“Truly, truly I say to you,” that's what Jesus would say right before he was about to say something mind blowing, right before he was about to say something that might be hard for us to believe. And in Romans 9, the apostle Paul, he says something like “Truly, truly I say to you.” So, I want to invite everybody, if you've got a Bible, will you please open it with me to Romans chapter 9? Because today the Apostle Paul is going to share his heart with us. And this is kind of a radical transition, if you've been here in Romans, chapter 8. Was anybody encouraged by Romans Chapter 8 here at the church? Right? “Nothing can separate you from the love of Jesus, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.” See, Romans 8 was about our individual salvation. But now in Romans 9, Paul has something else he wants to say. And he starts by just kind of putting his guts out there, by just sharing his heart with us. You see, when Paul started writing Romans, he said, “I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” And then he said, “to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” And so, that's what you start getting into now in Romans 9, 10, and 11. Like he's been talking about salvation, and God's power for all of us who believe. But how do we think about the Jews being God's chosen people? And yet many of them don't believe? And how do we think about the Gentiles who are not God's chosen people, but yet, so many were believing in Jesus at this time. And so, he's going to start to explain how this works, both with the Jews and the Greeks. That's where we're going now in Romans, 9, 10, and 11.
So, we're really entering a different section. And to begin this part of the book, Paul has something that he wants you to know is true about himself. And so out of respect for God's word, I'm going to ask if we would all stand up for the public reading of Scripture. And if you're watching this online, I would ask that you would stand up with us; if you're in the overflow, stand up with us, as well. This is Romans 9:1-3. This is Paul, getting real share in his heart. And so please follow along as I read.
“I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.”
That's the reading of God's word, please go ahead and have your seat. And so, just like Jesus would say, “Truly, truly I say to you,” you can see, Paul here is saying, “I am speaking the truth.” And he even refers to Jesus when he says, “I'm speaking the truth in Christ.” Now this verse Romans 9:1, this is like classic Paul writing. Why say anything once, when twice would be just as nice. Right? So, he's not just going to say, hey, I'm telling you the truth. You ever have somebody say, when you're talking to him, hey, can I be honest with you? Because when people say that, to me, I'm always like, well, what were you being before? You know what I mean? Like, what happened here? Right? But Paul, he's been talking about us having this assurance of our salvation. But now Paul wants to say something about himself. Now, he's been writing to the church of Rome, he's been trying to encourage them in their faith. But now, I want to tell you something that's true about me. And so, he says, I'm speaking the truth. And he doesn't think he's an authoritative source like Jesus is. And so, he says, I'm speaking the truth in Christ. And in fact, he wants to say it positively, I'm going to tell you the truth, negatively, I am not lying.
And then Paul, he says, my conscience, it can bear witness to this, and not even just his own conscience, “my conscience can bear witness in the Holy Spirit.” So, this guy is really using a whole verse of scripture that whatever he's about to tell us, he wants us to know it's true. It's not a lie, and inside of himself, his internal conscience before God, before other people, what he's about to say, this is real. So, in Paul's mind, if you've gotten to know Paul at all, through going through the book of Acts, or through reading the thirteen letters that he writes in the Greek New Testament, Paul cares a lot about his conscience. And so, there is a handout in your bulletin if you do want to take some notes, and we want to start taking notes about the conscience, because Paul, he talked about his conscience a lot. He wrote about his conscience. Paul thought it was very important for his conscience to be clear, that even if other people are accusing you of things, you know that you're not guilty; you are right before God and others.
And so, let me just give you some of the many times that Paul refers to his own conscience. One of them is Acts 23:1, where Paul is literally on trial. Remember, the Jews regularly accused Paul, the Jews did not like that he was the apostle to the Gentiles and bringing Gentiles to faith. And so, there were Jews who came against him, and having him accused. And when he was before the Council once in Acts 23:1, he said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day,” like you can accuse me but I want you to know I stand here with a good conscience. And in Acts 24:16, Paul says, “I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man,” like I go out of my way, I'm careful, I'm making sure that I'm right with God, nothing wrong between me and God. And I'm right with other people, nothing wrong with me and someone else. And in fact, you might want to write down 2 Corinthians 1:12. If you know about Paul and the Corinthian church, people there were accusing Paul of something, saying some bad things about Paul. And so, he asked to write, not just 1 Corinthians, but 2 Corinthians. And towards the beginning in 2 Corinthians 1:12, he says, “Our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we have behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom, but by the grace of God and supremely so toward you.” Hey, whatever you guys think about me, I want you to know that my conscience is clear about you, that I've been living for God, not the way of the world. My conscience. it bears witness that I'm not doing anything wrong. So, when you can imagine that makes sense, a guy who was regularly being accused by other people, he didn't want to get lost in all the accusations. He needed to know that he was doing what was right before God and men.
Turn with me to 1 Timothy chapter 3. And let's go to what he says about the conscience. And 1 Timothy, because not only is Paul an example about the conscience, Paul thought that all of us at church should have a clear conscience. And 1 Timothy is a letter that Paul writes to his true son, his disciple in the faith, Timothy. But it's not just for Timothy. Paul says here in 1 Timothy 3:15 that if I delay, you want to come and see Timothy, but if he can't get there, “if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.” So, I'm writing to you, Timothy, not just about you, and not just about your church there in Ephesus, but I want to write how should people behave if they're in the church. If you're in the household of God, how should you conduct yourself? And one of the main themes in this letter of 1 Timothy is your conscience. Go back to chapter one, verse five. And let me just show you some of the references to the conscience in this letter. In 1 Timothy 1:5, he says, “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience, and a sincere faith.” Hey, we're trying to produce within people's hearts a love and this is what that love would look like. These people would have faith, and they would have a good conscience. Look at 1 Timothy 1:19, where he's charging Timothy, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith. And then he mentioned some names. Hey, if you don't keep the faith in Jesus, if you don't keep your conscience clear, and know that you're doing what is right, watch out, you could fall away from the faith like other people have. So, Timothy makes sure that you've got faith and you have a good conscience. Go over to 1 Timothy 3 with me. And he's going to write in chapter 3 about who's qualified to be a leader in the church, what kind of people should be the pastor's the elders, the overseers. And then he talks about another really important group of people in the church, the deacons or the deaconess. And he says this in 1 Timothy3:9, deacons are like recognized servants, official servant leaders in the church. And he says this about Deacons in 1 Timothy 3:9, “They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.” So, you can see this is how Paul lived. This is what Paul preached, like, hey, when you sit here at church today, do you know that you are right before God and that you are right with other people? Do you feel guilt? Do you feel shame? Or is your conscience clear? Is your conscience working? Does it accuse you when you do something wrong? And does it excuse you when you've done what is right? Because then he says this if you look at chapter 4 of 1 Timothy. He says, “the Spirit expressly says that in later times,” like 2023, “some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared. He's saying, there's guys out there teaching false things, leading people away from Jesus, and these false teachers, their conscience doesn't even work anymore. Like they've done so many things that they know are wrong. They've said so many things that they know aren't true that their conscience, it's not like saying, hey, that's not right. Hey, stop doing that. It's like their conscience has been seared, like it's been burnt. Like it's numb, like it's lost its feeling. And so now they're saying things and lying and saying things that shouldn't be said, because they've lost their internal kind of moral compass, they've lost their sense of right and wrong. And watch out, people are going to lose their conscience; make sure you're not one of them. That's Paul's message here in 1 Timothy. And so, Paul, whatever he's about to say, and clearly, he's built enough to say, and something that's going to be big to us here today in Romans nine. But the first thing he wants to say is “My conscience is clear” about what I'm going to say to you.
And so, let's get this down for point number one. Let's start with a question: “Is your conscience clear?” Is your conscience clear? And you'll kind of see where all this question is building up to. We haven't even got to what Paul's really talking about. This was all just “truly, truly I say to you,” I want to tell you something. And when I tell it to you, you may not believe me, but I want you to know that before God, and before you what I'm about to say is true.
So go back to Romans chapter 9. And now that we've hiked it up for a whole verse, Paul, what is it that you want to say? Well, he wants to share with you his heart in verse 2. And Paul's heart might not be what you expect, right? Can you imagine if you were one of the people in the church in Rome, and you find out that Paul, the apostle has written a letter to your church, and the whole church is going to get together at this day, at this time. And we're going to read the letter from Paul, like, you’ve got to be hyped to hear from Pau. Right? The great apostle, the church planter, the missionary. I mean, Paul, he's one of the coolest guys in all of Christian history. Right? You knock this guy down, he gets back up; you chase this guy from town to town, he keeps preaching the gospel. Like, this guy, he runs through walls in the name of Jesus, like, this guy is a hard charging go-getter. It was Paul that filled all of Asia with the Word of the Lord through his preaching. I mean, he's discipled people. He's encouraged people, like, yeah, one of the strongest guys, we know, Paul, what's he got to say to us? Well, what he actually wants to say might not be what you would expect from the Apostle Paul. Look at what he says in Romans 9:2, “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.” Here's what Paul wants to let you know, I'm a really a sad person. I am kind of in a constant state of grief. Like, if I can get real, what's going on inside of me down in my soul, down in my heart, is I don't feel like things are right. I'm bothered. I feel bad. I mean, it literally says here, “I have a mega sadness, and I have a constant grief.” That's what Paul wants to let you know, is in his heart, that in Paul, there is this care, there is this burden, there is this weightiness, and if something feels heavy inside of him, like he's not just like, yeah, let me tell you guys ministry is awesome. People are getting saved, churches are being planted. Woohoo, everything's great. That's not how Paul feels. Paul feels like this is really sad. And see that that might surprise you to hear that from Paul because one of the things I remember some of us got to go through the book of Acts together. And I remember when Paul was in Ephesus, and when Paul was there, we saw that word “megas” in the Greek or the verb is “megaluno:. It's like something going large, something going big. And we saw that the name of Jesus was extolled in the city of Ephesus, like through Paul's preaching, and through like demons being cast out and through many things that were happening in that city. Like it was known throughout the whole city, Jesus is on the move right here, right now. Like people were talking all over about Jesus Christ. So much, that the people at the temple down the street were the Temple of Artemis of the Ephesians. They caused a riot. And they started shouting, mega is Artemis, like, hey, don't let Jesus take over when he started, like, people aren't going to come to our temple and buy our stuff anymore. So, they had a riot to say no. Artemis is the one that's great among the Ephesians because the name of Jesus was just being lifted high. Like I think Paul's out there making the name of Jesus mega, but Paul wants to say no, I actually have mega sadness. And then this idea of like, “unceasing anguish” that it says there, it's like constant grief.
You could write down, if you're taking notes, 2 Timothy 1:3. 2 Timothy 1:3. Because at the beginning of this letter, when he writes another time to Timothy, he says, I thank God, whom I serve, as did my ancestors, but I serve with a clear conscience. There it is, again. I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day. See, that's how I think about Paul. Paul wasn't like a guy who just kind of punched the clock for Jesus, and he did a little bit for Jesus, and then he was going to do other things. Paul was full time for Jesus like night and day, a guy who's constant, a guy who's always abounding in the work of the Lord. That's how I think about Paul, like I could see Paul preaching to people all day long. And then when he's exhausted, and going home, at the end of the day, he's like writing a letter to somebody else, preaching the gospel to them. Like, and that's how his letters sound like, I thank God for you. I'm thinking of you. I'm remembering you. I'm praying for you night and day. I hope I can come see you. Like, you just feel this energy coming from Paul, like, he must have been one of the most encouraging guys to be around praying for the brothers and sisters, encouraging and building up all the other Christians. But he says, “Let me tell you something that's constant,” not just his encouragement but his grief. So, this guy is saying he's got strong sadness. And he's got consistent grief in his heart. So, Paul, he cares. Paul has compassion.
Let's get this down for number two, it's going to lead to asking ourselves: “Do you care?” Do you care? Do you have this level of feeling? See compassion, and in the Greek language, compassion is when you feel something in your bowels. And even when I say that word, bowels, some of you start flinching. Because bowels is not a word that you use in polite company. Like when you're talking to people at church, we don't like honestly if somebody starts saying what's going on in their bowels. I don't want to hear the rest of that conversation. Right, bro? I got some Tums. I got some Pepto, like, whatever I can do for you. And I talk about your bowels, and you don't want to hear me talking about my bowels. Let's just all agree. Right? That's usually kind of off limits. We don't talk about that. But usually, when it's associated with your bowels, it's not good. Right? Like you don't hear people saying my bowels feel awesome today. That's not something that you hear people talking about. Usually, they feel bad in their bowels. Have I said it enough times? Are you sick of it? Yeah. Is it bringing up a sick feeling inside of you? That's what compassion is. Compassion is when I feel bad for other people. And it bothers me. And I feel sad about it. I don't think things are right. In fact, I'm so like thinking about somebody else. I'm so concerned for somebody else. I'm so bothered for what's going on with somebody else that I'm not over here just having a happy day, thinking everything's great because I'm feeling great. I'm over here and my day is actually starting to feel sad and discouraged, because I'm actually feeling how somebody else's day is going, not just me. That's how Paul is. Paul cares. Paul's not like, hey, we've seen some people get saved. We've seen some churches being planted. That's good enough for me. No, he's like, I'm still feeling sad. I'm still feeling like things aren't right. And then he says, well, what he's caring about here in Romans 9:3, this is when he drops the statement. And yeah, you might be surprised that he's sad. And then he's got grief. But then he says this, and this is where it's like, whoa, he says, I could wish that I myself were accursed, and cut off from Christ, for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.
Now, Paul understands, I believe, when he says this, that this isn't something he can actually do. He says, I could wish it's kind of a hypothetical statement. But basically, he's trying to express the level of care that he has, where it's like I would be a cursed for my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh, implying that they are the ones who right now are cut off from Christ. They are the ones right now who are a curse and I wish that I could trade places with them that I could be a curse so they could be saved is really what he's saying here. And when he says it here in Romans 9:3, when he says “my brothers,” usually Paul means brothers, like his fellow Christians. But look at how he says it here in verse 3, my brothers and then he says, “my kinsmen according to the flesh, and then going into Romans 9:4, just to be very clear, they are Israelites. So, when he says, “brothers” in this particular verse, he's referring to his fellow Jews.
So, what Paul has done is a radical transition from Romans 8 to Romans 9, we're going to talk about the Jews. Now the Jews, as they were in Paul's day as they are today, the Jews are God's chosen people, but many of the Jews don't believe in Jesus Christ, God's Anointed One. How are we supposed to think about that? That's what Paul is about to get into. But the first thing he wants you to know is how much he cares for that felt his fellow Jews to the point that if he could be accursed, which means perishing, which means apart from Jesus, not saved? Could he if he could, he would be not saved so that they could be saved. Wow. Now that might be surprising, because the Jews have been accusing Paul and trying to kill Paul for pretty much all of his ministry, like this guy has fled the Jews on many occasion, and they've lied about him and falsely accused him. And so, I mean, can you imagine people are trying to kill you, people are chasing you, people are acting like your enemy. And yet, you're ready to say that you would trade places with them, so that they could be saved. See, people might think that because the Jews were so against Paul. And because Paul was so aggressive at reaching the Gentiles, reaching all nations, people might come to the conclusion that Paul was becoming against the Jews. But Paul wants to clarify here once and for all. Now, let me tell you how much I care for my fellow Jews. I'm brokenhearted for them. And if I could go to hell in their place, I would sign up to do that, so that they could know Jesus like I do. Wow. That's a strong statement.
In fact, there's a word here, I'll throw it up here on the screen. It's a Greek word “anathema”. I don't know if you've ever heard this Greek word anathema before, but this is strong language, and it's translated here, accursed, it is the word that means to be damned, like eternally judged in your soul. That is the idea of anathema; if you say something is anathema, that is using strong language to say that will experience the judgment of God for eternity. And so, Paul is saying this emphatically, like I would choose to go to hell for those who might be on their way there. So, because I don't want them to go there, I would go in their place.
Go with me to Galatians chapter 1 and let me show you another place where Paul uses the word anathema. So, you can kind of feel how strong this language is, and in Romans 9, he's using the word about himself. Here in Galatians. One he uses anathema about false teachers, because Paul had preached to the Galatians, the gospel of Jesus, and the gospel of Jesus is really good news. The gospel of Jesus is that God loved you so much he gave his one and only son and that Jesus, Jesus is the Son of God. He is the Anointed One, the Christ, the Messiah, the One all the promises, all the prophecies, they all point to Jesus, and Jesus, the Son of God, he died in your place on the cross, he paid for your sin, he paid it in full. And on the third day, what did he do up from the grave? He arose with a mighty triumph for his foes. And through the resurrection, Jesus now promises everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. That's the gospel. And Paul preached to the Galatians. And they believed it and then these other people said, yep, but you’ve really got to become Jews. If you're going to be the people of God, you really need to get circumcised. In fact, you really need to do the things of the law. And so, they came in preaching a different gospel. Here's what Paul had to say about that. Galatians 1:8. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preach to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. Let him be anathema. I don't care who it is. Paul says, if it's me, if it's an angel from heaven, it could be anybody. If they're telling you there's another way to be saved, other than Jesus is the Christ who died on the cross for your sins, and rose again, then let them be damned. That's what he's saying right here. He's saying no, there is no gospe;l there is only one name given among men under heaven. No one is ever getting saved unless they're doing it through Jesus. He is the way; he is the truth. He is the life. Nobody gets to the Father except through the Son, Jesus Christ. Can I get an Amen from anybody here today?
And if anybody says anything other than that, let them be anathema. So, he's saying it in such strong language, so you would be like, wow, that would be terrible to give a different gospel than the gospel of Jesus. Well, now in Romans 9, Paul is willing to put the anathema on himself, let me experience all of that eternal judgment on my soul so that my fellow Jews could know salvation in Jesus Christ. And you think that's pretty extreme? Paul, I don't even know if that's how it works, that you would be willing to go to hell so they could be saved. But actually, if you start to think about what Paul is saying, that he's willing to be accursed, so that they would not be accursed, you actually realize who is the one who took the curse so we won't be cursed.
Go over to Galatians 3:13. Look at how Paul expresses it here. When he's talking about what Jesus has done for us in Galatians 3:13, he says, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.” So, wait a minute, as extreme as what Paul is saying, sounds like Paul has given us this whole build-up about his conscience; Paul's pouring out his heart, like this heavy sadness. And then Paul is saying it in a strong way that he would trade places with those who are on their way to eternal judgment, so they could be saved. As extreme as all of that sounds, wait a minute, Paul's just sharing his heart and his heart is actually the same as Jesus’. Now this is actually what love looks like. Jesus was cursed. Jesus experienced the judgment, the wrath of God for my sin, for my soul. Jesus purchased my soul with his precious righteous blood, like Jesus experienced God's judgment so I will never have to. Anybody want to say Amen to that? Like, yeah, I should have been anathema. I should have been judged, and Jesus was judged in my place. And now what do I have? The righteousness of Jesus Christ, and I'll get to share his glory forevermore. Hey, Paul is just saying that he cares for people in the same way that Jesus cared for people. It says here in this verse Galatians 3:13 that Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written curse. It is everyone who is hanging on a tree. That's a reference to Deuteronomy 21:22-23, where anyone who hangs on a tree because they deserve to die, that person, they are cursed by God. And then there's even this statement there in Deuteronomy, like, make sure you take that person down off that tree, by the time the sun sets, and make sure you bury the. Don't leave them all night hanging on a tree, because then that curse will defile the land. So, I mean, this is something all the Jews would have understood, oh, see that guy dying on a tree hanging on a tree. That means they're cursed by God and Jesus, he was crucified on a tree. And he did bear the curse of our sin, so that we could experience salvation forevermore. No, Jesus, he cared about us, Jesus had compassion to die in our place. And all Paul is doing in Romans 9:1-3 is expressing his heart, and he has the same heart as Jesus, that it really bothers him. It bothers him down in his bowels, down in the deepest part of who he is, that there are so many Jews who are not saved, and they need to know Jesus, they need to be saved. And so, what is his conscience clear about? His conscience is clear that he really cares.
And then here's the third part of the question number three: “Are you about Jesus saving souls?” Are you about Jesus saving souls? That's what he really cares about. He cares that people are going to be accursed, they're going to be cut off from Christ, people are going to perish apart from the life of Jesus, forevermore. And he's like, oh, if only I could trade places, if only I could take that so that they wouldn't have to. Oh, there are so many Jews that don't believe, and it's breaking my heart. That's what Paul wants us to know. Paul was not content that some people were getting saved. Paul had a burden for all people to be saved.
So, the question then comes to us. If this is the heart that Jesus had to become the curse for us? If this is the heart that Paul had, that he really cares for those who are lost, then the question that I'm here to ask you today is do you care for people who don't know Jesus, people who right now are cut off from Christ, and they would be accursed, they would be anathema. They are headed towards death, apart from Jesus. Do you care? That's the question. Now, you might hear me say, do you care? And you might think, well, that sounds very judgmental, that you would ask that question. I'm not here to judge anybody. I don't know what's going on in your heart. I'm just saying, do you see Paul's heart? Let's ask the question of ourselves. Do we have the same heart? Do we have this same kind of care? Do you ever feel sad? Do you ever feel grief? Like, look at these people that don't know Jesus. Look how much they need Jesus. Look, what's going to happen to them if they don't believe in Jesus? Does it ever bother you is what I'm asking. Now, I would imagine, at church, if you ask people, do you care for people's souls? The right answer to that question at church is going to be well, of course I do. And, and maybe people will even be offended that we're asking, if you care, that we're not assuming that you already do care.
Well, let me just share a story from my own life when I got married. Wow, I was so happy to be married. I was so happy to be married to my wife. I was the kind of guy when I got married, when I got engaged, when I got married. I was the kind of you know that guy you see, you might call me cheesy, that's fine. I can own it. I'm like walking around and the world is moving in slow motion. Does anybody else know what I'm talking about? The clouds are all parting, the sun is shining. There she is everybody. I mean, I was one of those guys. Right? I walked around with a positive vibe kind of a feeling because that's my wife. Can you believe it? Can you believe it? That's my wife. She's awesome. Right? Now, as we start living out, being married, and as I start realizing what a husband is, apparently, just having positive vibes is not just what your wife wants you to be about. Apparently, however, I might feel in and of myself, does not really come across to my wife, or any other sane person, like love. See, like, I can be over here like, hey, everything's great, because I feel good about you and me, praise God. Right? But no love. Love is more than just me thinking I feel a certain way. Love is such a profound movement of the soul that you can actually see it in real life. Because love produces itself in tangible actions, where I go and say things to my wife, and I listen to what my wife says. And I'm ready to show it by doing this or not doing that. See, love actually has nothing to do with how I might think I feel inside of me. Love bursts forth into real living. See? And that's what my wife expects from me. Oh, do you love your wife? Of course, I love my No, no. What does it actually look like for a husband to love his wife? It's not just that he's happy that she is her wife. It's not just that, yes, I understand. They're lost, and I have some kind of feeling about it. No, no, no. What does it mean to really care for lost souls? Do you really care for them? That's the question.
Go back to the book of Romans, Romans chapters 9, 10, and 11. And what we’ve got in these first three verses here today, is we’ve got his heart. But see, Paul, he's going to build the case over these three chapters. He's going to tell us for the rest of Romans 9, I mean, it's going to get deep, like, wow, how could the Jews be God's chosen people? And yet many Jews are not saved? How does that whole thing of God's election and God's choosing how does that all work out? Well, he's going to get deep into that in chapter 9, but then look at what he gets to write into Romans 10:1, and this time when he says, “Brothers,” I think he's back to talking to the church in Rome. He's back to talking to brothers and sisters in Christ. Because he says, Brothers, my heart's desire, that's what he just shared with us in 9:1-3. Well, here he says, Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them, and I think them now is his fellow Jews, is that they may be what does it say there, everybody? Oh, wow. So, his heart's desire of care leads to prayer.
Let's get that down for one of the questions we want to ask ourselves: “How do you care if you don't pray?” How do you care if you don't pray? Like if you're really sad, if you're bothered, if there's a sense that things aren't right, because so many people aren't saved? If you say you care, well, then let me ask you, do you pray for people who aren't saved? Do you pray for them to be saved? That would be a way that we would expect care to manifest itself, we would expect that care to be expressed in prayer, that person is not saved. God, you're the only one who can save, they can only be saved by you. You're the mighty God who saves, you're our Savior, you've got the strong hand, you've got the outstretched arm. God, you need to save them, the only way you're going to save them is through your Son Jesus, through his death, and resurrection, so I can tell that they're lost. And I know you're the only one finding people so because you have a care for that soul, you express that in prayer to God. When was the last time you were pouring out your heart for God to save people? And let me just be very clear, you're actually asking for God to save them. That's not just Lord, please make them come to church. That's not what this is saying. Lord, please make them change their mind about the bad things they're doing. That's not praying for them to be safe. Have you ever heard somebody pray? God, I just pray that they'll hit rock bottom. I pray that everything won't work in their life. I pray that their whole life, their whole plans will fall apart. And you're looking at the brother and sister like, I hope you're not praying for me, bro. You know what I mean? Like you Oh, like, I don't want people to hit rock bottom. I want people to get saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. See, sometimes you hear people praying such weak things like that. Let them open their eyes. Look, they're blind. They're not going to open their eyes, God's going to have to open their eyes. Like, God has to do a mighty work on the inside. He's got to remove the heart of stone and put in a heart of flesh. He's got to put his Spirit to make somebody who's dead in sin alive in Christ. Are you asking God to do that? Or are you just hoping their life will get incrementally better? See? Are you really praying for people to get saved? If you really care, his heart's desire and prayer for them is that they would be saved.
Go back to 1 Timothy 2 with me. And look at what Paul says. See, this is what I'm so afraid is going to happen. During this sermon, our people are going to start being like, oh, here we go again. You know, we’ve got to care about lost people. And I know Paul's like that, but I'm not Paul. And I can tell by the way, you're preaching this sermon, you're kind of like that, too. But I'm not that person. And I'm not like you. I'm not like Paul. That's not my personality. I'm not one of those people, really. Okay, well, let's go to 1 Timothy chapter 2. And let's see, is there a certain type of Christian who cares about lost people and prays for lost people? Or is that just something that is Christian, is to care for lost people and pray for lost people, because remember, 1 Timothy, we already turned here before. And we saw that this is how we should behave at the household of God. 1 Timothy was written so that Timothy would know and we could know how one ought to conduct oneself in the household of God in the church. And here in 1 Timothy 2, look what Paul says, first of all, then I urge that supplications prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings, be made for…who does it say there everybody? All people, not just praying for the brothers and sisters at church. Who are we praying for? We're praying for all people. What kind of all people are we talking about? We're talking about kings, and all who are in high positions. We're talking about the governing authorities of the nations, of the states, of the cities, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it's pleasing in the sight of God. And who is God? God, our Savior, desires all people to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
So, when we say do you care for lost people? Do you pray for lost people? Who is the first group of people that comes to everybody's mind that they want to pray for to be saved? Who comes to everybody's mind, first, your family, your extended family? Now, I hope that you care for the souls of your family, maybe immediate family members, maybe extended family members, I hope that you do pray for your family members, even maybe ones who have persecuted you, falsely accused you. I hope that you do pray for them. I hope that you have a sense of sadness for your family members who are not saved. I want to strongly encourage everybody to care and to pray for your family members. That's not what this is saying right here. You can't hear a sermon about people being saved and always think of your family members. Your family is some people, but it's not all people. And this says we're praying for all people. So, Paul has family members, but that's not who he's talking about in Romans 9:1-3. He's talking about his fellow Jews. He's talking about his whole countrymen. In fact, so you could pray for the Jews. You could pray for the people in Gaza. You could pray for any nation in the world that you want to pray for, but really the comparison would be for our fellow Americans. I'm talking about praying for all the Americans. I'm talking about praying for Democrats and Republicans that are Americans. I'm talking about praying for people who agree with you, and people who don't agree with you. I'm talking about all people, not just some people. Maybe you’ve got somebody that you're really praying for, that's awesome. Keep praying for them. Keep praying for them, pray till you see them get saved. But guess what this is saying, we're here to pray for all people and that's God's heart. That's why he sent Jesus. In fact, look what it goes on to say here about God, our Savior, who desires all people to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth, for there is one God and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for…who does it say there, everybody? Yeah, not just some, not just my family, not just this person I know. But this needs to go to all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.
I mean, these kinds of prayers that we need to be praying for all people, look at how it says it back in Romans 9:1, it says four different words, “supplication, prayers, intercessions, and Thanksgiving.” Supplications are need-based prayers. Because I see the need for this person to believe in Jesus, I see the need for this person to have that new, abundant, eternal life. And so, when I pray a prayer, I'm directing my thoughts to God, I see that they have a need, and God is the only one who can meet the need. God is the only one who is mighty to save. So, this person has got the need, God's got the power to save through the Gospel. And then it says, after “supplications, prayers, intercession,” so now what I'm going to do is this person has the need, but maybe they're not praying. And God's over here. He's got the power, the ability. He can save them. So, I'm talking to God on behalf of, I'm interceding. I'm saying, Father, these people right here, my fellow Americans, wow, we really need you. I mean, we need you more in America than we ever have. Wow, there's many of us that still think we could vote for some man, and he could turn this thing around, that's not going to happen. Father, we need you to do a mighty work of salvation here in the United States of America. And I'm afraid that many of my fellow Americans aren't praying. In fact, I hear some of them mocking prayer, like it's not even going to do anything. And so, on the behalf of the United States of America, I come to pray to you today. That's intercession, praying, not just for yourself, and not just for your family, but praying on behalf of somebody else. And then it says, with “thanksgiving”; see, the kind of prayer where I'm not just asking God to save people, because I think that's what I'm supposed to pray. I'm asking God to save people, because I have faith that Jesus is on the move, and he's still saving more souls right now, living in the day of salvation. And God, we're asking that you would show us your glory, show us you are mighty, show us you are able, show us your salvation. I want to see it with my eyes, I want to see lives change right in front of me, I want to see dead men walking as only you can do, Father. So, I'm asking you to save. Are you praying like that? Are you praying like, oh, no, it's his story. He's going to save more people. And in fact, I believe in a God who doesn't find any pleasure in the death of the wicked. He's not happy when sinners...no, In fact, that's why God hasn't sent Jesus back yet to judge the world. That's why Jesus hasn't come back yet, even though he could come to Israel, and he could make everything right right now. Well, the reason that God hasn't sent Jesus back yet is God is so patient, because he doesn't want people to perish, because he wants more people to reach repentance. Do you realize that the reason you and I are alive today, the reason you and I are still on planet earth today is God is not done saving people, yet, there are more souls that he wants to save. And if you forget that, if you're not praying for that, if you think today exists for some other purpose than more people on planet earth being saved in the name of Jesus, then you have actually lost the plot of history and you are missing the point of life. The point of life today is more people need to be saved, see? And if you're not praying for people to be saved, you have become disconnected with the real purpose of reality. And you're supposed to be praying for all people to be saved. This is how the church should always be. When did it become that some people in the church cared about lost people, but that was in other people's gift. That's not what Paul says here. Paul says every one of us that needs to be somebody who cares for lost souls, every one of us needs to be a prayer warrior for God to save more people for his glory. And then, in classic Paul fashion, he has more to say.
Go back to Romans 9:10. Because not only has he expressed his heart's desire very clearly, and not only is he saying that that heart's desire leads to a prayer for salvation for the Jews, but then he's going to go on in Romans 10 to describe well, what does it mean to be saved? How does someone go about getting saved? And he's going to give a very often-quoted verse, Romans 10:9, because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be what everybody? Saved. See, that's what we want people to do. We want people to know who Jesus is. We want people to know that he died for their sins and rose again. And then we want people to believe in Jesus, if they could just put their trust in Jesus, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. So, you see how Paul's got his caring for the lost people, he's got to think about praying for the lost people. Oh, and they could be saved. They could call on Jesus. That's what I did. I called on Jesus, and he rescued me from my sins. He gave me a new life. Other people could experience that too. But then Paul, he wants us to think it through. Look, he gets down to verse 14, and we're going to get here in Romans 10. Are you guys ready for people to get saved? Okay, well, how will they call on him? How can they call on the name of Jesus in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they've never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? Hey, let's think this through. Do people need to be saved? Yes. Do you want people to be saved? Yes. Well, how do they actually call on the name of the Lord to be saved? If they don't believe and how do they believe unless somebody tells them the good news of Jesus?
Some of you guys right now you're like, oh, here we go. I knew it was coming. We're all going to sign up. He's going to have us marching down Main Street by the end of this service. Here we go. We're all going to become professional door knockers. I can see it right now. Oh, boy. Right? No, no, no, no, there’s nothing like that going on here. I'm asking you a question. Is your conscience clear that you really care about Jesus saving more people, all people? I'm just asking you to consider your own heart. And then I do want to ask one more question. We already asked how do you care if you don't pray? Well, how about this one?
For our second question: How do you care if you don't ever speak? How do you care if you don't ever speak? Look, I do think we should go talk to complete strangers about Jesus. I think we should talk to everyone we can about Jesus. You want to know why I think that? Because two complete strangers walked up to my dad one day and told him about Jesus. And that's how he believed. And that's pretty important for me, because that's where I came from. See, there are people at this church, that complete strangers knocked on their door, and told them about Jesus. And they've been saved. There are people who saw an ice cream truck, what is that about? Why does the church have an ice cream truck? And they got saved. There is a lady who is a part of our church family who serves here at this church. And she just heard somebody else telling somebody else the gospel, and it led to her getting saved. This is like ricochet evangelism. This is like just shrapnel from the gospel going off over here, led to this lady’s salvation. So yes, yes. I’ll confess, I think every one of us should go tell a complete stranger about Jesus. That's not what I'm saying here today, though. What I'm saying here today is, how could you feel a burden for other people not knowing Jesus? How could you be down on your knees, praying for people to know Jesus, and then when a moment comes, that you could speak about Jesus, you decide, that's not for me to do? Because you don't need to go out and look for opportunities to share the gospel. All you need to do is live in the United States of America these days, and you'll have chances to share the gospel of plenty. Like all you have to do is be happy in love and getting engaged to another Christian. I've talked recently with some people who got engaged, and they've got these goofy smiles coming across their faces. They remind me of me, they're hearing music when no music is playing. You know what I mean? And these people, they're so engaged, and you want to know what happens to Christian, young men and women who get engaged these days is people at their work. People at the gym, people that live in the apartment down the hall from them, you know what they say to them? Wait a minute, you got engaged and you don't even live together? Like how do you know that's even somebody you want to be with and why? You even getting married these days in the first place? Like all you’ve got to do is let people know in your life, I'm in love, we're getting married, and people are going to be like, well, what's wrong with you that you would want to do that? All you’ve got to do is don't use swear words. Don't talk bad about other people behind their back, and don't complain about everything that's going on wherever you live, and people are going to be like, you've got a problem. What is it? You're not fitting in with the United States of America these days? You're acting friendly. You're acting like you care about people. You're acting like you see people as souls, and not just people who are in your way. What is wrong with you? Well, how can I tell you that I met Jesus, and he radically changed my life? Can I tell you that I go to church on the weekend, and I get so excited about Jesus that I don't care about doing those other things anymore? Can I tell you that I believe that Jesus loved me so much, he died for me. And that has really changed who I am on the inside.
So what I'm actually implying is that you will have to work hard to avoid talking to people about Jesus. And if you care, why don't you just speak his name? Why don't you just share it? Like what has happened to Christians today? That we’re ready to say the most important thing that ever happened to me, was me hearing somebody tell me about Jesus. But I don't think it's that important to tell other people, it might upset them. You know, what I hope? That it upsets them to the point that they're never the same after that.
See, I was with a group of guys at our church the other day, and we were talking about the word and this topic came up like why do some Christians today think that just speaking about Jesus to other people is not my job. And in true, like fellowship, group fashion, when you're hanging out with other Christians, my brother in Christ, he got so fired up. He's like, I know a verse that convinced me that I need to share with people and then he's like, let me take you guys to the verse. And we all get our Bibles out. And then the brother in Christ has absolutely no idea where this verse is. Have you ever been there before? Like, let me tell you about this verse. It completely changed my life. My entire trajectory was radically redirected. Oh, it's amazing. Yeah, I cannot find it. Guys. I'm so sorry. Have you been in this conversation? Well, I know it's in the book of Proverbs. So, let's all turn to Proverbs. It's somewhere in there. Proverbs 11. Proverbs 12. Like, the rest of us have completely moved on with the conversation at this point. Right? But no, he's got treasure. And he can't remember where he found it. But he knows it's in there. And then eventually, we get to Proverbs 24:11-12. And when my brother in Christ started reading this verse to me, and my other brothers, I was like, have I even ever heard this verse before? Do I even know this word? How come this verse is coming across to me like this is new information to me. And in Proverbs 24:11, it says, a very earnest, and kind of an intense line here, this is Proverbs 24:11. It says, “Rescue those who are being taken away to death.” Rescue those who are being taken away to death, and then it says, “hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. And I think when I preach a sermon about the fact that there's a lot of people who don't know Jesus, and do we care for them, do we pray for them? Are we ready to give a reason that we have hope in Jesus, when they ask us why we have hope in Jesus, when I say stuff like that, what I think people hear is that I want you to become a volunteer firefighter. Like that seems overwhelming. Like I have to go to the academy. I’ve got to wear the hat, the big old jacket. Do I have to carry an oxygen tank on my back? Do I have to carry the axe? Am I riding in the truck? Do I have to go up a ladder? Like it just feels like you're asking me I have to go be able to answer any question anyone may ever have about Jesus. I don't know if I can do that. Look, I'm not asking anybody here to be a volunteer firefighter. I'm asking you, if you knew there was a fire, would you care? I'm asking you. If you knew there was a fire, would you call 911? I'm asking you, if you knew that there's a fire and that fire is burning. And people who go into that fire are there. They're dying and they need to be rescued. And then you see this person and this person is walking towards the fire. This person is going to perish. They are going to be burned. I'm asking you, will you say hey, you. You don't want to go over there.
That's what I'm asking. Do you care to say that to someone? See, we're don't need to go become professional evangelists. We just need to be saved; people who have a heart and a soul for the lost. And so, yeah, when somebody says, man, my marriage is falling apart; man, I got this diagnosis, and I'm not sure what's going to happen to me; man, I just feel purposeless. And I'm not sure what my point in life is. Do you hear what they're saying from their soul? And do you care? Do you want to rescue those who are being led away to death? And you think, well, that's not my job. As for somebody else to do, I'm not supposed to get in those kinds of conversations. Look at what it goes on to say here in Proverbs 24:11, after it says, “rescue those who are being taken away to death, hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter,” if you say, behold, we did not know this does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know. And will he not repay man according to his work? Like you might be able to try to feel good about, hey, it's not for me to say something to somebody. But what does God think about you not saying something to somebody? Right? Like, God knows that you know that that person's lost. God knows that you know that person needs Jesus. What do you think God's going to think about you saying, I don't need to tell them the good news.
He's the one who weighs your heart. He's the one who watches over your soul. See, I'm asking you, is your conscience clear before God about the way you care for other people to be saved by Jesus? It's not a question you need to answer for me, or here at our church. This is a question between you and God. Because if God has opened your eyes to see Jesus, then you know that you were going to die in your sins, but now you're alive because Jesus died for your sins. And now you can look at that other person, and you can see that they're going to die in your sins, and God's not going to act like you didn't know that. God knows you know that. He's the one who gave you the knowledge to know that.
And so, we want to act like we know how to be saved ourselves. But we want to act like we're not going to share that with someone else. What do you think God is going to think about that thought. He's the one who weighs your heart, he's the one who watches over your soul. Because what I am here to say today is that we are surrounded within a short drive from here, there are hundreds of thousands of souls who are anathema. And if sinners be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped around their knees, imploring them to stay. And if hell must be filled, let it be filled with the teeth of our exertions. And let not one go unwarned and prayed for. That's what Charles Spurgeon said about this. In fact if they’re going to hell, they’ve got to go through me. Because I actually do care. That's what he said. That's what Paul said. That's what Jesus said, is that what we're saying here in Huntington Beach.
And I want to bring you guys a progress report, I want to bring you guys a praise report, actually, that as a pastor who's been here at this church from the beginning, until today, and who tries to oversee what God is doing here at this church, and who talks to people here all the time, I want to let you know, we have more people at this church that care about lost souls than we have ever had before. So, I think we should take a moment right now, because from the beginning of this church, we have been saying that the harvest is plentiful, and the laborers are few, and we have been asking God to send out more laborers into his harvest field. And I'm here to tell you, we have more laborers in the harvest field right now than we have ever had before. Can we take a moment to thank the Lord for answering our prayer? And I'll tell you why. The reason that we're getting a new auditorium is not because we had some goal to have a bigger auditorium. The reason we're getting a new auditorium is we started to run out of seats in this auditorium. And the reason we started to run out of seats in this auditorium, it's because people in this room care about lost people and they talk to them when they live by them, when they meet them at family gatherings. When they go to the gym with them, and they keep saying to them things about Jesus, things about their church, and you should come with me. And you know what happens? People run out of reasons to say no, that's what happens. And they come to church with those people. And guess what happens when some of those people come to church, they hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. And God opens their eyes, and he answers our prayers. And he gives them a new heart. And he puts his spirit within them. And they believe in the Lord Jesus, and they call on his name, and they are saved. And guess what those people do? They go running out of here, and they tell everybody, you’ve got to come and see. That's why we've run out of room, we've run out of room because God is answering our prayer. And many people actually do care for lost people. So, praise the Lord. But guess what? Now we’ve got twice as many seats, everybody. And so now, we're going to need more people to care than ever before.
And so, I'm saying, in a few weeks, Lord willing, we're going to be in a whole new auditorium. And there might be somebody next to you. And you've never seen that person. As far as you know, you don't know who they are. I'm asking you, are you going to care about that person? I mean, even at church, do you care about the other people that are around you? And if you know what we've been praying for the last at least three years, if you know what our heartbeat really is here at Compass HB, our heartbeat isn't just to have a bigger auditorium here in Huntington Beach. No, we're actually praying for this thing called the double double project, where we not only want to see more souls reached here in Huntington Beach, but we want to see not just one church here in Huntington Beach, but we want a whole another church. And where are we going, everybody? What's our mission field? We're going to Long Beach, everybody. So, we want to go not just from this auditorium to double sized auditorium, we want to go from one church and multiply into two churches. And what kind of people do we want to send to Long Beach? We want to send the laborers, we want to send soul winners, we want to send the prayer warriors, we want to send a whole bunch of people who really care for lost souls, to go raise the name of Jesus in Long Beach, which means we want to take all the people we've got here, and we want to send a whole bunch of them out there. So yeah, praise God. We've got a whole bunch of people who care, but we need more people who care than ever before.
And so, do you care? Are you one of the people who care? I'm not here to judge you. But I am here to tell you that this is something God will judge you for. Jesus goes so far in Matthew 10:32-33. To say that those who acknowledge me before men, I acknowledged before my Father who is in heaven, but those who deny me before men, I deny before my Father who is in heaven. So, I don't know where this idea came from. I'm a happy Christian person, I feel good about Jesus in my life. I'm so glad I'm going to heaven. But I'm not really caring for the lost, I'm not really praying for the lost. And for sure, I don't think it's my job to talk to the lost. I don't know where that came from. But it didn't come from this book. It didn't come from Jesus' heart or Paul's heart. It didn't come from him saying this is how we ought to conduct ourselves in the church. No, see, where people who know that I was anathema. I was accursed. I deserve to be judged. And Jesus took all that judgment from me. And now I'm a whole new person, the old me is gone. Hey, I'm a new creation in Christ. And the point is not just for me to have a happy feeling in myself as a Christian, the point is for me to also feel a sadness and the grief that looked at all these souls that are not saved. And I'm asking you, do you feel bad? Do you feel it in your bowels? Do you have a compassion for people who need Jesus? And he's that love that would lead such a profound work of the soul, that it would actually lead to the way that you would change your life. No one is born caring about lost people. But everyone who is born again, how could you not relate to lost people, and their need to be saved? So, we want to be here at Compass. We want Compass to be short for compassion. We want to be a church who cares? We don't ever want to say, hey, some people got saved. No, because we're praying for all people to be saved. Let's pray.
Father in heaven, we pray that you would help us to see Paul's heart. There it is. He told us the truth. He has a clear conscience to say this to us. He's got a sorrow and a grief down in his soul. And it's because so many of his fellow Jews don't believe in your son Jesus, and they're going to be anathema. And here's Paul, putting the thought in our heads today that he would be accursed so that they could be saved. So, Father, please let your word speak to us. Father, I've heard it said that your word does a better job of reading us than we do of reading it. So will you please let the Scriptures we looked at today show us in our hearts if we really care for the lost souls around us, not just this specific lost soul, not just my family who's lost, but all the lost people around us. Does that care lead to prayer? And does that prayer lead to me not just calling 911 and asking you to save people, but saying to somebody, hey, you, don't go there, that place is burning down. Father, I pray that people who are on their way to help today will have to go through us. And they will meet somebody who actually cares about them, somebody who actually loves them, somebody who could actually give them a glimpse into what Jesus did for them. And I pray Father, that you will give us this new auditorium and fill it with souls and save many. I pray that you will plant a church in Long Beach and fill it with souls and save many, but I pray that no matter how many souls get saved, there will always be wondering who's next. Because I have a God who desires all to be saved. And to come to the knowledge of the truth. So, I pray that we wouldn't be content with some when you desire all. Make us people who have the heart after your heart Father, we pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.