·        Audio for the sermon can be found at http://www.sermoncloud.com/sovereign-king-church/

·        One of the surprise hits last year was a movie entitled, “Taken.” 

o       It was sort of a middle-aged “Bourne Identity.” 

o       The plot involves a former spy who is trying to reconnect with his daughter. 

o       She gets kidnapped while on a trip across Europe, and her father springs into action to keep her from being sold into slavery. 

o       The movie spends the majority of its time watching the Father kick butt across Europe in the desperate attempt to save the daughter he loves from a fate that is almost unimaginable. 

·        Now slavery may seem like a strange concept or premise here in 2009, but the slave trade is alive and well in the world and even in America.

o       ABC News reports that as many as half a million American children under the age of 18 are involved in slavery and as many as 3,000,000 are involved in prostitution.

o       The East Coast hub for sex slave traffic is just a few hours away down in Atlanta.

o       Now if Atlanta seems to far away, but just last week, Durham police arrested a Duke employee who was attempted to traffic his adopted son to someone on the internet. 

·        Now, the proper response to this news should be disgust, anger, and a desire for justice.  Slavery is disgusting, and the proper response to anyone in it is compassion and a vigilance to see that person freed.

o       Imagine for a minute that you actually knew someone who was a slave.  Someone who was helpless to a ruthless master who held them captive.  I think most everyone here would do whatever they could to free that person, especially if it was someone they were close to or someone they loved.

·        In light of that, listen to this:

o       Titus 3:3-8 - For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.

·        There are some foundational truths here, and it is important that they are understood before venturing any further into Romans.

o       Each and every person is a fool, disobedient, led astray, and a slave to their passions and pleasures, full of malice and envy apart from God.

o       However, when the goodness and loving kindness of God, through Jesus our Savior appeared, God saves people.  He doesn’t save anybody because of good works, but because God is merciful.

o       God washes you by regenerating from you death unto life by the Holy Spirit whom He pours out on us through Jesus.

o       So, if you have faith in Jesus, you are justified or legally declared innocent by God’s grace.  Not only are you declared innocent, God makes you a co-heir with Jesus with the hope of inheriting eternal life.

o       And you know what the proper response should be?  We should devote ourselves to good works out of a heart of thankfulness.

·        So, let’s get this straight:  you were transformed from a slave to an heir of eternal life through God’s work.  You went from a slave to passions to devotion to good works because of God’s grace.

o       Now if you fully own this truth.  If you fully own how desperately hopeless your situation was before knowing Christ, then you should be the most compassionate person in the world to anyone that you know that is a slave to sin presently. 

·        In light of that, let’s ask this big picture question:

 

Big Picture Question:  How should God’s transformation of you from slave to sin to slave to righteousness motivate you to share the Gospel with others?

 

Romans 6:15-23

 

6:15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

 

·        When you read a passage like this, a wise question to ask is, “What does it mean that you are not under law but under grace?”  Well, answering the question can be pretty divisive, and entire denominations disagree with each other.  So, let me speak to that for a moment before me move to other application.

o       Some say, “Well that means I can do whatever I want to do because God has forgiven me.”

§         Well, if you are in Christ, God has forgiven you, but Paul just got through telling us last week that grace should cause us to no longer continue in sin because we are no longer a slave to sin.  In light of that, not being under the law does not mean that there are no moral absolutes by which to live any longer. 

§         It means we are now enabled to obey, so let’s eliminate that interpretation.

o       Some way, since we are saved by faith, the law as given by Moses doesn’t matter anymore.

§         But Paul will says in Romans 3:31 “Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.”

§         So we to need to uphold it and not throw it away, so let’s eliminate that interpretation.

o       Some say, “Well, Jesus fulfilled the law so the only part of the law that anyone is to obey are the parts of the law that are repeated in the NT.”

§         This is a pretty popular interpretation. 

§         It is an interesting view of the scriptures, but that puts you in a pretty difficult place.  For example, Leviticus 18 tells you not to marry your mother, your sister, or your aunt.  Those verses aren’t repeated in the NT anywhere. 

§         I’m pretty sure God still doesn’t want me to marry my mother, so that doesn’t sound like that interpretive tool works either.

o       So what is the solution?  Well, the classical Reformed position meaning the interpretation consistent with the theologians of the Protestant Reformation framed it in this way.

§         There were 3 types of laws in the law Moses gave.

·        Moral Law which applied to the living of a Godly moral life in reflection of God Himself.

·        Ceremonial Law the ceremonial law involved all laws pertaining to being clean and unclean, the Jewish festivals as well as all the laws explaining the sacrifices offered for sin.

·        Judicial Law were the civic laws of the day pertaining to life within Israel the state.

§         Within that, the position I think best addresses these things is called the Reformed position and it is the opposite of the one mentioned above.  The believer does everything within the law except that which is explicitly overturned by the NT.

·        For example, dietary laws were overturned when the sheet came out of heaven to Peter in Acts 10.

·        The entire book of Hebrews is about how the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus negate the need for the ceremonial law.

·        The cleaniness laws were tied to the sacrificial system so now that we are made clean by the work of Christ, those do not apply.

·        So if there are parts of the law that we are still to obey, what does it mean when Paul says the believer lives by grace and not by the law?

o       Quite simply, it means that you are not judged by your obedience to the law because Jesus was judged for you.  He obeyed perfectly, and His obedience and righteousness is given or imputed to you.

o       But Paul’s point is that even though you will not be judged by obedience to the law that does not mean that you can headlong run into and pursue your sin.

·        The law showed you your slavery to sin, and Jesus brought you into slavery to righteousness, so Paul wants to know why you would pursue slavery to sin again when you are now freed to be a slave to righteousness. 

o       As always, let me try to make this intensely practical:  if you were once held captive and chained to a wall in a dungeon and you had no choice but to commit the most vile, sinful acts in the world, in fact it was you wanted to do, if you were freed from that bondage, why would you return to the dungeon and those vile, sinful acts when you can now walk in freedom of life, peace, and joy?

·        Paul answers that for us in verse 17.

 

17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

 

·        If you had to grade yourself, how thankful of a person do you really think you are?  To figure that out, let’s talk about what gratitude really looks like.  Think about a time when you were really thankful and expressed it.  I mean it was abundantly clear you attitude and posture of thanks.

o       One of the safest ways to gauge thankfulness is not by momentary outbursts of thanks over one event but ongoing thankfulness and expression of gratitude.  Let me give you an example.

§         My parents are getting up in age right now.  They are both well into their 70’s, and the cars that they have driven up until recently were from the 70’s as well.  They were in desperate need for a car and had no real hope of getting one.

§         Well, my oldest sister, Claire, started to hatch an idea.  She thought, “Why don’t the kids get them a car?”  So she proposed that all 5 of us throw in and buy them one.  To her credit, she bore the majority of the cost, but whether you had $5 or $500 to contribute, the car was going to be from all of us.

§         On my parents 49^th anniversary, we gathered at my sister’s house and surprised them with their new car.  They of course were surprised, overwhelmed, began to cry and all the other things that you expect from being thankful.

§         But their thanks didn’t stop there.  That moment knit us together as a family.  My parents of course profusely thanked us every time they saw us for the next few months, but their thanks were expressed in an even greater way.

§         My parents began to…relax.  They began to trust and rest in the fact that as they grew older, their children were going to help take care of them.

·        You see a heart of thanks is of course expressed in saying “Thank You” and sometimes in tears, but the greatest expression of thanks, the most clear articulation of thankfulness is…trust.

o       Well, Paul is declaring thanks to God because in the most magnificent of ways, He has taken care of you.  He has transformed you from slave to sin to obedient children.  And you know what a heart of thankfulness that trusts God looks like?  Paul tells us in verse 17.

o       You become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed,

 

 

 

 

 

·        Thankfulness to God is trusting Him enough that His will is perfect.  Walking in that perfect will is obedience, but not just obedience outwardly:  obedience of the heart.  Paul says, “You will obey from the heart and what you will obey is God standard of teaching to which you are committed.”  Let’s talk about that for a minute:

o       Every parent I know, including myself, has been guilty of this mistake at some point and time.  Your child disobeys, say they are too loud in a the grocery store, target, or I don’t know church, and you want them to be quiet.

o       You don’t care if they want to be quiet or not.  All you want is silence.  So you yell at them under your breath, grit your teeth, or maybe even pinch them.

o       If they quiet down, you tell them “good job.”

o       But inside, your kids are not obeying because they want to; they are obeying because they are scared or mad or sore from your pinching.

o       They are not obeying because they thankfully trust your wisdom about what is right.

·        Now we do this all the time.  We feel like it would be wrong to actually do the sin that we want to do, so we don’t…outwardly.  But inwardly, we are doing whatever we want.  For example:

o       Ladies, you can’t literally kill your husband, so you don’t.  But inwardly you curse him, revile him, talk bad about him or who knows, maybe even wish he would die.

o       Men, you think an affair might be nice or at least fun but it would probably be pretty messy, so you just have an affair in your mind.

o       Teens and kids, your parents tell you to get off the computer or the Xbox or PS3, you do it, but you grumble and complain about it just out of your parents hearing.

o       How ungrateful!

·        But Paul is talking about different type of “obedience” – the heart of trust and thankfulness obeys because the heart wants to obey.  An obedience that is merely outward and seeks to convince others that you obey while lacking an inward desire is not an obedience that will endure or be found true or sincere.

o       Ultimately, that kind of “obedience” falls apart especially under pressure. 

o       If you tell a child that is it is not nice to hit their brother or sister, they’ll hold off for a while, but once a toy is stolen or something doesn’t go their way, they start swinging.  Their lack of hitting before or “obedience” if you will was really social conformity.

o       Teach a child about Christ and his walking silently to His crucifixion as an act of love and obedience and mold the character and heart of a child.

·        Same works for you.  You can come to church, I can talk to you all day about loving your neighbor or friend or coworker, and for a while you might be nice and wave or strike up a conversation in the yard.

o       Find out your neighbor voted for someone you didn’t, find out that they are for gay marriage, find out they don’t care about immigration, find out they believe in evolution, find out they like Dallas Cowboys, and all of a sudden, you’re not so friendly.

o       However, if your heart lives in the reality that you were God’s enemy, enslaved to your own passions and enslaved to sin, and He was gracious to you by sending Jesus to live for you, die for you, secure heaven and goodness for you, then your heart wants to love your neighbor because you relate to them really well.

·        Paul continues in verse 19:

 

19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.  20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.

 

·        Paul cracks me up here, but he speaks this way for a reason.  He is basically saying, “This is really hard to get.  It is very easy to obey on the outside but not on the inside.  So let speak to you in the most basic of terms.”  And let’s be honest, it is hard to want to obey.  We’re lucky if we even make an attempt sometimes.

·        So Paul speaks about presentation. 

o       Just like we mentioned last week, everyone is either a slave to sin or a slave righteousness.

o       So, each either presents themselves to sin or presents themselves to goodness.

o       The more you present yourself to sin, the more you sin.

o       The more you present yourself to righteousness the more sanctified or the more like Jesus you become.

·        If you present yourself to sin, then the only thing you are free from is righteousness and goodness.  It is just not something you need to worry about.

o       The only fruit a life of presenting yourself to sin is the fruit of death.

·        Now that last statement sounds cryptic and medieval so let me explain this presentation that Paul is talking about.

o       Every day, each one of you make a choice to present yourself as a slave to sin or a slave to righteousness and you make that choice based upon the intimacy of your relationship with Christ.

o       If you are living out of thankfulness to God, you will present yourself to righteousness in several ways.

§         You will spend time in prayer

·        Praising God

·        Asking Him how you can participate in His kingdom

·        Asking for the desire to do and be content with His will

·         Praying for your daily bread or basic needs

·        Confessing your sins

·        Asking God to protect you in temptation

§         You will spend desperate time in study of the scriptures because you know that it is the true source of wisdom and a true aid to your obedience

§         You will look beyond your own circumstances to meet the needs of others because you know that was the example of Jesus Christ.

§         You will look to proclaim Jesus Christ in word and deed because you want to see others walk away from slavery to sin and lead them to walk in slavery to righteousness.

o       There are of course other ways you can present your body to righteousness, but if you aren’t doing these things, then you’re presenting yourself to sin.

§         How can you hope to be thankful and obey from the heart if you aren’t praying? 

§         How can you hope to be thankful and obey from the heart if you aren’t being transformed by the scriptures?

§         How can you hope to be thankful and obey from the heart if you aren’t studying the example of Christ?

·        Now, that list of todo’s I just gave you may seem overwhelming.  What keeps these disciplines from another oppressive yoke around your neck is the fact that God has done everything necessary for you to be able to do these things.  Look at verse 22.

 

22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

·        Folks, if you have faith in Jesus Christ, you have been set free from sin.  You can now bear fruit that leads to eternal life.

·        If you do not have faith in Jesus Christ, then the fruit you bear, the wage you earn is death.

o       When you know what the stakes are, when you know where you have been, and you know what Christ as done for you, why would you not be passionate about telling others of the free gift of grace from Jesus Christ?

·        Let me use Jesus’ words to apply this for us:  Luke 17:11-19

o       11 On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance 13 and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 14 When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16 and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.

·        Audio can be found at http://www.sermoncloud.com/sovereign-king-church/

·        There are entire sections of your local bookstore full of books on leadership, and they are specific to every occupation and every field.  Guys like John Maxwell and Seth Godin make a pretty good living putting out book after book as it seems that no one grows tired of reading about leadership.

o       If you are a manager, there are books for managing.

o       If you are an entrepreneur, there are books for starting a business.

o       If you are a CEO, there are books for running your company.

·        I’ve seen leadership books about the styles of everyone from Jesus to Buddha to Donald Trump to Winnie the Pooh.  I’ve even seen one about the leadership style of Attila the Hun.

o       Either way, if folks have an effective model for communicating the habits and patterns of a good leader, people are going to buy that book.

·        I guess the reason these books are so popular is because great leadership truly is a rare commodity.  It is possible for a church, a business, or a family to succeed without a great leader at the helm, but the odds are stacked against it happening. 

o       Proverbs 11:4 makes that clear:  Where there is no guidance, a people falls,

·        Now, I’m not sure what everyone’s experiences have been like. 

o       Maybe as a child, your parents led your family in a Godly manner. 

o       Maybe you had a teacher or a coach somewhere along the way that inspired you do more and try more.

o       I have heard from several of you about mentors in the workplace that have walked you along the way helping you excel at your job.

·        Unfortunately, though, I imagine the exact opposite is true as well.

o       Poor parenting leadership places every obstacle possible in the way of a child succeeding, and some of you have dealt with that.

o       A company can have the greatest product possible, but with poor leadership, no one may know about it.  Some of you have lost jobs for that very reason.

·        I think in my years, I’ve experienced examples of both the bad and the good as I’m sure many of you have.

o       During my brief two year stint in sells, I worked for a company that had an incredible product.  They made a nice niche for themselves and built a loyal fan base.  But they also couldn’t manage their money, expanded too soon and went out of business a few years later.  Leadership or the lack thereof, killed them.

o       But I have also seen incredible leadership.  My mentor, Terry Traylor took me from a church visitor eating Mexican food with him at a restaurant to a seminary grad and equipped church planter in a little less than 6 years.  He did it by casting vision, being open and broken, exposing me to great people, and giving me fantastic leadership opportunities. 

o       Getting to this point was as much due to him and his investment in me as it was anything that I ever did.

 

 

 

 

·        Well, the scriptures definitively speak to leadership. 

o       Husbands are told to lead their wives in understanding (I Peter 3:7)

o       Older women are told to lead the younger women in loving their husbands and their children (Titus 2:4)

o       Leaders in the church are told to lead by watching over the souls of the flock (Heb 13).

·        But the Bible speaks to more than just leadership.  It sees leading as a larger issue than that.  The scriptures speak about headship which is a term that describes how within a covenant, people rise and fall depending up on who their covenant head is and what kind of life they live.  For example.

o       Romans 5 says that Adam is the head of the human race.  How did that work out?

o       Ephesians 5:23 says that the Jesus is the head of the church.

·        You see, headship does encompass leadership but it is much more deep than mere leadership.  Well this week, in Romans, Paul is going to discuss the Godly legacies and heads of three of the covenants that we fall under.  Paul is going to discuss what the implications are for their obedience and their disobedience. 

o       Understanding this is incredibly important for the living of the Christian life, the proclamation of the Gospel, the raising of children, and basically every other aspect of your life. 

o       Because of these covenants, some choices in life are not entirely yours.  Some have been made for you, and some you will make yourself.

o       Some choices you have to make in light of choices that happened many long years ago, and if you don’t know that, it leaves you blind to what is truly needed and what is truly important.

o       I know that you might say, “You can’t tell me my choices have been made for me,” but let’s wait and see how scriptures informs us about that.

·        Despite how crucial the understanding of headship is, it is a topic rarely discussed in Christianity, so in light of that fact, here is our Big Picture Question for the week:

 

Big Picture Question:  In light of the legacies of the Godly and not so Godly people that have gone before you, whose headship are you following, and how will understanding these things change the way you live in each moment of each day?

 

Romans 5:12-21

 

5:12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

 

·        When we read these passages, we see the legacy of two different men in scripture:  Adam and Moses.  Each are the heads of covenantal relationships with God. 

·        First let’s look at Adam.  What was the legacy of Adam?

o       According to verse 12, the sin of the world came through Adam, and therefore death also came in through his sin and that plague spread to every human being.

§         God made a covenant with Adam in the Garden of Eden.  Adam was to enjoy God, work the fields, and lead his wife.  What Adam was not to do was to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

§         For faithfulness, God promised uninterrupted fellowship with Adam and His wife.  If Adam was unfaithful and sinned, God promised death.

§         You see choosing to disobey was not a slip up, hang up, or habit.  It would rebellion against God.  It was an attempt to overthrow the creator/creature distinction.

o       So instead of Adam leading his wife and the whole human race in godliness, as the head of that covenant, Adam was caught picking his nose and losing his voice at the very time he should have been shooing away snakes.  He didn’t man up but instead willingly chose to sin thus bringing in sin and death for all the human race.

·        Now the sin of Adam reigned in the hearts of every human being up until Moses. 

o       In the interim, we see Cain kill Abel.

o       We see God wipe out the whole earth except for Noah because sin was so great. 

o       We see Abraham and Hagar turning their relationship into a job with benefits.

o       Joseph’s brothers sell their him into slavery and lie to their dad telling him that Joseph was killed all because they didn’t like Joseph’s fashion sense.

·        No doubt, sin was reigning.

o       It was counted differently though.  Each human being lived with a guilty, seared conscience but did not have the express written word of God detailing both sin and salvation.

o       Those from Adam to Moses were guilty of sin even though they didn’t know the law.

o       But everyone going forward from Moses was guilty of violating God’ commands as well as what they knew in their hearts was sin.

·        Having said that, what was the legacy of Moses?

o       Well Moses was the head of the Mosaic Covenant that God made with His people.

o       His legacy is much greater than Adam’s.  Interestingly, what both did condemned the hearts of men, but one righteously condemned and the other unrighteously condemned.

o       Adam exposed the world the depths of their sinful hearts by sinning and thus giving us all a will to sin.

o       Moses on the other hand gave us the law of God which also exposed the depths of sin in our hearts, but Moses’ work was obedience to God whereas Adam’s was rebellion from God.

·        We see that we all fall into these covenants from Adam and Moses.

o       Every human being is born sinful with a desire to please self and sin and not please and obey God.  Sin reigns in your heart because of Adam.  Apart from God, every human willfully chooses to be like Adam.  It is in the nature and character of each human being to rebel against God.

o       You have a free will but that free will only choose sin apart from God’s enabling you to choose righteousness. 

o       Moses gives the law which shows each of you what the character of God is like and condemns your sinful actions showing you that God is displeased with anything that is not done with a desire to please Him according to what He says is pleasing. 

o       The law also saw that God’s heart was for providing a sacrifice for sin to restore relationship with His creation.

·        What a mess.  It sounds like each person desperately needs a rescuer.  The hope comes at the end of verse 14 that speaks of Adam being a type of the one to come.  Let’s find out what that means.

 

15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

 

·        In middle school or junior high, did you ever do a compare and contrast paper?

o       That’s when you look at two things, for example two characters in a novel, and you write a paper detailing how these two things are similar and how they are different.

o       Let’s do that here to attempt to understand the work of Adam and the work of Jesus.

·        Paul speaks of the free gift of salvation functioning differently than the sin that is inherited from Adam, our head.  That is because the work of Adam and Jesus are very different.

o       Adam’s sinful covenantal trespass causes death for the human race.

o       However, Jesus also has a covenant.  His actions don’t condemn and kill.  His work brings in the grace of God and the free gift of grace for many.

·        In addition, the free gift of salvation produces a different result than Adam’s work.

o       Adam’s sinful trespass brought condemnation from God.

o       Jesus free gift of salvation brings justification with God.

 

·        Sin and grace reign differently as well.

o       Sin reigned from the one man, Adam to all people.

o       But there is an abundance of grace and the gift of Jesus’ righteousness that reigns in the life of those that are in Jesus Christ.

·        So, that leaves every human being as a subject of some sort.  Something is every person’s Lord and King.  I know that is unpopular language in America as we our country is founded on not being anybody’s subjects.  That is probably why this topic is not discussed much.  But for every one of you, something is reigning in your life.  Something or someone is in charge. 

o       You are either subject to sin and it is reigning in your life as a child of Adam.

o       Or you are either subject to the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness as a child of Jesus.

o       Either sin reigns over your or grace reigns over you.

·        Again, much like I mentioned last week, these are no potentialities but realities.

o       Either sin reigns in your life or grace reigns in your life.

o       You are either a slave to self and sin or a slave to Jesus and righteousness.

·        I guess the big question is how do you know which one reigns?  Well consider the imagery used in Romans.  A subject takes their commands from whomever rules and reigns over them.  So, to help you know who you are and whether you are in Adam or in Jesus, you should ask yourself this question:  Whose commands and rules reign over you?

o       Now the first response might be to think that even though you have faith in Jesus, sin rules over you because you are not perfect; in fact far from it.

o       But if being in Jesus means perfection, I think we are all in trouble.  Look at the language of verse 18.  It is grace which is the forgiveness of sin that rules over you. 

o       Grace couldn’t rule if there was nothing to be gracious about.

o       Grace ruling in your life means that you are being actively forgiven for what you are doing, what you have done, and what you will do.

·        Having said that, let’s pursue the idea of which reigns in your heart because there is a tendency for every person in the south who has ever spent any time going to church to assume they have a relationship with Christ.  But I want your assurance of salvation or the knowledge of your lack of salvation to come from scripture alone and not from Sunday school or VBS attendance.

·        Here in Romans, a relationship with Christ is described as having grace and righteousness reign in your life.  Let’s explore what that looks like because a lot is stake.

o       You know lately, I have had the privilege of sitting down with several people who have been really honest with me.  I’ve been able to explain these important truths.

o       Every human being was created in the image of God.

o       Yet because sin entered into the world, that image is marred.  For example, you can have wisdom, know and be known like God but now because of sin, you don’t know Him inherently and you aren’t known by God inherently because sin makes you God’s enemy.

o       Since the penalty of that sin is death, you will either pay the penalty of sin of death yourself in hell or you need someone to pay it for you.

o       But just paying for you sin is not enough, to be able to once again have restored relationship with God, you also need righteousness and goodness.

o       God sends His son, Jesus to live as a man, and He lives the life of righteousness that every human being needs, and He pays the penalty of sin.

o       So as, Romans 10:9-10 says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”

·        Now there have been countless people who have mouthed the words of Romans 10 yet nothing has ever happened in their heart.  How do you know if you have truly obeyed Romans 10:9-10?

o       Paul says that Grace and righteousness reign in your heart.  Again, ask yourself:

o       What reigns in your heart?  A desire to please self or a desire to please God?

o       What are the guiding principles by which you make your decisions?  What suits you best or what is pleasing to God?

o       When you lie, cheat, or steal, what happens in your heart?  Do you feel guilty but never change?  Do you confess your sin to God and then walk in repentance?

o       When you ask yourself about what God thinks about you, how do you decide?  Do you look to the goodness and grace of Jesus or do you look at your efforts and works?

o       Now I may have just scared you all to death which is not my intention.

·        Let me make things clear:  grace reigning means that your obedience is fueled by God’s forgiveness and that your confession of sin is fueled by God’s forgiveness.  It means that you only trust what God has done on your behalf for your relationship with Him.  You don’t trust anything else.

o       You cannot trust yourself and your efforts and expect to have a relationship with God.  Left to yourself, sin reigns.

·        Let me give you an example.  Ladies, how many times have you questioned or asked your husband if they love you?  You know, when you husband randomly walks through the room or takes out the trash and you all of a sudden say, “Do you love me,” and the husband is sure that this is a trick question.

o       What may or may not satisfy your heart but should is the Husband’s expressed desire to love you no matter what:  if you are faithful or unfaithful, if you are beautiful or not, if you are large or thin, if you are smart or ignorant.

o       The husband has to say and demonstrate by God’s help that He will love you no matter what, and you have to trust that alone.

·        That is the way God loves you.  Christ has earned everything necessary for the satisfaction of the Father, God loves you because He finds you beautiful not because you have made yourself beautiful.  Then you live in that love in a joyful relationship.

·        Paul begins to wrap these thoughts up in verses 18-21

 

18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

·        Paul gives us the big therefore as he brings his point to an end: 

o       Because of the sin of Adam, the world sins and that lead to your condemnation.  Everyone sins in Adam not just because of Adam.  That is the way covenant headship works.  That person does not just represent you; you stand with them.

o       Because of the righteous work of Jesus, every race and every nation can be led to be justified.

o       One man disobeyed, the many were made sinners.

o       One man obeyed the many were made righteous.

·        Paul goes on to say and it is hard to believe, but God gave the law to increase the trespass.  Yeah that’s what that says.  God gave the law to increase sinning. 

o       As you may or may not know, Sovereign King’s theology is called Reformed Theology or sometimes more simply called Calvinsim which speaks to God’s sovereignty in all thing including who and who is not elected to salvation.

o       Everyone always asks me questions about Calvinism asking, “If God predestined everything how is He not the author of sin?”  That question is not just for Calvinist. 

o       Paul makes it very clear:  the law increased the trespass.  It showed us our helplessness and our need for a Savior.

·        The good news is that even though the law increased sin, grace abounds more than sin. 

o       Do you hear that?  Sin increases but grace increases all the more.

o       Grace is not God’s back up plan to your sin.

o       God’s grace is more powerful than your sin.

·        Sin reigns in death, but righteousness reigns now leading people to eternal life with Jesus. 

·        Let’s wrap things up in this way.  A few week ago, we used the setup of the temple in the OT as a guide to help us apply things:

o       Outer Court:  Men and Women, Jews and Gentiles are allowed.

o       Inner Court:  Men and Priests only and sacrifices were offered.

o       Holiest of Holies:  Where the presence of God dwelled and priest only allowed to enter once a year to offer sacrifice for the people.

·        These very much function like the way we process ideas:

o       Outer Court:  the realm of culture and ideas.

o       Inner Court:  your thoughts and beliefs

o       Holiest of Holies:  your soul, you as a person.

 

 

·        So let’s apply this to these truths:

o       Outer Court:  Every human being is reigned over by the sin of Adam.  Apart from God, every human being is left to their ends and desires which is a desire to sin.  Yet Christ, lives the life that Adam and we cannot and do not – a life or righteousness.  His death is the penalty for sin for those who have faith in Him.  His resurrection is the promise that the penalty of sin will be cover come.  Because of that, grace and forgiveness reign in the lives of those that are in Christ Jesus.

o       Inner Court:  Perhaps you say, “Yes, I think that’s right.  I am sinful.  I don’t choose to worship, serve, and obey God.  I need a Savior, and I need Jesus’ grace and forgiveness and righteousness.”  Or perhaps your thoughts swing the other way.  You say, “I don’t want people making choices for me whether they be good or bad.  I’m my own person, and I’ll stand on my own.”

o       Holiest of Holies:  Who are you?  As a person, in your heart and soul, who are you?  Does your heart cry out to Jesus as your only hope and source in this world or does it shake its first at God?  There is no indifferent middle ground.  Either sin rules in your heart or grace rules in your heart.

·        You know people will say to me all the time; they say, “Gordon, I’m struggling with this particular sin.  I so want it to go away, but I keep saying these certain things, thinking these certain things, or doing these certain things.  I pray to Jesus and read the scriptures, but so far, that sin hasn’t gone away.”

o       Now what is reigning in that person’s heart:  sin or grace?

o       Grace because if sin was reigning in their heart, they wouldn’t be reading the scriptures and praying and asking for Jesus’ help.

·        But if that same person sins and sins, feels guilty, but never asks for Jesus’ help or seeks out help from the scriptures, I think they should have some serious doubt going on in their heart and mind.  If you don’t call out for grace and forgiveness, then sin is reigning and grace is not.

·        Here are the two options for everyone sitting here. 

o       If you know Christ and you want grace to reign in your life all the more:

§         Joel 2:12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.”  Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.

o       If you do not know Christ and sin is reigning in your life:

§         Psalm 37:4-5 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.  5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.

 

·        Audio of this sermon can be found at http://www.sermoncloud.com/sovereign-king-church/

·        It is so easy to seek glory in this day and age, but finding true glory is not so easy.    

o       So few of us will hit the game-winning shot for an NBA Championship or catch the winning touchdown in the Super Bowl. 

o       Some of us have mightily fought in our wars and are worthy of all respect, but few have ever told me that that time was glorious.  Movies and books make those things glorious, but losing your friends rarely is.

·        So we seek glory in other places. 

o       Maybe it is the sweet BMW or the promotion or position of our job. 

o       Maybe you seek glory vicariously through your children reveling in the fact that they get good grades or succeed in sports where you didn’t.

·        Either way, glory is hard to find.  I’ll tell you one place I try to find glory:  physical exercise.

o       I love fixing a time frame when I run and telling myself to beat it.  I love running a single mile and trying to beat my time.  I’ll even break it down into a quarter of a mile and try to beat time from when I was 25.  I’m close but not there yet.

o       Mountain biking is a bit different.  Sometimes I mountain bike for time and when I do that, I’m mindful of the best route to take avoiding stumps and anything that will slow me down.

o       However, even when I’m going for time, I can’t avoid that stump that is going to let me jump Evel Knievel style. 

o       Those jumps and stumps are more fun and leave me more prone to getting bloodied and bruised, but the glory is in the trying and in the achieving.

·        But our seeking of glory and settling for less has an understandable cause:

o       Since every human being was created in the image of God, we are designed to worship our Creator and give Him glory.  Every human being has been uniquely designed to relish and bathe and enjoy the glory of God.

o       Sadly, since the Garden of Eden, our desires for glory and worship have been tainted and corrupted with sin.  And because of that, we seek out small and poor substitutions for what glory really is. 

§         You chase after glory in work success. 

§         You chase after glory through the accomplishments of your children. 

§         You chase after glory in sexual conquest.

§         We even chase after glory in sports and exercise.

·        All of that to say, “Not even close.  No cigar.  We are far away from enjoying glory for what it really is.  The only real glory is the Glory of God. 

o       There are a million reasons why we struggle in this world and why we are sad and discouraged.

o       One fundamental reason is that we have sought glory in every other place but in Jesus Christ and we have found that false glory lacking in every real and substantial way.

·        Well, once you are gifted with faith by God, a faith that causes your heart to cry out to God for salvation, then you are on the pathway to pursing true and real and lasting glory. 

·        The greater your faith grows, the more you will enjoy and live within the glory of God. 

o       That being the case, if we want to enjoy the glory of God, we have to grow in our faith.

o       Growing in our faith is seeing more of God and less of ourselves in every thing.

o       As John the Baptist said, “I must decrease.  He must increase.”

o       True faith sees to lift God up while diminishing and denying self.

o       In that way, faith leads to glory.  Greater faith means enjoying and producing more glory to God.

·        So in light of that, the Big Picture Question this week makes plenty of sense. 

 

Big Picture Question:  If salvation is free and by faith alone, what can we do to increase and strengthen our faith?

 

Roman 4:13-25

 

4:13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.

 

·        If you weren’t with us last week, or even if you were, let me catch you up with what is going on. 

o       Last week, Paul wanted to make something very clear.  Salvation and forgiveness are free from God.  And a central temptation will be that as you grow in the faith and salvation, you will be tempted to take pride in obedience and the things of God making them religious trappings instead of spiritual gifts.

o       To emphasize that point, Paul explained how Abraham had faith in God before he was circumcised.  Abraham believed before doing anything righteous and God counted Abraham’s faith as righteousness.

o       The hope for people in the book of Romans and the hope for you is that salvation is undeservedly handed out by God to us apart from any good thing we do and that should give us hope for others who do not know Christ and who have not done anything good in and of themselves. 

o       That in its essence is the Gospel:  God’s love and help to you in light of your not earning God’s love and help.

o       Paul is trying to keep Jesus the main thing.

·        Paul picks up here with that same thought.  Abraham believed that God was who He said He was and that God would do what He said He would do.  The promises that God had made are reiterated here in these verses.

o       God had promised Abraham that he and his descendants would physically constitute the people of God.

o       This promise was given to Abraham when he and his wife Sarah were barren and advanced in age.  In fact, they waited 25 years until their son, Isaac was born.

·        But God wasn’t waiting for a certain amount of obedience from Abraham and Sarah to bring about the promise.  If God had been, they probably would never have had Isaac. 

o       In that 25 year wait, Sarah takes a turn in harem and they attempt to bring about the promised son by having Abraham sleep with one of his servants.

o       They didn’t fare too well while waiting.  They didn’t earn God’s faithfulness to His promise by obeying.

·        But they did believe that God would keep His promise.  They just weren’t very good in waiting.

o       You can relate to that, can’t you?  Can you relate to believing what God has said while simultaneously struggling and even sinning while you wait.  I bet you can.

·        Paul makes this point.  If it takes obedience to be a part of the people of God, nobody gets to be part of the family of God.

o       Paul says it clearly, “If the people who obey the law get to be the people of God then there is no need for faith and the promises of God become useless and pointless.”

o       It obedience is what is require for God to make you His child, any obedience whatsoever, then there is no need for faith.  You can do it on your own.

·        Then Paul makes this incredible statement.  He says, “The law brings wrath.”

o       Now just back in chapter 3 Paul says that He upholds the law. 

o       He does that because the law reflects the character of God and so do we also uphold the commands of God.

·        Then why does the law bring wrath?

o       The law brings wrath because in attempting to obey God we fail.  No one obeys and no one obeys perfectly.  In fact, apart from God’s help, no one even attempts to obey God.

o       No measure of you goodness or modicum of your obedience is going to change that.

o       Praise God if He enables you to obey, but the law of God brings wrath and does not bring about the promises of God.

·        Paul wants to make it clear:  the promises to Abraham came by faith and were not earned. 

·        Let’s make this practical.  Ask yourself.  Have you ever wanted something so badly from God?  Have you prayed and prayed and not received it?  Then you start thinking, “Oh, God is waiting for me to be this good and THEN He’ll give me what I want.” 

o       That is dangerous territory because then we make God like a deity who can be manipulated.

o       We think, “Oh can I just find the right combination of prayer time, study time, not looking at porn, giving enough money, never missing a Sunday, and on and on.” 

o       We think there is a mysterious combination that we have to dial into like a locker in High School that has a finicky lock on it.

·        Shame on you for reducing God to someone who can be manipulated.

·        Shame on you for thinking God is so vague and cruel.

o       God makes it clear what is necessary.

·        To further explain that, look at verse 16.

 

16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

 

·        Look at the first part of verse 16, “That is why it depends on faith.”  Stop there for a moment.  Think of whatever your present goal, frustration, challenges, or obstacle in life is.  Got it?  Once you think about it, consider what you are either doing or not doing to overcome those things.  Then tell yourself, “That is why it depends on faith.”

o       Think about losing weight.

o       Think about getting out of debt.

o       Think about repairing communication in your marriage.

o       Think about being a better parent.

o       Think about a more responsible student.

o       Think about studying your Bible.

o       Think about praying.

o       Think about sharing Jesus with a friend.

o       Think about stopping a particular sin that won’t go away.

o       Think about whatever it is you are waiting for.

·        Those things are pretty hard and difficult and normally success is pretty allusive with those things.  Now tell yourself this.

o       I can’t seem to lose weight on my own.  That is why it depends on faith.

o       I can’t seem to get out of debt.  That is why it depends on faith.

o       I can’t seem to repair the communication in my marriage.  That is why it depends on faith.

o       I can’t seem to be a better parent.  That is why it depends on faith.

o       I can’t seem to be a responsible student.  That is why it depends on faith.

o       I can’t seem to study my bible or pray.  That is why it depends on faith.

o       I can’t seem to share Jesus with my friend.  That is why it depends on faith.

o       I can’t seem to stop this particular sin.  That is why it depends on faith.

·        In every one of those examples, you are either trusting yourself for the outcome or you have faith in God to enable and change you.

·        Abraham’s example of faith in light of God’s promises is an example of how the guarantee of all things from comes by faith.

·        If you have faith, you are part of that promise to Abraham and part of the children of God.

·        To emphasize that God can do all things, Paul describes the gathering of God’s people and the formation of the children of Abraham to what?  God’s calling all things into creation that did not exist.

o       His point is, if God can create everything, the land, the trees, the wind, the water, you and me out of nothing, then of course He can gift you with faith and make you His child and change you.

·        The work of creation is a picture of God’s power and His ability to save and make you His own.  If God can do those things, why should you ever doubt that He can help you in the day to day.

·        Yet still we struggle with faith and giving God glory.  Paul again explains Abraham’s situation so it might encourage each of you.  Look at verse 18.

 

18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. 20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.

 

·        I love verse 18.  Abraham believed in hope against hope that he would have a child.  God promised Him a child when he was old and he waited 25 years for the promise to come about. 

o       Do you know what it means to wait with hope against hope?  That means you have no other options. 

§         You don’t trust your own ability.

§         You have no idea about what you can do to bring about what you want.

§         You don’t have the money.

§         You don’t even have the potential ability.

§         You don’t know someone who can do it for you.

§         You have no hope except for the mercy of God.

o       And here is the thing though:  You think that is a bad place.  It is exactly where God would have you.

o       Hoping against hope says, “If it my wife is going to be healed” or “If my marriage is going to be healed” or “If my children are going to love God” the only hope I have is if God does it.

·        I don’t mean jump to the conclusion and answer our Big Picture Question ahead of time but here it is. 

o       If salvation is free and by faith alone, what can we do to increase and strengthen our faith?

o       The answer is to learn to wait on God.  Trust that there is no other hope for you in any situation, not just the desperate ones but in any situation. 

o       What hope would you have other than the mercy of God?  Yourself?  Give me a break. 

o       And I’ll be honest with you.  You want to know who pointed this out for me in this passage?  Meredith did during one of our family devotions, so you guys thank her.

·        You see for Abraham, even while he waited for 25 years, even though he sinned along the way, he didn’t give up hope that God would keep his promise.

o       His body was long dead.

o       His wife’s body was long past the age of having children.

o       There was no reason to think that they would ever have children. 

o       Well there was one reason to believe that:  God is who He says He is and because of that God keeps His promise.

·        20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.

o       There is it folks in its simplicity.  He may have sinned and not trusted God fully at times, but he always believed that God was who He said He was and could do what He said He would do.

o       So Abraham’s faith grew how?  It grew as he sought to give glory to God.

·        Let me bottom line it for you in two ways.

o       You may have sinned and not been faithful, but that does not mean that God is sinful and unfaithful.

o       If you want your faith to grow, quit seeking glory for yourself and seek the glory of God.

o       Reorient your entire life so that its goal is not for you and your needs but to give God the glory because of Jesus Christ.

 

22 That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” 23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

 

·        God crediting Abraham’s faith as righteousness was not just for him.  It is for you and anyone else who has ever cried out in faith to Jesus Christ. 

o       Do you believe that Jesus died for your sins and was raise back to life by the Father?

o       Do you believe that Jesus paid the penalty of your sin and trespasses?

o       Do you believe that Jesus provided your justification to repair your relationship wit God?

·        Then that is your hope beyond hope. You don’t trust anything but God and God alone for your relationship with Him.

o       I had the joy this week of speaking with someone right here with SK about these very things.

o       He had been to church and heard about faith, but didn’t know whether he possessed it.

o       He wanted though to have faith and assurance of being forgiven by God.

o       He realized that left to himself he had only made a mess of his life.

o       But he said he wanted to know that he was forgiven.

o       So right there, with hope beyond hope, we prayed that he would know Jesus and His forgiveness and have real hope for his life and now He does.

·        Folks, I know that every one of you have something that you are either actively praying for or actively working for or actively worrying about.

o       My question to you is, “Where is your hope?”

o       Is it in your own hands?

o       Is it in your own efforts?

o       Is it in sticking to the plan?

·        Or is your hope beyond hope?  Is your only hope Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

o       See the glory of God in every aspect of your life.

o       See to grow your faith by glorifying Jesus.

o       Trust nothing else but the promises of God.

·        And watch your faith grow and your contentment grow and your love for your neighbor to grow all because you are seeking first His glory. 

·        These last few verses are a summary of the Gospel.  Take them and apply your name in each place where it says “ours” and “us” and “our”.

 

I Peter 1