Father, we ask that you gently but deeply pour out your Holy Spirit upon us so that we might hear your word, understand your word, that your word might enter deeply into our lives, and that as your word enters deeply into our lives, not only will we know more of your grace and freedom, but we will bear much fruit for your glory to the ends of the earth.
And this we ask in Jesus' name, your Son and our Savior. Amen.
Amen. Please be seated. Oh, sorry, I'm trained.
But we're going to talk about ritual and all that in a moment, but you can see I have been trained.
If you're a guest here this morning, normally you're all standing because of the creed, and so I just instantly go into saying the same words.
So here's the thing. This past Monday, this is not going to surprise people who are regular here in the church.
I was at a Starbucks. I was leaving the Starbucks. I was going to go one way, and then I thought, no, I'll go the other way.
And as I go, one of the baristas that I've talked to a fair bit over the years, she's putting some cups and all there, and I'm just going to throw my cup out.
And I say, you know, how's it going? You know, how's it going? You know, you say, how's it going? What's the response?
Oh, it's fine. How's it going with you? Oh, it's fine. It doesn't matter.
And I ask her, how's it going? And she says, my life is terrible. My life sucks. I hate myself. I feel like killing myself. Everything is terrible.
And I'm saying it with a smile, but she did not say it with a smile. She said it with seriousness.
And so, you know, I'm a pastor. I should do something religious.
When somebody says that, I felt like saying, let's take a collection because that's pretty religious.
But instead, you know, I try to say something hopeful, you know, or whatever.
And she cuts me off after I'm trying to do my hopeful bit.
And she said, you know, there's these born-again Christian types. Have you heard of them?
I said, well, that actually would probably be me. I'm one of those types.
And she said, well, those born-again types, those born-again types, don't they believe that if Hitler, just before he died,
if he gave his life to Jesus, he'd go to heaven?
What do you think of that?
Well, I'm going to tell you roughly what I said in a few moments, but our text today talks about that.
And so it would be very helpful for me if you'd get your Bible.
And if you don't have a Bible of your own and you'd like to follow,
we're looking at the Book of Romans, which John just read a couple of moments ago.
There's always extra Bibles here at the front.
You can take them as a gift or you can bring them back afterwards.
And I tried in my sputtering best, very imperfectly, you know, if somebody had been videotaping this interchange,
it would not have ended up wanting to be in my great moments of conversation with people.
I stumbled through some things, but it's been on my mind all week.
And it's really appropriate that this is also the same week that we're looking at Romans 1.
And if you're wondering, today is the first Sunday in a sermon series.
We're going to go all the way through the Book of Romans.
And, you know, maybe I'll put on the webpage this week the different texts,
at least over the next few weeks that we'll be looking at.
And the sermon series is called Grace-Filled Life, Grace-Filled Life.
But that's, so, so, Hitler dying just before he dies.
He gives his life to Jesus.
He goes to heaven.
Like, what do you think about that?
And so here's how the text goes.
Verse 1 of Romans, chapter 1, verse 1.
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.
Now, just pause right here.
This is actually the first seven verses or one long sentence in the original language.
And so it's almost a little bit like once you get on it, it's almost like a water slide.
You can hardly even catch your breath, and it just sort of zooms you right down to the end.
But I just want to pause here before we read any further.
And, Andrew, if you could put up the first point.
Here's the first thing that we've got to see.
The gospel is good news from God.
Good news.
And if I should have bolded news or put it underlined or something.
The gospel is good news from God to ordinary people.
That's what it says here in verse 1.
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.
And the word gospel means good news.
And when it says gospel of God, it means it's good news from God.
And as we're going to see that it's good news from God to ordinary people like you and me.
Not just to religious people or spiritual people.
It's good news to Muslims, to Jews, to Africans, to Asians, to Canadians, to rich people, to poor people, to people who have same-sex attraction, to those who don't like those who have same-sex attraction, to well-educated and poor-educated, to people who go to bars a lot and people who absolutely never go to a bar.
It's the gospel is good news from God to ordinary people.
And it's really important.
The reason I wanted to have news bolded is because, and the reason the sermon series, today's sermon, I wanted to try to say that the gospel is radically different than either religion or spirituality.
Because, you see, one of the things that characterizes religion and characterizes spirituality is that they're basically all about advice.
They're basically about advice, about how you need to live or what you need to do, what yoga postures you need to accomplish, what mantras you've got to say, what dietary laws you've got to follow, when you can get drunk, when you should never get drunk.
But whatever it is, maybe religion is sort of mean and cold and hard and means going to terrible, boring places like churches.
And spirituality means that you can play golf on a Sunday morning and then go to yoga and never go to church.
And the rules are maybe very more relaxed, that you eat local and think global and all that type of stuff, as opposed to, you know, mean religion.
But whatever it is, they all ultimately give you advice, tell you what to do.
But the gospel means, in Greek, it means good news.
And so, in fact, one of the hard parts it is, even for Christians, is that Christians want to try to keep turning the gospel into good advice.
But the gospel is about news that comes from God to ordinary people, and it's good news.
And when it says that it's coming from God, and we'll talk about this more a little bit in a few moments,
it means that it's not coming from my culture, my race, my sex, from a certain sexual orientation.
It's not coming from an institution.
It's not coming from a time which is sort of bounded, you know, like only the first century.
It's good news from God to ordinary people like you and me.
Now, some of you might say, George, you don't really think that's true.
Christians don't really think that's true.
I bet you any money, George, that as part of, I know you didn't say let's take up a collection, okay?
Although that's a very religious thing to do, and it's sort of neat that you're making fun about it.
But I bet you invited that young woman to church, didn't you?
And I did.
I did.
Right?
So, George, you're contradicting yourself.
You're not being consistent, are you?
Well, that's a really, really, really good question.
Well, let's look at it.
Let's go back to reading.
And I'll tell you, because the text talks about that.
And so go back to verse 1, and then we'll go to the long water slide,
and then we'll come back, and I'll sort of draw something out of it, right?
So, Paul, verse 1.
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,
which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures concerning his son,
who was descended from David according to the flesh,
and was declared to be the son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead.
Jesus Christ, our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations.
That means among every single people group.
The gay people group, lost tribes in the Amazon, including you, that's you and I, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
And from a literary point of view, Paul, almost all of the rest, a lot of the, he brings up all these themes he's going to develop later on in the book.
But here's the thing.
If you could have the second point up, Andrew, to sort of bring out like a little highlight here.
The good news from God.
Remember, the first point is that the gospel is good news from God to ordinary people.
The second thing is that the good news from God is about a person.
Jesus, Messiah, and Lord.
It's good news about a person.
Jesus, Messiah, and Lord.
That's what it says here in verse 2.
You see, it goes, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures concerning his son.
The gospel is concerning his son, who is descended from David, according to the flesh.
In other words, he's a real human being.
He's not just a disembodied person.
He's not just an idea of a person.
He's not just like an archetype of a person.
That this is a story.
The good news is about God's son, who is also a human being.
He's a person.
The good news is about a person.
And that means that the good news is not about the institution of the Anglican church.
It's not about the church of the Messiah.
It's not about rituals.
It's not about liturgies.
It's not about rules.
It's not about politics.
It's not about culture.
It's good news about a person.
That's what it's all about.
Now, some of you are saying, well, George, didn't you?
Okay, here's the thing.
People naturally have habits and naturally create institutions.
They naturally have rhythms.
You just saw it, evidence, a few moments ago when I was assuming you were all standing.
I'm just sort of programmed.
It's like my ritual after I ask you to pray is you all be seated.
But we all have rituals.
We all have different ways that we wake up in the morning.
Many of us maybe have the same thing for breakfast in the morning.
But people change our rituals.
I don't think John would mind me saying that.
But a little while ago, for four or five years, we had a really fine administrator by the name of John.
And it was very interesting.
John was, I think, in his early 30s, and he ate like a typical man in his early 30s.
Crappy.
And all of a sudden, he started to get interested in this young woman named Joanne.
And all of a sudden, fries consumption started to decline.
Green leafy consumption started to rise.
Ketchup on fries declines.
Tomatoes with the green leafy stuff starts to rise.
Less fried food.
More steamed food.
You get the point.
People change our rituals and our habits.
One of the hard things for me when I got married, it's a very common thing.
I think it's often harder for men than it is for women.
One of the hard things for me when I got married is that Louise very rightly would say,
like, I don't know, I'd have my own rhythms, right?
And when you're dating somebody, well, you can have your own rhythms.
And you make an appointment to meet.
But when you marry, the other person has a say in your 24-7 life, right?
So, therefore, if after you finish your class, you can't just go for this or just can't do that or just can't do that
because the other person has a say in it.
So, it's not that after you get to know your girlfriend or after I'm married that all of a sudden I move into a realm
where I have no institutions, no habits, no rhythms.
It is that the person changes it.
And that's why it's so significant.
You see, why did I invite the young woman to church?
I invited the young woman to church because I believe that what happens here on a Sunday morning
is that Jesus' people get to meet Jesus in the company of each other.
That's why I'm here.
I want to meet with Jesus.
And I want to meet with Jesus in the presence of his people.
I want to meet with Jesus in the presence of his people, in the power of his Holy Spirit.
And I want to try to introduce that person to Jesus.
That's why I invited her here.
That's why you should invite somebody.
Don't invite them because the band is hot or the speaker is great or anything like that.
Lord have mercy.
Christ have mercy.
Lord have mercy.
Don't do that.
But it's all about a person.
And the other thing which is so neat about this, you see,
is that much spiritual thinking and religious thinking is impersonal.
It leads us to impersonal things.
In fact, many of the images that we have is of energy and it's impersonal images.
And we crave, as human beings, personal contact.
Even when we're depressed, even when we feel that no one loves us,
we're depressed because we feel that no one loves us.
Even when we're grieving because somebody has died,
we're grieving because we miss that personal contact.
Even within a marriage, when one of the couple or both of them are feeling very, very alone
and maybe even very, very trapped,
they feel alone and trapped because they want to have that deeper personal contact
and a real contact and it's just not happening.
But we crave the personal.
And the good news, the good news from God is about a person,
Jesus, the Messiah, and the Lord.
And throughout the rest of the book of Romans,
Paul is going to explain what it means that Jesus is the Messiah,
the Jewish Messiah and the Lord.
He's going to explain it.
Now, some of you might be saying,
okay, George, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Good news from God.
Come on.
George, I bet you if you went on the internet
and you Googled people who have God speaking through them,
I bet you'd get millions of responses.
I bet you'd get all sorts of YouTube videos
of people claiming to speak for God.
Every religion does it.
How on earth could you make such a claim
that the gospel is good news from God to ordinary people,
that it's good news about a person, Jesus?
Like, how on earth, in a world like that,
with all, you know, there's like all this thing going on,
how on earth could you possibly make such a claim?
That's a really good question as well, isn't it?
Well, Paul talks about that here.
Remember that big, long sentence that we went through?
If you go back and look here at verse 4,
it's a very sort of odd type of phrase,
and it's a very dense sentence, right?
So that's where we're going to pause.
Actually, if you put up a point, Andrew,
but I'll read this, the verse 4.
And was declared or appointed or inaugurated
or authenticated to be the Son of God in power, okay?
In other words, how is he appointed or authenticated
to be the Son of God in power,
according to the Spirit of holiness,
by his resurrection from the dead?
And then once again, he says, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Here's what Paul is saying.
The good news from God is authenticated
by the witness of the Holy Spirit
and the resurrection of Jesus.
That is how it is authenticated,
that it is news from God,
not from an institution, not from Paul,
not from a culture, not from a time period,
not by a guy who has particular brilliance
in writing or anything like that.
How is it that if we know that it comes from God,
that it's real, not counterfeit,
it's authenticated by the witness of the Holy Spirit
and the resurrection of Jesus?
And it's very, very interesting.
It shows one of the very spectacular things
about the gospel,
how it is that we are to respond to the good news.
Because you see, if you think about that,
if you think about what Paul's saying,
he's saying that it involves both the intellect
and our ability to ask questions
and seek and try to discover,
but it also is something deeply personal
within that we are to receive.
So with the resurrection,
that's an historical question.
Did Jesus really exist?
Did he really die upon the cross?
Was the tomb empty?
Do they have the body?
Were there witnesses to the fact
not only that the tomb was empty,
but that he claimed to be alive
and had defeated death?
Are there witnesses to this?
Are there historical records?
Are there historical traces?
Are they just in Jewish literature
or Christian literature
or pagan literature?
And you can get answers
to all of those questions.
You can actually say,
you could say,
George, I'd like to begin that search.
Do you have some scholarly work
that you could point me to
that I could go to start to read
and that I could follow the footnotes
and I could ask these questions
and I could start to give you that.
Others in the congregation
could not do it
and you could use your mind
to try to figure those things out.
And if you do,
you would come to the conclusion,
like myself and many other people,
that there actually is good historical evidence
and reasons to believe
that Jesus died on a Friday,
that every single person that he knew
believed that he had died
and was discredited,
and that on Easter Sunday,
the grave was empty,
the tomb was empty,
the body was gone,
and that people said they'd seen Jesus
and now rather than him being discredited,
they now believe that he was the Savior
and the Lord,
that he was the Messiah
long promised by God
in the scriptures of the first covenant.
And you can look for that.
You can seek that out.
You can use your mind.
But at the same time,
there's also this witness of the Holy Spirit,
which is a different type of thing.
It's an internal pressure.
It's like I became a Christian
when I was in grade 12.
And let me tell you
that what launched my quest for Jesus
wasn't that I had come to a faith
and trust in the resurrection.
It was when I'd seen people
whose lives had been changed by Jesus
and I had a sense of emptiness in my own life
and I had a sense that there must be more.
And I had a sense connected to these people
who were connected to Jesus
that there was something more.
And I went to events
and I was with them
and I heard them talk
and increasingly inside of myself,
there was a pressure.
It was as if there was almost a person
pushing on me
to surrender,
to humble myself,
to no longer push that pressure aside,
but to remove my arms
which were pushing that pressure aside
and to stand like this
and to let it come in.
The witness of the Holy Spirit.
The witness of the Holy Spirit
that authenticates it.
And just one other thing about this.
If I was to offer you counterfeit grass,
you'd go,
counterfeit grass?
Sorry, grass clippings.
If I was to go around the suburbs
and say,
I have some counterfeit grass clippings,
would you like to have it?
I'll sell it to you real cheap.
I'd go,
what do you mean?
Grass?
I have a problem getting rid of my grass clippings.
If you went around to the suburbs
and say,
I have counterfeit dandelions to sell you,
nobody would take them.
Unless they wanted them as a joke
to put on their neighbor's lawn
to harass them.
Counterfeits imply truth and value.
I try to pass off
a counterfeit $100 US bill.
That has an attraction
because there are real $100 US bills
and they're worth a lot of money,
$100 US.
Some parts of the world in Kenya,
they'd give you a lot more
than the $100 was worth
because it had a special significance
in Kenya when I was there.
It's one of the things
the guidebooks told you.
So all the things,
all of the religions,
all of the people talking
as if they talked from God,
rather than disproving
that God speaks,
it probably shows
that there is a God
who does speak.
That there's something human
to both desire it
and to try to twist it.
Counterfeits imply the real.
Well, some of you might say,
George,
words from God
to ordinary people.
Listen, George,
you know,
when you see cultures
that seem to have accepted
this God-speaking thing,
it just seems to consume them.
Like, George,
look at Islam.
Look at those devout Islam.
Not only does it lead them
to do murderous things,
it just seems to swallow up the person.
And it means that they start
dressing weird
and doing weird things
and doing murderous things.
And God always seems
to swallow the ordinary.
George,
isn't that what happens
when you think that God speaks?
Don't you think
that's what would happen to me
if I was to take your word for it
and to think that God
actually speaks to me?
That the gospel
is good news,
good words from God
to ordinary people?
That even though
it's authenticated
by the Holy Spirit
and about a person,
don't you think
that would just swallow me up?
Well, that's one of the reasons
why the next few verses
are so important
in Paul's letter.
Because the way Paul
writes this letter,
and by the way,
he's writing it about
20, 25 years
after the death
and resurrection of Jesus.
He's writing it
to a group of people
he's never met.
And it's just all of a sudden
he's given his sort of like
his powerful,
long sentence greeting.
And now,
before he's going to get
into his letter,
he turns to personal matters,
ordinary matters.
Like, listen along.
Verse 8.
First,
I thank my God
through Jesus Christ
for all of you
because your faith
is proclaimed
in all the world.
Oh, just pause here
for a second.
You know what's so cool
about this word first?
When I say
that the gospel
is good news from God,
don't make the mistake
of thinking then
that that somehow means
that the Bible
is a perfect book
or that it's the best
literature ever written.
What makes it
words from God
is that ultimately
the words that are here
are the words
that God wanted.
And this is actually written
in common
working class Greek,
not excellent Greek.
And you know what?
Here's a literary mistake
that Paul's make right here.
If you get a letter
and you say first,
you're expecting later on
you'll see second,
third, fourth.
There's no second,
third, and fourth.
He forgot to put them in.
It's not perfect literature.
We don't listen to this
because it's perfect.
We listen to it ultimately
because we believe
that it comes from God.
It's authenticated
by the resurrection
of Jesus from the dead
and the witness
of the Holy Spirit within.
But that was a digression.
Back to this.
Verse eight again.
First,
I thank my God
through Jesus Christ
for all of you
because your faith
is proclaimed
in all the world.
For God is my witness
whom I serve
with my spirit
and the gospel
of his son
that without ceasing
I mention you
always in my prayers
asking that somehow
by God's will
I may now at last
succeed in coming to you
for I long to see you
that I may impart to you
some spiritual gift
to strengthen you
that is
that we may be
mutually encouraged
by each other's faith
both yours and mine.
I want you to know
brothers and sisters
that I have often
intended to come to you
but thus far
have been prevented
in order that I may
reap some harvest
among you
as well as among
the rest of the pagans.
I am under obligation
both to Greeks
and to barbarians
both to the wise
and to the foolish
so I am eager
to preach the gospel
to you also
who are in Rome.
Don't you get this
just sense of this
personal and thankfulness
and mutual encouragement?
Paul is not swallowed up
obliterated by God
not even remotely.
You see the ordinariness
of it
of just being thankful
and of gratitude
and this idea
that they can spend
time together
and as a result
of just spending time together
that both will end up
being encouraged
that both will be stronger
and better off for it
and it's really interesting
here.
One other thing here
do you notice
he says here
in verse 14
I am under obligation
both to Greeks
and to the barbarians?
Actually literally
it's debtor
that he's in debt
to Greeks
and to barbarians.
so what on earth
does Paul mean
by saying
that he's in debt
to them?
Here's a very important thing
for those of us
who are Christians
to understand.
I'm going to get back
in a few moments
to my friend
and her question
about
could Hitler
have gone to heaven?
And I've already
shared with you
that we talked
for about 10-15 minutes
I tried to share
the gospel with her.
I probably did
a very very poor job.
I really
it really struck me
afterwards
that you know
it's not about you
George
and maybe
the point
of the conversation
wasn't that I would
do such a spectacular job
but that afterwards
I realized
I hadn't done
a good job
and I would pray
for her.
And
you know
so I have been
every day
I've been praying
for her
and that's maybe
the witness
of the Holy Spirit
not the witness
of George
but I made
my stumbling attempts
but here's the thing
how on earth
is Paul in debt?
What this is saying here
is that I actually
owe it
to her
I actually
owe it
to her
to tell
the gospel.
How is it
that I could be
in debt
to her?
Well
there's two different ways
that you can be in debt
to another person.
One way
that you could be in debt
to another person
is I could lend them
that they could lend me
$10,000
make it more
they could lend me
$25,000
even for rich people
that's serious change.
Donald Trump
didn't become Donald Trump
by ignoring 25k
okay
counts them up.
So let's say
this other person
gave me
lend me 25k
now I'm in debt
to them
to pay them back
the 25k
but there's another way
that I could be in debt
to the other person
it could be
that one of you
gives me 25k
to carry
and to give
to another person
and now
I am
under obligation
to pass on
that $25,000
to the other person
and wouldn't you all
be upset
if I kept
that $25,000
and didn't pass it on
to another person?
Doesn't every single
one of these people
of us in the room
and probably wouldn't
every one of our neighbors
appreciate
$25,000?
Wouldn't
that's what Paul
is saying here
that God
desires
the great gift
worth
an unbelievable
amount of money
to be told
to offered
to your next door
neighbors
your co-workers
the baristas
who serve you
the gay man
or the gay woman
who's your doctor
or your dentist
or cleans your house
or whatever
that you actually
from God
have an obligation
to with faltering lips
and maybe
with spectacular failure
attempt to share
the gospel with them.
That's what Paul's
saying here.
Friends,
brothers and sisters,
when that first struck me,
that has been haunting me
ever since it struck me.
that that's how I am
to view my neighbors
and the people around me
because it's so easy
to be ashamed
and intimidated
of the gospel,
ashamed of the gospel,
ashamed of Jesus
and it's so easy
to be intimidated
by the culture.
That's exactly
what Paul's going
to go into.
He's going to go into
the whole problem
of our being
intimidated
by our culture.
I haven't seen
the movie,
I think this weekend
in Canada
the movie
The War Room
just started
and it was reviewed
in the secular
papers of Ottawa
and I haven't seen
the movie,
I don't know
if it's a good movie
or a bad movie,
four people,
I know five people
who've seen it
and they really liked it
and I'm going
to encourage you
to go because
it's done by
brothers and sisters
in Christ
so I'm going
to stand with them
and encourage you
to go
but it was reviewed
and this is why
we often
in our culture
can feel
even though
we have freedom
but we can often
feel so intimidated.
The reviewer said
he pointed out
all of the ridiculous
things in the movie
from his point of view
and he said
he spent almost
the entire movie
doubled over
with laughter
at how ridiculous
every single thing
in the movie was
until he got
to the end
and then he sat up
because he realized
it was unbelievably
scary
in a bad way
like a type
of crazy
religiousness
that's only going
to ruin your life
and he worried
that anybody
would take
its advice
and we all
know in our spirit
that even though
most people
that many people
that we know
wouldn't actually
say that to our face
that's what's going
on in their heads
and their hearts
and so it's very easy
to be intimidated
by our culture
and not have a sense
that there is a debt
that I have
an obligation
to share the gospel
but to feel
intimidated
by my culture
and when I'm
intimidated
by my culture
I am ashamed
and it's made worse
because it seems
so weak
humanly speaking
but what does Paul
say he does
is that Andrew
could you put it up
I'd like you
to all say
these next two verses
the last two verses
of our sermon today
could you say this
with me
actually I can't see it
I'll use it
say it with me
for I am not ashamed
of the gospel
for it is the power
of God
for salvation
to everyone
who believes
to the Jew
first
and also
to the Greek
for in the gospel
the righteousness
of God
is revealed
from faith
to faith
as it is written
the righteous
shall live
by faith
friends
every Sunday
while we're going
through Romans
we're going to say
that verse
because this
these two verses
tell you what
the whole book
is about
it tells you
what the gospel
is
and we're going
to look at that
every week
when we're looking
at the weird things
why on earth
is Paul talking
about Israel
why is Paul
being so mean
to gay people
why is Paul
being so insulting
to other people
and why is he
talking about
blood
and why is he
talking about
Adam
and every week
I'm going to
come back
because at a
literary level
anybody you study
talks about the book
at a literary level
Paul in verses
16 and 17
right here
he tells you
what the whole book
is about
and everything
in the book
is going to be
trying to unpack
these two verses
and so every week
we're going to say it
together at least once
and I hope by the end
it's not that you're
sick of the verses
but that you love
the verses
you have it
memorized
that it's changing
your life
it's changing the life
of our church
so just
we're going to say it
one more time
in a moment
but just Andrew
if you could put up
the point
just to sort of
what try to
be our initial thought
about what's going on
in that text
when he says
for I am not ashamed
of the gospel
for it is the power
of God
for salvation
to everyone
who believes
to the Jew first
and also to the Greek
for in the gospel
the righteousness of God
is revealed
from faith to faith
as it is written
the righteous shall live
by faith
here's the sort of
the idea you can get
away for today
the gospel
is the power of God
which justifies
sanctifies
and glorifies
all who believe
the gospel
the good news
from God
to ordinary people
the good news
from God
to ordinary people
that's about a person
the person of Jesus
who's the Messiah
and the Lord
the good news
from God
which is authenticated
by the witness
of the Holy Spirit
and by the resurrection
of Jesus
this good news
which is the gospel
is a power
the power
of God
which justifies
sanctifies
and glorifies
every person
who believes
gay and straight
rich and poor
Arab
Jew
Gentile
mentally handicapped
mentally genius
every person
who believes
religious
and irreligious
spiritual
and completely
and utterly
unspiritual
back to
my friend
one of the reasons
I think
I mean
remember I told you
she
my life sucks
my life is horrible
I feel like
killing myself
I'm not sure
if I should kill myself
or kill all the people
who are around me
and she said it
not with a smile
but with real emotion
and
you know
one of the reasons
I think she said that
is because
she is being
beaten up
and bent over
by massive
unfairness
in her life
unfairness at work
unfairness
from her family
unfairness
from boyfriends
unfairness
from significant
from her friends
just
really
undeservedly
bent
broken
and being
crushed
by unfairness
and you gotta
see where
she's coming
from
if you're being
bent and broken
by all the
significant
relationships
in your life
or many of the
significant
relationships
in your life
and you've been
broken
and been broken
by not just
an unfairness
in a day
but an unfairness
which seems
to just be
a pattern
of your life
that goes on
for a while
to hear
that Hitler
could just
say a prayer
and then
go to heaven
seems
unfair
doesn't it
it seems
unfair
and so
these born again
Christians
my co-workers
are unfair
the institution
is unfair
my family
is unfair
my friends
are unfair
boyfriends
were unfair
and now
you're telling
me God's unfair
well
whoop-de-doo
for you
what does it
mean
when it says
that there's
a righteousness
from God
what this text
is saying
is that God
does
what no human
being cannot
do
he acts
it's a power
he acts
in a way
which is right
to make us
right
with himself
that God
does
what no human
being can do
he acts
in a way
which is right
to make us
right
with himself
that's what the
Bible is saying
the gospel
that in this
this
you know
if you go
back and read
Genesis chapter
one
God speaks
and it is
God's
God can do
things
his very word
is power
he can create
things
and all the way
through the rest
of the book of Romans
I'm not going to try
to justify God
right now
but that's what
the rest of the book
of Romans
is going to do
he's going to start
to deal with
a whole pile
of moral
and other problems
and at the end
of it
he's going to say
that when you
understand
what God
is doing
how he's acting
to make you right
with himself
that he
you can't make
yourself right
with him
but he can make
you right
with himself
that when you
see how he does
it
and what he has
done
you're going to
say God
did it right
he's not
unfair
it's the opposite
of unfair
that God
has done
something
which blows
your mind
he's been
completely
massively
just
and completely
and massively
full of grace
in Islam
people go
to heaven
most people
don't
but people
go to heaven
but it's just
God just
chooses
it's just
like
you're going
to heaven
you're going
to heaven
you're going
to heaven
you're going
to heaven
the rest
of you
hell
what's next
on my
agenda
we'll see
that that's
not what
happens
with the
gospel
that after
you understand
what it is
that Jesus
has done
for you
and his
death
upon the
cross
his life
his death
upon the
cross
and his
resurrection
you will
say
God did
it
it's
right
and it's
a relationship
word
righteousness
it doesn't
mean that all
of a sudden
you become
perfect
that you
become
the elite
that you
become
the wise
person
that you
go around
and you
always know
the right
answer
and you
always know
the right
thing to
order on
the menu
and you
always know
the right
interest rate
and you
always know
how to
buy the
right car
and you
always have
the right
perfect
person
it's not
about like
that at
all
it's about
God making
him right
with himself
and ultimately
with the entire
recreated
created order
that God
does this
and we can't
do it
ourselves
and this
word salvation
it's a word
that has
three tenses
it means that
God has done
something to make
us right with
himself in the
past in the
present in the
future that he
justifies that he
sanctifies and
that he glorifies
and that that's
what the gospel
does that's the
good news about
what Jesus has
done for us
on the cross
and in his
resurrection
that as we
hear this
we understand
that he
justifies us
it means in a
sense that
if you have
lived your life
and you have
been completely
and utterly
broken by
unfairness
and maybe you
have been
unfair with
others
that there
is something
that God
does
which makes
you completely
and utterly
new
which deals
with all
that which
is past
and at the
same time
that what he's
going to do
through the
person of his
son is
something that
sanctifies you
that it becomes
something that
starts to change
your life in
terms of how
you live but it
doesn't do it out
of guilt it
doesn't do it out
of rules and it
doesn't do it out
of obligation that
it comes out of
being gripped by
the gospel and
what God has done
for you in the
person of his son
that he does
freely out of
love for you that
he does it because
you cannot do it
for yourself and
as you're gripped
by the gospel all
of a sudden you
are starting to be
able to be nudged
into new ways of
living new ways of
living start to
become reasonable
to you and you
are drawn from
the future that
making these types
of changes that
it's worth it
because the end
is glory as you
are gripped by the
gospel and not
just gripped by the
gospel but the
story but the idea
as you'll see in the
Romans as it unfolds
that Jesus actually
walks with you that
the Holy Spirit
actually who's also
a person actually
indwells you and
that it's God at
work in his power
and then for
anybody who
labors under
unfairness don't
you want to have
the sense and for
any single human
being that even
though there'll be
things that are
really really hard
in life and you
deal with failure
don't you want to
have this sense that
the final word about
you will be one of
welcome and
acceptance and
that's what
glorification is
that's that's what
comes as Paul is
going to unfold in
the book of Romans
that you can know
today not based on
how you've performed
in the past or you
are performing today
that you can know
today God's final
word about you
spoken over your
life and you can
begin to live your
life day by day
moment by moment
in light of God's
final word about
you accomplished
by his work and
his action for you
for your good
what did I tell to
the young woman
I said if Hitler
had not died in
the bunker but
he'd been captured
by the soldiers and
he was put in jail
waiting execution
a chaplain should go
and visit him and
share the gospel with
him and even after
the death of six
million Jews of
gays and gypsies and
of many Christians
if he hears the
news of the gospel
and believes and
gives his life to
Jesus God will
make what have
made him right
with himself
and then Hitler
should have been
executed for the
horrible things he
did because being a
Christian does not
make you part of the
Illuminati it does
not make you now a
ruler of the earth
it does not mean
that you can then
somehow get a free
pass from all of the
terrible things you've
done in your life
but it means you can
be reconciled to God
we don't enter the
elite we're made
right with God
the Christian faith is
one beggar telling
another beggar where
to find bread it's
not about how you
should rule over
others
could you please
stand Andrew could
you put Romans 1 16
17 up again
could you all as you
stand say this with
me one more time
for I am not ashamed
of the gospel for it
is the power of God
for salvation to
everyone who believes
to the Jew first and
also to the Greek for
in the gospel the
righteousness of God is
revealed from faith to
faith as it is written
the righteous shall
live by faith just
going to close my
words in in prayer but
I want to tell you
right now if you have
been coming to this
church where maybe
you've just wandered in
and you there might be
people here today who
like I did many years
ago feel a pressure a
pressure to let Jesus
come into your life and
be your Savior and Lord
and there is no better
time than right now to
put your arm down put
your hands like this and
don't push them away but
let them come in and I'm
not going to risk telling
you some magic formula or
words I just want to
challenge you if that's
happening to you right
now all I want you to do
is look at the screen and
say Jesus I want that
God doesn't listen to
magic formulas he wants
to hear you say that I
want that for the rest of
my life say it in your own
words no better time than
today to give your life to
Jesus let the witness of the
Holy Spirit flood in your
life bow our heads in
prayer
father thank you for Jesus
thank you for sending him
to walk amongst us thank
you that he is the
fulfillment of your centuries
of promises to the Jewish
people thank you that you
kept your word thank you
that you love us thank you
that in Jesus you do for me
and for other people what I
cannot do for myself thank you
that in Jesus and through
Jesus you make me right
with yourself in the past
in the present and into the
eternity and thank you
father that you do it in
Jesus I don't understand
how you do it I'm looking
forward to knowing more but
I thank you I believe that
you've done it and can do it
and will do it in my life and
whatever that says in Romans
1 16 and 17 father I want
that to be me I want that in
my life I want that to be how
I live I want to that father I
I want to have that good
news change me Jesus make me
a disciple gripped by the
gospel who lives for your
glory make us disciples of
Jesus gripped by the gospel
who live for your glory we
ask this in Jesus's name on
them
get you
and