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“A heart for the lost”
Romans 8:35-9:5
35 Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the
slaughter.” 37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors
through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life,
nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to
come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to
separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1.
What an awesome promise to us from God.... that
NOTHING can separate us from His love for us!!
a.
And after reading in 2 Corinthians 11 what Paul
went through for the sake of the gospel, I'm sure that promise kept him going
through many difficult and trying situations.
b.
But this passage of scripture isn't just a
stand-alone promise for you and I; it's also a setup for chapters 9, 10, &
11.
2.
A lot of people wonder why Paul would take what
seems like a off-topic tangent right in the middle of his letter.
a.
Chapters 1-8 presents the solution to the
problem of sin and death - our hope - God’s plan of salvation through His Son
Jesus Christ
b.
Chapters 12-15 contain practical instructions
for everyday living
c.
But in chapter 9, Paul suddenly starts talking
about Israel, and the fact that they sort of missed the Messiah! Where's that
coming from?
d.
But I believe Paul knew what he was doing...
3.
See, after the proclamation that nothing can
separate us from God's love, the bible student might ask "What about the
Jews? Are they separated from His love? Aren't they lost?"
a.
Romans chapter 9 - 11 answers that question, as
Paul paints a beautiful illustration of the love, grace, mercy, and faithfulness
of God,
b.
With the Jewish nation being a living example of
these attributes.
c.
Israel’s Rejection of Christ (or how to have a
heart for lost people)
9 I tell the truth
in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy
Spirit, 2 that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. 3 For I
could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my
countrymen according to the flesh, 4 who are Israelites, to whom pertain the
adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God,
and the promises; 5 of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the
flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.
4.
What Paul is saying here, is that if any group
of people had a special “in” with God, hands down it would be the nation of Israel.
Think about what God had given
to Israel:
5.
Israel had a unique relationship with God; They
are the only nation in all the earth of whom God said, "Thou art my
son," (Psalms 2:7 KJV).
6.
They had seen the glory of God revealed. Time
after time God appeared in glory to this people, and no other nation can make
that claim.
7.
The patriarchs were all Jews: Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob, David
8.
They had the covenants: The agreements that God
made with men, were made with Jews, with the nation Israel.
9.
The Law -- the greatest statement of the
character of God that we have outside the New Testament is the Ten
Commandments, and this was given to Israel on Mount Sinai.
10. Worship,
the only divinely prescribed system of sacrifices and rituals in the world was
given to Israel -- all others are cheap, man-made substitutes.
11. The
priesthood, those who served in the Holy Temple, ministering to the Lord
12. The
promises of the kingdom glory, at the end of the age, Israel will be the head
of all nations, and God's kingdom will be centered in Jerusalem.
13. Finally,
as the supreme honor, God chose to enter the human race in the person of Jesus
Christ through the seed of Abraham
a.
And when the Messiah came, His mission was to go
FIRST to lost sheep of Israel
“I was not sent except to the lost sheep of
the house of Israel. Matt 15:24
b.
All of this, yet they, as Paul notes, they
rejected and crucified the Messiah!
14. I
think that’s Paul’s point; I mean, if the Jews, who are God's chosen people, if
they're lost, what chance do I have?
a.
As we go through next few weeks, we'll be
talking about Israel, but the takeaway is love, mercy, and sovereignty of God.
Takeaway 1 - The Performance
Trap
15. It’s
easy to fall into the trap of thinking that God accepts us or rejects us based
on what we’ve done, or whether we've obeyed the law, or how faithful we’ve
been.
a.
Matter of fact, that’s what the Jewish religious
leaders had fallen into: Thinking that they were right with God because
they kept the law, and because they faithfully carried out the religious
ceremonies.
16. It’s
an easy trap to fall into, because following the rules gives you a sense of
accomplishment.
a.
Doing the right thing makes you feel good about
yourself.
b.
“I had an opportunity to steal, and I didn’t… I
had an opportunity to gossip, and I held my tongue…”
c.
God must be pleased!
d.
And, hey, didn’t Jesus tell us…
If you love
me, you will keep my commandments. John 14:15
17. Now
I’m not saying that following the rules, or obeying God, is a bad thing,
a.
I’m going to let you in on a secret:
Anyone can follow God’s law and they will have success in this life…God
promises it:
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth,
but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do
according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way
prosperous, and then you will have good success. Joshua 1:8
18. But
here’s the rub: Following the rules does NOT make us right with God,
being good doesn't equate to salvation.
“Not
everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but
the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven”. Matt 7:21
19. It’s
reflected in the system we’ve developed, we live in a world that is performance
based: Perform well, and you’re rewarded.
a.
Make yourself valuable, and you’ll be
compensated.
b.
The message of the gospel is the opposite of
that natural system; our value and acceptance by God is NOT based on our
performance, but rather our RELATIONSHIP…
c.
That’s why Jesus said “If you love me (notice
the relationship comes first), (then) you will keep my commandments.”
d.
The obedience comes as a result of the
relationship, not the other way around.
20. I
believe Paul brings this up because he came up through that performance-based
religious system,
a.
and because of his performance, and his good
works, and his zeal, he thought he was right with God, he thought he was doing
“God’s work.”
b.
That system produced a man who knew the word of
God, and who obeyed all the rules…
c.
But who had no relationship with God at all!
d.
And after he came face-to-face with the risen
Christ on that road to Damascus, it changed everything!
e.
Paul realized that all of his works, his
heritage, his rule abiding amounted to nothing…
I
was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of
Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was
one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the
Jewish law. I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for
righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.
I once
thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because
of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with
the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have
discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain
Christ Phil 3:5-7 (NLT)
Takeaway 2 - A Heart for the
lost
21. Paul
gave up all he had, his position, his power, his financial provision, to carry
forward the message of the Jesus Christ!
a.
Here’s the crazy thing: Paul traveled
extensively through the Roman Empire, bringing the gospel message to a dying
world...
b.
and everywhere he went, a group of Jewish
religious extremists followed him with the sole purpose of shutting him down,
even killing him!
c.
It was like a fatwa; DEATH TO PAUL was their
oath!
The
next morning some Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath
not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. More than forty men were
involved in this plot. Acts 23:12-13
22. And
yet here is Paul, basically saying that he would give up his own salvation, and
himself go to hell, if it would mean the salvation of his Jewish countrymen.
a.
...the men who we're trying to kill him.
23. Who
would have a heart to want to bring salvation to the very people that would
kill him if they got the chance?
a.
Read about it in Acts 14, Paul & Barnabus
were preaching in Lystra, and a group of Jews came into town, stirred up the
crowd, and they proceeded to stone Paul and leave him for dead!
b.
Who would pray for these men? I’ll tell
you who: Someone with a heart for the lost…
24. The
more we learn about Paul, the more we see that Paul had what we call a BURDEN
for lost people.
a.
Paul would travel to any country, go to any
people group, and endure any hardship, he'd make any sacrifice, if it would
give him the opportunity to tell someone about Christ.
b.
Paul’s heart for Israel reminds me of Moses.
25. In
Exodus 32, Moses went up Mt Sinai and the Lord gave him the Ten Commandments,
a.
yet while he was up there, the Israelites got
tired of waiting, and they cast their gold into a golden calf, and declared it
their god.
b.
And while Moses was up on the mountain, having
the most intense God-experience ever,
c.
God suddenly informs Moses that the people He
had just miraculously rescued from being slaves in Egypt were now having a
naked dance party around an idol!
d.
The Lord goes on to tell Moses
“I
have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are. Now leave me alone so
my fierce anger can blaze against them, and I will destroy them. Then I will
make you, Moses, into a great nation.” Exodus 32:9-10
26. At
first glance, that doesn’t sound like such a bad deal!
a.
I mean, having to lead all those people, most of
whom were ungrateful for the sacrifice Moses made, and obviously not
appreciative of what the Lord had done for them - who need’s em!
b.
Moses might have thought, “OK, it’s just you and
me God! That’s all I need!”
27. Have
you ever felt like that? "People, who needs ‘em? Those guys I work
with, they're all carnal, and crude, they make fun of my faith...Lord can't you
just take me out?"
a.
"Worse yet, those people at church.... They
don't love me..."
b.
We all feel that way from time to time...
c.
But look at what Moses did.. Moses didn’t take
God up on His offer (which I personally believe was a test) … listen to what he
prayed:
‘Oh,
what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of
gold. But now, please forgive their sin – but if not, then blot me out of the
book you have written.’ Ex 32:31-32
d.
In other words, "take my place in heaven,
and give it to them..."
28. What
would give Moses that heart? Would you have prayed that? Would I pray
that?
a.
Matter of fact, it wasn’t only Moses and Paul
that had that heart: It’s the same heart that Christ had for all of
mankind, including you and I.
b.
Think about it: Christ was the Son of God,
sinless, the ONLY truly innocent man!
i. If
you ever correspond with people in prison, it’s amazing how many are innocent!
You’ll never find a more innocent group of people locked up together!
ii. And
if the crime they were convicted of was actually a crime they didn’t commit,
it’s fairly certain that there were other crimes that they did commit!
c.
Of course the truth is, NONE of us are innocent.
The one’s in prison were just unlucky enough to get caught.
29. My
point is that ALL have fallen short:
...
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23
a.
And think about it - Jesus Christ, an innocent
man, went to the cross in order for you and I, who are not innocent, to be
reconciled to God,
b.
What did He say while hanging on the cross…
“those stupid Jews, they’re crucifying their Messiah… - NOT!
c.
He said…
Father,
forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” Luke 23:34
30. In
other words, Moses had the heart of Christ… he was willing to take the
punishment for their sin
a.
Paul had the heart of Christ… he was willing to
take the punishment for his countrymen, the same men who hounded him.
b.
The heart of Christ isn’t “look at all those
evil sinners, man they deserve hell…”
c.
The heart of Christ is LOVE - love for all
people - Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor, noble and wicked…
d.
In other words, Jesus loves the crack dealer, He
loves the prostitute, He loves the pimp!
e.
He loves the person that makes fun of your faith
at work, He loves the person driving that big Hummer that cut you off!
31. I
don’t know about you, but this gives me a complete paradigm shift in how I view
the world around me…
a.
Do I have a heart of retreat or hardness towards
the world around me?
b.
Or am I willing to be like Christ, and dive in,
get my hands dirty, so that someone's future can be changed forever?
Paul declared:
...neither
death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present
nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be
able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord Rom
8:38-39
32. There
is only one thing that can separate a person from God, that is sin that has not
been paid for by the cross!
a.
That is what I want to leave you with today:
33. The
cross isn’t just for me! Or for you! The cross is for everyone!
That is why we exist as a church - the tell people about Jesus Christ, to
change their life forever!
a.
This passage should cause us, all of us, to
really examine “What am I doing here, I mean in the church?”
b.
Why do we belong? What’s the purpose, the point?
Why do you come to church?
c.
The reason I say that is because we, myself
included, have a built-in tendency (from our fallen flesh!) to see church
through the lens of “what is church going
to do for me…”
34. Look,
I don’t want to seem pointed, I say this from my heart, when we start having
those conversations in our mind like “I don’t like how the music is” or “no one
said ‘Hi’ to me today…”
a.
Then I think we’ve missed something - because we
aren’t supposed to LIKE the church, we ARE the church!
35. We
with some folks recently, and some of what came out was “we don’t like this…”
and I’m like “really? I hate to break it to you guys, but church isn’t about
YOU.”
a.
I am more concerned about the person that walks
into church today, their life is falling apart, they’re not sure what they’re
going to find here, but they know they desperately need for something to change
in their life.
b.
I am more concerned that they are introduced to
the one that can change their life forever,
c.
and that the saints who ARE this church come
alongside them and help them become more like Christ
d.
...than I am whether or not someone likes this
or that…
36. Do
I or our leadership team do everything perfect? No. Do we make mistakes? Absolutely
a.
Are there things I would do different? You bet…
b.
But I personally think if Paul were privy to
some of the conversations the people have about their churches (not just ours),
Paul would say “Get thee over thyself!”
37. Also,
I’ve heard that there’s an idea floating around that my goal is to build a
mega-church.
a.
I’d like to clarify to you all today so that everyone
is clear: My goal is not to build a mega-church (if it were so, I’m
failing!), my goal is to build the
church.
b.
My goal is for ALL of us to be on fire to tell
people about Jesus, and then be willing to personally get involved in their
lives to help them grow and become more like Christ.
c.
A church where everyone - not just me - has a
heart for the lost, and are willing to give of our time, talent, and treasure,
and yes even sacrifice, to help a new believer grow in their walk with Christ.
d.
My goal is for Calvary Chapel of Wilmington to
be a “life-changing group of people, that happens to be a church!”
38. I
see in Paul’s letter that he was willing to go to any length, he was willing to
make any sacrifice, to see people come to life-changing knowledge of Jesus
Christ.
a.
That is my challenge to you today, I want you to
take the next few minutes and think about it: “What length am I willing
to go to see people saved, and grow in the Lord?”
Copyright © 2014 Clay Ritter. This data file is the
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