ROMANS

What a great three last days!  The Youth Explosion Revival was a huge success!  We had 301 teens last night, mostly public school teens, and over 80 trusted Christ as their Savior in the last three days.  It was tremendous and next year we will be expecting even more.  Our people sat in the balcony and the teenagers took the main floor and was filling it up.  The service was great and many adults were weeping when the many teenagers flooded down the aisle to take their stand for Jesus Christ and be saved.  Wow! is all I can say. I started today with Romans chapter 4 and went through I Corinthians chapter 7, and here are some thoughts: 1) FAITH DEFINED.  What is faith?  I know sometimes we quote Hebrews 11:1, but that gives you more questions than answers.  "Substance of things hoped for, evidence of things not yet seen."  What?  (I can explain, but that's for later.)  But in Romans 4:21, there is a good definition of what faith is all about:  "And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform."  You see, faith is about believing the promises of God.  It is not about believing what we want to come to pass comes to pass; no, it is about reading God's promises and then believing in them.  "What he had promised"  that is what we are to have faith for.  Hope this helps! 2) A SHORT WORK.  In Romans 9:28 it tells us that when God gets ready to end this earth one day that it will not take long for Him to do so.  It says:  "because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth."  We will not have to worry about the earth warming up 2 degrees every century.  (I wish it were warmer outside right now!) When God deals with this earth in judgment, it will not take centuries, or eons of years... but "a short work" will be all that is necessary! 3) CHRIST IS THE END OF THE LAW!  In Romans 10:4, it says: "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."  When we trust Christ as our Savior, we fulfill righteousness because Jesus Christ fulfills all righteousness and lives in us.  We are not saved because we are good, but because Jesus (there is none good but GOD) is GOD in flesh, and paid for our sins and lives within us, we have fulfilled the Law because Christ did and lives in us.  When the Father looks at us, he sees Christ in us and thus we are seen as having an end to the law. 4) WE AFFECT OTHERS.  In Romans 14:7 it says:  "For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself."  It means that we all affect others, and our task is to affect others for good.  Let our lives be a blessing and not a curse to others around us.  Our words are to edify and not tear down others. 5) GOD IS FAITHFUL!  In I Corinthians 1:9 it says:  "God is faithful.." I think I'll close this morning on this note.... God is faithful.  We need to remind ourselves of this many times.  When we are going through trials and difficulties, "God is faithful".  When we are discouraged, "God is faithful".  When our days are dreary, "God is faithful".  It is not the sun shining, or the warm breezes blowing, or the good times rolling, that bring us the real joy in life.... it is because "God is faithful".  Let's put it all in perspective... God is faithful!! See you tomorrow!  Dr. Mike Mutchler, Pastor & Friend