Sermon Central
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Studies In Romans
Contributed by Glenn Pease on Apr 2, 2021 (message contributor)
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1. The Call Is For All
Contributed on Apr 2, 2021
We are all called to be saints, and that just means that we are called to be all we can be for the kingdom of God. We are to be willing to expose ourselves to the Word of God and be growing in the knowledge of God and His will.
Dr. Paul Brand was called by God to become an expert in treating the deformed hands of lepers. This Christian doctor has done more for restoring the hands of lepers then anyone in history. It all began in 1947 in a leprosy sanitarium not far from Madras, India. He was being shown around ...read more
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2. Voluntary Slavery
Contributed on Apr 2, 2021
Paul was happy to be a slave to his Master, the Lord Jesus Christ. The first thing he says in this letter to identify himself is that he is a servant of Jesus Christ. The word for servant is doulos, which is the word for slaves all through the New Testament.
In the early days of Israel if a man got into debt and could not repay he was not sent to prison, but was allowed to become the slave of his creditor. But it was not to be a permanent situation. When the 7th year came he would be liberated and be free to be his own master again, and begin to ...read more
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3. God's Human Nature
Contributed on Apr 2, 2021
The full Gospel is Christmas and Easter, and that Jesus was fully man and fully God. He was the God-Man. If you take either one out of the church year you have destroyed it, and if you take either of the natures of Jesus out of him you have destroyed the Gospel and the Jesus of the New Testament.
Superman has always been popular as a comic book character, and I can remember racing across the snow in a blizzard to trade comic books with a friend in order to get some new adventures of this heaven-like hero of humanity. In our day now the movies of superman have made millions because they ...read more
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4. The Gospel Of God's Promise
Contributed on Apr 2, 2021
You cannot have faith without a promise. Faith has to have some ground to stand on, and that ground is the promise of God. Standing on the promises of God is the theme song of the saints of all time.
Paul Robeson was a famous American Negro singer back in the 30's and 40's. It was announced in London that his great singer would broadcast a concert from Russia where he was then living. The people of London filled the large concert hall to standing room only waiting to hear this ...read more
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5. Called To Obedience
Contributed on Apr 2, 2021
If you study all of the heroes of the faith, you discover that the virtue they all had in common was the virtue of obedience. They were different in many ways, but they were all obedient to what they knew was the will of God. Obedience was the key virtue in the Bible and still is today.
Colonel Wilbur Rogers was ordered to let loose an artillery barrage in a World War I battle. He was right there on the battlefield, and he could see what the commander could not see. If he fired as ordered he would shell 10,000 American infantry just ahead of him. He refused to obey an order that ...read more
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6. Established By Encouragement
Contributed on Apr 2, 2021
There are disappointments in serving Jesus, that is why Paul needed the encouragement of others, and that is why we all do. The only way any Christian can be obedient over the long hall, and not get weary in well doing, is to be encouraged by other believers.
One of the greatest heroes in Minnesota history was James Root of White Bear. He was the engineer on the No. 4 Limited the day it pulled out of Duluth heading for St. Paul on Sept. 1, 1894. Before that day ended he saved the lives of nearly 400 people. Unknown to him and his passengers they were ...read more
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7. The Duty Of Being In Debt
Contributed on Apr 2, 2021
We saw in a previous message that we have an obligation to be an encourager of all in the body of Christ, and now we see that we have an obligation to be an enlightener of all who are outside of the body of Christ. We are debtors to all people, and we owe everybody something.
In 1901 Andrew Carnegie sold his Pennsylvania steel mill to J. P. Morgan for 420 million dollars, and thereby became the richest man in the world. That fortune was made by the sacrifice of thousands of common laborers. He under paid them ruthlessly, and he forced them to work 12 hours a day 7 ...read more
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8. Shipping Out Shame
Contributed on Apr 2, 2021
The paradox is that the only way we can get back to Paul's position of not being ashamed of the Gospel is to add to our lives shame for all that is not the Gospel. We need to be embarrassed by all of the false gospels of our day.
It is on the highest interest level to hear of people's most embarrassing moments. Jane Wyman tells of hers. She was preparing for very important guests and she put a note on the guest towels that she had so carefully selected. The note read, "If you use these I will murder you." ...read more
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9. An Act Of Obedience
Contributed on Apr 2, 2021
Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven." I cannot imagine any child who loves Jesus, and who desires to be baptized in obedience to Him, being to young.
Baptism and the Lord's Supper are two of the simplest things we do as Christians. But the fact is, these two simple acts of obedience to Christ have created a great deal of controversy in the Christian world. Every aspect of baptism is a major issue on which Christians differ. THE TIMING OF ...read more
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10. Witness With Water
Contributed on Apr 2, 2021
Baptism is to be a witness not only to the world, but a perpetual witness to your self in time of temptation. You are to look back, as Paul makes the Roman Christians look back, and remember what you gave witness to in the water of baptism.
A visitor to a drought stricken area was talking to some of the citizens about their no rain situation. As they were complaining about the difficulties it brought to them he sought to comfort them with the it-could-be-worse philosophy. He said, "If you think it is bad here, you should ...read more
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11. The Only Way Out
Contributed on Apr 2, 2021
It is hopeless for man, that is, but God has a solution. That huge boulder of guilt that keeps you pinned to the floor of sin can be dissolved in the blood of Christ. You can't do anything about sin, but Jesus can. He can forgive it because he paid for it.
Floyd Collins was a professional cave hunter. He found the famous Crystal Cave in Kentucky in 1917. It is a popular tourist cave now, but back them it was too far off the road to get people to come to it. Floyd's dream was to find a bigger and better cave, even more beautiful than the ...read more
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12. Liberty In The Lord
Contributed on Apr 3, 2021
Life is never abundant without liberty. Jesus called Lazarus back into life, but He also commanded that they unbind him from his grave clothes that he might have liberty in life, for life without liberty would have been a burden and not a blessing.
The Civil War was a complex and complicated war. Lambdin P. Milligan was one of the men who got caught up in the complexities of it, and changed the course of legal history in the United States. Milligan was a lawyer active in local politics in Indiana. The war had been on three years and was ...read more
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13. The Indwelling Spirit
Contributed on Apr 3, 2021
Paul says, "If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, He does not belong to Christ." We must possess the Spirit to be possessed by Christ. He must be ours if we are His. Mutual possessing and mutual indwelling is what salvation is all about.
Indwelling has a variety of meanings. It can mean that matter indwells matter as a kernel or fruit within a shell. A yoke indwells the white and both dwell within the shell. It can refer to a situation where one substance is intermixed with another, as with salt and water, or medicine within your ...read more
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14. Blessed Assurance
Contributed on Apr 3, 2021
Men fear that they will have nothing to show for having lived, but Paul says the Christian can be assured of an eternal inheritance. We will be co-heirs with Christ of all the infinite riches of God.
William Stidger tells this fascinating true story out of history: It was the final battle in the war between the Tartars and the Russians as they faced each other across the Oka River in 1462. For several days they were engaged in bitter fighting. Time after time the Tartar hordes tried to drive ...read more
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15. Absolutely Persuaded
Contributed on Apr 3, 2021
Paul's claim is not that all is good, but that God is great, and He will see that nothing hinders His chosen ones from reaching the highest good, which is the redemption of His soul and its transformation into the image of Christ.
The 8th chapter of Romans is a spiritual palace of comfort and challenge built for the children of God. Nothing could be more optimistic than the words we find here that all works for good, and that if God is before us who can be against us. God has given His Son who intercedes of us, and nothing ...read more
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16. The Hardest Chapter In The Bible
Contributed on Apr 3, 2021
Finding sermons on this chapter is like trying to find children who eat no candy on Halloween. They are rare. It is filled with too many puzzles and mysteries. It is one of those sections of Scripture that people hope will go away if they ignore it,
At the Southern tip of England there is a well-known spot called Land's End. Fredrick Harris in his book Spires Of The Spirit says there is a house there on the edge of the cliff with a sign, which reads, "The last house and the first house in England." It is both at the same time. ...read more
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17. Anti Anti-Semitism
Contributed on Apr 3, 2021
To be anti-Semitic is to be anti-Christ, and so those who would be truly Christ like must be anti anti-Semitic. Paul goes on in verse 4 to list all the blessings and advantages that God has given to the Jews.
A professor of math once said that if his life depended upon solving a problem in 15 minutes he would spend 10 minutes trying to understand the problem. Understanding is so essential if any problem is going to be brought to a satisfactory solution. Misunderstanding of a problem, or of a puzzling ...read more
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18. Jews And Christians
Contributed on Apr 3, 2021
The Savior of all men was a Jew, and this alone exalts the name of Jew to the highest degree. No other race can boast of a greater honor. In the flesh Jesus was a Jew, but in contrast Paul says that in the Spirit Jesus was God, who is over all blessed forever.
David Lefkowitz in explaining why he is a Jew tells the story of Nathan the Wise. A Sulton had just heard a Christian and a Mohammedan give their testimony as to the excellencies of their respected beliefs. It was Nathan's turn to tell why he was a Jew. Instead, he asked the ...read more
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19. God Has Not Failed
Contributed on Apr 3, 2021
God has not failed, nor has His Word been unfulfilled, for God's process of selection has narrowed down His elect to those of like faith with Abraham. All who had this faith among the Jews were the remnant, and they were the true Israel of God.
A story told among Jews in Yeman, Afghanistan, Iraq and Russia concerns two beggars who use to wonder in the streets collecting alms. They use to pass the king's palace, and he always gave them charity. One of the beggars always praised the king for his goodness and generosity, while the ...read more
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20. How To Know God"s Will
Contributed on Apr 3, 2021
God's will falls into these three categories: The commanded, the permitted, and the forbidden. Because of the fall and man's sin, there are now many more prohibitions, but God's will still falls into these three categories.
There was a day when it was not considered out of order to challenge a preacher from the congregation, even in the middle of his sermon. In that day there was a preacher who spoke in favor of shoeing horses, and a mule skinner stood up and took issue by saying, "If God almighty had thought ...read more
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21. The Christian Mind
Contributed on Apr 3, 2021
We need to be constantly asking ourselves how our thinking on any issue is uniquely Christian. We need to ask, can a good pagan without Christ, and without revelation think the same as I do? If so, what does Christianity have to say on the issue that is of any unique value?
The first fly said to the second fly, "Human beings are funny aren't they?" "Why do you say that," responded the second fly?" "Well," said the first, "they spend a pile of money building a beautiful ceiling, and then always walk on the floor." From ...read more
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22. How High Can We Go?
Contributed on Apr 3, 2021
Paul is a master of the balanced life, and that is why we see both the negatives and the positives so often in his writings. Be not conformed, but be transformed he says in verse 2, and now in verse 3 he gives us another negative and positive to keep us steady as we climb.
An officer of the American Flying Corps told of his experience during World War II. He went out over the ocean alone, and he saw a storm coming rapidly toward him. It was blacker than midnight. He looked down to see if he could go beneath it, but the ocean was already boiling with fury. His only ...read more
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23. Doing Your Own Thing
Contributed on Apr 3, 2021
Paul makes it clear to the Romans that they are to avoid both extremes of self-exaltation and self-devaluation. They are to think with sober judgment and just be honest about themselves.
Doctor A. J. Cronin, the famous physician and author, had a very critical professor when he was in medical school. He told Cronin that he might make a general practitioner, but he was hopeless as a surgeon, and Cronin believed him. Completing his medical training, he went to a remote village in ...read more
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24. Unity In Diversity
Contributed on Apr 3, 2021
The largest room in the world is the room for improvement. This is where we are all at. That is why Paul warns us not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought. You can only be a growing Christian if you are aware of the fact that you have a long way to go.
Back in the 1600's William Lantan was the captain of a ship headed for Barbados. A thousand miles off the coast his vessel sprang a leak, and he had the crew take refuge in their longboat. They had a plentiful supply of bread, but little water. After 18 days of drifting they were down to a ...read more
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25. The Gift Of Teaching
Contributed on Apr 3, 2021
Paul is urging those with the gift of teaching to us it, but he is not saying that those who do not have the gift should not be teaching. Many Christians teach because their is no one else to do it. They may not be the best teachers, but they may be the best in their situation.
Ray Ashford, the Canadian preacher and author, tells of his good friend who invested all his money in a grocery business in a large city in Canada. It was a thriving business he was told, but soon it was in trouble. He contracted scarlet fever and while he was in the hospital the ...read more
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26. The Gift Of Exhortation
Contributed on Apr 3, 2021
Every Christian needs to be exposed to exhortation. The word covers a lot of territory. It includes comfort, consolation, counsel, and such words as entreat, beg, implore, and persuade. It covers about anything you can think of that motivates people to act, or to change their behavior.
Several years ago I went to hear J. Allen Peterson one of the nation's most dynamic leaders in ministering to families. He told this true but tragic story. One of the finest couples laboring in the field of marriage enrichment, who had written 5 books that were very helpful, and who had ...read more
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27. Control Is The Goal
Contributed on Apr 3, 2021
The goal of the Christian is to so gain control of his emotions that all of them in their vast variety might become valuable in making him what God wants him to be. Control is the goal.
John Powell, whose books have now sold over 11 million, begins his book The Christian Vision with the request that we run a short home made movie on the screen of our minds. Imagine that you have come home on a dark night and to your horror you see a long snake on your front lawn. Your heart ...read more
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28. The Reversal Of Revenge
Contributed on Apr 3, 2021
Paul's message is that the Christian can shift the balance of power to the side of righteousness by leaving vengeance to God and concentrating on doing good. Never is doing good more needed than when you feel like revenge.
The Revolutionary War was complicated by the fact that it was often also a Civil War. Families were on both sides of the conflict. William, for example became the governor of New Jersey because of the influence of his famous father. The shocking thing was that William wanted to be loyal to the ...read more
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29. Christians In Conflict
Contributed on Apr 3, 2021
Paul knew that strive and quarreling was one of Satan's effective weapons against the church, and, therefore, he did all he could to prevent it. In his letters he is constantly urging Christians to avoid strife. He is seeking always to help them settle their disputes.
Dr. Biederwolf tells a true story about two Christian women that illustrates how Christians can be foolishly divided through controversy. These two women were both active in the church. They planned socials together, and shopped together. Finally, they even planned a trip to Europe together. When ...read more
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30. Strong And Weak Christians
Contributed on Apr 3, 2021
A Christian must be one who is concerned, not just about the truth in a conflict, but about the person he disagrees with, for if he is right about the truth but wrong in his attitude toward his opponent, he is still missing the boat and is out of God's will.
A man wondering in the woods was caught in a bad storm. It was very dark, and the only light he had was from the flashes of lightening which were followed by deafening thunder. He fell to his knees and prayed, "Lord, if it will be all right with you, please give me more light and ...read more