Untitled Sermon (33)

This Week's sermon will be a continuation of what we covered last week. It is our part to to what is being said here in verse 4. And I stated last week that in order for us to understand worse for we have to stop and reflect on who Jesus Christ is.

Any average church goer would say simple enough, but is it? Have we had an honest look at the person and work of Jesus Christ? Last week we covered 2 studies that I felt validated what I've been preaching about over these last few weeks.

It not only validated what I've been preaching about but it validates what we as christians have been feeling for a while. The downfall of Christianity, the increasing Of atheism which is just a fancy word for an Anti-Christ movement.

And we looked at a study where pastors were interviewed and confessed that they feel pressured to speak about certain topics and limited on how much they can speak on those topics that they are being pressured to speak on.

We discuss that the reason why pastors feel limited is not because they are afraid of stepping on people's toes it's out of fear of retaliation. That the pastor is thinking about his own physical health and the health of his family and their protection.

This means that The reprobate, the non believers are being successful in their mission and instilling fear and intimidation amongst the people of God. They are trying to scare us into silence. But pastors feeling afraid to speak boldly is not the only issue that we have been discussing.

We talked about liberal theologians within the seminaries of even some of the most conservative denominations from the 1960s Into the 1990s. the Southern Baptist convention is deemed one of the more conservative Baptist denominations and they were not able to gain control of their seminaries until about 1991 and even then till this day they do not have a conservative control of all their seminaries.

What this means, is that the average pastor 40 years old or older Has received this liberal type of training. This does not mean that every pastor 40 years of age or older is a liberal or that they Have adopted a liberal theology. But for those who were involved with this type of training you can see it in their ministry.

This is where preaching becomes more of a clever speech, an interesting way of trying to get people to be better people. I have no doubt that many of these pastors have good intentions because I believe they do. And I honestly think that these pastors are doing the best that they can with the training that they have been equipped with.

But it is falling short and It has caused a rippled effect to the generations to come. And the greatest issue out of this type of church is that the next generation has no clue what truth is. They have no clue what the gospel is and they have no clue who Jesus Christ is.

They have an idea of all of that and they can recite general statements out of The Bible but if you press on chances are they don't know. And the reason why they don't know is because they had pastors who are not edifying the congregation.

Not only are they not Leading their congregation in this direction but they lead them to writings of other pastors who are doing the same thing that they are doing. Basically this is the type of preacher who is preaching a basic message that you would find in the Christian Living section of the average christian bookstore.

Not the best books to be investing time in. and on the flip side not the worst. The execution on how a lot of these sermons are delivered make it difficult to spots one of these pastors. They use a lot of biblical language, their ignorance is masked by language.

there are many pastors out there who do make this mistake and the temptation to do this is so heavy for pastors, this does not necessarily mean that these are unqualified men or that they are not good at what they do. It also does not mean that the Holy Spirit can't use a ministry like that and preached to your heart.

The reason why I am extra critical of this form of ministry is because we are not seeing the young ones who were raised in this ministry coming back. We are not seeing real transformation take place. We are not seeing a sense of holiness in the lives of believers.

The divorce rate is just as high in the church as it is in the secular world. This should not be. What we’re seeing from the average churchgoers is almost equal to what is happening in the secular world. In addition to the divorce rate being almost identical, We are seeing high amounts of spousal abuse in general.

And this has been going on for quite some time. men who will use the scriptures to manipulate their wives into getting what they want. Church goers are almost as bad with substance abuse as the secular world is.

The amount of infidelity is nearly as high as the secular world. We are seeing more and more pastors give in to sexual sin. Idolatry is just as bad if not worse within the church than it is in the secular world. many will join the worship team in many churches across the United States and later are exposed of people who are faking a faith to play rock star.

based off the study that we looked at last week the rise of those who are rejecting all forms of religion is up and the church is decreasing. What this tells us is that our youth is not coming back. As soon as the youth goes off into the world they are captivated by the world and swept away because they were never fully prepared.

And the reason they were never fully prepared is because the parents never equipped them and the ministry's that they were involved with never equip them as well. I guarantee this is not the intention of almost all the pastors who make these mistakes. But this is the consequences of it all that we are beginning to see.

Ultimately we are not evengelical christians anymore and by that I mean we are not the gospel centered. We are unconcerned with the important doctrines of the scriptures that Jesus upheld with so much love and care

We feel that the best thing for our lives is do have 7 to 11 steps on how to improve the ugliness we don't like in our own personal lives. And I have argued that this is another form of works based righteousness. What we need is not another list of things to perform.

What we need is gospel truth and biblical exposition that will cause real change that will have a real impact that real divine miracle will take place in the heart of the wicked that sits in the pews. Because unless that is taking place nothing is happening.

So in order not to repeat the same mistakes we must reflect on who Jesus Is and why verse 4 is so important. Let's go ahead and read that verse again.

Romans 10:4 NASB95

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Last week we discussed The 2 natures of Jesus. That it is essential for us to understand that Jesus is truly man and truly human. And now we will finish why this is such an importance. When Adam was made in God's image according to God's likeness, we are to understand this as mankind being God's proudest creation.

For a reason only known to God, he specifically made man for fellowship and made man special or higher than other creatures. And then God declared that Adam would be over the creation that is in the garden. He said you will have dominion over these things.

Some people even believe that when Genesis says that man was made according to the likeness of God it was that God-made man to be a Lord of sort over the rest of creation.

is technically the context of Genesis 126. Then God said let us make man in our image according to our likeness. And let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the Earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the ground

They come to that conclusion because that is technically the context of Genesis 126. Then God said let us make man in our image according to our likeness. And let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the Earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the ground

That is literally how the verses set up your created in this image you will rule over these creatures.Regardless if you agree with that or not it is clear that Adam was given the task of taking care of the garden. Adam had failed. He had failed to drive out the serpent who brought great danger to himself, to his bride, and all that God has entrusted him with.

Adam was called Adam because he is the 1st man. Adam is called Adam because he was the leader of all men. And in his leadership he led all men to death. He led all men to death when he defied our holy God. And now man from Adam all the way down to us to day are born and death.

Not only now are we born in sin but we willingly sin. And due to the great corruption of our nature our very thoughts are corrupted everything within us is corrupted by sin we are not even capable of fulfilling the righteousness that God demands.

An entrance into the Kingdom of God demands righteousness. We emphasize forgiveness so much but righteousness is the requirement to the Kingdom of God. Not that we are just forgiven comet that just wipes the slate clean there has to be more. There is more required and what is required is righteousness.

Not righteousness defined by you Or I but righteousness defined by God. This is something that you and I are not able to do come up this is something no man is able to do. The only one who can satisfy the righteous demands of God is God himself.Turn to 1st Corinthians chapter 15 and look at verse 45.

1 Corinthians 15:45–49 NASB95

So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.

This section of scriptures about the resurrection but you have to notice that Paul calls Jesus the last Adam. He makes that connection between those 1st man, this 1st cover the head of man and this new covenant head.

And this should not be a surprise to you because like I have been stating what Paul is covering now is nothing new. He has already addressed these things we are now looking at the application. But this was discussed in chapter 5 of Romans.

In chapter 5 Paul discussed this covenant relationship and the difference between Adam and Jesus and the similarities between the 2. And a chapter 5 verse 18 and 19Paul says this.

Romans 5:18–19 NASB95

So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.

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So last week we emphasize that as christians were always proclaiming that Jesus came and died for us and rarely do we ever proclaimed that Jesus came and lived for us as well. He came to fulfill all righteousness because righteousness is the requirement for the Kingdom of God.

And that is what Jesus did. All the miracles we seen the new testaments was acts of righteousness, all the words that he preached work acts of righteousness, everything he did on down to his baptism were works of righteousness and Jesus himself proclaimed that he came to fulfill all righteousness.

So Jesus is the fulfillment of the law because he is the one who kept the law perfectly he fulfilled the law. However there still something keeping man from entering the Kingdom of God: sin.

And be more specific, the righteous punishment of sin. It is a concept pretty much foreign to our modern day way of thinking. Typically when we think of God we think of God as one who is merciful and full of grace. We think of him as forgiving and we love this idea of God being all merciful, graceful and forgiving.

And all of those things are true about God. But it's also incomplete about him. Use also righteous, he is also holy, and because he is righteous and holy he will keep all his promises and he will execute all Justice.

In keeping with his holy nature all sin must Be answered for. This, the suffering and the wrath that the Son would endure, Was agreed what's in the perfect fellowship of are trying God before the foundation of the world.

Before the foundation of the world Jesus agreed I will answer for my sheep. And he did, this has been the focus of just about every Christian this week. Is during this week we tend to Turn the events that has changed the entire cosmos into a cheap holiday ritual.

And because we are so prone to doing this it seems that many many many Americans have detached their emotions from the seriousness of these historical events. Jesus, being accused of claiming to be = God, is going to suffer at the hands of his own creation.

When we think about the torture and execution of Jesus, Hollywood as way more influence that our minds than the scriptures. And we will unfold this in more detail when we go through the gospel of John. But to explain what I am talking about, we have to add historical facts into the narrative of scripture.

You see when we watch the movies we watch Jesus being tortured then pilot brings him before the people and asked them to choose between barabbas or Jesus. We know how the story goes. They chose to set the guilty free and to crucify the innocent.

Then Jesus carries his cross up to Golgotha. But the scriptures say that’s pilot ordered that Jesus be flogged. Then he was brought before the people and when the people chose Jesus for execution that is when pilot gave the order for execution.

This is where we add historical context. You would also have to add Greek language. You see John used the mild form a flogged. Meeting he used the word that described torture but not torture in its most extreme. And this would be consistent with history.

When an official for Rome ordered someone to be flogged, that is typically where they are taken to be Beaten.So it is then when they spat on Jesus, punched him, perhaps even whipped him with some type of tools. They forced a crown-of-thorns upon his head and mocked him.

Even though this is deemed the lesser form of torture, it was still pretty severe.It was after this Jesus was taken before the People, All beat up and bruised. They demanded is execution and that is one pilot gave order of execution.

It is when the Roman official gives the order for crucifixion that the prisoner receives the extreme torture. Not the flogging that was ordered earlier. It was at the proclamation of a death execution that a prisoner would receive this extreme form of torture.

This means that Jesus was tortured twice. It was at the death execution that the Romans would use the cat of 9 tails. And they would have chunks of iron and jagged bone at the end of each whip. The scriptures do not go into detail about how severe this torture processes.

During for century common people were mostly aware of the severity of this torture. Historical contacts tells us that it would rip off the flesh and often Bones and organs were exposed. History also tells us that most never survived the torture itself.

ommon people were mostly aware of the severity of this torture. Historical contacts tells us that it would rip off the flesh and often Bones and organs were exposed. History also tells us that most never survived the torture itself.

for the first century it was common people were aware of the severity of this torture. Historical contacts tells us that it would rip off the flesh and often Bones and organs were exposed. History also tells us that most never survived the torture itself.

Jesus became the suffering servant that Isaiah foretold about. Crucifixion was deemed the most embarrassing worse death anyone can have. They considered it a great curse which is why we often hear it call they curse upon a tree.

It was very common For the Romans to practice. And Jesus was not the 1st person to claim to be the messiah around this time . There were others shortly before Jesus that claim this and we're also crucified. It was common for the Jewish people to crucify anyone claiming to be the messiah.

And the reason for that is because the view this death as such a great curse that the crucifixion was their test to see if a person really was a messiah. Because a messiah would not be cursed by God to the cross. At least that is their line of thinking. If the crucifixion takes place than that person really wasn't the messiah .

And so Jesus was tortured severely, flesh ripped off beaten bruised. When you have some time go and read psalm 22 and we kind of get an idea of what Jesus felt.

But that was not the worst part for Lord that day. He experienced severe torture. And under the extremity of pain that he was in he was forced to labor by carrying his own cross. Then he was nailed to a cross. And crucifixion is where you slowly suffocate

The worst moment that day that our Lord experienced is when he felt the wrath of the father upon him. And typically these soft preachers say this is the moments where Jesus was separated from his father. Folks this is the moment in history when the father was executing his wrath on his own son for crimes he did not commit.

But for the crimes that you and I committed. And contrary to popular opinion, Jesus was not dying for sin in general. He died for every specific sin of every single person who will enter into the Kingdom of God. It is not some general wipe the slate clean.

That's every single lie you ever told, every little bit of anger you've ever had, every drunken nights or night were you abused some substance, every single act of lust or thought of lust. Jesus answered 4 at all.

You see folks, God kept his promise and remained holy. All sin must be answered for. Nobody is getting away with anything. Justice must be done. And what Paul has already proclaimed, the one who is just is the 1 who became the justifier.

So over these last 2 weeks we have seen that Jesus lived for us, suffered for us, answered for the penalty of sin for us, and then he said it is finished. The Lord of all creation completed his mission and he gave up his spirit.

It is this very christological doctrine, the very life and works of Jesus, the very suffering and death of Jesus. And by the way, death was the final requirement. Death was the demand for defying our holy God. It is all of these things that we tend to focus on over the course of this week is the very reason why Paul says Christ is the end of the law.

It is not but the log does not matter in the life of the Christian. As the Christian is still accountable for holy living. What Paul is saying here that because of our inability to do these works of righteousness in order to be received in the Kingdom of God, it is Jesus Christ and him alone who fulfilled the law on our behalf.

Who achieved the goal. Because remember like Greek where does not mean ceased to end it means to come to the achievement. And the question is, how do we know this is true? And the answer that question is the resurrection itself.

The resurrection is the proof that Jesus is we claim to be. It is the proof that because he lived a righteous life death could not hold him. Death had no power over him.

And just like the crucifixion of Jesus, the resurrection is a historical event. One that deserves a historical study. You see when we combined the attitude of the Jewish people in The days of Jesus with historical context of the Romans.

The new know that the claims of Christianity after the resurrection would not have stood had it not been true. If there were people going around claiming that Jesus was resurrected and he in fact was not, the Jewish people and the Romans would have displayed his body.

If this were not true the church would a been killed off in its infancy by the display of body of Jesus. But the rulers of the day did not do that because they could not do that . There was nobody for them to display.

And if this was all a fabricated story by the disciples, It is awed that they endured such heinous suffering if they are the ones who in fact invented this lie. People Who follows something because they believe it would suffer and die for a lie if they truly believe it.

But the inventers of the lie typically will not endure harsh suffering to keep up with a lie they fabricated. But we know this happened in history as well. The apostle Paul himself is a testimony to the resurrected Jesus.

Paul is a another person who most historians Acknowledg his actual existence.Paul was not witnessed to by any disciple. Christians were afraid of him. So if there is no resurrected Jesus the salvation of Paul makes 0 sense.

That this hardcore Jewish ferrous I suddenly gave in to something that He felt was worth killing over. At out of nowhere , said I wanna be a part of this.

Folks, the resurrection is the proof that Jesus is who he said he is. It is the proof of the forgiveness of sins and that our Lord answered for our sins. It is the proof that all right just nus has been fulfilled by Jesus himself. But if you are paying attention to verse 4.

This truth that Jesus is the goal of all righteousness or has met the goal of all righteousness, Is only applied and beneficial for a specific group.

Romans 10:4 NASB95

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

This is not some universal atonement. It is only applied to those who believe. And belief is just not a recognition that you comprehend the statements in scripture. Yet Jesus died for our sins I know that what else?

That is not belief. Belief is the solid trust that all of these things that we have covered are in fact true. That this is solid truth and these are historical events. And Jesus truly is a substitute for all those who believe. That Jesus truly is a substitute for you.

Do you trust that Jesus fulfilled all righteousness upon your behalf? Do you trust that Jesus endured great suffering at the hands of creation in order for you to be in his Kingdom? Do you trust that Jesus suffered the wrath of the father on your behalf so you would not have to endure that wrath? Do you trust that this is all evidence by the proof of the resurrection?

Do you believe? Because if you don't the great wrath that our Lord endured by the father will be upon you. And this wrath will not compare to anything else you have experienced. Think about It. Nails in his hands nails in his feet. The harsh Sun upon his torn open flesh where he has bones exposed possibly even organs.

And another historical detail I forgot to mention is that when they crucified people they did it completely nude. It was the most humiliating death a person can and door. Completely exposed, beaten bleeding out slowly suffocating, through all this great agony Jesus is crying out to the father why have you forsaken me.

It was this wrath of the father That was far worse than the physical elements that Jesus was going through . It is this very wrath that will be upon you apart from Jesus Christ. And the Paul is saying all this is only applied to those who belief.