Romans: Toes on Target-Point Your Faith the Right Direction

How's everybody doing today? Everybody doing good? All right. Coffees,

thank you, Jim. Hey, before we get going, I just want to share

a little bit about last Sunday night. We had our VAN night.

That is our volunteer appreciation night. We got to honor and

just celebrate everyone who serves here at Refuge. And it was

a great night. Lots of fun. There's only one real problem with doing a

night for everybody who serves at Refuge, and that there is

a lot of you who serve. And sometimes when you put a date on the

calendar for an event where there's a lot of people, unfortunately, there's just some people

who can't make it for a variety of reasons. And so if you serve

on a team here at Refuge and you couldn't make it to Van Night,

I just want you to know we are so, so,

so grateful for you, more than you could ever know.

In 2021, we felt the call, knew that God called us

to plant Refuge Church. And all of 2021 was really— it was primarily

3 things that we did that year. It was fundraising.

That's like nobody's— not why you start a church, but it does take money

to do it. So all that year fundraising, inviting people to join the team,

and prayer. And really the prayer is just praying

for God to take care of his church's needs.

And he is so faithful in doing that. And here's where

I sit right now. There is something so special about walking in answered prayers.

Because if you serve here at Refuge, I want you to know that you are

an answered prayer. And words can't quite accurately explain

just how much we appreciate you. And so if you couldn't join us on Sunday

night, you missed the meal, you missed some of the games, right? It was a

good— we had a good time. But I want to make sure you heard that

message, that you know you are an answered prayer. And we are so,

so appreciative of each and every one of you. So, all right,

before we get into the Word, let's get our hearts ready for what God has

for us this morning. Would you put your arms out with your palms up?

Would you close your eyes? Just a posture of

surrender. Take a deep breath.

And remember, God is just as near as

the air you're breathing.

Let's pray. God, today would you guide us closer to you?

Help our minds put away the frustrations of the past week.

Put away the distractions of the coming week.

We want to fully focus on you. We come empty with

nothing to offer but surrender. Fill us up as only

you can. Holy Spirit, move in here today with power. We believe that

in advance. We ask all these things in Jesus' name.

And all God's people said, amen. Amen.

Hey, I am always, like most parents,

I'm always looking for ways to help my children. Always looking

for ways to help them grow. And sometimes it's really not,

I think you guys have filmed this, sometimes it's not about information,

it's about motivation. And that's true for most

of us, right? Like, usually we know what we're supposed to do,

but we aren't inspired. Inspired to actually do it,

right? Who knows what they're supposed to eat to

be fit and healthy? Who actually eats that way? You know,

we need some motivation to really get going. I guess, the too long, don't wanna

read it all, what I'm trying to say here is that, long story short,

I'm currently bribing my children to

put in a little extra work before the basketball season starts in a couple months.

I made a deal with my boys. I wrote up a contract. It's very official.

I put it on a Post-it note. It should be there, right? It's a Post-it

note. It's got the spots there. And long

story short, if they do whatever they said they were going to do, then they

get X, OK? And one of my boys, his goal is to make 200

shots. So I pick him up Tuesdays after school.

We go to the community center over here in Mustang. He's got to make

200 shots for 12 weeks in a row to get his His deal. And I'm

helping him get going, and here's the deal, he is so motivated to make these

shots. He is motivated in making all the shots, 'cause we've

properly incentivized, right? That's what you call bribery, is that what? Anyways,

hey, we're staying close to the hoop, because I really, we're just working on form,

getting it going. If you get the form, you can grow the distance. And one

of the recurring themes that I'm kinda having to coach him on is just working

on his feet, 'cause like, he just kinda wants to like just, However he catches

the ball, just shoot it. And sometimes his feet aren't pointed towards

the basket. They're pointed away from the basket. That makes kind of your whole body

out of position. Got to have toes on target. Toes on target. Follow through.

It's not that you can't make it happen when your toes are over here.

It just makes it a lot harder versus being in a straight line with the

hoop. And so here's the deal. We've got the motivation and the enthusiasm there.

He wants his prize.

That's not the issue. But he's kind of pointed in the wrong direction.

He's pointed in the wrong direction. Church,

it doesn't matter how excited or motivated you are if

you are pointed in the wrong direction. In Romans,

we're going to be looking at Romans 10 and 11 today. In Romans, Paul is

talking to both the Jewish and Gentile believers in Rome. And here in

Romans 10, he starts off by saying that many of his fellow Jews, they are

pointed in the wrong direction. It's not that they have

hard hearts. It's not that they're stubborn. But they're just looking in

the wrong direction. It reminds me of a quote I've heard several

pastors say, but it's, your direction, not your intention,

is going to determine your destination. So if you've got the right intention,

but you're heading in the wrong direction, you're never going to reach your destination.

So just really quick, if you had a goal to reach the South Pole,

right? And then you start walking west, it really doesn't

matter what your intentions are. You're never going to reach your destination because

your direction is the wrong way. That's in essence

what Paul is trying to tell his fellow believers here in Romans 10. Look at

10, verse 1. It says, dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and

my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved.

Paul's got a burden for his people, his fellow Jews. He wants them to

be saved. Verse 2,

I know what enthusiasm they have for God,

but it is misdirected

zeal. For they don't understand God's way of making people

right with himself. Refusing to accept God's way, they cling to their own way

instead of getting right with God by trying to keep the law, for which

Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given.

As a result, All who believe in him are made right

with God. Just to throw it back a little bit from last week

in Romans 9. Now, last week in Romans 9, he said, hey, I can see

that there are people and they are stumbling over this rock in Jerusalem. That rock

in Jerusalem is Jesus, and you are tumbling over him because

you are looking at the wrong thing. They are looking

at— their direction is towards the law instead of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And here's the deal, salvation is all about Jesus. It's all about what he has

done for us. So don't go in the wrong direction.

It's not about following the law. It's not about rules and regulations. It's about making

Jesus the Lord of your life. And Paul

is making sure that he's going to end that saying with the purpose of the

law has been accomplished through Christ. He's not trying to just throw

away— think about these Jewish communities, these Jewish believers. They've been

following the law, these regulations for families, for centuries.

He's like, hey, I'm not throwing that away. Jesus has fulfilled its purpose.

And so instead of us having to earn and strive right standing with God through

rule keeping, all who believe in Jesus are made right

with God. All who believe in him

are made right with God. That's what he's telling us here. I wonder how often

we get that wrong in our lives.

We think about our relationship with God like it depends

on us. Like we have to do the right thing.

We have to be perfect. We have to perform. But in all

those, we have to be perfect, we have to perform, it's starting with us.

We are the starting point. And Jesus doesn't

want us to focus on our shortcomings, but rather

he wants us to focus on his gift of salvation. He has taken

care of everything we need.

Believe in him and you will be made right with God. It's so clear.

That's what it said. It's not complicated. It's not clever.

It's simple. Believe in him and you will be made right with

God. Paul goes a little deeper what he's saying here in the next paragraph.

I'm going to start in verse 9. It says, if you openly declare

that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from

the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing

in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly

declaring your faith that you are saved. As the Scriptures tell us,

anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.

Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect: they have the same

Lord, who gives generously to all who call on

him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will

be saved. Everyone. I know last

week there was some language about being chosen and called, and that's

definitely in Scripture, but I also just want to be very clear. There is not

one person, there is not one person who will call on the

name of Jesus and find that Jesus won't save them.

That it is the same for everyone, whether Jew or

Gentile, or somebody who is morally bankrupt, or somebody

who's getting it together. They're keeping up with the Joneses. They're doing all the right

things. It does not matter. We are saved by faith in Christ.

It has nothing to do with our performance.

That's grace. Let's keep going. Verse 14.

But how can they call on him to save him unless they believe

in him? And how can they believe in him if they have not— have never

heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?

And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the

Scriptures say, how beautiful are the feet of the messengers who

bring the good news. If you

are here. And you're a Jesus follower, someone told

you about Jesus. And for a lot of us, I bet it was actually a

lot of people just consistently telling you about Jesus.

Some of you might go say, that person right there, they led me to the

Lord. That person told me about Jesus and I accepted Christ. But somebody told

you the good news of the gospel, that Christ came, he lived, he died,

and then 3 days later he rose again, and then you put your faith in

him. Paul is making a point saying, How could you have put your faith in

him if you have never heard him? Someone had

to tell you about Jesus. You weren't saved so you could sit. You're saved so

you could serve. You weren't saved so you would be silent. You were saved so

that you would share. Who are you sharing your faith with?

And I know sometimes that can feel a little challenging, a little overwhelming. I think

our world's gotten a little confused about how to have a conversation with one another.

Sharing your faith isn't debating your faith.

I'm talking about sharing your faith, not arguing your faith.

This is an aside just a little bit. On Friday night, I had some flag

football games. Love it. I like to compete. I like

coaching. I really do enjoy it. And I saw several coaches

arguing with the refs about calls.

And when I say it like that, that doesn't seem like

Uncommon, right? Like, people arguing with refs. Let me say it another way.

I saw a grown man yelling at mostly teenagers

about a youth sports game. Does that put it in a little perspective?

And in one particular, I literally heard a teenage ref tell

a coach on another team, you complain about everything.

I mean, like, I feel like the kid didn't drive. I feel like his mom

dropped him off. Like, he was young. He's like, you complain about everything. Now,

here's, like, analytically, here's the part that I just can't get my mind around.

Sometimes in sports, this is kind of like, there's like a 50/50 call, you know,

it could go either way, it's really close, it's not

an easy call one way or another, but it's kind of up to the ref's

discretion. Now, I'm not speaking as a referee, alright, I'm speaking as a human,

a person. As a teenager, do you think they're

really going to give a 50/50 call to the person who's been badgering them all

night long? Pretty easy to see in that scenario,

right? Like, you're like, hey, you're a grown man who's been badgering this teenager

for not giving you their calls one way or another. You can see that.

Like, I don't know if in the long run that's going to help you out.

Why, when it comes to our faith, do some people try to argue

others into the faith? You think that— like,

that doesn't work, right? Paul doesn't say argue.

He says, tell others. Tell others about

the good news of Jesus. How beautiful are the feet of

the messengers of good news. We can't control how someone responds

to the good news. We can't control how they react

to the gospel. But we can control whether we are sharing the good news or

not. We're not arguing with them. Just sharing.

Clarity is kindness. I want people to know that I'm all

in on Jesus. I don't want to leave any doubt about where my allegiance

lies. I am a Jesus follower. My hope is in him alone.

Do the people in your world know that your hope is in Jesus? Do they

know that? That's your hope. That's your witness. Do they know your hope

is in Jesus? You need to share your faith with those around you.

You don't need to argue your faith with those around you. To share

your faith with those around you. Because Jesus is for everyone. He is.

But how will they hear unless someone tells them?

Let's keep going. Romans 10:16.

Romans 10:16

But not everyone welcomes the good news. For Isaiah the prophet

said, Lord, who has believed your message?

Believed our message. So faith comes by hearing, that is hearing the good

news about Christ. Notice the honesty here that he's saying.

Some will hear the message and they will not receive

it. I mean, not everyone welcomes the good

news.

That doesn't change the mission. We can't control what somebody else is going to do.

We can control us. Faith comes by hearing, hearing the good news about Jesus.

We have to share our faith regardless of how somebody else responds.

And then there's a story, I'm just going to kind of paraphrase it here,

in Romans 11 about Elijah. 11, verse 3,

it says this. I think it kind of gets to the point of how we

feel sometimes. It says, Lord, you have killed— they have killed your

prophets and torn down your altars. I am the only one left,

and now they're trying to kill me too. A little bit of context

here. Elijah is a prophet of God. Baal is a pagan god

who the people of his day, back in Elijah's day, they were worshiping. And these

Baal worshipers had torn down altars to God, and they were killing the prophets.

And Elijah is here, and he's sitting He's thinking, God, I've been doing your will.

I've been doing your work. And God, I'm the only one left. Have you ever

felt that way? I'm trying to share my faith. I'm trying to do the right

things. And it's just me. You feel all alone.

Verse 4, and do you remember God's reply? Remember Elijah said, I'm the

only one left. They've torn down the altars. They've killed all the other prophets.

I'm the only one. Do you remember God's reply? He said, no, I have 7,000

others who have never bowed down to Baal. It is the

same today, for a few people of Israel have remained faithful because

of God's grace, his undeserved kindness in choosing them.

Elijah's over here, the prophet of God, the man of God who's seen God

do amazing things, and he tells God— Elijah tells God,

I'm the only one, Lord. I'm the only one doing it right.

And then what does God say? There's actually 7,000

people who haven't worshiped Baal. Elijah was discouraged because he was

sharing his faith and it felt like everyone was against it. Like he was trying

to do the right thing, trying to do the thing that God wanted him to

do. I'm the only one doing right. And God tells him, you're not alone.

There's actually 7,000 more who

have never bowed down to Baal. I want you to think about that for just

a moment. Just because you can't see what God is doing

doesn't mean he's not moving. Be faithful

in sharing your faith. You never know what God

might be doing behind the scenes. He talks about in Corinthians

about how Paul talks about how he plants,

Apollos waters, and God provides the growth. You don't know if you're planting

the seed or watering the seed. God brings the harvest, not us.

But if we don't water and we don't plant, how are we going to know

it's going to grow? We need to plant that seed. We need to water it.

You've got to share your faith with others. Let's keep going in Romans 11.

Verse 11 said, did God's people stumble and fall beyond recovery?

Of course not. They were disobedient,

so God made salvation available to the Gentiles, but he wanted his own people

to become jealous and to claim it for themselves. Now, if the Gentiles were enriched

because the people of God turned down God's offer of salvation,

think how much greater a blessing the world will share when

they finally accept it. I am saying this— I'm

saying all this especially for you Gentiles. God has appointed me as an

apostle to the Gentiles. I stress this, for I want somehow to

make the people of Israel jealous of what you Gentiles have,

so I might save some of them.

For since their rejection meant that God offered salvation to the rest of the world,

their acceptance will be even more wonderful.

It will be life for those who are dead. And since Abraham and the other

patriarchs were wholly Their descendants will be holy, just as an entire batch of dough

is holy because the portion given

as an offering is holy. So if the roots of the tree are

holy, the branches will be too. Did you guys catch all that?

There's a lot there. Paul's motive has just— it's

remained incredibly clear throughout all of Romans. It is that people will

be saved. That people put their faith in Jesus.

Jesus. He even says, I'm saying this, that salvation

is for the Jews. He's saying that God has opened it up. It's not just

for the Jews, that salvation is for the Gentiles. And he says that he's saying

salvation is for the Gentiles, I'm an apostle to the Gentiles. He literally says,

I'm saying this so that my Jewish brothers and sisters would get

jealous. And even though that's the wrong reason, they're going to put their

faith in Jesus and they're going to be saved. That's what he says there.

He talks about salvation being rejected by the Jews, so God opened it

up to the Gentiles. And right after that passage there,

he talks about it there, but it makes a little bit more sense. He offers

an illustration. I think it makes it a little bit more tangible, a little more

clear for us. We're going to start in verse 17.

But some of these branches from Abraham's tree, some of the people

of Israel, have been broken off. And you Gentiles,

who were branches from a wild olive tree, have been grafted in.

And so now you have the blessing God promised to Abraham and his children,

sharing in the rich nourishment from the root of God's special

olive tree. But you must not brag about

being grafted in to replace the branches that were broken off. You are just a

branch, not the root. Well, you might say, those branches were broken

off for me. Yes, remember, those branches were broken off

because they didn't believe in Christ. And you

are there because you do believe. So don't think too highly of

yourself, but fear what could happen. For if God

did not spare the original branches, he won't spare you either.

Let's run with this word picture for just a minute there. So there's Abraham's tree,

a patriarch of our faith, right? Abraham's tree, it says, has a holy root.

That is the covenant with God. And some of the branches

have been broken off, and other branches have been grafted into that

tree. So the grafted branches, the ones that are grafted in,

they get the same nourishment from the roots as the branches that

are already there. And so I like this illustration. It reminds me of a family

tree. Reminds me of a family tree. Paul is telling us that God had

this family tree through Abraham, but some of his children

had broken off. They'd gone their own way. They did not want to stay connected

to God. And there were places for people Not born

into this family tree, to be grafted into it.

They weren't born in a Jewish family. They were Gentiles. They were non-Jews. And so

they weren't born into it, but they are grafted into it. And I think sometimes,

like, my kids always go make creations and like, can't you see

what I put together? It's not like they took a branch and just taped it

to it and like, hahaha. Like, it's actually grafted

into it, so it has taken to the tree. It is a part of it.

The roots that are in that tree feed into that branch and they

make it fruitful.

When you put your faith in Jesus, you are grafted into a

new family tree. Church, this is

so good. This is such good news. I don't know about you,

but I know a lot about people and life. My earthly family

tree, a little wild, got a little wild in it.

Anybody else? Your family tree's got a little— I

mean, everybody's got at least one drunkle, right? It's like, I mean, we live in

Oklahoma, but there's some redneck. There's a lot of wild in our earthly

family trees. I just know people to know not one person in here can say,

my family's great. You got some crazy in there.

That's okay. When you put your faith

in Jesus, you are grafted into a new family.

Family tree, his tree.

There's some wild in those branches too.

Like, when we put our faith in Jesus, we're not just perfect. But our

roots are in Jesus.

And so we are declared holy, not because we are holy,

but because Jesus is holy and he's the one who sustains

us. And then Paul ends

this illustration about a tree by saying we cannot brag.

We cannot boast about being grafted into that tree to

replace the broken branches. We can't be like, oh, well, that was broke off so

that I could be here. He says, no. They were broken

off because they did not believe in Jesus. Don't think too highly of

yourself. 1 Corinthians. This is Paul as well talking to the church in Corinth.

31. It says, if you want to boast, boast only in the Lord. Only about

the Lord. Paul is

making it just incredibly clear. Salvation is

through Christ alone. It's only through him. Salvation is

through faith alone. Salvation is through grace alone. That we have nothing

to boast about except for what God has done for

us.

He grafted us in. It's his root that sustains us. He's taken care

of everything. We've got nothing to boast about.

Verse 22, notice how God

is both kind and severe. He is severe toward those

who disobeyed, but kind to you if you continue to

trust in his kindness. But if you stop trusting, you will also

be cut off. And if the people of Israel turn from their unbelief, they will

be grafted in again. For God has the power to graft

them back into the tree. You by nature were a branch cut from a

wild olive tree. So if God was willing to do something contrary to nature by

grafting you into his cultivated tree, he will be far more eager to

graft the original branches back into the tree

where they belong. That first line in verse 22, God is both

kind and sincere.

Severe, brother. He is kind and severe.

That shows perfectly what we believe as Jesus

followers. God is serious about sin. That there are things

in our world that should, that should not be, that justice should be

served. At the same time, God knew that justice,

that if he served justice like it deserves, that would

mean our demise. Lies. That's why he sent Jesus.

And on the cross, Jesus took the punishment for the sins of the world so

that all who believe in him would have eternal

life. That's how far God is willing to go to save souls.

He sent his own Son to die on the cross.

He is severe. He's serious

about sin, but he is kind. He took care of everything we needed.

Verse 25 says, I want you to understand this mystery.

Understand this mystery. That's kind of an oxymoron. So that

you will not feel proud about yourselves.

There is a lot of illustration. There's a lot of language there

where it's, like, hard to understand what's

What is he talking about exactly? When it comes to our salvation,

our faith in Jesus, we should have zero pride in

ourselves. It should all be in Jesus.

It's all about Him. We got no

work to stand on. My son,

my eldest, spoke in CLEP 57. Last week.

And he was asking for a little help. And I gave him a few pointers.

Honestly, too many, all right? Should have just let him do it, learn. Experience is

the best teacher. But one of the pointers I

gave him was like, hey, just whatever you do, make Jesus the hero.

When you're done speaking, the goal isn't, man, you're a good speaker. The goal should

be, man, what a great God we have. It should be about him.

That's true for all of us, whether we're speaking on a stage or sitting in

a chair. If you're a Jesus follower, your pride and joy should not be me.

It should not be self. Look at what I've done. Look at what I've done.

It should be him.

Sometimes as we age, maybe get a little more accomplishments,

it's easy to think, man, look at what I've done.

It's really helpful. Right framing and the

right reframing to say, not look at what I've done, man, look at how good

God is. Look at what God has

done. Because church, without him, we've got nothing.

That's why there's no boasting in self. It's only in Jesus.

He is the hero of our story.

He is.

So to close out chapter 11, Paul kind of gives us dose of what,

what we need. There's a lot about grafting in,

breaking off, a whole batch being holy. If a portion is offered as

an offering, there's a lot of nitty-gritty. A lot of things that can be overwhelming

or confusing. But Paul ends with some truth that I think just helps

us navigate all of that.

Verse 33. How great

are God's riches and wisdom and knowledge.

How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions

and his ways. For who can know the Lord's thoughts? Who knows

enough to give advice to him? Who has given him so much that

he needs to pay it back? For everything comes

from him and exists by his power and is intended for

his glory. All glory to Him forever.

Amen. We could never

understand God's thoughts.

We don't give God advice, although some of us might try to nudge Him in

the right direction sometimes. Maybe you feel that. Now,

we haven't given Him more than He's given us. He isn't

in debt to anyone.

Everything is from Him and everything exists

by his power and is intended for his glory.

Church, Jesus loves you.

He loves you. He loves you so much he gave up his life so you

could be with him.

Live for him. Live for someone

bigger than yourself. Live for God. You don't

have to understand all the details of how this works and how that

works. Grafted in, broken off. I don't understand all

that, but I do know this. When it comes to salvation, I got nothing to

boast in in myself. But I've got everything to boast in

when it comes to him. He has got it.

So as Jesus followers, let's not walk around ever full of ourselves.

Let's walk around sharing people,

sharing with others. What we boast in is sharing Jesus,

sharing our faith with him, because it's not about us.

Everything was made for him and through him and for his glory.

Let's live lives that show that.

Let's pray. God, I thank you for just how good

you are to us. God, I thank you for how you've redeemed us, how you've

saved us from our sin, how you've made everything all work together for good.

God, that even in trying times we can trust you. Because God, if you could

take the cross and make something good come out of that, you could take whatever

mess is in our life and make something good come out of that. Help us

to not grow weary in doing good, God, but to trust you.

Help us have a bold witness to share with those around us the

faith we have in you. To not argue people into the faith, but God,

just to humbly share who you are. Because you

are so good. Help us to be a bright light in a

dark world. And we can only do that through you.

We ask all these things in Jesus' name, amen. Hey, church, let's stand

and worship together.