Cambria Pulpit

Slavery is a concept abhorrent to our society. The idea that one person can own another as chattel almost split our nation. We fought one of the bloodiest wars in history to end that practice. As Americans, we hold strongly to individual and personal rights. No one, not even the government, holds absolute authority over us. We are free!

But what if I told you that is not true? What if I told you that every one of us is actually a slave? As we walk through the Book of Romans, we observed that we were born as depraved sinners, but that Jesus in his love for us paid the price for our sin and grants us life. Last week we observed from the first half of Romans 6 that you can and must say no to sin. 

In the second half of Romans 6, we learn that we often don’t because we fail to understand that every one of us is a slave. Until we understand this, we will not be able to say no sin. 

Over the past few weeks, we have been rehearsing the reality that you are justified in Christ. Because of that you no longer need to fear sin. You have been forgiven. Last week we discussed the fact that we have a representative in Christ that has placed his righteousness on us. So that when we stand before God we will be clothed in His righteousness. This means that you are forgiven your sin and you can overcome your sin. 

Perhaps as you contemplated these things you responded in your heart with one of three responses. Maybe you thought, What a wonderful truth. But it doesn’t seem like a reality. I struggle so much with sin and feel that I am nowhere near where I should be in my Christian life. Perhaps your encouragement was mixed with a little bit of frustration that you are still in a major battle with sin. Or maybe you thought, So and so really needs this. I hope they are listening. While you would never voice it, you thought, I really don’t need this myself, I am good, but that other person really needs this. Or maybe you thought that because Christ is your representative you are righteous in Christ, so it really doesn’t matter if you are not living for God. God is love and full of forgiveness, so you are free to live how you want and pursue what you want. 

Paul turns to the very real struggle with sin in the next two chapters. The first issue that Paul addresses in this text deals with the questions: Does it really matter how a Christian lives? Are we free to live however we want? After all, we are forgiven and no longer face God’s wrath.

All of us are represented by one of two people. One representative leads to death, the other to life. Which represents you?

As lightning flashed and thunder crashed outside the window, terror-filled the child’s heart. In fear, they scrambled out of bed and ran down the hall to their parent’s bedroom. As they climbed into bed with their parents, the child felt her parent’s arms encircle her in a protective hug. There is something comforting and protective when a parent puts their arms around their children. While the storm still rages, something about the protective hug ensures the child that everything will be alright. 

Last week we discussed the reality that Salvation means we can rejoice in suffering. Perhaps as you listened to the Word and meditated on it over the week, you wonder how this can be possible. Your life is filled with intense suffering that does not seem to let go. Theoretically, you can rejoice in suffering, but realistically this does not seem possible. How can you rest and rejoice in suffering?

We finished the text last week in the middle of the text. Today I would like to examine the remainder of the text and learn that rejoicing in suffering can be a reality in your life when you rest in God’s love.

In 1858, a very successful preacher in Scotland by the name of John G Paton, left his ministry and comfort of home to become a missionary in the islands of the New Hebrides. At this time the Islands were populated by very aggressive cannibals who would eat foreigners and natives alike at a moment’s notice. When John Paton announced his decision, he received very vocal opposition to this call from God. John Paton wrote this account in his biography, “Among many who sought to deter me was one dear, old Christian gentleman, whose crowning argument always was, ‘The cannibals, you will be eaten by cannibals.’ At last I replied, ‘ Mr Dickson, you are advanced in years now, and your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms; I confess to you that if I can but live and die serving and honoring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by cannibals or by worms; and in the great day, my resurrection body will arise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen redeemer. John Paton went on to spend many years sharing the gospel in New Hebrides. He saw many of those cannibals won to the gospel.

One hundred years later, the United States was rocked with the news that 5 young missionary men had been brutally killed in the jungles of Ecuador seeking to share the gospel with an unreached people group, the Auca Indians. Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, and Pete Fleming sacrificed their lives.

Why would these Christian risk so much for so little? For the sake of the Gospel. So we must ask, what is so great about the Gospel?

We continue our study in Romans 4. How can one be good with God and sure they will enter heaven in the end? Not through works, status, or rules. Only through faith can one enter the kingdom of God.

Are you good with God? What are you relying upon to make sure that when you stand before God, you are good? Today we examine Romans 4 to see what can take us from being totally depraved to being good with God. 

As we speak about spiritual growth, prayer stands as a vital spiritual discipline which spurs our growth. Yet, this is an aspect of our spiritual life in which we often struggle. Prayer is hard. All of us struggle in our prayer life. Last week we began to look at three important reasons why we must take time to pray. We made it through the first two and today I would like to look at the third.

When you love someone, you cannot wait to talk to them. Several years ago, Heather and I visited my sister in college. Heather went up to her dorm room and to get her and I sat in the car waiting. As I sat there, I noticed a young man and woman who were obviously dating. As they spoke to one another, their infatuation was obvious. They walked up to the dorm where they said their goodbyes (or so I thought). As they parted, they each took out their cell phones and I quickly realized, they were calling each other. They simply could not spend any time without speaking to one another. They were in love. When you love someone, you cannot wait to talk to them.

Now let’s talk about our love for God. If we love God, we must take time to pray. If we do not take time to pray, we must question our love for God. Further, as we speak about spiritual growth, prayer stands as a vital spiritual discipline that spurs our growth. Yet, this is an aspect of our spiritual life in which we often struggle. Prayer is hard. All of us struggle in our prayer life. Today I want to look at three important reasons why we must take time to pray:

Over the past few weeks, we have discussed the reality of spiritual maturity. However, if you are like me, the time we have spent has been hard. We see where we need to be and we realize that we are not there. However, today and over the next few weeks, I would like to lay out a path through which you and I can grow in our walk with God. Those traits of the spiritually mature can be true in your life. And the path to this is available to all. 

There is an old children’s song that states that if we read our bible every day we will grow, grow, grow. There is truth in this song. A primary spiritual discipline by which the believer grows in their walk with God is through the Word of God. God expects every believer to spend time in the Word.  

One reason that many Christians flounder in their walk with God is that they practically ignore the Word. However, when we choose to practice the discipline to spend daily time in the Word, God grants to us the power to grow in our walk with Him and to overcome sin. As we look at Scripture, we discover that this daily time in the Word takes on three specific features.