Sleepers Awake

October 30, 2016 · Romans

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Series · Romans · Week 71 of 85

Scripture referenced 16 passages

The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.

Romans 1:16-17 Described as Martin Luther's life verse and the theme of Romans, quoted as 'I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power unto salvation for all who believe... the righteous man shall live by faith'

16 For I am not ashamed of the Good News of Christ, because it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes; for the Jew first, and also for the Greek.
17 For in it is revealed God’s righteousness from faith to faith. As it is written, “But the righteous shall live by faith.”

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Romans 3:10-20

Referenced as the section Douglas Moo calls the universal reign of sin, summarized as 'no one is righteous, no not one'

10 As it is written, “There is no one righteous; no, not one.

11 There is no one who understands. There is no one who seeks after God.

12 They have all turned away. They have together become unprofitable. There is no one who does good, no, not so much as one.”

13 “Their throat is an open tomb. With their tongues they have used deceit.” “The poison of vipers is under their lips”;

14 “whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”

15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood.

16 Destruction and misery are in their ways.

17 The way of peace, they haven’t known.”

18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

19 Now we know that whatever things the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God.

20 Because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. For through the law comes the knowledge of sin.

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Romans 7:14-25

Referenced as the passage about doing what you do not want to do and not doing what you want to do, the wrestling between spirit and flesh

14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold under sin.

15 For I don’t know what I am doing. For I don’t practice what I desire to do; but what I hate, that I do.

16 But if what I don’t desire, that I do, I consent to the law that it is good.

17 So now it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me.

18 For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing. For desire is present with me, but I don’t find it doing that which is good.

19 For the good which I desire, I don’t do; but the evil which I don’t desire, that I practice.

20 But if what I don’t desire, that I do, it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me.

21 I find then the law, that, to me, while I desire to do good, evil is present.

22 For I delight in God’s law after the inward man,

23 but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members.

24 What a wretched man I am! Who will deliver me out of the body of this death?

25 I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! So then with the mind, I myself serve God’s law, but with the flesh, the sin’s law.

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Romans 8

Described as the great chapter on victory in Christ, including 'all things work together for the good' and nothing separating us from the love of God

1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death.

3 For what the law couldn’t do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh;

4 that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

6 For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace;

7 because the mind of the flesh is hostile towards God; for it is not subject to God’s law, neither indeed can it be.

8 Those who are in the flesh can’t please God.

9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his.

10 If Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is alive because of righteousness.

11 But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.

13 For if you live after the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God.

15 For you didn’t receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God;

17 and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him.

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us.

19 For the creation waits with eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.

20 For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it, in hope

21 that the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of decay into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.

22 For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now.

23 Not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption, the redemption of our body.

24 For we were saved in hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for that which he sees?

25 But if we hope for that which we don’t see, we wait for it with patience.

26 In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses, for we don’t know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which can’t be uttered.

27 He who searches the hearts knows what is on the Spirit’s mind, because he makes intercession for the saints according to God.

28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.

29 For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

30 Whom he predestined, those he also called. Whom he called, those he also justified. Whom he justified, those he also glorified.

31 What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

32 He who didn’t spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how would he not also with him freely give us all things?

33 Who could bring a charge against God’s chosen ones? It is God who justifies.

34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, yes rather, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Could oppression, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

36 Even as it is written, “For your sake we are killed all day long. We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

37 No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

38 For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,

39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from God’s love, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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Romans 9-11

Described as a three-chapter parenthesis on the question of Israel and God's sovereignty

9:1 I tell the truth in Christ. I am not lying, my conscience testifying with me in the Holy Spirit,

9:2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart.

9:3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brothers’ sake, my relatives according to the flesh,

9:4 who are Israelites; whose is the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service, and the promises;

9:5 of whom are the fathers, and from whom is Christ as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God, blessed forever. Amen.

9:6 But it is not as though the word of God has come to nothing. For they are not all Israel, that are of Israel.

9:7 Neither, because they are Abraham’s offspring, are they all children. But, “your offspring will be accounted as from Isaac.”

9:8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as heirs.

9:9 For this is a word of promise, “At the appointed time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.”

9:10 Not only so, but Rebekah also conceived by one, by our father Isaac.

9:11 For being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him who calls,

9:12 it was said to her, “The elder will serve the younger.”

9:13 Even as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

9:14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? May it never be!

9:15 For he said to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

9:16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who has mercy.

9:17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I caused you to be raised up, that I might show in you my power, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”

9:18 So then, he has mercy on whom he desires, and he hardens whom he desires.

9:19 You will say then to me, “Why does he still find fault? For who withstands his will?”

9:20 But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed ask him who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?”

9:21 Or hasn’t the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel for honor, and another for dishonor?

9:22 What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,

9:23 and that he might make known the riches of his glory on vessels of mercy, which he prepared beforehand for glory,

9:24 us, whom he also called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles?

9:25 As he says also in Hosea, “I will call them ‘my people,’ which were not my people; and her ‘beloved,’ who was not beloved.”

9:26 “It will be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ There they will be called ‘children of the living God.’”

9:27 Isaiah cries concerning Israel, “If the number of the children of Israel are as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant who will be saved;

9:28 for He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, because the LORD will make a short work upon the earth.”

9:29 As Isaiah has said before, “Unless the Lord of Armies had left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom, and would have been made like Gomorrah.”

9:30 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, who didn’t follow after righteousness, attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith;

9:31 but Israel, following after a law of righteousness, didn’t arrive at the law of righteousness.

9:32 Why? Because they didn’t seek it by faith, but as it were by works of the law. They stumbled over the stumbling stone;

9:33 even as it is written, “Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and a rock of offense; and no one who believes in him will be disappointed.”

10:1 Brothers, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God is for Israel, that they may be saved.

10:2 For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

10:3 For being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they didn’t subject themselves to the righteousness of God.

10:4 For Christ is the fulfillment of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

10:5 For Moses writes about the righteousness of the law, “The one who does them will live by them.”

10:6 But the righteousness which is of faith says this, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down);

10:7 or, ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.)”

10:8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth, and in your heart”; that is, the word of faith, which we preach:

10:9 that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

10:10 For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

10:11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed.”

10:12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich to all who call on him.

10:13 For, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

10:14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in him whom they have not heard? How will they hear without a preacher?

10:15 And how will they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Good News of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!”

10:16 But they didn’t all listen to the glad news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”

10:17 So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

10:18 But I say, didn’t they hear? Yes, most certainly, “Their sound went out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”

10:19 But I ask, didn’t Israel know? First Moses says, “I will…

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Romans 10:9-10

Quoted as 'if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord you will be saved' within the Israel parenthesis

9 that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

10 For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

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Romans 12:1-2

Quoted as presenting your body as a living sacrifice and being transformed by the renewing of your mind

1 Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.

2 Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.

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Romans 12:3-8

Quoted on not thinking too highly of yourself and exercising spiritual gifts according to grace given

3 For I say, through the grace that was given me, to every man who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think reasonably, as God has apportioned to each person a measure of faith.

4 For even as we have many members in one body, and all the members don’t have the same function,

5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

6 Having gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us, if prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of our faith;

7 or service, let us give ourselves to service; or he who teaches, to his teaching;

8 or he who exhorts, to his exhorting: he who gives, let him do it with generosity; he who rules, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

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Romans 12:9-13

Quoted on letting love be without hypocrisy, cleaving to good, being devoted in brotherly love, rejoicing in hope, contributing to the needs of the saints

9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil. Cling to that which is good.

10 In love of the brothers be tenderly affectionate to one another; in honor preferring one another;

11 not lagging in diligence; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;

12 rejoicing in hope; enduring in troubles; continuing steadfastly in prayer;

13 contributing to the needs of the saints; given to hospitality.

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Romans 12:14-21

Quoted on blessing persecutors, weeping with those who weep, never paying back evil, leaving vengeance to God, and overcoming evil with good

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless, and don’t curse.

15 Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep.

16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Don’t set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Don’t be wise in your own conceits.

17 Repay no one evil for evil. Respect what is honorable in the sight of all men.

18 If it is possible, as much as it is up to you, be at peace with all men.

19 Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.”

20 Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing so, you will heap coals of fire on his head.”

21 Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

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Romans 13:1-7

Quoted on subjection to governing authorities, rulers as ministers of God, and rendering taxes and honor to whom they are due

1 Let every soul be in subjection to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those who exist are ordained by God.

2 Therefore he who resists the authority, withstands the ordinance of God; and those who withstand will receive to themselves judgment.

3 For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. Do you desire to have no fear of the authority? Do that which is good, and you will have praise from the same,

4 for he is a servant of God to you for good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid, for he doesn’t bear the sword in vain; for he is a servant of God, an avenger for wrath to him who does evil.

5 Therefore you need to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath, but also for conscience’ sake.

6 For this reason you also pay taxes, for they are servants of God’s service, attending continually on this very thing.

7 Therefore give everyone what you owe: if you owe taxes, pay taxes; if customs, then customs; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

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Romans 13:8-10

Quoted as 'owe nothing to anyone except to love one another' and love being the fulfillment of the law

8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other commandments there are, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

10 Love doesn’t harm a neighbor. Love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.

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Romans 13:11-14

The main text of the sermon, quoted on awakening from sleep, salvation being nearer, laying aside deeds of darkness, putting on the armor of light, and making no provision for the flesh

11 Do this, knowing the time, that it is already time for you to awaken out of sleep, for salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed.

12 The night is far gone, and the day is near. Let’s therefore throw off the deeds of darkness, and let’s put on the armor of light.

13 Let us walk properly, as in the day; not in reveling and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and lustful acts, and not in strife and jealousy.

14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, for its lusts.

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Mark 14:32-41

Quoted at length describing Jesus in Gethsemane finding Peter, James and John sleeping three times, used as an illustration of being asleep at a critical hour

32 They came to a place which was named Gethsemane. He said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I pray.”

33 He took with him Peter, James, and John, and began to be greatly troubled and distressed.

34 He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here, and watch.”

35 He went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass away from him.

36 He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Please remove this cup from me. However, not what I desire, but what you desire.”

37 He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn’t you watch one hour?

38 Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

39 Again he went away, and prayed, saying the same words.

40 Again he returned, and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they didn’t know what to answer him.

41 He came the third time, and said to them, “Sleep on now, and take your rest. It is enough. The hour has come. Behold, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

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1 Corinthians 1:18

Referenced as 'to those who are perishing it is mere foolishness but to those who are being saved it is the power of God'

18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are saved it is the power of God.

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Jonah 1:1-16

Read at length to illustrate sleeping and fleeing from God's call, and how Jonah's admission of failure led the sailors to call on the Lord

1 Now Yahweh’s word came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach against it, for their wickedness has come up before me.”

3 But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid its fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh.

4 But Yahweh sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty storm on the sea, so that the ship was likely to break up.

5 Then the mariners were afraid, and every man cried to his god. They threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone down into the innermost parts of the ship, and he was laying down, and was fast asleep.

6 So the ship master came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God! Maybe your God will notice us, so that we won’t perish.”

7 They all said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know who is responsible for this evil that is on us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.

8 Then they asked him, “Tell us, please, for whose cause this evil is on us. What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? Of what people are you?”

9 He said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear Yahweh, the God of heaven, who has made the sea and the dry land.”

10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, “What have you done?” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of Yahweh, because he had told them.

11 Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may be calm to us?” For the sea grew more and more stormy.

12 He said to them, “Take me up, and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will be calm for you; for I know that because of me this great storm is on you.”

13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to get them back to the land; but they could not, for the sea grew more and more stormy against them.

14 Therefore they cried to Yahweh, and said, “We beg you, Yahweh, we beg you, don’t let us die for this man’s life, and don’t lay on us innocent blood; for you, Yahweh, have done as it pleased you.”

15 So they took up Jonah, and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased its raging.

16 Then the men feared Yahweh exceedingly; and they offered a sacrifice to Yahweh, and made vows.

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Recap

The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.

The pastor closed out the instructional section of the Romans series, chapters 12 through 13, by reading the full passage and then landing on the five verses that tie it together. The big idea is that the approaching return of Christ is not a distant theological curiosity but the reason Christians should be awake, dressed for action, and carrying the gospel forward right now.

What was said

After a quick two-minute review of the whole letter, the pastor framed Romans 12 through 13 as the ethical payoff of everything that came before. Eight chapters of theology, three chapters answering the question of Israel, and then two chapters of straight instruction on how to live. Today's passage is the bow on that package.

Every commentary title he looked at pointed to the same thing: the end is coming, and that coming shapes how you live now. "Sleepers awake" was the one he kept coming back to. The grammar of the passage has Paul saying, in effect, "and this," appended to all his instruction, followed immediately by a call to wake up from sleep.

Paul's point is simple and unavoidable. Salvation is nearer now than the day you first believed. The night is almost gone. That is not a comfort to settle into; it is a reason to get moving.

The sleeping disciples in Gethsemane gave that image a face. Jesus asked Peter, James, and John to keep watch at the most decisive moment in human history, and he came back three times to find them asleep. The parallel to the church's moment right now was the point.

Augustine supplied the personal illustration. He knew the theology, attended church, and understood Christianity, but he kept praying something like "Lord, make me virtuous, but not yet." He was almost persuaded, never fully committed. When he opened the Bible at random and landed on the verses about putting on the Lord Jesus Christ and making no provision for the flesh, that was the end of "not yet" for him.

That phrase, "put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh," is where the pastor said the previous week's sermon on loving your neighbor finds its only workable foundation. Someone told him after that sermon that they could not do it. The answer is that no one does it apart from Christ. The motto of the church is "with all we are, loving God and loving people through Christ," and that last phrase is not decorative.

Jonah came in at the end as the mirror image of the sleepers. The world is in a storm, and the prophet of God is asleep below deck. When the captain wakes him and Jonah finally tells the truth about who he is and what he has been running from, the pagan sailors end up fearing the Lord and making vows to Him. The mess Jonah made by being asleep still became the occasion for people coming to God. The point was not that sleeping is fine, but that God is determined to get his gospel out, and the church should want to be awake and carrying it rather than found asleep when the hour comes.

Doing a Bible study?

Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.

The pastor walked through Romans from chapter 1 all the way to chapter 13 in a single overview. Which part of that journey through Romans has stayed with you most, and why?
Augustine prayed for a long time, 'Lord, make me virtuous, but not yet.' In what areas of life do you think people, including yourself, are most tempted to pray that same prayer?

and 3 more questions in the guide

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0:00 Good morning, everybody. How are you? Good morning, everybody. How are you? Am I on?

0:11 Is this thing on? Okay. Alright. So, would y'all come on in? We're going to sing em in and if you'd stand with me and we'll sing, I love to tell the story.

0:23 Hymn number four forty four, if you want to find your part.

0:32 I love to tell the story of unseen things above of Jesus and his glory of Jesus and his love I love to tell the story because I notice true it satisfies my longings as nothing else can do I love to tell the story twil' be my theme in glory to tell the old old story of Jesus and his love I love to tell the story more wonderful it seems than all the golden fancies, all our golden dreams. I love to tell the story it did so much for me. And that is just the reason I tell it now to thee I love to tell the story it will be my theme in glory to tell the old old story of Jesus and his love to tell the story 'tis pleasant to repeat what seems each time I tell it more wonderfully sweet I love to tell the story for some have never message of salvation from God's own holy word I love to tell the story my theme in glory to tell the old old story of Jesus and his love I love to tell the story for those who know it best seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest and when in scenes of glory I sing the new new song will be the old old story that I have loved so long I love to tell the story twil' be my theme in glory to tell the old old story of Jesus and his love

4:04 Amen. Amen. Thank you, Florine. Sounding good over there. How about hymn number three thirty?

4:10 Three thirty is, are you washed in the blood?

4:23 Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power are you washed in the blood of the lamb are you fully trusting in his grace this hour are you washed in the blood of the lamb are you washed in the blood in the soul cleansing blood of the lamb Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Are you walking daily by the savior's side? Are you washed in the blood the lamb and you rest each moment in the crucified are you washed in the blood of the lamb Are you washed in the blood in the soul cleansing blood of the lamb?

5:27 Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? When the bridegroom cometh, will your robes be white? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb?

5:45 Will your soul be ready for the mansion's bright and be washed in the blood of the lamb are you washed in the blood in the soul cleansing blood of the lamb are your garments spotless are they white as snow are you washed in the blood of the lamb lay aside the garments stained with sin and be washed in the blood of the lamb there's a fountain flowing for the soul unclean oh be washed in the blood of the lamb are you washed in the blood in the soul cleansing blood of the lamb are your garments spotless are they white as snow are you washed in the blood of the lamb Amen. Thank you.

6:53 Y'all can have a seat. I have a few announcements this morning. Connect hour happens if y'all didn't know it in between services down the fellowship hall. There's usually plenty of coffee and nice treats down there. So, that is happening at 10:00.

7:08 Awana is happening tomorrow night. I know there are other things going on but we are also having Awana right here in the sanctuary tomorrow night, 06:00. Monday nights at First B is also on down the hall in the fellowship hall at 06:00. Tomorrow, we'll be having a message from Carl in the book of Luke. So, meal music and a message tomorrow night.

7:30 Peak Children's Church happens during the 09:00 service and Wednesday mornings, I want to plug this for men's fraternity. Winning at work and at home with Robert Lewis. This is a really, really good study. So, if you can get up and get here by 6AM, you are welcome. It's six in the morning.

7:47 They eat breakfast together, show a video, and then have a small group discussion afterwards before work in the morning. It's a good blessing for Wednesday morning. If you want to be a part of Operation Christmas Child this year and I know a lot of you do. It's a it's a what we do for Christmas for foreign missions for children on the farm field. So, the deadline for Operation Christmas Child is fast approaching.

8:12 It's just two weeks. I know a couple of y'all that are here have volunteered extensively with this organization. Bring in your shoe boxes filled and wrapped to the church office but if you'd rather just buy some things and have us pack em, we'll have in a couple of weeks. We're going to have a packing party. Get them all together, and then take them to our collection point.

8:29 But it's coming fast. So two weeks, I know it's way before Christmas, but it's not as far as you might think. We try to get those in by mid November because they have to go to the other sides of the earth in some cases. So I'm gonna invite up Kevin Olson and Carl, why don't you come up too?

8:50 I think this is working.

8:51 Oh, that's good. Thank you very much. You're always ahead of

8:54 Hey, everybody. Welcome. We're going to spend just a couple minutes to bring you up to speed on our family fellowship faith. How many of you were here last week and heard the introduction? Okay.

9:06 Those of you who weren't here, it was an action packed and riveting presentation. But for those of you who weren't here, this is our United Church project to renovate our kitchen and our fellowship hall. And so we've coined the campaign, the Family Fellowship Faith effort and this is where we come together as a church family to raise $250 0 to renovate those spaces so that we can enhance our ministries opportunities to grow us in our faith as a church body but also welcome people into our church body through the various ministries that we have here at the church and it's definitely a step out in faith because we are committing to raise these funds together as our church budget does not allow us to do it on its own. So, over the next couple of weeks, we're going to be asking for your support. We passed out pledge forms last Sunday and as you leave today, if you did not get a pledge form, they are available in the back both by the renderings of the kitchen remodel space and also in the foyer table.

10:17 As we noted last week, we're already out of the gate with $50,000 that's been committed by your church through its savings account and also by members of the Board of Trustees, elders and our pastoral staff. So with 50,000 in the bag, we're off to a great start and we really need your help to come alongside us and make this happen. When you make your donations, you can make them during this eight week period now by simply writing the building fund on your check or if you choose to pledge, we'll be accepting your pledges through June the thirtieth of next year and then we'll start construction in April and it's about a three and a half, four month construction project. So, we ask for your support and over the next couple of weeks, we will be giving you a little snapshot from various elders and in this case today, Carl, come on and join me on the impact that the fellowship hall and the kitchen area have in our various ministries and today, Carl's going to just give you a quick vignette from the Monday night service crew.

11:23 Yep. Thanks, Kevin. Yeah and I would just communicate how important that room is on a Monday night. The fellowship hall, the kitchen, and we are wearing that baby out. We really are.

11:38 But serving there, we serve anywhere from 50 to 70 people every week. And it's really important to in fulfilling our mission statement with all we are, loving God, living people through Christ by feeding their stomachs. You know? And and I've heard recently there was one one young man that Gary brought in, and he said, I couldn't believe that you just fed us, that you fed us for free and you loved me and you took interest in me. That's how important it is.

12:06 And so thank you all in advance for all your support in this.

12:13 And so again, just to give, you can fill out the pledge form and you can put those in the offering plate or any of the frontline team or the elders or anybody from the board of trustees over the next couple of weeks. Thank you very much for your support.

12:28 Thank you, Kevin for heading that up. Appreciate that. And is there anything else? Yes, there's a video. This video is of the women's retreat that happened a couple of weekends ago.

12:39 So it's a three minute video. It's got a song with it. Get into it. Enjoy it. It's it's was a fun time for all who attended.

16:16 We walk with the Lord in the light of his word what a glory he sheds on our way while we do his good will he abides with us still and with all who will trust and obey trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey not a shadow can arise not a cloud in the skies but a smile quickly drives it away not a doubt nor a fear not a sign or a tear can abide while we trust and obey trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey not not a burden we bear not a sorrow we share but our toil he doth richly repay not a grief nor a loss not a frown nor a cross blood is blessed if we trust and obey trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey but we never can prove the delights of his love until all on the altar we lay but for the favor he shows and the joy he bestows are for those who will trust and obey trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey on the last then in fellowship sweet we will sit at his feet or we'll walk by his side in the way what he says we will do where he sends we will go never fear only trust and obey trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey Amen.

19:42 We play by feeling, both of us. Sometimes, we feel things slightly differently. When when Bob goes for his hymnal, he's trying to figure out which one of us is singing it right. Do

19:59 too. Holy, holy, holy. When we all get

20:02 to heaven, heaven number seven seventy two, here we are. Sing the wondrous love of Jesus. However, it comes out.

20:14 The wondrous love of Jesus sing his mercy and his grace in the mansion's bright and blessed, he'll prepare for us a place when we all get to heaven what a day of rejoicing that will be when we all see Jesus we'll sing and shout shout the victory on thus then be true and faithful trusting serving every day some hymn in glory will the tours of life repay when we all get to heaven what a day of rejoicing that will be when we all see Jesus we'll sing and shout shout the victory onward to the prize before us soon his beauty will behold soon the pearly gates will open we shall tread the streets of gold when we all get to heaven what a day of rejoicing that will be when we all see Jesus we'll sing and shout the victory

22:00 Y'all can have a seat? Thank you, Florine. That is so much fun. We just have a good time. I'm going to invite the frontline team to come forward would y'all all pray with me?

22:14 Lord, we thank you for the provision of the day. This this morning as we get up and you've renewed the earth with your rain over the past few days, lord and we look through it and see, my goodness. It is a wonderful, wonderful thing how you refresh us. Seasons where the blue skies overcome with clouds, Lord. And we feel that in our lives too, but we know that you are the provider, Lord, that sometimes those things that come upon us are absolutely necessary for our good, just like rain.

22:45 So Lord, would you please take a portion back? We're gonna give back right now, Lord. Some of what you've given to us financially, some of what you've given to us and entrusted us. We're giving back to say we trust you and we love you. We wanna see your good gospel advance.

23:00 We wanna see that in Jackson. We wanna see that in the state and our neighboring countries and to the ends of the earth. So, lord, would you bless? Also, lord, as we come to this time of, offering, I think of a couple of people who are hurting right now. We have among us family members of people who are sick elsewhere.

23:20 There are two ladies that have been here this morning whose relatives are very, very sick down in Texas. There is a lady here whose nephew is very ill, has been in a coma for several weeks after a motorcycle accident. And Lord, as we are sitting here and pondering everything good that you are doing, we know that there are laments too. So, Lord, would you please heal? Would you please comfort?

23:46 Whether it be those who are sick or those of us who are empathizing with them, Lord. I ask that you would take control, that we begin to see the other side of the tapestry, Lord. In Jesus name, would you bless this offering and each of those situations? Amen. Amen.

25:40 Thank you, Florina. So, we have gotten up to Romans 13. So, I started this sermon series. I had a I a professor in seminary. He said, never do a sermon series that's over seven sermons long ever.

25:59 They'll get so tired of it. Don't ever do one that's over seven sermons long. So, I started this series January 17. This is the thirteenth chapter of Romans. We're going to close off the section today.

26:11 We're going to be wrapping up the section that started at twelve one but honestly, this section looks like it's the end of Romans. It looks like it's the end of Romans without all the niceties. This is the end of the instructional section, moral, ethical, instructional section after a long passage on the underpinning theology and one little parenthetic question. So, if we had to go and look at the whole book of Romans, I think of a couple of life verses. We sang Amazing Grace in the first service this morning and John Newton wrote that and he was a former slave trader.

26:47 John Newton was. He wrote Amazing Grace and he hit a verse in Deuteronomy that was about having been a slave trader and it made all the difference. For some reason, when he read that, that caused things to click. He was convicted of his own sin and it made a change in his life and if I had to look at Romans has lots of those kind of stories. There are lots of places in Romans.

27:07 If I think of Tanya's life verse, it'd be in the fifth chapter, the first eight verses of Romans. She loves that. It's like one of the things that she just knows and God used that majorly in her life. If we look at Romans in the history of the church, we see a life verse for Martin Luther and the theme of the letter which is chapter one verses sixteen and seventeen that I'm not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power unto salvation for all who believe to the Jew first and also to the Gentile or Greek and that the righteous man shall live by faith. Verse 17.

27:42 So, that was Martin Luther's kind of wake up moment. That was the time when God arrested him and said, oh, it's not what I do. It's what I believe, and then what I do follows that. So, justification by faith. He picked it up also from the rest of Romans.

27:58 So, you get from that theme in 116 '17, immediately after that, it goes into this long section from 118 to 03/20, which Douglas Moo calls the universal reign of sin. No one is righteous. No, not one, not anybody and so, with that section, sin pervades and it lets you know that you too are sinful. Coming out of three twenty to three twenty one, it goes into justification by faith. He follows that with a chapter in chapter four following up from logic and from the Old Testament record on Abraham's life of how God justifies by faith.

28:34 Five, six, seven is all about this possibility now that Christ has given his life in the gospel, the good news because of Christ, what he has done. It's possible that you now can live by his spirit, that the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead can empower you if you're willing to yield your will to his and so, the yielding of the will becomes a very strong thing in chapter seven, six, and seven and then we get to seven fourteen through 25 where he goes, oh, but what I want to do is what I don't do and what I don't want to do is what I end up doing and there's the wrestling between living by the spirit and living by the flesh. So, he goes through that back and forth, back and forth for about eleven, twelve verses and then the next thing he says is, but thanks be to God who's given us the victory in Christ, the very end of chapter seven and sets up the great chapter eight. So, that was a two minute review of what we've done so far in Romans, okay? The great chapter eight is all about the victory that is available in Christ and that he superintends and even the things that we seem to be hurting the most through are meant for our good and for his glory.

29:53 So, all things work together for the good to those who love Christ and are called God love God and are called according to his purpose. He then talks about sanctification and when we get to the end of chapter eight, he said, nothing can separate us from love God, not angels, not demons, not height, not depth, not anything. Praise God. So, then, at chapter nine, all the way from chapter nine to chapter 11, we have a big parenthesis and this parenthesis is about the question of Israel. What's God going to do with Israel?

30:21 So, for three chapters, Paul talks about God's sovereignty right in the middle of it. He talks about man's responsibility and then, God's sovereignty and man's responsibility again. So, nine, ten, and 11 and even in the center section of that question, the gospel is right there. Dead center of that, it says, if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is lord, you will be saved because it's with the harp that you believe and it's with the mouth that you confess, okay? So, right in the middle of even that parenthetic section, the gospel is all over it.

30:54 So, we've got theology all the way through chapter eight, an answer to a theological question for three more chapters and then, chapter 12 is all application. It starts off in the very first verse talking about presenting your body as a living sacrifice. Carl preached a wonderful message on that at the beginning of this instructional section and then, it goes from serving God, serving the church, serving the greater community at large, being obedient to the government, and then I told you last week, it starts coming back in and focusing back in. So, that's where we are right now. I told them in the first service, this series from here forward is the shortest message I've prepared lately.

31:34 That's not all that promising. It's the shortest one I prepare. So, twelve one to thirteen ten though is the instructional passage that I'm talking about. So, this is the section that he's wrapping up and closing off, tying it up with a little bow today. I'm going to read you this section straight from the New American Standard Version of the Bible.

31:54 I'll try not to preach through it. You've heard that for the past few months. It's on the website if you have to hear it. I'm just reading you God's word because this today, the sermon is going to say, do this, okay? So, just listen to me.

32:07 Let it let it move you. I pray. And me. Therefore, I urge you, brethren, brothers and brothers and sisters, brethren, by the mercies of God, so that's the grounding. By the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship, your reasonable act of service and do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may prove what the will of God is.

32:41 That which is good and acceptable and perfect. So, that's the center of the bull's eye I've used for the past two weeks. Loving God first. He goes on to this section about the church. For through the grace that has been given to me, Paul says, I say to everyone among you, not to think more highly of yourself than you ought to think but to think so as to have sound judgment as God has allowed to each of you a measure of faith.

33:08 For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ. And individually, we're members one of another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace that's given to us, each of us is to exercise these gifts accordingly. If it's prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith. If it's service in his serving or he who teaches in his teaching or he who exhorts in exhortation.

33:40 He who gives, let him do so with liberality is what the NASB says or with sincerity. He who leads with diligence and he who shows mercy with cheerfulness. That's the way that we can serve the church. In verse nine, he goes on and says, and let love be without hypocrisy, abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.

34:03 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love, give preference to one another in honor, not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, and persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, Contributing to the needs of the saints and practicing hospitality. He goes on from here to talk about the greater, not just the church, but the greater community at large. Bless those who persecute you. Bless them and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

34:36 Be of the same mind toward one another and do not be haughty or arrogant in your mind but associate with the lowly one. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men and if possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God for it is written, vengeance is mine and I will repay, says the Lord.

35:06 But if your enemy is hungry, feed him and if he's thirsty, give him a drink for in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good. That's chapter 12 and if you're looking for a memory verse or memory chapter, why not? This is a good one. This is talking about the way that we should love, the way that we should live.

35:28 I'm going to keep going. Chapter thirteen one, a couple of weeks ago, we talked about our responsibility before the government. Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. Every soul is to be in subjection to the governing authorities for there's no authority except that from God and those which exist are established by God. Therefore, whoever resist authority is opposed to ordinance of God and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.

35:57 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior but for evil. Do you want to have no fear for authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same. For it is a minister of God. Governmental authority is a minister of God.

36:11 He calls him that two or three times right here. It's a minister of God to you for good but if you do what is evil, be afraid for it does not bear the sword for nothing. It is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. Therefore, it's necessary to be in subjection not only because of wrath but also for conscience sake. For because of this, you also pay taxes for rulers or servants of God devoting themselves to this very thing.

36:39 Render to all what is due them, tax to whom taxes do, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear honor to whom honor, owe nothing to anyone except to love one another. This is last week's sermon right here. Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet, and if there's any other commandment, it's summed up in this saying, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

37:09 Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law. We talked about Jesus, how he did that. We talked about the good Samaritan, how he did that. Love does no wrong to a neighbor.

37:20 Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law. So, that is the package. What I've just read right, what I have just read to you right here is gonna be wrapped up today with this nice, neat, little bow, okay? And it's only five verses long. The section titles, if you ever read commentaries and I do pretty much every week, I I read several of them and if you read commentaries, I love the titles because these guys dig and dig and dig and dig and they try to put it in one line.

37:45 What it means? This is John Murray's version of these five four verses. The approaching consummation, the eschatological motivation of Christian obedience. CEB Cranfield said that. Thomas Shriner, lately, moral urgency in light of the Escaton.

38:05 You know what? Archaeology is the study of the first things. Eschatology is the study of the last things. So, John Stott says, our relationship to the day, the great and mighty day of the Lord. Living in the already and the not yet.

38:22 Each one of those has something about the end times coming, the great and mighty day of the Lord is forecast in this passage and all of them pick up on that. Another set of commentaries, Grant Osborne says, living in light due to Christ's return. Charles Simeon, the nearness of salvation as a motive to your own diligence in your walk. CK Barrett, the urgency of the time. There is an urgency about the time in which he lived and the time in which we live and James Montgomery Boyce just says, sleepers awake.

38:55 That's great. If you look at these, they all point towards that great and mighty day as the foundation for why you should act the way that he's already told you you should be acting in the past two chapters. I like sleepers awake though. Sleepers awake. That one is saying, do this.

39:13 Pay attention to all of that theology we've studied for eight chapters for the last ten months. Then, that question of Israel just a parenthesis but it's got the gospel right in the middle. He's saying, do all this knowing the time that it's already the hour for you to awaken from your sleep. If you really look at the grammar, you see that that do that's in italics right there. It really technically is and and this.

39:39 So, it's appended. It's the last little thing after all of these chapters or these past two chapters of all this instruction, he says, and this, do this. Knowing the time that it's already the hour for you to awaken from sleep. Now, when I see sleep, I think of a whole lot of different places in the Bible where sleep is used as a metaphor. For one thing, sleep is used as a metaphor for those who are dead in Christ.

40:05 They are asleep in Christ and they will rise again. So, that's one of the ways but a lot of times, it's used to talk about laziness, slumber, or being unprepared for what's about to come. Do you get that? I think of Jonah and I'll mention Jonah towards the end of the sermon but I also think of this passage. Today, we're going to share communion too and on the night that Jesus was betrayed, after he had supper, he came to this place named Gethsemane and he said to his disciples, sit here until I have prayed for the whole group and then he took with him Peter and James and John and began to be very distressed and troubled and he said to them, my soul is deeply grieved to the point of death.

40:55 Remain here and keep watch. And he went a little beyond them and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass by him pass him by. This is Jesus at his absolute, most human, most anguished moment. And he was saying, Abba, father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me.

41:22 Yet, not what I will, but what you will will. It's the center point of all human history right there. Everything before and after hangs on his surrender to the father's will. He's got Peter, James, and John, his closest three disciples and he's asked him to keep watch and remain here with him. And in verse 37, we'll pick up again.

41:46 He came and found them sleeping. The center point of all human history and they're sleeping? Yep, they're sleeping. And he said to Peter, Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour?

42:01 Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. We've seen the spirit willing and the flesh is weak in Romans quite a bit. All of Paul's theology is grounded in the traditions of Jesus and his apostles. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

42:21 Again, he went away and prayed saying the same words and again, he came and found them sleeping. For their eyes were very heavy and they did not know what to answer him. And he came the third time and he said to them, are you still sleeping and resting? He had given them something to do. He said, stay here.

42:38 Keep watch. Are you still sleeping and resting? It's enough. The hour has come. Get up.

42:45 Let's be going. That's from Mark 14. Luke tells a story too. Matthew tells a story too. I think of that one when I think of this.

42:53 Do this. Knowing the time that it's already the hour for you to awaken from your sleep, from your slumber. For now, right now, salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. For now, salvation is nearer to us. Now, some people argue that this could have been a temporal thing that Paul is arguing, you know, that who knows who is going to come in and save him from the Romans.

43:16 I don't think that at all. I don't think there's any evidence for it at all. He's saying this and this is a very accurate translation of it too. Our salvation is nearer than when we believed and think about that logically, if I'm 45 years old and I am and I accepted Christ at 10 years old, I'm thirty five years closer to my eventual salvation than I was. When I accepted him 35 ago.

43:38 Are you with me? I thought that was me. Sorry. The rumbling, if there had been a trumpet blast right there, it would've been perfectly timed. Our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.

43:53 The night is almost gone and the day is near. The night is almost gone and the day is near. He's talking about that great and mighty day, the Escaton, the end of all time. Christ returned when he comes back. The day is near.

44:08 Therefore, because of that, because the day is near, now, let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light or the weaponry of light. Let us lay aside the deeds of darkness. He's saying that there is a moral urgency to the coming of Christ. There's a moral urgency to our job to remain watchful. To continue building his church, to continue witnessing.

44:36 He's saying, let us lay aside the deeds of darkness that are just like the world, really, and put on the weaponry of light. The light of his word, the light of his love. He's just said, love your neighbor and then he goes into this, lay aside the deeds of darkness, selfishness, and put on the armor of light. So, I mentioned life versus a bit ago for John Newton and for Martin Luther, the whole reformation starting on justification by faith, Sola Fide. Augustine, one, hundred years or so before, eleven hundred something years before.

45:17 Augustine lives. I don't I didn't put Saint Augustine up there because at this point that I'm going to talk about, he was not a saint, okay? He was Augustine. Aurelius actually and Augustine had mama who was a Christian and his dad was not a Christian. His dad was thoroughly steeped in a very liberal pagan education and was famous as far as rhetoric went and he was very careful about words and using words effectively and he wanted for his son to follow in those footsteps and become a great orator and be able to practice cases before law and to speak and to philosophy.

46:00 And so Augustine was a student of philosophy and he was brilliant. He also was able to persuade people in lot of ways. And so, Augustine followed more after his dad than his mom although he had a lot of respect for his mom, loved her, knew a lot about Christianity, and understood the tenants of Christianity and says, he attended church and he went along and knew how to act like a Christian but he did not act like a Christian. He did not go for it. He he went for it in a different way.

46:33 He would have been what you call a womanizer today and he was very much steeped in sexual promiscuity and and carousing and drunkenness and that sort of thing and so, when I mention life verses, I mentioned Augustine because his life verse was about to come up. That's the next two verses we're going to cover. Augustine was studying the Bible with one of his friends, Asparius or something like that. I can't pronounce his name and so, he is studying the Bible with him and he's frustrated by it. He's frustrated by his study because he understood the words that he was reading but he did not seem to feel any of the power he was reading about and because he knew his mom really believed this and he saw a Christian walk in his mom, knew his dad didn't, didn't really see it there.

47:23 He was troubled and he wanted to be saved. He wanted salvation but his prayer was something like this. For a long time, it was something like this. Lord, make me virtuous but not yet. He wasn't willing to completely commit to God's teaching, to a moral code, to virtue.

47:42 He just, lord, make me virtuous but not yet. Save me but not yet. In fact, part of his prayer was presently, presently. I'm right there. I'm almost persuaded but he had not fully committed and so, as he's studying the story goes and he wrote this in confessions by Saint Augustine.

47:58 It's a great book. If you haven't read it, it's not a not a long read but it's good. It's maybe PG 13 and beyond but it's really really good. The first section being about his profligate life and then the rest of it being after that. He says, I think in the first chapter, maybe even the first paragraph that a soul is restless until it finds its rest in God.

48:21 How true is that? So, Augustine, he was in the garden. He'd been studying with this friend and he was frustrated by it and he went and he said that he fell down on his knees and he was aggravated and he heard the voice of a child. He did not know whether it was a boy or a girl and he heard and I've heard a couple of different versions of this. One, is it was a child on a swing and swinging back and forth and the the what he heard them say was, take up and read, take up and read, take up and read back and and so he went back.

48:51 I'm not saying this is the best way to study the Bible but he went back and he took up and read and he did this. He opened it up and he hit that and he read this next passage right here. Let us behave properly as in the daytime. Not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity or sensuality, and not in strife and jealousy. What he'd been praying?

49:18 Lord, make me virtuous but not yet. I want to be able to do this stuff. I mean, I want the security of dying and being in heaven but I don't want to stop this until I'm too old to worry about it. So, carousing and drunkenness, sexual promiscuity, and sensuality defines his life. And that's what he read and this, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

49:45 Last week, when I finished the sermon, had one of you come to me and said, I can't do that. Love your neighbor. Love your neighbor. For you have fulfilled the law if you love your neighbor as you should, you know? He said, I can't do that and this is the thing.

49:57 Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the bow that that last sermon needed. If you don't do it in Christ, you don't do it. Our motto is with all we are loving God and loving people. If we stop right there, it'd be an impossible motto.

50:09 With all we are, loving God, loving people through Christ. Amen. Right. So, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lust. I could get very specific but I don't think I need to.

50:24 You each have some besetting sin, maybe more than one. Whatever that is, make no provision for that. Put on Christ. If you are a drinker and you are prone to drink, get rid of it. I did, I did need to say that one.

50:40 Apparently, I I just said one of em. If you are prone to the lust of the flesh, get rid of your access to things that allow you that sin. Make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lust. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the only way that you'll be successful in that.

51:00 So, that's that. I told you, that's the nice little bow. I have one more section from Jonah that I want to read. I'm not going to translate it much for you but Jonah. Jonah one, I'll read the first 10 verses or so, maybe 15 verses.

51:15 The word of the Lord came to Jonah and the son of Amatai saying, arise and go to Nineveh, the great city and cry out against it for their wickedness has come before me. Okay, Americans who are living in our society right now. Servants of God, Jonah, supposed to be servant of God, prophet of God, word of the Lord has come to him. Word of the Lord coming to you right now, okay? Their wickedness has come up before me but Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

51:42 So, he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare, went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He was trying to get away from God. The Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up. Then, the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his small G God and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them but Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship and he had lain down and fallen sound asleep. World going to hell in a handbasket and Jonah is sleeping.

52:26 So, the captain approached him and said, how is it that you are sleeping? Get up and call on your God and it was a small G God because this captain didn't know God. Perhaps, your God will be concerned about us so that we will not perish. It was looking out for himself but he wanted everybody to be doing what they could. Each man said to his mate, come, let us cast lots so that we may learn on whose account this calamity has struck us.

52:51 So, they cast lots and they, the lot fell on Jonah and then they said to him, tell us now, on whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?

53:06 They wanted to know all about him. You might think, well, they're superstitious but hey, the lots fell on him and he's going to agree with him in just a second. It was his doing. They had lots of questions about who he was, about what he believed and he said to them, I'm a Hebrew and I fear the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land. And then the man became extremely frightened and they said to him, how could you do this?

53:32 For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord because he had told them so. So, they said to him, what should we do that to you that the sea may become calm for us? For the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. Are we living in an increasingly stormy sea? Yes.

53:52 He said to them, pick me up and throw me into the sea, then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me, this great storm has come upon you. That's humility for him to admit that he's running from God. He's found asleep. He's not doing what he was given to do and he admits it. However, the men rode desperately.

54:16 They did not want to believe that was true. They did not want to do what he had said. They rode desperately to return to land but they could not for the sea was becoming even stormier against them and then they called on the Lord. Wait a second, these guys were calling on small G gods just a minute ago but when Jonah admits his lack, admits that he's been asleep, admits that he has not been doing what God's given him to do, they ask a bunch of questions. He answers them honestly and then they call on the capital L lord.

54:47 And said, we earnestly pray, oh Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man's life and do not put innocent blood on us for you, oh Lord, have done as you have pleased. So, they picked up Jonah. They threw him into the sea and they the sea stopped. It's raging. Then the men feared the Lord greatly.

55:06 These guys were converted. They feared the Lord greatly and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and they made vows to him. So, in our life, in our plan, I've used this slide a whole bunch of times. God chose how things were going to go. In Christ's work, he provides a way of salvation.

55:26 That is the gospel. The good news is not that we are sinful. That's the bad news. The good news is there is a way out of that sin. Christ's life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and session, and then the gospel witness goes forth and we are to be the ones carrying that forth.

55:43 That is what God has given to us to do. Teaching and admonishing one another. Psalms and hymns, spiritual songs but also always presenting the gospel. At the moment of belief, you're saved. Yes, but there is a process of living saved that as you yield your will to him, six, seven, and eight, the work of the Holy Spirit, he will sanctify you.

56:04 But when we are asleep at the wheel, we begin to decline. We are not growing in Christ and we begin to recede but he wants all of that story. He saved people through Jonah's rejection. When Jonah woke up. So, ultimately saved on that great, mighty day of the Lord.

56:26 We're looking forward to that day but until then, let us be awake, oh sleepers, and looking forward to then and directing other people. With this, the gospel, I'm not ashamed of it. It's the only thing that works. The gospel, the message of the cross. First Corinthians says, to those who are perishing, it's mere foolishness but to those who are being saved, it's the power of God.

56:48 Romans one hundred sixteen and seventeen says, to everyone who believes, it is the power of God for salvation. Amen. God, would you please bless? I'm going to ask the frontline team to come forward right now as we distribute this bread and we consider your life lived perfectly well for us. You never had a sinful day.

57:13 You never dwelt on a sinful thought. You never succumb to that lord. You were tempted in all the ways that we're tempted but lord, you lived your life perfectly and word and deed and so lord, we pray right now that we would remember that inspiring and perfect life that you lived in the body But, Lord, we'd also remember that it was your body that was given for us. It is what draws us together. It is what unites us, what brings us here this morning to hear your word and hear your good news.

57:45 So, God, would you have us dwell on your perfect life well lived in your body as we distribute this bread, lord. Pray that you would bless it and that you would bless each one who would partake. Lord, if they're not a believer, if they've never put their trust in you and they must let this plate pass. Lord, I pray that the person sitting next to him or down the street from him this afternoon would reflect you in such a way that they would be compelled to believe the gospel, that they'd be compelled to call out to you in faith. So, lord, please bless us as we distribute it.

58:19 Amen. On the same night that Jesus was betrayed. It was the same night we talked about where Peter and James and John fell asleep in the garden. Jesus took bread after supper and after he had given thanks, he blessed it and said, that this is my body that's given for you. Take this and eat and do it as often as you will in remembrance of me.

58:52 Lord Jesus, as I pondered this morning about your life so perfectly lived, every word so fitly spoken and every time when you didn't speak, when you could have. I was thinking about how inspirational that should be and is to us, lord, but without your shed blood for the remission of sins, all of that would have just been inspirational. So I thank you, Lord Jesus, that you have given your life, that you gave your blood as a ransom for many. So for everyone here who would partake, Lord, I pray that you would draw them into that greater and deeper understanding of what you have done for us. So, God, would you bless this cup as we distribute this symbol of your shed blood on our behalf.

59:43 Amen. That he had taken the bread. He took the cup after supper and he told to his disciples then and he tells us now that this is the new covenant in his blood. It's representative of the blood that he was about to shed.

1:00:00 This is

1:00:00 the new covenant in my blood. Take this and drink and do it as often as you will in remembrance of me. Amen. Would you all stand with me? And I think we'll just close with blessed be the tie that binds.

1:00:17 Do you all know that one? Okay. If you don't, sing like your neighbor next to you.

1:00:25 Blessed be the tithe that binds our hearts in Christian love. The fellowship of kindred hearts is like to that above. Amen.

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Armor Of Light Augustine Conversion Jonah Running From God Lords Supper Romans 13 Sleepers Awake

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