1 00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:09,240 And thank you for being here. Listen, I'm just going to be 2 00:00:09,240 --> 00:00:11,960 honest with you. This sermon seems like it's a 3 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:15,760 little bit complicated. So I need you to hang in there 4 00:00:15,760 --> 00:00:18,200 with me. And I promise at the end, it's 5 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:19,400 going to come back around for you. 6 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:21,680 Are you OK with that in the meantime? 7 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:25,800 It's not, it's not. Don't, don't turn it off, but 8 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:29,000 help process with me a little bit as we're walking through the 9 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:34,120 book of Romans together. It's at times just a little bit, 10 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:36,120 a little bit deep. So we'll get there. 11 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:39,600 You know, I pastored a church called Emmanuel Baptist one time 12 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:42,320 and just that one day, it was all what? 13 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:46,440 No, I've been for a while and we were along a state highway. 14 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:48,440 And I've shared some of this with some of you in a different 15 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:52,280 context, but we had a, we had one of those big signs, old 16 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:53,960 fashioned church signs back in the day. 17 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:57,120 It had kind of a steel girder that came up and it's all made 18 00:00:57,120 --> 00:00:59,120 out of metal. And it got kind of elaborate up 19 00:00:59,120 --> 00:00:59,920 there. But it had one of those 20 00:00:59,920 --> 00:01:02,360 marquees, you know, where you put the little plastic litters 21 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:05,040 back at before digital signs and all that kind of stuff. 22 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:10,040 And so when I got there, I inherited Hubert, not Herbert, 23 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:14,800 but Hubert. And Hubert was 91 years old and 24 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:18,480 a wonderful, godly, wonderful man who just loved to serve. 25 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:22,360 And Hubert's job was to go down and change that sign every week. 26 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:24,640 And, you know, and he'd go down there and put a, you know, a 27 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:27,960 pithy sign, you know, like 7 days without prayer makes one 28 00:01:27,960 --> 00:01:29,240 week. And, you know, these cute little 29 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:31,160 pithy church signs kind of saying things. 30 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:33,760 And he'd go down there every now and then we'd have a special 31 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:35,160 event. He'd go down there and do that. 32 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:39,400 Well, they had fashioned this special ladder to do this and 33 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:42,680 and it had a cut out towards it right on that still beam. 34 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:44,840 And you could go out there and lean it up against that still 35 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:46,320 beam. Kind of made a platform. 36 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:48,920 That ladder had to weigh 6075 lbs. 37 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:52,000 And so I'd watch week to week and I watch this 91 year old 38 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:56,440 sweet man drag that ladder out to his pickup truck, force it up 39 00:01:56,440 --> 00:01:59,040 into the back of his truck, drive down there to the sign, 40 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:03,080 drag that thing across the grass with all the strength leaning up 41 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:07,320 against that sign, and then carefully go up the ladder to 42 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:10,600 work the letters. And I thought to myself that 43 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:12,760 there's probably a, a better plan than this. 44 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:16,680 But then the other thing that happened was, is I don't know 45 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:20,520 what Hubert's thing was. Wonderful man, wonderful godly 46 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:22,840 man love Hubert. Now he's passed away many years 47 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:25,280 ago, but so he doesn't care what I'm saying about him right now. 48 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:29,600 But but Hubert could not spell. I mean, he couldn't spell. 49 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:34,120 And so Hubert, we, I watched Hubert drag that ladder down 50 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:35,960 there and I thought to myself, we got to do, but he's going to 51 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:38,560 die dragging that letter, that ladder down there one of these 52 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:39,680 days or trying to get it up there. 53 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:41,920 And then. And then the fact that so every 54 00:02:41,920 --> 00:02:44,320 week there was a lady who lived in the neighborhood across the 55 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:50,360 street and it was her spiritual gift to call us and to tell us 56 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:53,120 all the misspelled words that Hubert had put on the sign. 57 00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:56,400 I figured she was a former member of Emmanuel. 58 00:02:56,400 --> 00:03:00,120 That's what I figured. And, and so every week we get 59 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:02,920 the phone call and we'd find out what was wrong because I always 60 00:03:02,920 --> 00:03:05,120 came in the back way and I never came in that way. 61 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:08,160 So I never looked at the sign. So every week I'd get the 60 to 62 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:10,680 75 LB ladder Dragon, put it back in and then would Dragon, I 63 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:11,880 don't have to go fix the letters. 64 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:16,480 And so after a while we retired Hubert and we also retired the 65 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:18,640 sign. Frankly, we put the schedule up 66 00:03:18,640 --> 00:03:20,480 there and it never changed after a while. 67 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:23,480 You know, that's good static, never change anything. 68 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:28,240 But I think about that story and sometimes we just can't get it 69 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:31,360 right. Maybe we just might need a 70 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:35,840 little help getting it right. And maybe, just maybe this thing 71 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:39,160 called life, this thing called eternity, that we're really not 72 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:44,240 capable of doing all this on our own in a correct way and we need 73 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:46,360 help. And Romans is really going to 74 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:49,400 spell that out for us. Romans helps spell this out for 75 00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:54,280 us as we continue in our series called Justify as we talk about 76 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:57,200 the study of the book of Romans and kind of like good old 77 00:03:57,200 --> 00:04:02,360 wonderful godly Hubert, we can't we just can't get it right on 78 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:05,560 our own. In fact, we we might not even 79 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:09,920 know how to properly identify and define right. 80 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:13,680 We think we do. This world will give us its 81 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:17,399 opinions, but but we need to examine God's word to really to 82 00:04:17,399 --> 00:04:20,880 understand and to answer the question, which is our question 83 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:27,480 for the day of what is right. And so Romans is going to help 84 00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:28,760 us. But I want you to listen first 85 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:32,040 of all to Doctor Herschel Hobbs. Herschel Hobbs has passed away 86 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:34,800 many years ago. He was one of the authors of of 87 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:37,320 the Baptist Faith and Message, not the latest version, but a 88 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:40,200 previous version which the latest ones are all based on. 89 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:43,720 Doctor Hobbs was the pastor of Oklahoma City First Baptist 90 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:46,400 Church for many, many years. He was known across Southern 91 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:50,120 Baptist life and the nomination as a leader wrote the Baptist 92 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:52,120 faith the message which is a doctrinal statement. 93 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:53,640 If. Here's what most of these 94 00:04:53,640 --> 00:04:58,960 Baptists believe. Commentator, author, preacher, 95 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:03,720 Listen to what Hobbes says. He says man could not or would 96 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:07,000 not achieve the righteousness which God demands in them. 97 00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:11,960 Therefore, either man must be left in a hopeless state, or 98 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:15,600 else God in mercy and grace must provide the means whereby he 99 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:17,440 could bestow righteousness upon man. 100 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:21,360 And in keeping with God's holy righteous nature, he could not 101 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:25,600 condone or ignore sin, but in His gracious love, neither could 102 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:29,160 he fail to provide man the opportunity to receive as a gift 103 00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:31,080 the righteousness that he needed. 104 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:35,280 The state of being justified before God. 105 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:38,240 I want you to listen to this sentence very carefully. 106 00:05:38,280 --> 00:05:42,200 This is worth noting. A sent this statement. 107 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:46,760 Hear this carefully. Loving forgiveness was in God's 108 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:50,800 heart before sin was in man's heart. 109 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:55,840 I need you to understand that our sin did not, nor does it 110 00:05:55,840 --> 00:05:59,560 surprise God. He is aware before we ever sin 111 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:02,840 of who we are and whether we're right or not. 112 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:08,600 And so Jesus was the the Lamb slain from the foundation of the 113 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:11,520 world, the Bible tells us, and we need to listen. 114 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:13,640 And you ought to listen. If you missed it, you ought to 115 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:17,120 go back and listen to a study I did a few weeks ago on midweek 116 00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:20,120 about the eternality of God and his relationship to time. 117 00:06:20,280 --> 00:06:23,920 It'll help you understand why God knows all things because we 118 00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:27,520 recognize in Hebrews Chapter 9, verse 26. 119 00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:30,440 For then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the 120 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:33,840 foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared 121 00:06:33,840 --> 00:06:37,280 once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the 122 00:06:37,280 --> 00:06:41,440 sacrifice of himself. Speaking of Jesus, obviously God 123 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:45,920 always knew, but the eternal redemptive work that had to be 124 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:49,080 carried out also had to be done in what we would call the 125 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:52,800 timeline or arena of history where where it took place. 126 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:56,640 Where we could see the life, the death, the burial, the 127 00:06:56,640 --> 00:07:00,280 resurrection, and the ascension of Jesus Christ, so that we 128 00:07:00,280 --> 00:07:04,280 could see this and believe this and understand God's Son more. 129 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:09,400 And so Hebrews 10 says this. Consequently, when Christ came 130 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:11,800 into the world, He said, sacrifices and offerings you 131 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:15,320 have not desired, but a body. Have you prepared for me in 132 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:16,880 burnt offerings and sin offerings? 133 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:20,040 You have taken no pleasure. Then I said, Behold, I have come 134 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:22,840 to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of 135 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:25,200 the book. And when He said above, that you 136 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:28,080 have neither desired nor taken pleasure, and sacrifices, and 137 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:31,040 offerings, and burnt offerings, and sin offerings, these are 138 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:34,160 offered according to the law, then He had to behold, I have 139 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:36,840 come to do your will. He does away with the first in 140 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:41,240 order to establish the second. And by that will will we have 141 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:44,880 been sanctified to the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once 142 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:47,720 for all. And every priest stands daily at 143 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:50,960 a service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices which can 144 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:54,600 never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for 145 00:07:54,600 --> 00:07:58,280 all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right 146 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:01,680 hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be 147 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:06,000 made a footstool for his feet. So God took the initiative in 148 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:12,440 justifying us, making us right. And this initiative is clearly 149 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:16,520 seen in Romans 3 as Paul is still revealing that God in 150 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:20,640 Christ made this provision whereby all men, both Jew and 151 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:22,840 Gentile, might be made righteous. 152 00:08:22,840 --> 00:08:25,880 Now you got to remember, if you haven't been here at all for any 153 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:28,840 of this or you're a guest, we've been walking through Romans 154 00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:31,840 verse by verse basically. And, and what we, we recognize 155 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:34,159 as the church was made-up of both Jews and Gentiles and there 156 00:08:34,159 --> 00:08:37,200 was a tension and there was misunderstandings about them and 157 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:40,039 Paul's trying to level the playing field. 158 00:08:40,039 --> 00:08:43,640 So speak theologically so that everybody understands what they 159 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:46,640 need. So last week Paul's describing 160 00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:49,600 the guilt of all humanity, didn't matter who they were. 161 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:52,920 And he demonstrated that everybody's guilty, whether they 162 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:56,600 be wilfully ignorant like a Gentile or self-righteous or 163 00:08:56,600 --> 00:09:03,880 even super religious like a Jew. And so they and we all deserve 164 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:06,680 the wrath of God. That was last week. 165 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:10,080 So the chapter break, and you always remember this when you 166 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:13,880 see these numbers in your Bible that that chapter 2 verses 167 00:09:13,880 --> 00:09:16,920 chapter 3, those numbers weren't there in the original version. 168 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:20,280 And that chapter break, the beginning of chapter 3 really 169 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:21,800 isn't a breaking thought for Paul. 170 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:24,880 This is a continuation of what he was saying last time. 171 00:09:25,800 --> 00:09:29,680 So hang in there with me. I promise it'll all come back 172 00:09:29,680 --> 00:09:32,120 together. So what we see is he's 173 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:35,800 introducing a new phase as he's dealing with God's saving 174 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:38,640 purpose for us. And so he showed that all needed 175 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:41,000 salvation. And then he proceeded to show 176 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:46,920 that that God has both condemned sin and provided a means of 177 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:50,320 salvation all at the same time. And and that's what we call 178 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:52,680 grace. We don't deserve that. 179 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:56,840 We deserve the condemnation. We don't deserve the opportunity 180 00:09:56,840 --> 00:09:59,240 for redemption. And God provides both. 181 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:03,840 And so Paul then begins in chapter 3, think of it like a 182 00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:07,040 courtroom. He paints A hypothetical picture 183 00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:10,840 of of of a, an objector, A questioner interrupting his 184 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:15,080 teaching and asking questions. And so you'll see him walking 185 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:17,320 through a series of questions. You'll see an outline on the 186 00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:19,480 back of your worship guide or you can also download these 187 00:10:19,640 --> 00:10:21,800 notes. But you see that somebody's 188 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:24,720 interrupting his teaching. And so he begins to answer this 189 00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:28,240 imaginary objectors, objectors questions. 190 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:33,920 The question number one, what advantage does possessing the 191 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:37,920 word of God bring? Now the way it's written in 192 00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:42,960 verse 1 is this Romans 31, then what advantage has the Jew or 193 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:46,240 what is the value of circumcision much in every way. 194 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:49,920 To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of 195 00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:53,160 God. So a subset question or a 196 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:56,480 secondary question might be, is the Jew in a better position to 197 00:10:56,480 --> 00:11:02,200 be saved than a Gentile? Right now, Paul implied that 198 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:03,440 they had more than one advantage. 199 00:11:03,560 --> 00:11:07,480 If you see much in every way. But in this chapter he only 200 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:09,160 shares one. Now in Chapter 9, he'll talk 201 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:12,200 more about this, but right now he's only talking about 1. 202 00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:16,400 And the advantage is that they were entrusted with the word of 203 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:18,120 God. Now this translation will have 204 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:20,680 the word oracles, the Greek word loggian. 205 00:11:20,680 --> 00:11:22,520 You might know the word logos or logos. 206 00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:24,760 And so it comes from that same idea. 207 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:27,400 But these are important divine messages. 208 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:31,720 So Paul is using this word to refer to the Old Testament. 209 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:33,960 So the Jews had the Old Testament. 210 00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:37,560 That's an advantage for them. And so they had received God's 211 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:40,640 specific revelation. Last time we talked some about 212 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:44,120 God's general revelation and God's specific revelation. 213 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:47,920 You need the specific revelation of Christ to be saved. 214 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:52,720 So they had a fuller revelation of God's will and God's Word 215 00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:57,560 than others did, and they also had a fuller revelation of the 216 00:11:57,560 --> 00:12:00,840 messianic hope because the prophets would point to a 217 00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:03,400 Messiah that come than the Gentiles would have. 218 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:08,080 In fact, it's an unequalled privilege that the descendants 219 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:12,000 of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had received more truth than any 220 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:14,760 other group of people on the earth up to that point. 221 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:18,880 So this was a huge advantage and and we need to stop and think 222 00:12:18,880 --> 00:12:20,800 about that for a minute. Now, how does this apply to us? 223 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:23,720 Listen, you need to be careful that you never take for granted 224 00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:30,120 the glorious privilege of possessing His word in your 225 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:33,320 heart language. Never take that for granted. 226 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:37,960 If you were raised, if you were raised in the church or you were 227 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:41,880 raised in a Christian home learning the Scripture, what a 228 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:45,920 glorious privilege, what an incredible advantage that you 229 00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:47,440 have. You ought to be much further 230 00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:49,680 along than I am because I wasn't raised that way. 231 00:12:50,840 --> 00:12:52,560 And So what an incredible advantage you have. 232 00:12:52,560 --> 00:12:55,880 In fact, here at our church, our children are doing that, our 233 00:12:55,880 --> 00:12:58,080 preschool ministry and children's ministry all the way 234 00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:00,400 through our student ministry. They're all doing that. 235 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:02,800 And we need, we're going to celebrate that later this year 236 00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:05,480 in a very, in a very formal way. We're going to celebrate the 237 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:08,360 hard work that your children are putting in learning this word. 238 00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:15,800 But it's also, and this is part of the catch, this is also a 239 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:18,920 great responsibility. So even though you have the 240 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:21,160 advantage, you also have a responsibility. 241 00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:24,080 Listen to Deuteronomy 6. It says now this is the 242 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:26,720 commandment, the statutes and the rules that the Lord your God 243 00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:29,800 commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to 244 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:31,400 which you are going over to possess it. 245 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:35,000 That you may fear the Lord your God, you and your sons and your 246 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:40,320 son's sons by keeping all His statutes and his commandments, 247 00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:43,880 which I command you all the days of your life and that your days 248 00:13:43,880 --> 00:13:47,720 may be long. Mark or in Mark chapter 12, 249 00:13:47,720 --> 00:13:50,440 Jesus is confronting people. He's does this throughout his 250 00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:53,120 ministry. Who who had the Old Testament, 251 00:13:53,560 --> 00:13:55,200 but they weren't doing anything with it. 252 00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:59,120 And he said in Mark 12/24 Jesus said to them, is this not the 253 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:02,240 reason you're wrong because you neither know the scriptures nor 254 00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:08,320 the power of God. Are we taking full advantage of 255 00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:11,280 possessing God's word? Are you taking full advantage of 256 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:13,960 actually having the opportunity? And if you let me tell you 257 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:17,600 something, if you don't own a Bible and you're here, no, 258 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:19,800 there's no joke. I had somebody come up to me a 259 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:21,280 few weeks ago who needed a Bible. 260 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:24,560 If you need a Bible, you let me or Charles know and we'll get 261 00:14:24,560 --> 00:14:28,760 you a Bible today, a nice one. We got nice Bibles in our room. 262 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:31,200 We'll give you a Bible. OK, Don't leave if you don't 263 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:33,360 have a Bible. That's let's let's take care of 264 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:36,640 that right away. But, but are you taking full 265 00:14:36,640 --> 00:14:39,240 advantage of it? One of our 7 essentials for 266 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:41,880 discipleship that we believe is a pillar of what it means to be 267 00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:45,760 like Jesus is to engage the Bible with a humble and 268 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:49,240 teachable spirit. And we want to teach that. 269 00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:51,200 We want you to know that. And we want you to take 270 00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:54,760 advantage of every opportunity to be involved in our weekly 271 00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:58,440 Bible studies in our connect groups. 272 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:02,920 Did I say connect groups? I meant to say connect groups. 273 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:06,320 Everybody ought to be in a what exactly? 274 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:10,720 But we also have ministries for men and women and students and 275 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:13,120 children and preschools throughout the week. 276 00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:15,440 And we have ministries for your entire family. 277 00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:18,040 And I hope that you're taking advantage of every single 278 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:20,120 opportunity you can get through all these ministries, because 279 00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:23,720 there's so much more about Inglewood than this service on 280 00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:26,480 Sunday morning alone. Much, much more. 281 00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:32,760 And so cherishing owning a copy of God's Word to study at home, 282 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:36,560 to be able to go into God's Word every day, to be entrusted with 283 00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:39,760 God's word like that. So for them, it meant much more 284 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:42,840 than just being a recipient. You're also not just a 285 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:44,560 custodian. You're not just the maintainer 286 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:46,320 of the museum. I got a really pretty Bible. 287 00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:50,280 I know a lot of people who own a lot of Bibles. 288 00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:55,520 Some of them are getting pretty dusty, sit on a shelf. 289 00:15:58,680 --> 00:16:01,200 Sometimes people only pull it off when they're in crisis. 290 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:06,720 Everyday, chew, live, drink, feed on this word. 291 00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:10,040 So they needed to do something with their advantage. 292 00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:13,320 It's almost we. Frankly, it's almost we. 293 00:16:13,480 --> 00:16:18,360 So this advantage led to a greater obligation to live as 294 00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:21,000 God's will and God's Word, obviously. 295 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:23,840 So they were given the Scriptures not just to have, but 296 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:27,640 to grow and to obey in their discipleship, to become who they 297 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:30,240 were supposed to be as the people of God, as well as to 298 00:16:30,240 --> 00:16:33,040 share through the whole world. To be a light to the Gentiles 299 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:37,480 about Yahweh, about who He was, and about how to live for Him so 300 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:39,640 that they could receive God's grace as well. 301 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:44,600 Listen to Galatians 3 and the scripture for seeing that God 302 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:46,960 would justify the Gentiles by faith. 303 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:51,400 Preach the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, in you shall 304 00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:55,480 all the nations be blessed. Often times I think we read the 305 00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:57,320 Old Testament to some separatist movement. 306 00:16:57,920 --> 00:16:59,960 They had to maintain their purity and there were certainly 307 00:16:59,960 --> 00:17:02,400 moments they had to withdraw from ungodly peoples. 308 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:05,240 But at the same time they were supposed to be influencers. 309 00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:10,000 So they should have all believed and they should have helped all 310 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:15,359 the others to believe, and so should we, Second Timothy 3 311 00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:17,280 says. And how from childhood you have 312 00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:20,400 been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to make 313 00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:24,079 you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 314 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:26,960 When Paul's writing some of the very last words he writes, he's 315 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:29,880 writing to his spiritual son. And those sacred writings for 316 00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:33,480 the Old Testament, they pointed to Jesus. 317 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:37,360 They pointed to how to be saved. They pointed to how to serve. 318 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:40,480 So it's a powerful advantage to possess the word of God. 319 00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:44,600 But this possession alone does not mean that you were saved. 320 00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:47,680 You're not simply saved because you own a Bible. 321 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:51,160 And they weren't simply saved because they were Jewish. 322 00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:54,760 We got to be careful. We have a heresy called dual 323 00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:57,720 covenant theology that's actually out on the media in our 324 00:17:57,720 --> 00:18:00,680 world today that believes that the Jews get to be saved in some 325 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:02,840 other way. And we'll talk about that more 326 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:06,560 in a minute. So the privilege of having God's 327 00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:12,000 Word does not take you very far if if you don't believe it and 328 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:16,120 if you're not trusting in the promised one, Jesus Christ, to 329 00:18:16,120 --> 00:18:19,000 whom the whole thing points. That's the whole point of the 330 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:21,560 Bible. So Jesus rebuked these religious 331 00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:24,800 leaders, these Jewish religious leaders for not believing while 332 00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:26,600 he was here on earth. Listen to John five. 333 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:29,200 He said you search the scriptures because you think in 334 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:32,800 them you have eternal life. And it is they that bear witness 335 00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:36,920 about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. 336 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:39,440 We got to follow through all the way. 337 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:42,880 So Paul then says, listen, that the advantage isn't enough. 338 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:45,920 So he's going to move now to a conversation about obedience. 339 00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:52,400 Listen to question #2 Does our unfaithfulness nullify God's 340 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:55,080 faithfulness? Romans 3 Three. 341 00:18:56,360 --> 00:19:00,680 What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify 342 00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:06,120 nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means let God be true, 343 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:10,360 though everyone were a liar. As it is written that you may be 344 00:19:10,360 --> 00:19:15,080 justified in your words and prevail when you are judged, I 345 00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:17,040 need you to focus and listen for a few minutes. 346 00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:21,040 See, it's a little tricky because there's a context here 347 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:24,440 that we got to talk about as well as the application to us. 348 00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:28,520 So God expected faith and obedience from the Jewish 349 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:30,920 people. Paul had already spoken about 350 00:19:30,920 --> 00:19:35,360 the hardened Jews who rejected God and who had stored up His 351 00:19:35,360 --> 00:19:38,720 wrath for their sin. So I need you to be careful. 352 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:43,640 And Paul knew that these Jewish readers would disagree with some 353 00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:47,880 of his statements that God has not guaranteed to fulfill his 354 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:51,040 promises to every physical descendant of Abraham. 355 00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:53,040 Now, there's some people who disagree with that. 356 00:19:54,120 --> 00:19:57,920 They would argue that such teaching nullified the promises 357 00:19:57,920 --> 00:19:59,840 that God made to them in the Old Testament. 358 00:19:59,840 --> 00:20:02,120 If this isn't true, then God's a liar. 359 00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:06,040 Basically, it's a conclusion. But Paul's answer reflected the 360 00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:09,560 teaching that before any Jewish person, regardless of their 361 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:12,520 lineage, could inherit the promises of God, he has to come 362 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:15,040 to repentance in faith, just like us. 363 00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:20,840 Paul rejected the idea that for God to be faithful, he must 364 00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:23,440 accept Israel. Whether they are right or wrong. 365 00:20:23,800 --> 00:20:27,160 That's just not biblical. So more is going to be. 366 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:28,920 A lot more is going to be shared about this in the later 367 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:33,320 chapters, but Jewish people have to be saved in the same way. 368 00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:37,360 All of us have to be saved by grace, through faith in Jesus 369 00:20:37,360 --> 00:20:40,080 Christ. There's a heresy called Dual 370 00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:42,840 Covenant theology that teaches that Jewish people can be saved 371 00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:45,800 in a different way, but that's not biblical. 372 00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:53,760 Salvation happens one way, by grace, through faith in Jesus 373 00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:57,760 Christ and Christ alone. So though they were the 374 00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:01,280 custodians of God's word, many did not believe and were 375 00:21:01,280 --> 00:21:04,040 unfaithful to their covenant with God. 376 00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:06,880 The Jews failed at the point of faith and obedience. 377 00:21:07,120 --> 00:21:09,520 And so does this mean, so we come back to the question, so 378 00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:14,480 does this mean that God's faithfulness to his covenant 379 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:17,360 fails? Is God going to be unfaithful 380 00:21:17,360 --> 00:21:19,960 because of this? And then the point that Paul's 381 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:22,600 trying to make is God's going to fulfill His promises he made 382 00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:26,600 even if individuals are unable to receive them because of 383 00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:29,920 unbelief. He transcends the individual. 384 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:33,800 God stands ready to fulfill His promise to Israel whenever she 385 00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:36,200 obeys His voice and keeps His commandments. 386 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:39,360 Read the end of the book. You'll read more about that in 387 00:21:39,360 --> 00:21:42,920 the Book of Revelation. Even so, the lack of 388 00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:46,040 faithfulness was on the Jews part, not on the not on God's 389 00:21:46,040 --> 00:21:48,280 part. And so they rejected the 390 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:50,800 covenant. They killed his Son until Paul's 391 00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:53,840 concluding and saying that there really is no difference between 392 00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:58,560 them and the Gentiles who also rejected God's revelation and 393 00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:01,080 also participated in the death of his Son. 394 00:22:01,280 --> 00:22:03,480 And they had received no prophets, they had received no 395 00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:08,200 Old Testament. So when Israel fractured the 396 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:11,840 covenant, God's faithfulness compelled him to judge them even 397 00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:13,760 to the point of captivity and exile. 398 00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:18,640 However, and this is what this verses, these verses are saying, 399 00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:22,080 the unbelief of the entire Jewish race would never prevent 400 00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:25,600 God from accomplishing His will. He keeps His promises and he'll 401 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:28,720 remain faithful despite the failings of humanity. 402 00:22:29,120 --> 00:22:32,240 So Paul rejects any suggestion that God's faithfulness would 403 00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:34,880 fail. His promises stand, and God 404 00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:38,720 remains faithful. Listen to Isaiah 55, seek the 405 00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:43,160 Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near, Let 406 00:22:43,160 --> 00:22:46,240 the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his 407 00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:48,840 thoughts. Let him return to the Lord that 408 00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:52,680 he may have compassion on him and to our God, for he will 409 00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:56,040 abundantly pardon. So when you look at verse 4, 410 00:22:56,880 --> 00:23:01,200 does God fail to be faithful? And literally, Paul says, by no 411 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:06,280 means let it, let it never be, let God be true. 412 00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:10,800 For such a thought would not even occur to Paul in our today. 413 00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:12,320 We would say, perish the thought. 414 00:23:13,560 --> 00:23:16,960 And what he says here, if you read this carefully, is God is 415 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:21,920 going to be true even if every single man alive is a liar. 416 00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:25,360 What do you mean? Well, truth is one of the moral 417 00:23:25,360 --> 00:23:30,560 attributes of God. He is love, He is holiness, He 418 00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:33,800 is truth, just one as much as the other. 419 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:36,000 Now, that's not all He is, but those are three things that He 420 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:38,120 is. And He is true to His promises 421 00:23:38,120 --> 00:23:39,880 because He's true in His own nature. 422 00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:43,400 He cannot not be true. I think that's OK. 423 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:49,800 So what he says, what Paul says, even if all of mankind got 424 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:54,440 together and voted, even if all mankind got together and agreed 425 00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:59,200 that God had been unfaithful to His promises, all that does is 426 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:04,920 prove that all of humanity are a bunch of liars because God will 427 00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:08,680 always still be true. In fact, he quotes Psalm 51. 428 00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:11,440 If you know anything about Psalm 51, you know that's the the 429 00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:14,720 Psalm of confession and repentance from David after he 430 00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:17,400 sins with Bathsheba and kills her husband. 431 00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:20,800 And so he quotes Psalm 51 for that. 432 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:23,480 Even David had to repent. David would have been held in 433 00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:25,320 very high esteem by these Jewish readers. 434 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:29,160 And so if they repented as David did, God would would be eager 435 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:31,000 and ready to forgive him to restore them. 436 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:39,240 So will unbelief cancel God's faithlessness or faithfulness? 437 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:44,280 Excuse me, will unbelief cancel God's faithfulness? 438 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:49,160 The answer is absolutely not. Now, what does that matter to 439 00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:52,640 you? No matter what you do, no matter 440 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:55,960 how much you've sinned, no matter how far away you've run, 441 00:24:57,280 --> 00:25:00,880 God is still faithful. And He'll forgive you if you'll 442 00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:03,080 repent. He'll forgive you if you'll 443 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:05,360 confess. He'll forgive you if you'll run 444 00:25:05,360 --> 00:25:07,800 back to him, if you'll come to him. 445 00:25:08,080 --> 00:25:11,360 You're not too far away for salvation and His grace. 446 00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:19,680 But Paul goes one step further. Question #3 Is God unjust? 447 00:25:20,040 --> 00:25:24,080 Now this gets weird. Is God unjust to judge us? 448 00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:29,120 Because does not my sin 'cause God's truth to abound? 449 00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:32,560 Now Paul's going to have to talk about this again later in the 450 00:25:32,560 --> 00:25:34,920 book as well. But listen to verse 5. 451 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:38,000 It says, But if our righteousness serves to show the 452 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:41,520 righteous, excuse me, but if our unrighteousness serves to show 453 00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:44,160 the righteousness of God, what shall we say? 454 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:47,120 That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us. 455 00:25:47,120 --> 00:25:51,520 I speak in a human way, by no means, for then how could God 456 00:25:51,520 --> 00:25:54,920 judge the world? But if through my lie God's 457 00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:59,040 truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a 458 00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:02,360 Sinner? And why not do evil that good 459 00:26:02,360 --> 00:26:05,280 may come? As some people slanderously 460 00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:08,840 charge us with saying, their condemnation is just. 461 00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:14,600 So again, the the imaginary objector is, is now questioning 462 00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:17,880 God's justice and also accusing Paul of some heresy. 463 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:22,520 And so the argument here is that our wickedness would actually 464 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:26,720 serve God by providing A contrasting background to God's 465 00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:28,520 righteousness. Let me help you understand this. 466 00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:32,360 You ever go to a jewelry store and buy something, they'll bring 467 00:26:32,360 --> 00:26:36,280 out that that black velvet pad. They'll bring out that dark 468 00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:39,920 velvet pad and they'll lay that diamond OR that that ring or 469 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:42,200 that piece of jewelry out on that black velvet. 470 00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:44,640 And they do that on purpose because it makes it look better. 471 00:26:45,960 --> 00:26:49,440 You see the contrast between the shiny, the shiny diamond and 472 00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:52,720 that dark background, right? That's exact. 473 00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:55,920 So that's what our sin. So really, I'm doing God a favor 474 00:26:55,920 --> 00:26:57,760 when I sin. I'm just, I'm just showing how 475 00:26:57,760 --> 00:27:00,600 great God is. I'm I'm contrasting his 476 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:02,480 faithfulness to my unfaithfulness. 477 00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:05,960 So I should sin more. This is an argument that runs 478 00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:09,160 through the book of Romans some or this discussion and Paul 479 00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:10,960 says, listen, I'm I'm going to speak in a human way. 480 00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:12,640 All that means don't make more out of that. 481 00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:16,080 It just means I'm using a human argument, logical way of 482 00:27:16,080 --> 00:27:21,560 talking, paraphrasing the weak unbiblical logic of this, this 483 00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:24,200 questioner don't don't make any more out of that. 484 00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:29,600 It's just a technique. So if God were unjust, He would 485 00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:34,800 be disqualified to judge. His truth would not be true. 486 00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:38,480 And yet what we have to recognize is that God's truth is 487 00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:42,400 the definition of truth, and that's the truth. 488 00:27:44,840 --> 00:27:49,040 God's righteous character has always been the standard. 489 00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:53,160 So the law, just bear with me for a minute. 490 00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:58,240 The Old Testament law illuminated and magnified the 491 00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:02,640 target, so to speak. It, it, it, it left humankind, 492 00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:06,760 left man with even less of an excuse for missing it. 493 00:28:07,640 --> 00:28:09,240 It's kind of like the black cloth. 494 00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:13,560 It, it, it was contrasting and, and so should I send more to 495 00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:16,120 make God look better? Paul saying this is a twisted 496 00:28:16,120 --> 00:28:20,080 concept and some were slanderously reporting this 497 00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:23,480 heresy. So tragically, the the message 498 00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:25,880 of salvation by grace through faith have been perverted by 499 00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:29,320 Paul's opponents, who argued that it provided only a license 500 00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:32,600 to sin and even outright encouragement to sin. 501 00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:37,360 It's crazy. And so, since human failure 502 00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:42,280 could bring sharply, bring out more sharply the righteousness 503 00:28:42,280 --> 00:28:47,200 of God, God ought to be grateful for my service of sin and lessen 504 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:49,640 his wrath on me. I should not be condemned. 505 00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:53,480 I'm doing God a favor by making him look even better by being so 506 00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:58,680 bad into this logic. So here's the truth. 507 00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:03,560 Obviously God does not want our evil as a contrast to His 508 00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:06,920 goodness. He wants our goodness to 509 00:29:06,920 --> 00:29:11,920 actually be a reflection of His likeness and so He wants us to 510 00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:14,640 be like Him. So God didn't give the law and 511 00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:17,240 the Old Testament to humanity to justify His wrath. 512 00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:21,880 He established clear lines of right and wrong as means of 513 00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:24,680 grace to confront us with our offenses. 514 00:29:24,920 --> 00:29:27,680 You understand that the purpose of the law, the giving of the 515 00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:31,960 law, was the first, was the first step of this plan to 516 00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:36,280 redeem us, rather than to discard us or to abandon us or 517 00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:39,520 to forget us to our own self-destructive ends. 518 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:44,600 So God cared enough to confront us and to identify our source of 519 00:29:44,600 --> 00:29:47,960 sin and our our source of separation from Him. 520 00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:51,920 And he did this so that we could see our wrongdoings, that we 521 00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:54,800 could repent, and that we could seek reconciliation. 522 00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:59,360 Because if God condones sin, He would have no way of righteously 523 00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:03,880 judging anything else. Psalm 50 verse 6 says the 524 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:06,640 heavens declared His righteousness for God Himself, 525 00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:12,360 his judge. So we do not do evil that good 526 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:15,440 may come out of it. One commentator said it this 527 00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:17,720 way. Attempting to show God's mercy 528 00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:20,960 by sinning is outrageous and can never be justified. 529 00:30:21,760 --> 00:30:24,080 We must not do evil that good may come of it. 530 00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:26,800 We must remember that God is the just judge. 531 00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:30,600 He hates evil and we must too. We must not put the Lord to the 532 00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:32,960 test. You are never doing God a favor 533 00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:37,120 by sinning. And so the advantage of the 534 00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:42,680 Jewish person possessing the the word of God, the Old Testament 535 00:30:43,120 --> 00:30:47,880 also brought a liability upon them because they were 536 00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:51,240 unfaithful to the covenant with God as a people. 537 00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:55,000 So God's salvation by grace through faith was the only way 538 00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:57,920 then and it's the only way now. And Paul moves on, says that 539 00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:01,000 once again, the equal need for salvation on the part of both 540 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:03,880 Jew and Gentile exist. We all must be saved the same 541 00:31:03,880 --> 00:31:09,040 way and far from glorifying God, sin grieves God. 542 00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:11,000 It's an affront to his character. 543 00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:14,600 AS11 commentator says. It's a it's a stench in his 544 00:31:14,600 --> 00:31:18,520 nostrils. It's against all he is. 545 00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:21,280 It's against all he desires. It's against his character. 546 00:31:21,560 --> 00:31:27,640 Sin separates the Creator from the creation and and He loves us 547 00:31:27,640 --> 00:31:31,480 so dearly that He won't let us get away with it. 548 00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:35,160 Now after answering these questions, let me bring it all 549 00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:36,800 together. This will make sense, I pray. 550 00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:41,160 Paul concludes by proclaiming the whole world is under the 551 00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:46,880 judgement of God and we see a correct accusation and a very 552 00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:50,280 just verdict at the end here. Look at verse 9. 553 00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:53,000 What then? So what? 554 00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:59,120 Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all, for we have 555 00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:02,360 already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin. 556 00:32:02,440 --> 00:32:04,000 As it is written. None is righteous. 557 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:06,680 No, not one. No one understands. 558 00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:10,840 No one seeks for God. All have turned aside together 559 00:32:10,840 --> 00:32:14,680 they have become worthless. No one does good, not even one. 560 00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:17,760 Their throat is an open grave. They use their tongues to 561 00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:20,760 deceive. The venom of ASPs is under their 562 00:32:20,760 --> 00:32:23,360 lips. Their mouth is full of curses 563 00:32:23,360 --> 00:32:25,960 and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed 564 00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:28,480 blood. In their paths are ruin and 565 00:32:28,480 --> 00:32:31,480 misery and the way of peace. They have not known. 566 00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:34,600 There is No Fear of God before their eyes. 567 00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:37,800 Nothing like Paul that ended all up with a happy, happy, happy 568 00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:44,240 huh? So are my people any better off 569 00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:46,000 and their status apart from Christ? 570 00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:49,480 He asked and the answer's no. The bottom line is pretty 571 00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:53,360 simple, Lost is lost no matter who you are. 572 00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:56,200 And though they have an advantage of having the word of 573 00:32:56,200 --> 00:32:58,680 God, they're still accountable to him for their sin, and so are 574 00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:03,320 you, so am I, and both the Jew and the Gentile are going to 575 00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:06,800 stand before the bar of God's judgement charged equally with 576 00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:09,160 sin. So one of the things you need to 577 00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:11,840 note in this passage, which is interesting, if you'll go back 578 00:33:11,840 --> 00:33:16,840 to verse 9, it's the first time that Paul uses the singular for 579 00:33:16,840 --> 00:33:19,000 sin. Before this, he's been talking 580 00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:22,520 about our sins, the actions, the attitudes, the things that we do 581 00:33:22,520 --> 00:33:24,920 or don't do. Now he's talking about the 582 00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:29,720 nature of sin, the principle of sin, the the presence of sin 583 00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:33,280 that dominates the unredeemed. And then he shares this list of 584 00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:36,480 what these are, are Old Testament passages from the 585 00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:40,280 Psalms and one from Isaiah, where he basically is levying 586 00:33:40,400 --> 00:33:45,240 these charges against these people, showing guilt. 587 00:33:45,400 --> 00:33:48,360 It is like the evidence that a lawyer would bring in a court of 588 00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:52,040 law against somebody where we see the universality of sin. 589 00:33:52,120 --> 00:33:55,240 No one is righteous. Nobody's good, nobody's 590 00:33:55,240 --> 00:33:59,280 acceptable to God. In fact, we don't get to decide 591 00:33:59,280 --> 00:34:02,480 what's right. That's something our world 592 00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:05,720 chafes against. We don't get to decide what's 593 00:34:05,720 --> 00:34:07,600 right. That's already been decided. 594 00:34:07,800 --> 00:34:12,120 We in the whole world need the gospel and he brings 14 charges 595 00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:15,280 to prove that unrepentant humanity is guilty before God. 596 00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:19,480 Tim Keller and his comments on this passage says the effects of 597 00:34:19,480 --> 00:34:22,880 sin in the list relating to our minds, our motives, our wills, 598 00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:25,920 our tongues, our relationships, and our relationship to God. 599 00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:29,159 See how holistic it is? Every single aspect of who we 600 00:34:29,159 --> 00:34:34,719 are is sinful. No one understands. 601 00:34:35,440 --> 00:34:38,560 No one seeks for God. The verb therefore understands 602 00:34:38,560 --> 00:34:42,440 means to bring together, not unlike trying to put together 603 00:34:42,440 --> 00:34:45,639 the pieces of a puzzle. You just can't make the puzzle 604 00:34:45,639 --> 00:34:47,520 fit. It just doesn't come together 605 00:34:47,520 --> 00:34:49,600 correctly. You can't see the picture. 606 00:34:49,679 --> 00:34:53,560 We don't know how to spell. We need help. 607 00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:58,280 No one seeks out God. Instead, they seek out their own 608 00:34:58,280 --> 00:35:01,720 initiatives and when people have no other choice, instead of 609 00:35:01,720 --> 00:35:04,520 turning to him, Paul says they turn aside. 610 00:35:04,680 --> 00:35:07,280 All have turned aside. It means to deviate. 611 00:35:07,360 --> 00:35:09,800 It means to turn away. Now that word can be used in a 612 00:35:09,800 --> 00:35:12,280 positive way. Peter writes in first Peter 311 613 00:35:12,440 --> 00:35:14,840 let him turn away from evil and do good. 614 00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:16,720 Let him seek peace and pursue it. 615 00:35:16,800 --> 00:35:20,440 But here, but here the people are turning away, deviating from 616 00:35:20,440 --> 00:35:25,440 God. And so the Lord designated he. 617 00:35:26,280 --> 00:35:29,520 He designates truth and designed us with certain needs that only 618 00:35:29,520 --> 00:35:33,800 He can fulfill. Only He can do that. 619 00:35:34,040 --> 00:35:37,400 And rather than come to Him to satisfy those longings, people 620 00:35:37,400 --> 00:35:42,480 are pursuing these fleeting and even destructive substitutions 621 00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:45,000 for Him. And inevitably these 622 00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:48,560 substitutions fail. They don't feel longing, they 623 00:35:48,560 --> 00:35:50,960 don't bring Shalom, they don't bring completion, they don't 624 00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:53,880 bring satisfaction, and they leave us more empty than before. 625 00:35:53,880 --> 00:35:56,400 How many times do you have to hear about some rich person who 626 00:35:56,400 --> 00:36:00,560 recognizes that life is is far more some some billionaire who 627 00:36:00,560 --> 00:36:03,080 recognizes that that life is still empty. 628 00:36:03,080 --> 00:36:06,880 People will leave notes of of self destruction when they 629 00:36:06,880 --> 00:36:10,480 recognize that their life is empty even though they have 630 00:36:10,480 --> 00:36:14,600 everything the world might possibly give them. 631 00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:21,240 No one living, no one living this way comprehends or 632 00:36:21,240 --> 00:36:23,400 understands the true deep things of life. 633 00:36:23,400 --> 00:36:26,640 That's what Paul's saying. They don't search for God. 634 00:36:26,640 --> 00:36:29,680 They turn aside from the right and together they have become 635 00:36:29,680 --> 00:36:31,640 worthless. They become unprofitable. 636 00:36:31,800 --> 00:36:35,360 The Greek word means to go bad. It's the word used when milk 637 00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:38,640 goes sour. They're like sour milk or 638 00:36:38,640 --> 00:36:41,280 garbage that's good for nothing. Would be another way to 639 00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:46,160 translate it. Humanity believes sometimes this 640 00:36:46,160 --> 00:36:49,600 world teaches us, as one humorist said, that the world 641 00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:51,240 teaches us. Sometimes you have to look 642 00:36:51,240 --> 00:36:54,640 reality square in the face and then deny it. 643 00:36:56,680 --> 00:37:00,520 And that's what our world will do, pretending that they know 644 00:37:00,520 --> 00:37:03,520 when they don't. Our current culture is guilty of 645 00:37:03,520 --> 00:37:06,920 that constantly. We can't get the story right. 646 00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:09,480 We can't get the spelling right. We need correction. 647 00:37:09,680 --> 00:37:11,560 Even our speech is corrupt and sinful. 648 00:37:11,720 --> 00:37:14,120 Paul goes on and says they use their tongues to deceive. 649 00:37:14,240 --> 00:37:16,680 The original Hebrew version of that is, listen, it's kind of 650 00:37:16,680 --> 00:37:18,640 gross. They smooth their tongues with 651 00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:24,000 oil, slippery tongues, deceitful. 652 00:37:24,640 --> 00:37:26,520 And it was written in a habitual way. 653 00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:28,560 And with the word, the verbs written in such ways happening 654 00:37:28,560 --> 00:37:30,200 over and over and over and over and over and over. 655 00:37:30,200 --> 00:37:33,560 This is just been a constant behavior, a pattern of life. 656 00:37:35,120 --> 00:37:39,240 Sometimes I see that in the church people can cut like a 657 00:37:39,240 --> 00:37:43,960 knife with their mouths. Man is marked by blood, 658 00:37:43,960 --> 00:37:45,400 destruction and misery. He says. 659 00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:47,040 They've never known peace. They tread in the way of 660 00:37:47,040 --> 00:37:49,400 violence. I mean, this entire description 661 00:37:49,400 --> 00:37:53,240 shows how man's spirit, body, mind and will are holistically 662 00:37:53,240 --> 00:37:55,520 captivated by evil without Jesus. 663 00:37:55,680 --> 00:37:59,000 I mean, it's a condemnation of the entire human nature without 664 00:37:59,000 --> 00:38:04,240 God and then showing their image in this mirror, in God's mirror. 665 00:38:04,440 --> 00:38:06,280 Here's the verdict, verse 19 and 20. 666 00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:10,760 Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who 667 00:38:10,760 --> 00:38:14,160 are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped and the 668 00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:16,160 whole world may be held accountable to God. 669 00:38:16,800 --> 00:38:19,720 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in His 670 00:38:19,720 --> 00:38:21,160 sight. Since through the law comes 671 00:38:21,160 --> 00:38:24,480 knowledge of sin. The undeniable verdict is 672 00:38:24,480 --> 00:38:30,720 simple, guilty. Every unbeliever, whether Jew or 673 00:38:30,720 --> 00:38:35,280 Gentile, didn't matter under God's holy law and accountable 674 00:38:35,280 --> 00:38:37,080 to him. And the only response is 675 00:38:37,080 --> 00:38:40,080 silence. No one, no one has an argument. 676 00:38:40,600 --> 00:38:43,640 No one can defend this. No one can speak in defense 677 00:38:43,640 --> 00:38:46,840 before God's judgement seat. We are without excuse in the 678 00:38:46,840 --> 00:38:49,080 presence of God. He's painted that picture force 679 00:38:49,080 --> 00:38:51,640 throughout Romans 1 all the way through Romans 3. 680 00:38:51,720 --> 00:38:54,360 We are without excuse apart from Jesus. 681 00:38:54,480 --> 00:38:56,560 There is no defense apart from Christ. 682 00:38:58,120 --> 00:39:01,680 So to say 1 did his best is not sufficient outside of Christ to 683 00:39:01,680 --> 00:39:03,880 call yourself good. To have the preacher say that 684 00:39:03,880 --> 00:39:05,600 you're good at your funeral doesn't count. 685 00:39:05,600 --> 00:39:10,040 It doesn't cut it. The only one can stand mute. 686 00:39:10,080 --> 00:39:13,120 That's all we can do. We stand mute and condemned. 687 00:39:13,800 --> 00:39:16,560 Even the law condemned them. They have to accept the verdict. 688 00:39:16,680 --> 00:39:18,720 The law wants you to know that you're guilty. 689 00:39:19,880 --> 00:39:22,760 The law wanted you to know that the law tells you of your own 690 00:39:22,760 --> 00:39:25,120 righteousness. No one is declared righteous by 691 00:39:25,120 --> 00:39:27,600 the works of the law. Sinful man is incapable of 692 00:39:27,600 --> 00:39:29,440 keeping law, God's law, perfectly. 693 00:39:29,720 --> 00:39:33,080 God never gave the law with expectation that anybody would 694 00:39:33,080 --> 00:39:37,160 keep it perfectly. The law had standards of conduct 695 00:39:37,320 --> 00:39:41,000 and served to cause men to know frankly that we are lost 696 00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:44,640 sinners. It was there for conviction and 697 00:39:44,640 --> 00:39:48,120 confession. No one even desired in 698 00:39:48,120 --> 00:39:50,560 themselves, according to Paul, to obey God that way. 699 00:39:50,560 --> 00:39:54,560 We all have a sinful nature. Yes, human beings still all 700 00:39:54,560 --> 00:39:57,840 around the world, every world, every major world religion, even 701 00:39:57,840 --> 00:40:00,320 within quote UN quote Christianity. 702 00:40:00,520 --> 00:40:03,320 Human beings have this default mode of their heart to try to 703 00:40:03,320 --> 00:40:05,000 achieve this through works righteousness. 704 00:40:05,400 --> 00:40:08,840 If I can just be good enough, if I can just do enough good 705 00:40:08,840 --> 00:40:12,200 things, if I can just do more good than bad, then maybe, I 706 00:40:12,200 --> 00:40:13,920 hope so. I possibly can make it. 707 00:40:15,200 --> 00:40:16,560 Somehow they think they can earn it. 708 00:40:18,200 --> 00:40:21,400 And sometimes I see that even in the church where we do things 709 00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:25,520 that to make ourselves feel better about ourselves, we'll 710 00:40:25,520 --> 00:40:30,360 compare ourselves to others, we'll compete with others, we'll 711 00:40:30,360 --> 00:40:33,400 even cut one another down to make ourselves feel better about 712 00:40:33,400 --> 00:40:34,960 ourselves. Well, if I'm just better than 713 00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:37,800 them, I'm better than he is. I'm better than she is. 714 00:40:38,480 --> 00:40:41,440 Then somehow that's the standard. 715 00:40:43,640 --> 00:40:45,360 But your righteousness cannot be earned. 716 00:40:45,360 --> 00:40:49,280 So is there any hope? Gloom and despair? 717 00:40:49,640 --> 00:40:51,400 Woe is me. Is there any hope? 718 00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:56,200 Well, thankfully God knew the outcome from the beginning. 719 00:40:57,680 --> 00:41:00,640 God gave the law because He knew that the bad news of our sinful 720 00:41:00,640 --> 00:41:02,960 condition should lead us to the good news of the gospel. 721 00:41:03,640 --> 00:41:06,120 Still does that today, just in a different way. 722 00:41:06,400 --> 00:41:09,680 He uses the Holy Spirit to convict us and draw us so that 723 00:41:09,680 --> 00:41:12,320 we can see who we really are. We can understand our need for 724 00:41:12,320 --> 00:41:15,400 Christ that and bring us to a point of confession and 725 00:41:15,400 --> 00:41:18,880 repentance and salvation. So thank God. 726 00:41:20,040 --> 00:41:24,600 Thank God for his relentless, loving confrontation of sin. 727 00:41:25,440 --> 00:41:26,760 He doesn't let us get away with it. 728 00:41:26,840 --> 00:41:30,320 He loves us too much. And he acted on our behalf to do 729 00:41:30,320 --> 00:41:34,760 for us what we or anyone else or anything else could not do for 730 00:41:34,760 --> 00:41:37,480 us. And that's the essence of grace. 731 00:41:39,760 --> 00:41:44,160 Dostoevsky, the author, writes in it's most famous book, If God 732 00:41:44,160 --> 00:41:48,000 does not exist, everything is permissible. 733 00:41:50,920 --> 00:42:01,160 But he does exist, and he is at work right here, right now. 734 00:42:01,160 --> 00:42:03,720 So not all things are permissible. 735 00:42:04,280 --> 00:42:09,000 We need the gospel. This world around us desperately 736 00:42:09,160 --> 00:42:12,880 needs the Gospel. Luther said it this way. 737 00:42:12,880 --> 00:42:15,480 The principal point, therefore, the law, is to make men not 738 00:42:15,480 --> 00:42:18,240 better, but worse. That is to say, it shows them 739 00:42:18,240 --> 00:42:21,800 their sin, that by the knowledge thereof they may be humbled, 740 00:42:22,040 --> 00:42:26,600 terrified, bruised and broken, and by this means may be driven 741 00:42:26,600 --> 00:42:31,240 to seek comfort and so come to that blessed seed that is Christ 742 00:42:33,000 --> 00:42:36,000 to know the truth. You want to know the truth about 743 00:42:36,000 --> 00:42:37,520 your morality? Go check the law. 744 00:42:39,520 --> 00:42:43,760 It only takes 1 violation in your sinful nature to be 745 00:42:43,760 --> 00:42:45,320 sickened with the disease of sin. 746 00:42:46,520 --> 00:42:49,440 And God will not tolerate sin in His presence. 747 00:42:49,440 --> 00:42:52,640 He won't tolerate it, the Bible says in His presence, any more 748 00:42:52,640 --> 00:42:55,600 than you would tolerate the presence of just one malignant 749 00:42:55,600 --> 00:43:00,280 tumor in your body. So agreeing that we have sinned, 750 00:43:00,960 --> 00:43:05,440 agreeing that we need Him as the beginning for God to show us the 751 00:43:05,440 --> 00:43:07,880 depths of His grace. And so the only cure for the 752 00:43:07,880 --> 00:43:10,640 disease of sin is a relationship with Jesus who paid the the 753 00:43:10,640 --> 00:43:12,680 complete penalty for our wrongdoing. 754 00:43:12,880 --> 00:43:18,000 And the gift of freedom from sin has been paid for by the Son of 755 00:43:18,000 --> 00:43:23,880 God in full. And he's here right now offering 756 00:43:23,880 --> 00:43:30,440 that gift to you by grace. Believe it. 757 00:43:32,240 --> 00:43:39,120 Faith in it. By grace, Father, thank you. 758 00:43:42,200 --> 00:43:45,480 Thank you, Father, that before the beginning of time you knew. 759 00:43:47,560 --> 00:43:51,360 Before the beginning of time, loving forgiveness, grace 760 00:43:51,360 --> 00:43:56,320 existed in your heart. Before our sin, forgiveness was 761 00:43:56,320 --> 00:43:58,200 there. Love was there. 762 00:44:00,000 --> 00:44:04,440 But our sin is tragically real and it separates. 763 00:44:05,240 --> 00:44:10,640 It condemns. And so, Father, I pray, Lord, 764 00:44:13,400 --> 00:44:18,280 that Father, you'll help us, help us to recognize, Father, 765 00:44:19,080 --> 00:44:22,760 our need for you. Lord, I pray if there's anyone 766 00:44:22,760 --> 00:44:29,720 here or listening online, the Father doesn't know you, that 767 00:44:29,720 --> 00:44:33,560 Lord, they would recognize right now in their heart of hearts the 768 00:44:33,560 --> 00:44:36,800 Holy Spirit, much like much like the law did. 769 00:44:37,360 --> 00:44:45,200 Now the Holy Spirit works and convicts, shows us, reveals who 770 00:44:45,200 --> 00:44:47,480 we really are and what we really need. 771 00:44:49,840 --> 00:44:55,240 And Father, I pray Lord, that we will believe recognizing Him 772 00:44:55,240 --> 00:44:58,280 moving in our hearts. Father, that's Him drawing us to 773 00:44:58,280 --> 00:45:01,080 You. And in a moment, Father, I pray 774 00:45:01,080 --> 00:45:04,160 that we would respond, believing that Jesus is the only one who 775 00:45:04,160 --> 00:45:07,440 can save us, the only one who paid the price because he died 776 00:45:07,440 --> 00:45:11,440 on a cross and rose again and sits the right hand. 777 00:45:13,280 --> 00:45:17,680 Father, there may be believers here who recognize that they 778 00:45:17,680 --> 00:45:25,040 have a whole stack of Bibles, but they're not doing with them 779 00:45:25,040 --> 00:45:27,520 and for them what they ought to be doing. 780 00:45:28,840 --> 00:45:31,000 So maybe this morning is a moment of recommitment for them. 781 00:45:32,600 --> 00:45:34,640 Maybe somebody needs to be baptized. 782 00:45:34,640 --> 00:45:37,400 Father. Father, maybe somebody needs to 783 00:45:37,400 --> 00:45:39,840 say I need to publicly identify with Christ. 784 00:45:40,400 --> 00:45:41,960 Maybe they need to join the church. 785 00:45:42,680 --> 00:45:43,880 Maybe they're called the missions. 786 00:45:43,880 --> 00:45:45,880 Maybe they're called the ministry like these that we've 787 00:45:45,880 --> 00:45:49,440 commissioned. Father, I pray that they would 788 00:45:49,440 --> 00:45:56,000 come talk to a pastor, talk to our next step counselors, the 789 00:45:56,000 --> 00:45:59,320 Father, they might understand more what you want them to do 790 00:45:59,320 --> 00:46:02,400 with their lives. So Father, I just pray that 791 00:46:02,400 --> 00:46:08,280 we'll surrender, that we'll give up our desire to define right. 792 00:46:09,960 --> 00:46:14,040 And Father, we'll surrender to your righteousness. 793 00:46:18,160 --> 00:46:22,680 Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for the way that you 794 00:46:22,680 --> 00:46:26,640 speak to us through it supernaturally, miraculously. 795 00:46:28,320 --> 00:46:31,000 And I pray, Father, you'll stir our hearts now in Christ's name, 796 00:46:31,880 --> 00:46:34,280 Amen. I ask you to stand with me. 797 00:46:34,280 --> 00:46:36,120 Our worship team will lead us. We'll sing. 798 00:46:36,640 --> 00:46:38,120 Their pastors are going to be here. 799 00:46:38,120 --> 00:46:40,480 Our next steps room is open. You can go have a private 800 00:46:40,480 --> 00:46:43,240 conversation with someone there. Just want to love you and pray 801 00:46:43,240 --> 00:46:45,280 for you. You can come and kneel and pray 802 00:46:45,280 --> 00:46:47,800 at these steps. Our usher's going to take up the 803 00:46:47,800 --> 00:46:50,160 offering while we sing and you come. 804 00:46:50,360 --> 00:46:53,360 Don't worry about them. You just come on and come talk 805 00:46:53,360 --> 00:46:54,120 to one of us.