Partners 1-16-2022

WALK WORTHY "PARTNERS" Sunday January 16, 2022 Scripture Reference: Romans 1:1-7 (NLT) Intro. A. Are you ready? Silly question I know but while I gave you an introduction to the book of Romans last week, I feel like today is really the beginning of this great journey. I have felt God leading me to this study for a while, so I am excited to begin digging in today to this tremendous book. 1. Let's look at our scripture verses for today. Today we will explore chapter one verses 1-7. Let's read them. "This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News. 2 God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures. 3 The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David's family line, 4 and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name. 6 And you are included among those Gentiles who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ. 7 I am writing to all of you in Rome who are loved by God and are called to be his own holy people. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace." Romans 1:1-7 (NLT) B. OK it is time for another one of pastor's dumb questions. What is a partner? Actually it is really not a dumb question because if you are like me, you use a lot of words, but if asked to define them you would have trouble doing so. So let me tell you what a partner is. Partners are "A pair of people engaged together in the same activity." I have entitled today's message Partners because I believe this is what Paul is telling the Romans. We are partners in the Good News, the gospel of Jesus Christ and today I want us to see what that means. Trans. The first thing I will point out to you are Pauls' Credentials. I. PAUL'S CREDENTIALS. In this first verse Paul's lays out his credentials. He tells these believers in Rome just as he tells us in Chino today what our credentials are as Christ followers. Now these are very important because remember, we are partners with Paul and with God in the spread of this Good News. Now let me just tell you up front that I am going to be spending the majority of my time this morning right here, because what Paul tells us here is vitally important. So, what are these credentials? First of all, Paul says: A. I Am A Slave. 1. I find it very interesting that Paul begins this important letter describing himself as a slave. If you were meeting someone for the very first time and they wanted to know about you, how do you think you would begin that conversation? Something tells me that your first words would not be, "I am a slave." I mean if someone wanted to know about me, I would probably say, "Well I am a pastor, I am a father, I am a husband and (most importantly) I am a Papa." Of course, I would also have to include that I am a fisherman, and a quite good one I might add, LOL. I sincerely doubt that the word "slave" would enter into the conversation and yet this is exactly how Paul begins to introduce himself to this church. 2. Now let me just quickly remind you that Paul did not found this church. So, while they would certainly know about Paul, they really do not know him other than things they have heard. This is his first opportunity to address them directly. 3. Let me ask you, what images come to your mind when you hear the word "slave"? For me my mind instantly goes to that TV series back in the 70s, Roots. Frankly it was not an easy series to watch as it rightly portrayed slavery in America. Without getting too political I am opposed to this Critical Race Theory that is being pushed in our schools, but I do believe that the fully unvarnished history of American needs to be taught and that includes the dark chapter of slavery. Probably for 99.9% of us the word slave does not conjure up positive images. So why then would Paul open this important letter describing himself this way? Well, here is the bottom line. NO ONE IS A TRUE FOLLOWER OF CHRIST UNLESS THEY ARE ENSLAVED TO JESUS. It is simply impossible to be a flower of Christ and not be enslaved to Jesus. 4. Unfortunately there are those, and sadly even some who stand behind the sacred desk like this today who teach that you can accept Jesus as your savior, but nothing has to really change in your life. This teaching of course runs completely contrary to the Bible. Here is what the Bible tells us, "He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them." 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 5:15 & 17 (NLT) I know this will sound hard to believe but last year in September I read an article about a pastor couple who are both ordained (I won't name the denomination). They are pastoring a church in San Diego and the wife is, now listen carefully. She is an ACTIVE porn star. Now we will be exploring these verses in a few weeks, but Paul even speaks to this in this first chapter. Here is what he said, "But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19 They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. 20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. 21 Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn't worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused." Romans 1:18-21 (NLT) 5. Now this is another place where scripture context is critical for understanding. This word Paul uses to describe himself meant more than just being a servant. In fact, in biblical times the word slave could be used to describe an employee, although I am sure there are a few employees who sometimes feel that they are slaves, LOL. I want us to explore what Paul would have meant describing himself this way and what this also means to us. a) First a slave was someone who was owned by his master. Paul is telling us that he has been bought and purchased by Jesus Christ! In that TV series Roots, if you never saw it. When slaves were put up for auction the prospective buyer would examine them to see how worth they were to be purchased. In that context it is a terrible and disgusting sight, but here the picture is transformed. For us this is an incredibly wonderful truth. Jesus does not examine us to discover what our worth is because he already knows that in ourselves, we are worthless! We have no value. We are broken and damaged goods. The incredible truth for us today is that he sees through all the brokenness and sin, and he still purchases us on the cross of calvary! Here is one of my favorite verses. "But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners." Romans 5:8 (NLT) PRASIE GOD! The second thing Paul tells us in this description is that: b) A slave existed for his master and his master only! A real slave had no rights of their own. Those disappeared when the slave owner bought them. Friends if you have been purchased by the blood of Jesus, you surrendered your rights to God. You are now bound to do whatever your master tells you to do. Here is what Paul told the Philippian church. "...And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. 21 For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. 22 But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don't know which is better. 23 I'm torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. 24 But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live." Philippians 1:20b-24 (NLT) ** Can I ask you this question? "Have you surrendered your full rights to Jesus?" Again, I know that we use a lot of words that we don't always think about their meaning. I think applies to this word, "rights". We have certain rights as American citizens. We have the right to free speech. We have the right to freely assemble. We have the right to worship any god we chose. As American citizens our rights are pretty important to us. We understand what it means to fiercely defend our rights, but as a follower of Jesus do you know what it means to lay those rights down, and not just those ascribed to us in the Constitution or Bill of Rights. It begins with a two-letter word, MY. If we are truly followers of Jesus, it is no longer about me or mine. It is about HIM and HIS! This sounds pretty dramatic and just as Jesus said, it might be hard for some to hear, but if you gave your life to Jesus. If you asked him to forgive you of your sins and come into your heart, it is no longer "Your time". It is HIS Time. It is no longer Your talent or ability; it is His talent and ability. It is no longer "My money" it is HIS money. Friends, this is what it truly means to be surrendered, to be a slave of Jesus. c) A slave serves his master, and he exists to serve ONLY his master. He is at the disposal of his master 24/7, 365. A slave does not and cannot say, "Sorry I am busy, or I am not available." His enslavement prohibits such thinking. Friends, this is how the apostle Paul lived. It is one of the reasons we have such admiration for him and his life and it also the reason God could use him the way He did. The question for us is, "Is this how we live our lives" or is Paul just an exception to the rule? Should we not allow ourselves to think that we could be as he was? Here is what Paul said when he was on trial. Paul replied, "Whether quickly or not, I pray to God that both you and everyone here in this audience might become the same as I am, except for these chains." Acts 26:29 (NLT) d) A slave belongs to his master. A slave has no will or ambition except to serve his master. Jesus taught us this in the garden when he said, "He took Peter and Zebedee's two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. 38 He told them, "My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." 39 He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, "My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine." Matthew 26:37-39 (NLT) Now I will fully acknowledge that this is very difficult for you and I to do. It was not even easy for Paul. Here is what he said, 4 We use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. 5 We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (NLT) 6. Now there is one more thing I want to say about Paul calling himself a slave that makes everything else I have talked about make perfect sense. As I have already said, to be called a slave in a worldly sense is not something we would boast of and it is certainly not something to be desired, but for Paul calling himself a slave meant he had the highest, most honored, most kingly position the world had to offer. Look again at what Paul said, "But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ's triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. 15 Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. 16 To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume. And who is adequate for such a task as this?" 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 (NLT) As a follower of Christ our slavery to Christ is not something that makes us cringe, or resist, or object to. It is a slavery we willingly and even enthusiastically surrender to because our new master is unlike any other on this earth. Conclusion A. Well those of who know me will not be surprised when I tell you that I am not finishing this message on Partners today. I barely got through half the pages of notes I have written out to share with you what I have shared today, but I am no hurry and neither should you be. 1. Today we have learned some very valuable and probably challenging truths that we need to respond to. Are we truly slaves of Christ Jesus? Have we in fact surrendered our full rights to Him? Is my life about Me and Mine or is it about Him and His? I have walked with God long enough to know how His Holy Spirit works in our lives. I know that as we sit here in these comfortable chairs, if there is an area of our lives that is not surrendered to Him. Where it is about me and mine not him and his, the Spirit has been faithful to point that out to you. So now what will you do? There are really only two choices. One is that we hunker down and dig in our heels and say, "No God this is mine and you can't have it." Or number two we say, "Father I am sorry I have been holding back what it yours. Today I surrender to you palms down." Which choice is yours? 2