Month: May 2016

Three Strange Questions

Posted on by mysccf

Sermon  by Rev. Julius A. Harper, Senior Pastor

                                                Three Strange Questions

                                    Romans 3:1-8 (NLT)
1  Then what’s the advantage of being a Jew? Is there any value in the ceremony of circumcision?
2  Yes, there are great benefits! First of all, the Jews were entrusted with the whole revelation of God.
3  True, some of them were unfaithful; but just because they were unfaithful, does that mean God will be unfaithful?
4  Of course not! Even if everyone else is a liar, God is true. As the Scriptures say about him, “You will be proved right in what you say, and you will win your case in court.”
5  “But,” some might say, “our sinfulness serves a good purpose, for it helps people see how righteous God is. Isn’t it unfair, then, for him to punish us?” (This is merely a human point of view.)
6  Of course not! If God were not entirely fair, how would he be qualified to judge the world?
7  “But,” someone might still argue, “how can God condemn me as a sinner if my dishonesty highlights his truthfulness and brings him more glory?”
8  And some people even slander us by claiming that we say, “The more we sin, the better it is!” Those who say such things deserve to be condemned.

May the Lord add a blessing to the reading of HIS holy word.

When we were last here in our study through the epistle to the church at ROME, we looked at and listened to a word of caution that Paul gave to the religious people of that day, as part of his over-all argument in which he confirms the reality that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

You may recall that Paul began his address by outlining the realities of God’s wrath and his displeasure on the unsaved world, noting man’s rejection of the proof of God and man’s suppression of the evidence of God.

“Because that when they knew God they glorified him not as God neither were thankful but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish hearts were darkened”

God eventually gave them up to the uncleanness that was in the heart of man. Paul makes a power indictment of the unsaved world, but he also addresses the person who sees himself as morally superior, (you see that in chapter 2:1-3) noting that as we look at the unsaved world, we ought to be careful in our natural tendency to judge the world, when in fact many of the same sins and sinful desires are coursing through our bodies and in fact “so called moral people” are in many cases doing the same thing or at the least thinking about it.

Paul then turns his eye towards the religious person, represented in this case by the JEW and he says some pretty strong and confrontational things to this groups as well.

He cautions the religious person against the hypocrisy of teaching others and preaching to others about adultery and stealing, while in fact religious people are often engaged in those same sins.

Although the passage is written to address Jews, the thoughts raised there apply to the church today, the idea being that we must understand that what God is looking for is not a religion based on outward actions, but he is looking for a heart that is circumcised to the extent that one’s religion and activities associated therewith and the keeping of God’s law is an inward thing, not based on the letter but based on a heart that is connected to and in love with the God and his great grace.

Paul here now in the passage we are looking at today pauses his train of thought to address several questions or arguments that would be raised by the Jewish reader, who would understandably react by pushing back and questioning some of the concepts that Paul raises, chiefly the question of the heart being more important to God than ones’ actions and that salvation comes through faith alone rather than works.

So we see this question being asked…

What advantage is it being a Jew then ? What has been the profit of circumcision and all of the things that went along with being Jewish, is the question that is raised in verse number one and then Paul goes on to answer that by explaining the blessings of having the word of God and how the Jews were privileged to be entrusted with that.

Then when we get to verse number three there are a series of questions, that caught my attention, questions that seem strangely familiar and actually touch upon some of the thoughts and ideas strange as they be, that may circle around in the minds of the unsaved as well as some saved people.

And it is these questions or rather updated versions of these questions, which I’d like to address the sermon today entitled….THREE STRANGE QUESTIONS.

Three strange questions:

Strange question # 1

  1. Does the unfaithfulness (or the lack of faith) of people void the faithfulness of God to keep his promises?

Romans 3:3-4 (NLT)
3  True, some of them were unfaithful; but just because they were unfaithful, does that mean God will be unfaithful?
4  Of course not! Even if everyone else is a liar, God is true. As the Scriptures say about him, “You will be proved right in what you say, and you will win your case in court.”

Romans 2:25 (NLT)
25  The Jewish ceremony of circumcision has value only if you obey God’s law. But if you don’t obey God’s law, you are no better off than an uncircumcised Gentile.

Romans 2:27 (NLT) 

27  In fact, uncircumcised Gentiles who keep God’s law will condemn you Jews who are circumcised and possess God’s law but don’t obey it.

2 Timothy 2:13 (NKJV) 

13  If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.

Now the language that is used in this passage and actually many times in the Epistle of Romans can be very challenging to unlock. Just on this first point I had to step away from it over night and then listen to some other resources and go back to try and get this clear, so bear with me as we try to do that.

Paul is answering a question that had very likely been raised by other Jewish listeners who heard Paul talking about the fact that their Jewish heritage and their fleshly works would not make them right with God.

As Paul writes the church at Rome he anticipates a question that would come up in the mind of the Jewish reader.

In the Jewish mindset and based upon their spiritual pedigree, they saw themselves as having a special place and a special level of protection and security in their Jewish-ness due to the promises that God had made to Abraham and that confidence if you please was a sort of arrogance in which they relied upon the promises of God as being firm and bankable, regardless of the fact that they themselves broke God’s laws. In their minds they believed they could always fall back on the idea that God had promised to protect them and that they would have God’s favor no matter what.

And Paul as he is pointing out the fact that there is none-righteous no not one, including the Jews, is challenging this notion.

Paul not only says that you can’t be confident in your Jewish-ness to save you, but as a law breaker the uncircumcised Gentiles will judge you as guilty and worthy of condemnation.; that is what we were looking at in verse 27 of chapter 2

And to this the Jewish reader raises the object and here it is…..ok what about God’s promise to Abraham; shall the lack of faith or shall the lack of obedience on the part of some, cause God to break his promise to Abraham

You are saying that Jews will be condemned and if that is the case, isn’t God breaking his promise and is his word in fact not bankable, but conditional based on us and therefore not to be trusted.

Thought:

This is what the strange question boils down to; it was in fact an accusation against God, used by the listen in order to avoid the confronting truth of what Paul was saying.

When Paul taught these principles to Jewish listener, their response was to reject it and to question the faithfulness of God, because they could not accept the idea that God would hold them accountable for their actions.

Listen again, their response was the reject the idea of accountability and to question Paul’s principle as being a challenge to the faithfulness of God, because it would appear that God would break his promise to Abraham and would do so, because of people; thus rendering his promises to Abraham void.

Thought:

This was arrogance on the most awful level and it was a brick wall that Paul encountered many times as he attempted to share the gospel and to open the eyes of people to the reality of their sin and their need for a savior.

The Jew rested in and had confidence in his Jewishness and that fact stood as a brick wall to the gospel many, many times.

Thought:

This by the way is the same reaction of people today, who when confronted with a reality that doesn’t line up with their notions or ideas or level of comfort.

This is the same reaction of people today who often resort to questioning God and challenging his faithfulness based on a type of circular argument in which the main goal is to duck the truth of God and to create a kind of locked in mind, in which they can justify staying where they are at and where they are comfortable.

Folks don’t want to change, so they began to argue in circles…

When confronted with a truth that puts them in a corner, people will start looking for and asking the strangest questions; not because they really want to know, but because they are running.

If you want to test the truth of this, engage the average unsaved person in a conversation about God and they will duck and dodge what you are sharing and instead try to subject God to all sorts of human ideas and concepts and fuzzy flesh based logic.

The objection of the Jewish reader was particularly troubling and the question was more than just strange, because it actually assumed to bring God down to the same level of people, who will keep their word, but do so conditionally and will exit stage left with the slightest provocation.

My friend understand something and get this 100% clear. When God covenants; his word and his promises are not based on what man does, but they are based solely and completely on him-self as God.

To the crazy and insulting question that God would renege on his promises because of the behavior of people and or the lack of faith of people, Paul simply declares of course not, if everyone else is a liar, God will always be true, he cannot deny himself, even if people are faithless, he never breaks his word and can always be trusted completely and without reservation.

Every word and every promise and every provision of God is yea and amen.

God is a God who is always faithful he never voids his word and he keeps his promises even when we don’t understand what he doing and even when we break our promises.

People who think that God’s faithfulness is dependent upon them or their agreement with his word or their actions are not only wrong in their thinking, but according to the later portion of verse 8 should be condemned for such thoughts.

The bible say “Let every man be a liar and God be true”

Strange question # 2

  1. Isn’t it unfair to punish people for their sins, since the sinfulness of people helps shows how righteous God is ?

Romans 3:5-6 (NLT)

5  “But,” some might say, “our sinfulness serves a good purpose, for it helps people see how righteous God is. Isn’t it unfair, then, for him to punish us?” (This is merely a human point of view.)
6  Of course not! If God were not entirely fair, how would he be qualified to judge the world?
Romans 3:5 (NIV)

But if our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.

Romans 5:8 (ASV)
8  But God commendeth his own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Ephesians 2:4-7 (KJV)
5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7  That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

Here in this second point, the question that is raised by the Apostle Paul on behalf of the Jewish listener, is one in which the Jew questions the fairness of God, doing so from a human-sinful and self-deceived point of view.

And here is the heart of the question…

If God is glorified and his righteousness exalted in relation to and as a result of his dealings with sinful man and this serves a good purpose, why would God punish us for something that benefits him?

The scriptures that I shared with you from Romans chapter 5:8 and Ephesians 2:5-7 are placed before you to help give you and or remind you of a thought and reality regarding the glory of God and the absolutely true fact, that his grace and love and mercy towards us even in our sinful brokenness and his work to save us, YES brings great glory and honor to the name of the Lord.

Paul here addresses an argument that is raised by human reasoning and the human way of processing reality and making excuses…

It is absolutely a true that fact that God saves and keeps and justifies sinners who don’t deserve his grace on any level and this brings great glory to his name.

It is true that God was glorified and that is goodness was magnified in how he restored David after David’s sin. David didn’t deserve to be restored, but God did it and that you and I are able to get a better picture of the incredibleness of God’s grace.

It is true that God’s grace upon my life and his undeserved love towards us, in spite of the times we fall; brings great glory and praise and honor to his righteous character and total superiority.

God is actually glorified and magnified in his greatness as a result of the fact that he saved us, and seats us in heavenly places and has quickened from death to life, in-spite of the fact that we are the most undeserving of characters PERIOD.

Paul writes in Ephesians chapter 2 that God did this for us, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace.

In Romans chapter 5:8 Paul himself declares that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.

So watch this and get the craziness of it; the listener (and again I believe that Paul is writing not only out of his past experience but out of insights regarding the human mind, which are revealed to him by the Holy Spirit)

Watch how crazy this is and don’t miss it for in the brokenness of the human mind, the twisted logical of the flesh draws the conclusion that since God gets glory and his righteousness and goodness is highlighted and magnified by our unrighteousness, that on some level it is UNFAIR for God to actually punish us for something that is benefitting him and for this reason God has no business and is not qualified to punish or judge people for their sins.

 It is not fair says the FLESH to hold a person accountable; it’s ok to forgive me, it’ ok to have great plan for my life; it’s ok to save me, but to judge me when my unrighteousness brings you glory, IS NOT FAIR.

Thought:

Now you may need a moment to try and wrap your head around this, but I want to caution you very strictly and to advise you against shaking your head too judgmentally, nor to point a finger of condemnation fleshly mindset and the twisted ideas of people, when the fact is, that such thinking is alive and well today inside of the church too.

Thought:

Paul said that this type of thinking is entirely HUMAN.

Think about this for a moment and let it sink in; rather than embracing with thankfulness, the unmerited love and favor of God, who saved us, while we were yet sinners; the human heart and the human mind, in it’s brokenness and rebellion tries to find a way to skirt the reality of accountability.

At the very heart of this argument is a sinful desire to resist the idea that God has the right not just to forgive a person, but to hold a person accountable and to punish a person too.

Human reasoning embraces the forgiveness of God, but it rejects the right of God to judge.

This is the reason why we see a watering down of the true nature of God in the church today.

Present a God who is only a God of forgiveness and acceptance and folks run to the altar, but let them know that God has the right not only to forgive and to hold accountable and our flesh retreats out the door.

Preach a sermon about the blessings of God and the prosperity of God and the plans that God has for you to prosper you and to make you the head and not the tail and hands clap and cheers erupt, but declare the full truth of a God who not only loves, but judges and punishes and executes justice and the refrain comes quietly in the hearts of flesh….NOT FAIR, NOT FAIR, that’s not the kind of God I want.

I want a puppy, I want a sugar daddy, I want puppet, and want a God I can walk all over, like I walk all over my mother or father, or you fill in the blank; that’s love in their minds and that is what people from their God.

Strange question # 3

  1. What is the problem with my sin since I am covered by God’s grace, the more we sin the better it is right?

Romans 3:7-8 (NLT) 

7  “But,” someone might still argue, “how can God condemn me as a sinner if my dishonesty highlights his truthfulness and brings him more glory?”
8  And some people even slander us by claiming that we say, “The more we sin, the better it is!” Those who say such things deserve to be condemned.

Romans 5:20 (NLT)
20  God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant.

 

Romans 6:1-2 (NLT)
1  Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace?
2  Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?

1 Peter 2:16 (NKJV)
16  as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God.

This third and final point feels like a repeat of the previous strange question, but I’ve broken it out separately because it addresses a matter of slander that Paul brings up and a truly strange set of ideas, which have resulted in a warped kind of foolishness regarding sin and God’s grace; which is tearing through the church of Jesus Christ today and ship-wrecking the faith of many.

Paul in writing to the church at Rome was aware that his teachings on grace were being distorted and twisted by agents of devil and enemies of Christ who had infiltrated the church and brought about a great deal confusion and false doctrine.

I framed this last question in the way that I did, because it speaks directly to a warped idea concerning a twisted human concept of God, which has evidenced itself in a modern concept where GRACE has been HYPER-IZED, if I can make up that word to say that sin doesn’t matter, because grace has got it covered.

Paul in his letter addresses the untruths that were out there about him and the interesting thing about some of those lies is that part the un-truths were based in some degree on truth.

In Romans chapter 5 Verse 20, Paul states the reality of the law and what it was designed to do, those who were challenging Paul and arguing with him, were operating on the basis of some true facts about God and some true facts about God’s grace.

The law was there to show people how sinful they were….TRUE.

The law was a schoolmaster or a guardian to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith….TRUE

The grace of God was superior to the law in every way and as sin abounded, grace did abound much more….TRUE

But the human mind is capable of taking a truth of God and twisting it into a perversion of the most dangerous type and that is the lie that has just enough bible truth in it, to trap a person and bind them in chains and fetters.

Thought:

 People in the church who have bought the lie of Hyper-Grace ask the question….What is the problem with my sin since I am covered by God’s grace.

Why are you always hammering me about HOLINESS and making me feel bad about myself when it comes to these areas of sinfulness and the reality of my sinfulness, when I am covered by grace, what’s the big deal about SIN when Jesus paid the price for it anyway….he finished and paid for it on the cross right..

In the beginning of this 3rd and final point I told you that I had broken out this portion separately in order to address an issue, which is tearing through the church of Jesus Christ and is destroying the lives of many believers.

The term hyper-grace is a term used to describe a new wave of teaching in the church today that emphasizes the grace of God to the exclusion of other vital teachings such as repentance and the confession of sin and or the call of God to live HOLY LIVES and to present our bodies as a living sacrifice HOLY to him.

Hyper-grace teachers maintain that all sin, past, present, and future, has already been forgiven, so there is no need for a believer to ever confess it or be concerned with it.

This is error, this is a dangerous trap that had come about as a result of the twisting of God’s grace “ if grace does abound where sin abounds why not sin much more, so that we my flow in his grace.

Since I am saved by grace and my sins are forgiven, what is the problem with my sin and why can’t I bring it into the church ?

Why can’t I be in good standing in the church if I’m shacking up, why can’t I bring my lover here and be accepted, where GRACE doth abound, how much more am I covered by God’s grace ?

Look at the glory it brings God, look at how much his loving nature is magnified, when my sin is highlighted, where sin abounds, look how much grace it brings…

The human mind is capable of taking a truth of God and twisting it into a perversion of the most dangerous type and that is the lie that has just enough bible truth in it, to trap a person and bind them in chains and fetters.

Paul in addressing these strange questions and these arguments and the twisting of God’s word said “ Those who say such things deserve to be condemned”

Today my friends, let me be perfectly clear, this sermon is not designed to be politically correct or to engage the approval of any man PERIOD.

We as people, especially here in America seem to think that we have the right to question and challenge God and that is absolutely untrue and totally offensive in the arrogance of it.

To those who would question the faithfulness of God and call his integrity into question I am here to tell you that we have NO right to do that at all.

God will always be true to his word, he will always do what is just and his faithfulness will not be diminished by our lack of faithfulness; even if every man is found to be a liar.

To those who question the fairness of God, let me say this without apology; you’d be happy that God doesn’t deal with you according what is really fair, because it he did, he’d wipe us off the face of the earth right now.

To those who pervert the grace of God, to those who are drawn to the twisted lie that is in the world today, Paul asks the rhetorical question and you know the answer….” Should we keep on sinning” absolutely not; since you have been washed and made clean by the blood of Jesus Christ, what in the world are you doing trying to live in sin any more.

Simply put…..God forbid

AMEN.

The sermon today was titled “ THREE STRANGE QUESTIONS” and for the time of invitation I’d to ask you THREE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS, which are vital to the state of your eternal soul and the future of your life from this day forward.

Question NUMBER ONE.

If you died tonight and every person here today is a candidate for death, can you say with 100% certainty that if you died tonight you would open your eyes in the kingdom of heaven, to stand before God almighty and he would let you into heaven to live with him in peace for ever because you are free from the penalty of sin 100% ?

Question NUMBER TWO: Have you come to the place of understanding and accepting that the only way that God will see you as 100% free from the penalty of sin, is that you have accepted the incredible grace and love of God as demonstrated in the fact that God sent his only Son Jesus Christ into the world to die on the cross as a payment for your sins, which separate you from God.

Can you say that you have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord of your life and are now a born again believer?

 Question NUMBER THREE:

Do you want open your heart to Jesus as LORD of your life and to embrace him as savior and LORD so that instead of facing the danger of hell fire and eternal damnation where you are outside of God’s kingdom unable to enter heaven you can instead, be sure of your salvation and forgiveness before God, because Jesus Christ is Lord of your life.?

Three questions and one answer that you need to make today, if you don’t know Jesus as Lord and want to open your heart to HIM.

While all eyes are closed and Christians are praying.

IF you want to make Jesus LORD of your life and to come into his family by faith in him, pray this prayer from your heart.

 

“Lord Jesus, I need you as my savior. I know and believe that you died for me to pay for my sins and that I have been an am a rebellious sinner deserving of eternal damnation and eternal death. I repent of my independent and Godless life and give my heart to you. Please save me. I place my faith and trust in you as Lord of my life and I ask you to forgive me of my sins, to cleanse me and to make me your child. I call upon your name as the only one who can save me. I confess you with my lips and believe in my heart that God has raised you from the dead and that you are Lord. In Jesus name I pray AMEN.

If you’d like to view the sermon on you-tube, follow the link below.

 

 

 

 

A Word To Religious People

Posted on by mysccf

5/1/2016

Sermon by Rev. Julius A. Harper, Senior Pastor Santa Clarita Christian Fellowship

A Word To Religious People

                            Romans 2:24-29 (NLT) 

24  No wonder the Scriptures say, “The Gentiles blaspheme the name of God because of you.”
25  The Jewish ceremony of circumcision has value only if you obey God’s law. But if you don’t obey God’s law, you are no better off than an uncircumcised Gentile.
26  And if the Gentiles obey God’s law, won’t God declare them to be his own people?
27  In fact, uncircumcised Gentiles who keep God’s law will condemn you Jews who are circumcised and possess God’s law but don’t obey it.
28  For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision.
29  No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.

May the Lord add a blessing to the reading and the HEARING of HIS holy word.

In the previous sermon from this Epistle to the church at ROME we looked at the beginning of chapter 2, in order to delve into a teaching on the subject of judging others and to learn what the word says to all of us, inside and outside of the church regarding this very important subject.

This was a sermon that challenged us, to re-examine a-fresh and a-new some issues that we may have let slip in our lives and it was a good opportunity for us to reset and realign ourselves with the word of God.

If you missed that sermon, I would encourage you to go to the you-tube channel to watch it, or simply go to our blog where you can get my notes.

In chapter 2 verses 17-24, the Apostle Paul addresses the Jews, speaking to them on a subject that is very applicable to religious people; just as Paul had addressed those who saw themselves as morally superior to the unsaved world, so also does he address the JEW or the person who has religion and the concluding remarks as noted in verse 29, pretty much bring you to thought that we’ll want to communicate to you in this sermon today, that being, that religion or being a Jew which is the way it is written, is not simply about outward expressions, but rather one is a JEW or one’s religion is true, based on what is in the heart.

Again, please remember the overall context of Paul’s writing in which he lays out the case that there is none-righteous-no-not-one. He speaks to the unsaved world, he speaks to the moralist and lays out his damaging case so that we will fully embrace and understand the beauty and wonder of the gift of God’s grace and salvation through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

This sermon today, will likely be another one that challenges us personally, but again I want you to embrace this and to wrestle with this knowing as the scripture says the Son whom the Lord loves, he chastens, be times.

AMEN.

Paul cautions Religious people….

  1. Not to be actors who “fail to live” what we preach and teach (what we profess)

Romans 2:19-23 (NLT)
19  You are convinced that you are a guide for the blind and a light for people who are lost in darkness.
20  You think you can instruct the ignorant and teach children the ways of God. For you are certain that God’s law gives you complete knowledge and truth.
21  Well then, if you teach others, why don’t you teach yourself? You tell others not to steal, but do you steal?

Romans 2:22-24 (NLT)
22  You say it is wrong to commit adultery, but do you commit adultery? You condemn idolatry, but do you use items stolen from pagan temples?
23  You are so proud of knowing the law, but you dishonor God by breaking it.
24  No wonder the Scriptures say, “The Gentiles blaspheme the name of God because of you.”

Luke 6:46 (ASV)
46  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

In the materials I used to help me understand the letter to the church at Rome, I came across the term religionist; say that word.

A religionist is a person who is interested in and professes some sort of formal belief system. This is a term that would apply to a Buddhist, to a Hindu, to a Muslim, to a Jew and in many cases to a Christian.

Paul here is writing to Jewish believers and for us today, as we consider how this word would be applicable to the church, I want to you to simply apply the term JEW as a world that would emblematic of what a religionist was, the Jews would be considered good example of those who relied upon and indeed had great faith and pride in their religious training and background.

Paul in his writing here, is addressing a Christian church in order to deal with the reality of those within the church, who would consider themselves superior to others because of their RELIGION yet those same people fail to live up to what they teach and profess.

And the context of what he is sharing really ties into a larger argument that Paul will bring together later in the letter where he paints a picture of the over-arching reality that no matter who you are or where you come from there is none righteous no not one.

Paul is speaking to and confronting the reality that we very often find in today’s modern church, that being the issue of a lack of consistency between what is said, or what one teaches, or what one sings about or what one testifies about and how one lives.

Paul confronts and he challenges the religionist who fails to live up to what he or she professes.

There is none righteous, no not one, and Paul begins to drill down into this reality, sighting the problem of hypocrisy.

You who teach others; you who preach the word of God, you who have the oracles of God and who are confident your relationship and good standing with God because of your knowledge of the word and your knowledge of religion and your religious background; are missing the point entirely, if we merely preach and teach and talk about and sing about and instruct others about the word of God, yet violate the word of God ourselves. 

Thought:

This is the church today, this is the church in 2016; we do church, we teach church, we go to church, but there is a disconnect between what is professed and what is actually lived….

“Actors” causing the name of the Lord to be blasphemed and disrespected among the gentile or unbelieving world just as Paul said in this letter.

Now if we really want to think about this, we have to ask ourselves if this is true.

You may wonder for example, why I believe this word is right on..

Well let’s just deal with the big one…that is a CANCER in the church today known as sexual sin.

Sexual sin can be found in virtually every parish, every congregation, every temple, every fellowship among the people of God in the pews and the pulpits and the boardrooms and the seminaries, because people have embraced a mistaken the idea that joining a church, or doing church or getting religion, is what it is about.

Folks join church and attend church on Sunday, but still live just like the world when it comes to just about everything including sexual sin.

People hear this in no uncertain terms: If Jesus were to have this letter written in today’s language he would chide the church for being a place where there are too many actors.

Folks go to church, teach at church, say amen, sing in the choir, serve on the Usher board, instruct others, telling folks don’t steal, while cheating on their taxes, living a life that is inconsistent and often totally opposite of what we profess to be our Christian walk with God.

If Jesus were to make a personal appearance in every church in Santa Clarita for example, he would simply take the microphone and ask this question.

Why do we call me Lord and do not the things that I’m telling you to do?

And I guaranteed you that the place would be DEAD quiet.

The unsaved world regularly lambast and attacks the church for being full of hypocrites and actors and the truth is that this charge sticks a lot more than we are willing to honestly admit.

Paul is making it plain. He’s telling the God’s honest truth, that there is none righteous, no not one.

Paul cautions religious people not to be actors, he cautions religious people…

  1. Not to believe that rituals (religion) can secure God’s approval.

Romans 2:25-27 (NLT)
25  The Jewish ceremony of circumcision has value only if you obey God’s law. But if you don’t obey God’s law, you are no better off than an uncircumcised Gentile.
26  And if the Gentiles obey God’s law, won’t God declare them to be his own people?
27  In fact, uncircumcised Gentiles who keep God’s law will condemn you Jews who are circumcised and possess God’s law but don’t obey it.

(SCREENS)

Matthew 7:21 (NLT) 

21  “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.

James 1:22 (NLT) 

22  But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.

 Romans 2:13 (NLT)
13  For merely listening to the law doesn’t make us right with God. It is obeying the law that makes us right in his sight.

For this second point and to embrace the confrontational reality of it, I’d like you to consider what the main scripture we just read together would say to us, if we were to revise it and read it like this..

Being a member of a church, or having your name on the church roll, has value only if we obey God’s law. But if we don’t obey God’s law, we are no better off than a person who doesn’t attend church at all.

WOW…I know this is a TOUGH PILL TO SWALLOW because many people place a great deal of confidence in their religion, or a ritual, or membership and there is nothing wrong with those things, accept when it becomes a substitute for what God really wants.

Paul was addressing a chink in the armor or a flaw in the Jewish mindset in which there was a sort of confidence that they had in themselves because they were circumcised.

You couldn’t see the sinful issue on the outside of a person, but God in looking at the heart knew that the religious person also fell into the same category of those who missed the mark, having failed in this case because of an inward sinful idea that they had secured a greater level of acceptance and approval from God because of their rituals.

And it is to this mindset, that Paul declares that being circumcised, has absolutely no value what-so-ever, if in fact you do not obey God’s law.

Paul blows the top of off any kind of confidence what-so-ever by teaching them that Obedience is what counts in God’s eyes.

Obedience. PERIOD

Obedience not ritual.

Obedience, not how much you give.

Obedience, not a person’s title, OBEDIENCE not position, not church membership, not “ YOU FILL IN THE BLANK with any of the things that we sometimes fall into the trap of believing will secure God’s approval, because we’ve globed on to something that we are good at doing, or feel comfortable in our minds with that religious thing we’ve determined to be the yard stick by which God will measure us and Paul says NO.

James chapter 1:22 says we’ve got to DO what the word says; otherwise we are simply fooling ourselves.

Thought:

Now let me pause here for a moment, because this teaching is not only challenging but may be disappointing to many of who embrace the Lord and Love the Lord and want to serve the Lord; yet may hear in this teaching THAT God saying that he doesn’t value or appreciate or the work and service and or faithfulness that is presented to him, out of a sincere heart that wants to please God.

And to such a one, let me assure you clearly that Paul IS NOT teaching us, that it is wrong to be faithful in our church attendance, or our “religion”

Paul is NOT teaching us that being a faithful church member is meaningless and without value in the eyes of God, that is not what he is teaching us.

What Paul is addressing and make sure you are 100% clear here, is the wrong minded idea that God is more interested in our church attendance, or your giving, or any number of other ritualistic activities that we may sincerely engage in, than he is in our obedience to his word.

James tells us that it is self-deception to believe that God is more interested your listening to the word, or taking notes about the sermon than he is in your obedience to his word.

If you and I come to church every single week and take security our attendance or giving or volunteering yet disobey God’s word, we’ve missed the mark big time.

No ritual whether it be circumcision or a modern religious ritual of any kind, is able to make a person acceptable to God, or to please God for that matter, what pleases God isn’t something of an outward nature, but what pleases God is a heart and a mind and a focus that is dedicated to obeying God’s word and a life which reflects that commitment in action.

Thought:

God wants obedience and it always seems to come back to this basic thought. I’ve preached hundreds of sermons here at Santa Clarita Christian Fellowship over the past 17 years in this role of Senior Pastor and no matter what book I choose or what part of the bible I go to, it always comes back to the “O’ word.

God wants obedience, he wants our religion to be the kind of true religion that flows out of a heart of since gratitude and respect and honor and awe for the incredible grace and mercy of God as demonstrated to us, for the Lord who saved us and forgave us and cleansed us and called us to him while we were yet sinners.

He wants the commitment to evidence itself in Obedience.

Yes I know that on some level this can be confusing, because on the one hand, we understand that it is not by works that we are saved; that we can not work our way into heaven, that we can not follow the rule book and get into heaven, so don’t get confused here.

What we are talking about is that living sacrifice concept, where obedience is an outflow of a heart that recognizes the enormous debt that we owe to God, such that we present ourselves as living sacrifices, holy, submitted, in obedience to the will and plan and word of God because that is our reasonable service to Almighty God considering how great a love he has shown for us.

THOUGHT:

Sometimes we can fall into the trap of believing that our religion, or our giving, or our attendance, or something else is what matters, because it’s so much easier than being obedient.

Cutting a check, or clicking a mouse on line to send a donation is MUCH easier than OBEYING God when the flesh doesn’t want to.

Paul cautions Religious people…..third and finally

  1. Not to miss missing the true meaning of being a Jew (true religion)

Romans 2:28-29 (NLT) 

28  For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision.
29  No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.

Deuteronomy 30:6 (ASV) 

6  And Jehovah thy God will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

Ezekiel 36:26 (NLT)
26  And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.

This third and final point really just brings together in a simple statement the point that Paul is communicating and the call and challenge to us as Christians, not miss the point of what our relationship with Christ Jesus is all about.

True religion is of the inward heart; it is being born again of the Spirit of God and being changed in such a way, that there is a cutting away if you please of any fleshly impediment that would stand in the way of a born again person being truly sensitive and changed by God’s spirit.

In Ezekiel chapter 36:26 God declares through the prophet that he gives a NEW heart and that a new spirit which would no longer be stony and stubborn but would be responsive.

Deuteronomy chapter 30:6 speaks of God circumcising the heart in such a way, that love for God would began to be evidenced in a kind of love, not just with words or deeds, nor of compulsion, but a love for Jehovah with the entire heart and soul.

What Paul is really addressing, is the real possibility that a person even though he or she is sincere in their desire, could miss the beauty of having total intimacy with God, not because they don’t care about God but rather because they missed the true intimacy because they spent all of their focus on the outward rudiments of religion, having chosen that path over what God really wanted, which was intimacy.

This is a sobering thought and one that we ought to camp out on for just a moment.

God wants intimacy from the heart; not robotic ritualism, he wants us to be sensitive to him, he wants our hearts to be responsive to him and so he circumcises us.

And circumcision involves some pain….

Cutting away attitudes. Cutting away selfishness. Cutting away scars from old pains that you may have suffered n your life, which are standing in the way of you being responsive to him, because of the scar tissue. Cutting away wrong m indeed thoughts about God. Cutting away anything that surrounds our hearts and makes it difficult for us to respond to him, involves pain; but it’s worth it.

It hurts because it always involves removing something that is a natural part of us, yet without it’s removal we can never achieve the sensitivity and the ability to please God in a way that God truly desires.

And our hearts desire should always be please HIM.

Child of God, I want to challenge you and to encourage you, to be open to whatever God would desire to cut away, that stands between you and him, so that you can express that love that was spoken of in Deuteronomy “ to love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live”

AMEN.

Today’s sermon really spoke to directly people who are part of the church of Jesus Christ, but I am aware that under the sound of my voice, there may be those here today who are outside of the family of God, yet are drawn by his Spirit to connect with and know Jesus Christ.

God’s desires intimacy, with his creation and that includes YOU.

God loves you and he wants a relationship with you, but there is a HUGE wall that separates you from God, that you cannot deal with yourself and that wall is SIN.

God as a HOLY and perfect GOD cannot have a relationship with a sinful being unless and until the issue of sin and the wages there of are dealt with.

Each of us is born into this world, as SINNERS who fall short of God’s glory and who sin from the very moment we breath our first breath.

The sin that is a part of our broken human condition came about as a result of one man’s sin, which was passed down to us, through every generation born since Adam the first man, rebelled against and disobeyed God.

Through that one man, sin came upon all mankind and with sin came eternal death.

No one had to teach you to lie, no one had to teach you to steal no one had to teach you to be a fornicator; it was in you and each of us when we were born.

Roman chapter 6:23 tells us that the wages of SIN is death, that is what we get that is what we earn and not just physical death, but eternal death and separation from God.

This is the situation that we are in from the moment of conception; but God in spite of our lost and fallen state, still desired to have a relationship with us, but the sin question had to be dealt with.

The wage of sin had to be paid and we couldn’t pay it ourselves, so God sent his only SON Jesus to die in our place, to suffer a painful death on the cross, so that through ONE man, Jesus the Christ, salvation could be made available to you and to me.

Through ONE MAN Jesus Christ we could be brought back into a relationships of intimacy and peace with God.

Today, you can come into the reality of this in your own life, by placing your faith in Jesus Christ, repenting of your sinful life and giving your heart to him, as Lord and Savior.

You do this by faith in Jesus Christ and what he did for you on the cross at Calvary.

While all eyes are closed and heads are bowed, I want to give you an opportunity to do just that, if in fact you’d like be born again and to have Jesus as Lord of your life.