Beyond the Roman Road Series pt 1 | Kevin Wallace Ministries | @rttnchurch

0:01 I want you to take your Bible and go with me please to the book of Romans the 3 chapter for a few moments this morning. I want to start a series that I am calling beyond the Roman road. Beyond the Roman road. How many have ever heard of the Roman road? Anybody ever heard of that? That was very popular back in the 60s and 70s and became an evangelism tool that uh evangelists used to lead sinners to Jesus. And um and that's one of the concerns I have about this deep and rich book of Romans is that if we're not careful, it'll turn into a formula. But Romans is not supposed to be some formula. The book of Romans is the greatest treaty that Paul ever wrote concerning the theology of grace. And I

0:48 want us to look at it for the next couple of weeks. And today is more of a foundational uh message and sermon that will lay a foundation for where we're going. And to be quite honest with you, the first part of this is uh is heavy. Not heavy in the sense you don't need it or don't want it. It's just heavy in the sense of content because you start out with the guilt of all mankind. And we don't like to talk about guilt, but how many know we were all guilty. The person acting like they're not guilty next to you is lying. They were guilty. We were all guilty. As the Bible is going to be very clear to point out, we were all guilty. But I don't want to talk so much today or only today about guilt. I want to talk about grace

1:34 because although we were guilty, God graced our lives with his goodness. And that's really where I want to end today. So, we're going to we're going to just follow the the the the pattern of Paul and walk right through this text. And I pray that it will bless you today. Romans chapter [Music] 3 verse number nine. When you have it, say word. What then? Are we the Jews better than they the Gentiles? Paul says, not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. Verse 10. Keep going. As it is written, there is none righteous. No, not one. Just keep going. Whoever, whoever's

2:20 back, just keep it rolling. There is none who understands. There is none who seeks after God. They all have turned aside. They have together become unprofitable. There is none who does good. Know not one. Their throat is an How many know Paul is really trying to drive a point home here? I mean, this just keeps getting a little bit deeper and deeper. Their throat is an open tomb. With their tongues, they have practiced deceit. The poison of asps is under their lips whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed innocent blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of

3:06 God before their eyes. Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become what? What? Guilty before God. Keep going. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. For by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Verse 22, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference. For all have sinned. For all have sinned. For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Being justified freely by his grace through

3:51 the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Whom God has set forth as a propitiation by his blood through faith to demonstrate his righteousness. Because in his forbearance, God had passed over the sins that were previously committed. Look at verse 26. To demonstrate at the present time, this present time, his righteousness, that he might be made, that he might be just and the justifier of the one whose faith is in Jesus. Look at this verse. Where is boasting then? Who boasts? Who has the power to say, "Look at me. Look what I did." Paul answers the question, where is boasting then? It is excluded. No room for it in the church. There's no room for boasting as if one is holier than the other. Paul just told us all of us are jacked up.

4:36 So boasting is excluded by what law? By what? Law of works. No, but by the law of faith. Next verse, last one. Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. Now, I want you to get one more scripture for me. verse four of the fourth chapter. And I want you to catch this cuz I believe the Lord showed me something this morning in prayer. Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace, but as a debt. So today we want to talk about guilty but graced. And I don't know about you, I'm thankful today Jesus dropped the charges.

5:27 I'm going to try that again for all the Presbyterian people in the room. Jesus dropped the [Music] [Applause] charges. He dropped the charges. Jesus dropped the charges. No, I'm done. I won't come back from that one. We'll get lost in that hymn and I'll be gone all day. Let's pray. Come on. Father, help me to teach and preach the Bible today. I need you every hour. Lord, I need you, Lord, and the house needs you this morning. Thank you for the sweet aroma of your presence that's in this room and for the anointing that breaks every yoke. Help us today in Jesus' name to see mountains moved, to see chains broken, and to see the lost come home and find salvation through Jesus Christ in Jesus' name. And the family said,

6:13 "Amen." Come on, you can be seated. The band is hoping I sing that song. I see y'all all over there right now. Case dismissed. Case dismissed. Saved by grace. Okay, we got to go here. How many love the book of Romans? Amen. Amen. The book of Romans has been some by some has been called a difficult book, but it is the most significant thing in my opinion and estimation. And I can't say it's more important or more significant because how many know all scripture is equally inspired by God. But regarding our understanding of salvation and the power of God's grace in our life, I'm not certain that Paul ever pinned more

7:00 significant words than he wrote when he wrote the book of Romans. And it's interesting the the writer of Romans, the author of Romans was a man who was formerly known as Saul of Tarsus. And Saul was a Jewish rabbi who belonged to a group of Jewish leaders called the Pharisees. And he was passionate for and he faithfully followed the Torah of Moses and the traditions of Israel. Jesus and his followers were seen as a threat to Paul or to Saul and to Judaism and to Saul's way of life. But one way on one day on his way to Damascus, this man Saul encounters this resurrected Jesus on this road to Damascus. And when that

7:45 happens, everything changes for Saul. He had a radical encounter with Christ and his life would never be the same again. This is a man who was on his way to destroy more Christian lives. He had already attended the stoning of Steven. He was responsible for the incarceration of many Christian people. He was throwing Christians in jail left and right. He was even attending the the the the the murder of certain Christian leaders. And yet this man on his way to persecute even more people in the church has an encounter with the Christ who he actually hates. And when he sees Jesus, his life is never the same again. And after his conversion and his transformation, Jesus then commissions

8:30 this man Saul to become an apostle to the world of non-Jewish people who we would call the Gentiles. And with his new life, he began to be called by a new name. So instead of Saul of Tarsus, after he meets Jesus, his name is changed. It is now Paul the Apostle. And he travels around the ancient Roman Empire preaching the good news of Jesus Christ or the gospel. and he begins to tell people about this risen king named Jesus. Everywhere Paul preaches this gospel, people's lives were transformed radically. In every city where the gospel had been preached, he would gather the new believers into faith communities. And we call these churches. It was there in the church that the Christians would learn to live out their

9:15 faith and walk together as the people of God. It's why I don't understand people who hate on the church. You cannot love Jesus and hate on the church because the church is where we discover about love. We discover about deeper things in the scriptures. We discover this whole thing of walking together in faith. And I'll remind you, the church is never referred to in singular form. The church is always referred to as we and they. How many know we need each other? Occasionally Paul would have to write letters to these churches that he had built and those that Christ had developed and began to birth and he had to help them grow in their faith. They had to settle disputes. Sometimes he wrote letters to answer questions. And the book of Romans is one of the letters

10:00 that Paul is assigned to write to a church. And we know from the book of Acts that the church of Rome had existed for some time and that was made up. Catch this. This is very important. The church at Rome, the audience to whom Paul is writing here is made up of both Jewish and non-Jewish believers. They had actually followed Christ. Some were Gentiles and had literally left horrible, sinful, perverted lives and had been rescued by the grace of God. And then sitting next to that former sinner in church, that gentile sinner, was a former Jewish sinner who had been raised in kosher eating and had been raised in the Jew Judaism of their of their training and their childhood. And

10:47 they had come out of Judaism depending on the sacrificial system of the Old Testament. They had heard the gospel. They had left their Old Testament way of serving God. And now they're walking in the grace of Jesus Christ. And so literally sitting in the same church in Rome was a Jewish, a former Jew and a former Gentile. And now they're all serving Jesus together. How many know that's amazing? So the problem, however, is that at one point in history, the Roman Emperor Claudius expelled all the Jews from Rome and then five years later, all of those Jewish people came back to Rome, including the Jesusfollowing Jewish people. And so the Jewish following Jew uh the Jesus following Jewish people who

11:34 came back to Rome went back to their Roman church and now their Roman church is filled with all sorts of Gentiles who did not get raised the same way the Jewish people did. And there is a conflict in the church when people sit beside one another and are raised in different ways. We worship the same Jesus but we think things about each other because we came from two different walks of life. Oh God. And now there is conflict in this church. There is conflict among the believers. There is tension there because if you look at this very carefully, the church had become very non-Jewish. They had departed from some of the Jewish customs and practices and

12:21 it created lots of tension in the Roman church. And so by Paul's day and in his assignment, the Roman church was divided between people who disagreed about how to follow Jesus, whether we we we were to celebrate the Sabbath or we were to be kosher or we were to be circumcised. And there's all these conflicts between believers. Everybody loves Jesus, but nobody can agree on how we're supposed to serve him and please him. And so division sets in the Roman church. And Paul writes this letter to the church at Rome because it is full of tension on how do we get saved and how do we walk with God and who's right and who's wrong. And Paul, a Jew of

13:07 Jews, decides he's going to write a thesis on salvation and grace so that everyone in the church doesn't have to wonder who's right and who's wrong. Now I want to say something to us today. One of my favorite quotes from uh the early church, Father Augustine, he said this. On the essentials there is unity. On the nonessentials there is liberty. In everything there is charity. Catch it again. On the essentials we have unity. On the non-essential things there is liberty. But in everything there is love or charity.

13:52 What does that mean? That means get over yourself. That you and I all came from different ways of life, were raised in different ways, were taught different things, heard different things through different lenses, saw life through different lenses. And it is impossible for you and I to come to a church with thousands of members and expect that we're always going to agree on every little thing theologically. And we've got to stop this division in the body of Christ over things that are not essential. And we listen to me family. It has destroyed us more than it has led to our blessing. The essentials are this. Jesus came. He

14:38 was born of a virgin. He lived a sinless life. He walked a sinless life. He was crucified at the hands of men. And three days later, he rose from the dead. And soon and very soon, the King of glory is going to return. I'm not arguing with you over if you wear makeup or what name we baptized you in. I'm not arguing over you over your favorite version of the Bible. I'm not arguing with you over what kind of car you drive. I'm not arguing with you over denominationalism. I'm not arguing with you over anything. I'm here to lift up a name that's above every other name. And we need to get back to Jesus in the

15:23 church. There's a reason why the church is so full I'm going to preach. I thought I'd talk for a minute, but I feel like preaching now. There's a reason the church is so full of division. It is because we've not preached him. And he is the one thing we all have in common. And we got to get back to Jesus and let Jesus be the center of the church. Okay. So he writes this letter to accomplish a couple of things. Number one, he wants them to understand that Christ is not an addition to their works. It's Christ alone.

16:10 He also has a more practical purpose in writing to the church at Rome. And it is this. He wants the Roman church to become the launching pad or the staging ground for the mission that he has to go even further west all the way to Spain. In other words, if the gospel can work at Rome, it can work anywhere in the world. Rome is the center of hell's headquarters in Paul's day. If the gospel can turn Rome upside down, it can turn any city upside down. And so he he does not he does not run the risk or take the chance of the church just settling its differences. He actually uses the differences and the division of Rome to

16:57 write what is what I believe the greatest theological work regarding grace and salvation given in the entire New Testament. And I want to say this to you. I really believe with all of my heart that leaders in the church, I hope there are some watching me today, we need to go back to teaching Romans. I I want to stand before you and tell you I'm not taught from the book of Romans enough. I don't know how you can watch it walk in Christian victory in the day and hour that we live without knowing the truth and revelation that is tucked in this great treaty of grace. We need it. And you know why we don't preach it? I'm going to say I'm talking to the preachers right now. We don't preach it cuz it don't shout. I am sick and tired of shouting and don't know why we're shouting and have no victory on

17:44 Monday morning. get our tail kicked by sin Monday through Saturday only to come to church and get in our shout and our feelood and go back out and live in some cycle of defeat. The devil is a liar. Jesus did not come to put a band-aid on your problem on Sunday. He came to break the back of sin and to set the captive free. We do not need a little religious band-aid. We need an absolute transformation. I wasn't decent. I was hellbound and on my way and I was about to bust it wide open. But when nothing else could help, love lifted me. And I want to tell you today, Jesus still works. The blood still saves. Grace is still amazing. And Jesus is still the

18:29 sweetest name I know. Somebody say, "Amen." Now, I I'm going to attempt to work a little bit of a miracle here and preach three chapters in one Sunday. We'll see. I feel absolutely no pressure. But if you look at Romans 1, 2, and 3, essentially, let me summarize it for you like this. Rom Romans 1 2 and 3 is Paul acting as a district attorney walking into the courtroom and proving the guilt of all of humanity of its sin. And in the first chap in the first

19:17 and second chapter, it it's like the most alarming stuff you've ever read in your life. I mean, it's deep, y'all. And it's the kind of aggressive evidence. It's it's like when a lawyer pulls out the smoking gun to incriminate and prove the guilt of everyone that is on the stand and everyone who's been charged. And Paul says that the the the absolute depravity of humanity this is what I want you to see. I wish Paul came out talking about how wonderful you and I are. But if you read Romans 1 and2, he doesn't mince words at all. He comes out talking about they were not thankful. They were not

20:03 holy. They broke covenants. They broke promises. Men slept with men. Women slept with you. I'm telling you, it's there. You say, "I don't want you to talk about that cuz I like our church. I love that you like our church, but I love you too much to let you be steamrolled by a lying culture that wants you and I to think sin is normal. Sin is not normal. Sin is not your homie. Sin is not something we should excuse. It is actually a tyrant that wants to destroy your life and kill your tomorrow. You and I do not need sin management. We don't even need coping skills. We need to see it conquered because if we don't let Jesus conquer our sin, our sin will conquer us. It's

20:52 not your friend. It is your enemy. So treat it so. And when I was reading Romans chapter 2, I'm like, who starts out a sermon like this? I mean, right out of the gate, we're one ch we're we're one chapter in. And he starts talking about in accordance with the hardness of your impenitent heart, you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Who does that? Who's like you are so filthy you're going to hell and you're so rebellious that there's really no hope for you outside of a miracle of God's grace. Do you understand? Paul did not he didn't do the warm

21:38 fuzzy ooey gooey thing. You know, he wasn't like, you know, you're so awesome. He's like, you're screwed up really bad. Why did he do that? He did that because a it's true. And number two, he did that and when I say that, you feel offended. And I get it because you say, "I'm not screwed up anymore." I'm not talking about post Jesus. I'm talking about those who do not know Christ as Lord. The whole world, rich and poor, highrise and hut, red, yellow, black and white, Republican and Democrat, and independent and libertarian. I don't care what

22:24 language you speak. I don't care how long you've been living. It doesn't really matter. If you are not born again, you are living in sin. And I want you to catch this. The second chapter of Romans is all about him showing how rebellious the Gentiles were. And and I'm I'm I'm condensing this, but I want you to go read it because we are reading the book of Romans this month. The second chapter. Again, it it's just I'm be honest with you. I would never start out a sermon like this, Pastor Melvin. I wouldn't be like, "Let me tell you how horrible of a person you are." If I wanted you to come back to church, I'd try to be like, "You're so

23:09 awesome." Paul's not like that. Why? Because as the prosecutor of heaven, he wants them to know if you weren't all that bad, Jesus really didn't have to die. And the fact that heaven gave up its most precious prize and that that precious prize came in the fullness of time and died on a cross and was crucified and maligned and lied on and betrayed and they spit on him and they beat him and they put a crown of thorns on him and they stabbed him in the side and they beat him on the back. Heaven's most precious prize died like that. And it wasn't just to help some little person who was just a little bit jacked up and really just needed a religious band-aid. Oh no, Jesus had to die like that because we were as sinful as we

23:59 were. And the second chapter of Romans and the first part, the last part of the first chapter, they exchanged the God of truth. They they exchanged the truth of God for a lie. They worshiped and served the creature more than the creator. Men left the natural use of women, burned in their lust for another man. Women left the natural use of a man and burned in themselves for another woman. I know y'all don't like this. This is in your Bible. Absolutely. And when you start preaching this, people like, I you know, it's time to go to lunch. We didn't come for that. That's what's wrong with American church. We came to find permission. I'm walking around here today. I said, "We came to church to find permission,

24:45 and I love you too much to give you a license to do something Jesus had to die to set you free from." It is not a sign of our victory or a stroke of good preaching to stand up and to water down what has been been made very clear from the scripture. And I want to tell you right now, it's not just homosexual sin Paul exposed. It is heterosexual sin. It's not just sexual sin. It's what we do with our parents and how we treat our friends and how we do our taxes and what we do with our money. It is all a revelation of the depravity of fallen humanity. And and you say, "Pastor, I thought we were created in the image of God." And yes, we are. But sin marred the image and sin attempted to destroy

25:32 the original intent of the creator. So, chapter 2 is heavy. in the end of chapter one. If you don't want to be addressed and feel some sort of conviction, you should stay away from Romans 1 and2 because Paul cares absolutely nothing about your feelings or mine. He spares no scripture in making sure as heaven's prosecuting attorney that we know we are all guilty. Then he flips to chapter three and it doesn't get any better because in chapter two he addresses the Gentiles. But remember he's talking to a church where who's in the church? Gentiles and Jews. And so you got Gentiles who are

26:18 sitting there thinking they are superior. And Paul says, "You're all jacked up." And the Jews are going, "You hear that? They're all jacked up." And Paul said, "Yeah, but give me chapter three. Bring me my pen back cuz I'm not through talking to the house. Not only are the Gentiles jacked up, but the Jewish, y'all not going to like me, but the Jewish people are just as messed up as the Gentiles. How so? Because while the Gentiles are steeped in their rebellion, the Jews are stuck in their moral religion. And they think if I keep the law and if I do the kosher thing and if I try to keep the law of Moses, then I'll make myself righteous. And Paul said, "You are just as spiritually bankrupt and lost as the rebellious Gentile."

27:09 I want to make very clear something to you this morning. And I know some of you have seen that, you know, we've been in DC and I went for a um a a meeting several weeks ago and was asked to come and to walk to Capitol Hill. And I talked to our senator and I talked to congressmen and we talked to leaders to show our solidarity with Israel. And I believe in that. But I don't want anyone to mistake that you think that I believe just because that they are the Jewish nation that they don't need Jesus because the book of Romans is clear. There is only one way to salvation. It is not in keeping the law of Moses. And I need an amen or an oh me or whatever. I don't even care. But it is not in keeping the law of Moses. And you may have Jewish blood running through your veins, but you are not entitled to in

27:55 eternal life simply because you have Jewish blood. You need Christ and you needed a savior. And Paul takes the entire third chapter of Romans to remind the Jewish people that although you were given the oracle of God and although you were given the word of God and although you were given the Torah, none of that means anything if you don't properly handle the revelation of Jesus. It is all about Jesus. Jesus is the Messiah. I want you to hear me today. It is not in the circumcision of the body. That is not what makes you and I saved. the circumcision of the body. You can circumcise a man's body, but if he doesn't have a circumcised heart, he will still live under the slavery of sin. It is only Christ and his

28:43 sacrifice. It is I feel like the old fashioned preachers this morning. It is only the blood of Jesus. It is only the sacrificial atonement of Christ that set me free from the sin that I was stuck in. So in chapter two he tells all the Gentiles you have offended God with your sin. And then in first part of chapter 3 he tells the Jewish people in the church your moral relativism and your moral uh attempting to live for God and please God with your lawkeeping. It's garbage. Rubbish. I'm I'm not saying that in a in

29:28 a an attacking way. I'm telling you on your best day, keeping all of the laws, your righteousness is still filthy rags. And when we start talking about works in the book of Romans and grace, if you're not careful, you forget that the the company of the church was both Jewish and Gentile. Paul was never giving a license for laziness and not doing good works. But he was consistently telling people who thought they were saved by their works that your works will never save you. This is why I spend my life trying to get people off a

30:14 treadmill. I mean, I'm not against you running, but if you're going to run, at least get in a race. Like, run for a purpose. How many have ever been to a treadmill at the It's tormenting to to to go to the YMCA and run until you sweat and then you sweat and almost pass out and you've gone nowhere. If I'm going to go through all that, I'm going to take in the scenery. I'm going to enjoy the journey. But there are people who sit in the church who have no joy and yet they're running for Jesus. Glory to God. They're madder than sinners. And you know why they're mad? Cuz religion got them moving, but it ain't taking them anywhere. And

30:59 you've been running and in the same place you were 40 years ago. You got no joy, got no peace. Your house is on fire. Your mind is full of all kinds of malice and pain. You You don't like anybody. Why? Cuz religion will keep you moving trying to please a God who can only be pleased by the sacrifice of his son. And when you put faith in Christ, I'm ahead of myself, but I'm feeling good about it right now. When you put faith in Christ, it is not your performance that attracts God. It is your faith in a man named Jesus. And what Jesus did was perfect. And on days when I'm not perfect, I serve a perfect savior who continues to be my advocate before the father.

31:46 Glory. Now, I want you to go back then to the verses that I read. That was all an introduction. Okay, we're almost done. 39-28. Is there any place in the scriptures where a writer is more indicting than in here? Romans 3:9. I mean, Paul pulls it all out and lays it all on the table and he just starts going off. There's none righteous, know not one. No one who understands, no one who seeks after God. Everyone turned [Music] aside altogether become unprofitable. There's no one who does good. Know not one. Their throat is an open tomb with their I mean, if I'm

32:33 reading this, I am highly offended. if I'm the Roman church. Paul is essentially telling them, no one Jew or Gentile alike has any basis to stand before God and to say, "I am righteous." I hope everyone in this room gets that. You are not superior to your brother or sister sitting next to you. Well, I know more than they do. You might not. You might just think you know more than they do. We're here today to tell you you probably don't know more than they do. And we probably need a great dose of humility to see how jacked up we are so

33:18 that we can more appropriately appreciate the work Jesus has done for us. I'll tell you why. I'll tell you why churches have to beg people to praise the Lord. It's because the people who have to be begged to praise God did not know how screwed up they were before Jesus found them. I love you, but none no one in this room will ever have the privilege of singing in my place or giving God my praise. I will never depend on anybody. I don't care if it lights up my whole row and no one understands why I'm jumping with a bunch of teenagers in the altar. I am not jumping for you. I don't jump for anyone's approval. I don't even look for anybody's approval. I didn't even really come today to be seen. I came today to

34:05 tell the one who died for me. Thank you. Thank you for saving me when I was lost. Thank you for loving me when I was unlovable. I was on my way to hell, but Jesus rescued me. If that doesn't make you want to praise God, I don't even know if you're born again, but let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Let the redeemed of the Lord give God praise. Let the redeemed of the Lord give him the glory. He's I feel the Holy Ghost in this room. I think we ought to do it right here in the middle of a sermon. I think we ought to praise the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. I think we ought to give him glory that when nothing else could help. Love lifted

34:56 me. Slap your neighbor. I know we got to go, but tell somebody near you, I'm only here by the grace of God. I didn't deserve to be here. I can't even explain how I'm still alive. But look what the Lord has done. The next time God reminds you of the pit he brought you out of, don't you ever look over at your neighbor and worry about what they might think. Throw your head back. Throw your hands up. Open up your mouth. And let everything that has

35:44 breath pray. Please be seated. I'm going to finish this. I'm almost done. [Music] [Applause] Glory. [Applause] I'm trying to go on. Glory. Feel him in this room. I said I feel him in this room. Somebody who's free, give him a free kind of praise. [Applause]

36:33 I rebuke dry, crusty religion. Religion didn't save you. Grace saved you. The free gift of God set us free. Hey. Okay. [Applause] [Music] Glory. Praise is in order for the righteous. Praise waiteth on thee. I thank God that he saved me. I thank God that he rescued me. I thank God that he picked me up and turned me around. Glory.

37:20 Glory. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. One more time. Give them a thanks. [Music] The Bible said the dead do not praise the Lord. But I feel like I'm in the room with somebody that's been made alive. And if you got life in you, you ought to give God praise. Glory. [Music] Hey. Okay, let me let me let me fix this. Woo!

38:06 So, [Applause] so, so all of us, all of us, ready for this? We didn't just become sinful. We were born sinful. I I didn't just choose sin. Although I did choose sin. I was created in sin according to Psalm 51. I was shaped in iniquity. I was a messed up man when I came out of my mama's womb. And so that's why the Bible says that in order to enter the kingdom of God, you cannot just feel sorry for

38:53 yourself, but a man must be born again. You say, "Preacher, I was born a homosexual. I was born a liar. I was born a thief." Well, I don't know if I agree with all that, but I do know this, that if you were born that way, you're not going to live that way because a man is going to get born again. And when you really get born, oh, I feel that preaching. When you really get born again, you went under a sinner, but you came up a saint. It is only by the grace of [Music]

39:39 God. So, so I'm trying to finish this here, but this is getting good to me. He says, "We were all sinners." And it doesn't matter if you're a Gentile sinner or a Jewish sinner. We're all guilty. Guilty. You say, "Well, I don't do it that much." A yet another religious a preposterous religious idea that just because you don't do do it much don't mean you didn't do it. Can I tell you what James said? James said if you broke one law, you broke the whole law. What does that matter?

40:24 Because what we try to do is measure the the degrees of our sin. And Christians are notorious for this because what they do is they go pick on people. They go pick on people who struggle with something that they think is worse. So they beat up that LGBTQ community. And what they need to understand is they're part of a lying community. Oh, y'all not going to like me. They pick on the sex, the sexual sins, but they don't pick on the stealing and the cussing. And they don't pick up on the anger and the racism and the malice. I came to blast it all. I came to tell you, every bit of it better get under the blood. Your homosexual sin better

41:11 get under the blood. Your heterosexual sin better get under the blood. Your lying, gossiping tongue better get up under the blood. I'm telling you, this thing is is for all of us. I know this is heavy. I know this is heavy. Oh my god, this is so oldfashioned. I'm getting out of here. I pray the next 12 churches you try preach the truth. I said I pray the next 12 churches you try. All of them preach the truth. I pray all of them step on your toes. I pray everybody tell you like it is cuz I love you too much to tell you a lie. I don't want you to believe a lie and end up in hell on my account. I want

41:58 you to know the truth. Because if you know the truth, the truth will set you free. Somebody say, [Music] "Yeah." Yeah. [Music] So, so what we have what we have in the Roman church, Seth, is what we have in the American church. We have people arguing over who is more lost. Time out. And let me tell you something.

42:43 If you on a sinking ship, it don't matter if you are in concierge or you don't have a window in your room. Oh yeah, I've been in both of those. The first time Deon and I ever went on a cruise, we didn't even have a port hole to look out at the ocean. The last time I went on a cruise, somebody blessed us and we got in concierge. Can I tell you, it don't matter if you don't have a port hole or if you got a butler. If the ship is going down, everybody's sinking. It don't matter what you got. It don't matter how much money in the bank. It don't matter whether you're Jew or Gentile. If the boat is sinking, you need a [Music] savior. And Paul

43:29 says, Paul says everybody's guilty. Right there, verse 19. Can you put it up for me? Charles in charge. Romans 3:19. Romans 3:19. Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty. Romans 3:19, all the world may become guilty before God. Now, let me teach you this and I'm done. When Paul talks to the Jewish believers in the Roman church, he says to them, "This law is like a mirror." Hear me. Nobody ever goes to the mirror to get fixed by the mirror.

44:19 If that were the case, I'd park myself in front of the mirror. But the mirror was never about fixing me. It was about revealing what was messed up in me. And what he's trying to tell my Jewish friends is that you got the Torah to show you how screwed up you were. You didn't get the law to show you how to get victory. Because if you keep running to the mirror trying to get the mirror to fix you, you only stay in a cycle of defeat. The mirror, which is the word, shows me how messed up I am. And it points me to my hopelessness in myself. Not so that I come become full of

45:06 despair, but so that I see myself as I really am. Not living under the guise that I'm all right. The mirror showed me how jacked up I am. But grace came along. I got to go here, but I feel like preaching here. Grace come along to deal with the mess that I saw in the mirror. So God will give you the word. And that's the problem for the Jewish people that were in the church at Rome. They thought because God gave them the Torah that they were super special. And Paul says this, you ought to know more than anyone else how messed up you are cuz God did

45:52 give you the law. But the problem was you thought in keeping the law you could deal with what you saw in the mirror. And the only way to deal with the mess in the mirror is to run to the man Christ Jesus. So for the next few weeks, we're going to talk about the man and we're going to talk about the mirror cuz I'm not looking for the man in the mirror. Oh no. I'm not looking for the man. I'm not looking for the man I found. I know the man in the mirror. I know the man. And this is a messed up man. But instead of trying to fix myself

46:40 in the mirror, I'm going to run to the man, Christ Jesus, to deal with the mess that I found in the man in the mirror. And every time I look in the mirror, I don't see my hope. I see a man who found hope. God, I got to go. But I feel this thing today. When I look into the mirror, I don't see a man who is complete. I found a man who made me complete in him. You will never ever come to a place in your journey where you don't need Jesus. And I'm done with this. I ended with this last little verse cuz in prayer this morning, I felt like the Lord said, "Your assignment won't be finished without this little verse." Verse four,

47:26 Charles in charge put it up. Romans 4:4. Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace, but as a debt. Which means this, if I worked for my righteousness and got it, then what God gave me was a wage that I earned. But that is not what grace is. Grace is not a wage you earn. Grace is a gift you receive. And I feel like in this little three or four sermon series that I'm going to preach, there's some people coming off the treadmill.

48:14 coming off the treadmill because I really do believe people love God, but if they're taught wrong, they live wrong. And there are people sitting in this room and watching me online working for something they already have and do not know that what they want is a gift God gave rather than a wage they earned. Amazing grace, how

49:03 sweet the sound that save the [Music] like me. Oh, I once was lost, but now I'm found. I was

49:52 blind, but now Julie, let me see if you know this one. What key is that? Put it in two keys lower. Amazing grace will always be my song of praise. For it was grace that bought my liberty. I do not know just why he came to love me

50:38 so. But he looked beyond my faults and saw my need. I shall forever lift my eyes to Calary. Woo to view the cross where Jesus died for me. How marvelous was his grace that

51:27 caught my falling [Music] soul. He looked beyond my faults and saw my needs. Grace. Grace. Put those hands up. God's grace. Grace that will pardon and cleanse within. Within. Somebody throw those hands up. Grace. Grace.

52:16 God's grace. Praise that is greater. This is a gift. And if you haven't treated Jesus grace as a gift, but you've treated it as a wage you earned, today is a day to say, "I'm not going to feel that way about it anymore. I'm actually going to worship him for the rest of my days." That when nothing else could help me, his grace and love lifted me.

53:05 [Music] Stand with me all over this room, please. Glory. Glory. Glory. Thank you Lord. Thank you Lord. Hallelujah. love. I was sinking deep in sin. We got to go. But I was far from the peace for

53:51 sure. Very deeply staying within. Seeking to rise no more. Oh, but the master of the sea heard my desparing cry. Listen family. From sin's waters he lifted me. Now safe am I. Somebody say love. If you believe it, throw your hands up and say love lied me. Win nothing win

54:38 love. Anybody glad about it on Sunday morning. God's love. His love lifted me. Everybody win. Come on, sisters, help [Music] us. We got to go. I know we got church tonight, but I feel like talking to some sinner in the room. Souls in danger. Look above. Jesus will surely save. Listen, family. He will save you

55:26 by his love out of the angry waves. Listen, he's the master of the sea. Belows his will oy. He your savior wants to be be saved today. Everybody say if you I said everybody who's saved sing this song love we're [Music] nothing. It feels so good to say.

56:13 [Music] Oh, God's love lifted [Music] me. Now give him a shout of praise. I said, "Give him." Oh, God. I feel our praise in him. What can wash away our sin? Nothing but the blood. We ought to go here. Heads

57:01 bowed. Heads bowed. Eyes closed. And don't forget to get back tonight for end of the school year revival night. You don't want to miss it. God told Pastor Carter to put this together. It's going to be powerful and we'll see you tonight at 6. But before you leave, don't move. Heads bowed, eyes closed. If you're in this room and you need love to rescue and save you, if you need grace, the free gift of God to cleanse you and set you free. I don't know what you messed up in and what you're bound by. I don't know how good life is or how bad life is. I just know this. Jew or Gentile alike, whatever the sin is, whatever the bondage, Jesus came to break every fedter and to set the captive free.

57:48 While your head is bound, your eyes are closed. If you need this message and you need Jesus to save you right where you are, just like you are, we love you and he loves you. You don't have to go get nothing cleaned up, don't have to go home and flush nothing. Just like you are, he'll save you. If you say, "Pastor Kevin, I want love to rescue me today." When I say three, lift your hand. I want to pray with you because Jesus wants to save you more than you want to be saved. One, two, three. Throw that hand up and say, "Pray for me, Bishop. I need Jesus to save me." God bless every one of you. My God, you can all put your hands down. Here's what we do at this house cuz I don't want anybody to feel isolated or left out. I want you to know you're standing by people who needed love. So, I want everyone to do the work of an evangelist right now. I don't care

58:33 if you've known the person on your left and on your right your whole life or if you met them for the first time this morning. I want you to look over at your neighbor on your left and on your right and say, "Do you need someone to go pray with you? Cuz if you do, I'll go to the altar with you." And if you lifted your hand or you should have when they ask you that question, come out your seat. I'm waiting on you right here. I want you to come with me. Come down to this altar. If you lifted your hand or you should have and you want to give your heart to Christ, come on, sweetheart. Come on, son. Come on. Come on, sweetie. Come on. There are people coming. Come on. There are people coming. Come on. Come on. We're all coming. We're all coming. If you lifted your hand, or you should have. Come on. Come on. They're coming down this aisle. They're coming down this aisle. I need some saints to join some angels. And I need you to give God some

59:20 praise. Come on, look at your neighbor one more time. Say, "Do you want somebody to go with you? I'll come with you. I'll come." They're coming. They're still coming. Come on. Come on. We're not through waiting. We'll wait all day. Come on. Thank you, Lord. Grace is moving in this room right now. Grace, I command the enemy to let go of the of the heart of an unbeliever right now. You will not go to the car in the same way you came in this room. Come on. Jesus is saving. Come on, sweetheart. That's right. Come on. Come on. They're coming. I said, I command you freedom now in the name of Jesus. I command your freedom now in the name of Jesus. Come out of darkness. Come on. Come out of darkness. Come on. In the name of the Lord. In the name of the

1:00:05 Lord. If you got to go, we love you. We'll see you tonight. But I'm not leaving till somebody's stuck comes out of what they're stuck in. Come on out right now. Loose them and let them go, Lord. Loose them and let them go, Jesus. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. [Music] Glory. [Music] Glory. Everyone stretch your hands toward this altar. I want you to pray for these precious brothers and sisters like you wanted somebody to pray for you the day you gave your life to Christ. And if you haven't moved yet, we don't come get people. But I tell you, the altar has never closed. You can come right out of your seat and step into salvation today. Pray for them. Come on,

1:00:52 pray for them right now. Pray for them right now like you wish somebody would have prayed for you. Father, thank you for their Thank you for their yes today, Lord. Thank you for their yes today. Thank you for their yes today. Turn it all around. Break every chain. Set the captive free in the mighty name of Jesus.