Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021
Pastor Troy Brewer, OpenDoor Church, Burleson, TX
The book of Romans has the word “man” in its title, and it is no coincidence that it’s the sixth book of the New Testament.
“Man” is the sixth word in a total of six verses in Romans. (Romans 2:1; 2:3; 2:6; 3:28; 5:7; 6:6)
Romans 2:1 – Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.
Romans 2:3 – And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
Romans 2:6 – Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
Romans 3:28 – Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law
Romans 5:7 – For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
Man is the sixth word in Romans 6:6. God’s answer to the flesh is the Cross.
Romans 6:6 – Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed,
that henceforth we should not serve sin.
“Man” is the sixth word in a total of six verses in Romans. (Romans 2:1; 2:3; 2:6; 3:28; 5:7; 6:6)
THIS IS A PICTURE OF THE WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS TRACK AND IT’S NOT EVEN ON THIS EARTH. IT’S ON THE MOON.
This is the footprint that Neil Armstrong left on his very first step on the surface of the moon WAY back in the famous summer of ’69.
Flesh is all about its own power. It refuses to be submitted to God’s power. You might think it’s not worth mentioning, but I notice something very big in modern history that screams this same pattern.
Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, uttered the famous words, “That’s One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Are there any sixes stamped on this event? Yes, there are. Not just one or two. There are actually six.
On the very same day Armstrong walked the surface of the moon, President Nixon spoke to him. The message was broad- cast on live television throughout the world. The actual phone number that patched him through from the White House was dialed as 666-666.
Speaking of Armstrong’s “one giant leap for mankind,” Pastor Hoggard points out in “By Divine Order,” that the word “man- kind” is found in the Bible exactly six times. Go figure.
“That’s one small step for MAN, one giant leap for MANKIND” – Neil ARMSTRONG
Luke 1:46-51 – (The Song of Mary) 46 And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. 48 For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. 49 For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name. 50 And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation. 51 He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
EVERYTHING CHANGES FROM HERE AND HE HAS DONE IT WITH HIS STRONG ARM.
When Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier, we became a people who travel past the speed of sound.
When Roger Banister first broke the 4-minute mile, suddenly runners all over the world began to do the same thing.
Joshua steps into the Promised Land
There is something very significant about your step forward that is a giant leap for everybody else.
The Hound of Heaven: As the hound follows the hare, never ceasing in its running, ever drawing nearer in the chase, with unhurried and unperturbed pace, so does God follow the fleeing soul by His Divine grace. And though in sin or in human love, away from God it seeks to hide itself, Divine grace follows after, unwearyingly follows ever after, till the soul feels its pressure forcing it to turn to Him alone in that never ending pursuit.
Never ending pursuit = Relentless Grace | Persistent grace: grace that doesn’t let go or give up
Ezekiel 34:11-12 – “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search and find my sheep. 12 I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day.”
Luke 19:10 – “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
I believe in the idea of Jesus being the hound of heaven –of Him chasing us down in order to give us life – of Him following us, pursing us, going after us.
Psalms 139:7-8 – Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell behold, You are there.
And He’s on your tracks!
SEVERAL YEARS AGO, LEANNA AND I WERE ON THE WEST COAST DOING A CONFERENCE AND A COVEN OF WITCHES ATTENDED MY CONFERENCE.
Henry Blackaby says in Experiencing God that, “God is pursuing a love relationship with us that is personal and real.”
If you were to receive that as a text message from God, how would you text Him back? In other words, how have you responded to God’s pursuit in your own life?
In his book, The Grip of Grace, Max Lucado says, “It is because of grace that God pursues us, waits for us, faithfully and lovingly holds onto us. It is also by grace that the believer pursues God, waits for Him, faithfully and lovingly holds onto Him.”
It’s true that Jesus, as the hound of heaven, has chased you down and tracked you like Joe lafors track down Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Frank Hamer tracked down Bonnie and Clyde. But it is also true that there comes a change in the relation where we take on the responsibility of beginning to track after Him.
Psalms 63:7&8 – Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.
How you chase after God matters for you, but it matters more for the generations to come.
You are Neil Armstrong. You are the person who represents the strong arm of God who blesses all the generations behind you because of the steps you dared to take forward.
Today you are King David who chased after and dared to try and track down God’s own heart in such a way that we are all blessed to this day.
We stand on the shoulders of people who have gone before us in the faith, people as far back as King David! Today, we are called to be those shoulders for future generations. We are the means by which God does enduring things. God does it! We are simply asked to respond. And when we do, we live in joy, we are transformed into God’s very image, and we claim our place on the family tree, that tree that goes all the way back to David.
Deuteronomy 11:24 – Every place where you set your foot will be yours…