Overview of Philippians

A resume has three vital purposes:

1. It gives an overview of our history. What we’ve done and where we did it. 
2.  It defines our objectives. Where our lives are going and how we plan on getting there.
3. It provides our mission statement. A one-sentence summary of what drives us to do what we do.

Have you ever thought about the difference between a trophy and a resume?

Trophies tell what we did. How good we were, not how good we are now. It represents something we once accomplished. With a trophy, we have a record of achievement. We can document that at some moment in time, we were the best at something.  Though I remember being very good at things in the past, apparently, I was never the best because I have no trophies to prove otherwise. I do have a T-shirt that says I’m the Best Papa Ever, but I think that’s limited to the opinion of only 10 children, all of whom share the same last name.

More like the lady with a bumper-sticker that said: World’s Most Average Mom.

A resume tells of our skills and talents, how we’ve accumulated knowledge and abilities. Unless we’ve padded it, our resume should tell an employer what they can expect us to be able to do.

Trophies celebrate a moment of who we were. A resume indicates what we will be in the future.

In Philippians, Paul presents Jesus’ resume. Now, why did the people in Philippi need to know those things? Why do we need to know? Because who Jesus was, is who Jesus is, and who Jesus is, affects who we are.

Phil 2:6-11 Jesus: who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

You hear who Jesus was. Who He became. What was His role. What were the results He accomplished. But you also hear who He is: Jesus Christ is Lord.

1.      Jesus – was His given name, Yesous, the Greek version of the OT name Joshua or Yeshua. It means Jehovah saves or salvation is from Jehovah. When you read His story, you realize Jesus was the embodiment of the expression of that name. He was the means by which God accomplished salvation.

a.     Matt 1:21 Mary will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.

b.     Act 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

c.     Jesus – is the name of the One who paid the price for our sins to make Salvation possible. Jesus was His saving name – Jesus our Savior.

      2.  Christ – was His revealed title. It came from the word in the original Greek, Christos, that
         means Messiah or anointed one. Included within that title is His mission as Deliverer. Christ
         wasn’t His name it was who He was.

a.     1Pet 1:18-21 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 

a.     Matt 16:16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." If you understand this, then you didn’t just figure it out. God revealed it to you.

b.     Christ – is the title of the One who has fulfilled all of God’s purposes and provides the deliverance necessary for a saved life. Christ was the delivering title of Jesus – Jesus our Messiah.

3.     Lord – was His bestowed title. The Greek word kurios means a master who is in the position of supremacy. Lord was the supreme name of God. No one exists higher than God. For Jesus to be Lord, He had to be God. Paul wrote: although He existed in the form of God, He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped – held onto – therefore, to become man, He had to empty Himself of that by which the people would recognize Him as God.

a.     Isa 42:8  "I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another. If Jesus was just given the name Lord, He would have been competing with the Father as God. But since He was God, He had full right to the title Lord as well.

b.     Rev 4:11 Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created." These words were directed to the One on the throne.

c.     Rev 5:12 saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing." These words were about Jesus.

d.     Lord is the title of the One to whom we surrender ourselves for the life promised by that surrender. Lord is the authority title of Jesus – Jesus our Master.

Because He is the Lord, Jesus Christ, how should that affect my life?

Phil 3:8-9 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 

Gain – mercantile term for exchanging goods - one good for another. We receive the benefit of our Savior, Deliver and Master as we exchange our losses for the benefit of what He offers: our emptiness for His fullness, our struggles for His victory, our lostness for His direction, our misguided life for His control. The Christian life is an exchanged life.

How can I do that? By setting the objectives of my life from who He is. Objectives are statements that tell me where my life going and how I plan to get there. It tells what I expect from myself.  Here’s where I start: I will trust in the Lord, Jesus Christ. I will not doubt Him, not fear any outcome of whatever comes against me, neither will I allow my worries to make Him smaller than what I face. I will believe, I will trust, I will rely on Him to be everything I need, and I will relax in His arms, knowing He will accomplish whatever concerns me. Because who He is, is everything I could ever need Him to be. He is not just the Savior of the world, but He is my Savior. He is not just the Deliverer from all separates and oppresses, but He is my Deliverer. He is not just the Lord of all. He is my Lord. Who He is and what He’s done makes me who I am: I am a Child of God. On the wall of my heart is a plaque that says: Cary Smith, Child of God. Established Summer of 1969. That was a great day when all Jesus was became all I needed. But that’s only a memory. A precious moment from the past. But what about today? What am I expecting for this day and tomorrow? Phil 3:12-14 Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

My objective: To press on. I want all Jesus is, to freely do in my life all He wants to do.

Phil 4:6-9 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. 

My objective: To handle life appropriately. I want His thoughts, His words, His interests to fill my mind. I want all Jesus is, to guard my mind and heart, wrapping me securely in His peace.

Phil 4:11-13 Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. 

My objective: To do whatever it takes to honor Him in my life, by relying on what He provides in any and every circumstance. Because of who He is I can do whatever He wants me to do. 

Phil 4:18-19 But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 

My objective: To live a full and meaningful life because He provides everything I need. Through Him I am fully supplied for the abundant life He promised. And if ever I find an additional need, I know He will supply whatever it takes. 

Then there is the mission statement, what drives me to do what my objectives say I will do. 

Phil 1:6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. 

Paul must have been having a great day when he wrote that, full of joy and delighted in his surroundings, filled with sunshine and love. Actually, Paul wrote Philippians from a prison cell. Not the most conducive place to write a letter about the joy of who Jesus is and how that joy can spill over into my life. The more appropriate sounding letter would have been: Woe is me, look at my misery, look at how God has failed me.

But if our confidence is in the One who began that good work in us completing it, there’s no reason to moan and groan about circumstances. We just say: God’s not done yet.

Man went up to the dugout and asked a little boy if he was discouraged because the score was 36 to nothing. The little boy said, “Nah, it’s only the first inning and we haven’t even batted yet.”

If Satan’s running up the score against you, remember: The One who began a good work in you will complete it. Who is that One? The Lord, Jesus Christ. Our Savior, Deliverer, our Master. 

Circumstances don’t change who Jesus is!

Earlier this past century the great violinist, Paderewski was staying at a New York hotel while he played at Carnegie Hall. To keep himself sharp, he’d practice in his room a couple of hours each morning. On the third morning a lady stormed into the manager’s office and said, “Someone is killing cats in the room across from me. The sounds coming out of there are atrocious. You must stop it immediately or I will leave.”

The manager said, "But madam, that’s Paderewski!" The lady nearly fainted. "Paderewski! Oh, that’s different. Of course, he can play. I withdraw my complaint." From then on, the woman kept the door of her room wide open and entertained a party of friends there every morning just to listen to Paderewski practice.

What was the difference? The room? The hotel? The music? No! The only thing that changed was the woman’s attitude. Knowing who was at work changed everything.

We can live rejoicing because: knowing it is our Lord, Jesus Christ who is at work, completing the good work that’s He’s begun in us, changes everything. Remember: who Jesus was, is who He is, and who He is, affects who we are.

·       Is Jesus your Savior?

·       Is Jesus your Deliverer?

·       Is Jesus your Lord?

TAKEAWAYS:

1.      No one wants to submit their lives to someone they consider inferior to them.

2.     We typically believe we’re the best at deciding what’s best for us.

3.     If someone has a different opinion of what that best is, we often rebel and reject their input.

4.     Even when that person is the Lord, Jesus Christ, if we consider what He is doing in our lives isn’t the best, we will fight against Him.

5.     Fighting against our Savior, Deliverer and Master is not the best thing to do.

Overview of Galatians

Does it matter what we believe? I participated in the funeral service for Jan’s half-sister, Cheryl, last weekend. What I expected to be a meaningful service was shallow and anemic.

In 50 years of church work, I’ve been a part of countless funerals and memorial services. God uses services like that to comfort, remind, instruct, even warn. Hopelessness gets replaced with hope. Fear gets replaced with courage. Emptiness gets replaced with love.

Funerals help start the process of closure. Songs speak. Prayers touch and messages turn sad hearts toward a loving Father. I have a sensitivity for what people need to hear at such a tender time as the loss of a loved one. I also have a critical spirit when those things don’t happen. Thus, the service for Cheryl.

Since my part was minor, I only had a couple of minutes to mention a few things of Scripture and something from God’s heart. Her brother-in-law was next and told of her life and love for the Lord and her relationship with Him. Then the main speaker took his turn and the emptiness began.

He was a friend of Cheryl’s husband. But it turned out he was a Unitarian Clergy. Which means he not only had nothing to say but, in my judgment, didn’t even know the God he barely made reference to. He mentioned no Scripture and his only words about Heaven were, “I’ve never been there so I can’t tell you what it’s like.” And the value of Cheryl’s life was reduced to: she was a good human being. In the midst of the bad news of that day, he had no Good News to offer.

Unitarianism believes everybody will go to heaven, no exceptions. How you live, what you believe, how you respond to God makes no matter.

They say that life is their Bible and they let any source that inspires them serve for religious and moral direction. Emerson’s words are as inspiring as things Jesus said. And Jesus’ words no more inspiring that Emerson. Which means they have no authority for truth. Whatever they believe is true, is true for them. There is no standard or deference or reference to what God has said. And the sad thing is they consider themselves Christians, obviously in a very broad sense.

Where’s the hope? Where are the assurances? Where are the promises? Where is a faithful God who accomplishes what concerns us? Where is the comfort for a family whose loved one has gone out into eternity?

So, I ask the question again: Does it matter what we believe? Absolutely.

Paul wrote to the Galatians: Gal 1:6-7 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 

They were being influenced to believe things that contradicted the message of the Good News. What Paul had taught was specific and concise. Then the “explainers” came along.

Explainers are those who have their own opinions of what’s true and to be able to teach that opinion they have to deny what God has said, often by lies or half-truths or through explaining things that need no explanation. They add to or take away from Scripture. When they do, they create a different Gospel. Matt 15:9 teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.

How? By changing the message. Remember the bottom line of the Good News? Here is the way a person can be right with God and live in fellowship with Him. Explainers take that simple message and complicate it by restricting its benefit to only a few or adding additional steps to the process. They create doubt in settled minds and confuse them by substituting their opinion above God’s Word.

Gal 2:16 A man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified. 

Salvation is through what Jesus did, not what man can achieve. Why did Paul need to say this? Because the people were being told something different and they were buying into it.

Gal 3:2-3 This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 

This is what they were being told: the Law was more important than Faith. What you do is more important than what Jesus did. And if you don’t do these things or believe what we tell you to believe you’ll not get in on the benefits of God’s goodness.

To remind them of God’s simplicity, Paul took them back to the prototype of faith. Gal 3:6 Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. 

To the Explainers that wasn’t enough. You needed to do more than just place your life into God’s hands by faith. And since you needed more than God said was enough to enter, you would also need more than God has provided to maintain that life. And only we have insight into what that is.

Col 2:6-10 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; 

The faith Abraham placed in God’s hand is the same faith we give Him. The only difference is we have more of the story so we understand the context of that faith. The faith God responds to is faith in – the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.

Whenever someone refuses what Scripture says, they have to create their own Gospel, even though the Original still works just fine. How do you receive the life God promises? Accept what Jesus did in your behalf on the cross. How do you live the life God promises? By trusting in the work God will do in your life because of what Jesus did on the cross. In other words, God’s plan relies on the completed work of Jesus.

1Cor 2:1-2 And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 

Whenever someone messes with that message they are saying Jesus’ work wasn’t finished and here’s what you must do to complete it. But what did Jesus say? It is finished!

Throughout history, man has always tried to change or challenge that message. It’s too simple. It’s not exciting enough. We can control the people if we add these things to it.

Why can’t they just leave the message alone? Because, people can’t handle the times when God is silent. They have to fill in that gap with their own imaginations. Specifically, when a doctrine leaves out the how part, somebody is going to come up with a suggestion to explain it, even for things that need no explanation.

For example: Scripture teaches that Jesus was both fully God and fully Man. John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. 

Heb 1:3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.

Phil 2:6-7 Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 

Likeness meaning of the same kind, not different from man.

But some wanted to define how God made that possible. It was too much of a mystery to leave to faith alone. Arian was one of those. In the 300s, he couldn’t handle how the Son of God could also be Jesus the Man, so he said that because the Son was begotten, He had a beginning. That he didn’t exist before God made Him. This meant Jesus wasn’t eternal. If He wasn’t eternal, Jesus wasn’t fully God, and the sacrifice of His life useless. If Arian had chosen to believe Scripture, he wouldn’t have made up such foolishness.

Not long after Arian, Apollinaris argued that Jesus had a Man body but a God mind. That God simply adopted Jesus’ body at His Baptism and took over His life. So, Jesus was only a man until God borrowed his body. At the cross, before death, God pulled out and only Jesus the man remained to die. If so, the sacrifice of His life was useless.

Then, Sabellian said that God was only one and not three, and that He took turns being either Father, Son or Spirit, according to which He needed to be in at any given moment. He could be Father or Son or Spirit, but not all three at one time. So, when the Son appeared, there was no Father or Spirit, only Son. If he had read the Gospels, Jesus’ baptism pretty much destroys this heresy.

Where do heresies come from? From people who don’t know what the Bible says, or who want it to say something other than what it does say.

That’s why Paul wrote Galatians. To expose false teaching:

1.      Judaisers – Jews who had converted to Christianity yet held onto their Jewish practices and wanted all new believers out of the Gentile world to do the same. They insisted on rituals, feasts and circumcision. They demanded new believers become Jews before they could practice Christianity. Essentially, they taught what Jesus did wasn’t enough. Here are the things you have to do to become a true Believer. The whole religion of works comes from this heresy. If you believe God only accepts you if you earn that acceptance, you’ve been affected by the Judaisers.

2.     Gnosticism. The heretical teaching that understanding the things of God comes through some kind of special knowledge, usually knowledge reserved for a select, intellectual group. The spirit contained this knowledge, so they separated the body and spirit. Only the spirit was important, so, what you did in the body (however you chose to live) didn’t matter to God. Kinda like the fornicating girl on the Bachelorette. Unitarianism, New Age Spiritism, Liberalism, even Spiritual Arrogance of certain Christian groups all flow from Gnosticism.

For the Galatians, Paul lays out the Good News, the simplicity of what Jesus did and how that affects us, telling people you don’t need to go beyond this. That Gal 3:11 THE RIGHTEOUS MAN SHALL LIVE BY FAITH. Gal 3:26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Gal 3:3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? You got in by faith. Do you now abandon faith to live by your own efforts?

Then he nails the issue: Gal 4:9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? 

Gal 5:1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. 

Slavery would come after they embraced a different message for their lives, one that bound them to men’s doctrines that would choke the life out of them or to a lifestyle that would consume them in evil practices.

He said: Gal 5:7 You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? 

Paul’s answer: come back to the truth. They had known the truth but let themselves be taken in by the subtleties of these heretical teachers.

So, I ask again: Does it matter what we believe? Absolutely.

Why? Even small changes to Scripture to fit a teaching or doctrine or idea different than what God gave us distorts the whole message. That can come from a preacher, an author, a teacher, a neighbor, a friend. Most heresy today comes from TV, either through many errant TV preachers and their writings or the Discovery Channel.

Unless the Bible is held as the standard by which all truth is measured, heresy has an easy path into the minds and hearts of people, even Christians.

When the Challenger went down 33 years ago, the whole country grieved the loss. Then, we learned what caused the disaster and got angry.

You’ll remember, an O-ring failed to keep gasses from escaping. This failure caused an explosion that tore the space shuttle apart. Warnings had been issued against taking off because of fear an overnight freeze might jeopardize certain components. But liftoff went as planned. And the cold caused the O-ring to lose its elasticity. It couldn’t do what it was required to do.

One deviation from the standard requirement of what a component was designed to do created tragedy. Paul warns the Galatians that the same thing could happen to them. Changing the Message could ruin or diminish the life promised by that message.

Professor Merrill Tenney, of the Wheaton Graduate School of Theology said: "Neglect one area of the Scripture in our teaching and preaching and that area will become the seed bed for tomorrow’s heresies."

Heresy comes when someone has a better idea than the one God had. They take the simplicity of the Good News and make it so complicated and contradictory that it becomes nothing more than something to argue over rather than embrace. Let’s stay with the Book, not wrangle over what we think it says. Let’s let the Bible speak for itself.

A man by the name of William Tyndale, who lived in the 1500s, knew the value of the Bible speaking for itself. He saw that the church at that time was full of heresies and felt, if the people could only read the Bible for themselves, they’d understand what was true and what wasn’t. Knowing the truth would set them free.

At that time the only translation of the Bible was a fourth-century Latin translation called the Vulgate. Only priests and scholars knew Latin, so Tyndale decided to translate the Latin into English.

After he published this new Bible, the Catholic Church had it burned, and then placed a bounty on his head. Tyndale was captured, convicted of heresy and strangled to death. Then, for good measure, they burned his body. His final words were "Lord! Open the eyes of the King." Four years later, that king ordered an English version of the Bible to be published – using Tyndale’s translation. God wanted the people to know the truth.

If we want to know the truth, read the Bible. As Paul told the Galatians: Don’t simply accept the teaching of someone else because they sound smart or seem dogmatic in what they believe. Let the Word of God be the authority by which you live your life.

TAKEAWAYS: 

1. The best method of studying Scripture is to keep it within context.
2. What God says in one place cannot be denied in another, or what God denies in one place cannot be accepted in another.
3. People will believe whatever they choose to believe, but to be right, they must align what they believe with what God says.
4. Our experiences, opinions, feelings or desires are not above God’s words.
5. The final authority for truth must be Scripture.

Overview of Romans

euangelion is a Greek word that means Good News. In the first century it was a common word used in everyday life whenever news qualified as good. Like someone saying, “That’s good to hear.”

When the angel announced Jesus’ birth, he said: Luke 2:10-11 Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 

The same word is also translated Gospel, which came from the old English word: godspell. Back then, the god part of the word was pronounced goad, which was Old English for good. The word spell meant a message with influential powers like a wizard’s spell, referring to a captivating story. It evolved to meaning good message or good news. The “d” was eventually dropped and the word became gohspel or gospel.

When the King James Bible was being translated, that was the word they primarily used for euangelion. But when Old English was no longer spoken, the word gospel lost its original meaning and slipped into use as merely a religious term.

In the NT, the writers added an article in front of euangelion – the – which made it definite good news, defining good news – the best good news. This news was uniquely good. In regular conversation, Greek speaking people would still ask: do you know any good news? But in Christian circles the question was asked: do you know the good news?

1Cor 15:1-5 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved…that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared…

In a nutshell that is the message of the Good News, the Gospel. So, when NT writers wrote or teachers spoke the word euangelion they meant the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.  

To explain the Good News, Paul wrote a letter to the believers in Rome. Rom 1:1-4 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, 

In each city to which Paul ministered, his message was always the same: God had a plan. This is what He did to fulfill that plan and here’s how that plan applies to you. Now that you know, God would like you to believe it and receive the relationship it provides. Then, once you enter into that relationship, here’s how you live. But ministry to Rome was different. He hadn’t been there.

He told them: Rom 15:22-26 For this reason I have often been prevented from coming to you; but now, with no further place for me in these regions, and since I have had for many years a longing to come to you whenever I go to Spain—for I hope to see you in passing, and to be helped on my way there by you, when I have first enjoyed your company for a while— but now, I am going to Jerusalem serving the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. 

So, if we can imagine this, he was writing to a people who were strangers to him. He knew they met in house churches, were organized in some fashion and understood something of the Christian message, enough to be called Believers (Saints), but he didn’t really know if they knew what he felt they needed to know.

He was certain they knew Jesus had died, but did they understand why Jesus died? Did they recognize the price Jesus’ death paid? Did they know what was accomplished because He died? If they had received that salvation did they know what it meant to live as a Christian? Did they grasp what God committed Himself to do on their behalf?

So, to lay out his teaching, Paul began with his theme: Rom 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH." 

In a world where the people lived under the daily influence of oppressive powers of the government, of pagan cults, of military forces, of a hedonistic society, not to mention the emptiness of life without God, was there a counter power that could deliver them from the burden of this oppressiveness while still living under the oppression and also place them into a personal relationship with God Himself?

To the Corinthians, Paul had written: 1Cor 1:18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 

Because of that cross God was willing to exercise His power to save everyone who believes. The word saved means delivered. Delivered carries the idea of being set free from what oppresses or controls us. Which, to oppressed people, would tell them God’s power must be greater than any other power if it could free them from the burden of their oppression and give them a new life to live. So, if God’s power could do that, and somehow that power was contained within the Gospel, how could the power of that Gospel be released?

The Chinese developed gunpowder in the 900s. Some believe the discovery was by accident when the ingredients got mixed together and a spark exploded them. If so, that explosion gave gunpowder its mission – to blow things up. They found application in warfare but also in fireworks. In either, there was an anticipated result – the potential of an explosion. What was necessary was the igniter. The gunpowder was ready to release its power. All it needed was a spark.

The power of God, imbedded in the Gospel message, was waiting for the spark to be released. In Bible terms, the spark was faith – not just faith that the story was true, but faith in what God would do because the story was true. That power was the potential of a life-changing experience.

1Cor 2:4 My message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. 

Paul didn’t want to persuade people to believe the message, he wanted them to ultimately believe in the God of the Message. The power was not the information but what God would bring about when they believed.

The word power is quite expansive in what it can refer to:

• Explosive power to initiate a dramatic effect. Like dynamite.
• On-going power to generate the life it produces. Like a dynamo or generator.
• Energizing power to enable the life to accomplish what God intends. Like connecting to a battery or plugging into the wall outlet.

Paul wants the Romans to know that power would have the same effect on anyone who believes. But to assure them that the effect can affect anyone, he had to explain that the need for that effect applied to everyone as well. Before he could offer them the privilege of what the Gospel provided, he had to show them why they needed it in the first place.

Rom 1:18-25 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever.  

Who would do such a thing? They did. They all, at one time in their lives, had relegated God to the unnecessary role of a mere bystander, or worse, an enemy to reject, resist or deny. They had all wanted no part of God at some point. So all of them were guilty.

Rom 3:22-23 there is no distinction, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 

Paul used a term that painted a picture. Since everyone was familiar with archery, the image of an archer shooting an arrow at a target and missing it – falling short – was what they were doing with God. His target was the conditions He expected for a relationship with Him – godliness and righteousness. Their actions and attitudes proved they were neither godly nor righteous. Missing the target is called sin.

Paul needed them to know sin was so serious to God that it carried consequences. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.

The consequence of missing the target was God’s wrath. But the message of Romans told them there also was a solution.

Rom 5:8-9 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 

Paul told them Jesus took the wrath of God reserved for them upon Himself and if they would accept His death as the means of God’s forgiveness, He would then present them to God as justified – just-as-if-they’d-never-sinned. So, though the wrath remained in effect for everyone else, they would personally be delivered from that wrath.

But there was more. Rom 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 

Free from wrath and delivered from an empty life, God would give them a new life which He would empower them to live. They no longer had to live a sin-dominated life.

Rom 6:1-2 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 

Rom 6:4 as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 

Rom 6:12-13 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 

But realizing there will be struggles because they remained in an oppressive world and would stumble on occasions, Paul told them God’s ultimate provision.

Rom 7:15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. 

Rom 7:20-21 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 

What’s the provision? Rom 7:24-25 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

The same Lord that died for them, who released them from the wrath of God, who presented them justified before God, also empowered them to live the life He gave them.

Therefore: Rom 8:1 There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 

Now you can understand the concept of John 8:36 If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. Free from the wrath of God, free from the dominance of sin, free from the burden of oppression, free from condemnation. Free to live a full and abundant life.

So, if I am freed from God’s wrath, delivered from the burdens within my difficult life and given a new life by the power wrapped up in the Gospel, guaranteed by God’s eternal love, how do I maintain this life? Rom 12:1-2 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. 

I renew myself regularly to the truth of what Jesus has done and live in the joy of the freedom He provides.

• When I get overwhelmed, I remind myself I’ve been set free.
• When I stumble and fall, I remember there is no condemnation but a hand reaching down to lift me up.
• When I feel oppressed, I remember He who has begun this great work in me will see that it does what He promised it would do.

Can you imagine the joy of the Roman believers after reading this letter from Paul? That they can be oppressed but not beyond the strength God provides? That not only do they have a new way to live but a new reason to live? Can you feel the hope these words gave them? All because Jesus came, died, was buried, rose again and lives forever to guarantee that what the Gospel says is true.

Rom 15:13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

TAKEAWAYS:

1. Because the Bible is relevant, reliable and relatable, what Paul wrote to the Romans applies to us today.
2. All the conditions, concerns and opportunities within this letter are as much for us as they were for the Romans.
3. The same power he described is still contained within the Gospel message along with the same potential of result.
4. The question remains: will we allow the Power of God to deliver us from the burden of our oppression and the sin that dominates our lives?

The Word of God: Reliable, Relevant, Relatable

There was an accident at a construction site. A man was hit in the head by a beam and it sliced off his ear. They looked around till they found the ear and asked the guy if it was his. He said, “No, my ear had a pencil behind it.”

Of course, the pencil behind the ear was temporary information. But, how many times have we tried to make life decisions with temporary information? A steel worker leaning into the wind to hold his balance is making a life decision based on temporary information. A driver racing through a yellow light is making a life decision based on temporary information. Marrying someone for their youthful looks is making a life decision based on temporary information.

The movie Hidden Figures follows the lives of three ladies who calculate for NASA. In one frustrating scene, when one of the ladies is finished with a day-long calculation the director takes her work and immediately throws it in the trash. He said it was already obsolete. Information was changing so quickly what they worked on the last hour may no longer be usable. It was all temporary information until someone decided it was a go.

We live in a culture of rapid changes. The second you take possession of your new car it becomes a used car and loses value. Your phone that was up-to-date yesterday may be out of date today. Something that was new and improved last week may be old and unreliable this week. Two identical products are on the shelf. The price is the same. One is labeled new and improved, which do you buy?

The great, world shaking advance in technology last year has already been replaced this year with something more advanced and greater. Its replacement is already in the queue for next year’s release. Why is the old suddenly unreliable and untrustworthy and no longer acceptable? It’s what we’ve been conditioned to believe.

To train circus elephants to stay put when chained to a stake, they begin when the elephants are young. Baby elephants are tied to a stake in the ground by a chain wrapped around their ankle. Because they have less strength, they can’t pull the stake out, so they stay put. Yet the big elephants that would have no problem pulling the stake out also stay put. Why? They were conditioned to believe with a chain around their ankles, staked to the ground, they were held captive. They accept something that isn’t true as though it is.

We’re taught when we try to hang onto the past we’ll be left behind. I had a computer that worked fine. I had no problems with it doing what I needed it to do. Then I got a notice: we will no longer provide support for this computer. No updates, no security, no fixes, no tech service. In other words, you can keep it but at your own risk. If you want to stay current you must upgrade, otherwise you’re on your own – another word for foolish.

And then we come to church. We open up an ancient book and declare in this book is the answer to the questions and issues of our lives today. Then someone wonders: wait, this book was written for a people and a time in history that no longer exist. How can this book be relevant to my modern life?

In anticipating that question, God had the writer of Hebrews tell us: Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 

Living: current – not past but always present. Not what it was but what it is. Not what it said but what it says. The word means always living.

Active: productive in its results. It accomplishes what it intends.

That’s God’s promise: Isa 55:11 My word be which goes forth from My mouth will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. 

That was so important, God had Paul repeat it 750 years later: 1Thess 2:13 For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe. 

Still, though, how can it claim results after so long? Because the voice of the One Who spoke the Word is still speaking through that Word today.  

There is a fascinating discovery that has taken place in breaking atoms down to their smallest parts. When we grew up the atom was the smallest element to consider with its nucleus comprised of protons and neutrons. We now have quarks.

But there is a modern theory that within all of creation on that atomic level, in everything that exists, there is a vibration within the most minute particle. It’s been called the God particle. I like that. The Bible says when God created all that is, He spoke it into existence. The sound of His voice created waves that made a vibration in everything that exists.

It is His voice that keeps that existence alive. So, the Word that has gone out of His mouth, written down in our Bibles, is as alive now as when He first spoke it, because it carries the vibration of God’s voice.

Col 1:16-17 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 

Which explains: 2Tim 3:16-17 All Scripture is inspired [breathed out – there’s the vibration] by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. 

What God spoke is still being carried on His breath. His Words create life. His life keeps that life alive. So that: the Bible is as reliable today as when first spoken or written. It is as relevant today as it was two, three, four thousand years ago. Though the times have changed, the God who spoke it remains the same, making it as relatable to us today as it has always been.

But our world disagrees. Whether it’s the History Channel, the Smithsonian Channel or the bias of secular politicians, there is a vast network of naysayers who place no credibility in the Bible and consider those of us who do to be at some level of deplorable. What gives them a voice? The title Politician, Scientist or Theologian.

In 1997, 14-year-old Nathan Zohner got 43 out of 50 9^th graders to vote in favor of banning dihydrogen monoxide. He said Scientists have proven that dihydrogen monoxide is a primary factor in flooding and storm surge. It was a test he designed to prove how gullible people are to believe misleading information. Dihydrogen monoxide is H2O or water.

Unfortunately, whenever those naysayers speak confidently about that of which they have no understanding, they are able to cause others to discount the Bible as a reliable source for life or to flat-out disbelieve what God has said all together. I have a nephew who is one of those casualties. After watching a series about the Jesus on the History Channel, he announced he no longer believed in the Bible. What little faith he had was now destroyed. Rarely is it the objective of those shows to prove the Bible true but to disprove it.

That was Satan’s tactic in the beginning with Adam and Eve. Gen 3:1-5 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'" The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 

The deceit was: You can’t trust God to tell you the truth, or what God said is only partially true, or what I tell you is more accurate then what God said, or let me tell what God really meant to say, or what someone else says is more reliable than what the Bible says.

Have I been affected by this lie? Question: How much of the Bible do you say is true? Some of it? Most of it? All of it? How much does God expect us to say is true?

In the early church, things usually went like this: Paul would visit a community. A group of people there would listen to the Gospel message and believe. Paul would stay for a while or leave one of his men behind to ground them in what it meant to be a believer and give them a pattern by which they could live the Christian life. The church would grow. Then, after he left, deviant teachers would stop by and challenge what Paul had said and give a different message of how Christianity worked. The message would confuse the people. And though some would stay on course, the rest would embrace the lie. Their lives and that church would be ruined.

Because he knew this was likely, he told the Elders from Ephesus: Act 20:28-30 Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. 

What eventually happened in Ephesus? Rev 2:2-4 To the church in Ephesus: I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake, and have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 

I believe that by the influence of those wolves, the intensity of the people’s love for the Lord went cold. They lost the value of their relationship with God by no longer holding their beliefs as vital to their lives and shallowed instead of deepened their commitment. They eventually stopped loving the Lord with all their hearts.

How does that happen? By becoming more interested in the provision than the Provider. Only wanting the blessing not the Blesser. Wanting the benefit not the Benefactor. Wanting help but not the Helper. Wanting the effect of God, not the change that comes with that effect.

2Tim 4:3-4 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. 

Ears tickled means wanting only to hear things that interest or excite them.

Meaning: they want what temporarily satisfies the moment not what permanently affects the life.

You understand the difference between theory and fact. A fact is provable and reproducible. A theory is simply an opinion. When someone wants their opinion to have greater influence and importance, they begin to teach their opinion as fact. Paul saw these teachers spinning their messages from false theory. And the people bought into it, swallowing the lie hook, line and sinker.

That was James’ warning: James 1:14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 

Enticed means lured – like fishing bait.

Something in what they are saying is tantalizing a place within our minds where we want things like that to be true.

So, where is my safeguard?

2Tim 1:13-14 Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you. 

Retain: keep, go over, remind, rehearse the words. I’ll then have a standard by which I can judge the message of the world. Is it what God says or have they twisted what God says to say what they want said.

Every church Paul ministered to faced the same challenge. False teachers who would attack the church by bringing their message into the hearts of the people. It was these attacks that destroyed the faith of the people.

• Judaizers – change the rules of Christianity. Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved was not enough. You had to do more.
• Gnostics – change who Jesus was. Discounting His authority and minimizing the effectiveness of His power.
• Pagan Philosophy – contradict all the church believes while providing an alternative method for life.

So, we understand why Paul was so adamant about maintaining confidence in God’s Word. There will always be someone trying to tear down and disavow what God has said.

So, here’s your place to stand: The God who invented life gave us the instructions for how to live that life. He would never want us to make life decisions based on the temporary suggestions of false teachers but lean fully on the eternal truth of His Word which is reliable, relevant and relatable.

TAKEAWAYS:

1. There is a reason the Bible is banned in 52 countries around the world and its message minimized in most of the rest.
2. It represents the ultimate threat to a godless society and the personal desire for a godless life.
3. By hiding or discounting the Bible, the world is hoping to remove its influence.
4. Yet, it has remained the foundation of life and godliness to all who believe since the very day God breathed it into existence.

The Foundation of Freedom

The signing of the Declaration of Independence did not make us free from Britain. It was only a declaration, an expression of our intentions. It was filing for divorce. The divorce would take place later.

The signing merely set in motion the goal of freedom that would have to be fought for and gained at the defeat of our overlords. Though we measure our independence from July 4, 1776, that independence was not granted by the King of England until September 4, 1783.

What went on between declaration and independence? The Revolutionary War, a war which consisted of more than 1500 conflicts ranging from minor skirmishes to full blown battles. The result? The British surrendered claim to our territory. 6800 soldiers gave their lives on the battlefield. An additional 17,000 or so died of complications from their wounds or disease directly associated with the war.

As we know, freedom isn’t free. There is always a price.

Abraham Clark, one of the patriots who signed the Declaration of Independence, understood that it could mean his own death with his name on such a rebellious document. He was prepared for that, but not for the day a British officer announced, “We have captured your sons! They are prisoners of the Crown—locked away on a prison ship, and they will surely die there unless you repent of this foolish rebellion against the king!” The officer handed Clark a letter. “Sign this paper, admit you were wrong and your sons will go free.”

He said, “I was the one who stood with the others to declare the intention of independence not my sons. Shoot me if you must! I’m the one you want! Shoot me and let my sons go free.” The officer pressed the letter against his chest. “No, your sons will remain our prisoners until you sign.” Suddenly, the price of freedom stared him in the face. But, he could not sign, regardless the cost.

Thomas Paine: "These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheaply, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.”

It is not the statement of intentions, or the lofty words of a motivational speaker that drives men to sacrifice their lives, but the resolve that what they fight for is worth the price. And as long as men and women are willing to pay that price we will remain free.

One man wrote: This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave. Or, as we hear frequently, we are the land of the free because of the brave.

We’ve stood strong against the tyranny of mighty nations and have joined the battle whenever there has been an attack against freedom.

John F. Kennedy: "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty."

But today, the attack against liberty doesn’t come from an outside foe, but within the ranks of our own government. The greatest threat we face today is the movement toward Socialism. No enemy we have fought against has had the potential to dismantle the liberty we possess like the cry to reinvent America and turn it from a Republic into a Socialist nation.

Antonio Gransci said, “Socialism is precisely the religion which must overwhelm Christianity. In the New Order, Socialism will triumph by first capturing the culture by infiltrating schools, universities, churches and the media by transforming the consciousness of society.”

The pathway to destroying America has never been from the outside but from within. It starts by changing the message of who we are then replaces it with a different message of what we can become, using a false narrative of the promise of new freedoms.

Paul faced a similar situation in Galatia when he wrote: Gal 1:6-10 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed! For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ. 

They were deserting the Lord to embrace a different message than the one of Grace, leaving what had established them for something they were never designed to be. They were replacing the foundation upon which the Gospel was built.

The foundation is the groundwork that supports the structure built upon it. You cannot change the structure without changing the foundation. Before Zerubbabel could rebuild the Temple he had to first reestablish the foundation – where it was and how it was defined.

Ezra 3:10-11 Now when the builders had laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD according to the directions of King David of Israel. They sang, praising and giving thanks to the LORD, saying, "For He is good, for His lovingkindness is upon Israel forever." And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the LORD because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. 

It was essential he rebuild the Temple on the original foundation because the first Temple was built according to the blueprints of heaven. It was crucial to God’s design.

So, when the first Temple was destroyed, building the second was not a simple task of  just replacing the first but restoring it to where it was before.

Did that matter? Of course. The foundation was a reflection of God’s intentions not the fulfillment of man’s design for worship.

There is a call today for Christians to change their convictions and beliefs which is a demand they reject the foundation upon which Christianity is built.

Jesus taught the importance of the foundation: Luke 6:47-49 Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.

Paul described his ministry as foundation work: 1Cor 3:10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 

Paul didn’t create the foundation. He built upon the foundation God had determined was the only one that could sustain life – Jesus Himself.

So you can understand why the Galatians deserting that foundation was such a crime.

• They were declaring Jesus was no longer relevant.
• That it didn’t matter what you believed or how you built your life.
• That our ways are better than God’s ways, our thoughts better than His thoughts.
• That the will and wishes of the people were more important than God’s boundaries.

We understand boundaries – property lines. We have a designated perimeter to our property as does our neighbor. If we choose to ignore these boundaries and infringe on our neighbor’s property, we are violating the law of the boundary and have trespassed.

When the king of Assyria was boasting of his intentions to capture the northern nation of Israel, he said: Isa 10:13-14 For he has said, "By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this, for I have understanding; and I removed the boundaries of the peoples and plundered their treasures, and like a mighty man I brought down their inhabitants, and my hand reached to the riches of the peoples like a nest, and as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth; and there was not one that flapped its wing or opened its beak or chirped. 

By his definition, removing the boundaries took away their freedom, which gave him the freedom to take them captive and hold them to serve according to his gospel – his message of life.

God said: Isa 10:12 I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the pomp of his haughtiness. Because of the threat against His people? No, because of the seriousness of violating the boundaries He had set.

Through Solomon, He wrote: Prov 22:28 Do not move the ancient boundary which your fathers have set.

Moving the boundary doesn’t extend freedom it removes freedom. It may increase ground for one but takes away ground from the other.

Educators watched children playing in a school yard at an elementary school. The kids played up against the high fence surrounding the playground. To some, it looked as though the children were imprisoned by the fence and suggested it be removed to give the kids a greater sense of freedom. However, after it was removed, the children moved toward the center of the playground far away from the outer boundary. Why? They lost their security. They needed their fence to define their freedom. Moving the boundaries took away what the boundaries secured.

Someone is always trying to take away the freedom of others under the pretense of expanding freedom. And they always do it the same way: By moving the boundaries.

In his State of the Union Address, President Trump said, “Here, in the United States, we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country. America was founded on liberty and independence – not government coercion, domination and control. We are born free, and we will stay free. Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country."

What is the goal of socialism? To remove the boundaries set by our Constitution and rebuild our civilization on a different foundation.

Their cry is freedom, yet to achieve that freedom they begin by removing freedoms. The pathway of all takeovers is to first remove the ability of the people to fight back. The Second Amendment giving the right to arm ourselves has never been under greater assault. The second is to remove the ability of the people to voice their dissent. The First Amendment giving the right of free speech is now challenged everyday. If you agree with those in charge of the narrative, you can say whatever you wish. If you oppose it, you must be silenced. The third is to force the church into its building and restrict its influence on society, making us and our message non-essential to life.

Jeremiah wrote: Jer 2:31 O generation, heed the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of thick darkness? [No, I have set boundaries. I have provided light to follow Me.] Why do My people say, 'We are free to roam; We will no longer come to You'? 

Because, if freedom is without boundaries, we will live with no obligation to our foundation. And we will lose the freedom granted by that foundation. We will become enslaved to our own passions and desires or captivated by the desires of others who wish to control us. That works in society or in the church.

Gal 5:1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. 

What is the price of standing firm?

Ronald Reagan said, “We’re blessed with the opportunity to stand for something—for liberty and freedom and fairness. And these are things worth fighting for, worth devoting our lives to.”

Paul’s message to the Galatians: The Grace of Jesus Christ is the treasure of the Good News. Stand in it. Don’t allow anyone to deceive you to follow another Gospel.

The Patriot’s message to America: Liberty is the treasure of America. Stand in it. Don’t allow anyone to deceive you to leave it for another government.

Jesus said: John 8:31, 36 If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. 

That’s the foundation of our lives. We stand on the freedom we have in Christ. If anyone tries to take that freedom away, we must resist and stand firm. We must stay the course.

For our nation, we stand on the freedom established when we were founded. If anyone tries to take that freedom away, we must resist and stand firm.

Whatever comes against us, either against our faith or against our nation, we must stay the course, remaining faithful to the liberty upon which both were founded. Allow no one to remove the ancient boundaries our faithful God has set. And though we pay a price to stand firm, we do so, joining the heroes of the past.

A museum in Scotland, displays the sword of the famous Scottish hero and patriot - Wallace. Braveheart was the movie version. A visitor once said, “I don’t see how that sword could win such victories.” The guide replied, “Ah sir, you don’t see the arm that wielded it.”

The Declaration of Independence won no war. Victory came by the arms of brave patriots wielding weapons of deliverance.

The message of the Good News changes no life. Change comes when we see the arms of our Savior stretched out on a cross, sacrificing Himself on our behalf, and we give our lives to Him because of the His love for us.

Last verse of our National Anthem:

O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand

Between their lov'd home and the war's desolation!

Blest with vict'ry and peace may the heav'n rescued land

Praise the Power that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto - "In God is our trust,"

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

 O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

America: Stand firm. Stay the course.

Church: Stand firm. Stay the course. If the Son has made you free, you are free indeed. 

TAKEAWAYS:

1. There is no ultimate freedom apart from Jesus.
2. A life built upon the foundation of who He is and what He’s done enjoys that freedom secured within the boundary set by Almighty God.
3. National freedom reflects Biblical freedom in that our freedom also rests within the boundaries of a secure foundation – our Constitution.
4. If we change either foundation, we will lose, not gain freedom, and any attempt to do so will ultimately fail.