Title: Stumbling Around
Scripture: Romans 9:30-33
30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;
31 but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.
32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the "stumbling stone."
33 As it is written: "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
One of the things that a lot of people like to laugh at is seeing someone stumble or trip over something. And, because it is so funny, one of the things that people dislike the most is stumbling over something. People will wake up in darkness, yet they won’t turn on a light to help them see. People will walk through their house at night, in almost total darkness, and won’t turn on a light. Many times I’ve walked through the house, telling myself I was only getting a drink of water, and I didn’t need the light. Besides, don’t we know where everything is? We know exactly where that chair is and how far it sticks out. We know exactly where the door is and when we should reach for it. Don’t we?
A lot of times we don’t turn on the light because we want to go right back to sleep, and we think that turning on a light will wake us up. Sometimes, we don’t turn on the light because we actually do think that we can walk through a house cluttered with clothes, chairs, electric cords, tables, refrigerators, doors, flower pots, and other things. And, through all of that while we’re half asleep, too!
We know where the bathroom is, don’t we? We think that we have the way to the kitchen and back to the bedroom all mapped out in our mind, isn’t that right?
But, even though just last night you or I may have stumbled over something by the couch, we still think that we can navigate through the darkness. Our pride tells us we don’t need the light, but a few minutes after we bump into something and break it, we are again telling ourselves, one more time, that we should have used the light.
Again, why don’t people just turn on the light? Because we are unwilling to say that we are not able to do it. We are unwilling to admit we are lost in the darkness, even in our own house! We are self-confident! We have loads of self-assurance. We rely on our own memory and ability to see in the dark and pick our way through the obstacles. What happens? That slipper that was left in the way becomes a stumbling block. That pillow that I was laying on as I watched TV becomes a hazard. The fan that was earlier used to keep me cool, now becomes a monster trying to attack me. The extension cord turns into a snake and coils around my ankle and brings me down, and my spouse up.
Stumbling around can only get us hurt. Stumbling around may even take us in the wrong direction.
Our verses in Romans, chapter nine, have some very interesting light to shed for us that are stumbling around in darkness.
The Righteous
The Religious
The Revelation
The Reassurance
The Righteous
30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;
This is not the first time that Paul mentions righteousness in the epistle to the Romans. As a matter of fact, righteousness appears 32 times in the book of Romans, depending of course on what version you are reading. These verses on righteousness when laid end to end tell us all we need to know about righteousness.
(Romans 1:17) For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."
(Romans 3:22) This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference,
(Romans 4:3) What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."
(Romans 4:5) However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.
(Romans 4:6) David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
(Romans 4:9) Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness.
(Romans 4:11) And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.
(Romans 4:13) It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.
(Romans 4:22-23) This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." 23 The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness--for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.
(Romans 9:30) What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.
(Romans 10:3-10) Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. 5 Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law: "The man who does these things will live by them." 6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: "Do not say in your heart, ’Who will ascend into heaven?’ " (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 "or ’Who will descend into the deep?’ " (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
What do these verses tell us? That in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith and comes straight from God through Jesus Christ, His Son.
The Religious
32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works.
As man continues down the path through history, there is a visible trail of destruction. There is no longer any real trust in one another. There is no longer any quality, any attention to detail, or good workmanship, yet, man still judges one another’s life by accomplishments. We’ve become a race of people that evaluates one another according to our successes and triumphs in a failing and dying world.
It’s inevitable that we’ll always try to build ourselves up in front of other people. As an example, when two people meet for the first time at a conference which is held for some area they may both have in common they end up trying to talk about themselves. There is almost an inevitable path the conversation will take. Let’s look at two people, representing two companies, that happened to meet at a conference that was held to discuss the future of staples and staplers. Their names are Pinkie from Staples, and Rosie from Staplers.
Pinkie: Hi, how are you today? My name is Pinkie, and I represent Staples.
Rosie: I’m fine. My name is Rosie, and I represent Staplers.
Pinkie: What do you think about the conference?
Rosie: There are lot’s of things to see. Lot’s of interesting exhibits.
Pinkie: Yes, there is. How is the staple business.
Rosie: We’re doing rather well, really.
Pinkie: How’s that
Rosie: We’re introducing a new line of staplers. Revolutionary staplers.
Pinkie: That’s nice. Will they use staples?
Rosie: I can’t say right now. We’re still in development.
Pinkie: ((takes out wallet)) Say, want to see pictures of my kids?
Rosie: ((reluctantly)) Sure.
People are naturally inclined to flex their muscles, or toot their own horns, so to speak. The subject that we love to talk about is ourselves. But, how does this all fit into works? Because many believe that just by being good and productive they’ll get into heaven. What does our scripture say about that?
32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works.
The Jews, the chosen people of God, sincerely thought they could go to heaven by simply keeping the law.
Hell is full of people that felt they were going to heaven because they followed the rules. And, today, many people feel the same way. They fell that they will go to heaven by simply following the rules and going to church. But it’s not going to happen. Remember what we read from Romans, chapter 10:
9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
I can’t work my way into heaven, it’s free. That’s why its called GRACE. Grace means God’s unmerited favor.
The Revelation
32 ….
They stumbled over the "stumbling stone."
33 As it is written: "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall,
Did you know that a tiny rock going into a jet engine will cause that engine to go to pieces?
Did you know that in some parts of the United States, there is an animal, called the beaver, that is capable of stopping up a sizable river with logs and sticks?
Did you know that if you put a small coin on a train track that you could possible make the train crash?
There are many things in this world that can be brought down by a tiny object. And, in these verses, Paul tells us the Jews had the simple answer, Jesus, standing in front of them, but they didn’t accept Him. And, it turns out that Jesus became their stumbling stone, their barrier that blocked the way to righteousness. He was a an immovable object put in front of them.
They didn’t accept Him when He was alive and they didn’t accept Him after the resurrection. It all boils down to this, what are you going to do with Jesus?
The Apostle John gives us the perfect testing 1st John 4:
4:1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.
And Paul, himself, tells us in 1st Corinthians 12:
3 Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is real and a blessing to those that accept Him. Yet, for those that don’t, He is a hindrance, an obstacle that is always in their way. He is a stumbling stone and people that don’t want to believe in Him will sometimes go out of their way to say bad things about Him.
I read an article recently concerning religion in public education. The author very candidly stated that religion had its place in the schools of the past, but should be thrown out today. You know, it had its place during those times when science was not as good as it is now. Hmmm, if science is so good, why is the theory of evolution still a theory almost 150 years since Darwin published it?
The Reassurance
33 …and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.
When we are evangelizing or witnessing one on one, we need to remember one thing when people say no to the message we are giving them. They are saying no to Jesus. They are not saying no to you or your techniques, or your church, or you personally, they are saying no to Jesus. When we understand this, witnessing becomes a little easier and we will lose some of the embarrassment we might feel when we believe that we failed.
…and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame. For Him, you will never be put to shame. For things of this earth, or for those temporary things that are around us, we might suffer shame if we allow it. But, for Him, we will never be put to shame.
Do you have that assurance? Do you believe that He is there to help you every step of the way? Remember this:
….and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
Conclusion:
Life is like stumbling around in the darkness when we get up in the middle of the night for a drink of water. We’re too proud to reach over and turn on the light, because we think we know all that we need to know. And, even though we stumble one time, the next time we get up we still won’t turn on the light.
Everyone has the opportunity to reach over and turn on the light, everyone has the opportunity to put their faith in the Son of God and let His light shine in their lives. Everyone has the opportunity to stop their stumbling with a simple confession of faith in the one that went to the cross for the sin of the world.
Won’t you turn on the light?
