Volume 47, No. 2
Romans 6:1-14
Sermon prepared by Rev. Vernon Luchies, Kalamazoo, MI
Proposed Order of Service
Prelude
We come to praise the Lord
Call to Worship: Acts 10:33b
#239 “Amid the Thronging Worshippers”
Opening Prayer
#438 “When Morning Gilds the Skies”
God's Greeting and Blessing: Phil. 1:1-2
We great one another
We renew covenant with God
Excerpts from Leviticus 19
Repentance explained: L.D. 33, p. 902
Prayer: #260 “Not What My Hands Have Done”
We offer our prayers and tithes
Congregational Prayer
Offerings and Offertory
Dedication: #296:1,2 “We Give You But Your Own”
We come to hear God's Word
#280 “Blessed Jesus, at Your Word”
Scripture: Romans 6:1 - 14
Sermon: "We have to Change!"
Prayer of Application
We depart to serve the Lord
#544 “Lead Me, Guide Me”
God's Parting Blessing: Romans 16:25-27
#291:1, 2 “May the Mind of Christ, My Saviour”
Postlude
Sermon
A Christian artist was arrested by the police for a crime he did not commit.
He had a few paints and a little brush on him. But he had nothing on which
to paint. It was terrible having nothing to do. He finally asked the warden
for a canvass or something on which to paint. The warden, like most wardens,
was a hard man. He cared nothing for the prisoners. He saw a dirty old handkerchief
on the floor. He picked it up and stuffed it through the bars. "There!
See what you can do with that!"
The artist washed the dirty handkerchief, and let it dry. He then spread
it out tightly on the floor. Very carefully, prayerfully, he painted his
idea of the face of Jesus. The first person he showed it to, was the warden.
He couldn't take his eyes off it. Soon, tears rolled down his cheeks. By
God's grace, he repented! Was changed! Later, that painting became famous!
You and I are a lot like that dirty old handkerchief. We must be stuffed
through the bars to Jesus, the master artist. He alone can wash us, stretch
us, and change us into His own likeness.
But we are also a lot different from the dirty old handkerchief. We have
a will of our own. A stubborn will! A will that refuses to allow Jesus to
work on us. And because of that will, we never consider ourselves as a dirty
old handkerchief ready for the garbage. "Surely, we're not that bad." Yes,
we are! Unless we've repented.
Luke 13:1-5, tells about the Galileans, whom Pilate had
slaughtered in the temple. And about the 18 upon whom the tower of Siloam
fell. Jesus might say to us in our day, "Do you think that those New
Yorkers, destroyed in the Twin Towers were any worse sinners than the other
New Yorkers? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.
Or those destroyed in the Pentagon, do you think they were more guilty than
all the others working in the Pentagon? I tell you, no. But unless you repent,
you too will all perish." We all have to change. We all have to repent.
Hear what Peter told the onlookers when he healed the beggar at Beautiful
gate: "Repent, then, and turn to God. That your sins may be wiped out,
that times of refreshing may come from the Lord." Acts 3:19.
Warning!
The change, resulting from repentance, is so refreshing and such a blessing,
God cannot help but warn us, (Romans 6) "What shall we say, then? Shall
we go on sinning so that grace may increase?" It's very possible we
will go on sinning. We take that "wonderful grace of Jesus" all
so much for granted. No matter what we do, we think if we just end our selfish
little prayers with "Forgive my sins, for Jesus' sake. Amen," all
is well with us and the world. And our lives never change! There'll be no
genuine repentance.
Somehow we think because we've been going to church all our lives, repentance
and conversion is only for someone out there. Do you remember what Jesus
said to His own disciples? "I tell you the truth, unless you change
and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."(Matthew
18:3) Let alone being greatest in it. Ah, but you and I wouldn't bicker about
who's the greatest. "That's foolish!" It surely is! Yet you know,
and I know, that as churches, we're still trying to be the greatest in the
Kingdom. It's not only the sin of churches. It's the besetting sin of pastors
and church members as well.
Jesus shows the change which He expects when He tells His disciples, "Whoever
would be the greatest among you, let him become the servant of all." That's
the kind of change He expects to see. He desires joyful, serving followers.
The Holy Spirit led Paul to write this in 1 Cor. 6:9-ll: "Do you
not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived:
Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes
nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers
nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
And that is what some of you were! But you were washed, you were sanctified,
you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit
of our God. "Notice, it doesn't only mention the immoral. It also mentions
idolaters (those who idolize their cars or kids or cottages) Not only thieves
but greedy! Not only drunks but slanderers! Gossips! We have to change!
Young people, beware of those new CDs. Our sense of smell has been damaged.
We fail to sense the stench of hell exuding from them. That same stench can
come from our TV or from the Internet? It's so easy to become contaminated
with sin without realizing it. We need to repent! Way back in Isaiah 59:20,
God assures, "The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those... who repent
of their sins."
"What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning?... By no means!" But
it wrangles us to be told to repent of our sin. My Dad remembered Evangelist
Billy Sunday used to say, "They tell me I rub the fur the wrong way.
I don't! Just let the cat turn around!" In other words, "repent!"
God warns us: We have to change. We must experience that once for all
conversion as well as that everyday conversion. Then, and only then, will
we have the happy, grateful, meaningful lives the Lord has in store for us.
Take time to be holy, the world rushes on!
Much time spend in secret with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be!
Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.
Do they see that likeness in our lives?
Meaning!
Change, conversion, repentance, whatever you wish to call it, can have
absolutely no meaning outside of Jesus Christ. "If anyone is in Christ, he is
a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come!" Jesus wants to
fashion us to be like Himself! Is He so fashioning you? Are you wanting
it to happen? Are you allowing it to happen?
We can sound so Reformed! Piously, we say, "Well, God will have to
do it!" That's a half truth. God doesn't have to change or repent. We
do! No excuses. He desires our co-operation.
2 Peter 1:3-9 "His divine power has given us everything we need for
life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own
glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious
promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and
escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very
reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness,
knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance;
and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and
to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing
measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he
is near-sighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from
his past sins."
Paul preached, "but now He (God) commands all people everywhere to
repent!" Acts 17:29 God especially expects repentance to happen in Church!
Five of the seven churches, Jesus addresses in Revelation, he commands to
repent. We have to change. Repent.
God says, as changed people, "We died to sin. In Jesus Christ." That
is our blessed position. That should become our daily condition.
How is this possible? Verse 3 "Or don't you know that all of us who
were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?" That
says a lot more than we ever imagine! The Greek word "baptize," was
never translated into English. It was only transliterated! If it were translated,
it would best be translated: "identified." Now listen to Rom 6:3,4 "Or
don't you know that all of us who were identified in Christ Jesus, were identified
with Him into death? We were therefore buried with Him through identification
with Him into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead
through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."
Repentance does not mean just saying: “I have sinned.” Four
men in the Old Testament, and one in the New, said, “I have sinned.” Pharaoh,
Balaam, Achan, King Saul, and Judas all said it. But none of them meant it.
But if ours is a heart-felt sorrow for sin, then, in the mind of God the
Father, we were with Christ on that cross. Perhaps that's why "Moses
lifted up the snake in the desert." There hung the consequences of my
sin and yours!
We died with Him. We are raised with Him. We already are "in Christ." In
Col. 3, Paul says, “You died, and your life is now hidden with Christ
in God.”
I suppose that at times, we all get frustrated when we realize the disparity
between our eternal position, and our daily condition. Thank God! Even this
frustration, is the beginning of sorrow for sin! Hatred of sin! And hopefully, “the
running away from sin.” But never in our own strength. “Did we
in our strength confide. Our battle would be losing!”
But ours is not a losing battle! "Live by the Spirit and you will
not gratify the desires of the sinful nature!" Only in this way can
we know the reality of Romans 6:4 "We too may live a new life!"
The secret of "change" or conversion the catechism tells us
is "the dying of the old self and the coming to life of the new self
in Christ." Someone on guard duty might bark, "Identify yourself!" And
if we've been changed, we can say, "I'm Christ's follower. I died with
Him. I'm risen with Him." It's the mystery of godliness: "Christ
in us the hope of glory!" Colossians 1:27
And that's not only "in the sweet by and by," That's in the
here and now. We have to change. Then we can say with Paul: "I am crucified
with Christ, yet, I live! Yet, not I, but Christ lives in me." Gal.
2:20 "It is wholehearted joy in God through Christ." Answer 90
of the catechism.
Reality!
This is all great in theory. But what about reality? "Where the rubber
hits the road?" We have to change. And we really can, if we claim that
pivotal verse 14 in Romans 6. "For sin shall not be your master, because
you are not under law, but under grace."
"Wonderful grace of Jesus! Reaching the most defiled!
By it's transforming power, Making him God's dear child!"
Just before our chapter, we read: "But where sin increased, grace
increased all the more!" If it didn't, where would we be? No wonder
Paul warns us in 1 Cor. 6:1"We urge you not to receive God's grace in
vain."
Never forget that real change only happens in us through the grace of
God. Paul asks in Romans 2:4, "Or do you show contempt for the riches
of His kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness
leads you towards repentance?" We see God's kindness already in Isaiah
55:6, 7, "Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while he
is near. Let the wicked forsake His way and the evil man his thoughts. Let
him turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God, for
He will freely pardon."
Already in Mark 1:15, Jesus preaches, "Repent! And believe the Good
News!" We have to change. Acts 2:38, says,"Repent and be baptized
every one of you." Somehow, it seems since we were baptized as babies,
we don't have to repent. Don't we believe in total depravity? Yet we think "If
we go to church, it's enough." Evangelist Billy Sunday used to say, "Going
to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes
you an automobile."
How can we change? Repent? I remember as a kid, my brother and I were
picking up potatoes. My Dad was just ahead of us digging them. He stopped.
Leaning on his fork, he asked both of us, "Have you given your lives
to Jesus?"
First, we have to face ourselves. We must stop going our own way. Turn
about and go God's way. Second, we have to pray. Confess our sins. Tell Jesus
we're sorry. Sorry enough to want to quit! Third, we have to obey. Ask Jesus
into our hearts. Like we used to sing in Sunday School:
"Into my heart, into my heart,
come into my heart. Lord Jesus.
Come in today. Come in to stay.
Come into my heart Lord Jesus.”
To a lukewarm church, Jesus says, "Here I am. I stand at the door
and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in...!" Rev.
3:20 He wants in today. He wants in to stay."
Once He's within, the Holy Spirit enables us to "consider ourselves
dead to sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus!" To "live by the
Spirit and not gratify the flesh." We'll then start producing the fruit
of the Spirit: "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self-control" 2 Thess. 4:3, "This is the will of
God: even your sanctification."
Romans 12:1,2... "I urge you... in view of God's mercy, to offer
your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God....Do not conform
any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing
of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is — His
good, pleasing and perfect will."
If we trust and obey in this way, it will result in real good. Done out
of true faith, in step with God's will and done for His glory! When I was
just a kid, we had an old 78-speed-record by the Stamps Quartet. I still
remember a part of one song: "I've been changed today, for all my sins
are washed away. The cleansing blood, the blood of Christ, has made me free,
has made me free... No more am I sad, instead. I'm happy and so glad, for
surely, there's been a change in me."
Have you been changed? Are you being changed? Repent, and believe the
Good News!
May we, each one of us, pray the words of this old hymn:
How I praise Thee, precious Saviour
That Thy love laid hold of me!
Thou hast saved and cleansed and filled me
That I might Thy channel be.
Chorus:
Channels only blessed Master,
But with all Thy wondrous power
Flowing through us. Thou canst use us
Every day and every hour.
Emptied that Thou shouldest fill us,
As clean vessels in Thy hand;
With no power but as Thou givest
Graciously with each command.
Chorus
Witnessing Thy power to save us,
Setting free from self and sin;
Thou who boughtest to possess us,
In Thy fullness, Lord, come in!
Chorus
Jesus, fill now with Thy Spirit
Hearts that full surrender know
That the streams of living water:
From our inner selves may flow!
Chorus
Amen
