ROAMNS 16 - 4 in 2024

Hey Journey I am glad you have joined us this morning and we hope and pray that your Christmas and the following week was great. It’s always a weird week in between Christmas and New Years day isn't it. It is as if time doesn't exist, working in auto-pilot, coming back from vacation, finding random wrapping paper around the house, and calories don’t exist either. Says that in the bible in the original Greek somewhere I think. Well, we are on the last day of 2023. For many it has been a hard year, for others it's the best personal year you’ve had, you've hit your goals, financially have done well, family is closer, you grew deeper roots in your faith. It's normally around this day we look back at the year we have had in remembrance, and look forward to the year to come in hopeful anticipation you will go to the gym this year. Or if you are like me, I look forward to 2024, where I am excited about what God is going to do and is doing in my life, in our church, and in our community. Where we will see more salvation, more baptisms, more restored marriages, new life as babies are born, people turn from their sin, set free from demonic forces and strongholds in their life through the power of the Holy Spirit. It's going to be a powerful year, and yet as a pastor I am going to be honest, it could be, and it is almost certainly going to be the most divisive year we may have ever seen in 60 years.

I believe in the next year we are going to see more persecution of Christians for holding biblical beliefs, more false teachers both in the liberal progressive woke churches, and the conservative christian nationalistic churches. More confusion and indoctrination of children in schools, entertainment, and adults when it comes to gender, sex, the murdering of babies in the womb, what is moral and immoral. More misinformation on social media, more fear tactics being used on both sides of the equation about our democracy, our decency and our future as a country. More anger, more public distrust, and more…what? You fill in the blank. So what are we to do? How as Christians are we to respond? Should we as a church, and you as a Christian have a voice in the public discourse and social order? We can have full assurance in the future because of the God we serve. So just like we do in our lives, we look back on where we’ve been and look forward to the future. We are going to look back on where we have been in this Romans series, and look at 4 things the 16th Chapter of Romans tells us to do as we head into 2024. But let us go to God and pray first. PRAY

We started this Romans series back on September 3rd and for the last 18 weeks we have been traveling through this wonderful book of the bible and I am confident all of you remember everything we have gone over…by the look on your faces maybe I shouldn't be so confident. So let's look back, the book of Romans was written by the Apostle Paul who was known as the Apostle to the Gentles, a once up an coming Rabi who had zeal for the Lord to the point where he would hunt down Christians, and he  turns into Jesus follower at the road to Demascus. Just goes to show you, that anyone in your life who you think is too far gone, or they are currently anti-church, anti-Jesus are not too far gone for Jesus. Paul then started his missionary Journeys.

After the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus the Gospel spread all around the world and the mediterranean sea and made its way up to Rome. So who were the first converts to Jesus? Jewish men and women, and now for the first time ever, gentiles were grafted into the vine to use biblical imagery. In 48ad the Emperor Claudius at the time expelled all Jews, and Christian Jews out of Rome for about 5 years until 53ad when he lifted the ban. The amazing thing is Christinaity grew in Rome during those 5 years with gentile believers. However, with the jewish believers allowed back in there was a crash of cultures and division amongst Jesus followers in rome. Should they follow Jewish customs and the teachings of Jesus as the jews did? Or are gentiles free in Christ and not bound by Jewish customs? So Paul wrote this book by the influence of the Holy Spirit to unite a divided church by addressing the key tenants of the Gospel, fostering faith in believers and to answer questions they would have had.

The 16 Chapters of Romans is broken down into 4 parts as Paul unpack this for us. Romans 1-4 Reveals God Righteousness, Romans 5-8  Reveals God Creation of New Humanity through Jesus. Romans 9-11 Reveals how God fulfills his covenant to Israel. Romans 12-16 - Reveals how God unifies his Church. Let's take a quick moment to break this down, Romans 1 sets us up when we realize on a macro and a micro level that we are all sinners, all broken and all wicked. In fact Romans 1:18 says this, “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people.” We see the depth of depravity of not just in your soul as you will find yourself in the following verses, but we see it as the totality of the fallen human condition that is that left to its own desires creates chaos. You’ve seen it in your life, not just seen it, but lived it. Confusion, addiction, regret, immoral decisions, you've been there and when faced before a perfect and righteous God we fall every time. So Jesus arrived, he's perfect, holy, without sin and he took your sin on himself On the cross. Jesus became what we are so that we might become what he is, blameless before God. Not that we are to become Gods, that's a false teaching of the false religion Mormonism.

So That leads to Romans 5-8 which discuss everything to do with identity in Christ as you are justified by Christ's atonement on the cross for your sins and as you receive the Holy Spirit upon salvation you begin the process of sanctification, a new identity and the beginnings of a renewed mind. Romans 5:1 “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. God is very clear, we must leave our old lives and old identities behind. This isn't easy because we wrestle with flesh and blood, yes, but more so with two fighting spirits, and principalities and demonic forces do not want you to live in truth and freedom. Your God given identity will never be anything other than what God says and outlines in his word, you don't identify yourself, culture doesn't identify you neither does social influences. When you are in Christ you are His, and nothing separates you from the Love of God.

Romans 9-11 discusses Israel and Gods covenant and breaks down the past Romans 9, the present, Romans 10, and the future, Romans 11 on how God will fulfill his promise to the Jews.

Finally Romans 12-16 focuses on God's unification of his Church, and unity in the church is measured and ensured by having a love and commitment to each other and believers in Christ, and through serving humanity through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We can have disagreements, but we cannot have disunity. So that leads us to the final Chapter, Romans 16. Now, I know that was a lot of information in a short time, so as always, as you leave if you want the notes that I have in front of me, you can scan the QR code on the way out and download the entire sermon as written in a PDF form for your reading pleasure. I am a terrible speller, so don't get on me about that.

We have looked back at all of Romans. Now let's look forward to Romans 16 as I have 4 Things for 2024.

1: Encourage One Another Regularly: Listen how Paul finishes out this letter when he says “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchrea, I ask you to receive her un the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you. Why does Paul use the word our? Because Phoebe is a sister in the faith, side note, I believe we must get back to viewing those in the faith as our brothers and sisters and treating them as such. But Paul encourages Phoebe and then the list goes on Priscilla, Aquila risked their lives for Paul, Ephenetus was a first convert to Christ in Asia, Mary worked hard. The list goes on and on. In fact, in total in this last chapter,  28 people are mentioned, 26 of them are named. You might ask when you read lists of names in the bible why do they matter? If you saw your name in there, it would matter to you wouldnt it? Especially if you were encouraged specifically for something you've done?

But there isn't a lot of encouragement in our world today, in fact clinical Psychologist, Author and Speaker Jordan Peterson says that People are dying for a few words of encouragement. And people are more than willing to discourage, look at comment sections, politics, disagreements, and the inability to have adult conversations without yelling louder or tearing someone down. But Christians we are to be different, here Paul puts on display exactly what he says in 1 Thessalonians 5:11 - Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. Encouragement is the wind in our sail, it's incredible what happens when you not only receive encouragement but how your perspective changes  when you look for ways to give it.  For instance, I was an uber driver for a little bit a while ago and i picked up a man from Nigeria and he and I got to talking and found out his wife and kids moved with him to America within the last year. And at the end of our conversation when he's getting out of the car he turns to me and says, “You are very handsome.” Now I dont think I’m anything to write home about, but man that felt good and I still think about it! So Encourage one another not just broadly, but like Paul with very specific ways. Like this (2-3 people in the crowd.)

In 2024 we must Be Aware of False Teachers: Romans 16 17-18 “I urge you brothers and sisters to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.” Now more than any time in history false teaching isn't just happening, it is available on demand to lead you astray. The bible is clear, but false teachers fight in the fog. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. - 2 Timothy 4:3-4

False teachers try to add extra steps to faith, make it all about giving, they try hard to pervert and twist scripture to say things it doesn't say, or omit what they don't like. Listen, I've said it before and I will say it again, “Those who twist scripture speak the devil's language. The goal of false teaching is confusion disguised as love, confusion on sex, confusion in gender, confusion on identity, confusion on money, confusion on salvation. And most false teachers begin to preach this progressive woke ideology and try to disguise it as biblical theology, but I. Reality they left biblical authority behind long ago. False teachers make a lot about self love, self acceptance, self-identification, embrace yourself, you are good enough you don't have to change, self-theology, you can change God however you want, you don't have to deny yourself, you don't have to pick up your cross, and they make little of the sin that nailed Jesus to the cross. There is no authority, there is no power and A sure, significant sign of a false teacher is no Spirit conviction in your life.

Don’t applaud just yet…because there is a movement in the Church especially amongst evangelicals where they make everything about America and their political party, Trump is savior and the Republicans are king. A vote for them is a vote for the kingdom of God. There is confusion on who truly reigns supreme. That's just as much false teaching as the other. Last I checked America isn't found in the bible and it isn't God's promised land. Now I love this country we live in and we are blessed to live in it, but we must not get God's kingdom and man's kingdom confused.

Now I have no problem speaking about politics and church at the same time and  pointing out that the christian moral ethic aligns itself more with one party than the other and we will discuss this more further especially next year. Don’t email me saying churches shouldnt speak about politics and don't come at me saying the separation of church and state, Thomas Jefferson wrote that in a letter to the  Danbury baptist association in 1802 referencing the first amendment when it says, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; His point in the separation of church and state was to keep the state out the churches, not churches out of the state. But our faith isn't in a party, it's in a King! And that King Jesus has given us his word as truth, and we have to be as soft as doves and as shrewd as vipers in our discernment. Because God is unbending and unwavering in his truth no matter if he said it 2000 years ago he is the same yesterday, today and forever more.

Also do not label someone a false teacher simply because you don't like what they are saying if what they are saying is biblically correct and accurate. I’ve been accused of being a false teacher this way. They didn't just disagree with me, but with the bible. Just because your flesh doesn't want to hear it, or you disagree with the Bible, doesn't make the person a false teacher, it means you have false beliefs.

Did I miss anyone? How do we know what is true? Read the Bible as God wrote it. Paul says this in 2nd Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Remember, we don't change the bible, the bible changes us and we do not cower in fear to speak the truth, we boldly proclaim it. Beware of false teachers.

3: Fight for Unity - Why would Paul tell the church to watch out for what causes division? At the end of verse 19 he instructs them to but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. If you are aware of division, wise in what is biblically good and innocent from evil, unity can and will follow. But why the word fight? Because it's harder to be united than to be divided. Don’t believe me, look at divorce rates in America and in the Church. Stats will tell you about 50% of secular couples get divorced and 38% of christian consistent church going couples get divorced. Number 1 Cause? Irreconcilable differences. If you've been through a tough season in marriage and you are still married you know what it means to fight for unity. In fact the reformation movement would say it like this, In Essentials Unity, in non-essentials liberty and in all things love..

What are our essentials? 1: We believe in the monotheist, Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 2: God is creator and author of life. 3: Jesus is fully Human and Fully Divine, 4: Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin 5: Jesus was perfect without sin. 6: Jesus was crucified, nailed to a cross, and buried for the atonement of your sins. 7: Jesus Rose from the grave defeating death and sin and ascended into heaven. 8: All have sinned and fallen short can be saved. 9: Jesus will return again. 10: The bible is God's word, it is without error and instructs us in the way of God. All of these you can find included in our 6 statements of faith of Journey church found on our website..

What God has made clear in his word, Christians do not have opinions on, they have matter a facts, that's why I can boldly declare the Gospel, say God is pro-life, we are at war with principalities and demonic forces that rule this world, that is why we go toe to toe with a culture of lies and battle it with God's truth. The list can go on.

So we must have Unity in the essentials for what God has made clear he is clear on. But there are non-essentials we can have conversations about. Listen, was the earth created in 6 literal days or over time? What about dinosaurs? The rapture, the millennial reign, the Nephellian, is speaking in tongues a sign of being baptized by the holy spirit, what are all the gifts and the spirit, church policy, structure and worship style, and then of course the dos and don’t like alcohol, gambling, smoking, entertainment etc.

The issue arises in the church when we make the non-essentials of the faith the dividing line in the sand. If you don’t….then you are not one of us. Church, it's time to stop infighting over non-essentials to the faith, because to a world that is broken and hurting and needs the Gospel and they look to a global church who fights over the age of the earth? Are you kidding me? Fight for unity, and we can have discussion on everything else.

Remember what Jesus prayed for? A United Church John 17:20-23 when he says “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

4: Submit to Christ's Supremacy - At the very end of this book, Paul, calls back to Genesis 3, the very first time God mentions the coming of Jesus to defeat satan and sin when he says, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. Jesus rules and reigns here on earth and in heaven. At the cross Satan bit his heel, but upon his resurrection Jesus sealed satan's fate. Supremacy means, over, above, in control of, and Jesus is above all, overall and in control of it all. Listen, many people tell me that's Good for you but I don't follow Jesus, I am not Chrsitian, ok, Christ still rules over you even if you believe it or not. The bible is still true even if you believe it or not, Jesus still died on the cross for you even if you believe it or not, he defeated death for you even if you believe it or not, and he sits at the right hand of God contending for you even if you believe it or not? Why? Because Christ Supremacy reigns, over the just and the unjust.

So this year, as you experience ups and downs, as we see the world more divided, we must be united, encouraging one another in the faith, be aware of false teachers, and submit to Christ's supremacy. Knowing in all things he is in control. So I want to end the Romans by reading a passage from another book of Colossians, praying it is an encouragement to you as we head into a year certain Jesus is in control, but uncertain of how it will look.

5 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church;he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of  your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

May you go out and be servants of the Gospel in North Peoria and on.

Pray