The Disease // Pastor Nick

Before I go any further,

I'd love to pray.

So let's pray.

Lord, thank you for the privilege and opportunity to come together and

worship, dear Lord,

to worship and celebrate you,

what you're doing in our lives.

Dear Lord,

I just pray that as we continue to worship,

dear Lord,

that you would just continue go before me and what you have me to say.

And dear Lord,

that you would just open hearts and ears and minds to what we just sang,

dear Lord,

that you are a firm foundation,

that you gave us the gift of grace and righteousness and the only reason

we get to stand before you is because you loved us enough to give us

Jesus to pay for it all.

And I hope we're just reminded of the power that we stand in believing in

that. And dear Lord,

I pray that if there's anybody that doesn't know that,

that they would hear it and believe it and confess it and receive it.

I look forward to what you're going to do and I love you,

Jesus name,

Amen.

We've been in the Book of Romans since the beginning of the year.

Does anybody remember?

If you're wondering where Pastor Bobby is,

he's in Bergal today.

Continue to be praying for that congregation and our involvement in it.

Like I said,

we've been in Book of Romans.

We're. We're still in chapter one.

Last week we talked.

Bobby had talked about,

you know,

Romans 16 and 17 is what he preached on.

That is kind of the thesis,

one of the kind of purpose statements of Paul writing the letter.

It is the cure for what Paul is fixing to go into talking about,

which is kind of the diagnosis and the disease.

Bobby asked a couple questions last week.

When you go to talk to people,

a lot of times,

if you're a Christian and you feel bold and confident enough,

you'll ask people,

do they have faith and do we take that a step further and what do you

have faith in?

And from faith to faith is kind of this idea of Romans that and to.

Just like it says in 16 and 17,

it is through faith that a righteous person has life from start to finish

by faith.

And as we're walking that out,

Paul in the beginning of Romans,

I'm eager to preach and proclaim,

he introduces himself as a slave of Christ.

He doesn't introduce himself as,

look at all these things I've accomplished.

Look at all this prestige,

look at all this status,

look at all this wealth.

He introduces himself as a lowly servant.

He even says,

and Bobby had brought it up last week in Philippians,

all those things you could count it all as waste,

garbage, a bunch of bull.

It's worth nothing.

What are you proud of?

Was another question he asked.

A lot of times what you're proud of is what you talk about,

right? Talk about your kids,

talk about your job,

talk about your sports team,

especially if they're winning.

But do you talk about the Lord that way?

And that's where I believe that boldness and confidence comes from,

is when you are reminded who God is and who you are or who you get to be

by receiving,

believing, accepting what God has to offer you.

Well, Paul gives us kind of the cure in 1617,

and now he's about to explain why we need a cure.

So I had asked the question,

how many of you know you got a disease?

Anybody else?

Not a fit.

And I'm not talking about a fit.

Maybe y'all got physical diseases,

but you got a spiritual disease.

You get the cure before you get the diagnosis.

And this is kind of the diagnosis of the disease.

And next week we're kind of going to go into,

these are some symptoms you might have if you have that disease.

And guess what Paul says.

I'll just read Romans,

Romans 1:18

chapter 1,

verse 18 says,

for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and

unrighteousness of men,

all.

Guess what all means?

Everybody. Everyone.

The ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness

suppress the truth.

Guess who's in the all category?

Me and you.

Everybody, right?

Who's ungodly,

who's unrighteous without the blood bought grace gift of God.

Jesus.

That's me and you.

You got a disease,

I have a disease.

The problem is,

do you acknowledge you have a disease and that is killing you?

Or maybe you don't acknowledge that you have a disease and that's the

problem. Or maybe when I read that first sentence for the wrath of God.

Why does God have wrath?

Nobody likes to talk about that,

does he?

God would not be God.

God would not be a just judge if there was no penalty for sin.

It would be like saying.

It would be like saying,

let's say I raped and killed your daughter and go to court.

And the judge says,

you know what,

Nick? Just let that one go.

Don't worry about it.

You know,

we'll.

We'll deal with that later.

Would that be justice?

Would that be the penalty?

No. So it isn't that.

If God just excused all your sins,

he wouldn't be God,

would he?

The great thing is that he sent his son Jesus,

he didn't excuse our sin.

He sent Jesus to pay for our sin.

So it's like God being the just judge that he is,

Jesus steps in front of us and says,

I will take that penalty that doesn't do away with the wrath of God,

that doesn't do away with that.

There needs to be justice for wrong,

for ungodliness,

for unrighteousness.

It means that Jesus took it for us.

So we're born with sin.

Maybe you don't acknowledge that.

Maybe you think,

you know,

I'm pretty good,

but have you ever had to teach a baby to sin?

I got a two year old and I'm about to have another one.

I got a 10 year old and 7 year old too.

But watching them all grow up,

that's one of the reasons children are blessing.

You ever had to teach a kid to stop sharing?

You ever had to go to them and say,

hey, stop sharing,

stop giving your stuff away,

stop being so nice.

Y'all ever had to teach y'all kids that?

No, you have to teach them to share because you,

they just have this inherent nature,

this collateral damage from the fall from Adam and Eve,

that what?

Mine, mine,

mine, mine,

mine, mine.

Right?

Like I said,

the other half,

maybe the other half of you don't acknowledge that you have a disease.

Maybe some of you acknowledge that you do have a disease.

And your problem is you compare your disease to somebody else's disease

and say,

at least it ain't.

I ain't as infected as they are.

Talked about righteousness last week,

16, 17.

It is through faith that a righteous person has life.

Righteousness isn't your right activity.

It is your right standing with God because of Jesus.

Jesus stepped in front of you and took what you deserved and paid for it.

So I don't know what side you're on.

Either you think you're not good enough and you hide,

or you think you can be good enough if you do enough.

Religion, right?

That's religion.

I went to three services today.

I worked the parking lot.

I went to Bible study,

I went to worship.

I wrote a letter to my compassion kid.

I signed up for a meal train.

I'm doing pretty good.

At least my intellectual infection isn't as bad as somebody else's.

Or maybe you think you're not good enough.

I'm still a little hungover from last night.

I don't want anybody to know the things I'm doing.

I'm going to hide.

I know I need to change.

I know I want something different.

I know this don't satisfy me,

but I'm scared to tell anybody.

You don't acknowledge that you have something going on with you.

You know,

you can go to hell,

be separated from God forever,

sitting in that chair right there,

as good as you can anywhere else.

The good news is the Gospel,

just like God's all ungodliness and all unrighteousness of men.

Guess what?

The gospel,

like he says in verse 16:17,

that's why it's the cure.

The gospel is for everyone.

It's for the religious and it's for the rebellious.

Joby Martin,

who I quote a lot,

who's probably one of my favorite pastors,

like I've said before,

because he is a redneck from Dillon,

South Carolina,

and I'm a fellow redneck from Keener,

North Carolina.

So he speaks my language and opens the word of God up to me in a way that

helps me remember.

But he was on a podcast and he said,

you know how you can tell somebody knows the gospel is when they're in

trouble. Do they say,

I'm in trouble,

don't tell dad.

Or they say,

I'm in trouble,

go get dad.

When we get into the symptoms next week,

a lot of times us as Christians like to use Romans chapter one for

atheists or gays.

This is why you don't do that.

And you missed the whole part about haughtiness and deceitfulness and

lies and maliciousness and suppressing the truth.

Another thing Jubie says that I remembered that I like is the Bible's not

binoculars to look through at someone else to see how they're doing as

much as it is a mirror to reflect back to you,

to remind yourself how you're doing and that you need help.

Write those two things down.

Don't qualify or compare sin.

And the Bible is a mirror,

not binoculars.

Last half of verse 18 says,

who by their unrighteousness,

suppress the truth.

That's the ESV version.

The NLT version says,

sorry, wicked people who push away the truth from themselves.

Ephesians 5:6 says it this way.

Ephesians 5:6

In another letter Paul wrote,

don't be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins,

for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey.

That's another way of saying what I just said.

You try to compare.

You try to say,

well, at least mine,

I don't look as bad as that.

I ain't gray and yellow and got stuff oozing out of me.

So, you know,

you suppress the truth.

You push it away.

I like the way the NLT Says that because you keep God at arm's distance,

you don't let him come all the way in you.

Lord, stay right here.

There's a difference in believing that God is who he is and believing in

God. There's a difference in believing.

I'm sure you've heard Bobby,

if you've been here any length of time or a lot of pastors use this.

There's a difference in believing that if I stand on this table,

it'll hold me up.

Or if I get on top of the table and show you that I believe in this table

because it holds me up.

Verse 19 says,

for what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it

to them plain as day.

You ever heard anybody say that?

It's kind of sounds like southern saying,

give you an example.

By the looks of this table,

it's as plain as day that they didn't read the directions.

We bumped into Randy's ex girlfriend at the store today and it's as plain

as day.

They're still in love with each other.

Is Chrissy pregnant?

Well, this is plain as day.

You can clearly see something is different,

right? What Paul's trying to say,

it's plain as day.

How does everybody know right from wrong?

Where do morals values,

where they come from?

You ever thought about that?

Every culture has some sort of moral code,

some sort of standard.

There might be cultures that are a little different,

but everybody,

they have,

there's some level of expectation.

Where does that come from?

Pete Holmes,

who's a stand up comedian.

I love being able to study and prepare a message and see what God

highlights and gives you throughout the week.

And throughout the week I just stumbled across this guy,

Pete Holmes and he's doing this stand up bit about God is nothing.

And he says in thinking about what I just said about where does right and

wrong come from.

Some people think God created a universe and some people think nothing

created a universe.

Which is the funniest guess and the nothing people make fun of the God

people and they say God doesn't exist.

Okay, maybe.

But you know what definitely doesn't exist?

Nothing. That's the defining characteristic of nothing is that it doesn't

exist. So it has to come from somewhere.

Verse 20 For his invisible attributes,

namely his eternal power,

divine nature have clearly been perceived ever since the creation of the

world in things that have been made.

So they are without excuse.

Like I said,

like I learned the Bible is not binoculars.

It's not for you to be able to weaponize this first and say you're

without excuse.

Yes, God has clearly made Himself known.

But how do you go about telling people that with love,

with respect,

with a commonality of I have a disease just like you.

And even though our infections might be different,

1617 the cure right.

God made us right in his sight because he gave us his only son who paid

it all.

And that's the only way you're going to get out of this.

That's the only way you're going to get over this.

It's the only way you're going to get rid of this infection.

Psalm 19:1 2 says,

Psalms 19:1

the heavens proclaim the glory of God.

The skies displays craftsmanship.

Day after day they continue to speak.

Night after night they make them known.

I love when you look at creation,

when you look at the sky,

when you look at the stars,

when you look at plants,

animals, when you look at people,

they reveal who God is and that he is much,

much bigger than we are.

Job, chapter 38.

Job 38 · chapter mention

Write that down.

If you need to be reminded how small you are and how big God is,

read job,

Job 38 · chapter mention

chapter 38.

I'm not going to read the whole chapter,

but in thinking about nothing and God,

and where does right and wrong come from?

And we are without excuse,

he responds to Job after a series of going back and forth with his

friends and going back and forth with God and Job trying to figure out,

God, why have you done all these things to me?

Lord, answered Job from the whirlwind.

And this is just the first.

Let's say nine verses.

Who is that that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words?

Brace yourself,

because I have some questions for you and you must answer them.

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?

Tell me,

if you know so much,

how do you know its dimensions were determined?

And who did the survey?

What supports its foundations?

Who laid its cornerstone as the morning stars sang together and all the

angels shouted for joy?

Who defined the boundaries of the sea as it burst from its womb?

And as I closed its clouds it in thick darkness,

for I locked it behind barred gates limiting its shores.

How does God make all that water out there stop right there?

Have you ever thought about that?

If you look around,

it's as plain as day.

And to know that that God that can make the water stop right there,

all that water,

I don't even know how many gallons or volume.

I ain't even smart enough to figure that out.

That God loves you and in spite of yourself gave up his son,

not only so you can be saved from the penalty of sin but that you are

being saved from the power of sin.

If you have believed and that's happening right now,

you can have the power of sin leave you.

If what?

Faith to faith,

start to finish,

moment to moment.

If you just have faith.

So are we as believers reminding believers,

unbelievers and fellow brothers and sisters in Christ of that very thing?

Or do we say,

well, the Bible says this and you ain't doing it.

So thinking about hiding right from wrong kids,

they instinctively hide when they do wrong.

Do you have to teach them that?

I can give you two examples.

Happening in my house now,

like I said,

I got a two year old.

There's a picture of my phone of Olivia in the snack cabinet with the

door closed.

At my mom's house,

she's got a snack cabinet and it happens to be the bottom cabinet because

she's Gigi and she constantly reminds me,

it's your job to train your kids.

It's my job to spoil your kids.

You know,

there's all kinds of snacks in there.

But one day,

couldn't find Olivia.

And this was when,

I don't know,

she's two or three walking,

I hear this rustling in the snack cabinet.

And she's hiding because she's in there eating peanut butter out in the

jar with her hand.

But she knows she ain't supposed to do it that way,

so she gets in there and hides.

Henry about to start potty training when he's got a poop.

Guess what he does?

He goes in the corner and hides.

And you'll ask him and you can tell something's going on.

Henry, are you pooping?

No, dad,

no. He's lying.

Did I have to teach him that God has clearly made himself known?

Jesus says,

ask, seek,

knock, and the door will be open.

Ask somebody.

Christians, help.

Remind me,

Paul, in the first half of the letter,

like we've been learning,

what does he say?

He says,

I'm hoping to get to you so I can encourage you and you can encourage me

so that I can be encouraged by your faith.

And I can encourage you with my faith so that we can be reminded that

we're being released from the power of sin and that it's an ongoing thing.

Ask if you don't understand.

Do we give people the freedom and the comfort?

And are we humble enough to allow people to ask those questions that

aren't always easy to answer?

Or are we just in here trying to be good enough by showing our stuff,

which, as Paul said,

are just filthy rags.

Knock and the door will be open.

Keep on I'm not asking you to understand everything.

I'm not asking you to know everything.

I'm just asking you to have faith.

The cure to this disease.

We all got a disease.

Like I said,

the cure to this.

Romans 16:17.

Romans 16:17

For I'm not ashamed of the gospel.

It is the power of God for salvation to everyone.

Power. Dunamis is a Greek word,

which is where we get our word.

Dynamite.

You ever felt the power of something exploding?

I'm sure some of you marines have.

I'm not a Marine,

but I'm a redneck.

And I had a buddy,

two examples.

I worked for a farmer named Mike Wilson.

And every Fourth of July after we get done working,

we'd set off fireworks.

And because he had irrigation ponds and land and swamps,

he always had dynamite to blow up beaver dams.

But he also would take a half a stick of that dynamite,

and at the very end,

we would blow something up.

And you would put it under a.

Some appliance that somebody threw away and you'd blow it up.

Well, a lot of times I had no idea.

You know when you have felt something blow up and you felt the force and

the wind and impact and your ears ring and you not be able to hear and

you feel it,

it is an experience.

And that's what I'm reminded of,

the power of God.

God has the power to save you.

You can never do.

You can never be too bad.

You can never be too good.

And guess what?

It's for everyone who believes.

For in it,

the righteousness of God is revealed from faith.

For faith as it is written,

the righteous shall live by faith.

If you have believed in this gospel,

like I said,

you've been saved from the penalty of sin.

But don't stop right there,

right now.

If you're living by faith,

you're being saved from the power of sin.

Guess what?

We all are.

So encourage each other to go back to the source,

to go back to the only person that can cure your disease,

instead of pointing out whose disease is worse than whose.

And guess what?

One day we're going to be saved from the presence of sin.

No more sickness,

no more death.

No more crying,

no more tears,

no more of any of that.

That's what heaven's going to be like.

Jesus is going to be there.

And like Toby says,

they got so much gold,

they're going to use it as pavement.

Do you know you're in trouble?

That you have a disease that is killing you?

Dad, I'm in trouble.

I need your help.

Like the Father with the mute Son,

Lord, I believe.

Help me with my unbelief.

As Christians,

do we turn to God?

Do we turn to other.

Hey, you're in trouble.

Let's go get dad.

I'm going to pray.

The band's going to come up and I want you to ask yourself some of those

questions. I'm going to be right down here and I dare you step out in

faith to lay something down.

Maybe you're suffering,

maybe you need healing.

Maybe your marriage is in trouble.

Maybe you need saving.

Stop hiding,

run to your father for help.

And if I can help you,

I'd love to tell you.

If you don't know what I'm talking about,

I'd love to explain it to you.

I'd love to pray for you.

I'd love to have the opportunity to remind you the power that our creator

has and that it can save you,

it can sustain you.

It can break,

like we sang,

it can break those chains,

it can break those bonds,

those things that are holding you back from experiencing an abundant life

freedom.

So I'm going to pray the band's going to come up and you just respond

however God leads you to.

Let's pray.

God, thank you for reminding me that I'm infected with the fallenness of

this world and my own selfishness and pride and sinfulness in that it is

when I run to you that I stop hiding,

that I confess that I let go of these things and cast my cares to you,

that I am released from the power of it.

Thank you for Paul and this letter and his boldness to remind us that we

all are infected,

dear Lord,

and that you provided the way.

Help us just to step out in faith,

dear Lord,

not just simply not knowing and going anyway and trusting that you're

going to meet us there.

And I pray that you'll do just that in these next few moments.

Love you.

Amen.