Hey Guys!  I am still here, I just haven't been posting here much...I camp out @ Facebook anymore!!  Hope everyone is well...

We are back @ Providence Baptist (Reform), a lot of folks left, and the church is wanting to be more evangelistic.  Prayerfully the Lord will grow us!!

Soli Deo Gloria

1 Paul, a a servant [1] of Christ Jesus, b called to be an apostle, c set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which d he promised beforehand e through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, f who was descended from David [2] g according to the flesh 4 and h was declared to be the Son of God i in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom j we have received grace and k apostleship l to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name m among all the nations, 6 including you who are n called to belong to Jesus Christ,

7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:

o Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We have here the longest salutation of any of Paul's epistles.  There is much to be gleaned from the first seven verses of the book.  It can best be summarized like this:

1. Paul's credentials and authority

2. Christ's Authority and HIS credentials

3. The purpose of Paul's mission and thus his epistle

4. Paul's prayer for us

We will deal with each of these individually at differnt times, but for right now, I want us to take a deep look wt what the very first three words say.

Pau, a servant...

The Greek word for servant is "doulos".  Some may refer to being a slave of Christ, while this may be true to some extent, it goes even deeper.  It means a "bondservant".  Those who were in debt would often become indentured servants to whom they owed a debt.  When their debt was paid they were allowed to go free. 

Exodus 21:6 (Show Exodus 21)
then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.

Often those who had served under their masters realized that if not for their masters care and provision they would return to the same hole from which they crawled.  We must never think of this servant hood as it was in the United States during the 1800's.  Some masters educated their servants, feed them, cared for them, clothed them, and even gave them authority over the finances and even the education of their Children. 

Paul was a man who oppressed the Chruch, God's people, he was a zealot for the Old Testament rules and regulations.  He was a man of piety, but he didn't really know the God of the Old Testament.  Jesus revealed HIMSELF to Paul on the Damascus Road and showed him the debt that Paul owed.  He was in great debt, but Jesus forgave him and cleared him of that debt.  Paul fell in love with His God and realized that he was now in service to the King.

How much is our debt?  How much do we owe to the King of Kings?  We have a debt that can never be repaid ~ on our merrits!  Without the Grace and intervention of God in our lives, we would get death, grave, and the righteous justice of Hell. 

I did say righteous justice.  Our God is holy, spotless, their is no darkness in HIM at all!  We are polluted sinners who cannot live in the presence of God. But God poured out his right wrath on HIS Son Jesus CHRIST.  He was pierced and suffered the wrath of God for us!  He was the perfect, spotless Lamb of God, who cried out "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me".

You see our debt was paid. Do you love your LORD enough to follow after Him.  To not just be his slave, but His servant, and do all that He has commanded you to do. 

So many Christians enjoy their salvation, but they forget that they must be active.  OUR faith must be lived out, expressed, demonstrated.  We mus be obedient in all that we do!  We must always be working for the King.  As is expressed in the Catechism "What is the Chief end of man?"  Our chief end is to Glorify and Enjoy our God forever.  How can we do this if we do not serve HIM?

Where have you not been obedient?  Where have you left things  undone?  Are you seeking God's will and DOING it?  Can you truly be called a "Bondservant", who wants to stay in his master's presence, bask in HIS grace, mercy, love, and provision?  Our great was debt, His love was greater.  Repent and turn to the King and fall in Love with HIM, the Lover of our Souls!

Within the past two months I have been asked if I have ever considered becoming a mason.  First it was by a co-worker, secondly by my dad's oldest brother, and today by my first cousin.  You see my dad is a 32 degree mason along with his brothers.  He and his recently deceased brother have served as worshipful masters in their lodges.  The men in my family are strong, devout masons, although my dad recently has become aggrivated with some of the things going on in some lodges.

Admittedly, the fraterntiy, the esoteric learning, and family tradition have a very strong pull on me.  I really want to see what it is all about.  The truth of the matter is that the biggest secret of the Freemasons is that their isn't a secret.  Some of you will debate me on this but in my studies and prayers about the Lodge, I realize that there isn't a big secret.  The local lodges here are nothing but good ole' country boy clubs and they are unaware or the larger teachings of the Lodge.

We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
w We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. 

Is what Isaiah 64:6 says.  Our own wicked hearts lead us to make "deals with God" and we always like to feel in control of our relationship w/ the divine (borrowing a Masonic term).  Even a man's righteouse deeds, if not done with an aim of being obedient to God is sinful!

I would like to quote from Henry Clausen in his book "Clausen's Commentaries on Morals & Dogma".  In the section on the twenty sixth degree He says "Masonry disbelieves no truth and instead reverences all the great teachers of morality.  It is beyond our purposes to decide among conficting claims that beset followers of Moses, Confucius, Zoroaster, Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, and others.  We do reject any attempt to lower or degrade the Deity, or to deny man's glorious destiny or to countenance immorality or the evade the duties our Fraternity enjoins upon it's members."

Clausen was Sovereign Grand Commander fo the The Supreme Counci, 33 degree so this isn't just some Joe blow.  What does all of this have to do with Jesus?

Well, my Lord and Savior is not equal to the other religous leaders.  HE IS ABOVE them, in fact the others are false gods.  Moses was God's prophe to the Old testament saints, but he is not a god.  All these others talke about man's inherent goodness and that these religions help bring out the best of men.  WRONG!  Man has no inherent goodness, but is wicked through and through!  Only by God's Grace are we saved and that through God becoming Flesh and dying on the Cross for sinners. I have no righteousness of my own.

The only worth and righteousness that I have is what has  been imputed to me through Christ.  THus that is why all through Scripture the Words "In Christ" are sooooo very important.  Yes, our faith is to have feet, but our works don't save us, we do them because WE ARE saved!

Thus this is why I am not a mason.  It promotes mankind and him saving himself and simply finding a deeper knowledge of the Divine. True Christians love God because they recognize the great cost to the Father in redeeming wicked men, such as ourselves.