a lot of time on each verse, but we're just trying
to help you capture the spirit of what the apostle
Paul was saying to these believers in Rome. And
I hope that we can see ourselves in the word
of God, because I do believe, even though this
letter was written to specific people many, many
years ago, it does speak to our lives. You'll
see almost instantly today that you can latch
onto it and let it help you live for God. with
all the strength and confidence that he has for
us. Romans 3, verse number one, Paul says to
the believers in Rome that are from a Jewish
background, and I'd rather you think of that
in terms of the Old Testament children of Israel
and not necessarily the nationality. In fact,
it'll become obvious that he is appealing to
their spiritual heritage when he references their
Jewish heritage. So what advantage then has the
Jew or what is the prophet of circumcision that
mark upon each of those people of God much in
every way chiefly because to them were committed
the oracles of God. For what if some did not
believe, what if there were some that Old Testament
people of God that chose not to believe God,
will their unbelief make the faithfulness of
God without effect? Certainly not. Indeed, let
God be true, but every man a liar. As it is written,
that you may be justified in your words and may
overcome when you are judged. It's as if Paul
was writing and saying, God, every now and then
people are gonna question how you do what you
do and why things are the way they are, but you're
gonna pass every test. You are God and God alone
and you are faithful. So I'd like to preach for
just a little bit and I'm gonna throw a few remarks
at future Noah, but I believe that there's a
word for all of us. as I preach faith in God's
faithfulness. Faith in God's faithfulness. Let's
ask the Lord to speak to our hearts right now.
Lord Jesus, as time has slipped away a little
bit, God, I want you to help me to share what
you have given me for your people in just these
brief remarks. Let something get ahold of us
that helps us to respond to your word. to believe
you for great things. God, across this congregation
and even those that are online, let every one
of us be captured by the reality of your faithfulness
and let us respond to this moment, every need
that we have, every opportunity you have given
us to put our lives into your hands and to believe
you for something supernatural. In Jesus' name
we pray. Can you say amen? God bless you, may
be seated. In the interest of time, I want to
make a statement that for this message really
sums up what you're going to read when you read
Romans two and the first part of Romans chapter
three. Here it is, it's really important that
we think about this today. Your heritage is not
the truest gauge of your relationship with God.
In fact, if you go back to Romans 2, he says,
this is from a translation a little bit more
modern, when the Gentiles sin, they will be destroyed
even though they never have had God's written
law. nature becomes their law, their conscience
becomes their law, but the Jews who have God's
law will be judged by that law when they fail
to obey it. Go down with me to verse number 17.
You who call yourselves Jews are relying on God's
law and you boast about your special relationship
with him. And this is absolutely true that the
Old Testament reveals that God used his relationship
with Israel, the Old Testament Jewish people
to reveal his love and plan for all of humanity.
But somewhere in the process, of God moving in
the lives of ancient Israel. Through their heritage,
they started to believe that they had a special
place in God just because of their tradition.
In fact, verse 28, for you are not a true Jew
just because you were born of Jewish parents
or because you have gone through the ceremony
of circumcision. No, a true Jew is one whose
heart is right with God. and true circumcision
is not merely obeying the letter of the law,
rather it is a change of heart produced by the
spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks
praise from God and not from people. And so can
you imagine the Apostle Paul writing to Jewish
believers and basically saying, you're not a
Jew just... because you were born a Jew. He's
trying to get them beyond their heritage to a
place where their hearts can be changed by the
Spirit of God. So can I say beyond even a history
lesson, traditions can come from truth. And we
thank God for every tradition that comes from
truth, but tradition without transformation is
not. enough even if that tradition comes from
truth. What we need is our hearts to be changed.
Faith in our heritage is not the same as faith
in God's faithfulness. If you want to put that
into our context, all of us can be guilty of
saying, well, I'm Pentecostal. My mom was Pentecostal.
Her mom was Pentecostal. That wasn't true of
my family, but you understand what I'm saying.
Someone might say, well, I'm Catholic. My family
was Catholic. Their family was... Catholic, we've
always been, we're Catholic, or I'm Baptist,
I've always been Baptist, my grandma was Baptist,
you know where I'm going with this. That's what
Paul is saying. He's saying, thank God for your
heritage as an Old Testament Jew that's been
handed the word of God and traditions that point
people to the Lord, but your faith in your heritage
is not the same. as your faith in God's faithfulness.
Your faith in your knowledge is not the same
as your faith in God's faithfulness. Your faith
in your service, the things you do in the name
of your religion is not the same as faith in
God and his faithfulness. He was saying, and
I believe it extends to us today, we need hearts
that are forever more changed. changed by the
Spirit of God. We celebrate heritage and knowledge
and service. These are so valuable. He wasn't
impugning them for their Jewish heritage as if
to say you need to stop being Jewish. No, he
was saying don't trust in that as though that's
the same as a relationship with God. I want to
say whether you call yourself a A Baptist or
a Buddhist don't trust in that label or that
tradition as though that's the same as a relationship
with God. You can call yourself Pentecostal and
hang on to every one of those traditions that
comes from the truth of the Word of God. But
every now and then, look at your heart and say,
Jesus, are you still changing me? I don't know
how you feel, but it's just about... Every day
I've got to say, create in me a clean heart,
oh God, and renew a right spirit in me. Praise
God. If you don't say that much, just live through
the holidays. And by the time you spend enough
time with all the people you love, you'll need
to say, God, give me a pure heart. It's weird
how that works that way. But that's what the
Apostle Paul is saying. In fact, if you study
the life of the Apostle Paul, if anybody believed
in the heritage of being a Jew that laid claim
to the Old Testament, teaching of the law, and
certainly the traditions that were founded in
truth, Acts 22 and verse three, the Apostle Paul
said, I am indeed a Jew born in Tarsus of Felicia
brought up in the city at the feet of Gamaliel.
I was taught according to the strictness of our
Father's law and was zealous toward God. as all
of you are today, but he goes on to say, I had
a vision, I heard a voice, and then a preacher
gave me a Bible study and I come to know Jesus.
And when I come to know Jesus, I started to experience
a change in my heart that affected my life. In
fact, Acts 22 and verse 26, he said, now the
preacher said arise and be baptized. and wash
away your sins calling on the name of the Lord.
We celebrate the heritage of baby Noah being
dedicated in a Pentecostal church on a beautiful
Sunday in November, just six months after he
was born. I believe a lot of what's being put
in his heart from his parents comes from the
word of God. But I gotta tell you, if all it
is is heritage, it's not enough. If all it is
is tradition, it's not enough. Noah grows up
just a little while longer and he recognizes
there is a savior whose name is Jesus. He went
to the cross to die for my sins. He rose up and
not only did he rise from the dead, he came back
to his people to fill them with his spirit. All
of a sudden, that's more than just tradition.
That's more than just heritage. That's transformation.
that happens in all of our hearts amen and certainly
as those of us and so many of us can point to
our response to Calvary, to the death, the burial,
and the resurrection of Jesus. We can look back
to the time that we repented of our sins. We
were baptized in Jesus' name. We were filled
with the Holy Ghost. We spoke with other tongues,
and from that initial evidence of being filled
with the Spirit, we've endeavored to walk in
the Spirit and see the fruit of the Spirit develop
in our lives. and trying to be led by the Spirit
and experience the gifts of the Spirit. But how
many of you know that we could sometimes allow
all of this to slip into just a heritage or a
tradition? And so Paul was not saying, you Jews
don't stop being Jews. He wasn't saying, you
Pentecostals, you need to stop being Pentecostals.
No, he was just saying, keep your tradition,
but make sure your heart Hold on to your heritage,
but make sure your heart is being changed, because
at the end of the day, it is a changed heart
that is going to help us be everything that God
has promised us that we can be. If I walk by
faith into more of God, it will be because his
faithfulness is changing my heart. day by day
by day. But if we would be honest about the human
condition, sometimes our heritage. backfires
on us. And we literally limit our journey into
more of what the Lord has for us because we don't
feel the urgency to walk by faith because we
cling to our heritage. We just kind of look back
on the calendar. I accepted the Lord and I accepted
his plan and I put my faith in him and I repented
and I was baptized. I was filled with his spirit.
good to go, Paul was speaking to those precious
Jewish believers and saying, I know that you
have a heritage, but is your heart really being
transformed? If we would take a little journey
back to the first time you heard about Calvary,
how many of you know it was the message of God's
faithfulness that provoked you to put your faith
in Jesus and repent of your sins? and be baptized
in his name and be filled with his spirit. It
was your faith in God's faithfulness that led
you to believe whatever God has for me. I want
it in my life. I'm asking you today, let's grab
ahold of that same faith in God's faithfulness
and pray together. Fill me with your spirit and
lead me by your spirit. Help me to walk in the
spirit of. Why? Because he's got more for us.
He's got more blessings and more direction from
his word. He's got things like separation from
the world and discipleship to become more like
him. And even evangelism to reach others with
the gospel of Jesus Christ. All of that is our
response to the faithfulness. of God, would you
close your eyes and raise your hands and say,
Jesus, I am not enamored with my heritage today.
I am captured by your faithfulness. I am not
trapped in my traditions today. I am captured
by your faithfulness. My response to your faithfulness
is not what makes me right with you. It is your
faithfulness that changes my heart a little bit
more today and a whole lot more tomorrow. Here
I am, Jesus. I want more than tradition. I want
transformation. I thank you for the truth, but
let it change me, God, every single day. Can
you say in Jesus' name? Paul said to one young
preacher, and we read about it in Titus chapter
three. He says in verse four, when the kindness
and the love of God our savior toward man appeared,
not by works of righteousness which we have done,
but according to his mercy. He saved us through
the washing of regeneration and renewing of the
Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ. our Savior, what's happened
here, that having been justified by His grace,
we should become heirs according to the hope
of eternal life. If you look closely at those
words, you will see that faith in Jesus leads
to repentance and baptism in Jesus' name. Certainly
the washing of regeneration and renewing of the
Holy Ghost being filled with the spirit, yes,
with that initial evidence of speaking with other
tongues, but it goes beyond that. My brothers
and sisters, that is not just heritage. That's
the faithfulness of God. That's not just tradition
handed down from generations of Christians. That
is the faithfulness of God that any human being
at any time and any place could stumble into
a church house. or even make an altar somewhere
in their own house, and they can call on the
name of Jesus in sincerity, and he will instantly
forgive every person that repents. That's not
just heritage, that's faithfulness, the faithfulness
of God. Oh yes, it still happens today. That's
why the robes are right out back, and the water's
already been worn, because when you're baptized
in Jesus' name, your sins are washed away. That's
not just tradition, that's God's faithfulness.
That's not just heritage, that's God's faithfulness.
And anybody that comes to the altar today and
say, you know what, I'm trying to be a good Baptist,
but I'd love to be filled to overflowing with
the Holy Spirit. I'm trying to be a good Catholic,
but I'd love to be filled to overflowing with
the Holy Spirit. My goodness, I'd like to. to
be a good Pentecostal, but I cannot do it without
being filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit.
I can promise you that regardless of your tradition,
God's faithfulness can reach any Catholic, any
Pentecostal, any Baptist, any Moravian, because
our faith is in God's faithfulness. You say amen.
And so he goes on to say in writing to Titus,
this is verse eight, this is a faithful saying,
and these things I want you to affirm constantly
that those who have believed in God should be
careful to maintain good works. These things
are good and profitable. to men. It's as though
Paul would try to warn. those original Christians,
and in this little part of the whole book, he's
referencing those that are clinging to their
Jewish heritage and their tradition. By the time
we get a little bit further in the book, he really
nails this down, and he's not preaching against
heritage or against tradition, but he is preaching
for transformation. The ultimate evidence of
a changed heart is that we are careful. to maintain
good works, but our faith is not in our good
works. Our faith is in the faithfulness of God.
Why do people pray? It's not just because they
have faith in their prayers, they have faith
in the faithfulness of God. Why do people bring
their tithes, their offerings, they give to missions,
they help out in the community? It's not because
we expect that there is faith in those good deeds.
that's gonna save us a thousand times, no. But
if we have faith in the faithfulness of God,
we're gonna be careful to give, careful to pray,
careful to serve. Why? Because I am so confident
that he's a faithful God and every one of those
acts of faith is an opportunity for me to link
up with the promise of the Lord. This is not
just some old stendier stuff or some old pasture.
tradition or heritage and now it's kind of musty
and it's just kind of something I pull out of
the closet or out of the odd attic a couple times
a year or even every Sunday. No, God forbid,
I believe in the faithfulness of God and every
day that I give my heart to him, he is faithful
to change us to be more like him every day. I
fail. but I keep on growing because he is faithful.
I fall, but I get right back up because he is
faithful. I sin, but I go right back to that
altar and repent and he forgives me every time
because he is faithful. My faith is in God's.
faithfulness. I'm not trusting in my own faithfulness.
I am trusting in His faithfulness, and that's
gonna keep me praying, keep me serving, keep
me giving, keep me living for Him. Because He's
faithful, I will worship. Because He's faithful,
I will sacrifice. Because He's faithful, even
when I'm not faithful. Oh, what a privilege it
has been for me. to take baby Noah in my arms
today and dedicate him. I believe God's hand
is upon him. Until Jesus comes, we know that
even before the womb. God had a plan for Noah
and he'll keep working in his life every day.
But we don't ever want this to just be tradition
for Noah. We don't ever want this just to be
heritage. And not that that's not beautiful and
it doesn't have its place, but oh, thank God
for parents that will teach him as he gets old
enough to understand the reason why we go to
church is because God is faithful. The reason
why we worship is because God is faithful. The
reason why when you go to that church, sometimes
you'll see people jumping and running and hollering.
It's because God is faithful. It's not just our
heritage or our tradition. We have a God that
has been so faithful to us and we want to transmit
to anyone at any time. If you need a healing,
put your faith in the faithfulness of God. If
you need a miracle on any given Sunday, put your
faith in the faithfulness of God. If you look
back at the last week or two and you feel like
you've fallen and you failed or you went into
some sort of sinful attitude or even action.
Put your faith into the faithfulness of God and
he will restore you today. Oh let's pass that
on from generation to generation not as a tradition,
not as a heritage alone, but as a congregation
that is filled with hearts that are being changed.
by the presence of God. Would you stand with
me today, and could you bow your heads right
where you're standing, and could you pray that
old prayer from the psalmist, creating me a clean
heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit in me.
Cast me not away from thy presence. Take not
thy holy spirit from me. Jesus, thank you for
every part of my tradition. that's founded in
truth and the heritage that gives us this privilege
to have a company of believers that represent
who you are and what you do. But Jesus, don't
let any of my traditions become rituals. Don't
let anything of my heritage become history. Oh
God, I want my heart to be changed every day.
a little bit more of Jesus. Every day, a little
bit more of Jesus. Can you say in Jesus' name?
We have just a few minutes here today, but we
do have time to spend a little bit of time at
the altar. And I want to see someone in this
congregation that you have a need that nobody
else knows about, but you would put your faith
in the faithfulness of God. He is a healer. He
is a prayer answering God. I know in a crowd
this size, there could be someone. that you've
been plagued by thoughts of your own weaknesses
and sins. You love the Lord, that's never been
an issue, but you know that there's a temptation
that keeps dragging you down. In just a moment
when we all come to the altar, we're not gonna
know who's coming for what reason, so you can
come and know nobody's judging me. I am just
coming because my faith is in the faithfulness
of God. I don't know everybody's story today,
but I beg you if you are in this sanctuary and
you have Never put your faith in Jesus and repented
of your sins even for the very first time. Would
you meet me at this altar? Let's pray together.
Just kind of let me know when you get here. Oh,
pastor, I need to repent of my sins. I want to
give my life to the Lord. I want Jesus to be
my savior. If you are here today and you have
never been baptized in Jesus' name, forget about
the label you call yourself, whether it's a Methodist
or whether... whether it's someone that follows
after the teaching of Islam, or whether it's
even a Pentecostal, but you've never been baptized
in Jesus' name, could you put your faith in the
faithfulness of God and don't let your label,
don't let your tradition, don't let your heritage
keep you from all of your sins being washed away.
There is only one savior regardless of the religion
that went to the cross and died, so his blood.
could cover and literally blot out our sins.
His name is Jesus. And if we never see you again,
it would still be our privilege to baptize you
in Jesus' name. Because around here, that's not
just tradition. That's transformation. That's
transformation. And if you have served the Lord,
but you have never been filled with his spirit
as others are coming. For other reasons, would
you come meet me right in front of this pulpit
area and raise your hands and say, Jesus, I want
to be filled with your spirit today. He will
transform your heart. Thank you for coming. Everybody
that can come, why don't you come? Everybody
that can come, why don't you come? From all across
this sanctuary, thank you for coming. If you're
worshiping with us online, right where you are,
could you make an altar of prayer and just pray,
Jesus, don't let my Christianity just be heritage
and tradition. Don't let it be limited to a label
that I call myself, a Baptist. or a Pentecostal,
or Catholic, or Methodist. Oh, thank God for
your heritage, but don't let that stop you from
growing forward in a place where Jesus is regularly
changing your heart. It's not enough to be called
a Jew spiritually, physically. It's not enough
to be called a Christian spiritually, physically.
Somebody has gotta say, Jesus, change my heart
more. Every day, every day. Thank you so much
for coming to pray. Those of you that know how
to pray with others, I ask you to please be led
by the Spirit. There is a heart change taking
place. There is a heart change taking place.
Come on, appeal to the faithfulness of God. Don't
think about your faithfulness or lack thereof.
Just appeal to the faithfulness of God. Don't
focus on your weaknesses or your failures. Focus
on the faithfulness of God. Let him give you
what you need to overcome today in Jesus.