The Bible says that when Jesus saw the massive crowds gathering to hear Him, “He was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). In deep theological terms, they were lost and without hope of ever finding their way. In Ephesians 2:12, the Apostle Paul described them as people “without hope and without God.”

Is this the way we view lost people today? Not hardly! More often than not, Christians spend more time criticizing the lost for living true to their nature, not necessarily out of their concern for how the sinner’s life choices are going to affect the sinner’s life, but how the sinner’s evil behavior will negatively affect the culture in which we live.

In Romans 9:1-3, the Apostle Paul shared his compassion for his lost relatives and his passion to see them saved. Paul said he was willing to be “accursed from Christ” if, in doing so, his relatives could be saved.  In Romans 7, Paul defined his struggle with sin. In Romans 8, Paul said the answer to his struggle was to be filled with the Holy Spirit. In Romans 9, Paul said he was in great sorrow and continual grief over the lostness of those he loved.

Do you get the connection? To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be filled with Christ’s compassion for the lost and a passion to do whatever we can to see them saved.

Tonight at 6:00 PM, we will continue our study of Paul’s incredible letter to the Christians in Rome. In this sermon, we will examine Romans 9:1-5, 10:1.

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The timeless truth of Romans 7-8 is that it is impossible to live the Christian life apart from the power of the Holy Spirit, who indwells the believer at the moment of conversion. Sharing his own struggle with sin, the Apostle Paul assured every believer of two things:

While all Christians will always struggle with sin –
The Holy Spirit will empower those who ask Him to overcome sin and enable them to live a victorious life.

However, according to the most recent survey:

58% of those who claim to be nominal Christians do not believe the Holy Spirit is a real, living being.
62% of those who claim to be “born again” Christians do not believe the Holy Spirit is a real, living being.
Only 39% of those who claim to be “born again” Christians and who are actively engaged in the development of their spiritual maturity believe the Holy Spirit is a real, living being.

Beloved, the essence of being a Christian is to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

Sunday night at 6:00 PM, I want to depart from our exposition of Romans to explain “How to Be Filled with the Holy Spirit.” Our text will be Ephesians 5:1-21. As you prayerfully prepare for this very timely study, consider this passage:   “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:19)

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The writer of Proverbs said, “A cheerful heart is a good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.” (Proverbs 17:22). Well, if laughter is good for our bones, what would a good dose of joy do to our hearts? A heart filled with joy is revealed in a cheerful face and expressed in a bright spirit, and it is contagious.

Just as true peace is not the absence of conflict, true joy is not the absence of sadness. In Isaiah 63:3, the Bible described Jesus as “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” However, the writer of Hebrews said Jesus was the “author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before He endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2)

Therefore, true joy is that deep sense of contentment that comes from knowing we are in the very center of God’s perfect will for our lives, even though it may cause us to suffer. In other words, true joy has nothing to do with the circumstances of our daily lives – they could be good or bad, happy or sad. But as the Apostle Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. Those whose transgressions are forgiven and whose sins are covered must “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

TRUE JOY is only available to those who receive Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, and that’s the theme of our new sermon series from Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians. The Title of this sermon is: “To the Glory and Praise of God.”# 2.

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The indwelling of the Holy Spirit begins at the sinner’s conversion and continues throughout the believer’s life, giving them the assurance of their eternal salvation, and enabling them to live the victorious Christian life during their days on this earth.

The Holy Spirit fills believers with God’s love. 
The Holy Spirit produces holiness in the believer’s life
The Holy Spirit helps believers understand the truth of the gospel. 
The Holy Spirit intercedes on believers’ behalf when they are in need. 
The Holy Spirit empowers the believer to be God’s witnesses.
The Holy Spirit guides the believer into developing a Christian worldview.

Tonight at 6:00 PM, we will continue our study of Paul’s incredible letter to the Christians in Rome. In this sermon, we will examine Romans 8:1-17 under the heading, “The Indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit.”

As you prayerfully prepare for this very in-depth study of Romans, consider these three verses:

Romans 8:7-9: “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you”. 
1 Corinthians 6:19–20: “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?”. 
John 14:17: “He lives with you and will be in you”. 

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This Sunday at 6:00 PM, we will continue our study of Paul’s incredible letter to the Christians in Rome. In this sermon, we will examine Romans 8:14-27 under the heading, “The Victorious Christian Life.”

As you prayerfully prepare for this very in-depth study of Romans on the believer’s “Everlasting Sonship,” meditate on this precious verse from John 1:12-13: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

One of the people God used to encourage my call to the ministry was a dynamic Christian teenager named Donny Doud. After being diagnosed with Leukemia, Donny withdrew from his family and friends for a season of private prayer and worship. When he returned, he told his church, “The Lord hasn’t told me how long I will live, but I’ve told Him I will speak for Him and sing for Him every day until He calls me home.”

Donny took his guitar and drove his yellow VW bus to schools, churches, prisons, nursing homes, coffee houses, and other places that invited him to come and share his testimony. Near the end of his life, the surrounding churches’ youth organized a series of revival meetings. The final meeting was held in the 1st Baptist Church of Toccoa, and Donny was the final speaker. His text was Exodus 4:2, where God said to Moses:

“What is that in your hand?” And Moses said, “A staff.” Then God said, “Throw it on the ground.” So, Moses threw it on the ground, turning it into a serpent, and Moses fled. But God said to Moses, “Reach out with your hand and grasp it by its tail”—so Moses reached out with his hand and caught it, and it turned into a staff in his hand, and God said, “Now they will believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

Donny said, “Tonight, I have finished my race! I’ve fought a good fight, I’ve kept the faith, and I’ve kept my promise to share the gospel with someone every day until the Lord calls me home.

Tonight, the last thing I can do is to lay my life down for the Lord.” Donnie died the next day, August 16, 1972.

During those very trying months, as his physical energy gradually diminished, Donny began writing choruses for his ministry. One was how the JOY OF THE LORD had given him strength for each day. (I’m trying to find that chorus to introduce our new sermon series on Philippians: The Epistle of Joy.) Donny knew, as Paul knew, as did the Philippians know, that true joy comes only through humble faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ and in serving others. In other words, TRUE JOY is only available to those who will receive Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.

The Title of this first sermon is: “The Epistle of Joy: To the Glory and Praise of God.”

One of the hardest concepts of the Christian faith to understand is the difference between JUSTIFICATION and SANCTIFICATION.

Justification – the judicial act of God whereby He declares a sinner as innocent as if he had never sinned. Romans 8:33
Sanctification – the work of the Holy Spirit within the believer, conforming them to that which God the Father has declared them to be. Romans 8:29

Both require the work of the Holy Spirit – first to bring us to see our sins, our need for a Savior, and Jesus Christ as the Savior we need, and second, to convict, confront, and cleanse us of all our sins, and to shape us into that vessel of honor which He can use in witnessing to others.

In tonight’s Bible study, we will look at this subject under the heading of: “The Just Shall Live by Faith.” Tonight’s sermon is entitled: “The Victorious Christian Life.”

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This Sunday at 6:00 PM, we will continue our study of Paul’s incredible letter to the Christians in Rome. In this sermon, we will examine Romans 8:1-5 under the heading, “The Victorious Christian Life.”

Meditate on this wonderful truth as found in Romans 8:1-5:

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh; God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.”

Remember those final marching orders Jesus gave His disciples? “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” “Amen.”

It is without question that Jesus’ method of evangelism was personal discipleship. Yes, He preached to the masses, taught those who came to Him for questions, personally discipled the 12, and poured His life into Peter, James, and John. However, even though Peter took the lead in building Christ’s Church, Jesus reproduced His heart of love in the Apostle John.

Years ago, someone told me the discipleship process was too slow. I quickly responded to him; the difference is in whether you are growing squash or an oak tree. D. James Kennedy is quoted as saying: “If you were an outstandingly gifted evangelist with an international reputation, and if, under God, you could win 1,000 persons for Christ every night of every year, how long would it take you to win the whole world for Christ? Answer, ignoring the population explosion, over 10,000 years. But if you are a true disciple of Christ, and if you are able under God to win just one person to Christ each year, and if you could then train that person to win one other person for Christ each year, how long would it take to win the whole world for Christ? Answer: just 32 years!”

According to current understanding, the gospel’s spread is still happening globally, reaching new people groups and continuing to bear fruit in various regions. However, persecution and cultural barriers still exist in certain areas, i.e., while the gospel is spreading, it’s not necessarily reaching every corner of the world at the same pace or with the same level of accessibility, or with the same emphasis on long-term discipleship.

Beloved, the end will come when the gospel has reached all nations, even to the ends of the earth, and has performed its work. Not before. The Lord is longsuffering, not willing that any of His elect should perish, but that all are saved. Only then, when the last elect is prepared for glory, will the end come

In our final sermon in the series, “The Church Triumphant,” we will look at the subject of “The Spread of the Gospel”

This Sunday at 6:00 PM, we will continue our study of Paul’s incredible letter to the Christians in Rome. In this sermon, we will examine Romans 7:14-25 under the heading “Confessions of a Struggling Soul”- Paul’s personal testimony of his struggle with sin.

Think about the glorious truth of this passage: Romans 7:15-20: “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.”

Thanks for spreading the gospel by sharing these sermon study guides with your family and friends. Your participation is invaluable, and we are so very thankful for your help in this ministry to spread the gospel to the whole world.