“THE ‘I’ SERIES.”
Luke 5:12b-13 –“Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”
Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, ‘I am willing; be cleansed.’ Immediately the leprosy left him.”
God is intently interested in the needs of our lives.
God has said: “I WILL BE WITH YOU.” “I will never leave.”
“I will give you power.” “I will help you, I will uphold you by my righteous hand.”
Matthew 28:20-I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
John 6:37-All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will [a]by no means cast out.”
Text: Romans 8:1-8
-Altar Call – Those who need to hear about grace, so you can understand how to give grace. Some need an outpouring of God’s grace.
-TEXT: PEACE = All God’s provision.
(Spiritually, emotionally, mentally and physically)
ILLUS.: As I have visited people in prison many times. I have often used the scripture in II Corinthians 12, about Paul’s thorn in the flesh.
“My grace is sufficient for you.” In your weakness…..He is strong God did not say for us to confess our strength, confess our abilities or deny our circumstance.
–God identifies with us:
“I know how you feel, and I alone have the ability to get you through it.”
-My grace is sufficient for you.
-There will come a time in every believer’s life that the pressures of life become so great that you think…if something doesn’t change, if I change, and if I can find God in what I am going through…..I am not going to make it.
“Tie a knot, and hang on.” “Don’t sweat the small stuff.”
“Buy a ladder from Lowe’s and get over it.”
- THE MIND OF THE SPIRIT.
“In the flesh” -Doesn’t mean in the human body.
-Where you set your mind determines when you are headed.
-When the origination point of the mind in jaded; it becomes limited.
-This is why Paul told us to cast down imagination……
POINT: “In the flesh” is a thought process. It is the reference point of our minds. The mind thinks eternally or the mind thinks temporally.
-“To be spiritually minded is life and peace.”
Vs. 35, 37-39 35 Who shall ever separate us from the love of [d]Christ?
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors and gain an overwhelming victory through Him who loved us [so much that He died for us]. 38 For I am convinced [and continue to be convinced—beyond any doubt] that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present and threatening, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the [unlimited] love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
-If you do not understand God’s grace, you will not overwhelmingly conquer.
-If you don’t get grace, you’ll not be a victorious person in Christ.
Romans 8-One of the greatest chapters in the Bible.
Vs. 1-No condemnation. Vs. 39-No separation.
-God doesn’t promise – NO Tribulation.
-There will be moments when you feel like the helpless sheep where you are vulnerable, unprotected and endangered.
POINT: God promised No condemnation, God promised no separation, but God did NOT promise NO Tribulation.
If you read Romans 7-8. It is very black and white.
Chapter 7 is about condemnation, unrighteousness, and the penalty. The last verse of Romans 7 is a great prelude to chapter 8.
“Thanks be to God [for my deliverance] through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind serve the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh [my human nature, my worldliness, my sinful capacity—I serve] the law of sin.
Chapter 8 is about being an overcomer, getting out of the temporal mindset. Walking in a new through the process, living with a new purpose.
Chapter 7 is a dirge of sorts, “Woe is me..”
Chapter 8 is the Life chapter where people are awakened to the reality of the gospel through life in Christ.
Chapter 7 deals with the DEPRAVITY OF MAN.
-Most people you talk to will say, “Man is inherently good.”
[Secular Humanism teaches the Anti-Biblical doctrine.
That all mankind has essential goodness in them.]
*Look at the news…..I don’t seek peace, hope, forgiveness, patience, and kindness.”
POINT: What is the depravity of man? “People are (as a result of the fall) not inclined or even able to love God wholly with their heart, mind, and strength, but rather they are inclined by nature to serve their own will and desires and reject God’s rule in their life.
The truth of depravity….defines man as in desperate need of grace.
Man is in a wretched state, and man needs deliverance. A man cannot solve his/her own problems. When you say, “I will fix my issues..” You are not relying on grace. When you say…”I can take care of this…” You are not relying on God’s grace.
Chapter 7-is the chapter of condemnation.
Chapter 8 is the chapter of emancipation. You have been set free.
-If you don’t understand that you were a slave to sin, then freedom doesn’t mean very much.
POINT: Realizing that we were in depravity and darkness, and needed Jesus to save us is a very needed revelation for the appreciation of grace.
–When you have been in bondage or in prison, freedom is a BIG BIG DEAL.
Vs. 2, “For the law of the Spirit of life [which is] in Christ Jesus [the law of our new being] has set you free from the law of sin and of death.”
-As Christians, we often take grace for granted. In America, we take Freedom for granted.
-America was founded as a REPUBLIC, now in the name of democracy, they are FEDERALIZING everything. If we don’t pay attention, we will continue to lose our rights as citizens.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment
of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the
right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition
the Government for a redress of grievances.”
-In America, the vast majority of people want Christians to go to church, be quiet, leave everybody else alone, and mind their own business.
-If you are a believer, and you love god, and you love people…then you can’t keep quiet about who God is or what God has done for you. I hope you have a case of the Can’t Help It!!
ILLUS.: (Heard this) You are here because somebody told somebody who told somebody who told somebody that you needed Jesus…..and you and I need to tell somebody!
- GRACE PUSHES ME TO DEAL WITH MYSELF.
-Whatever you won’t confront will only get worse.
-People love to talk to people about other people, but God wants to talk to us about who and what we are.
Vs. 3 “For what the Law could not do [that is, overcome sin and remove its penalty, its power] being weakened by the flesh [man’s nature without the Holy Spirit], God did: He sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful man as an offering for sin. And He condemned sin in the flesh [subdued it and overcame it in the person of His own Son],”
ILLUS.: In America, we have become a nation without a conscience; we call good-bad, and we call bad-good. Therefore, we struggle to deal with issues head-on.
POINT: I believe that we do an injustice to people when we make sinful lifestyles sound socially acceptable.
-Perverted lifestyles should not sound tolerable and acceptable.
-With all due respect, how do you preach against something that is perverted, and against God’s word, and make it sound like it is not perverted?
-Today, we want the preacher to make everyone happy.
-I try my best to love you, encourage you, support you, and walk with you through the good places of life, and the tough places of life…but when it comes to TRUTH…it is not my job to make everyone feel good about things that God’s word is opposed to.
-If I am worth my salt, I can’t do that.
ILLUS.: Chapter 7 deals with the depravity of man.
Chapter 8 deals with the victory of Christ.
-You can’t minimize the depravity of man, and you can’t talk enough about GRACE.
Chapter 7-Wretchedness of mankind
Chapter 8-Liberation of the soul. (How to be set free)
-The Apostle Paul was known to confront Issues head-on. He dealt with hard-nosed issues. Little of stature, Paul the Apostle was known to stir up a lot of controversies.
-Paul was known for confronting issues in the marketplace. He was known for creating discourse among “Who’s Who” in the political world. That actually got him thrown into prison.
Acts 19:13-15 -“ 13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, [a]“We [b]exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 14 Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.
15 And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”
ILLUS.: I have often wondered this about myself,
-Does the devil know who we are? Out of the millions and billions of people in the world, does the Kingdom of Darkness know who I am?
-When we are praying for people, encouraging people in the Lord, talking about God, sharing the gospel of Christ, I guarantee that the devil will know who you are.
-Paul was known at the throne of heaven, and in the gates of hell:
“Jesus I know, and Paul I know…who are you…”
At some point in life – We must make the decision that our lives are meant for more than insignificance. God did not save you and call you to insignificance. You may not think you are doing anything significant……but when you do something insignificant in a significant way……you are building the kingdom of God.
POINT: When you continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ. You begin to understand who you are as a person, who you are in Christ, and what purpose God has called you to.
ILLUS.: The Greeter at the door.
There are no insignificant people in the body of Christ. When God adds grace to your life…I promise you…that there is MORE GRACE…and God will make your life count.
-We cannot be known in hell for an unfaithful commitment to the will of God, the word of God, the family of God, and the principles of God.
-A lot of people say, “I don’t want to make the devil mad.” So I will mind my own business. You will either make the devil mad or happy, it depends on who you serve.
I NEED HIS GRACE, I NEED MORE GRACE, I NEED MORE RELATIONSHIP, I NEED MORE INTIMACY WITH HIM! I NEED MORE OF HIS BLESSING!
- WE WILL NEED MORE GRACE TO GO THROUGH LIFE.
II Corinthians 11:21-27, “To our shame, I say that we were too weak for that! But in whatever anyone is bold—I speak foolishly—I am bold also. 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: (THE GREAT APOSTLE)
in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. 24 From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned;
(They thought he was dead —What did he do, he got up went to another city and preached the gospel)
What did he preach: FAITH, Doubt and unbelief don’t work.
three times I was shipwrecked;
(If you were in an airplane crash, you would be like John Madden and take the bus the rest of your life)
a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26
in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers,
in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles,
in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness,
in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27
in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness—
Q-WHY WOULD THIS MAN NAMED PAUL GO THROUGH ALL THESE THINGS?
Because Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus. Grace changed His life. God introduced Himself to Paul on the road to Damascus. Paul introduced Jesus to people in all the things we just read about.
-It is not the mountaintop where people see the greatest light. It is often in the darkest valleys, and in the darkest of nights where people see the clearest example of God’s amazing grace.
After Paul discusses the depths of his own weakness in Romans 7,
-Paul ends Romans 7:24-25 “Oh wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind, I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.”
Romans 8:1—No condemnation….
-You know what you did…6 weeks ago…
-You know what you did…3 weeks ago…
-You know what everybody thinks of you….
When you stand before Christ Jesus, there is no penalty of sin.
NONE, ZERO, NADA, NOTHING, ZILCH…..
–WHEN YOU ARE IN CHRIST…….THERE IS NO CONDEMNATION.
ILLUS.: A woman in India watches as her sister is dragged off by Hindu nationalists because she is a Christian. She doesn’t know if her sister is alive or dead.
-A man in a North Korean prison camp is shaken awake after being beaten unconscious; the beatings begin again. He was a Christian.
-A woman in Nigeria runs for her life. She has escaped from Boko Haram, who kidnapped her from her church.
-A group of children are laughing and talking as they come down to their church’s sanctuary after eating together. Instantly, many of them are killed by a bomb blast. It’s Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka.
-In America Christians are now seen as a THREAT TO DEMOCRACY.
-The fight might get tougher. You and I don’t get to decide where and how we serve God.
ILLUS.: In the golden gloves, many a young student has found out that the fight was something he didn’t want to do. He tapped out really early in the match. “Let me go, I don’t want to fight anymore.”
POINT: We don’t get to choose WHAT we go through in life, but we do get to choose HOW we go through it.
ILLUS.: Martin Luther was a spiritually sensitive young man growing up in the Catholic Faith. He had a natural bent towards spirituality. You have met them before- certain people are naturally sensitive to spiritual things.
Martin Luther desired God’s forgiveness. He was acutely aware that he needed forgiveness from God. He joined the Catholic Church and he eventually became a candidate for the priesthood. In 1507 he was ordained to the priesthood. However, the guilt of sin never left him.
–He would force himself to endure physical affliction and personal pain as he attempted to remove the internal guilt of his own sin. He would climb steps on his knees over and over again, begging God to forgive him.
-He eventually became a monk and joined a monastery. It was one of the strictest orders of the priesthood. He desired forgiveness from sins, and it seemed like the more he did the worst he felt.
-During his time in this monastery, the Catholic Bible wasn’t allowed to be read for his level of learning. He would touch it, knowing it contained the answers he needed.
-They recognized that Martin Luther had an incredible mind, they ask him to teach at one of their Bible Colleges, and they gave him a copy of the word of God.
-They ask him to read and teach the book of Romans. This became one of the biggest mistakes of the Catholic Church. Luther continued to push his body through physical challenges in order to obtain forgiveness. He would sleep outside; he would crawl on his hands and knees begging God to forgive him.
-Martin Luther eventually read the scripture about God’s amazing grace.
Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
Martin Luther was taught that the teaching of the church, the priesthood, and the sacraments provided salvation. Martin Luther said, “Wait a minute, that isn’t right. Man is saved by grace through faith.”
“I’ll never crawl up those steps again, I’ll never beat myself again trying to get forgiveness.” He wrote his famous 95 theses and nailed them to the door of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church attempted to imprison him, they took his books and burned them in the city square.
May 24, 1738 -A young Anglican priest named John Wesley heard the gospel message that we are saved by grace through faith. He immediately converted and began to preach the gospel of grace. Both men: Martin Luther and John Wesley were persecuted for their faith, persecuted for their beliefs.
John Wesley was dying for grace not religion. Martin Luther was dying for grace not religion.
Romans 8 brings you into the fullness of the grace of God. It deals with the condemnation that so many people feel. “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.
When we seek the Lord, He gives us the power to live an overcoming Christian Life! We rest in God’s amazing grace.
Romans 8 says, “We overwhelmingly conquer.”
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”
…In ALL these things we are more than a conqueror!
GRACE: Grace means that you can quit feeling inadequate. You’re not perfect, and you’ll never be in this life. You need God’s grace to think of your life, your circumstances, everything around you as God does. … God’s grace is sufficient for every moment of every day.
HIS GRACE = FORGIVENESS.