"Give Me Jesus"
Pastor Albert Almore
If anyone knew that there was something about the Name Jesus, it had to be the Apostle Paul. The great apostle Paul, the great man of God who wrote 13 books of the Bible, 1/3 of the New Testament, begins to write to us the realest, most vulnerable letter, believer to believer that should encourage us all. Paul begins by saying in Romans 7:15,
“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16) And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17) As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.”
Romans 7:15-17 NIV
“For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19) For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.”
Romans 7:18-19 NIV
“Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. 21) So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.”
Romans 7:20-21 NIV
“For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23) but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.”
Romans 7:22-23 NIV
“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25) Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!…”
Romans 7:24-25 NIV
I want to speak to you from this subject this morning…GIVE ME JESUS
Thank you Paul, thank you Jesus for Romans 7:15-24. Because the opening chapters of Romans was good, but it was tough. It made me think, “Am I the only one?” Am I the only one who feels this daily battle on the inside, of the new me versus the old me? Am I the only one at the end of the day that feels like Paul for something that I said, or something that I did, ““What a wretched man I am!” In the beginning of my Christian walk, when this inner war became almost too much, before I walked away, one night for the very first time, I read Romans 7:15-24.
With tears in my eyes, I grabbed my bible, I grabbed that highlighter, and marked up every verse. I wrote them down on index cards, and strived to memorize them because what Paul was describing was me. And believer to believer Paul, thank you for being real, thank you for being vulnerable, because that encouraged me, that encouraged all of us. By Paul opening up and saying what he said, my God reminded me…
YOU ARE NOT ALONE. WE’RE ALL IN SOME TYPE OF BATTLE.
But this type of battle is the worst of all. It’s the battle that takes place behind the make up. It’s the battle that takes place behind the muscles. It’s the battle that takes place behind everything that we do, everything that we put on to try to cover it up. No matter how much I know you, no matter how hard I look at you, I can never see the battle that’s taking place behind your eyes. I can never see the battle that’s taking place in your mind, in your soul, but beloved I know it’s there. If 100 people are in a room, then there’s at least 100 battlefields present. Paul opens up about the greatest battle of all and says in Roman’s 7:15,
“I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT I DO. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”
Romans 7:15 NIV
Here’s the good news of the Gospel…
• 📝 Jesus GETS US.
Even when I don’t understand what I do, even when you don’t understand what you do, when you find yourself doing the very thing YOU HATE DOING….Jesus gets us. Hebrews 4:15…
For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize and understand our weaknesses and temptations, but One who has been tempted [knowing exactly how it feels to be human] in every respect as we are, yet without [committing any] sin.
Hebrews 4:15 AMP
📝 Even though Jesus gets us, He seeks to TRANSFORM US.
“And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, ARE PROGRESSIVELY BEING TRANSFORMED INTO HIS IMAGE from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit.”
2 Corinthians 3:18 AMP
In order to transform us, in order to jump into this battle with us, point number 2…
• 📝 Jesus CAME FOR US.
“I HAVE COME as a light to shine in this dark world, SO THAT ALL WHO PUT THEIR TRUST IN ME WILL NO LONGER REMAIN IN THE DARK.”
John 12:46 NLT
Where did He come from? John 6:38…
“For I HAVE COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will.”
John 6:38 NLT
“For you have experienced the extravagant grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that although HE WAS INFINITELY RICH, he impoverished himself for our sake, so that by his poverty, we become rich beyond measure.”
2 Corinthians 8:9 TPT
Jesus didn’t just come for us, point number 3…
• Jesus BECAME US.
“But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman...”
Galatians 4:4 NLT
“And so the Living Expression BECAME A MAN and lived among us! We gazed upon his glory, the glory of the One and Only who came from the Father overflowing with tender mercy and truth!”
John 1:14 TPT
THIS IS WHY JESUS GETS US. Jesus gets us not just from THE THRONE, but from THE MANGER. Jesus gets us, because He became us!
“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ATE IT She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ATE IT.”
Genesis 3:6 NIV
📝 Not only did Jesus become us, but Jesus also became THE ANTIDOTE.
The same way the cure for a snake bite is the same venom, Jesus became the venom of sin, to cure the bites of sin that took place in the garden of Eden. 2 Corinthians 5:21…
FOR OUR SAKE HE MADE HIM TO BE SIN who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV
“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying,….“MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?””
Matthew 27:46 NKJV
“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning?”
Psalms 22:1 NKJV
📝 Jesus became SIN, so that we could become RIGHTEOUS.
“On the cross, Jesus is both the most beautiful thing the world has ever seen, and the most loathsome. Jesus is the most righteous and the most sinful. The cross of Jesus is full of love and horror.”
Then in that moment, point number 4….
📝• Jesus DIED FOR US.
The New King James header for Romans 5:6 section reads, “CHRIST IN OUR PLACE.”
“For WHEN WE WERE STILL WITHOUT STRENGTH, in due time CHRIST DIED FOR THE UNGODLY. 7) For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.”
Romans 5:6-7 NKJV
“BUT GOD DEMONSTRATES HIS OWN LOVE TOWARD US, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8 NKJV
📝 • Jesus GOT UP FOR US!
“But very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. So they went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus.”
Luke 24:1-3 NLT
“…Then the men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! HE IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD!…”
Luke 24:5-6 NLT
📝 Because HE GOT UP, then, I CAN GET UP TOO!
“for though the righteous fall seven times, THEY RISE…”
Proverbs 24:16 NIV
In the struggle, in the fight…You are not alone…
“Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. REMEMBER THAT YOUR FAMILY OF BELIEVERS ALL OVER THE WORLD IS GOING THROUGH THE SAME KIND OF SUFFERING YOU ARE.”
1 Peter 5:8-9 NLT
JESUS IS IN THE BATTLE!
This is why Paul said give me Jesus! Paul searched all over, and couldn’t find nothing to fill this void. He couldn’t find it in things. He couldn’t find it in position. He couldn’t find it in popularity. He couldn’t find it in a denomination. He couldn’t find in tradition.
“What a wretched man I am! WHO will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?”
Romans 7:24 NIV
Paul knew it wasn’t in THE WHAT, Paul knew that what he was searching for, could only be found in A WHO!
“Thanks be to God, WHO DELIVERS ME THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD!”
Romans 7:25 NIV
📝 Jesus CONSUMED sin, so that sin wouldn’t CONSUME us.
📝 Through a relationship with Jesus Christ, though sin is still RESIDENT within us, through Jesus Christ, sin no longer REIGNS over us.
📝• Jesus now LIVES FOR US.
“Therefore He is able also to save forever (completely, perfectly, for eternity) those who come to God through Him, SINCE HE ALWAYS LIVES to intercede and intervene on their behalf [with God].”
Hebrews 7:25 AMP
IS YOUR FAITH IN WHAT YOU HAVE, OR WHO YOU HAVE?
Comments