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Sermon Notes: notes.cornerstonesj.org
On The Jews and Their Truths
Glad when they said to me, let us go into the house of the Lord. All right, we have a few announcements this morning.
So let's get right to it. Next week, we have a vacation Bible school meeting.
So if you'd be willing to help out with VBS, stick around after church and meet up with Tim Robinson.
He'll be leading the vacation Bible school this year. Also next week, we have a technical interchange.
Does anybody here have problems with the app or technology or getting my pastor gram or any technological issues whatsoever?
You got, yeah, most of you guys know what you're doing online. Well, if you have any questions about the app or the website or anything relating to technology, you can look for Joe Gormley, others,
Drew will be hanging out out front after church next week to answer questions. Maybe you've never been able to download the app onto your phone.
They could show you how to do that, a number of things technically speaking. All right, we have a congregational meeting today in this building right after church, so I hope you guys will stick around.
If you do, you are rewarded with a piece of pizza from Angelo's Pizza. Can't beat that.
So right after church today, there will be pizza and that'll just be a hold me over till your real lunch.
We also have a water slide out there for the kids. So I hope the little kids have brought their bathing suits.
You ready for this? Let's go. All right, and with that,
I have another amazing announcement. Last week we had the huge announcement that there's no long -eared bats, even though Bob Ball is walking around with a long -eared bat coat hanger that he made.
So you gotta see that, ask Bob about that. But we have no long -eared bats, which is great news, because it means we're most likely going to be able to build in the field right here in a year or two.
There's Bob. Bob, hold up your long -eared bat. Everybody's gotta see your long -eared bat. He's a strange one.
Yeah, the bat, that's what I was referring to. Okay, so I told you that we have another amazing announcement.
And this one is even better. The orphanage that the
Lord has called us to fund and Hamilton to build has now been completed.
Praise the Lord. And we have a word on the screen. If you guys will direct your attention, we have a word from Hamilton telling us about it.
It's me, Hamilton Douglas, I'm here to tell you guys that the journey that we started six months ago has now come to an end.
We are done building the girls' orphanage. And as I'm talking, the girls have already moved in to their new home.
So it's such a blessing to see what God has started when we are putting the sketch, the budget, and everything.
And to see where it is now that the mission has been accomplished. So I really wanna take this opportunity to thank
Pastor Jeff, but also the leadership and the church, also for all your support.
You guys have trusted me with your resources, and my way was to take those resources and put them into work, which
I've done now. And I really wanna take this opportunity to say thank you so much for all the support that you have put towards me, but also the ministry.
As I'm talking now, it's such a blessing. And I'm waiting the day that we will dedicate the home to our
Lord Jesus, and I can't wait. Thank you so much for all your support. And we'll stop that there because I wanna show you the pictures through a slideshow because it's actually a little better.
Here is the outside of the home. You notice they have a gravel parking lot. Go on, get an aerial view of it.
Isn't that beautiful? Amazing. Yeah, you have the outside here. They dug a well, and so it's providing water, not just for the orphanage, but other people from the village are able to access the well also.
But notice it's walled in. Look at the inside, how beautiful this is. They painted it nicely.
Another outside picture. The electrical work, coming to a conclusion there.
They have solar panels for electric. Look how beautiful the intricate working of the ceiling is and the nice light fixture, beautiful.
It's just a real blessing. A gravel parking lot, and notice there's a wall for safety, and it's all walled in.
So this is what the Lord has done, and it is marvelous in our eyes. Hey guys, let's pause before we move on to the graduation.
We have two more things to do. We sent out a graduate a couple years ago. His name is
Jack, but I wanna pray for the orphans first, and then we're gonna call on you. Can we ask you to give us an update?
One of our young men went off to seminary, and he's here today. Let's pray. So Father God, we thank you so much for what you have done.
It just overwhelms us with joy to see your work, and that we could have a part in this, the
Cornerstone Girls Safe House in Malawi. Lord, thank you so much. We now pray for these girls, because they are coming out of very difficult situations.
We pray that you would be their healer. Lord, that each one of them would come to a saving faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ. That you would heal them emotionally as well as physically. That you would be with them and be their
God, and they would be disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray for power in the ministry of this orphanage,
Lord. Do a great work in their lives and bring healing. Lord, we thank you for it, and we pray for marvelous things to happen for the sake of the name of Jesus, amen.
Okay, so we have a privilege. Before we call on Tim and the graduates, Jack Reed, come on up. Many of you know
Jack. We sent this young guy off to seminary at Reformation Bible College, and he got married right away, so his wife is here.
Let's give a hand clap. What a blessing. So Jack, what's been going on in your life?
So it's been about two years, in August will be two years, since we moved down there and just jumped right into school.
It's a pretty vigorous program, so I start my language courses this fall. I'll be learning
Latin, then Greek, then Hebrew. And it'll give me a good prep for seminary, which will be another three years down the road.
But the road is long and pretty hard, but I'm confident that it'll prepare me as best as I can for ministry.
And as Pastor Jeff said, I met my wife Nadi our first semester there.
We started dating pretty soon after. And then the Lord has just worked in our lives and provided the means for us to be able to get married soon.
So this August will be one year for our anniversary, which is incredible.
But things have opened up recently, so I'm now working part time in the admissions department at my school.
We are gonna be moving into a new house that we're gonna be renting. So we'll have some ample space, we'll have our own freedom to plant a garden, do normal house things, which is exciting, rather than in a studio apartment.
So things are working out pretty well for us. Awesome, can we pray for Jack? Father God, we thank you for Jack and we pray for a continued anointing on his life.
We pray that your hand of favor would rest on him in everything he sets himself to do, establish the work of his hands.
Lord, prepare him for ministry. We pray in his studies that he would be learning not just the information, but knowing you, above all else, that he would know
Jesus Christ. So Father, train him up for ministry. And Lord, we pray that you would then open a door for him to pastor and that he would preach the gospel for the rest of his life,
Lord God. Keep your hand of favor on him and bless him in Jesus' name, amen. Amen, thanks, good seeing you, brother.
All right, I'm gonna call on Tim Robinson. Pastor Tim, come and honor the graduates. All right, after seeing
Jack Reed, I just wanna make a quick announcement that we have young adults meeting tonight at 715.
So if you're a young adult, come by, I hope Jack and your wife can make it. Next off, we will be first honoring the middle school graduates.
And the first graduate that we will be honoring is Tim Clewer, come on up. If you think
Jeff is a kind and nice person, get to know his son, Tim. He's one of the best kids
I know. Another really good kid graduating from Harvard, just like Tim, Carmine Polanyi, is he in the building?
Carmine, maybe not in the building today. All right, no
Carmine. Next, Luke Tromley, are you in the building? Come on up,
Luke. Comes from a really good family as well.
And then next, my friend, Vanessa Langosky, are you here? Come on up,
Vanessa. Vanessa's a very godly young lady, loves the
Lord. Very great to know Vanessa. Next, we're gonna move on to high school. First up,
Taylor Nabinger. Taylor also comes from a very godly family, very loving girl.
Next, graduating from Dana Ewer School for Homeschool Kids. Come on up,
Sarah Ewer. Sarah just got baptized and has a wonderful testimony.
Next is Luke Lindaberry, come on up. Graduating high school.
He just graduated Liberty Online and security team, take a look at this guy, you might wanna recruit him.
Next up is one of my good friends, Chandler Burnett. Is he in the building? Not here today, okay.
Next is our other really good friend, Chase Burnett. Is he in the building? There he is. Chase is probably the friendliest guy
I know, and he's moving to Florida soon, so we're gonna miss him terribly. So if you have any encouragement for Chase before he goes, come say hi and get to know this guy.
Next is one of my really good friends, Chris Burnett, come on up. Really quick story on Chris, Chris ran for president for his school and lost a couple years ago to a couple of woke students that put their names on the same ballot, and he lost by one vote unjustly, election fraud.
But that didn't stop him from running again and then winning the election and then giving a speech where he thanked his parents, his brothers, and his
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in front of the whole school. So we give the glory and the victory to God for what he's done in Chris's life.
That was just an awesome story to hear. Next up, Caleb Malave. Caleb graduated from my
Almorada, Senate Minson High School. Here you go, Caleb. And Caleb is joining the
Marines. Is that correct, Caleb? Marines? All right. Caleb is,
I think, the boldest guy I know, and he's very fit to be a soldier. A few weeks ago, we were at youth group, and Caleb saw someone in the woods, and he saw eyes in the woods when we were hanging out outside.
It was late at night, and Caleb just darted in the woods and chased this, what he thought was a person, away.
And he came up to me and said, I was running as fast as I can. I'm really fast, and I just couldn't quite catch it.
I was gaining on it, but it ran away. And then we later told Caleb that it was a deer that he was running after.
He thought it was a grown adult man, but he was ready to take him down, so. Next, we have my good friend,
Luke Coke. Come on up. Like his parents and his grandmom, he is brilliant, very smart kid.
All right, his grandpop, too. And also, I don't know where he got this from, but he's also probably the most athletic kid
I've ever met in my life. Very good football player, the best football player Audubon High School has had since Joe Flacco.
So he'll be going on to Rowan University and playing football there. So congratulations to Luke, and I think that's it.
So give it up for the graduates here. Now, if I'm missing anybody in the building that graduated and graduated from middle school or high school or college, please raise your hand.
We'll honor you now cuz we have a couple extras. Congratulations on your retirement, brother.
All right, so at this time, we'll just pray for these young men and women. Father God, thank you for these young men and women.
Thank you that you have saved them, that you've called them to a life of godliness. We pray that you would keep the evil one away from them, that they would grow in your son,
Jesus Christ, wherever they go. That they would boldly not be ashamed of the gospel and not be ashamed of your son, and their identity would be in Christ.
And they would be able to survive anywhere they go and go wherever you call them. We thank you for these young men and women, and we give you the honor and the glory and the praise for what you've done in their lives.
In Jesus' name, we pray, amen. And just for the high schoolers, real quick,
I forgot, we have a book. It's called Surviving Religion 101, you're gonna wanna read this one. So high schoolers.
Wait, is it by the author, Jeff Cleary? This one is not by Jeff Cleary. Let's all stand.
As we prepare to worship, in Revelation 2 -4,
Jesus was addressing the church at Ephesus. And one of the things he said after he commended them for their perseverance and their work, but he said, but you have left your first love.
And just as we pray and move forward this morning, Lord, not
Lord, but I know that there, should
I say, if there is just one person in this building that has left your first love this morning, it might be from anger or something, something bitterness.
It's growing inside you. It might be some sort of a health issue that you feel has separated you from the
Lord, but Jesus told a parable of the good shepherd, where he left the 99 to pursue the one, to find the one.
And if there's just one person in this room this morning that feels that way down in your heart, that you just need that refreshing, and you know that you're not where God has you to be, then
Rachel is gonna be leading us in a beautiful hymn, Be Thou My Vision.
And just take this moment just to search your heart, to respond to God.
And we just pray for the Holy Spirit that as he comes and moves in this place, that you would respond to him, and that you would find your way back, and that he would draw you to where you once were, amen?
Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
May thou be all else to me save that thou art.
Thou my best thought by day or by night.
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light
Be Thou my listener, Thou my true word
I need Thee and Thou lift me up I am
Thine and Thou Thyself Thou indeed love me and I lift
Thee up Wishes I heed, moments empty praise
Thou God in carelessness,
Thou and always And I'll hold
Thee first in my heart
My King of Heaven, my victory
Lord May I reach
Heaven's door, my Heaven's song
Higher, higher, higher, whatever befall
Still be my vision, oh oh oh oh
Was a wretch, I remember who I was
I was lost, I was blind, I was running out of time
Sin, separated, the breach was far too wide
But from the foresight of the chasm, You had me in Your sight
So You made a way across the great divide
Left behind Heaven's throne to build it here inside There at the cross,
You paid the debt Broke my chains, freed my soul, for the first time
I know Thank You Jesus for the blood of mine
Thank You Jesus, You have washed me white
Thank You Jesus, You have saved my life
Brought me from the darkness into holiness
And You took my place in the eternal to save me
And You were there before the days, but then You walked right out again
And now death has no sin, and life has no pain
For I have been transformed by the blood of the
Lamb Thank You Jesus for the blood of mine
Brought me from the darkness into glorious light
There is nothing stronger than the one who works the power of love
Love, love, love
There is nothing stronger than a ransom by a father
Love, love, love There is nothing stronger than a ransom by a father
Love, love, love Thank You Jesus for the blood of mine
Glory to His name
There to my heart was the blood of the
Lamb Glory to His name
I've been a thousand generations
Falling down in worship To sing the song of ages to the
Lamb Did all who've gone before us
And all who will believe Will sing the song of ages to the
Lamb Your name is the highest
Your name is the greatest Your name stands above them all
All thrones and domains All powers and positions
Your name stands above them all
And the angels cry Holy, all creation cries
Holy, You are lifted high
Holy, holy forever
If you've been forgiven If you've been redeemed
Sing this song forever to the Lamb And if you walk in freedom
And if you bear His name Sing this song forever to the
Lamb Sing this song forever, amen
Hear your people sing
Holy to the King of kings
Holy, You will always be
Your name is the highest Your name is the greatest
Jesus, Your name is the highest Your name is the greatest
Hear your people sing Holy to the
King of kings Holy, You will always be
You will always be Holy, holy forever
I was buried beneath my shame
Who could carry that kind of weight?
It was my tomb Till I met
You Three things went down Over life
Failures I've tried To hide It was my tomb
Till I met You You called my name
And I ran out of that grave Out of the darkness
Into Your glorious day You called my name
Into Your glorious day Now Your mercy has saved my soul
Now Your freedom is all that I know
The old and new Jesus, when
I met You When You called my name
Into Your glorious day Your dress kept my sins heavy
But chains break at the weight of Your glory I was sheltered,
I was an orphan And You called me a sinner, sinner heavy
When I was broken, You were my healing And Your love is the air that I'm breathing
I have a future, my eyes are open Cause when
You called my name I ran out of that grave
Out of the darkness Into Your glorious day
You called my name And I ran out of that grave
Thank you, that was fun. Let's pray. Father God, thank You that we can come into this place of freedom bought by the blood of Jesus and bring
You worship and praise for You are worthy and we are redeemed. We sing as those who have been redeemed from our sins.
Thank You Lord for that indescribable gift, the blood of Jesus applied to us. And Father, this morning as we open
Your word, we want to pray for all of the Jewish people that we know. Lord, that they also would be saved and come into this freedom, that You would be merciful and gracious and loving toward the
Jewish people to save them. We also ask Lord that You would protect Israel at this time in her history.
She's under attack from Hezbollah to the north and the Palestinian people from the side and even from those who used to support allies that seem to be turning against Israel.
Lord, she is under attack. And so we pray for Israel, Lord, that You would protect
Israel. They are the apple of Your eye. In Exodus, You called them
Your firstborn. And so Lord, we pray for them and ask that You would be merciful and keep them.
Be the guardian over Israel. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. When Martin Luther began the
Protestant Reformation in 1517, he nailed the 95 theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg.
Martin Luther was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. That spirit was holy, godly.
He had a zeal for the truth at that time. When he was on his way to the
Diet of Worms because he was under threat of being burned at the stake because he would dare challenge the papacy, he was full of the
Holy Spirit. Even traveling to Worms, it took a couple of weeks from where he was and he stopped on Sunday mornings to preach in the different locations.
In the first, it was Erfurt. And as he began to preach, the people became panicked that the balcony was going to collapse.
So many people came. And there were even people who jumped out the window from multiple stories high to save their lives from what they thought was a collapsing balcony.
And Martin Luther said, do not panic. It is the devil sending you into a panic.
God will protect you. And he calmed the people and he preached the gospel. The next Sunday he went to a place called
Gotha. And in Gotha, as he was preaching, the tower of the church actually collapsed while he preached the gospel, sending a terrifying boom through the building.
Nobody was injured. But again, Luther reminded them, this is spiritual warfare.
That tower had stood for 250 years and it happened to collapse while Luther was on his way to Worms.
When he got to there, the emperor was seated in judgment of him, as was the
Pope's assistant and all the dignitaries of the Roman Empire had come to sit in judgment of him.
He was pretty sure that he was going to be killed. But he stood boldly after a night of prayer and said, here
I stand. He stood on the word of God. He was filled with the Holy Spirit of God.
And so the Protestant Reformation began. Two years later, in the year 1523, he wrote an essay about the
Jews. And this essay was godly, spirit -filled wisdom.
I want you to hear Martin Luther's words. If I had been a Jew and had seen such dolts and blockheads govern and teach the
Christian faith, I would sooner have become a hog than a Christian. This is how
Luther wrote. He talked about the papacy and the religious leaders as dolts and blockheads and he said he would sooner have become a hog than a
Christian under them. They have dealt with the Jews as if they were dogs rather than human beings.
They have done little else than deride them and seize their property. When they baptize them, they show them nothing of Christian doctrine or life, but only subject them to popishness and monkery.
If the apostles, who also were Jews, had dealt with the Gentiles as we Gentiles deal with the
Jews, there would never have been a Christian among the Gentiles. When we are inclined to boast of our position as Christians, we should remember that we are but Gentiles while the
Jews are of the lineage of Christ. We are aliens and in -laws.
They are blood relatives, cousins and brothers of our Lord. Therefore, if one is to boast of flesh and blood, the
Jews are actually nearer to Christ than we are. If we really want to help them, we must be guided in our dealings with them, not by the papal law, but by the law of Christian love.
Martin Luther says we must receive them cordially and permit them to trade and work with Christians with us, that they may have occasion and opportunity to associate with us, hear our
Christian teaching, and witness our Christian life. If some of them should prove stiff -necked, what of it?
After all, we ourselves are not all good Christians either.
Can somebody say amen? Twenty years later, in the year 1543,
Martin Luther would write a book 77 pages long entitled On the
Jews and Their Lies. Something happened in those two decades.
From 1523, when he wrote these words, encouraging Christian love toward the
Jews, to a book called On the Jews and Their Lies. He said their houses should be razed and destroyed.
Fires should be set to their synagogues and schools. We are at fault that we did not slay them.
All direct quotes from his book. I read that book this week online, it's free, it's available. Something must have happened in Luther's life that didn't come out of nowhere.
He probably observed some Jews doing horrible things and the rumor was that Christian children had been attacked by some
Jewish people. But the main charge in the book was usury, that the Jewish bankers were extorting the people and charging outrageous interest and enslaving them in that manner.
He also said that God has judged the Jews by sending them out of the promised land and the fact that they've been sent into Diaspora proves that God has done with them.
So he thought in 1543, but in 1948 God sent them back.
What was it that happened? We don't know. But we do know this. The words that Martin Luther wrote in that book were not of God.
They were not in keeping with what Jesus himself taught about the Jewish people or what
Paul writes in the book of Romans. Listen to the contrast. Whereas Martin Luther says we ought to raise their buildings and burn their synagogues and even hints that they should have been slain.
Paul says that he would be willing to be accursed and cut off from Christ himself for the sake of my
Jewish brethren. They are my kinsmen, says Paul. And to them was given the covenant and the law and the patriarchs.
And from them from them comes Jesus Christ.
Paul in Romans 10 will say my desire for them is that they may be saved. And in chapter 11 of Romans he will go on to say and Israel will be saved.
Speaking of the Jewish people he has confidence that in the end they will look upon the one they have pierced and they will mourn for him and so they will come to faith in Jesus Christ.
That was Martin Luther's desire. But when he didn't see it happen and the Jews did not accept his preaching, when
Germany became Lutheran, a Christian nation, some kind of demonic zeal against the
Jews was stirred up in his heart. What that tells me is that even a
Christian can get sucked in to hatred of the Jews. Turn with me to the book of Romans chapter 2.
And yet it is not antisemitism to preach the truth of the gospel to a
Jew. And to say to a Jewish person that you also are a sinner that needs to repent that your righteousness is like filthy rags before God Almighty and that Christ has been offered as a sacrifice that if you will believe your sins will be washed away.
We must not hesitate from speaking the hard truth of God's word to Jew and Gentile alike.
And as we read Romans chapter 2 verses 17 to 29, I want you to notice that it is directed to you
Jew. Romans chapter 2 verse 1 was directed to O man, universally to all people of any ethnicity,
Jew and Gentile alike. But as we pick up in verse 17, Paul directs the sentence and the paragraph to you who call yourself and are a
Jew. Let's read. Romans 2 17 to 29. But if you call yourself a
Jew and rely on the law and boast in God and know his will and approve what is excellent because you are instructed from the law.
And if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth.
You then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal?
You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law.
For as it is written, the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.
For circumcision indeed is a value if you obey the law. But if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision.
So if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?
Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law.
For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical, but a
Jew is one inwardly and circumcision is a matter of the heart by the spirit, not by the letter.
His praise is not from man but from God. The discussion of circumcision here relates to the outward covenant sign of being
Jewish. The outward display, the way that someone is known to be a
Jew is by circumcision and this goes way back to the book of Genesis as God gave that covenant sign.
But notice in verse 27 when Paul says then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you.
Who is the you in that sentence? As in the whole paragraph it is referring to ethnic
Jews. You need only to go back to the beginning of the passage and so do that in verse 17 where it says but if you call yourself a
Jew notice that that word you in verse 17 all the way through 27 in the
Greek is in the singular that's very important. It's not in the plural it's in the singular.
Paul is directing these words to any reader of this letter or any hearer of the preaching of the book of Romans that every individual
Jew will be addressed as an individual in the singular. You hearing this word.
Notice also in verse 17 where it says but if you call yourself a Jew that word if is a conditional.
But does that mean that it's in question whether the person is Jewish or not?
Is it to say you so called Jew or does it name the
Jewish person? It is the latter. It is not the former. If in the
Greek here is conditional but it's a first class conditional sentence.
What does that mean? It means that the conditional statement is assumed to be true.
It's not leaving this as an open question so as to say if is meaning a so -called
Jew to question such a thing but rather to say if you are named a Jew. In other words this is directed to Jewish people.
As such God recognizes in this text this category of one who is a
Jew. That's important as we get into chapters 9 to 11 because Paul will address the
Jewish question. Why have so many Jews not believed? Has the word of God failed? And then
Paul will expound upon God's eschatological plan for the Jewish people culminating in the statement in chapter 11.
I believe it's verse 35 and so all Israel will be saved.
God is still speaking to Jews as such. Not questioning whether they are but notice what he would say to them.
The big idea in verses 17 to 24 is spiritual pride. Matthew Henry rightly comments that the most dangerous kind of pride is spiritual pride.
I think this is what overtook Martin Luther when he had established an entire Christian nation in Germany.
A form of spiritual pride overtook him and he began to boast over the
Jewish people who were not willing to accept Jesus Christ. Notice the same problem is inherent in any rejection of Jesus Christ including among Jews.
The issue is spiritual pride. Notice the litany of descriptives of a
Jew who is not yet believing the gospel. Verse 18, you know as well.
You approve what is excellent because you are instructed from the law and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth.
This setup here is meant to describe someone who sees themselves this way.
It's a self -assessment. The Jew who regards himself as light to the nations, a teacher of children, an instructor, one who has the law and therefore embodies this law of knowledge and truth.
This sets up verse 21 where like was done to us in chapter 2 verse 1, the rug is pulled out from underneath the
Jew. In chapter 2 verse 1 oh man, you have no excuse because you practice the very same things the pagans do.
You suppress the truth in unrighteousness. You exchange the glory of God for idols.
The debased mind, the sexual depravity, these are the kind of things that characterize you oh man.
You who judge another. What Paul is doing here is he's shutting all of us up under sin.
But in verse 21 the Jew needs to hear this specifically. You then who teach others, do you not teach yourself?
While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery?
You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law, now a definitive statement is made in verse 23 and it's not flattering.
Paul says to the Jew, you dishonor God. You break the law.
The rich young ruler came to Jesus thinking he kept all ten commandments. But Jesus saw his heart and issued the command to go and sell everything you have and come follow me.
And that heart was not there. Because in fact, the rich young ruler was not a law keeper but a law breaker.
When Jesus expounded upon the law, he taught us that if a man even looks at a woman with lust in his heart, he's violated the deeper meaning of thou shalt not commit adultery.
But here the Jewish teacher does not accept that interpretation. He counts himself righteous because he's never physically committed adultery.
One of the commentators I like listening to on the radio is Dennis Prager and he gets a lot of things right because he has the law of God and he can make application.
But he would very much be described in this passage as one who thinks he is an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, a light for others to see.
When a caller recently asked him what to do about her marriage situation, she's constantly squabbling with her husband.
And also she's at war with her three children. Dennis Prager went to the
Talmud into Talmudic Judaism and he said to her, if you do not look out for you, who will?
You should divorce your husband. Why don't you divorce him? It's been war for years. And this was the wisdom that he offered.
Whereas the word of God says divorce my soul hates. And what the word of God understands and teaches is that the law has a primary function of exposing our own sin.
There are three functions of the law. Take careful note of this.
This is very important to understand. The law is first of all a mirror. Second, it's a restraint.
And third, it is a guide. A mirror, a restraint, and a guide.
Here in the passage, the Jewish person understands the law as a guide. It teaches us right from wrong.
It teaches us how to live righteously before God. And everyone understands that the law is a restraint.
When the law of God says thou shalt not murder and there's capital punishment assigned for those who do commit murder, it restrains murder in the land, right?
When it says thou shalt not steal, look what happened in California when they said that people can steal up to $999 without being prosecuted.
What do you get? A rash of thefts and stores just being raided because there's no restraint of evil.
But the primary and first function of the law is a mirror. It's a tutor to bring you to Christ.
It is meant to show you how sinful you really are. And this is the problem that Paul is addressing in verses 18 to 20.
The Jewish person doesn't see his own sin when he comes to the law. He thinks he's keeping it.
The law exposes our hypocrisy. And those reading might say, well,
I've never robbed a temple. But Malachi said, bring the full tithe into the storehouse.
Otherwise, you're robbing God. Malachi chapter 3. And the
Jewish person who maybe isn't bringing that full tithe ought to be cut to the heart and say, wow,
I'm robbing God's temple. Here, the examples are stealing, murder and robbery of the temple.
Adultery, I should say, murder and robbing temples. How many
Jewish people have assumed their own righteousness because they have not committed adultery?
Dennis Prager said in an interview with Jordan Peterson that looking at pornography is not awful.
Made allowance for it. But our Lord Jesus Christ cuts to the heart.
And even in your heart, even if not looking at pornography, but fantasizing in the mind's eye, the
Bible teaches us this again is a form of adultery. The Bible cuts to the heart.
It is a mirror that reveals our unrighteousness. And why would God want to show us how filthy we are?
Is this hate speech? According to the Anti -Semitism
Awareness Act, which is currently in our Congress, this could very well be described as anti -Semitism.
The bill says that anyone who says that the Jews killed Jesus is committing anti -Semitism.
This is a hate crime. A hate crime. This bill is awful because it limits free speech.
The answer is not to limit free speech or to call hate what is actually loving.
Because hear this. What Paul is saying in verses 23 and 24 is absolutely loving.
It is not hate speech to say you dishonor God. To say that to a
Jew is what they need to hear. That's what I needed to hear before I came to Jesus Christ.
That I was dishonoring God. It's the most loving thing to do to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
To tell the truth is loving. To obfuscate and coddle and lie is actually hate speech.
So what Paul does here is he exposes the sin of the Jew. When he says the name of God is blasphemed among the
Gentiles because of you, he's quoting from Isaiah chapter 52, verse 5.
Turn back with me to Isaiah 52, 5. It's a paraphrase, not a direct quote.
He's making application of that passage. And the context here is that Israel has been sent into Egypt in captivity and later will be sent into Babylonian captivity.
But when they were in Egypt, it did no good for the Egyptians. Did it?
When God brought them out, he wrecked Egypt and destroyed their entire army, drowning in the sea.
And Israel actually plundered Egypt as a judgment from God against the false gods of Egypt.
There was no rescue, no salvation for Egypt. Neither was there salvation in the
Babylonian captivity. The Assyrians remained wicked when Israel went back home.
So look what he says in Isaiah 52, 5. Now therefore what have I here, declares the
Lord, seeing that my people are taken away for nothing. There's no benefit.
Their rulers wail, declares the Lord, and continually all the day my name is despised.
That's what Paul is quoting in Romans 2, 14. My name is despised.
Why? Because Israel in herself, in her own righteousness, has nothing to offer to the nations.
They're sinners like us. There's no light, but read on in verse 6.
Therefore my people shall know my name. At the revelation of the name of Jesus Christ, there is light to the nations because Jesus is the light of the world.
His is the name above every name. Yahweh is salvation. That's the name of Jesus.
Yahoshua. Yahweh saves. So in verse 6 we have the revelation of his name, and now look at verse 7.
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news. When you're carrying the name of Jesus, the name above every name, you publish peace.
You bring good news of happiness. You publish salvation. You say to Zion, your
God reigns. Notably, if you keep reading this passage, you come to verse 13, and Isaiah begins to speak prophetically of Jesus Christ.
He is the servant that acts wisely and is lifted up, exalted. Jesus is the one that many are astonished at.
His appearance will be marred beyond human semblance and his form beyond that of the children of mankind.
So shall he sprinkle with his blood many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him.
For that which has not been told them, they see. And that which they have not heard, they understand.
The Gentile nations will receive the gospel, the name of Jesus. But look at chapter 53, verse 1.
Who has believed what he has heard from us? And now we go back to the book of Romans.
We know what unfolds in Isaiah 53. The lamb taken to the slaughter, crushed for our iniquities, the chastisement that brings us peace laid on him, the death and the resurrection of Jesus, that he will see the light of life and be satisfied.
Turn with me to Romans chapter 10, verses 15 to 17.
In Romans 2, Paul gives bad news to the Jew. Quoting from Isaiah 52, 5, the name of Yahweh is blasphemed among the nations because of you.
Bad news. But as he progresses in his argument, Romans 9 to 11 takes up the issue of Israel and the
Jews. And in chapter 10, verses 15 to 17, he's still quoting from Isaiah 52.
And into chapter 53, let's read it. Romans 10, 15 to 17. And how are they to preach unless they are sent?
As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news.
Isaiah 52, verse 7. But they have not yet all obeyed the gospel.
For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us? From where is
Paul quoting in this verse? Isaiah 53, verse 1.
We had someone deliver the inflatable yesterday. And as he was bringing the water slide,
I asked him about his faith. Do you have a church? Do you believe anything? And he said that he was a
Jew. And his family practices Jewish traditions. And so I shared with him
Isaiah 53. This is where you go. Paul did it for the
Jews. He did it here. And this is what you are to do. There are Jewish people that you know and that you will come across.
And when you do, bring them Isaiah 53. That's how our dear sister Bonnie was saved, a
Jew. How her daughter came to faith seeing Isaiah 53. God has given it here in his word.
Good news for the Jew and also for the Gentile. The message of Jesus Christ crucified written right there in the
Old Testament. Now lastly, we'll finish up where we began. Romans chapter 2 with verses 25 to 29.
We've already read it where Paul talks about circumcision being of value.
But only if there is circumcision of the heart. What is he talking about? He's saying that the outward covenant sign is meaningless to the
Jew unless there is the inward work of the
Spirit on the heart. The cutting away of the sinful flesh.
The work of the Spirit to bring new life inside the believer. This is regeneration and only
God can do that through the gospel. The outward observances and having the law outwardly does no good.
It's the one who hears and believes and puts into practice what the word of God says.
But there is indeed value in having the word. Look at verses 1 and 2 and we'll finish here.
Then what advantage has the Jew or what is the value of circumcision? Paul doesn't say nothing
God's done with the Jewish people as such as a nation. He says much in every way.
I've listened to a lot of people online call themselves based. Have you heard of based?
And they're more based if they begin to criticize the Jews. At least on some social media networks and within some groups among Christians even.
But I'll tell you what's based. A true definition of based is to believe every word written in this book.
Paul is more based because he loves
Jewish people, Romans chapter 9, to the point of being willing to substitute his own salvation for theirs.
This kind of love for them. And notice he says here to begin with chapter 3 verse 2, the
Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. Martin Luther was not based to write on the
Jews and their lies. In fact, chapter 1 verse 28 what does it say?
They did not see fit to acknowledge God. God gave them up to a debased mind.
A mind that has no base. And that is described as coveting and hatred and envy and murder and strife and deceit, maliciousness.
That is a debased mind. Not a based mind. And so I would say to you
Christian, listen to this very carefully. You must love the
Jewish people. Martin Luther was angry because Jewish people would often say that Jesus was not born to a virgin but to a silversmith or a
Roman soldier. A child of adultery. He did not turn the other cheek but he turned to malicious rage against the
Jews who said such things about our Lord. And so he himself began to sin.
In closing quickly, seven things that we need to understand from this text and from all of scripture regarding the
Jewish people. The Jews are categorically different from all people.
What do I mean by that? The big distinction in the Bible is not between black and white or Native American and European or the castes of India.
The big distinction in the Bible is between Jew and Gentile. Jew and Gentile.
And God has especially chosen people that he calls the Jews who descend from Abraham.
There are promises given. Number two, these oracles of God that we read about in chapter 3 verse 2.
These oracles of God and every promise that God ever made to the Jews are yes and amen.
The promises about the land will come true in the millennium. Nothing that God said, no word that he said to them will fall.
That means that all these enemies, these 13 wars that Israel has fought since 1948, none of them will extinguish the
Jewish people because God will watch over Israel. Psalm 121 verse 4.
God is faithful to the Jews and their truths. Martin Luther wrote on the Jews and their lies, but God regards the
Jews and their truths. His promises given and entrusted to them. Think of this. Every single book in our
Bible was written by a Jew. You know that? God entrusted the
Jewish people with his word to the world. I even think that Luke was
Jewish. So the New Testament in Toto also was written by Jews. God entrusted the oracles of God to them.
Number three, anti -Semitism and anti -Judaism are different things.
Listen to this. There are many wicked Jews and there are many relatively righteous
Jews. The most wicked people, there's an outsized influence among the
Jews in the nations. This is very important for you to understand. Because they are ethnically different,
God has chosen them from before the foundation of the world, they influence in outsized ways.
And this leads to anti -Semitism in many ways because some of the most wicked
Jews are also the most competent in their wickedness. The thing that is undermining
America very much is the funding of George Soros, a Jew. He's the one funding the district attorneys in San Francisco and New York that they would be able to do what they're doing to undermine
America. Not only Soros but the Rothschilds. That banking family is funding the wickedness.
Now the new tech gurus like Sam Altman, the founder of AI, is giving all this money to every leftist progressive cause.
Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook. You recognize these names. And so anti -Semitism can be a response of Christians who aren't careful.
But listen, this is very important. The Jewish people are also specially used of God for the good of the nations.
How would you like moms, dads, for your little child to be paralyzed from polio?
One in 200 kids paralyzed and most of them would die from their lungs collapsing until a
Jew named Jonas Salk developed a vaccine against polio. Albert Einstein and his advancements in physics.
The things that gave the United States of America the edge to win World War II. For every
George Soros, there are donors who are Jewish supporting righteous causes.
The owner of the Dallas Mavericks has given just as much as Soros did to the wicked cause to righteous causes.
The aldermans. The point is you can't look at the outward ethnicity and begin to hate
Jewish people when you see wickedness done. But next, we alone as Christians who believe the word of God can understand the world as it is.
Why is it that there's so much hatred in the world for this one nation? On Saturday morning,
I read the book of Romans and then I just thought, you know, I'm going to see what they're talking about on TV. And as soon as I turned it on, they were talking about Israel.
You think that's a coincidence? Or do you think Israel's at the center? The Jewish people are at the center because God's not done with them.
And the Holocaust, the hatred of Jews comes from demons.
Demonic hatred. There is a spiritual war and Israel is right at the center of it. On our
U .S. campuses, they are chanting from the river to the sea. What do they mean by that? The annihilation of Israel.
But I want to say something else to you about these promises. The land promise from the river to the sea, which they think is the
Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, is actually way too small. In Deuteronomy chapter 1 verse 7 and 1124, it does say the river to the sea, but it refers to the
Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea. That's actually the land of Israel.
Never been in history, but will be in the millennium. That's the promised land.
Read it for yourself. Deuteronomy 1, 7 and 1124. Those who believe the truths of the
Bible have the only explanation for the place of Jews in history. We can understand what's happening around us.
And church, the Jews need Jesus as much as anybody else. Do you know that God has providentially put this church within reach of Cherry Hill and Blackwood and all the major Jewish populations in the
United States of America? New York City? We have a special responsibility to reach out with the gospel of Jesus Christ to Jewish people.
And lastly, it's up to us to protect the Jewish people. If Bible believing
Christians in America turn against the Jewish people, they have no ally left. We must stand and protect and pray for the nation of Israel.
Let's pray. So, Father, we thank you so much that you are faithful to your oracles, your promises, and every promise that you have made to Israel, to the
Jews, is yes and amen. We especially hold on to the promise that all
Israel will be saved in Romans 11. And we pray that this would come quickly,
Lord. That many Jews would look upon the one that they have pierced and mourn for him and be saved.
Lord, give us a deep and abiding love for Jewish people. Lord, we pray again that you would protect
Israel right now in this crisis. They are under attack, not only from one side, but from all around.
Protect Israel, Lord. Bring an end to this war. Bring peace in Israel.
We pray for the peace of Jerusalem. And Father, we thank you for your word to us this morning.
We agree, yes and amen. In Jesus' name, amen. I see
His wounds His hands, His feet
My Savior on that cursed tree
His body bound And drenched in tears
They lay Him down In Joseph's tomb
The entrance sealed By heavy stone
Messiah still And all alone
Oh, praise the name Of the
Lord our God Oh, praise His name
Forevermore For endless days We will sing
Your praise Oh, Lord, oh, Lord our
God Then the dawn of earth
At break of dawn The Son of heaven
Rose again Oh, trampled death
Where is your sting? The angels' wrong
Oh, Christ the King Oh, praise the name
Of the Lord our God Oh, praise
His name Forevermore For endless days
We will sing Your praise Oh, Lord, oh,
Lord our God He shall return
In robes of white The blazing sun
Shall pierce the night And I will rise
Among the saints My gaze transfixed
On Jesus' face Oh, praise the name
Lord our God Oh, praise the name
Lord our God Oh, Lord, oh,
Lord our God line up in the hall as we go and get your slice of pizza.
It's not enough for everybody to take more than one slice though, because we have a lot of people here. So pray for the food when you get it individually, but we'll close with this benediction.
And then the reason we have pizza, by the way, is there's a congregational meeting in here right after maybe 10 minutes, 20 minutes from now.
And in this way, all Israel will be saved. As it is written, the deliverer will come from Zion.
He will banish ungodliness from Jacob. And this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.
As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.