk nice to somebody when you want something Luke chapter four it's not a bad thing if your hearts right Luke for verse how let's see 16 Jesus goes into the synagogue he reads from Isaiah verses 18 and 19 verse 20 closed the book verse 21 he began to say unto them this day as this scripture fulfilled in your ears and all bear him witness and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth you don't have to be rude crude vulgar purposefully offensive to preach straight hard truth Ephesians 4 verse 29 seasons 429 let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth but that which is good to the use of edifying that it may Minister grace unto the hearers my talk should be an evidence of how God treats me grace grace grace grace grace and coming out of my mouth should be grace grace grace grace grace Colossians 4 verse 6 one more I'll read this like the King James only crowd reads it let your speech be alway with salt seasoned with grace that's backwards that's backwards let your speech be alway with grace seasoned with salt that you may know how you ought to answer every man my wife she's she about a hardest-working person I know she works round the clock she really does and but there's some things she doesn't like to do and she cooks really well but she doesn't like to cook because it takes her away from all the other stuff that she's doing and so sometimes she's doing so many other things while she's cooking that she's not sure if she sees or salted and sometimes I have freshwater fish for supper and sometimes I have fish that came out of the ocean anyway you know it came out of the ocean is it got salted maybe three times a dozen where we gonna get a covered wagon across the play he did a saltiness in this meat that's for four months anyway I tried I'd complain about it because if she said once you cook it yourself tuna fish once a day is okay but twice it'd be like bachelor days again so anyway so salts a good thing but you don't want you want salt to season you don't want salt to be the main dish right see now watch me dig myself out of this and our house my wife is the main dish dishes that words out-of-date like it was 70 years ask your grandparents anyway now so what we do is we got to be careful that we don't over season our preaching with how we feel about the people were preaching to but you can you can jab them a little bit now and then you know listen here you reprobates but you don't have to preach 30 minutes about reprobates and throw a little Jesus in there only wood gray seasoned with salt I don't want to embarrass her because she probably didn't remember this but I was I was 20 I think 20 17 20 I don't know 20 21 something like that and start a little church up in Franklin North Carolina and I was listening to all the preachers that guys like to listen to when they're 20 years old you know just not cussing but close not telling people you want him to go to hell but but kind of holding them over the fire for a little bit and sizeless and all those guys and I thought man that's the way to do it that's you know just let everybody have it and so my parents were vacationing up there and they came out church one Sunday morning and on as people were leaving all 20 of them sitting on these hardwood chairs everybody laughed and was gone and and my mother just kind of stayed behind she looked around and she said son I did not raise you to talk to people like that I could listen those guys you can preach hard and you can preach truth and you can slam sin you don't have to call people names and use Christian cussing and all that kind of stuff God's been gracious to you you can talk graciously in the pulpit in the car in the living room toward your kids every time they're stupid you don't have to call them stupid just once in a while just season it okay so grace grace let's go over this quickly did that air go off I'm so sorry you people that don't have power we could at least kept the air running late tonight for you grace special favor which is active and bestows great benefits upon its objects number two used for the blessing which it bestows number three summary term for the full cause effects and doctrines of the gospel number four signifies all the blessings and benefits purchased by Christ and given the true believers both in time and eternity number five on rare occasions the impartation of gifts or authority necessary for a leadership role within the body of Christ I'll try to get those right references for you number six signifies a gift salary or money collected from the Lord's people for the Lord's work number seven the words spoken with kindness and gentle demeanor for the purpose of procuring favor or gaining influence Lord willing next time we'll talk about peace grace and peace I like those amen all right let's pray father thank you for the Bible thank you wouldn't get together again we're sure missed being in church pray for those are still suffering under this storm and people with damage to their homes and their property and and especially those that are hurting in their bodies because of it and pray to you'd help them through it help us to help as we're able and would thank you for it in Jesus name Amen amen all right if you go on Saturday and didn't raise your hand you got under conviction during the message and decided to go after all it's okay Lord talked about that son said I will not I'm not going and then he did see brother Justin so we can arrange for transportation and know who's going all that sort of thing all right bye-bye good night

Channel: James W. Knox Sermons

Views: 2,843

Rating: 4.875 out of 5

Keywords: Religion, Preaching, Gospel, Compassion, Love, Church, Ministry, Truth, Salvation, Romans, Romans 1, Romans 1:6, The Christian's Calling, Called of Jesus Christ, Called to be like Christ

Id: C9KDBvmz3FQ

Length: 75min 56sec (4556 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 14 2017