We have before us a legal picture. We need to keep in mind in this chapter, it is Paul’s purpose to prove that every person in the world is a sinner and they are in desperate need of salvation. In Romans 1:19 Paul showed the total pagan is guilty and needs a Saviour. Then he moved on to the good, moral person and he proved the good, moral person is guilty and needs a Saviour. Next, he moved to the religious person—the church member—and he showed that the religious person is a sinner guilty and in need of a Saviour. With this in mind, Paul now summarizes the case. It…

Before we go any further, I want you to look down at the tee in your hand  because it’s the story the whole message of this talk in miniature. For roughly three hundred years after this game began, there was no such thing as a manufactured tee. A golfer, or more often his caddie, would kneel, wet a small pile of sand, and mold it by hand into a little mound just high enough to rest the ball on. Every tee shot in the early history of golf began with somebody else getting their hands dirty so the ball could sit up off the ground. This course is where the…

Some years ago I preached a sermon entitled “Ten Good Things in Hell.” I realize when you read that title you are no doubt saying to yourself, I have never heard of good things in hell. Even though I will not list them now, good intentions will be in hell.  Millions of people have good intentions to someday come to Christ or have good intentions to live a peaceful life. Yet good intentions alone have never saved a person or helped that person to become born-again in Christ. In my early years, when I was fortunate to preach almost 90 youth camps across the United States, I did hear some…

In chapter 1 of Romans, the apostle Paul began to build his trial case against the sinful lifestyle of mankind. As we proceed into chapter 2, Paul becomes the prosecuting attorney. One by one he assembles all of the human race to stand before the judgment bar of God and demonstrates the whole world is guilty and in desperate need of a Savior. We know the great theme of the book of Romans is the Gospel, the good news of what God has done through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross of Calvary. We won’t fully appreciate the “good” news until first of all we get a good understanding…

Mary of Bethany anointed the feet of Jesus with some perfume. She had an alabaster box and she broke it and anointed the feet of Jesus. Now, I don’t know whether you remember that story in the Word of God or not, but there were some who criticized her, and Jesus defended her. Here’s what He said, “You let her alone. She has done what she could.” What does Jesus expect out of you? The same thing He expected out of Mary. He didn’t say, “She has done what she couldn’t do,” or, “She’s done what somebody else can do.” He said, “She has done what she can do.” God’s…

We need to understand that Romans chapters 6, 7, and 8 should be read together. If you just read one of those chapters and don’t not read the other two, then you will miss truths and get all messed up. As we get into Romans 6, we have laid before us the ideal Christian life—the Christian life as it is intended to be. There is a phrase which occurs there several times: “freed from sin.” In this chapter we learned that as born-again believers we are freed from sin. Not that we cannot sin, but that now as believers the dominion of sin has been broken over us and we…

What is the Christian position concerning war? Where are we going to get the answers? Are we going to get the answer from the pacifists, who believe there should be no war whatsoever? Are we going to get the answer from a conscientious objector? Conscientious he or she may be, but he or she refuses to go to war. Are we going to get the answers from those whose hearts ache when they think of the pain of sending a son, a daughter, into harm’s way? Or are we going to get the answer from those who want war, the warmongers, those who think in a twisted way that perhaps…

In John 10:10 Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.” You see there the same picture. “I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.” Every born-again child of God has life. Romans 6:23 says “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” So every Christian has life. But the Bible says it is possible for a Christian not only to have life, but to have a life that is a full and overflowing life. I write about the overflowing kind of life. In Romans 5:8–13, Paul brings…

Prayer is the greatest Christian privilege and the grandest Christian service. Prayer is greater than singing, preaching, soul winning, testifying, and teaching. Prayer is our greatest success and also our greatest failure. I believe that more than 80 percent of Christians would say, “I am not satisfied with my prayer life.” Is this true for you? What is the answer to this? Praying in the Spirit is the key to a victorious prayer life. It is the answer to our indifference, when God seems far away. It is the answer to our ignorance, when we don’t know what to pray for. It is the answer to our weakness, when we…

Almost 100 percent of the Bible prophecies are related to Israel, the land and the people. Israel is the focal point in today’s world. Israel is in the headlines of every newspaper, not only in America but around the world. The eyes of the world are focused on the little nation of Israel. Israel is the land and the people of destiny. As the Jewish race goes, so goes the world. Israel is God’s yardstick, God’s outline, God’s blueprint, God’s program, and God’s prophecy, for all of the other nations of the world. The apostle Paul has been writing in Romans 11 about God’s plan and how it includes the…