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ប្រតិចារិក
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Praise the Lord for salvation. That's what we're talking about in the book of Romans, right? We're justified not by our works, not by the deeds of the law, but through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. So let's open our Bibles together to the book of Romans, Romans chapter number nine. And while you're turning to Romans chapter number nine, um, I have been blessed and, uh, uplifted by preaching through Romans chapter number eight and almost didn't want to leave. Uh, if you got here this morning and I said, open your Bibles to Romans chapter eight, and I just preached to it again, would you have minded? All right, I'll just send it to you through your app notifications, all right? I'm so thrilled. I mean, chapter number eight has got to be one of the greatest chapters in the entire Bible. And then the way that chapter number nine starts, it seems like, well, what just happened? What did I miss? Let's stand as we read Romans chapter number nine, verses one through five, will be our text this morning. Romans chapter nine, verse number one. I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart, for I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the service of God and the promises, whose are the fathers and of whom is and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all. God bless forever. Amen. Father, I pray that you'd bless the time of the word of God here this morning. I pray that you'd set me aside. I pray that my weariness would not get in the way of your word here this morning. Lord, may Christ be exalted. May you be honored and glorified. And may we leave this place more burden for the souls of men than we have ever been. We love you and we pray these things in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Thank you so much. You may be seated. So far in the book of Romans we have seen and we've been told by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that all men are sinners. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. In Romans chapter 1 he talks about the heathen and the people that say there is no God, the people that believe in evolution, the people that are gone off and murder and homosexuality and disobedience and hatred. and he tells them that they are sinners. In chapter number two, he turns to those that are religious and says, well, you might think that you're okay because you do some good works or because you keep the law, but we found out that there's none righteous, no, not one. Chapter number three, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. In chapter four, we find out that even those that are Jewish, those that have received the law, those that know a little bit more about the true God, that their religion, their works and their deeds don't save them. that there's only one way for any person to be saved. The heathen needs to be saved. The religious person needs to be saved. The Jews need to be saved. All of us are sinners. We're all under condemnation. We're all under the sentence of death. And sinners cannot justify themselves by being good or by keeping the law. Let me say very clearly, we can only be justified by our faith in the finished work of Calvary. They were justified in our faith because of God's grace, because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ. They were only justified by faith. And because of that faith there is now no condemnation. Because of our faith in Christ, Romans chapter 1 verse 8, there is no condemnation. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Then he ends chapter number 8 by saying, not only is there no condemnation for those that believe in Christ, there is no separation. And they're so good I have to read it again. Romans chapter 8 verse number 31. Romans 8 verse 31. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is He that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulations, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword, As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are all counted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And God's people said? So, because of Christ there's no condemnation. Because of Christ there is no separation. We have the promise of eternal life because we've been justified by faith in Christ. Now, chapter number nine, it seems like something was missed. He ends chapter number 8 with this great exhilarating spiritual high that all the things we have because of Christ and will never be separated because of Christ. And then in chapter 9 verse 1 it seems like some transition's been made, something's happened, like we're really high and we're praising the Lord, but now all of a sudden we're talking about anguish and we're talking about sorrow. And almost between the chapters, it's like something's missed at first reading. Now, I wasn't very good at algebra. Anybody here can relate with me? Algebra was a little bit of a hard subject. And I loved the start of school, and I loved the new notebooks and the pencils, and I loved the fresh start of school. I always loved that. And even sitting for the first time in algebra class, I'm determined I'm going to do well in algebra this year. I'm going to pay attention. And you're paying attention. And the teacher's talking. And you're with them. And oh, I'm going to get it this year. Then you kind of see a bird out the window. Oh, look at that bird. Oh, pretty bird. That's a nice bird. Then you turn back around. And what is the teacher talking about? They sound like Charlie Brown, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah. Like, I just looked away for a second. How did I? And for the rest of the semester now, I'm hoping to get a C. What did I lose? I was distracted for a minute, and I lost something. Now listen carefully. Chapter number 9, 10, and 11 seem like they're almost parenthetical. He talks about the grace that we have in Christ, the salvation that we have in Christ. Then chapter 9, 10, and 11, it's something seems, apparently, it seems different. Do you know there's some people that think that he should have ended chapter number 8 with verse number 39? Nor height, nor depth, nor other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. And then you should skip chapter 9, 10, and 11 and go right to chapter 12. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And so they say, well, we should just kind of shorten this thing. That 9, 10, and 11 really seem to be out of place. I'm here to tell you, it's not out of place. I'm here to tell you, if you think it's out of place, you've kind of taken your eye off the ball and looked out the window for a minute. Because chapter 9, 10, and 11 are very important for him to establish who God is, who Israel is, and what God is going to do with the nation of Israel. And then chapter number 12, it gets extremely practical. But 9, 10, and 11 are very, very important. So we are preaching through the book of Romans, so we're going to cover them because, like I said, it is very, very important. There are two questions that the Apostle Paul needs to answer, and he answers them in chapter number 9, 10, and 11. And I want to show you what those are. There is a question about God's character that needs to be answered. God's character. The Apostle Paul made it very clear that the Gospel was to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Right? Chapter 1. It's to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Now, most of the readers of Romans would understand that. Most of the readers of Romans, some of which were Jews themselves, would understand what he was talking about. Remember the promises that God made to the nation of Israel? Genesis 12, verse 2, He says again in Genesis 17, verse 7, So God makes a promise of making Israel a great nation. God makes a covenant with Abraham that he's going to use Abraham and his seed. Jeremiah 31, verse number 33. But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. So you don't have to understand the Old Testament very deeply to understand that God made a covenant and a blessing and gave promises to the nation of Israel. Now we know that all those promises were fulfilled through Christ. But the people that he's writing to in the book of Romans are looking now saying, we understand that God made a promise to never leave Israel or forsake Israel or to separate from Israel. But it seems to the observer that the gospel came to the Jew first and that the Jews wholesale almost, rejected the Gospel. Now let me say this very carefully. Chapter number 2, the day of Pentecost, the thousands of people that were saved were Jews. They came to the Jew first. But as you begin to read the book of Acts, you find out that the majority of people that are now being saved in the book of Acts are no longer Jews, they are Gentiles. And you read through the book of Acts that many of the Jews rejected the Gospel of Jesus Christ, rejected the fact that Jesus was the Messiah, and were a problem for the Apostle Paul. So the question he has to answer is this, is, well, wait a minute. If the Gospel's true, then why aren't more Jews believing it? If the gospel is the fulfillment of the law, then why don't more people that know the law believe it? And more so than God made promises to the Jews, and they rejected the Messiah, so therefore, is the Lord rejecting Israel for all time? Is God done with them? And if he rejects them, then Paul, how can you say that he'll never reject us? Because that's what he just said, right? That nothing will separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. So these are valid questions. The questions are, well, wait a minute. Why did the Jews reject the gospel? Why did many of them reject the gospel? And then the second question is, well, why did God reject the Jews? And those questions have to be answered because it really is the character of God. Well, there's a second question or concern that he has to answer. The first one he wants to answer in these chapters are the question of God's character. Why would God reject the Jews? And why would the Jews reject God? Why would they reject their Messiah? And the second question he has to answer is Paul's concern for the Jews. So God's character and then Paul's concern for the Jews. Let me say this. The Apostle Paul is a Jew. Hebrew of Hebrews, Pharisee of the tribe of Benjamin, and he was one that originally rejected the gospel of Jesus Christ. He rejected it, he rejected the fact that Christ was the Messiah. Matter of fact, he was the lead persecutor of the church. He would chase down, track down those that believed under strange cities. He would go beyond the borders of Israel to find these believers and followers of Christ and the Bible says he would compel them to blaspheme. He would beat them and persecute them and haul them off to jail and consent unto their death. He hated the name of Jesus. until he met Jesus. In Acts chapter number nine, on the road to Damascus, he's heading to the synagogues to persecute the believers, and Jesus Christ himself appears to Saul. He falls off his horse, he sees this bright light, he's licking dirt, and he hears the Lord say, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And Saul says, who art thou, Lord, capital L, And of all the answers that the Lord could give, He could say, I am the Alpha, the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I am the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. I am the Redeemer. I am the wonderful Counselor. I am the Prince of Peace. He says, don't say any of those. He said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. And all of a sudden now in Paul's mind and in his heart, he realizes that Jesus is Lord He is the Messiah. He is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophecies. He says, Lord, what will thou have me to do? And you know what the Lord had him to do? What the Lord wanted him to do? What God called him to do? He called him to be a witness to the Gentiles. Is that right? He's going to be a vessel used of me, and he's going to be a witness to the Gentiles. Now I always, when I read that in Acts chapter 9, I kind of chuckle a little bit, and I can relate to it. Listen, when I first came here 11 years ago, 11 and a half years ago, I would explain to my family, well where are you going? The Lord's called us to Woodstock, Virginia. Where's Woodstock? Virginia, and I explained it to him, and that year an article came out and voted Woodstock the most redneck town in the state of Virginia. And that led to a conversation that I had with the Lord. I said, Lord, Lord, I'm a half-black Yankee. This can't be. You're making a mistake here. I'm pretty sure you're making a mistake. Here's Paul, Hebrew of Hebrews, Tribe of benjamin i'm sending you to the gentiles Lord i think this is not what i was brought up for now listen i'm glad to be here i wouldn't leave if you paid me uh i'm i'm i'm a virginian quarter core my whole heart i i love the valley valley's part of me and i'm not leaving but i did question the call So here's, I'm sending you the Gentiles. And you know that that seems strange and odd, and he was a great apostle to the Gentiles, but he still had a burden for the Jews. But what people thought was, well, he's now, he's a follower of Jesus, he's betraying us. And so the Jews began to hate the apostle Paul. They hated him with a vengeance. Now, the Bible says in Acts chapter number nine, verse number 20, straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues. So when Paul got saved, he preached Christ in the synagogues. He went to persecute Christ in the synagogues, now he's preaching Christ in the synagogues. that he is the Son of God. But all that heard him were amazed and said, Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem and came hither for this intent that he might bring them bound unto the chief priest? But Saul increased them more in strength and confounded the Jews which dwelt in Damascus, proving that this is very Christ." Listen, after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him. He's a Jew. He's like, well, wait a minute, I'm reading the law. And he meets Jesus Christ. Christ is the Messiah. He gets saved. Now he's not a persecutor. Now he's a preacher of the gospel. In the very synagogue that he went to persecute, he's preaching the gospel of Christ. And the Jews went, oh, wait a minute. This guy's a traitor. This guy's a traitor. Now, I'm not here to talk about politics, but it does bring to mind, I do find it very amusing to me that there are certain individuals that used to be staunch Democrats that were their heroes. Elon Musk, hero of a certain party and then, but he shows some conservative leanings and now he's anathema. He's a traitor. How dare he? By the way, I think Trump was a Democrat, and Tulsi Gubbert, and RFK, and all of them. But now you're changing parties. No, they just grew up and got a mind. I guess that was a little political. They got a little political there. The point is, once they were revered and now they are disdained. They are hated because you were for us and now you're for them. So they hated him and they wanted him dead. And what they said about him was this, he's against the Jews. Paul's against the Jews. Just very quickly, let me read this for you. Acts chapter 21, verse 27. Men of Israel, help! This is the man that teacheth all men everywhere against the people. and the law and this place. Paul's against the law of God, the temple of God, and the people of God. And so people thought that he was against it. So in chapter number nine, 10 and 11, Paul first defends himself and his concern for the Jews. And then the whole running of it is God's character and God's dealing with a nation of Israel. So where does he start off with? Well, he has to start off with defending himself, that he's not an enemy of the Jews. He's not against the Jews. It's just different than that. He has a burden for the Jews. Now with that said, look at Romans chapter number nine, verse number one. Are you still with me? He says this, I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have a great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. First of all, I wanna look at the witness of his sorrow, the witness of his sorrow. He is not callous towards the plight of Israel. He's not okay with Israel rejecting the Messiah. He is sorrowful. He is heavy-hearted. He is grieved. He is burdened that Israel has rejected their Messiah. And he says, listen, I'm not just saying this. I have a witness of my sorrow. And who does he use for a witness? Well, in chapter 1 he says, I say the truth in Christ. He's saying Christ can bear witness of my sorrow. It's not just me saying it. I'm attributing the name and the cause and the authority of Christ that I have sorrow in my heart for the Jews that are lost. He says the witness is not just Christ, but it's also his conscience. I lie not, my conscience also bearing witness. He says, so Christ bears witness that I have sorrow for the Jews. My conscience bears witness that I have sorrow for the Jews. And then he says, the Holy Spirit bears witness that I have sorrow for the Jews, bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost. He's appealing to authorities higher than himself. He said, my conscience bears witness, but my Christ and Lord's bears witness and the Holy Ghost of God bears witness that I have a burden for those that are Jews that have rejected the gospel of Jesus Christ. Then in chapter number 10, he says it very plainly. Romans chapter 10, look at verse number one. Romans 10, verse number one. He says, brethren, now that's believers, Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, here's my sorrow, here's my burden, this is my heaviness, that they might be saved. That's his burden. The burden is that they're saved. That's why my heart is heavy. Praise the Lord for us, we'll not be separated from the love of Christ that is in Christ Jesus, but love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Praise the Lord, we're on our way to heaven, but as I look around, there's people that I care for, there's people that I love that don't know Christ. And so praise the Lord, the rapture comes, we're with God. We die, we expire, and we're with God. Praise the Lord for that. But is there not an acknowledgement that there are people that don't know Christ? that are lost and that will spend eternity in the lake of fire. So as a witness of his sorrow, you might think that I'm against the people, I'm not against them, I'm for them. And Christ witnesses of that, my conscience witnesses of that, and the Holy Ghost witnesses of that. But not just the witness of his sorrow, I wanna look at the wish for his sorrow. The wish for his sorrow. He said, I could wish that myself were cursed from Christ for my brethren. Now this word brethren in verse number three of chapter number nine is different than brethren in chapter 10 verse number one. The chapter 10 verse 1 is Christians. The brethren he refers to in chapter number 9 are not believers. They're his kinsmen, my kinsmen according to the flesh. He's talking about the Jewish people. He's talking about Israel. And he defines them and shows who he's talking about in verse number 4. Let me run through verse 4 very quickly. Who are Israelites? That means they are descendants of Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, to whom pertaineth the adoption, meaning that these are Israelites and they have been adopted into the family of God. The Bible says in Exodus 4, verse 22, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn. So as these are Israelites, they're adopted in the family of God and the glory. They have seen God's Shekinah glory. They have experienced God's presence. Exodus chapter number 16, verse 10. It came to pass as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of Israel. This is what he's saying. My burden is for my brethren, my kinsmen, the ones that are of Israel, of Jacob, the ones that saw the glory of God, his Shekinah glory, the ones that were adopted into being his children, the children of Israel. And his covenants, he says in verse number three, he says, And the glory and the covenants. These are people that God made a covenant to. We already read those covenants there in Genesis. God made covenants with these people. And God gave these people the law. And the giving of the law. Let me show you this. Go to Romans chapter 3. Romans chapter 3 verse number 1. We covered this a while ago but I want you to see it. Romans 3 verse 1. Romans 3, verse 1, what advantage then hath the Jew? Or what profit is there of circumcision? Well, here's one big profit. What a big advantage, verse 2. Much every way, chiefly, because unto them were committed the oracles of God. So listen to his case. He's saying, listen, these people were called by God. They have a covenant with God. They've seen the glory of God. They've received the word of God. And yet they still don't know Christ. They still rejected the Word of God. They rejected the Son of God. He's extremely burdened. He says they were in the service of God. Verse number three, giving of the law and the service of God, meaning they were the ones that set up the tabernacle and set up the temple to worship God, to sacrifice to Him, to praise Him. as they saw His glory, and the promises. Now I don't believe these are the promises of a land and of a people and of generations. This promise he's talking about is the promise that Christ would be born. It's the promise that there would be a Messiah that would come out of the lineage and seed of David. I'll just read them for you. Acts 13, verse 23. Of this man's seed hath God, according to his promise, raised unto Israel a Savior, Jesus. Acts 13, verse 32. And we declare unto you, glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us, their children, and that he hath raised up Jesus again, as it was also written in the second Psalm, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. He said, they have to promise. Listen, who heard, behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son? And the government shall be upon his shoulders. Who heard his name shall be Wonderful Counsel, the Prince of Peace? Who heard that he would be pierced? Who heard that he'd be born in Bethlehem? Who heard that he would be betrayed by his closest friend, Judas Iscariot? Who heard these things? Who heard, by his stripes we are healed? Who heard he was bruised for our transgressions? Who heard those things? Who got those promises? The Jewish people got those promises. So he's saying, listen, these guys, they have all the advantage. They have everything. They have the promise of God. They have the covenant of God. They have the name of God. They're the children of God. They got the word of God. They got the promise of God that a Savior, a Messiah would be born. And yet, when He came unto His own, His own received Him not. What a tragedy to have all of the answers, to have every advantage that none of the other Gentiles had. They had everything in their hands. And when Jesus finally came, they rejected Him. The only way that I can relate to that is this, is that there are people that sit in Bible-believing churches like this one. that are taught the word of God. I mean, verse by verse, the word of God. That hear the gospel to some extent in every single sermon. That hear the gospel over and over and over again. You have brothers and sisters, you have other believers that you fellowship with. So you hear the word and you know the gospel and you sing the songs. You have every single advantage. But the question is, have you ever truly, personally received them as your Savior? Then he shall say unto me that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied thy name? He says, depart from me, ye workers of iniquity, I never knew you. And in that group, there are some that are sitting here right now that are part of that group. How can that be? How can it be? You prophesied in his name, and you saw miracles, and you heard him teach, and yet you've never truly been saved. That's exactly what the Jews did. They had every advantage. They knew it all. It was all right there. But they never accepted it. They rejected it. So Paul is extremely burdened for this people. for them to be saved. So let's look at this wish that he has. What is his wish? Chapter number nine, this is the heart of it, so please stay with me. What is his desire? Why is he heavy and what is he doing about it? We saw the witness of his sorrow. He truly has sorrow. He truly has a burden for those that are lost. But what's the wish for his sorrow? How can his sorrow be made whole? His anguish be made joy? Look at verse number three. What's the next word? Wish that myself were cursed from Christ for my brethren. Do you understand what he's saying right there? wishes a desire, a strong desire. I wish that I could be accursed for my lost kinsmen. Accursed is anathema. It is dedicated to destruction and separation. He just said that you can't be separated from the love of God. But he said, I wish that I could be separated from the love of God if that meant that my kinsmen could come to the love of God and be saved. Now, you think he has a burden? This is not possible. It's not possible that we can give up our salvation for somebody else's salvation. That's not possible. But our burden doesn't even come close to that. What he is saying here, he's echoing the sentiments of Moses after Israel sinned and they disobeyed God and they walked away from the scriptures, they broke his commandments. Moses said in Exodus 32, verse 31, Moses returned to the Lord and said, oh, this people have sinned a great sin and have made them gods of gold, yet now if thou wilt forgive their sin, and if not blot me, I pray thee out of the book which thou hast written. And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. Moses said, Lord, they've sinned a great sin, and please don't hold it against me. Blot me out. Let me be accursed. Let me be separated. Let me be anathema so that your people won't pay the penalty for it. And God said, the person that sinned, they're accountable, not you. Same thing that Paul says, I wish I could give up my salvation so that they could gain salvation. And that can't happen. By the way, the only person that can be accursed so you can be saved is Jesus Christ. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written, curse is everyone that hangeth upon a tree. Christ was a curse so that you could have eternal life. So Paul, The Apostle Paul couldn't give up his salvation. Nothing's going to cause him to separate from the love of God. But do you see his burden? He says, I'm willing to give up my own soul for the souls of others. Jesus said in Matthew 16, verse 26, for what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his own soul? The question is, you're not going to give up anything. You're not going to give up a house. I'd rather have a house than go to heaven. I'd rather have a car than go to heaven. That would be the epitome of foolishness. Paul's saying, I'm willing to make up that exchange, to give up my soul. You're gonna ask what I would exchange? I would exchange my salvation for theirs. Do you understand why this is so convicting? Because we're sitting here in this sanctuary, and for the most part, We're not willing to give up anything for the souls of others. Now, I don't mean to come down hard, but it's gonna come out the way it's coming out. I don't wanna... Hey, we can't... I'm thankful for the 35, 40 folks that came out yesterday morning and knocked on some doors to tell people about Jesus. We can't give up an hour. We can't give towards missions. We can't give towards a Christian camp where 47 kids got saved last summer. We can't give up our reputation because, well, if I bring that up, they're gonna think I'm some kind of religious nut and I'm worried about what they think about me. We're not gonna give up anything. He's willing to give up the most important thing, his own soul, for the redemption and salvation of people that he loves. By the way, people that hated him. They hated him and he still wanted them saved. He said, I'm willing to give up everything so they can be saved. And we sit here and we're not willing to give up hardly anything for people to get saved. What's wrong here? What's wrong with that picture? What's wrong with us? We know that hell is real. We know that the lake of fire is eternal. We know that Jesus is the only way to go to heaven. And there's people that we love and we don't open up our mouths out of love and give them the gospel. How can that be? What are we missing? My kids would, every night, we'd pray. And I think almost every single one of them, at one point in their lives, and you probably heard a little kid pray this. Dear Lord, I wish that you would save everybody in the world and that everybody in the world would be saved, amen. Everybody could pray that? And I'm listening to that prayer with my theological mind going, that's not gonna happen. We know through the scriptures. Broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, narrow is the way, straight is the way, and few there be that find it. Now I didn't sit down with my kids and say that. Stop praying for those people to be saved. They're not going to get saved. Straight is the way. Narrow is the gate. But boy, Paul just says, I wish I could give up my salvation. You can't give up your salvation. He's making the point. and he has Christ to witness and testify, the Holy Ghost to testify that he's not just saying words. We might not be able to lead the whole world to Christ, but don't you have some kinfolk, some kinsmen, some blood relatives that are lost and we're not willing to give up anything, we're not willing to be uncomfortable to bring the subject up, I was just going to ask you, are we all right? But we're not all right, because this applies to all of us. I want to end here. The work of his sorrow. Paul could not give his soul for others to be saved, but he gave his life. couldn't give his eternal soul, but he gave his temporary life for others to be saved. He says in verse number two that I have a great heaviness and continual sorrow. I have a sorrow without ceasing. I have an unending sorrow. I have a permanent desire and grief and heaviness that others would be saved. And you saw that in his life. You saw it when he showed up at any time. We preach through the book of Acts. Every time he showed up, I know I'm called the Gentiles, but I'm swinging through the synagogue first. Listen, I'm going to proclaim that he's the Christ, he's the Messiah. Come on, guys. You got the Old Testament. You got the law. You saw the Shekinah glory. You're the children of God. the saviors of your seed. He fulfilled all the promises and covenants and all the prophecies. And he would beg and preach because he was burdened about every kinsman being saved. And in every city and in every town, whether they stoned him, whether they beat him, He continued to give the gospel. He said, I can't give up my soul, but I'm willing to be shipwrecked. I'm willing to be naked and poor and beaten and hated and persecuted and stoned. And if I have to, I'll be killed. But I am burdened about my kinsmen being saved. So he could not give up his soul, but he gave up his life. That was his life's purpose, to win souls to Christ. But you're not going to win them all. I ain't gonna win them all. But you can win some. Some in this room aren't going to heaven because you've never been saved. Some of you are going to heaven, but you're bringing nobody with you. Like what Spurgeon said, he said, this great passion for souls gave Paul perspective. Lesser things did not trouble him because he was troubled by a greater thing, the souls of men. Get love for the souls of men, then you will not be whining about a dead dog or sick cat or about the Johnson family and the little disturbances that John and Mary may make by their idle talk. You will be delivered from petty worries. I need not further describe them. If you are concerned about the souls of men, get your soul full of great grief and your little griefs will be driven out. We have so many things, I'm worried about this, and I'm worried about that, and I'm worried about this, and I'm worried about that. This gives me grief, and that gives me grief. How about the griefs of the souls of men? What does this mean? This means personally, we witness to our co-workers, and our friends, and our neighbors, and our family members, he first findeth his brother, the Bible says. I find the Messiah, I gotta find my brother. He first findeth his brother, a kinsman. This is a church. This is not just for us as individuals, and we need to get a better burden, but it's for a church. Listen, a church, this is not a country club. This is not a, we're not building a new sanctuary so that we can take our ease. We're building a new sanctuary to fill it with more souls. As a church, this is our mission. Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, that's our job. that Woodstock knows about the gospel of Christ at Edinburgh and Tomsbrook and Moraytown. It's our job. And it's our job and great commission to tell a lost and dying world. Listen, we have kids from the East Coast coming to a gospel preaching camp and accepting Christ as their savior, going back and telling their parents and their kinsmen. That's why that camp's important. That's why the mission station's important. We're gonna take missionaries and encourage them and help them and undergird them? And then we're gonna have those missionaries that we're helping and supporting there at the mission station walk down to the chapel on a morning chapel and give their burden for China to a group of young people that will get a burden? So now the next generation has a burden for souls? That's what it's about! Our missions conference is coming up. Listen, I have no desire to have a missions conference where we sit around and talk about leading people in the Philippines to Christ and people in South America to Christ and how we're gonna, I have no interest in talking about that if we're not winning people to Christ here. That's a burden. The things that you're burdened about, you're willing to be uncomfortable for. The things you are burdened about, you are willing to be uncomfortable for. The things you're burdened about, you're willing to sacrifice for. First Corinthians chapter nine, and I'm done, is what Paul says. He says, so the weak became as weak, that I might gain the week, I made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some." I'm going to read it again. I made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Paul says, I know I'm not going to win everybody. I understand that. But I'm going to do everything in my power I'm leaving nothing, I'm leaving no stone unturned. I'm gonna do everything in my power to preach and to give and to pray and to witness so the souls can be saved. Oh, you're not gonna save them all, Paul. I'm gonna do everything I can to save some. Everything I can to save some. You know I've had a couple heart attacks, and it's really calmed me down, can you tell? It's really taken me back. But one of the things I've noticed, I don't have the stamina or the strength that I used to have, and that bothers me, but you know what else bothers me is that I don't get like, I don't have like a flight reaction anymore. I don't have like, oh, I got to work. I don't know. I just, whatever. We were down at the gun range cutting down some trees. And there was a really big tree that I didn't want to handle. And Roger came out to cut it down. And I'm standing there. He's cutting. I mean, it's a big tree. I don't mind cutting down trees, but that was beyond my pay scale. So he came out there. He's looking at me. And he's like, that's where it's going. He's pointing at me. That's where it's going. Well, then I hear, and it's coming. And I'm watching it fall. I'm like, huh, it's coming right at me. I should probably move. I remember having that conversation. I should probably move. I should probably get behind something, because it's coming. And I hear it creaking and cracking, and it starts coming down. And I sidestepped over here behind another tree that was this big. Shmoob! I mean, and it crashed. I mean, it crashed. And I remember saying, what's wrong with you? What is your problem? That was not the reaction you probably should have had. And Roger looked at me like, I almost took the pastor out. I said, I got, there's a heart problem. I think it's just my heart attack. I just, oh, I gotta get out of, no, okay, I just, there's a heart problem. I should have a greater concern for safety, but I have a heart problem. If we don't have a greater burden for souls, we have a heart problem. The totality of this book is about the glory of God in the souls of men. Christ came into the world to save sinners. You made a profession of faith that you accepted Christ as your Savior. We know the doctrines of hell and punishment and eternal fire. We know these things. We're not willing to move? We've lost our ability to weep. He said it's a continual heaviness. It never went away. Some of you used to have a heaviness, but it's gone away. You used to have a burden for your lost family members and your neighbor, your coworker. You used to have it, but it's gone away. Instead of having a heaviness, now there's a callousness. I'm saying if there's not a burden, then something's wrong with your heart. If a church does not have a burden for souls, something's wrong with that church. So that's my question. You can't give your soul, but there's a lot of things you can give for the salvation of others. Are you giving anything? It starts with a burden. And the bigger the burden, the more we'll give. Paul gave it all. Couldn't give his soul, but he gave everything else. He left nothing on the field. He did everything he could while God gave him time. Let's pray. What a tremendous example the Apostle Paul is. Lord, I just know that it's so easy to dialogue in our own minds. It's so easy to know what we're supposed to know. But Lord, without a burden, without the emotion, we're supposed to be moved with compassion. And Lord, some of us lost that compassion. Lord, you said that your harvest is truly plenteous, but the laborers are few. Lord, if we had a burden, we'd be laborers. If we had a burden, we'd give more. If we had a burden, we'd go more. If we had a burden, we'd cry more. If we had a burden, we'd pray more. The problem's not with the world, the problem's with us. We are the light of the world. Lord, there are some that have a burden and may we come to this old-fashioned altar and pour a burden out before you. And Lord, others, if we could be real and honest and transparent, Lord, maybe we need to come to this altar and ask you to give us our burden back, to give us a greater burden. If you have your head bowed and your eyes closed, let me ask you this. Someone here this morning, would you say, I don't really know for sure that heaven's my home. I don't know for sure that if I die that I'd go to heaven. I want to pray for you. If you're not sure of your salvation, would you just humbly slip up your hand right now that I might pray for you? Pastor, please pray for me. I, I'm not sure that heaven's my home. Please pray for me. All right. Christian, who would be honest enough this morning and say, you know, pastor, I've lost my burden. Something's wrong with my heart. That's the burden of my God and my savior. Then it needs to be my burden. I need a greater burden for the lost." If that's you, would you honestly slip up your hand? Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Thank you. Would you stand on your feet, every head bowed, everybody closed? If you have a burden, come pray for those you're burdened for. If you don't have a burden, come ask God to give you a specific burden.
A Greater Burden
ស៊េរី Justified by Faith
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