Work the Works While It Is Day

June 12, 2016 · Romans

Series · Romans · Week 43 of 85

Scripture referenced 7 passages

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

Jeremiah 17 opening verse read before worship: 'blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence'

1 “The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond. It is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of your altars.
2 Even their children remember their altars and their Asherah poles by the green trees on the high hills.
3 My mountain in the field, I will give your substance and all your treasures for a plunder, and your high places, because of sin, throughout all your borders.
4 You, even of yourself, will discontinue from your heritage that I gave you. I will cause you to serve your enemies in the land which you don’t know, for you have kindled a fire in my anger which will burn forever.”
5 Yahweh says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man, relies on strength of flesh, and whose heart departs from Yahweh.
6 For he will be like a bush in the desert, and will not see when good comes, but will inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, an uninhabited salt land.
7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in Yahweh, and whose confidence is in Yahweh.
8 For he will be as a tree planted by the waters, who spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes, but its leaf will be green; and will not be concerned in the year of drought. It won’t cease from yielding fruit.
9 The heart is deceitful above all things and it is exceedingly corrupt. Who can know it?
10 “I, Yahweh, search the mind. I try the heart, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”
11 As the partridge that sits on eggs which she has not laid, so is he who gets riches, and not by right. In the middle of his days, they will leave him. At his end, he will be a fool.
12 A glorious throne, set on high from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary.
13 Yahweh, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you will be disappointed. Those who depart from me will be written in the earth, because they have forsaken Yahweh, the spring of living waters.
14 Heal me, O Yahweh, and I will be healed. Save me, and I will be saved; for you are my praise.
15 Behold, they tell me, “Where is Yahweh’s word? Let it be fulfilled now.”
16 As for me, I have not hurried from being a shepherd after you. I haven’t desired the woeful day. You know. That which came out of my lips was before your face.
17 Don’t be a terror to me. You are my refuge in the day of evil.
18 Let them be disappointed who persecute me, but let not me be disappointed. Let them be dismayed, but don’t let me be dismayed. Bring on them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.
19 Yahweh said this to me: “Go, and stand in the gate of the children of the people, through which the kings of Judah come in and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem.
20 Tell them, ‘Hear Yahweh’s word, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates:
21 Yahweh says, “Be careful, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem.
22 Don’t carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day. Don’t do any work, but make the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers.
23 But they didn’t listen. They didn’t turn their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, and might not receive instruction.
24 It will happen, if you diligently listen to me,” says Yahweh, “to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but to make the Sabbath day holy, to do no work therein;
25 then there will enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on David’s throne, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city will remain forever.
26 They will come from the cities of Judah, and from the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the lowland, from the hill country, and from the South, bringing burnt offerings, sacrifices, meal offerings, and frankincense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving, to Yahweh’s house.
27 But if you will not listen to me to make the Sabbath day holy, and not to bear a burden and enter in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem. It will not be quenched.”’”

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Proverbs 22:6

quoted during child dedication: 'train up a child in the way he should go and even when she is old she will not depart from it'

6 Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

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Romans 7:1-4

main passage read and exposited: the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives, illustrated by the marriage analogy, leading to union with Christ through his death

1 Or don’t you know, brothers (for I speak to men who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man for as long as he lives?

2 For the woman that has a husband is bound by law to the husband while he lives, but if the husband dies, she is discharged from the law of the husband.

3 So then if, while the husband lives, she is joined to another man, she would be called an adulteress. But if the husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress, though she is joined to another man.

4 Therefore, my brothers, you also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you would be joined to another, to him who was raised from the dead, that we might produce fruit to God.

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John 9:1-38

narrative of the man born blind used throughout the sermon to illustrate simple obedience, simple testimony, and simple worship

1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.

2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

3 Jesus answered, “Neither did this man sin, nor his parents; but, that the works of God might be revealed in him.

4 I must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work.

5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, anointed the blind man’s eyes with the mud,

7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he went away, washed, and came back seeing.

8 The neighbors therefore, and those who saw that he was blind before, said, “Isn’t this he who sat and begged?”

9 Others were saying, “It is he.” Still others were saying, “He looks like him.” He said, “I am he.”

10 They therefore were asking him, “How were your eyes opened?”

11 He answered, “A man called Jesus made mud, anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash.’ So I went away and washed, and I received sight.”

12 Then they asked him, “Where is he?” He said, “I don’t know.”

13 They brought him who had been blind to the Pharisees.

14 It was a Sabbath when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.

15 Again therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, I washed, and I see.”

16 Some therefore of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he doesn’t keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” There was division among them.

17 Therefore they asked the blind man again, “What do you say about him, because he opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”

18 The Jews therefore did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and had received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight,

19 and asked them, “Is this your son, whom you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”

20 His parents answered them, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind;

21 but how he now sees, we don’t know; or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. He is of age. Ask him. He will speak for himself.”

22 His parents said these things because they feared the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if any man would confess him as Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.

23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age. Ask him.”

24 So they called the man who was blind a second time, and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.”

25 He therefore answered, “I don’t know if he is a sinner. One thing I do know: that though I was blind, now I see.”

26 They said to him again, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

27 He answered them, “I told you already, and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t also want to become his disciples, do you?”

28 They insulted him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.

29 We know that God has spoken to Moses. But as for this man, we don’t know where he comes from.”

30 The man answered them, “How amazing! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes.

31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God, and does his will, he listens to him.

32 Since the world began it has never been heard of that anyone opened the eyes of someone born blind.

33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

34 They answered him, “You were altogether born in sins, and do you teach us?” They threw him out.

35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and finding him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”

36 He answered, “Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him?”

37 Jesus said to him, “You have both seen him, and it is he who speaks with you.”

38 He said, “Lord, I believe!” and he worshiped him.

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John 9:4

we must work the works of him who sent me as long as it is day, night is coming when no one can work

4 I must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work.

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Acts 1:8

you are called to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the uttermost parts of the world

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”

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1 Corinthians 11

referenced during communion: Paul says when we do this we celebrate the death of Jesus until he comes again

1 Be imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ.

2 Now I praise you, brothers, that you remember me in all things, and hold firm the traditions, even as I delivered them to you.

3 But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.

4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head.

5 But every woman praying or prophesying with her head uncovered dishonors her head. For it is one and the same thing as if she were shaved.

6 For if a woman is not covered, let her hair also be cut off. But if it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut off or be shaved, let her be covered.

7 For a man indeed ought not to have his head covered, because he is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of the man.

8 For man is not from woman, but woman from man;

9 for man wasn’t created for the woman, but woman for the man.

10 For this cause the woman ought to have authority over her own head, because of the angels.

11 Nevertheless, neither is the woman independent of the man, nor the man independent of the woman, in the Lord.

12 For as woman came from man, so a man also comes through a woman; but all things are from God.

13 Judge for yourselves. Is it appropriate that a woman pray to God unveiled?

14 Doesn’t even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him?

15 But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair is given to her for a covering.

16 But if any man seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither do God’s assemblies.

17 But in giving you this command, I don’t praise you, that you come together not for the better but for the worse.

18 For first of all, when you come together in the assembly, I hear that divisions exist among you, and I partly believe it.

19 For there also must be factions among you, that those who are approved may be revealed among you.

20 When therefore you assemble yourselves together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat.

21 For in your eating each one takes his own supper first. One is hungry, and another is drunken.

22 What, don’t you have houses to eat and to drink in? Or do you despise God’s assembly, and put them to shame who don’t have enough? What shall I tell you? Shall I praise you? In this I don’t praise you.

23 For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread.

24 When he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in memory of me.”

25 In the same way he also took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in memory of me.”

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks the Lord’s cup in a way unworthy of the Lord will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.

28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup.

29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy way eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he doesn’t discern the Lord’s body.

30 For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few sleep.

31 For if we discerned ourselves, we wouldn’t be judged.

32 But when we are judged, we are punished by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.

33 Therefore, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.

34 But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest your coming together be for judgment. The rest I will set in order whenever I come.

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Recap

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

This message, preached by Ray, centered on union with Christ as the foundation of the Christian life, drawing on Romans 7:1-4 and the full story of the man born blind in John 9. Ray held off on the heart of Romans 7 to spend time on what that union actually looks like when it is lived out in obedience, testimony, and worship. John 9 carried the weight of the sermon as a narrative illustration of those three things working together.

What was said

Ray opened in Romans 7:1-4, where Paul uses marriage law to make a point about the believer's relationship to the law of God. The law has jurisdiction over a person as long as that person lives. Death ends that jurisdiction. Paul's argument is that through the body of Christ, the believer has died to the law and is now joined to Christ, who was raised from the dead, so that fruit might be borne for God. Ray identified that union with Christ as the thread running through everything that followed.

Before moving to John 9, Ray flagged the phrase "in order that we might bear fruit for God" as a call to active, obedient engagement with the world. Knowing Christ and making him known, he said, are two sides of the same thing. Union with Christ is the knowing, and bearing fruit is the making known.

The story of the man born blind opened with the disciples asking whose sin caused the blindness. Ray pressed hard on the assumption underneath that question, that suffering is reserved for those who deserve it. He called it a sticky and faulty piece of natural theology, and noted that Jesus flatly rejected it. The man was born blind, Jesus said, so that the works of God might be displayed in him. Ray connected this to John 9:4, where Jesus says "we must work the works of him who sent me as long as it is day, for night is coming when no one can work," pointing out that the "we" includes all who are united to Christ.

The man's obedience was simple and immediate. Jesus told him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. He went, he washed, and he came back seeing. Ray noted the grammatical pattern: two imperatives from Jesus, go and wash, followed by two past-tense verbs from the man, he went and he washed. The result followed directly from that plain obedience.

The man's testimony before the neighbors and then the Pharisees was equally simple. He told what he knew from his own experience. He did not have a theological argument prepared. He could only say what had happened to him. When the Pharisees pressed him, bullied him, and ultimately put him out of the synagogue, he held to the same account: I was blind, and now I see. Ray noted that there is no valid theological argument against a changed life, and that this is available to every believer regardless of how much Bible they know.

Jesus came back for the man after he had been excommunicated. He asked whether the man believed in the Son of Man, told him who he was, and the man said "Lord, I believe," and worshiped him. Ray described this as simple worship following from simple obedience and simple testimony, and said the whole shape of a Christian life can follow that same pattern.

Ray closed by returning to John 9:4 as a straight call to use whatever opportunities are at hand, because those opportunities will not always be there. He mentioned the shooting in Orlando that morning as an example of the kind of news that can tempt people toward dismissiveness rather than grief, and asked the congregation to let God challenge their natural assumptions about who deserves care. Working the works of God, he said, is not done to earn salvation but because God has already graciously given it.

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.

Pastor Ray pointed out that the disciples assumed the blind man or his parents must have sinned to cause his blindness, and he said that kind of thinking is sticky even today. Where do you notice that assumption showing up in your own reactions to other people's suffering or your own?
The man born blind obeyed two simple commands, go and wash, before he had any idea what the result would be. What does that kind of immediate, low-information obedience look like in your own life, and what makes it hard?

and 3 more questions in the guide

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Read the full transcript 7,354 words

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0:00 Hey. Good morning, church family. How are we doing? It's really good to see you. I, I look forward to this.

0:07 I really do. I look forward to, just blending our voices together in corporate worship and and really praising our God. So what do you say we stand up? I've got a verse here from Jeremiah, from 17. Jeremiah 17, but blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made, the Lord their hope and confidence.

0:34 Here in this worn and weary, here in this worn and weary land, many a dream has died Like a tree planted by the water never will run dry. Living water to know you and make you known Just to know you and to make you known. Lift your name on high. Shine like the sun made dark It's time for us to mourn and just survive. We were made to thrive.

1:48 Do you believe that? Amen. And to your word, we're digging deep. Know our father's heart. And to the world, we're reaching out.

2:02 Show them who you are. It's a living water, living water flowing through. God, we thirst for more of

3:09 I've got a couple of announcements, not many at all this morning but some important ones. That'll stay there. We have no clicker up here. So, if y'all go to the first one, it's Monday nights are are on. Carl is going to do tomorrow night from Nehemiah.

3:34 We're going to do contemplative scripture and song and then with communion,

3:40 right? Yeah.

3:40 Yep. Meal music and a message and then a communion meal at the end and that's on from Nehemiah and that's going to be fun. We've got the connect hour happening between services always. So, after this service and before the next, we'll have coffee and donuts and fruit and all kinds of good stuff down the hall. It's a good place to get together with folks from the next service but it's also a good place to get together with folks from this service who are hungry after the service.

4:06 So, Surf Shack VBS is happening. That is happening June twentieth to twenty fourth. So, getting closer and closer to that and thank you for taking the little slips. There was a table out there last week and y'all took slips of paper that had on them the supplies that we need for Vacation Bible School. I'm going to say now, please bring those back.

4:25 Whatever those supplies were that were on those little slips of paper and if you could get em in here by this evening, it would be very very helpful for Krista, right? Krista, she's back there in the back. Tonight, please. She is organizing those things in the groups and preparing them for next week and if you're volunteering, she's going to make your life a lot easier by having that stuff organized if it's here. One more note, preregistration which has been available online at firstbjackson.org.

4:50 Preregistration closes this Friday at noon so that we can just kind of gather all the people in the classes and know who's coming. It would be best to be preregistered but if not, we can always sign up on the day it starts that following Monday. Alright, everything good there? Yes, Renzi?

5:07 Ray, just two things real quick. One, your mic cord is crinkling, so pull that thing out of the pocket. Secondly, Bailey down in nursery did want me to tell everybody that though there is Sunday school is off for the summer, there is still nursery and it's for ages born through five. So, don't feel like you gotta keep those youngsters up here if you don't want to.

5:31 Okay. And that from

5:32 You can though. Ray loves it.

5:34 Who's got one of them, right?

5:35 I got one of them.

5:37 Two of them actually. So, the next thing this morning and I'm going to invite up three different families here. So, could I get the Galloways and the Verbergs and the Walk Ups to come forward and y'all can bring all the brothers and sisters, aunts, knuckles, and attendants, mom, Okay. Moms and dads, aunts, knuckles, grandparents too. So, this is gonna be, yeah.

6:05 About half of y'all. So I put the bass back up on the stand up there. I'm excited. I wanna introduce you first before we go into our little time of dedication but Nora Sophia Galloway was born in 10/04/2015 and this is Grant and Kristen. Grant's looking at the microphone wondering if I'm going to make him say anything.

6:36 Just in collection with everybody else. But this beautiful little girl has been a blessing, a long waited blessing in their life and marriage. Nora, Sophia, Galloway. We also have Malia, Gabrielle, Wakub, and she's over there. Joyous as ever.

6:58 Born July twentieth of last year, so she's going on a year old, about 11 old, almost. And we've got over here, Sienna Joelle Verberg. And Sienna is napping because Sienna is like just over a week old. She's nine days old. Sweet, sweet, little, precious baby girl after a long and arduous pregnancy.

7:22 Yeah, we've been praying for Emily for most of the time. Yep. So, she was born twenty two inches long, nine pounds, and four ounces last Friday night. Yeah, not this past Friday but the Friday before. So, I'm going to ask y'all.

7:35 So, brothers and sisters in Christ today, Grant and Kristen Galloway have come to bring their beautiful eight month old Nora Sophia. Eric and Colleen have come to bring their almost 11 old baby girl Malia. Nate and Emily have come to bring this brand new baby, Sienna, Joel Verberg, to acknowledge and profess their dependence on the Lord to raise her all of these parents. So, would you pray with me, church? Let's pray.

8:03 Almighty God and eternal father, we ask today humbly for your blessing that it would rest upon the lives of each of these three little girls. May each of them grow up in your nurture and admonition and may they see in their parents and their grandparents, their aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, and church family. Many godly examples that will give them the deepest desire to know you from the cradle. Lord, will you convict each of us of our own sin and convince each of us of your righteousness through your Holy Spirit. We know lord that you're the only one who can confer favor of any eternal significance and we ask you to do that and we ask you to do that through these parents willing submission to you.

8:49 We ask that you'd bless these babies. We bow to you and we ask that your goodness and mercy would follow these gals from this day forward. May Grant and Kristen fall deeper and deeper in love with one another and with you. I pray the same for Eric and Colleen that they would fall deeper deeper in love with one another and with you and for Nate and Emily too that they would fall deeper and deeper in love with one another and with you. We ask all of this in Jesus name for your greater glory, oh God.

9:20 Amen. So, Grant and Kristen, do you come professing Jesus Christ as the Lord and savior of your lives? Grant and

9:27 Kristen. Yes.

9:29 Amen. Eric and Colleen, do you come professing Jesus Christ as the Lord and savior of your lives? Nate and Emily, do you come professing Jesus Christ as the Lord and savior of your lives, do you? Yes, we do. Amen Alright Do you all come to dedicate yourselves to humble biblical instruction discipline and love of your child?

9:52 Do you? All of you. Whoo. Amen And do you dedicate Nora, Me and Sienna respectively and ultimately to the will of God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

10:04 And now, for all of y'all, you're the assembled representatives of the church, capital C Church, but of this church body too. Do you agree to support these parents by your own example and through acts of service? And do you agree to reinforce the humble, biblical instruction, discipline, and love that these children are to receive under the supreme rule of the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you? Do you.

10:28 Proverbs twenty two six says, to train up a child in the way that he or she in this case, all three of em are she's. Should go and even when she is old, she will not depart from it. Would you all join me me with me one more time in prayer? Almighty and eternal father, we bring Nora and Sienna and Malia to you today, full of love and wonder for the precious gifts that they are, but also loving you with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength. As a church body, Lord, we desire to be part of raising these little girls up to love you and serve you.

11:07 Please help us to reflect your light day by day as they grow up in your pleasing and perfect will. We pray for your blessing in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Thank you.

11:20 And greet these folks. Y'all could y'all could stand and greet one another right now.

11:40 Wrong for the hard till I am a soul on fire. Lord, I'm on for ways waiting for the day when I am a soul on fire. When I am so on fire. God, I'm running. God, I'm running for your heart, running for your heart till I am a soul on fire.

12:20 Lord, I'm longing for your ways, waiting for a day when I am a soul on fine. Till I am a soul on fine. Run for your heart till I am a soul on fire. Lord, I'm longing for your ways waiting for the day when I am a soul on fire till I am a soul on fire. Lord, let me burn for you again.

13:30 And let me return to you. Let me return to you again. Lord, let me burn fire. Lord, I'm longing for your ways waiting for a day when I am a soul on fire. Till I am a soul on fire, till I am a soul on fire, till I am a soul on fire.

14:53 A rock of ages.

14:59 There for me. Let me hide And not the labors of my hand. Don't feel that lost demand. And could my die. And while I draw this fleeting bread me hide myself in thee

17:49 Lord, that's that's our prayer, and that is that is our song. This morning, everything that we've done so far has really, just been a song or a demonstration of how much how much we need you. And I thank you that you're our creator and our sustainer and that you've made us for you, to worship you, to be worshipers of you. And, God, just thankful for the cross. And as we are leading toward communion, I I I don't wanna come at it lightly, that we really live in full will of the or and and the just being in awe and reverence of you, knowing that you've paid our sin in full, and we sing about it.

22:41 All could be seated. And while you're seating, I'd like to like to praise worship team or the frontline team comes forward to participate here in the worship through giving. God, we we do gather by grace. We do draw near by grace, and I thank you that you meet us right where we're right where we're at. And I thank you for the price that you paid, your sacrificial life, your death, your resurrection, and then your spirit living in and through us right now.

23:13 And for that, we're grateful. It really is your love that is so amazing and so divine. It demands our soul, our life, our all. And so as we give Fierce just a just one one thing, one little part, one piece of our life, we say, here, thank you. We give with an open hand and we thank you for all you do with it.

23:33 Christ's name, amen.

27:50 Beautiful, Kale. Thank you. Oh, We are going to start off in Romans today but I'm going to just go ahead and tell you. So, we've been going along. We've gone through all the way through Romans six, the end of six, and we've gotten up to seven and I told you last week, this week would be Romans seven and as I studied this week, I already kinda know what it says.

28:11 You know, this is one of those that's hung with me for a long time. Before seminary, when somebody would have said, oh you know, that's just Acts two or that's just Romans seven or that's just first Corinthians 11, whatever. If they had said that sort of thing, I would have said, Yeah and just kinda smile like I knew what they were talking about. Five straight years of it being kinda pounded into your head, I kinda start nowhere they're jumping around. Roman seven is when I knew even before that because it's that place where Paul says in the first person that the things that I would do, I do not and the things that I do not wanna do, I end up doing and that's a hard struggle and I've been talking about our sanctification process for the last few weeks and we'll get to it again next week but as I was prayerful and preparing this week, I don't feel like I'm ready to preach that passage.

28:59 So, I'm gonna start in Romans seven and I'll keep on preparing and next week, we'll get there. I hope. I pray. Pray for me. It's not an easy passage to present because it is intensely personal.

29:11 Now, three or four of y'all have reached out to me this week and said, man, this is hard stuff but it's encouraging or this is hard stuff. What does this mean? And as I'm going, I'd like for all of you to kinda read ahead a little bit. So, Romans seven, if you could put that down for something to do at some point this week, read over it. Early in the week would be great and then you'll have a chance to process.

29:32 Trust me, it's not not an easy passage but it is a great one and I think it's one of those passages that will help us towards victory in Christ. So, would you do that for me? Alright. Well, I'm gonna go from Romans to John and I'm gonna tell a story. It's a narrative story from John's gospel and I'll hit some highlights.

29:54 I have preached through the gospel of John here before so y'all will recognize this story. You those of you who've been here a long time but there are lot of you who haven't been here a long time. So, we're gonna go through and I'm gonna take a different take on it than I did the last time through. So, work for the night is coming is coming but the united in Christ part will start right here in Romans. So, Romans seven, the first four verses is what we'll go through.

30:21 He starts off or do you not know, brethren? For I am speaking to those who know the law. Now, when he says, brethren, he means brothers and sisters in Christ but I think he's talking of an even closer relation. Those brothers and sisters in Christ who are of the same flavor, Jewish flavor that Paul is. So, do you not know brethren?

30:41 I'm speaking to those who know the law because there are a lot of Gentile and pagan Christians there that had come out of paganism or other religions and not Judaism. He's saying, I'm speaking to the ones who know the law, that the law, that is the law of God, the law given to Moses, has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives. Now, remember chapter six, he kept talking about dying, dying, dying, dying, dying, being dead, and reckoning yourself as dead to sin. He's gonna go into right now the law because that's what lets us know that we sin. That the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives.

31:22 For the married woman is bound to her husband bound by law to her husband. Old testament definition of marriage was lifetime and if there was a separation or a divorce of any kind, if that person just says, for the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living. But if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning that husband. So then, if while her husband is living, she's joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress but if her husband dies, she is free from the that law. She's free from the law so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.

32:02 Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the law through the body of Christ. There it is again, substitutionary atonement. God sent Jesus to die for sins. For other people's sins. Jesus had no sin.

32:20 Therefore, my brethren, you also are made to die to the law through the body of Christ so that you might be joined to another, to him who was raised from the dead. So that you might be joined to him who was raised from the dead. You might be joined, united with Christ. I'm stealing old slides all the time because some themes keep coming up. Union with Christ in Galatians.

32:45 This is from Galatians three sermon. Union with Christ through faith is what it is all about. So that you might be joined to him who was raised from the dead in order that we might bear fruit for God. God not only wants to save you, not only wants to unite you with himself and reconcile you but he wants to use you to reconcile others, to bring fruit. That requires obedience on your part.

33:16 It requires something of you and so that's where the work for the night is coming part of this sermon comes from. I had somebody else text me this week and said, tell me about John nine four. Especially in light of John nine three and so I started going after that in my study too and I was really impressed with how well these two concepts fit together. This is a hard passage for a different reason. In our society, we don't define adultery in the same way that the Old Testament defines it.

33:49 If you are outside of your marital vows to the person you're married to at the moment, then that's adultery. The way that it was defined here is for life and so, death was required and that's his point and if I preach this in the context of all of Romans seven or the first half of Romans seven and you get hung up on this part and you think, oh my goodness, if someone's, wait a second, you start spinning off into, let's focus. So, next week, I hope it'll be easier to focus that I'm not presenting this first, okay? I'm presenting this first because of this. Therefore, brethren, you are also made to die to the law through the body of Christ.

34:30 He died in your stead so that you might be joined to another, to him who was raised from the dead in order that we might bear fruit for God. Now, the seminary, it was funny that we sang the first song we sang this morning was just to know him and make him known. We lift your name on high. My the seminary I went to was this Columbia International University and their slogan since 1923 is to know him and make him known and I think that this right here, the so that you might be joined to him, that's the knowing him and so that you might bear fruit for God is the making him known. So, we're gonna go backwards right here.

35:09 Backwards to where whence we came. Work for the night is coming and I'm gonna use the whole story of John nine one through 38 and it is the story of the man who was born blind. We'll go through the whole thing that I wanna come back to four at the very end and then, we're gonna go into a time of communion, Lord's supper at the end. So, as he passed by, that's Jesus, capital H there. As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth and his disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sent?

35:42 This man or his parents? That he would be born blind. Before we go on, there are some assumptions right there. There is a natural theology or a primitive religion that is very very sticky among human beings that bad things happen to bad people and good things happen to good people. Suffering is reserved for those who deserve it.

36:08 Now, is that true? No. Absolutely not true. But when you are trying to go through a circumstance, I mean, the oldest, probably the oldest book that we have of the Bible is Job and it is the story who was an upright man and righteous in all of his ways. It says at the beginning and then, boils and pestilence and losing his family.

36:32 Bad things happen to bad people, good things happen to good people. Suffering is reserved for those who deserve it. Is a faulty assumption and Jesus clears it up for them. Jesus answered them and said, it was neither that this man sinned nor his parents. Now, we know that they all had sinned but it was not because they had sinned that this man was blind.

36:56 It was neither that this man sinned nor his parents but it was so that the works of God might be displayed or made manifest in him. So, Jesus says, that's not true. Your assumptions are faulty just because he's blind does not mean he's a bad guy or that his parents or grandparents for that matter are bad guys. We must resist this kind of thinking and it is sticky, people. I I can still remember having flat tires or battery problems in the car and my dad said, you must not be living right.

37:26 Like, like my flat tires and my battery were related to my living. Maybe. No. No. Resist that kind of thinking.

37:34 It's not. Bad things happen to all people and good things happen to all people. God causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust. Now, Jesus says in nine four, we must work the works of him who sent me. So, we must do the work of God.

37:51 We must work the works of him who sent me as long as it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world. Union with Christ now through faith is what it's all about and if you look right here, it says, we, we, who is Jesus talking about? He's talking about himself and some other people.

38:14 That's what we means. We, those who are united with me. Through faith. In fact, you know that because he also says, you are the light of the world. Speaking to his disciples, those followers that have come after him, who put their trust in him, who love him, who are trusting in him for their salvation, and for their life.

38:37 You are the light of the world. Actually, that goes on to say, so let your light shine before men so that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven. So, it fits with this theme but Jesus said, while I am in the world, I am the light of the world. Now, when Jesus ascended into heaven and he gave his charge to his disciples, they were to be his witnesses. The body of Christ.

39:01 It's continuing. When he converted Paul, he said, Paul or Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Now, was Paul, Saul, persecuting Jesus directly? Was he one of the ones who nailed him to the cross? Was he one of the ones hurling insults at him?

39:18 Not that we have any record of but he was persecuting the church, the body of Christ. Those who are in union with Christ, he was persecuting the followers of the way and Christ equated that with him because his union with his church is that strong. When I'm in the world, I'm the light of the world and when he had said this, he spat on the ground, he made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to the man's eyes and said to him, go, wash in the pool of Siloam which is translated scent. I think that John just thought that was funny. He sent a man to a pool named Scent.

39:58 Go, wash in the pool of Siloam. So, he went and washed and came back seeing. The first thing I want you to see there is it was just simple, straight up, simple obedience. Now, last week, I mentioned that there are two there were there are three main moods in English that we use but I talked about two of em. Indicative and imperative and to start off with, Jesus gives two imperatives.

40:22 His two imperatives were go and wash and the indicative verbs that came after that, past tense indicatives, he went and he washed. That was simple obedience. He did exactly what Jesus said immediately when he said it. And the results of that were what? He came back seeing.

40:46 So, here we go. John nine eight through 12 says this, therefore, the neighbors and those who previously saw him as a beggar were saying, is not this the one who used to sit and beg? Looks like him. Others were saying, this is he. Still others were saying, no, but he's like him.

41:03 It looks like him. He kept saying, I'm the one. No, really, people. I'm the one. It was me.

41:10 So, they were saying to him, well, how then were your eyes opened? And he answered, the man who has called Jesus, made clay, and anointed my eyes, and said to me, go to Siloam and wash. So I went away and washed, and I received sight. And they said to him, where is he? And he said, I don't know.

41:32 But he had already told them what he knew. Right? He just given them a simple rundown of what happened. The results of his obedience were that he came back seeing. The neighbors were confused.

41:45 Some of them thought one thing, some of them thought something else. People asking what happened and he started explaining it but word of a man who had been blind since birth, now seeing, word got out and this brought that man some attention, probably some, I don't know, might have been unwelcomed attention. It got bigger. They brought to the Pharisees, the man who was formerly blind. Y'all know who the Pharisees are.

42:15 They are the religious zealously religious legalist. I started to say the religious right. That might hurt y'all's feelings. It's the religious right. Alright, they were the on the they were religious students of the law.

42:29 There were many many of em I'm sure who were completely sincere but they brought to the Pharisees the man who was formerly blind. Now, it was a Sabbath on the day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. The plot thickens. Can y'all hear the music? It was a Sabbath on the day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.

42:53 Then the Pharisees also were asking him again how he received his sight. And he said to them, he, Jesus, applied clay to my eyes and I washed and I see. Therefore, some of the Pharisees were saying, this man is not from God because he does not keep the Sabbath. Sorry. But others were saying, how can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?

43:19 And there was a division among them. You'll notice this every time that Jesus does anything in John. There's going to be a division between those who believe and those who reject. Some sneer, same thing for Paul in a lot of cases. Acts 17, some snare, some accept, and some say, I want to hear more about that.

43:39 There was a division among them. So, said to the blind man again, what do you say about him since he opened your eyes? And he said, well, he he's a prophet. The Jews then did not believe it of him that he had been blind and had received sight until they called the parents of the very one who had received his sight and they questioned them saying, is this your son who you say was born blind? Then, how does he now see?

44:12 His parents answered them and said, well, we know that this is our son. We're sure of that and that he was born blind. We're sure of that but how he now sees, we don't know or who opened his eyes? We don't know. Ask him.

44:25 He is of age. He will speak for himself. Now, they knew that they were talking to a religious panel of zealots that had the power to kick them out of the church. So, they, you just ask him, we don't know. We don't have any experience with this at all.

44:40 We don't know. Ask him. He's of age. He'll speak for himself. His parents said that this his parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews.

44:48 For the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed him to be Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. Thank you, John. I just explained that. Now, John explains it. Good.

44:57 For this reason, his parents said, he is of age, ask him. So, second time, they called the man who had been blind. I love that. They called the man who had been blind. And said to him, give glory to God.

45:10 We know that this man is a sinner. They had made up their mind about Jesus. He then answered, whether he's a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind now, I see. Amen.

45:25 John Newton stole those lines, you know? I once was blind but now I see. So, they said to him, what did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? And he answered them, I told you already and you did not listen.

45:38 Why do you want to hear it again? You don't want to be his disciples too, do you? They reviled him and they said, you are his disciple but we are disciples of Moses. Now, Romans seven is about either being united with Christ or united with the law. The law applies to everyone The death of Christ, your death with Christ is what exempts you from that law.

46:08 Your union with Christ. He fulfilled it, raised to walk in newness of life. You are his disciple. You are united to him but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God had spoken to Moses.

46:24 We're sure of that but as for this man, we don't even know where he's from. Hey, he's just talked to his parents. They just talked to a bunch of witnesses that told him exactly where this man used to sit, exactly how he was for the whole time they've known him. They talked to him himself. We know that God spoke to Moses.

46:39 We don't even know where this guy's from. The man answered and said to them, well, here it is, an amazing thing that you do not know where he's from and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not hear sinners. We know he's saying that God does not hear sinners. That's some more of that faulty assumption theology right there but if anyone is God fearing and does his will, he hears em.

47:06 Since the beginning of time, it has never been heard that anyone open the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. That's quite a testimony from that guy. Pretty simple but it's it's a testimony and they answered him, you were born entirely in sins and you're teaching us and they put him out. They excommunicated him.

47:26 They kicked him out of the synagogue of the assembly. So his simple testimony oh, a simple testimony in general is just telling what you know to be true based on your firsthand experience. When you're called to give testimony at court, you're just supposed to say what you know from your first hand experience. It's not hearsay what you heard from somebody else. It's what you know to be true in your experience.

47:51 So, the results of that testimony were this, the naysayers got involved. In this case, it was the Pharisees. Today, it might be secularists, it might be any number of groups that have assembled themselves on the internet. It could be lots of different people, naysayers. The simple testimony about Jesus invited naysaying.

48:11 They questioned him and they didn't believe him. They threatened him and they bullied him and ultimately, they excommunicated him. A simple Christian testimony is telling what you know to be true based on your first hand experience and I could say right now, your union with Christ. What Christ has done in your life. Now, Romans seven, yes, it is about the struggle.

48:32 Romans six is about dying to sin. Romans seven is about working that out. In Romans eight, there's no condemnation in Christ Jesus. That's our testimony. For those who are in Christ, there is no condemnation.

48:47 Abundant life begins at the point point of belief. And I wanna say this right now too. If you feel like you don't know enough theology to help in any kind of a conversation with somebody, in a witnessing situation, if you feel like you don't know enough theology or you have don't know enough about the Bible, There's no valid theological argument against your changed life. So, if Jesus has done anything for you, whatever it is, you can say that and you can say it with assurance. There's no valid argument against that.

49:24 Alright. So, John nine thirty five to 38 says this, Jesus heard that they had put him out of the synagogue and finding him again, Jesus said, do you believe in the son of man? And he answered, who is he lord that I may believe in him? And Jesus said, you have both seen him. Now, he said this to a man formerly blind.

49:47 The first person this man saw was Jesus. Jesus said to him, you have both seen him and he is the one who is talking with you. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshiped him. That is simple worship.

50:06 He goes from who is he lord so that I might believe in him and Jesus told him who he was and he said, I believe and he immediately worshiped him. So, simple obedience, simple testimony, and simple worship. That's the first, those are the three points I used the last time I preached that sermon. Union with Christ through faith though is what it's all about. Jesus came back around.

50:33 He helped him physically to begin with and he probably wasn't the first one he saw because he sent him to the pool to watch. So, when he watched and he came back, he may have seen others on the way but when he got back, he certainly recognized the voice of the man who told him to go. And that is where he was united with Christ. Through faith Simple obedience, simple testimony, simple worship. Now, I wanna mention something else.

51:01 In Acts one eight, I've already mentioned it once. He called, you are called to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the uttermost parts of the world. We are not called to be his lawyers or his judges. You remember the little girl from last week? You worry about yourself?

51:16 You worry about yourself. We're called to be his witnesses. You can tell of your firsthand experience with him. It's hard to look at somebody else's life and say, they're saved. They're not saved and when you start calling balls and strikes, you're not the umpire, alright?

51:33 You're a witness. Now, application points. Allow God to challenge your natural assumptions. We tend to look down on certain segments of society or certain people and it might be racial, it might be any of a manner of things. I actually just got news this morning from Ryan.

51:53 He had heard a news report that happened in Orlando. I've not read this anywhere soon, I just got it from Ryan, that fifty people were killed last night in a club in Orlando, and it was typically a bar that was a gay bar. And there may be something in you that wants to go, bar. Let God challenge your natural assumptions on that. There are people created in the image of God, sinners just like we are.

52:27 I used the black Jesus up here for the same reason in the picture. That's an Ethiopian little painting. Allow God to challenge your natural assumptions. First off, and simply obey what he asked you to do. Now, this could be very different for a lot of us.

52:49 We say we're not blind. I mean, we're not blind. So, go and wash is not what he's necessarily telling us to do But we may have resources that we could use, and he may say, go and do this. Go and support that. We may see someone who is hurting, and we may know how to fix what is hurting them, and go and help.

53:18 Whatever it is that he directs you to do through his spirit, simply obey. We know that Jesus was always obedient, and simply testify. You don't have to have a degree in theology to testify. You just need to be able to say what he's done for you. Amen.

53:33 And simply worship him. Your whole life can be an act of worship to him. I love singing and that's great and we worship him well, I think and we had a ball last Wednesday night. We had the combined worship gathering with River Crossing and the PCJH Church and that was great but you can worship him in the car rolling down the highway. Union with Christ through faith is what it's all about.

53:59 Now, back to 94. 94. Says, we, we, that means, Jesus and all who who are united to him. All who are united to Jesus and Jesus is we. Must work the works.

54:16 For salvation? No. It is not for salvation. It is because he has graciously saved us. We must work the works of him who sent me.

54:27 We must work the works of God as long as it is day. This is obviously a metaphor as long as it is day for night is coming. This is the place where Jesus says, do what you can when you can. Does that make sense? Take every opportune moment, every time that something is presented, take that opportune moment and do something with it because night is coming when no one can work.

55:01 You don't know how long your life will be. You don't know if you will have that opportunity again. So, when the opportunity presents itself, in Jesus's case, it was on the Sabbath and he knew that and he knew that this was work and he did it anyway and he challenged the religious establishment by doing so and he knew this was probably December before he is crucified around Easter. April, March, April. Just in the last three or four months, this heightened the intensity.

55:37 If you look at John, it gets more and more intense all the way to the cross from here but just that, he did it anyway. So, work the works of God prompted by his spirit as long and as often as you get that direction because night is coming when no one can work. That's John nine four. The rain falls on the just and the unjust. Bad things happen to good people, but good people, you can help.

56:14 Do it because night is coming when you won't be able to. I think that's it. Now, we're gonna remember right now. I'm gonna invite the frontline or the elders to come forward. We'll go straight into a time of communion.

56:28 Right, Carl? We'll close with a song at the end. God almighty, you're the maker of heaven and earth and we bow to you. We love you. Thank you for the blessings of the morning, for those three little girls, for their parents.

56:48 Lord, that you are ever present with us through our union with Christ. God, if there's anyone in this building right now that does not know you, would you draw them close? Would you use us to do it? Would you give us a work, lord? Something that we could say a word, an encouragement, a question, a challenge, a prompting, whatever.

57:10 In Jesus name, lord, would you bless this bread as we distribute it? As we remember your perfect life, one that was given, your body, it was broken for us. In Jesus name, lord, would you bless this bread? Amen. Now, on the same night that Jesus was betrayed, he took bread after supper and after he had given thanks, he broke it and he said, this is my body that is given for you.

1:02:01 Do this in remembrance of me. Lord Jesus, we thank you for your perfect life That in all the ways that you are tempted just like we're tempted, you're without sin. We thank you that you lived a perfect life so that you could give, spill your blood, your unblemisher, innocent blood on our behalf. So, lord, we ask in remembrance of that blood spill that you would bless this cup as we pass it out as we distribute. Bless each one who partakes, lord, and if anyone needs to let it pass, would you draw them close?

1:02:49 Amen. In the same way that he took the bread, he took the cup after supper and he said to his disciples gathered there, that this is the new covenant in my blood. Now, old covenant was that of the law and the new covenant, union with Christ, the new covenant in my blood. Take this and drink. And do it as often as you will in remembrance of me and Paul goes on to say in the eleventh chapter of first Corinthians that when we do this, we celebrate the death of Jesus until he comes again.

1:07:36 Now, what brings us into union with Christ is the death of Jesus Christ. Would you stand with us? We're gonna sing a sort of a creed.

1:08:44 In the we believe that he conquered death we believe in the resurrection and he's coming back again we believe

1:09:15 this week, would you go knowing that you believe this and ask God what it is that he'd have you to do. Simply obey it, simply testify whenever you get the chance, and just simply worship it. In Jesus name, amen.

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