Vision of Hope
July 26 Jesus Couldn't

      • James 1:22NLT

  • House Of The Lord
  • Battle Belongs
  • O Praise The Name (Anástasis)

      • James 1:22NLT

  • Run To The Father
  • Good morning, brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. It is great to see you this morning. I am truly grateful that the LORD brought each of you into my life and into this church.
    Carolyn and I just got back from New Hampshire. We drove up to visit my brother and my niece. It was wonderful seeing them.
    Let me tell you this, though. I have no business driving to New Hampshire. 1127 miles with road construction and heavy traffic in every state we went through.
    One of my biggest struggles where I experience failure in this flesh is in traffic. I am much better than I used to be, praise God, but I still failed multiple times.
    Thank God I am covered by the blood of Christ and not subject to God’s wrath! We are all works in progress, but we are guaranteed salvation in Christ Jesus, Amen?
    I want to spend our time together today encouraging you, but we are also going to talk about God’s wrath as well. If you are a true believer this morning, you do not need to fear his wrath against you. You are loved by God and called to be his very own. Scripture tells us this in Romans 1:7:
    “You are loved by God, and called to be his own holy people (saints).”
    This is how the Apostle Paul addresses the church at Rome and every other believer who would read this letter. “Loved by God and called by God to be HIS OWN HOLY PEOPLE” He is talking to us! HE IS TALKING TO YOU!
    God loves you and has called you to be a saint this morning.
    What is a saint?
    Saint—one separated from the world and consecrated (set apart) to God; one holy by profession and by covenant; a believer in Christ (Ps. 16:3; Rom. 1:7; 8:27; Phil. 1:1; Heb. 6:10).
    When we profess our faith in Christ, we enter into a covenant promise that only he could make. Every moment of our lives following salvation, we are called to be “God’s own holy people.”
    The idea that we are holy, that we are saints, is too much for many of us to wrap our mind around. I still struggle with it at times. Especially when I have stumbled and am not acting like a child of God, like during my drive to and from New Hampshire.
    It is because we CAN NOT MAKE OURSELVES HOLY. You and I are MADE holy by the blood of the perfect lamb, Jesus Christ. No secret formula, THAT IS IT!
    JESUS PAID for our freedom from sin and death. JESUS PAID for our freedom to enter the Kingdom of glory. JESUS TORE the veil that separated us from Abba.
    As a believer, your consecration unto the LORD was ORDAINED by the sovereign authority of God himself.
    That is why the Apostle Paul says this in Romans 1:7:
    “May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.”
    Did you notice that Paul says “Our Father.” This is the very same thing Jesus said in the Lord’s prayer, “OUR FATHER.” That is like Jesus looking right at you and saying “He is your dad too.” “He is our Father.”
    The thing about this statement that strikes me is that we have very one-sided relationships with God. We do! God is the “giver,” you and I are the “takers.” God gives and gives and gives, and we take. He gives out of his great love for his children.
    Now, some may be thinking “But, look at what I do for God.” Our works and service to others as believers are how we SHOW and reciprocate our love for God. It is what sets us apart from this world.
    Paul is not going before God asking him to show you and me grace or to give us peace. The Apostle is speaking directly to the believer here. Reminding us that we are already recipients of God’s grace and peace.
    God does not withhold his peace or his grace from his children. Paul is encouraging you and me to CHOOSE AND TO RECEIVE the grace and peace that God already provides in great abundance to his children.
    If you ever start to think or feel as though God is withholding his grace or peace from you, he isn’t. We are simply not choosing to receive it, or we fail to recognize it in our lives. God does not give us grace and peace and then take it away.
    Let’s look at Romans 1:8
    Romans 1:8 NLT
    8 Let me say first that I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith in him is being talked about all over the world.
    What I love here is that Paul says “First of all, I thank God through Jesus Christ.” He never says “and secondly” or “thirdly.” Thanking God through Christ was everything to the Apostle Paul. “All thanks and glory to God.” Nothing was more important to him.
    Paul is thanking God through Christ for his fellow believers. Paul is letting his fellow believers know how grateful he is for them.
    How often it escapes us to thank God for other believers. How often do you hear or say “I thank God for you” to a fellow believer?
    We should be grateful to the Father that He has surrounded us with such a cloud of witnesses. We need to tell one-another more often that we are grateful for each other.
    If the LORD has put a believer in your life that you are grateful for, thank him or her, and let that person know TODAY that you thank OUR FATHER for them and that you are grateful for them.
    Let’s look at what the Apostle says in Romans 1:12
    Romans 1:12 NLT
    12 When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours.
    Our walk with the LORD is meant to be shared with other believers. What we experience in this walk is meant to be shared with one another. We all need Christian friends that we can talk to about our feelings, our views, our successes, and our struggles.
    In order for the body of Christ to function smoothly, every member should serve others in his or her own special way, but should also RECEIVE the service of others. It is difficult for many of us to receive from others, but, mutual encouragement is what Christ intended for his church.
    Mutual Encouragement comes:
    When we hear from others about God’s faithfulness in times of trouble
    When we experience the sacrificial service of other believers
    When we are lifted by others’ praise, knowing that tomorrow they may be lifted by our praise.
    These believers truly shared in life with one another. They were sharing all of their struggles and successes with one another. They were praying for one another. They were thanking God and encouraging one another. This is the model of what the church is meant to be. John Calvin once said:
    “There is none so poor in the church of Christ, that he cannot make some addition of importance to our stores.” - John Calvin
    Calvin was not talking about money here. He was talking about the individual and what they have to give of themselves. He was saying that EVERYBODY has a place in the body without excuse. To encourage and to build up one another in the faith.
    Your bank account, job, position, title, and ethnicity are of zero consequence to God. It is about our faith, obedience, and service to one another.
    The Apostle Peter said this in Acts 10:34:
    Acts 10:34 NLT
    34 Then Peter replied, “I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism.
    God is not a respecter of persons. He does not show favoritism. God judges and accepts based on faith and obedience. We all contribute, and not one of us is more important or less important to the Kingdom of God.
    Abba values all of his children equally. You are just as important to him as the Billy Grahams of the world. Remember, OUR FATHER calls you HIS OWN HOLY CHILD!
    The Apostle Paul goes on to tell us in Romans 1:17
    Romans 1:17 NLT
    17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith (pistis) that a righteous person has life.”
    The Greek word used here, “pistis,” means faith, but not a blind faith. We do not have blind faith, do we? We have a KNOWING faith.
    We have witnessed the divine nature and the power of God. When we look, we see His hand on everything. We have witnessed the miraculous works of Jesus Christ in our hearts and lives, but also in the hearts and lives of the believers around us.
    Have you ever met another believer, heard their testimony and said “Man! That is not even possible!” “Only God could pull that off!” People who were once children of the dark, but now children of the light? Works that only God could accomplish.
    Our faith, brothers and sisters, is rooted in what we see with our own eyes and hear with our ears. We are the great cloud of witnesses to the works of Christ.
    The Apostle is not talking about living a perfect life, but being in a right relationship with God.
    So many of us STILL allow the enemy to convince us that OUR failings in the flesh at times hinder our salvation and keep us away from God.
    It is true that WE move away from God at times, but He never moves away from you, nor does he change his mind about you.
    If our salvation was 99% dependent on Jesus and 1% on our works, we would all be doomed.
    BE ENCOURAGED! Your salvation depends 100% on Christ Jesus, and what he did! If you are a true believer, your name is ALREADY written in the Lamb’s Book of Life! I find great peace in knowing that my works contribute 0% to my salvation!
    Now, we are going to shift gears here. The Apostle Paul made it clear that God loves his children. He also made it clear that God has anger against human sin.
    You might ask “Why is Bob talking about God’s wrath in a sermon he titled ‘Encouragement?’” It is because the righteousness of Christ and the wrath of God are inseparable.
    R.C. Sproul once said:
    “A loving God who has no wrath is no God. He is an idol of our own making as much as if we carved him out of stone.” - R.C. Sproul
    Again, Be encouraged! Jesus suffered the wrath of God on the cross so that true believers would not have to. Where Jesus’ life ended on the cross, your life and my life began. The Apostle Paul said this in Romans 1:18:
    Romans 1:18 NLT
    18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.
    God’s wrath is not like the wrath of men or women. It is not instant fury or an angry outburst. God’s wrath is his indignation at sin, his revulsion to evil and all that opposes him.
    If God responded to sin and wickedness as being no more than tolerable, His righteousness would be called into question. Tolerating sin is a liberal woke western theology, not at all biblical.
    The truth is that God is intolerant of sin. God is holy and pure. If God was tolerant of sin, we would not need a Savior.
    God’s wrath is mentioned over 580 times in the Bible. In the Apostle’s statement here, God’s wrath is about what has happened in the past, but is also about His FINAL WITHDRAWAL from those who do not respond to His love. That is going to be a scary and terrible day for a lot of people.
    The Apostle goes on to say in Romans 1:21
    Romans 1:21 NLT
    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.
    Paul is talking about people in the past, but also of what people do today. So many people reject God. They replace Him with man made idols, corruption of his Word, who they think God should be, and things that God detests.
    The Apostle Paul goes on in Romans 1:21:
    Romans 1:21 NLT
    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.
    It is impossible to turn from the truth of God and not suffer the consequences. Most of the people who do not “know” God have made the choice not to know him. They have chosen to reject him.
    I get angry sometimes with what I see people doing with God’s Word. It is angering and heartbreaking to watch the very things the Apostle Paul was warning us about occur in so many churches today. So many people are being misled today.
    Many are not worshipping the God of the Bible, they are worshipping their own made-up gods and idols, and then claim that they are worshipping the God of the Bible. Look at what the Apostle Paul thinks of such people in Romans 1:22.
    Romans 1:22 NLT
    22 Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools.
    Foolish, or moraino is a pretty heavy word. Moraino was a borderline curse word back in the day. This is actually where we get the word “moron” from.
    Paul is calling these people “morons” and saying that those who think that they are so smart that they can declare their is no God, that God has changed, or that he accepts sin, are in fact stupid and tasteless. I would have to agree with him, Amen? Amen!
    Be encouraged by this, brothers and sisters! Your faith and obedience to God through Christ is what has set you apart for God. Your eternal security is in the God of the Bible and the One who came to save!
    Not only that, OUR FATHER has CHOSEN YOU as his very own, to share in the glory of Christ. To share and testify so that others may know him. To be a witness unto Christ. We have a great responsibility to share him with this dark and confused world.
    You know and I know that he is the only one that heals the heart, brings true peace, and is the only way to OUR FATHER.
    As the worship team makes their way up, take the time to thank the Father for all he has done. For the many blessings, for the people he has put in your life, and remember, take the time to encourage your fellow believers!
    We ALL need that encouragement. You never know who’s day it may change or heart it will fill when you take the time to encourage them.
    Prayer

      • Mark 6:1–6NLT

      • Mark 6:1NLT

      • Mark 6:2NLT

      • Mark 6:3NLT

      • Mark 6:4NLT

      • Mark 6:5NLT

      • Mark 9:23–24NLT

      • Revelation 21:4ESV

  • Gratitude
Vision of Hope
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