Romans Week 1

Intro

Let’s Pray

Today we begin our journey in Romans. I am anticipating that this takes close to 3 or more years.....yes you heard that correctly.

Romans is key to understanding Jesus Christ and christianity so we will take as long as God will have us here

Romans is a wonderful book and I am so excited to truly explore the truth that God has for us in the coming weeks, months, and years

Let’s look at Romans

Romans 1:1

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Romans 1:1 ESV

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,

Today we read this and think of who we know Paul is without knowing the backstory and history

the christians in Rome would have known of who this Paul used to be when he was Saul and how powerful this verse really is...this morning I want us to gain or reinforce that knowledge among us

Paul was born Saul to the tribe of Benjamin

Philippians 3:5

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Philippians 3:5 ESV

circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;

Saul was also born a Roman Citizen

Acts 16:37

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Acts 16:37 ESV

But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.”

Acts 22:25

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Acts 22:25 ESV

But when they had stretched him out for the whips, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?”

He was born in Tarsus

Acts 9:11

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Acts 9:11 ESV

And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying,

Born a Hebrew in the tribe of Benjamin

He was a pharisee like his father and Saul was also a roman citizen

sauls lineage was spot on

He then was taught by the best

saul was taught by the best rabbi....Jewish teacher in the land Gamaliel

Acts 22:3

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Acts 22:3 ESV

“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day.

Who was Gamaliel and why did God have saul train under him

Gamaliel was the most respected rabbi of his time

he followed in his grandfathers footsteps

Gamaliel led the liberal faction of the pharisees

Saul was his most famous student

Gamaliel was the best of the best in terms of religion...we dont know about relationship with God because God does not tell us but Gamaliel was the most noted rabbi

most well known and sought after rabbi

You and I must be careful who we seek after

just because someone speaks well or is the most noted doesnt mean they truly know Jesus!

Just because someone leads a huge church doesnt make them Christian and it doesnt make their hearts right with Jesus

Just becuase someone leads a small church doesnt mean one is wrong with Jesus or that their relationship with Jesus is not deep

Now a body should be growing

first from milk to meat....growing in christian maturity through discipleship then in numbers

not because numbers are important but when each person’s relationship with Christ Jesus grows deeper that draws people to them and they then do grow in numbers

A few weeks ago God blessed me and my family with a family vacation

On Tuesday night of that first week of August we went to David as sight and sound theater in Branson Mo

This was the 2nd time this year that Melody and I have seen it

Many things stood out the first time back in march but to me the biggest was repentance and redemption and relationship and how damaging sin is to yourself and those around you

This time my major takeaway was

Never Go Back

David took a group of criminals and rejects and trained them first in God and second in fighting.......this is discipleship!!!!!

Before you ever train worldly you must train spiritually

as their individual relationships deepened and matured they understood never go back

do we here at CCC or you in your personal life go back or can we from today forward commit to never going back

as we go through Romans Paul will give us a wonderful example of never go back!!!!!

That leads me to the 2nd reason I believe God mentions Gamaliel in Scirpture

Saul....Gamaliel’s student had the best head knowledge

saul was, I believe, imposing both physically and intelectually

he knew the scriptures from a head knowledge point of view

God doesn’t want your head knowledge

He wants heart knowledge

The same day we saw David on our trip we went to the Imax to watch Fantastic 4

Cute movie with minimal language but the movie isnt important

Spoiler alert I am going to talk about the ending

two of the 4 heros were married and had a baby

this baby was being chased after by the bad dude

in the end the mother gives her life to save the baby

As i watched that scene unfold i was drawn to Christ’s love for me and you

He gave His life for us

I teared up thinking about it

Heart knowledge

Do you know Him

are you drawn to Him in all that you do

if not

pray

repent

seek Him!!!!

The power of the Gospel is transformation

changed lives for and through Jesus

God included this about saul to show us who saul was....his background...his upbrining...he had every opportunity

the best opportunity on could have had to truly know God but he didnt

I pray that you see that your beginnings dont define your right now or endings

Saul was zealous for God.....or at least what he thought was zealous for God based upon what he thought and learned about religion

saul was the best pharisee in the world

he was very zealous

let’s look at some of his zealous acts

Acts 7:58

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Acts 7:58 ESV

Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.

First who was stoned? His name was Stephen

We meet Stephen in

Acts 6:1-7

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Acts 6:1–7 ESV

Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

A lot of meat on this bone here

all have specific but equal jobs to do

pure religion is taking care of widows and orphans

Stephen was full of faith and the Holy Spirit and was chosen to feed widows

how does he end up being stoned in front of Saul?

Acts 6:8-10

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Acts 6:8–10 ESV

And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.

Stephen in doing his ministry to the Helenstic widows was doing great wonders and signs

when you hear signs in the Bible think miracles because a sign points to something bigger than itself

miracles always point to Jesus!!!!

The religious got mad because these wonders and signs were bringing people to Jesus and away from religion

they came to pick a fight but couldn’t hang not because Stephen was amazing but because he was full of faith and the Holy Spirit

I urge you to read all of this story in one setting

here are the cliff notes

stephen gives the Gospel and it really makes the old guard...the religious folks angry

Jesus and the Holy Spirit always makes the establishment and religion angry

in acts 7:1-53 the Holy Spirit smacks these guys and their response was to kill Stephen....stone him with Saul’s approval

One way you can check the condition of your heart is how you respond to conviction

do you look to blame others

do you become angry

do you lash out at others

do you become violent

that was always the response of those without Jesus to respond in and from their evil flesh

I urge you to be like David and realize when you are convicted exactly the magnitude of the situation and how evil you are in your sin

Psalm 51:10-19

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Psalm 51:10–19 ESV

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Do you see it

This isn’t sorry God

this isn’t being upset because you got caught

this is realizing the magnitude of your sin and the ramification that sin has throughout eternity

You drive the nails with every sin you commit

you build a wall between you and God with every sin you commit

your heart is dirty and spirit is wrong when you sin

You must be delivered EVERY TIME YOU SIN

Church we must take sin as serious as God does

Sin caused Jesus to have to die

Sin will always be between you and God without repentance and forgiveness

What is your response to conviction

Saul left Stephen and continued on his way arresting

beating

killing Christians

and was in fact on the road with a letter from the high priest to do that in Damascus when everything changed

Acts 9:1-19

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Acts 9:1–19 ESV

But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; and taking food, he was strengthened. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus.

Saul meets Jesus and is immediately and eternally changed

That is exactly what happens when you truly meet Jesus.....you leave that encounter immediately and eternally changed

Saul was so changed that he in fact went to the synagogues and preached the very Gospel he was arresting and beating and killing people for following

Acts 9:20-22

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Acts 9:20–22 ESV

And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.

That is immediate

that is eternal

that is change

where is your change

if you claim to be a Christian but have never changed your claim doesnt hold water and it doesnt match Scripture

Now Saul had to escape from Damascus because the Jews were out to kill him

Saul, which was his Hebrew name and Paul which was his roman name and name used as he brought the Gospel to the Gentiles was taught the Gospel by Jesus Himself

Galatians 1:15-18

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Galatians 1:15–18 ESV

But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days.

Paul was in the desert for 3 years and I believe he was with Jesus being taught the Gospel

Being discipled

being prepared for ministry and

again I believe having the cost explained to him so he could count it and follow Jesus

If you are a Christian and never seek Jesus I must question if you are really a christian

you must seek Jesus

you must spend time....significant time with Jesus

Salvation is being set apart and just the beginning not the end

God gives us a great example of how HE can take someone so evil

so deceived

so wrong

and use them to bring the Gospel of Jesus to the Gentile world

use them to write a large portion of the new testament

to show His love and compassion and justice and the power of the Gospel to transform lives

Back to Romans 1:1 I pray you see the same Paul that the readers would have immediately saw.....a life radically transformed and changed by Jesus!!!!!!

You may be here today in need of that transformation this morning

maybe you are a saul

a horrible sinner in desperate need of Jesus to transform your life

If He did it for saul He will do it for you

come

Invitation