Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

If you would like to follow along in your Bible, the first passage we will look at is in Romans 1.

This morning we are bringing our 5th Sunday Series, The Best Possible News, to a close.

We have been taking a deeper look at the Gospel message that the Apostles preached.

Jesus came to this earth.

He left his Father in glory to come here - to be like one of us.

He displayed His power and authority during His ministry, and in HIs character He revealed the Father to his disciples.

Then Jesus gave His life for us.

He showed such love for us in submitting Himself to one of the worst forms of death that man could create.

He was beaten and then crucified as a sacrifice for our sins.

Then, three days later, he conquered sin and death.

He was raised from His tomb and was seen by hundreds of witnesses, including those who He chose to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom throughout all the world.

The resurrection is the evidence that the Gospel provides to the fact that Jesus will one day return to this earth.

He will raise all of mankind from their tombs, and will be their judge.

For those who are the people of God, Jesus will take them, in their glorified bodies, into the presence of God forever.

This is the good news - the best possible news - that we have talked about during the year.

This message gives such a great hope to all those who

the Gospel.

To bring our series to a close today, there is one more topic I would like us to consider - How we apply this great news to ourselves - how we can receive God’s mercy and receive salvation through what Jesus did for us.

To bring our series to a close today, there is one more topic I would like us to consider - How we apply this great news to ourselves - how we can receive God’s mercy and receive salvation through what Jesus did for us.

WE MUST SEE OUR NEED FOR MERCY

WE MUST SEE OUR NEED FOR MERCY

This is by far one of the most difficult facts to accept by those who have not obeyed the Gospel.

People like to look at themselves as good moral people who are right with God because they do some good things or believe the same way as their parents or have always gone to worship services and Bible studies.

No one likes to hear - you are not good - you cannot be right with God and make it to Heaven based on your own works and good deeds.

The Gospel message is not for those who think they are good and righteous and in no need of God’s mercy and forgiveness.

The good news is only for those who are humble enough to see the truth - that without the work of Christ, they are without hope.

But this is the truth of the Gospel message.

The fact that Jesus needed to die for our sins so that we can be forgiven by God and be in a relationship with Him implies that we did not have those things on our own!

We were not right with God and deserving of Heaven without Jesus’ work.

No matter how good we may think we or others may be, if we have not received the gift of God’s grace through the cross, we are hopelessly lost, dead in our sin.

This is by far one of the hardest th

This is the point that Paul drives home in the letter to the Romans in chapters 1-3.

He shows that every man and woman, regardless of nationality and spiritual background, are lost and in need of God’s grace.

In chapter 1, he describes the Gentiles of his day, talking about the moral depravity that was present...

This is by far one of the most difficult facts for those hearing the Gospel message to accept.

If Jesus had to die for our sins, that implies that we are not good enough on our own to be right with God.

No matter how good one may think they are, Jesus needed to die for them so they could receive salvation.

This is what the New Testament shows us in many passages.

For instance, in , the main emphasis of Paul is the need of Jew and Gentile alike for salvation.

Chapter 1 talks about the Gentiles who were suppressing the truth by their sin.

They were worshipping false gods and things that were created.

Paul gives a long list of sins they were guilty of in verses 29-32.

“29 They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness.

They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice.

They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 senseless, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful.

32 Although they know God’s just sentence—that those who practice such things deserve to die—they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them.”

(, CSB)

“29 They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness.

They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice.

They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 senseless, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful.

32 Although they know God’s just sentence—that those who practice such things deserve to die—they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them.”

(, CSB)

As you read through this passage, it seems like Paul is talking about our culture today.

Any one of these sins leave someone in need of the work of Christ.

Then in chapters 2-3, Paul shows that the Jews are in need of God’s mercy also.

The fact that they were religious, had the law, circumcision, and were descendants of Abraham did not mean that they were right with God.

Their unbelief, hypocrisy, and sin left them in the same condition as the Gentiles.

In 3:9-12, Paul says:

“9 What then?

Are we any better off?

Not at all!

For we have already charged that both Jews and Gentiles are all under sin, 10 as it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one.

11 There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away; all alike have become worthless.

There is no one who does what is good, not even one.”

(, CSB)

There is not one person who can say, “I am a good person.

I deserve to go to Heaven on my own merits.”

Everyone needs Jesus.

No one is righteous without the mercy offered by God through the sacrifices of Christ.

No matter how bad we may think someone is a good person, if they have not obeyed the Gospel, they need to hear it so that they can receive God’s mercy.

And an important part of the Gospel message is sharing with someone their need of forgiveness - to show them that without becoming a Christian, they are lost in their sins.

WE MUST, IN REPENTANT FAITH, OBEY THE GOSPEL

The person who understands that they need the mercy of God and feels the weight of their sin - what it has done to their relationship with God - must respond to the Gospel message.

If someone truly understands these things and believes the great news of the mercy God offers through Jesus, the need to accept God’s gift of eternal life.

In , the Jews that Peter was preaching to believed what Peter preached and felt the weight of their sin and their need for God’s mercy, and when they asked what they needed to do, here is what Peter said:

“38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

(, CSB)

Peter commanded two things to this group:

He tells them first to repent.

Their allegiance needed to change.

They needed to submit their lives and their will to Jesus.

They needed to confess Jesus as their king - the ruler of their lives instead of themselves.

They needed to turn away from their sin and seek God’s mercy in their lives.

Second, they needed to be baptized for the remission/forgiveness of their sins.

It was at this point, when they were baptized with a believing and repentant heart, that the Spirit would renew them and wash away their sins.

If someone is willing to come to Jesus in repentance and faith, willing to submit to Jesus Christ - making Him their LORD - their Master and King, then they are ready to take the next step in order to receive God’s mercy and to become a disciple of Christ: to be baptized into Christ.

It is at the point of baptism that Paul says in that we enter into Christ.

We are united with Him in His death and raised with him to walk in newness of life.

We are crucified with Christ and raised out of the water a new creation - born again - no longer enslaved to and ruled by sin.

Now, we need to keep in mind that our faith, repentance, and baptism does not in any way merit our salvation.

These are the conditions that God has given to accept His free gift of eternal life.

We need to fulfill certain conditions to receive any gift.

If we receive a check in the mail as a birthday gift, there are certain conditions that we need to meet in order to receive any benefit from that check.

When we sign the back of the check and take it to the bank to cash it, do we in any way earn that gift?

Of course not!

It was graciously given to us and we just accepted the gift by cashing the check.

We need to

fulfill certain conditions to receive any gift.

If