Sermon for August 9, 2020 26 Minutes

Good morning everyone,,, watching by video.

Before I start with my sermon,,, I want to have announcements and praise and prayer request read.

Announcements:

Praise Reports and Prayer request

I sent out text messages and Facebook post again this week,,, asking for praise reports and prayer request.

These are the ones that I've written down.

If I've missed yours,,, please text me or post it in the comments and we will do our best to add it at the end.

Praise reports

I continue with our thanks to our healthcare workers during this terrible pandemic. I believe that we truly know who our heroes today are!

Prayer Request:

Remember Kaye Lee from Prentiss. (Sorry, had Faye written instead of Kaye)

Remember Betty Thacker from MS. Tank Co.

Remember Brad Lees as he battles his cancer diagnosis and deals with recovery from kidney stones.

Continue to remember Glenda Faye and the Coulter family

Continue to remember the healthcare workers

Remember all of the problems facing our nation

And,,,

Any unspoken prayer request

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Before I begin with my sermon,,, I wanted to begin this morning with an opening prayer and lead into the Lord's prayer like we usually begin our worship service. That way if you like,,, you can join me in saying the Lord's prayer.

Invocation and Lord's prayer

Dear Lord, I thank you for your continued presence among us today and every day. I thank you for our healthcare workers who continue to work tirelessly and sometimes without a thank you! I thank you for those that are listening and watching by video. I ask for continued guidance for them and others. So we ask for healing for all of those that are sick this morning,,, we pray for all of those that we mentioned this morning,,, the unspoken request,,, those on our prayer list and even any needs that weren't mentioned,,, we ask for safety and guidance for our healthcare workers and all others that must work during this time. Lord,,, I pray for all of those that are still working on clearing storm damage and helping others. We ask for healing from all these events for our great nation,,, and

We ask these things in Jesus's name who taught us to pray, by saying:

Our Father, which art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name;

thy kingdom come;

thy will be done;

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation;

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

the power and the glory,

for ever.

Amen.

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This morning I'll be reading Romans chapter 10 verses 5 through 15.

I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

Romans 10:5-15

In these verses that Paul wrote,,, he talks about how impossible it is for them to live by the righteousness of the law compared to how easy it is to live correctly by the righteousness of faith and it ends with being shown as being available to all!

Romans 10:5–15

5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is from the law: The one who does these things will live by them. 6 But the righteousness that comes from faith speaks like this: Do not say in your heart, “Who will go up to heaven?” that is, to bring Christ down 7 or, “Who will go down into the abyss?” that is, to bring Christ up from the dead. 8 On the contrary, what does it say? The message is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. This is the message of faith that we proclaim: 9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. 11 Now the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on Him will not be put to shame, 12 for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, since the same Lord of all is rich to all who call on Him. 13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 14 But how can they call on Him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who announce the gospel of good things!

God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning.

Let us pray:

Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen.

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The scripture this week was written by Paul,,, to the Israelites and to the Gentiles that were in Rome,,, to help them see that they all need Jesus Christ.

That's still true for us today,,, and we can use these scriptures to help us see things that we need to be thankful for today,,, as well.

So lets look at these verses and see how they can help us in our walk with God this week.

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Verse 5 says: 5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is from the law: The one who does these things will live by them.

My Bible Knowledge Commentary says,,, in presenting God's gracious offer of salvation through Jesus Christ and the provision of righteousness by faith,,, Paul first shows the way that the Israelites tried to work their way to achieving righteousness.

Here in verse 5 he wrote that Moses describes,,, or wrote about,,, the righteousness that is from the Law.

Then Paul quoted Leviticus 18:5,,, where it says,,, in part,,, that,,, "The one who does these things will live by them".

It goes on to say that if a Jew was to receive righteousness by keeping the demands of the Law,,, that would be human achievement; it would not be from God.

However,,, a Jew would need to keep the entire Law perfectly all his life,,, which as we know,,, is an impossible task,,, if we use James 2:10 as an example,,, since coming up short in just one sin is enough to be considered guilty of all.

But as we see in the next few verses,,, Paul also uses Moses support of his righteousness-by-faith position centered in Christ as "the end of the law" and the way that righteousness is available to everyone who believes.

It doesn't seem appropriate that Paul was merely borrowing Moses’ words and applying them to something foreign in Moses’ thought.

This suggests,,, then,,, that righteousness,,, by faith is not a new concept,,, but had been proclaimed to Israel by Moses,,, so lets continue on and see.

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Verses 6 through 8 say: 6 But the righteousness that comes from faith speaks like this: Do not say in your heart, “Who will go up to heaven?” that is, to bring Christ down 7 or, “Who will go down into the abyss?” that is, to bring Christ up from the dead. 8 On the contrary, what does it say? The message is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. This is the message of faith that we proclaim:

Here in verse 6,,, Paul says that faith-based righteousness is from Christ.

He is accessible.

He died for us and was raised from the dead.

Moses pointed out that God’s revelation was accessible,,, and Paul quoted his words to show that Christ is accessible.

The material Paul quoted in verses 6–8 is taken somewhat freely from Deuteronomy 30:12–14 with parts of the verses,,, or clauses,,, quoted here and there.

The material in Deuteronomy was part of Moses’ charge to the generation of Israel that were about to enter the land of Canaan.

This part of the speech was the conclusion of Moses’ prophetic description of God’s dealing with Israel.

Blessing was promised for faith and obedience,,, and punishment would result from rejection and disobedience.

If Israel turned away from God,,, Moses said,,, she would face invasions,,, captivity and afflictions.

When the people then,,, finally do turn back to God in faith,,, He will restore them to blessing,,, prosperity,,, and prominence among the nations,,, found in Deuteronomy 30:1–10.

The point of Moses’ speech in Deuteronomy 30:11 is that the generation to whom he was speaking had the message,,, because he tells them in verse 14,,, it was very near you and in your mouth,,, and they could respond by faith,,, because in that same verse he told them it is,,, in your heart,,, and walk with God in obedience.

Since the Israelites in Moses’ day had the message,,, they did not need to ask that it be brought down from heaven or that someone “cross the sea to get it”,,, found in Deuteronomy 30:13.

Instead,,, the word,,, which was Moses’ instructions,,, was “near” them,,, found in Deuteronomy 30:14.

In these verses in Romans,,, Paul indicated that the same truth applied to his generation,,, with the added fact that Christ had come in the flesh (John 1:14) and had been resurrected.

Therefore there was no need for anyone to ask to bring Christ down (in His Incarnation) or to bring Christ up from the dead; He had already come and had been resurrected.

The message of righteousness by faith in Paul’s day was “near” his readers,,, in other words,,, it was available to them,,, and this was “the word” of faith he was proclaiming.

Thus the gospel,,, “the word of faith,,,” is available and accessible.

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In verse 9 it says: 9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

In my Bible Knowledge Commentary it says that confessing with the mouth that Jesus is Lord is mentioned first in this verse so that it would be in the same order as the quotation from Deuteronomy 30:14 that Paul used as illustration in verse 8,,, and that he will show it again,,, in the correct order,,, in verse 10,,, which we will look at after we finish looking at this verse.

The confession,,, with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,”,,, is an acknowledgement that God has been incarnated in Jesus,,, a reference back to verse 6 where Paul said,,, Do not say in your heart, “Who will go up to heaven?” that is, to bring Christ down,,, because,,, Jesus Christ is God,,, He's already came down.

Also essential is heart-faith that God raised Him from the dead,,, a reference to verse 7 where Paul said,,, “Who will go down into the abyss?” that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.,,, Jesus has already been raised,,, so there is no need to go down.

You see,,, the result,,, is salvation.

Then it says that Paul gives the true order in verse 10.

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Verse 10 says: 10 One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.

Now Paul shows these in the correct order.

For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified,,, as written above,,, “resulting in righteousness”,,, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved,,, again written above,,, “resulting in salvation”.

Yet,,, these are not two separate steps to salvation.

They are chronologically together.

Salvation comes through acknowledging to God that Christ is God and believing in Him.

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Verses 11 through 13 say: 11 Now the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on Him will not be put to shame, 12 for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, since the same Lord of all is rich to all who call on Him. 13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Paul again refers back to Isaiah,,, as he did in Romans 9:33,,, to support his position in verse 11,,, and it says in Isaiah 28:16: 16 Therefore the Lord GOD said: “Look, I have laid a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will be unshakable.

In verse 11,,, we see a combination of Romans 9:33 and Isaiah 28:16,,, and we can see it when we read Romans 9:33: where it says: 33 As it is written: Look! I am putting a stone in Zion to stumble over and a rock to trip over, yet the one who believes on Him will not be put to shame.

Paul also changes the word "one" to the word "everyone" along with those two verses being combined together.

Paul wants all of them to understand that there is no difference between Jew and Greek,,, (or Gentile),,, but to be sure that they truly see that everyone that calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

This was all made possible through the life,,, death,,, and resurrection of Jesus Christ that Paul has brought to their attention over and over!

And it was available to all.

God responds with the gift of provided righteousness to each individual who believes.

Paul also used this to remind his readers of God’s impartiality,,, like he did when discussing human sinfulness back in chapter 3:22.

Just as all who sin will be judged,,, so all who believe will be saved and richly blessed.

This conclusion is also supported by a quotation from Joel 2:32 where it says: Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

To call on the Lord,,, means to pray in faith for salvation.

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Verses 14 and 15 say: 14 But how can they call on Him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who announce the gospel of good things!

My CSB Study Bible asked the question,,, what must occur for someone to call on the name of the Lord?

And it answered,,, someone must first be sent to proclaim the gospel message, and then listeners must pay attention and believe.

In the absence of any one of these factors, no one can call on the name of the Lord.

If the believing Christian must not only have a heart to believe, but a mouth to confess,,, so must the entire Church have a believing heart and a confessing mouth.

Both must not only be faithful,,, but vocal.

Carrying God’s gracious offer involves human beings whom God has brought to Himself and then uses as His heralds.

They share God’s message of salvation because He will save everyone who calls on His name.

Paul quoted from Isaiah 52:7 concerning the eagerness of the bearers of good news.

Those who bear it have beautiful … feet,,, that is,,, their message is welcome.

In Isaiah 52:7 the messenger announced to Judah that God had ended their Exile in Babylon,,, (see Isaiah 40:9–11).

But Paul applied Isaiah 52:7 to the Jews of his day to whom the gospel was being given.

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If you remember at the beginning,,, I told you that Paul was using Moses' words as a guide for the Israelites,,, we also have the words of Jesus.

When the rich young man questioned Jesus about what should he do to inherit eternal life,,, in Matthew 19:16-22,,, Jesus told him to obey the commandments.

Then the rich young man said that he has obeyed those since his youth,,, but Jesus could see that something was lacking,,, so He tells him to sell everything that he has and give it to the poor.

Of course,,, we know in answer to this,,, the rich young man went away sorrowful because he had many possessions.

In the verses following this,,, Jesus states that it is hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven and the disciples are amazed.

Jesus replies in verse 26: 26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

This rich young man thought that he could earn his way into heaven when the way to heaven was right there in front of him that day.

Jesus exposed his shortcomings immediately by making him aware that he apparently hadn't been taking care of his neighbor like he should have been since it was so hard for him to part with his riches.

What Jesus was trying to tell him,,, and us,,, is give God your all,,, everything that you have,,, then let the Holy Spirit guide you in ways that it can be used to glorify God,,, instead of trying to use it,,, to earn a way into heaven!

That will not work,,, use it to "God's glory" instead!

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And that's what Paul is trying to tell the Israelites and the Gentiles here.

They don't need to put there faith in Abraham,,, any of their people,,, their families,,, their works,,, or their wealth.

Their faith should be in Jesus Christ and that is all that they need,,, Jew and Gentile alike.

It's the same for us,,, Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven and if someone tells you differently,,, you need to ask them to explain that to you and then be sure that explanation fits in within the whole history of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation because it never contradicts itself!

You can make many sins seem “acceptable” by saying that God is love,,, but that love needs to connect to the God of the Old Testament that shows that He is also just,,, and hates all sin!

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So lets be sure that as we start a new week that we remember these verses and the way that Paul tries to help everyone see that all they need are Jesus.

Be sure that we also understand that as the church that we have a responsibility to proclaim the gospel of Christ wherever we go throughout the week.

Remember the words that I said earlier,,, If the believing Christian must not only have a heart to believe, but a mouth to confess,,, so must the entire Church have a believing heart and a confessing mouth.

Both must not only be faithful,,, but vocal.

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