WELL...HERE IT IS!

Romans 15:1 - 20

Paul wrote: “Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation…to be living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God…”

From Romans 12:2 through Romans 15:22, we have Paul’s description of what being a “living sacrifice” looks like.

Note that Paul did NOT say, “If you do these things you will become a living sacrifice.” More correctly he said, “If you are a living sacrifice you will exhibit these characteristics.”

The Verses

1-6 Romans 15:1 is similar to Romans 14:1. It talks about the attitude of the
“living sacrifice” toward those who are weak. We are to be other
oriented, not self oriented. The “living sacrifice” gets encouragement from
the scriptures and gives that encouragement to others. This brings glory and
honor to God.

7-13 We are to be becoming more Christ like: to have a servant’s heart. We are
to be full of praise, song and witness for God and His salvation in Christ.

14-16 Paul sees his mission as one to remind Christians of their blessings in
Christ and their reaction to them. He is a minister to the gentiles, so that they
may hear and respond to the gospel.

17-20 What we do for God should not be a burden to us, but should be a source of joy. When there is a service need that we have the ability to provide, we should joyfully provide it. In fact, we should look for opportunities to serve.

Our message must never be social reform. That does not mean that social reform should not be sought and/or attained, but it is not our message. Our message is not an anti-abortion message, or a health care message, or a political message, or a societal ills message. Our message always has been, is now and always must be Christ crucified and resurrected for the remission of sin.

MONDAY MUSINGS FROM OUR FOUNDERS John Hart

John Hart

JUDGE; LEGISLATOR; SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION
Member of the New Jersey Assembly, 1761-1771; Served on the Committee of Safety, Committee of Correspondence, 1775; Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, Member of Provincial Assembly 1775; Elected to the Continental Congress, 1776.

"[T]hanks be given unto Almighty God therefore, and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die and after that the judgment [Hebrews 9:27] . . . principally, I give and recommend my soul into the hands of Almighty God who gave it and my body to the earth to be buried in a decent and Christian like manner . . . to receive the same again at the general resurrection by the mighty power of God. "

Romans 14 1-23

Back in Romans 8:12, Paul wrote: “Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation…” but he does not tell us what that obligation is until Romans 12:1. Then he tells us that our obligation is to be “…living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God…”

Everything between Romans 8:12 and Romans 12:1 is set-up for the revelation of our obligation. Everything after Romans 12:2 is the why and how to be living sacrifices: to serve God according to our abilities; to love sincerely, even our enemies; and to submit to both our spiritual and civil authorities, even to paying taxes.

He explains that love is the fulfillment of the Law, for if we love sincerely, there is not a single Commandment that we would even think of breaking.

The Verses

1- 4 Allow others to live in proportion to their faith without rebuke. To tell someone they are sick or have some physical condition because of weak faith is cruel, unnecessary, unhelpful and violates every tenet of love. (Col 2:16-23) Your judgement is not relevant.

5 – 8 The Commandment: “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy” says
absolutely nothing about when or how to worship. Indeed, this passage
emphasis the freedom we have in Christ. Verse 8 tells us that our focus must
be on, and only on, the Lord Jesus.

9 – 12 We will never be called by God to give an account of what one of our
brothers or sisters in Christ have done. We will, however, give an account of
ourselves if we cause a brother or sister to stumble in either sin or faith.

13 – 18 Paul could have stopped with “Therefore let us stop passing judgement
on one another,” but he chose to elaborate, listing some examples of what he
is talking about.

19 – 21 Our job is to make certain that the peace of Christ is manifested in all we
do, without doing anything that might hurt a brother or sister in Christ.

22 – 23 It has been said that the church is the only army that shoots its wounded.
We are clearly told here that if we are to be living sacrifices, holy and
acceptable unto God, we must NOT shoot our wounded, we are to help them
grow in their faith in Christ.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

REMEMBER, WE CELEBRATE JESUS' BIRTH TODAY.

HE IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON.



WITHOUT HIM THERE WOULD BE NO CHRISTMAS.



HE IS GOD INCARNATE.



HE IS THE SAVIOR OF ALL WHO WILL COME TO HIM, TRUSTING IN, AND ONLY IN, HIS FINISHED WORK AT THE CROSS OF CALVARY AND BELIEVING IN HIS RESURRECTION.



MAY THE CHRIST OF CHRISTMAS BE YOURS ETERNALLY.

It happens every year...someone in the "scientific" community tries to "prove" that the virgin birth of Jesus, which we celebrate a Christmas, is impossible.

Jeremy Lott, writing for the American Spectator HERE makes an outstanding case against those who deny the virgin birth.

He sets his case by reminding us of the age-old arguments given by "scholars" as follows:

Scientific reductionists -- the Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins set -- will tell us that it's impossible. By definition, a virgin cannot be with child. Certain biblical scholars will be trotted out to poke holes in the dogma, by making points about the Bible passages in question that sound convincing to non-scholars. And moderate, embarrassed believers such as Newsweek editor Jon Meacham will try to smooth things over. The Virgin Birth, they will say, is symbolically but not historically or scientifically important. It's about new life or specialness or some other non-offensive, wooly-headed thing.

The scholars will say that the verse in Isaiah (7:14) that prophesies a "virgin shall conceive and bear a son" is a mistranslation. "Virgin" could be "young woman," you see. They will point out that only two of the four Gospels of the New Testament mention the Virgin Birth and that the Virgin Birth Gospels (Matthew and Luke) do not agree about many details. They will say that the earliest Gospel (Mark) leaves it out entirely.

If you read my previous post, you realize that the genealogies of Jesus, both demonstrating the descendency of Jesus from David, reveal the accuracy of the Mosaic texts of Genesis. John's gospel relies on the same text in chapter one, as does Mark's account.

Scholars' scepticism tends to suspect collusion of sources when those sources are "too much alike." Therefore, the divergency of the accounts of Matthew and Luke tend to support the idea that they are truthful in coming to the same conclusions about Jesus' birth.

Some scholars like to argue about the veracity of the translations of words like "virgin" and "wise men." But the "coincidences" surrounding the events of Jesus' birth are too much to have been either made up or happenstance.

Putting all of the arguments, pro and con, aside for a moment, let me assure you that on one point the scientists and liberal scholars are absolutely correct: the virgin birth of Christ is absolutely impossible. It physically and biologically could not have happened.

That's the point.

Although we toss the word around way too much, calling things miracles that happen all of the time, the word is really to be reserved for those things that happen that have no explanation and are out of the ordinary.

If there were a natural and/or scientific explanation for what occurred, it would not be a miracle, rather it would be a "normal."

In Joshua 10 we have an account of the sun standing still.

Foolishness!

I have heard preachers try to explain what happened with cosmic physics. I have heard them preach about the event being testified to in calendars, and all kinds of other "explanations."

But there are no natural explanations to miracles, we accept them by faith (much as evolutionists accept their unscientific theory as true by faith alone).

The Bible says the sun stood still, therefore we may believe that the sun stood still (whether literally or figuratively is another debate for another time).

That was a miracle.

The virgin birth was a miracle - pure and simple.

The One who created all that is from nothing is certainly able to manipulate it according to His will.

When the angel said to Joseph, "That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost...," he was telling the truth.

The virgin birth of Christ is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. The virgin birth of Christ is a fulfillment of what the angel told Mary.

The virgin birth of Christ is one of the essential doctrines of the FAITH.

The virgin birth of Christ is one more reason to remember the reason for the season: Jesus (Jehovah Saves) came to bring salvation to all who will believe.

Let's worship and adore Him, for He is worthy of our worship.

He was born

CHRIST, THE LORD.

ON MY FATHER'S SIDE

There are two genealogies of Jesus in the New Testament, one in Matthew and one in Luke.

Why? Well, the genealogy in Matthew belongs to the line from which Joseph came, and the one in Luke belongs to the line from which Mary came.

Luke's genealogy starts at Adam and goes to David. Matthew's genealogy starts at Abraham and goes to David. When the genealogies arrive at David, they split with David's sons: Nathan (Mary's side) and Solomon (Joseph's side).

The Old Testament required that the Anointed One would be a descendant of David.

It is so interesting that in the Joseph genealogy is a man named Jeconiah. God cursed Jeconiah (also called Coniah), stating that no descendant of his would ever sit on the throne of David, "For no man of his descendants will prosper sitting on the throne of David or ruling again in Judah," (Jer. 22:30).

God is so cool.

See, Joseph’s line had to be the legal connection to David so that the Jewish Law would be satisfied.

But we all know that Joseph was NOT the literal Father of Jesus, God was.

In Mary’s genealogy there is no break and she is a direct descendent of David, fulfilling the physical requirement of the Messiah.

And we know, of course, that the Holy Spirit of God brought Him into being, fulfilling the spiritual requirements of the Messiah.

Later, when Jesus was 12, he was in the temple conversing with the Pharisees, asking them questions.

It seems that this 12 year old boy was asking questions of the Pharisees to which they did not know the answers, and then was answering them Himself..

We’re told that they were amazed at His understanding and His answers.

Southern gospel writers have a way of expressing spiritual truths that are so deep and unfathomable, in simple, understandable ways and in common terms.

Here are the words to a song that is about that time in the temple.

The Pharisees are questioning Jesus and He is giving answers that reflect His genealogy through Mary and His eternal relationship to His real Father.

ON MY FATHER’S SIDE

Just a young boy in the temple that day
Met with the doctors and they were just amazed
Never had they seen one so young speak so swift
They asked him many questions; the conversation went like this:

CHORUS:

What's your name son?
On my mother's side, my name is Jesus!
But on my Father's side, they call me Emanuel.

How old are you?
On my mother's side, now I’m twelve years!
But on my Father's side, I've just always been.

Where are you from?
On my mother’s side I’m from Bethlehem,
On my Father’s side it's New Jerusalem.

What are your plans?
On my mother’s side, I’ll be crucified
On my Father’s side in three days, I'll arise
And sit at my Father's side.

He was, the Son of God, and yet the son of man
I can't help but wonder how Joseph must have felt
When through an open door that day, he heard his son reply
You see, I am the King of Kings, that’s on my Father's side.

CHORUS

And so here we are, 2,000 years later celebrating the birth of the Prophesied One.

We say that He is God, incarnate.

That means, God in the flesh.

That little babe, the legal descendent of David through Joseph, the physical descendent of David through Mary and the spiritual descendent of the Great I Am.

That little baby had one purpose: to die for your sins and mine.

That little baby had within Him the power of salvation.

That little baby brought meaning to the saying: The Son of God became the Son of Man so that the sons of men could become the sons of God.

That little baby would defeat death so that you and I could, too.

That little baby did not become a king, He was born a king…not just any king, but the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

That’s on His Father’s side.

Romans 13:1-14

We are in the midst of learning what Paul means when he says to “…offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing (acceptable) to God – this is your spiritual (reasonable) act of worship.”

He means that we are to humbly serve God according to our abilities, to love sincerely…both our brothers and sisters in Christ and our enemies.

The Verses

1. Follow your leaders. Some contend that this refers to spiritual leaders (which would have meant Pharisees, Sadducees and other religious leaders, others say it refers to civil governments. I lean toward the former, but would not argue with you over either…or both.

2. Ask yourself whether in the context of what Paul has been saying whether he is referring to civil authorities or spiritual authorities here…it could be either.

3 – 5 He continues with this description of how to be a living sacrifice by being
submissive.

6 – 7 This section is a references to taxes. In terms of the differing opinions
about whether or not this refers to the civil taxes, remember, the Jewish
leaders imposed taxes on Jews, just as the Romans did.

8 – 10 This does not say, “Don’t take on debt,” it says, “Don’t let debts remain
outstanding.” In other words, pay your debts. If you want to fulfil the law (as
far as is possible for mere people to do so), love others. This is a recurring
New Testament theme.

11 – 14 If you want to be a living sacrifice, be aware that it is time to wake up
and be counted for Christ. Put of the things of the world and take on the cloak
of Christ.

Remember, as Christians we are not guided by the Law of Moses or the laws of men, but by the Holy Spirit of God who will help you become what God wants you to be: living sacrifices, putting the things of Christ in the place of the things of the world.

MONDAY MUSINGS FROM OUR FOUNDERS-Alexander Hamilton

REVOLUTIONARY GENERAL; SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; AUTHOR OF THE FEDERALIST PAPERS; SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY
Following his duel with Aaron Burr, in those final twenty four hours while life still remained in him, Hamilton called for two ministers, the Rev. J. M. Mason and the Rev. Benjamin Moore, to pray with him and administer Communion to him. Each of those two ministers reported what transpired. The Rev. Mason recounted:

[General Hamilton said] “I went to the field determined not to take his life.” He repeated his disavowal of all intention to hurt Mr. Burr; the anguish of his mind in recollecting what had passed; and his humble hope of forgiveness from his God. I recurred to the topic of the Divine compassion; the freedom of pardon in the Redeemer Jesus to perishing sinners. “That grace, my dear General, which brings salvation, is rich, rich” – “Yes,” interrupted he, “it is rich grace.”

“And on that grace,” continued I, “a sinner has the highest encouragement to repose his confidence, because it is tendered to him upon the surest foundation; the Scripture testifying that we have redemption through the blood of Jesus, the forgiveness of sins according to the richness of His grace.” Here the General, letting go my hand, which he had held from the moment I sat down at his bed side, clasped his hands together, and, looking up towards Heaven, said, with emphasis, “I have a tender reliance on the mercy of the Almighty, through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Romans 12:9-21

Now that we know what our obligation is (to offer ourselves as living sacrifices…), we need to know what that means.

So Paul says, “I’m glad you asked.”

First it means to humbly use the gifts God has given you in His service (12:5-8)

Secondly, it means to love, not some false, emotional feeling, but love put into action.

The Verses

9-10. Love must be real and aimed at actions of love toward one another.

11-13 Love with energy, service, joy, hope, patience, faithfulness and hospitality.

14-16 Remember that Jesus said, “Love your enemies…” (Matthew 5:44ff). Here, Paul tells us what actions will demonstrate that love: when you are persecuted, make your persecutors happy (that’s what “bless” means). Exercise empathy with others’ plights. Don’t be proud or conceited.

17-18 Don’t play the “get even” game – that’s not love but strive to do what is right. Don’t get mixed up here. He’s not talking about doing what other people think is right, he is talking about do right, no matter what others think.

19 Revenge may seem satisfying for a season, but in the end, it only makes you bitter and hopeless. (The bird in the picture above has gotten revenge on the cat.)

20. Here Paul is quoting Proverbs 25:21 –22 and Luke 27ff.

You will notice, I hope, that being a living sacrifice is not easy. It goes against the “eye-for-an-eye-tooth-for-a-tooth” attitude of the world (as well as the old Jewish system).

In Chapter 13, Paul will continue to reveal to us what it means to “offer ourselves as living sacrifices,” which, of course, is all a part of “dying to self.

JUST THROW IT ALL AWAY

In terms of talent, he was the greatest golfer in history. His issue, though, was one of character. His was all low, and he proved it.







His character issue manifested itself on the golf course in anger. Lots of golfers get angry, but Tiger Woods got angry like few others. He cursed, sometimes loud enough to be heard on TV, he threw his clubs, he stomped like a child and he kicked dirt, all with great fervor.







His talent ran deeper than we could imagine. So did his character flaws. He believed his own hype, and that because of his position could do anything he wanted, any time he wanted, anywhere he wanted, with whomever he wanted and nobody could tell him otherwise.





Like all of us, Tiger Woods had impulses. Unlike most persons of character, he believed he had no responsibility to control those impulses. He projected the image of "strong family man" all the while living an opposite life-style.





Tiger has lost many of his corporate sponsors, not because they are so squeaky-clean and never have moral lapses, but because his "new image," that of philanderer, is not good for their image or their sales.







Tiger Wood's is a sad story and a sad commentary on celebrity. But it is a story that demonstrates the absolute truth revealed in Scripture (Romans 3:23) "...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" That goes for you and me, too. It is the nature of fallen mankind.







There is one, and only one, solution: a changed heart brought about by a personal encounter with God through Christ Jesus.

That's true whether you are a sports celebrity, a politician, a movie star, or just a regular Joe, like me.

Otherwise, we just throw it all away.

Romans 11:25-12:8

We are almost there! We’re just about to find out what the obligation we were told we had back in Romans 8:12 actually is.

READ ROMANS 11:25-32

We’ve seen: that there is to be a future glory for those in Christ; that in Christ we are more than conquerors; that absolutely anybody, Jew or gentile (Greek) can come to Christ; that much of Israel rejected Christ; that God promised a remnant of Israel would come to Christ; that those who come to Him who are not Jewish are grafted into the vine and that that eventually ALL of what’s left of Israel will come to Christ.

READ ROMANS 11:33-36

Here we find out that there is no way to measure God, and that He is worthy of our praise and glory forever.

ROMANS 12:1-8

The Verses

1. God does not want the sacrifice of animals, He wants our lives…all of us, with nothing withheld. (Hebrews 10:4)

2. We are to forsake the pattern of the world. If you still think like the world thinks, and you know Christ, you need to ask Him to change your way of thinking by the power of the Holy Spirit. Do not think you can know God’s will for your life if you are not willing to forsake the pattern of this world and offer yourself as a living sacrifice. You cannot.

3. Don’t think you are better than anybody else. (Philippians 2:3)

4. This begins Paul’s emphasis on unity and service. We are the Body of Christ. That is what the church is.

5. We belong to each other, and are charged with serving each other.

6. Every one of us has at least one spiritual gift…maybe more than one.

7. You are to use your gift for Christ. I get so tired of school teachers saying, “I’m teaching school 5 days per week. I don’t want to teach on Sundays.” WHAT???? That is your gift!!!! You are to use it for teaching the gospel!!! God says so, and you are obligated to it (verse 1)

8. The point: Whatever you know how to do, do it for Christ in loving response to what He has done for you.

MONDAY MUSINGS FROM OUR FOUNDERS-Elbridge Gerry

Elbridge Gerry: SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; MEMBER OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION; FRAMER OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS, GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

Called on the State of Massachusetts to pray that:

". . . with one heart and voice we may prostrate ourselves at the throne of heavenly grace and present to our Great Benefactor sincere and unfeigned thanks for His infinite goodness and mercy towards us from our birth to the present moment for having above all things illuminated us by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, presenting to our view the happy prospect of a blessed immortality."

Romans 11:12-24

Michael Horton writes in his latest book, The Gospel-Driven Life. He writes:

The God of the Bible is a strange God-- not the kind of God we can manage, manipulate, accommodate, or domesticate to our familiar experience. We cannot find this God by looking within ourselves. His Word is not the same as our inner voice. He cannot be pared down to our size, measured by our speculations, experiences, or felt needs. Rather, he stands over against us, telling us how things actually are. When God actually confronts us, our speculations are exposed as idols, our experience judged as little more than a projection of ourselves, and our felt needs give way to more pressing needs that we did not even realize that we had. God confronts us, disorients us, and pulls us outside of our comfort zones. If we feel naked and ashamed, then it's a good sign that we are actually in the presence of the God of the Bible.

What is the point? God is absolutely sovereign.

We’re on the last leg, now, of our journey to the obligation mentioned in 8:12 and completed in 12:1ff.

Paul has been talking about Israel’s failure to receive the Promise (Christ) and is now ready to discuss his ministry to the gentiles.

The Verses

12. He’s talking about the Jews’ rejection of Christ, that their rejection opened the way for the gentiles to receive the riches and the even greater value Christ will be to the Jews when those who will finally accept Him.

13. Paul proclaims himself an apostle to the gentiles.

14. His ultimate goal is to bring “his people,” the Jews, to salvation.

15. Because the Jews rejected Christ, Paul could turn his attention to the gentiles. The funny thing is, it is through the gentiles that the chosen people of God will receive the Promise of God (Christ).

16. My interpretation here is not the interpretation of “learned” scholars, but I believe is correct: “Firstfruits” is a reference to Christ. If Christ is holy, so are all who are in Him.

17. Some of God’s chosen people have rejected His Promise. They have broken off. We gentiles have been grafted in (“adopted” is another way Paul expresses this truth).

18. But now watch…the part that has broken off is gone, but the root stock is still there in the persons of those Jews who have accepted Christ. They are the spiritual stock that give evidence of our support.

19. The fact that branches broke off made room for us is true, but

20. It was their unbelief in the salvation provided by God, and it is our faith that enables us to stand fulfilled in Christ.

Don’t think you are better than the Jews. That manifests itself as arrogance.

21. He’ll not spare anyone who is arrogant enough to think he is self-sufficient or able to provide his own salvation.

22. God is infinitely kind to those who are in Him through Christ, but “stern” with those who have rejected Him.

23. If they will but turn to Him, they, too, will be grafted into the vine.

24. He’s speaking here of the way in which we must all come to Christ. He is also saying that if any Jew turns to Christ, he will immediately be accepted.