Sermon Outline

Prepared by

Joseph P. Metoyer, Jr., Pastor/Teacher

December 16, 2001

Text:  Romans 7:4-8

Subject:  Slow Down and Grow!

Introduction:  Christians are saved but many not growing!  Even some of us don’t really handle life as maturely as we should.  We are old Christians in baby bodies.  Some Christians live so fast that we don’t take time to spiritually grow.  The theme of the seventh chapter of Romans is not concerned with salvation, justification or imputation, but with sanctification.  

It is not how much you know, it is how much you live.

Once again we see the familiar style of Paul at work:  He makes a statement in (v.4) and uses (vv. 5-6) to elucidate his statement.

I.                   “Bare fruit to God” (v.4)

In order to produce quality fruit we must take our time and cultivate the land, plant the seed, nurture the seedling, prune the branches and finally inspect the fruit.  (Verse 4) declares that the believer’s old husband has no control over him or her; we are in a wonderful new relationship through and in Christ.  When we were lost, the Law triggered the arousing of sin in our old nature, and this produced death (v.5).  But now we are delivered from the Law and can serve Christ in the newness of Spirit, not in the oldness of the letter (v6.)[1]    

A.     If you are going to produce quality fruit you cannot rush the process.  I remember my childhood days in science class when we were learning about grafting trees.  We took a tree and cut a branch at an angle then we took the branch of another tree and cut it at a complementing angle and bound the two cuts together that was grafting.  Over a period of time the experiment produced a new and fresh fruit.  Take the ornamental orange tree:  after several years of growth it produced small and bitter oranges, but it had good rootstock.  The roots would grow deep and wide.  Then the ornamental orange tree would be cut and a sweeter orange tree would be grafted into the ornamental orange producing a strong tree with two types of fruit:  The ornamental orange below and Navel orange above.  The same tree produced two types of fruit.

B.     That’s the Christian.  You are the same tree that was originally planted with good strong roots for many seasons producing bitter fruit, but when you accepted Christ He grafted you into a new and better life and now He expects you to produce less bitter fruit and more abundant, fresh and new fruit according to the vine you have been grafted to.  Turn to (John 15:1-5)…

C.     Spiritual growth in the Christian life requires a relationship with God, who is the fountain of spiritual life.  Only through this relationship can we bear new seed or tap into the root of life.

II.                “Bear fruit to death” (v.5) Paul explains his statement of (v.4) “bear fruit to God” as we read (v.5)… 

A.     Adam and Eve were born both physically and spiritually alive.  Because of sin, they died spiritually.  They were separated from God.  From that time on, everyone who has come into this world has been born physically alive but spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1).  In that state, man is completely unable to discern the things of God (I Cor. 2:14) “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.  Like an ornamental orange, he may look good, but the fruit he bears is bitter.

B.     Paul in (Romans 7:5) calls our attention to the fact that we are moving to fast to grow spiritually and should slow down to grow.  “Sinful passions” are at work in our members or branches.  We react to life situations quickly and in a way that produces “fruit to death”.

1.      We panic before we pray

2.      We gossip before we have all the facts

3.      We fix it ourselves before God does

4.      We refuse to wait for anything or anyone

My Bible asks a series of questions, have you not known?  Have you not heard?  The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary.  His understanding is unsearchable.  He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increase strength.  Even the Youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, But those that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:28-31). 

C.     All God wants is for His children to slow down and grow up in Him.  Stop allowing the way you use to handle things while you were un-saved to influence how you handle things now. 

1.      You use to not care about who you owed, but now you have to care

2.      You use to not care whose feelings got hurt but now you have to 

3.      You use to give anybody a piece of your mind but now you can’t

(Col. 3:1-17)…

Application:  (v.6) The Christian should bear fruit to God as an actual result of being grafted into Christ.  Live bearing fruit to God because you are saved!    

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