The Perfect Gospel · Part 3

0:00 Church family, before we stand in a moment, we want to remember that we are looking at this third part. I hope this is the final part before we press on, but it's the third installment of this message titled The Perfect Gospel. But I must confess that the title itself causes me to want to linger over this thing called the gospel. The gospel, the good news of God, the way of salvation. I love doing what I'm about to do right here. I'm going to go to Genesis chapter 3. And I'm going to show you right here that in Genesis 3, we're looking at... Well, that's Genesis 14. That's way off.

0:52 So check this out. So here is God. here is let me remove the cover of my Bible this is the creation of all things physical this is the creation of the universe this is the seven days of creation this is Adam and Eve being created and this is Adam and Eve's fall, they sin right here, look at that and this is God writing the rest of the Bible saying, come back, I love you. This is my word to you. This is what I'm going to do to bring you back into a relationship which they messed up over here. I'm going to someday flip it and I'm going to complete it in my son, Jesus Christ, who will come and die on the cross for your sins. He's going to be resurrected from the dead. He's going to provide eternal life to all those who will believe. He's going to fix and undo all that mankind has done to himself. And he will establish righteousness. He will establish justice.

2:04 And he will rule and reign, the Bible tells us, forever. Jesus, the King. And we're looking at and we're studying about this great salvation, this perfect gospel. And over the course of these last few weeks, we've studied how the gospel, the Bible announced, was designed to be first preached to the Jewish people, and then those who would convert, or I should say, see that Christ is the Messiah in the Old Testament, that they would come to the fulfillment of understanding their scriptures, and they were to take the gospel out to the ends of the earth. And certainly that happened in part, but it was to happen nationally. But the nation, Israel, in its leadership rejected Christ, but individuals, Jewish people, accepted Christ. And that gospel was preached and Gentiles were added. And all the Gentiles in the church this morning said, amen, amen. And we were added.

3:12 and for these last 2,000 years, the church has been getting more and more and more Gentile with a little bit of Jew in it. And then in the latter years, I'd say in the last 100 years, the church has been increasingly now starting to add more Jewish believers. And I want to make something very clear. That the seven-year tribulation period, everybody focuses on the judgments of God, upon a Christ-rejecting world. Of course, I get it. But did you know that the seven-year tribulation period is God's time dealing with the nation of Israel as promised in Scripture, and they will finally, as a nation, fulfill the proclamation of the gospel during the tribulation period? Did you know that? Starts out with 144,000 from 12,000 from each of the tribes of Israel. By the way, it gets very specific. For those of you who don't know this, It says that the 144,000 are all Hebrew speaking.

4:16 It doesn't mean they don't speak any other languages, but they speak Hebrew. That they're Hebrews, 12,000 from each tribe, and they're all men, and they're all virgins, the Bible tells us. And God will use them. And the Bible tells us, John tells us, that the number of Gentiles converted to the gospel that they're preaching, John said no human would be able to count all the Gentiles that get saved during the tribulation period. How's that? That's amazing. Will that be a horrific time? Yes. Will it be a time of great wickedness upon the earth and deception? Yes. But will it be a great time of salvation? Yes. Wow. But listen, we are not of that generation. We are of the church. and you and I right now, we are called to proclaim this perfect gospel. And so with that, let's stand together and we'll read the scriptures.

5:14 It's Romans 15. I'll start in verse 8. If you pick it up in verse 9, it's well familiar ground to all of you. This is our third week looking at it. And so if I'm obedient, I'll get it done today. I'll get down to verse 13. So pray for me.

6:37 You may be seated. Wow. In opening up this study and looking at this study regarding the perfect gospel, we put that couched in the sentence being finished that the perfect gospel is actually God communicating to us. Of course, the gospel itself, the evangel, is that which is to be taken out. It is to be put forth through the world. Those of us who are Christ followers, one of the great passions that God puts within us, and it's also very terrifying, I want to say that, it's not easy to share the gospel with the lost world. We've got the perfect gospel, but we hesitate and we're terrified because we're in the flesh and we don't know what they're going to respond to us. where you get a little scared, but the Spirit of God prompts us. And I hope you've shared the gospel with people. I don't care how long you've ever done it. I think you always will experience a little sense of hesitation that you got to break through that cautiousness because it's not of the flesh. It's of the Spirit of God. And we kind of hesitate. Like you're in the store, for example, and you see somebody. And for some reason, you have this prompting, I should tell them about Jesus.

7:55 And then here's the way we work. Wait, what a weird thought. That's so strange. Why would I do that? I feel like a fool. I'm just going to wait right here. And then the pressure, you can feel the pressure building. And then your next thought is, I should go tell them. And then we counter back to God and say, God, is that you telling me to do that? I got news for you. It's not Satan telling you to do it. And the moment you are uncomfortable or challenged about that, that's how God moves. Because it's got to be of him. And when we are obedient, there's this awesome work that God does through you in telling other people. And your faith is strengthened. And we saw this last time in verses 8 and 9.

8:47 We saw that we can be bold in the Lord Jesus Christ. because Christ came to us in what we call the incarnation. That is that God became flesh, the Bible announces, and dwelt among us. We saw that Jesus was made flesh to come to us as humans. We're not going to belabor that. Just note it down. The incarnation, that is God becoming flesh, it is Christ Jesus coming to reveal himself to us. We saw that in verse 8. The second part of verse 8 is that we saw that Jesus was commissioned so as to fulfill Bible prophecy. We're learning about this in Romans 15, verses 8 to 13, that Jesus fulfills the promise of the fathers. How? Listen, my Jewish friends, listen. How would God communicate the Old Testament in the prophets, in the Hebrew scriptures, and how would you know the fulfillment of those prophecies if it wasn't for the person and the work of Jesus Christ?

9:49 Notice this. Jews will either love Christ or hate him. Did you know that? They're not neutral on Jesus. talk to a Muslim. They have no hope of eternal life. If you're a Muslim here today, you have no promise of eternal life. You have no promise in your scriptures of the forgiveness of sins.

10:15 And yet your doctrine is this. God does not have a son. That's written all the way around the Dome of the Rock Mosque in Jerusalem. You know the Golden Dome? It says all around it in Arabic, God is not begotten, nor does God have a son. Why does it say that? Because God does have a son. And Satan doesn't want you to know that. remarkable no listen he's come in the flesh into this world he was commissioned to fulfill Bible prophecy and thirdly this is where we left off last time we saw at verse 9 that Jesus Christ came or became our peace and our salvation there is no other in all the world but Jesus you can take the collection of all the writings and all the reports of all the gurus, all of the false messiahs, all of the sage, it doesn't matter who it is.

11:22 Whatever they've said, it died when they died. Are you hearing me? Jesus said everything in advance. Skeptic, listen, unbeliever, listen up. Jesus said everything he needed to say up front. And then he put an exclamation point on it and said, When I'm raised from the dead, you'll believe me. When I'm raised on the third day, Jesus said, I've told you things in advance that when they happen, you will know that I am a oge, a me. Greek for the eternal self-contained God. Remarkable. So let's pick it up where we left off. It says in verse nine that, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. And remember this, everybody?

12:16 It got real quiet. People had to scratch their head for a moment. Think about this. The word to the Jews from the prophets to the fathers, obviously speaking of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all those that would follow in the Jewish Hebrew line, that it was the call to them to consider, to believe, and to remember the covenant that God had made with his people, or covenants. There's various covenants that God made with his people, the Jews. But then when it comes to the Gentiles, the Bible here tells us that God introduces peace and salvation to you and I by his mercy. God extends mercy to us, not by covenant. It's different. Now listen, both of us, remember I stress this, that Jew and the Gentile is saved the exact same way. There is no second type of salvation.

13:11 Are you hearing me? This is important because this conversation is really, really out there today. The Jew gets saved one way and a Gentile gets saved a different way. That's a lie from hell. One way. Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And no one comes to the Father but through me. and that is the covenant that God has made with his people. Go back and look at all of his covenants is all centered around God being faithful to pay the price for the redemption of Israel. On this side for us Gentiles, that salvation is brought to you by God's mercy. That's why it says right here, that the Gentile might glorify God for his mercy. What a wonderful thing that is. In Isaiah chapter 49, verses 6 and 7, it says, indeed, he says, it is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up to the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel. That's a fascinating statement right there.

14:18 God is able to preserve and to restore those of Israel. But he says, I will also give you as a light, get ready, to the Gentiles. Aren't you glad about that? I don't know about you, but mostly, normally speaking, darkness is not a good thing. Are you with me? I love the fact that the God of the Bible says right here that you'll be a witness to the Gentiles, you'll be a light to them if you tell them my truth, if you tell them my gospel. And light is a wonderful thing. Now, dark is nice when you're looking at the stars. Have you noticed this? Go out to the desert, you go out where it's pitch black dark, no moon, just night sky. And here's the funny thing about it. You'll go out of the Mojave Desert to find total darkness so that you can do what? Lay down on your back and look up at the light.

15:16 remarkable we love light the Bible says that those who do evil love darkness because their deeds are evil God wants us to come into the light and he says you'll be a light unto the Gentiles that you should be my salvation to the ends of the earth church that's never happened yet you can mark it down in your note taking that Isaiah 49 verse 6 has not yet been fulfilled as a prophecy it's going to but not yet. Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One. Absolutely remarkable power right there spoken to us. How about this? Matthew chapter 28 verse 19. Matthew 28, 19 is the fulfillment, I should say, or the introduction of the beginning of that great work. Jesus says, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.

16:15 Church, who did he say this to? The disciples. Were the disciples Gentiles or were they Jews? They were Jews. Jesus Christ, who you saw earlier in our argumentation of these points, would come from heaven to earth. He would be born of a virgin. He's the eternal God. He's the son of God. that he would come, go to the cross and be resurrected from the dead. This Matthew 28, 19 is post-resurrection. He's about ready to return back to heaven. Return back to heaven. Remember this. And what does he say to a handful of Jewish disciples? Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations. Do you know what that means? Gentiles.

17:07 I thought that would get you excited. I don't know. Maybe I'm spending too much time in this. Gentiles. God wants all people to come to the saving knowledge of who he is, Jew and Gentile alike. He's calling out to you, and he's saying, come to me. You say, well, I'm Romanian. Come to me. I'm Persian. Come to me, he's saying. I'm Canadian. Come on. Right? All nations. And what do we do? Once we, by the way, Do you see that there's not one word in here about evangelism? This is a shocking observation. Notice this. Are we supposed to evangelize? Yes. How often? All the time.

17:56 Okay. Do we leave it up to Greg Laurie to be the evangelist? No. All of us are to evangelize. That said, it is normal for believers to share with unbelievers. And after, so to speak, after you go out on the boat and you fish and you catch the fish, you reel them in and you bring them to church and that's where we clean them up.

18:20 We wash them with the word. Think about it. What is that called? Discipleship making. Making disciples. So watch this. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen to that. Wow, that is so very powerful. But listen, one of the, and I'm going to take a little bit of a well-intended diversion here for a moment. This has been going on for 2,000 years. and one of the evidences of this is that you and I are living in the days when the gospel, it's interesting, the gospel is getting more and more persecuted. The gospel, listen, by law, is becoming more and more illegal. Are you hearing me?

19:11 The gospel is becoming more and more illegal. but the gospel is getting out more and more than ever before. Even in countries where it's closed, it's a closed nation. That means you can't, even if you're on vacation, you can't take a Bible into that country. You're not allowed. You can't go to, there's certain countries you can't bring any, listen, there's some countries that the tour agency will tell you, you got to take your cross off before we go into this country, Before we land, you have to take your cross off. You can't wear a cross in that country. And don't mention the name Jesus while you're on vacation. Really?

19:55 I know that in Jerusalem, when you go to the Temple Mount, the waqf, that is the Arabic, the Hebrew, I'm sorry, not the Hebrew, the Islamic police. When you go up there, did you know you can't carry a Bible on top of the Temple Mount? It's illegal. Did you know if you have a cross, you got to hide it? now I remember the days when we were told that you can't do this anymore but I remember the days when we were told to do that and I just told the team the tour put your cross behind button up your shirt but I took my Bible because I'm going to be the teacher I took my Bible and I stuffed it in the back of my pants and so we went up onto the temple mount and we got everybody around and it was quite a crowd and then I opened up my Bible and I was teaching from my Bible and a Jewish police officer came up and said, you gotta put that Bible away.

20:51 And I was thinking he was not happy about it. He was fine with it. He said, if the Islamic police see you up here, rocks could start flying for real. Some places the gospel is not welcome. Guess what? In the 21st century right now, the gospel's getting out like never before in human history. Think about that. Absolutely remarkable. You can say, well, you can't have the gospel here. You can say that all you want. You can pass any kind of a law you want. You can have all the security you want. Jesus just steps right over it by the power of the Holy Spirit. And as long as there's a believer walking the planet, the Spirit of God is in you, and so is the Word of God. Let's be honest. If every Bible was burned to dust today, big deal. Number one, it's in our hearts.

21:45 That's why you read it, folks. That's why you read it. And number two, Jesus said, the Holy Spirit will remind you of everything that I've spoken to you. And as I get older, I'm counting on that every day. The word of God is eternal and enduring. But I have some diagnostic questions to ask you regarding these last days and the times in which we're in and how important it is that Paul has been teaching us in Romans 15 regarding the salvation of the Gentile and the Jew becoming one in Christ. Are you ready? By the way, you should always take the notes. Always have notes.

22:33 So listen to this. Is this topic or issue a topic or issue of our day? Now watch this. I'm going to read some things to you which are going to be out of context. People, listen up. I'm warning you up front. Are you hearing me? I'm going to be reading for you a portion of Scripture that is futuristic. It's not happened yet. It's not happening yet. But you're going to recognize that the stage is being set for it. Are you with me? I'm going to be reading a chapter or portions of a chapter that deal with the tribulation period. If we can see indicators of the coming tribulation period over here, actually from where you're sitting over here if we're starting to see indicators and we're still here as a church that these indicators involve the Jewish people in the world then how close are we to the Lord's coming for his church?

23:36 Any day now I pray. Right? Matthew chapter 24 verses 1 and 3 set it up. Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and his disciples came up to him to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down. Stop right there. Atheist, agnostic, listen up.

24:12 Do you know anything about human history? Did this come true or not? if you don't know the answer to that atheist you need to find out that answer I'm not going to tell it to you you need to go find that out that happened you can even find out the day it happened it's written in encyclopedias and in history books the history of Rome world history and I'd like to hear back from you by the way after you read that what do you think about Jesus who announced it way in advance verse 3 now as he sat on the Mount of Olives the disciples came to him privately saying asking him three questions tell us when will these things be number two what will be the sign of your coming or the sign of your return don't you think that's an insightful question for them to ask Pretty powerful.

25:15 Third question is powerful. And of the end of the age, of the end of the world. Okay, so Jesus, you're telling us that our temple is going to be destroyed, not one stone is going to be left on another. All right, then we need to ask these three questions. Tell us, when would these things be? What would be the sign of your coming? In the end of the age or the end of the world. So watch this. He goes on. Ask yourself, is there evidence? Are there indicators?

25:49 Matthew chapter 24, verse 4. And Jesus answered and said to them, take heed that no one deceives you. Is deception a big deal? Is it increasing? There's things going on right now in the name of deception. We were talking about it before service this morning. Things that the FBI now has found out and they're going after it somehow. Interpol's going after it. The nations of the world are agreeing to join ranks to try to stop it. A scope of deception that has never been imagined before has recently been discovered that is infiltrating humanity.

26:30 And it's the FBI's number one, number one pursuit right now, as it is with the agencies of other nations. deception, a form of deception that is unbelievable. None of you could have imagined it.

26:51 And I saw that and read that, and I thought, wow. Jesus said, watch out. Take heed that no one deceives you. This is regarding the future, but is it happening now? What about Matthew chapter 24, verse 5? Is there any evidence? Is there any indicators about this? Many will come in my name saying, I'm the Christ and will deceive many.

27:16 That's called a cult. If you join our cult, you'll be saved. Follow our leader and you'll have salvation. That's called a cult. Jesus said that's going to increase. What about Matthew 24 verse 6? And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.

27:37 That's like every day. See that you're not troubled for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. Is there evidence and indications that we see? Matthew 24 verse 7 says, For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. Nation. Ethnicities will rise up against ethnicities and political realms will war against political realms. Are you seeing indicators of this? and we're not even there yet but the answer is yes what about these indicators do they exist or not Matthew 24 7 and 8 says and there will be famines pestilence and earthquakes in various places all these are the beginning of sorrows that starts and then it intensifies. Church family, listen.

28:30 If you forget everything else, listen up. Jesus said all of these things about the last days, they're going to start small and they're going to increase. And I'm here to tell you today, on this day, on this year, in this millennia, everything Jesus said is spot on. And it's increasing. what about this is this true Matthew 24 verse 9 then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you and you will be hated by all nations for my namesake by the way there's a great reference there not only to believers of course but specifically to Jewish believers those who have come to faith in Messiah the context listen Bible student the context of Matthew 24 demands that Are there indicators of this? Verse 10.

29:25 And many will be offended and will betray one another and will hate one another. Wow. What about verse 11, Matthew chapter 24? Verse 11, ask yourself, are there indicators? Is there evidence of this being true? And many false prophets or false teachers will rise up and deceive many. Wow. What about this? What about Matthew 24, verse 12? Is there evidence of this? And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. Wow. remarkable the context Matthew 24 God is getting to the game board in place and ready for the for the last day's events to take place the stage is being set and as you and I are watching in our news today as I've mentioned last week the context of our scripture in Romans 15 demands this 2 Samuel chapter 5 verse 7 it's the first time it's ever mentioned in scripture 2 Samuel 5, verse 7 says, Nevertheless, David, that's King David, took the stronghold of Zion.

30:46 That is the city of David. Zion. I mean, you know I've been bringing this up a lot the last three weeks because I'm really enjoying how much trouble it causes in people's lives. You kick against the Bible, you're going to hurt yourself. Zion.

31:07 Zion is a real place. God says. God calls it the city of David in the Bible. Psalm chapter 2, verse 1 starts out by saying, Why do the nations, the Gentile nations, rage and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his Messiah or anointed one. Isn't that interesting? The anointed one means the Messiah. Write that in your notes. Go research that later. Psalm chapter 2, verse 3. Let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us. Verse 4, he who sits in the heavens shall laugh. Don't you love this?

31:59 I'm sorry, have I had too much coffee today? Or are you extra sleepy? He who sits in the heavens will laugh. I see it this way. The nations are getting ready to go to battle against God in some way, shape, or form. And he who sits in the heavens will go, ha! Oh, I love that. I'm sorry. I'm feeling extra just I don't know It's like God parting a cloud and saying, you want a piece of me? The Lord shall hold them in derision. You know what that means? Watch my hands. The Lord will hold them in derision. It means they have no place to go. They'll go this way, dead end. They'll go that way, dead end. Every direction they go is the judgment of God coming upon them. Wow. He'll hold them in derision.

32:53 Verse 5. Then he shall speak to them in his wrath and distress them in his deep displeasure. This is during the tribulation period. You watch. Yet I have set my king on my holy hill of? Son. Interesting. Verse 11, Psalm 2. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the son, S-O-N, lest he be angry and you perish in the way. When his wrath is kindled but a little, Blessed are all those who put their trust in him. What an amazing thing. My Hebrew friends, listen up everybody. Whoever you're to put your trust in, him, he is the son. Kiss him. Kiss him. Now, greet him. The word kiss is greet him. Welcome him in. Why?

33:44 Because listen, there's only one way to escape the wrath of God. And that is to come to faith and to trust in him who is the son. Who said that? Psalm chapter 2 says that of your Old Testament. 3,000 year old document. Are you hearing me? Wow. Wow. That is awesome.

34:06 And the throne of David will be established. And in the future, what has been written is going to come into reality. Zechariah chapter 2, verse 10. And sing and rejoice, O daughter of? for behold I am coming I will dwell in your midst says the Lord excuse me everybody there's people saying we need to destroy never bring up the word Zion again don't even mention the word think of it you just read it in your Bible this is God says not only is it recorded in the Old Testament but when I come back I'm going to make my dwelling there so who would not want that to happen all unbelievers in the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob all unbelievers who do not see Jesus as the Messiah because when Messiah returns he will return and establish the throne of David which the scripture says is the throne of the Messiah himself on earth we are so into the last days that there's crazy people running around this world saying, don't mention the word Zion.

35:27 Are you a Zionist? Because if you mention the word Zion, you're a Zionist. Boo on you. Boo on you. Woo. And I got news for you. The God of the Bible is a Zionist. The God of the Bible is returning to Zion. The God of the Bible says, Zion is where I'm going to live for a thousand years. When I return, Zion is where he's going to set up his headquarters.

35:54 No wonder why Satan's upset. If Satan's seen indicators of the end times, and he's working through people to say that there is no Zion, there is no Israel, there is no nation, how close are we? Let's go. See, don't get upset by this rhetoric that's out there. Cheer up. Next time you hear something, say, awesome. you you are fulfilling Bible prophecy it's amazing Thank them.

36:31 Zechariah. Oh, this is good. Are you ready? He's sitting down. Zechariah chapter 8, verse 3. I'm losing. Okay, put on your critical thinking caps. Thus says the Lord, I will return to Zion and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called the city of truth. Okay, wait, wait. Wait, analyze it. Put your professor's cap on. Put your cardigan on. You can have a pipe if you'd like. Thus says salvation. Yah. Yahweh. Thus says Yahweh, I will What? What's the word? I will... I'm sorry, what? Return.

37:29 When was he ever in Zion whereby he says, I'm going to return? Might I remind you we're reading the prophet Zechariah? This is a prophecy of the future. Now this takes some brain power. I know it's early.

37:54 But this verse, he's prophesying about the future. And he's announcing that the Lord who is Yahweh, salvation. He goes by another name, by the way. Yeshua. Yeshua. You can say even Yahoshua. Joshua. or Jesus, same meaning, will return. It demands that he had been there before. Right now, my Jewish friends, the yarmulke is going like this.

38:33 What? Yeah, yeah, that's in your Hebrew prophets. The Messiah is going to return to Zion. So you must ask, when was he there in the first place? That's what we're trying to tell you. He was there 2,000 years ago. In 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 6, 1 Peter 2 verse 6 says, Therefore it is also contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on him will by no means be put to shame. A stone that is referred to as him. and listen where is it where's the stone where I lay in where Zion few more just because I'm feeling very ornery today I'm going to lay down a few more of these things Romans 11 verse 26 and so all Israel will be saved for as it is written deliverer the deliverer will come out of Zion and then Revelation chapter 14 verse 1 then I looked and behold a lamb standing on Mount Zion, the future of Jesus Christ and his second coming.

39:58 Number two in our study, verses 9 to 13, and by God's grace we'll finish this up, it's right here. The perfect gospel communicates to us the all-encompassing redemption of man. And there are four verses here that should cause all of us to have great, great faith and confidence in our Bibles. Number one, mark it down in verse 9. This results in peace. The all-encompassing redemption of mankind results in peace. And it says in verse 9, as it is written, for this reason I will confess to you among the Gentiles and sing to your name. Mark it down in your notes. This is Psalm 1849 and 2 Samuel 2250. This is remarkable.

40:51 Paul the Apostle, the Jewish Pharisee, the Jewish scholar, the remarkable Saul of Tarsus, now a follower of Yeshua. In Romans 15, he quotes 2 Samuel 22 50 and Psalm 18 49. Therefore, I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the Gentiles and sing praises to your name. Get this, everybody. This is a Jew announcing that I'm going to give thanks among the Gentiles. why how what's going on here keep asking that question psalm 1849 says the same quotation twice what about this what about galatians 3 verse 26 are you guys okay galatians 3 beginning at verse 26 for you are all sons of god through faith in christ Jesus? For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is neither male nor female. For you're all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise.

42:21 Wow! and we talked about before, I do believe a week or two ago, that that word confess means to say the same thing, ek homologeo, is to say the same thing that God says about it. In other words, bring your life into agreement with God's word, and be free, and that word sing, if you remember, we talked about that word in Hebrew and Greek, or the word both means to pull upon, or to pluck, or to play, and of course it's implying that the heart the heart will sing why? because the heart is being plucked like an instrument before God think about that very romantic talk of our God but what does real praise and the result of the redemption that God has done what does that look like?

43:14 in Hebrews chapter 2 verse 14 and 15 Hebrews 2 verse 14 says inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, that means us living like we do in our, we've got skin, we've got blood and bone, he himself likewise shared in the same. He became a human. That through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil.

43:44 When Jesus died on the cross, he disabled the devil and when he rose again from the dead he defeated the devil yeah yeah yes I agree He can only lie to you now, by the way. He can only lie to you. He can't take you. He can't steal you. he's just a very good devil he's a great devil he's the best devil there'll ever be he's just a liar and he's defeated but he doesn't want you to know that so when he says something to you or when he tries to talk you into something you say wait a minute last time I checked you're defeated last time I checked Jesus broke the grave and disabled you.

44:40 I am now a child of the living God. I'm covered by the blood of Christ. I'm in the family of God. You have no business even talking to me. In fact, if you don't leave in Jesus' name, I'm going to call my dad. verse 15 says and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage did you know that Satan listen Satan can no longer cause the Christian to fear death look at that verse memorize it verse 15 Satan's defeated and when you and I get our death notice from the doctor I'm sorry to tell you you're going to die. I hope when that day happens to me, if it happens to me, I'm going to be able to say, well, I'm sorry to tell you.

45:33 I'm about ready to live like I've never lived before. Sometimes you wonder, you know, the doctors, I'm sorry to tell you, but you're going to die. I hope they care. I'm wondering if they're thinking about payment. Sorry to tell you. Are you a Christian, doctor? No, I'm a man of science. Well, then I'm sorry to tell you.

46:07 I know exactly where I'm going when I'm dying. You, on the other hand, you need Jesus. Think about that. 100 out of 100 people die. It is early. It's very early. That just proved how early it is.

46:29 Galatians chapter 4, verses 4 and 5. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, that is of Mary, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law that we might receive the adoption as sons. That's not only a reference to the Jewish people who are under the law, but all of us are under the law apart from Christ. The Ten Commandments, as holy and beautiful as they are, condemn us because we cannot keep them. They point us, though, to Christ. Basically, the Ten Commandments say, boy, are you in trouble. you need someone perfect who's met all of these demands and you in them or him Christ you get an A you make it Titus chapter 2 verses 13 to 14 says, Looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

47:31 Is that not clear? That's crystal clear. Watch this. Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people. Notice he does the purifying. You don't. Oh, now that I accepted Christ, I've got to really clean up my life. and I got to really, you know, no, you don't. Don't do that. He does it. The moment you start trying to clean up your own life, you know what the great thing about God being in your life for realsies is that he takes away the desires of those things that are offensive to him. If you give your life to Christ, if you say, Lord, I'm the sinner, you're the Savior, I repent, I give you my life, I'm sorry for all my sins that put you on the cross. Forgive me of my sins. I believe you died on the cross and you rose again from the grave.

48:24 If you believe that, listen, the scriptures make it very, very clear that the Spirit of God comes inside of you and you're not going to go like I accept Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior. Whoa! What's happening to me? It's the Spirit of God entering you. Oh my gosh! That's not going to happen. I prayed to accept Christ but I didn't feel anything. Most people don't feel anything. it's him listen who will work in you and look what he does he'll make you zealous for good works if he's in you you're going to want to do the right thing it's beautiful also verse 10 tells us that it results in joy and again he says rejoice oh Gentiles I love this please mark it down with with I have that capitalized by the way the word with let me tell you what it doesn't say. Rejoice, O Gentiles, because you've replaced his people.

49:36 Rejoice, O Gentiles, because the church has become Israel. No. It says rejoice, Gentiles, with his people. You got that? It's making some of you think because you're, well, go to know. Well, you can either listen to some loony or you can read your Bible.

50:01 God says it right here. And by the way, the word rejoice is probably what you think it means. It means to cheer. It means to make merry. It means to stir the heart up into worship. Beautiful. And then, look, thirdly, under this point is the expression. It results in the expression. a man, a woman who's redeemed that results in expression verses 11 to 13 and again praise the Lord all you Gentiles loud him all you peoples or nations the word loud we don't use this word in our English but it's an oldie it means the full expression of praise and glory it means to shout or to proclaim in the Greek language. It means to herald forth with a strong voice to loud the heavenly host of all those before the face of God, both man and angel alike in unison, loud or laud God.

51:13 Expression. I'm a big fan about this. You've heard me say this before. it's a wonderful word to research, is the word enthusiasm. The word enthusiasm is, if there was ever a word pregnant with meaning, it is the word enthusiasm. and I want to read this to you and it's in the notes in detail you can look at it more so but enthusiasm listen to this do we have that on the screen? I'm not sure it's okay I'll just read it here is the effect upon one's life in the worship of the divine enthusiasm watch the animation that comes forth from the worship of God or a God or gods resulting in the active expression worthy of the object or the person or the deity being adored.

52:10 That's a huge definition. Did y'all get that? Enthusiasm. Think of that word. I should have had it on the screen and broken it up. In, theus, asm. In, to dwell inside. Theus, God. Asm, action. Like if somebody is having a spasm. Asm, did you get it? They're moving.

52:40 Theus, any God. God or gods? You say, what do you mean God? I said, there's only one God. Well, there's only one God who's the living God. But there's a lot, there's an infinite amount of gods that exist because humans make up gods. And the word EN is to dwell inside. Enthusiasm is the animation that you experience from the God that dwells within you.

53:11 Think of it. So does the Lord God of heaven and earth dwell within you? Or is it NFL? I mean, I only have a few more Sundays where I can use this as a jab, you know? Is it Nordstrom's? I bow down to Nordstrom.

53:32 What is it? Is it? I don't know. I don't know things because I don't shop. But, you know, Walmart. I mean, come on. I mean, that's. But fill in the blank. It really gets you going. It's something like this. You're kind of like living your life, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, you know what? Yeah, yeah, okay. And somebody says, hey, you know what we're going to do? We're going to go buy. We're going to go drive. We're going to go fly. We're going to go eat. We're going to go. And they say the word. It's like magic. Oh, what? We're going when? Tonight? Oh! What is going on with you? Enthusiasm.

54:16 Because your heart string was plucked and that heart string was money or power. Are you with me? Do you get that? Sport. Whatever it is, it doesn't matter. Sex. Drugs. It plucks your heart. Causes you to respond. Woo! enthusiasm, the response regarding the worship that you have decided is worthy of the God who dwells within you. Now, if it's the Lord Jesus Christ, hallelujah, right? It's wonderful.

54:54 The Bible tells us in Acts chapter 13, verse 47 and 8, it's awesome, watch this. for so the Lord has commanded us I have set you as a light to the Gentiles now this is in Acts 13 this is a great great statement where the announcement is being made to the Jewish people the Lord remember you guys read this you're experts in this we read this earlier from various scriptures including Isaiah for so the Lord has commanded us I have set you as a light to the Gentiles that you should be the salvation to the ends of the earth now when the Gentiles heard this they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord for as many as had been approved or appointed excuse me to eternal life believed they heard this truth and they went that is worthy of my enthusiasm And that, my friends, is a beautiful way of ending this portion of Romans by announcing it was the Jewish believers who preached to the Gentile non-believers and the Gentile non-believers became believers and glorified the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

56:15 What a beautiful thing. And so when it says in these closing verses here, verses 12 to 13, and again, Isaiah says, there shall be a root of Jesse. Wow. And he shall rise to reign over the Gentiles in him. The Gentiles shall hope. The root of Jesse is a Jewish term. Jewish friends, the root of Jesse. Jesse will have a descendant who will reign forever. Go figure that one out. Listen up. We're almost done. You're almost there. Doesn't mean you're leaving. We're not going to let you out. Lock the doors, ushers.

56:55 The Bible is saying, Old and New Testament, that there will be an offspring from the man Jesse. and you you if you're lazy and you're thinking you'll say it's david oh yeah then why did david call the root and the offspring of jesse his lord can't be David because David is going to call somebody else someone greater

57:26 is there a rumor in the Bible that Jesus is the son of David? Yeah? Have mercy on us, son of David. Why? That's Jesus' earthly connection and line and authority to the nation.

57:50 David was the son of Jesse. But David needed a savior. David's salvation was in the root. It was Jesus. Isaiah 11 verses 1 and 10 says, And there shall come forth a rod from the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. Verse 10, And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the people, for the Gentiles shall seek him, and his resting place or land shall be glorious. Remember what that resting place is? Remember that place? Zion. Look at you. You're amazing. Let's all stand for the last verse.

58:46 Last verse. In fact, let's raise our hands for the last verse. I can't believe I made it. We have three minutes and 30 seconds left. That should, any unbelievers, that should prove to you there's a God in heaven. Now, hey, how about if we do this? You want to repeat this? This is unrehearsed, so be nice. Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. And all God's people said,