A Message by Rev. Greg
Moser
Given to
May 24, 2009
FRIENDS DON’T LET
FRIENDS
DIE WITHOUT JESUS
Romans 9:1-5
ILLUS:
·
We’ve heard
phrases like…
o
Friends don’t
let friends “drive drunk.”
o
Friends don’t
let friends “do drugs.”
o
Friends don’t
let friends “become vegetarians.”
o
Friends don’t
let friends “eat donuts.”
o
Friends don’t
let friends “eat raw oysters.”
o
Friends don’t
let friends “drive Chevy’s.”
o
Friends don’t
let friends “go to UVA.”
BACKGROUND:
·
Paul just
completed chapter 8 on a high note describing the eternal security of the
believer and how nothing can separate us from the love of God.
·
At the time
Paul wrote this letter he was accused of being an enemy of/traitor to his own
people (Jews), seeking to destroy Judaism (“the Judas of Judaism”).
·
The reasons
were that he taught freedom from the Law and he ministered to Gentiles
(non-Jews).
·
His
proclamation that God is building His CHURCH gave the impression that God had
given up on the chosen people of
·
Jewish
Christians were confused by this because they thought that if God had given up
on
·
Paul wanted to
clear up the confusion and express his deep desire that his fellow Jews come to
faith in Christ.
I.
THE SIGNIFICANT ASSESSMENT OF ANGUISH
(
·
ILLUS: A congregation had just dismissed its pastor. Someone asked a church member why they had
done it. The member replied, “The pastor
kept telling us we were going to hell.”
·
“What
does your new pastor say?” “He keeps saying
we’re going to hell, too.” “So what’s
the difference?” “Well,” replied the
church member, “when our first pastor said we were going to hell, he sounded
like he was glad. But when our new
pastor says it, he sounds like it is breaking his heart.”
·
This is Paul’s
heart in Chapter 9.
·
Paul’s mood
change from Chapter 8 is due to the fact that he realizes that his own race,
the Jews, have for the most part rejected the gospel he had been expounding/explaining.
·
Paul was so
hated by the Jews that Acts 23 tells us that some zealous Jews had taken an
oath that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul.
·
On top of
that, Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians that “Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus
one” and was in constant “danger from my own
countrymen.”
·
Yet, the
remarkable thing is that he never took personal offense, never retaliated, and
never displayed personal bitterness against his fellow Jews.
·
Rather, he
displayed GREAT CONCERN for his people just like Jesus did…
·
“didn’t come to condemn the world, but to save the world…”
John 3:17
·
“has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10
·
Verse 1:
“my conscience bearing witness”—our
conscience as been tainted and corrupted by sin.
o
Our conscience
is only as reliable as what it is being fed.
o
Paul can
appeal to his conscience because it has been informed by/conformed to God’s
Word.
o
Martin Luther: “My conscience is captive to the Word of God.”
·
Verse 2:
“great sorrow and unceasing grief”—Paul had come to understand the depth of his sinfulness and eventual
punishment had God not rescued him.
o
Do we understand?
·
Verse 3:
“accursed”—damned, cut off,
separated from
o
He qualifies
this with “For I could wish…”
·
The Example of Moses: (Exodus
32)
o
Moses dealt
with the sin—Aaron was rebuked, the leaders were punished/killed,
and the loyalty of the people was temporarily restored.
o
But did this
really satisfy the righteous demands of God?
o
Maybe Moses
thought back to Abraham and Isaac—“please forgive their sin, but if not, then blot me out of the book
you have written.” (v.32)
·
Paul spoke
hypothetically, but not with any less passion and sincerity.
·
Jesus is the
ONLY One who can die for another person’s salvation.
·
“Let
this mind be in you which was also in Christ
Jesus…” Philippians 2:5
o
Do you anguish over others (people in general)?
§
ILLUS: Chris George before her death requesting the Gospel to be
preached at her funeral.
§
Why do we
not? Probably because we are not as much like
Jesus as we think.
§
Probably
because we do not spend much time with Him and do not think about spiritual
things much at all.
o
Do you anguish over those closet
to you (family, friends)?
§
Paul grieved
over his fellow people (Jews).
§
If we were
like him, then believing husbands would anguish over unsaved wives; believing
wives would anguish over unsaved husbands; believing parents would anguish over
unsaved children; believing children would anguish over unsaved parents;
believing friends would anguish over unsaved friends.
o
Do you anguish over those who are your enemies?
§
Paul anguished
over those who hated him and thought that he was a traitor.
§
God loved us
while we were His enemy (Romans 5:10).
§
We are to love
most those who treat us the worst.
§
Jesus
said, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.” Luke 6:27
o
Do you anguish over those who are great sinners?
§
The Jews had
rejected Jesus, yet Paul anguished over them.
§
If you don’t
grieve over great sinners, is it because you do not really consider yourself to
be one of them?
o
Do you anguish over those who have great privileges?
§
Paul is
getting ready remind us that the Jews possessed great privileges.
§
What spirit do
you have towards those who are more privileged than you?
§
They need the
gospel as well.
·
Assessing our
anguish for lost souls has great significance.
II.
THE SOBERING ANALYSIS OF ADVANTAGES
(Romans 9:4-5)
·
After
expressing his deep concern for his fellow Jews, he then explains several
advantages that they possess.
·
8
Advantages for the Jews:
o
The adoption as sons. God chose
o
The divine glory. The visible symbol of the
presence of God (i.e. cloud, pillar of fire, dark cloud, an intense light)
o
The covenants. Abraham, Moses, David
o
The receiving of the law. Moral,
Civil, Ceremonial
o
The temple worship. The
extensive set of regulations for religious rituals at the tabernacle and the
temple in
o
The promises. The many OT promises of
redemption to be fulfilled by the Messiah.
o
The patriarchs. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses,
David
o
The human ancestry of Christ.
·
However, Paul knew that these advantages had become DISADVANTAGES to the
Jews and they were still spiritually lost—they had wasted their privileges.
·
He describes
how HE views these “advantages” now…
·
“I once had confidence in the flesh too. If anyone else thinks
he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised the eighth
day; of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of
Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, persecuting the church; as
to the righteousness that is in the law, blameless. But everything
that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More
than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing
value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
Philippians 3:4-8
·
Many people
today have evaluate their ADVANTAGES in the wrong way…
o
Since I have
Christian parents
o
Had a
Christian education
o
Been a regular
attender and member
o
Give money to
the church
o
Been baptized
·
There must be
an acknowledgement that you are GUILTY before a holy God. But I haven’t been bad!
·
“For whoever keeps the entire law, yet fails in one point, is guilty of breaking it
all.” James 2:10
·
ILLUS: Suppose an officer pulls you over for running
a red light. You say, “I ran a red
light, but you have no right to give me a ticket because I have stopped at all
the other stop lights and I have obeyed the speed limit.” The officer will tell you, “It doesn’t
matter. You’ve broken the law.”
·
No amount of
obedience can make up for one act of disobedience.
·
ILLUS: A woman was asked one day what it felt like to be saved, and she
replied, “It feels as though I am standing in Jesus’ shoes and He is
standing in mine.”
·
Our analysis
of our so-called “advantages” can be very sobering.
CONCLUSION:
·
Obviously, God
knew exactly what He was doing with the nation of
·
God’s plan has
ALWAYS been to rescue men, women, boys, and girls from their “spiritual
cancer.”
·
Paul’s passion
was “the rescue mission!” Is that our
passion? “Evangelism
has little effect if the evangelist has little love for the lost.”
·
What’s keeping
you from feeling anguish for those who are unsaved?
·
What fleshly
entanglement do you need to be freed from in order to have the heart of God
toward the unsaved?
·
“Friends Don’t Let Friends Die Without Jesus”—What are you doing
about it?