Religious People Need The Gospel - [Romans 2]

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One of the favorite things about the Celtics games that I get to attend is the halftime where they show heroes
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Somebody that's run into a burning house and rescued someone the last game I went to it was someone that went into a frozen pond and rescued a girl and People rightly say these are heroes.
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We want to honor them and standing ovation It's quite warming But heroes need the righteousness of Christ Jesus If you were to think about people that need
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God's righteousness Who do you think needs it more a Bible teacher or an abortion doctor a?
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Pope or a parishioner a Chaplain or an occult leader a policeman or an al -qaeda member
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Marry the mother of Jesus or Mary Magdalene kind grandmother or rebellious drug leader
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Everybody equally needs the righteousness of Christ Jesus Everyone born except for Christ.
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Jesus is born bankrupt with Adam's sin imputed their account Consequently they are by nature sinful and they need we need
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Christ's righteousness Let's turn our Bibles to Romans chapter 2 as we go chapter by chapter through Romans It took about three or four years to get through 1st
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Corinthians verse by verse I'm doing something a little bit differently in this series chapter by chapter because we have so many new people at the church
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I want them to get a good overview before the summer. What does this book the book of Romans?
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Teach and so chapter by chapter I know it's a little faster But I think you'll be encouraged as you get the big picture and also
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Encouraged to study and we're going to see that today whether you're self indulgent ourself and righteous are self -righteous
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You need the righteousness of Christ Jesus We're going to see today that William Gernal's words are true.
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I'd rather be a sober heathen than a drunken Christian chapter 1
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Shows a lot of bad people They practice homosexuality fornication
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Adultery a hate God their insolent and we all Can easily look at them and say that's right.
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They're not righteous and now in chapter 2 Paul says to all the people who are saying amen preach it all those heathens all those pagans
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They're all unrighteous now. He preaches to people who are Religious that you need the gospel just as much as they do
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Who's worse a pagan or a person who attends
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Bethlehem Bible Church? By the way, what is it about human nature? We can always find somebody worse than we are so we feel better and in this particular case
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The Romans one people are super bad. They're uber bad. They are so Unrighteous actually it makes us sick
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But we have much more We are much more accountable because we have the
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Bible we have Scripture and we have the truth So Paul in chapter 2 is going to tell us that if you try as an unbeliever to cloak your
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Self -righteousness with religion you're doubly damned It's One thing to say these things are sinful in Romans chapter 1 and it's another thing to say
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I do these sins Religion if it's not focused on the person and work of Christ Jesus and his righteousness
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It just serves to damn people Because they think they're good. I'm gonna go to heaven why
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I'm a member of the church. I don't do what they do I've been baptized. I've been catechized.
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I've been confirmed I'm not like those other people when God's standard is perfection.
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You want heaven perfection? Oh, how are we gonna get that? I'm not perfect and I don't have any righteousness and I do unrighteous things
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I need a Savior. That's exactly Paul's point as I said in the first service
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Chapter 2 is like this. It's a sledgehammer Because the little veneer that we have the little kind of plastic covering we have is our
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Religion if we're not careful can help us. I know from past experience I grew up as a Lutheran and I thought when
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I would meet people and they would say well What kind of religion are you I'd say well, I'm a Lutheran How do you know you're going to heaven?
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Not as bad as those people and I've had some water put on my head and and they said a few things
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I believe in the Spirit of God. I believe in the Trinity and Paul just takes the sledgehammer to that and say for your own good
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Because I love you. You need to know the truth It's harder for religious people from the human perspective to be saved because they think they're good they think they're fine
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They've given out a few things to God. He's gonna be okay When we're gonna learn in chapter 2
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If that's the way you think I'm good with God because I just have given my minimum I don't need to have faith alone in Christ Jesus.
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I don't have to repent for my sins and believe in a risen Savior Paul says I'm gonna try to dismantle your self righteous hypocrisy
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Because I care for you this isn't a chapter where Paul hates people he loves them and he talks about sin
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So let's go to Romans chapter 2 and we'll first get a quick update on chapter 1 and then we'll look at Chapter 2 as one man called it like a bombshell on the theologians playground.
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I mean, it is just one of those chapters where You you almost just you need to have a breath
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You do need five part series on it just so you can go home and take a breath because Paul is just relentless
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Paul has said in chapter 1 verse 16. This is the theme of Romans it's about the gospel of Christ's righteousness verse 16 of chapter 1
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What's the theme of Romans for I'm not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes
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Did you first and also the Greek? for in it the righteousness of God what makes us accept of what what gives us acceptability in God's eyes is
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Revealed from faith for faith as it is written the righteous shall live by faith
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Paul says this chapter 1 Gentiles have no righteousness chapter 2.
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The Jews don't have any righteousness either Everybody whether you're a Gentile or Jew that would make up the the whole world back in those days using that language
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Everyone needs Christ's righteousness Good people need the gospel religious people need the gospel moral people need the gospel
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Christians need the gospel and chapter 2 is about how God judges people who don't have the righteousness of Christ This isn't how to get saved how to get saved is in chapter 3 chapter 2 is
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Judgment and you're going to need that because hermeneutically it will help you How do I interpret the
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Bible chapter 2 it will help you if you realize this is for judgment according to works not principles of justification
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We know it's for Jewish people because if you look down in verse 17 of chapter 2 He finally calls them by name.
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Of course, it applies to moral people to spiritual people to religious people But he's specifically addressing the
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Jews verse 17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God The Jew has stood by Paul as Paul has rightly condemned the
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Gentiles in chapter 1 as being sinful And they've said amen preach it. That's right And now
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Paul turns To the Jewish person because just because you're a
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Jew it doesn't matter just because you're Circumcised it doesn't matter just because you have
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Torah It doesn't matter actually all those serve to damn you all the more unless you believe in Christ Jesus the
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Lord the Jews here in the vicinity of Rome Prided themselves in their privileged position
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Something that we too as Christians can do if we're not thinking and Paul make sure you can't achieve your own righteousness
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And he uses judgment to make that point. How do you get through to self -righteous people you talk about judgment?
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So let me give you an outline today for Romans chapter 2 For facts about God's judgment designed to drive you to the
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Lord Jesus Christ and his perfect work at Calvary confirmed by the resurrection You might believe in him to drive you away from your own self -righteousness and frankly as I look at you you all dress up pretty well, and you once I've gotten close enough to you smell nice today and everything and you look good and Romans 2 is more for people who are at the church today
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Because if you're a pagan you wouldn't be here because you want to be at a church service And so I'm hoping there are some today who if they're here today without a righteousness of Christ Jesus they realize that my
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Spirituality is nothing. My religion is nothing. My baptism means nothing. I Have nothing to contribute because God judges and God judges every sin
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So Paul wants to uncover the veil of self -righteous Hypocrisy and he does it by giving us four facts about God's judgment.
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God will judge every sin Have you heard the slogan? Your best resolutions must wholly be waived your highest ambitions be crossed
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You need never think you're going to be saved until you have learned you are lost
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That's what Paul's doing he's not being mean But he doesn't give them the Savior until they realize they need to be saved from something from themselves and their own idea of righteousness
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It's one thing to say to somebody. Are you a sinner? Yeah, sure everybody believes that But it's another thing to say, you know, what it's not just the big sin of murder that dams but it's greed and it's hate and it's
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Every other sin every sin dams and it's not God's job to forgive as philosopher
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Heinz said Number one the first fact about God's judgment designed to drive you to the cross and by the way
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If you already are a Christian and you can be thankful this all happened You never came up with this in your own mind
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God granted you salvation This is gonna help us. It's gonna help us evangelize people
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It's gonna help root out any unbelievers today, it'll help Christians be thankful first fact about God's Judgment is that it cannot be escaped.
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You need to grasp that grasp that the judgment of God cannot be escaped It's also going to help us as we have to deal with our own hypocrisy
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God's judgment can't be escaped Now take a look at chapter 2 verse 1 and as I read it
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I want you to see if you can Tell me how it changes from the end of chapter 1 the tone changes the countenance changes the language changes
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This is the right chapter division therefore You have no excuse.
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Oh, man Every one of you judges for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself.
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So you got enough sense to judge But now you condemn yourself because you the judge practiced the very same things
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All those people in Romans 1 are bad they're wicked Look at the change.
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It's all they and them in chapter 1 and now it's you in chapter 2 verse 29 of chapter 1
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They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness. They are full of envy murder They are gossips verse 32 though they know
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God's decree They not only do them but give hearty approval to those who practice them They they they they they and then now
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Paul says you you can feel Nathan's finger just hitting the sternum.
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Oh, yeah, they're bad Homosexuals fornicators adulterers. They're horrible
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We on the other hand, we keep the law we have the law we're good We're clean -shaven and we know how to dress.
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We're not those wicked people. We're decent people The finger comes out
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The people that are Paul's amen corner for chapter 1 amen. Amen. Amen. Now, they're not a man and so much
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Sometimes when I hear people yell amen too much in a sermon, it doesn't happen here But they yell amen so much.
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I want to think to myself I'm gonna say something that was gonna get you not to say. Amen. Do you need to listen instead of think?
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Amen? We get so caught up in our own
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Selves in our own self -righteousness. It's hard to see the faults in us because we're looking at everybody else's faults
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This is exactly what people do today in the media when they want to say to themselves Well, you know what?
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I don't believe in Jesus Christ and I'm not a born -again person and I'm not an evangelical Christian because look at all these other
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Evangelicals look at these teachers on TV. Look at what they do. Look at the scandals Instead of saying you know what
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God's gonna judge me all these things might be sadly true But I'm gonna stand before God on that day judgment day.
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I can't escape it It's a tragic mistake to point to other people with a bell curve mentality thinking you're going to make it
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Look at what the text says in verse 1 you have no excuse It's present in the
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Greek tense, which means you continually are without excuse Paul's trying to back him in the corner I have no excuse look at chapter 1 verse 20 same thing there.
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They are without excuse The Gentiles have natural revelation and they reject it.
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Here's a good old stiff arm up your chin God I don't want this general revelation That's bad to do when you look at the moon and the stars and the
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Sun and the snow and babies being born and you go I don't believe in you That's bad, but you know, what's worse?
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To have this book to have Torah and then stiff arm
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God Special revelation the Word of God You are without excuse
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I don't care if you live on Wall Street or the red -light district You break one command you're guilty of them all you need
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Christ righteousness Moral are immoral in the culture's eyes Look what he does.
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He says oh man now He's not saying this Oh everybody at Rome because not all the Roman people thought that these are
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Christian people But there are some people in the congregation among them who thought they were Christians who were trusting in their own righteousness
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And he says you have no excuse. Oh, man, and he's specifically talking to Jews But the application is for all religious kind of people you think you're exempt because you're religious
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You think you're exempt because you have a phylactery finger exempt because you have a certificate of baptism
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Oh, I love my wife. I love my kids. I work hard. I'm a nice guy. I've never been arrested that earns you heaven
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No It's worse. It's worse to be a good moral person because if you go ask a good moral person
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Are you filthy and unrighteous and do you need Jesus's righteousness? The answer is I don't know who you are
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But you're like a born -again person. If you go to the jail, do you have your own righteousness? It's a lot easier to say.
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No, I don't and Here the judge condemns himself Judging chapter 1 when he doesn't look at himself.
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I like the title of Ray Pritchard's sermon regarding this His sermon is entitled.
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Mr. I am Okay meets his maker And the
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Jews would say God loves Israel alone God's gonna judge the Gentiles with one measure and the Jews with another
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Jews taught that Abraham sat outside the gates of hell not letting even the most wicked Jew in And what do we do as Christians once saved always saved?
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Verse 2 God judges it's fair. It's just you can't escape we know
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Shadow of a doubt that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things
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It's not a matter of God doesn't judge the Jews as a nation He judges every single person because every sin is against him
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Doesn't have one standard for the Jews and another for the Gentiles. That's just a game to play hiding behind privilege and religiosity
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Verse 3 do you really suppose? Oh man. I mean, what are you thinking? What's in your brain is the attitude?
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You who judge those who practice such things and yet do not do and yet do them yourself That you will escape the judgment of God Just because you're a
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Jew or a religious person you can do those sins, but other people can't You think you're going to escape behind your religious moralism
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Paul's just trying to drive them to the cross drive them to the cross drive them to the cross Verse 4 now think of Israel here because that's the context we experience all kinds of riches and kindness and patience and forbearance
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But the context is Israel are do you? presume On the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience
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It's the goal of God's kindness and forbearance and patience not judging right now Why isn't God just wiped everybody out right now?
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Not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to what more sin wilder sin crazier sin
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God is patient why because he wants people to repent He's a lot different than I am if I was
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God and all these people did all these things Jews or Gentiles I don't want to smash them Luther said if I were as our
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Lord God and these vile people were as disobedient as they now be I would knock the world in pieces But see
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God is forbearing patient kind Even for people who wear self -righteous clothes
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Those would be the people I would despise the most And yet God is patient and kind Think about how kind and patient God was to the
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Israelites that sums up his relationship to them long -suffering forbearing kind What a merciful
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God God's mercy is meant to drive you to Repentance it's the same thing for not just the
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Jews, but all religious people J .B. Lightfoot said the blackest of sin is not righteousness violated, but mercy despised
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God's so kind For we even as Christians. We have the Bible. This is the land of the open
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Bible God's goodness and kindness He's protected us. He's preserved us and he wants people to believe because there's a limit to God's Patience judgment will happen one day
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When I was a kid we got everything on layaway we'd go to Kmart on layaway now kids Don't know layaway because you have debit card and credit cards.
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Although I think it's coming back This is God's divine layaway program sin now pay later
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When people sin today Jew or Gentile and they're not killed on the spot, what does that tell you?
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God's powerless God doesn't see everything. It tells you what God's kind God's good
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He's not weak if God is really God then have him strike me dead with a lightning bolt and then
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I'll believe He's patient Spurgeon said sin and hell are married
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Unless repentance proclaims the divorce and if you're here today, and you're not a
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Christian you can't escape the judgment of God fact number two
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Fact number two to drive you to Christ Jesus. His life is death confirmed by the resurrection
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Drive to you drive you to believe faith alone Number one grasp that the judgment of God can't be escaped number two grasp that it is right versus five to ten
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Grasp that it is right and again all this language here is to try to get you to wake up It's your lethargic spiritually and it's the wake -up call
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When I was a kid, my mom would say it's time to wake up I would just lay there and she would say I'm gonna give you the water treatment if you don't get up She'd like bring some water down and start flicking it on my face and stuff.
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That was the water treatment Then I remember I just had to put my alarm clock across the room because it's too easy to just hit the snooze button
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If it's not enough that you can't escape God's judgment Paul is like I'm not going to let you hit that thing because you've got to know for your own good life and death heaven and Hell sin forgiveness.
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It's all at stake By the way as we go through this most of you are Christians if remember this is how you evangelize
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This is how you evangelize Don't show them the mercy and kindness and grace of the Savior until they know they need it by preaching to them
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God's person and work and standards What he requires?
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Now we come to maybe the most horrible Terrifying verse in all the
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Bible Verse five But because of your hard Of course, he's talking to the
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Jewish Jewish moralizers here, but it's for every self -righteous person But because of your hard Calloused Sclerosis kind of impenitent heart impenitent means unrepenting
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You are storing up Wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when
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God's righteous judgment will be revealed Chapter one these people were sinning.
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There's a payday on earth Temporally when you sin chapter one, but now we're talking about eternal hell
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The self -righteous sinners Are going to have a date with God's wrath on the great white throne judgment
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It's called the day of wrath because everything about that day is about wrath Christians are saved and secure because Jesus Has made sure he has died in our place and paid our penalty no double jeopardy for God But if you've got one sin not paid for not forgiven
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There's a day of wrath waiting for you and look what the passage says. It's storing up wrath
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That we're storing up is where we get our word Thesaurus a thesaurus is a treasury of words and here they're not treasuring words.
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They're treasuring Judgment, it's put another log on the fire is what it is
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Treasuring up wrath and future punishment like you're treasuring up your money hoarding gold and silver and stocks and bullion
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But sadly it's not that No Wonder Jesus said you fool that very night your soul is required of you and now who will own what you have prepared
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So is the man who stores up? For himself and is not rich toward God Do you really think most people out there living today you're unbelieving friends think that day by day hour by hour
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They're heaping up and hoarding up and treasuring up judgment for that day that will come
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And that's exactly what they're doing whether they like it or not or whether they believe it or not Amassing a hoarded treasure of hell forever
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Brick by brick This isn't
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God flying off the handle. What does the text say God's? righteous judgment
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He recompenses men according to their work and For the
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Jew and for us as people who have been around the Bible in the book We're held to such a higher degree of accountability.
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It's one thing if you're living in Sri Lanka, and you don't even know there's a Bible It's another thing when you have the
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Bible. This is the land of the open Bible Too much given you're required too much is given much is required
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No wonder some of the writers will say could there be people in this room today that God Hates more than those who are in hell right now
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Because some people in hell right now. They're in hell for Adam's sin for their own sin that they didn't
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Honor God in natural revelation, but there's some people today who have the Bible who've heard of Christ Jesus and who won't repent
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Just like when Jesus said it shall be more tolerable for Sodom in the day of judgment than for you
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As I'm listening to myself. I'm just thinking who does this. How do you grow a church? sermons like this
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But this is exactly what the church at Rome needed Paul's like I don't know if I can get there or not I might get killed.
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I might get martyred But here's what you need for essential doctrines chapter 1 sin chapter 2 sin chapter 3 sin
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So when the Savior arrives at the end of chapter 3 you're happy God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life
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Really when people would say that to me beat when I was doing all the things I shouldn't as an unbeliever in the 1980s great
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Glad he could be here. God's my co -pilot These verses don't have anything to do with how to be saved
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They're to try to tell us we're lost and how God judges salvation is in chapter 3 This is how God judges and he judges according to our works verse 6 equitably
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Equitably rightly Paul says he will render to each one according to his works because if God saves you you'll have
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Works because faith works as an evidence as a result as a fruit of faith
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To those who practice who by patience and well -doing seek for glory and honor and immortality.
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He will give eternal life God's gonna judge you based on your deeds
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That's just an Old Testament principle Isaiah chapter 3 Jeremiah chapter 17. This has nothing to do with the basis of salvation
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That's the next chapter. This is the basis for judgment But then we have four terrifying words that show up in verses 8 and 9
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In contrast to what we just learned about this eternal life Paul gives a different picture to those who think their righteousness is good enough think their baptism is good enough think their religiosity is good enough
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Think their circumcision is good enough But for those who are
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Self -seeking mercy and do not obey the truth But obey unrighteousness and now look at these words
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There will be this is what's in the future of every person who doesn't have the righteousness of Christ by faith alone there will be wrath and Fury Fury Tribulation and distress
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I know and I'm religious know for every human being who does evil the Jew first and also the
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Greek How about that for a future wrath fury
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Tribulation and distress Nahum said who can stand before his indignation and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger
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And our response should be what help have mercy on me Please Lord.
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You're a saving God. Save me. Forgive me. I Don't want wrath and fury and I know
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I'm gonna die as he kills says the soul that sins will die But glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good the
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Jew first and also the Greek Thirdly the third fact about God's judgment designed to drive you to a
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Calvary by faith alone One grass that God's judgment can't be escaped to grass that God's judgment is right
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It's equitable and three grass that God's judgment is impartial verses 11 to 16
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Can't escape it. It's equitable and it's impartial verse 11 For God shows no partiality
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No, no when he sees me, he'll realize I'm a Jew and I'll be fine No, no, you don't understand
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I'm a member of the church and when he sees me he knows that My dad's the pastor.
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He gets that God receives that Well the text literally in the Greek partiality means to receive a faith face
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So you look at somebody's face and you go. Oh, they have a rich face because I know them I know their bank account. They have a very influential face because they're in politics and I know them
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So I'll just receive somebody based on how they look No Deuteronomy 10
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God who does not show partiality is an awesome God You think your wealth is going to keep you out of hell?
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I think your friendship with pastors is gonna keep you out of hell You think your membership here is gonna keep you out of hell.
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You think being a Jew is gonna keep you out of hell verse 12 for All have who have sinned without the law
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This is Gentiles don't have the Mosaic law will also perish without the law and All who have sinned under Mosaic law
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Will be judged by the law What irony here where the rabbis would say, you know, we're gonna be judged differently
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That's actually true. They will be judged differently. They'll be judged more harshly because they have the
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Word of God They have the Old Testament The law and the prophets the more light you have the more accountability is there the less light the less accountability
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And it says you're gonna perish That's why we need a Savior Luke 19 for the
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Son of Man is to come to seek and save that which is lost of the Greek word perishing Do not be afraid of them that kill the body and who are not able to kill the soul
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But rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna Matthew chapter 10
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Then shall he say unto them on the left hand depart from me he cursed into the eternal fire
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Which is prepared for the devil and his angels These shall go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life
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Why verse 13 for it is not the hearers of the law Who aren't righteous before God?
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But the doers of the law will be justified And I can't do it all it's too high.
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It's too hard. It's too holy. It's too insistent
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I Can hear it, but I can't do it. I need a Savior I need someone who could do it who did fulfill the law perfectly
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Who when God said do he wasn't like Adam who fell he actually did it Christ Jesus the
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Lord That's not calling for limited obedience partial obedience obedience when you're younger or older but perfect obedience verse 14
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When Gentiles who do not have Mosaic law they don't have the Old Testament By nature do what the law requires like don't commit adultery
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Muslims know that don't they? Most people in the world know lying is bad. Honesty is good
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Sex outside of marriage is bad they've got a Law written on their heart.
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They know that Verse 14 to read it again for when Gentiles who do not have the law by nature do what the law requires
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They are a law to themselves They might not have the Mosaic law, but they know what their conscience says even though they do not have the
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Mosaic law Paul is trying to show you can't get out of this.
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You need to run to Christ for his righteousness by faith alone. Have you I I Said earlier this year
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I said, you know some of you this year I might have to bury And I didn't want that to be true, but it's already been true
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And every one of you here is gonna die and then stand before God And it's not gonna be well,
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I was kind of good I did a few religious things my wife did this and I did that and it's going to be perfection
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And unless you look to the Son Christ Jesus the Lord by faith alone Your future is wrath and fury and hell and indignation.
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I'm telling you. It's the only hope and by the way To think that you could be good enough to get to heaven by your religious deeds
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It makes a mockery of the cross Because why would God damn his own son at Calvary?
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If you could be good enough to get to heaven How masochistic could
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God be so Paul wants to make sure there's no wiggle room
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Can't get out of this He reduces people to size so that they look up so that they look to a
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Savior Verse 15 they show that the work of the law is written on their hearts
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These Gentiles all their consciences also bear witness And they're conflicting thoughts accuse when they do the wrong thing or even excuse them
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Don't need mosaic law for that conscience. Does it all? People are born with a conscience by God and then who's gonna be the judge
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It's gonna be Jesus as the judge verse 16 because it's been handed over to him by the father John chapter 5 and on that day
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What day is that when according to my gospel? God judges the secrets the the crypt the cryptos the hidden things of men by Christ Jesus Samuel Johnson said every man knows thoughts of himself that he would not tell to his dearest friend
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And yet God knows those and will judge you for those Are your only other hope is to have Jesus judged in your place?
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Can you get to heaven by your perfect works Paul is trying to say no by your religious works
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No by your moralistic works. No He judges the secret thoughts Jesus arisen
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Savior is the judge and finally number four You know the good part about the
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Second Service. We don't have to get ready for the Sunday school So we just keep preaching you get longer sermons.
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You're held more accountable to You Almost want to just take a breath because it is just so intense
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No wonder most people like to underline stuff in Romans 1 and Romans 3 and Romans 4 and Romans 5 and Romans 6 and Romans 7 and Romans 8 and 9 10 all the way to 16
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But the most under less least underlined book chapter in all of Romans is chapter 2 Because it goes after people like us
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Religion is no substitute for faith in Christ Jesus fact for Grasp number one that God's judgment can't be
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Escaped grasp that it's right and equitable grasp that it's impartial and number four grasp that it comes upon especially the religious hypocrites
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It comes upon those who know better And in this particular case context is the
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Jewish folks of the day But it's for all religious people in application
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Verse 17 If you thought it was tough earlier It's even more of a severe tone now and the way
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Paul does it is he's going to build up the Jew and then he's Going to get the sledgehammer full frontal assault
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But if you call yourself a Jew rely on the law and boast in God Hey, this is not a made -up religion people make up religions all the time sung young moon and Hinduism all this is made up Kind of peyote kind of inspired deal
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It's not that this is a divinely revealed real religion But when you don't practice from the heart
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And you get a false confidence because you're just doing the show you trick all your friends you trick your wife you trick your neighbors
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You trick your pastor God knows Look at how he lifts them up to show them how accountable they are verse 18 and Know his will
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And approve what is excellent because you were instructed from the law And if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind they thought they were a light to those who are in darkness they thought they were an
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Instructor of the foolish a teacher of the children having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth
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Now they were supposed to be all that But from the inside to the outside not just outside and so Paul's after their religious hypocrisy
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You have all this you're instructed out of the law by the way. That's where we get the word catechism
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You're even catechized because of the word instruction means cata Down and echo sound to sound down to teach to people.
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I'm I'm a teacher You Jewish folks are teachers, and you think you're a guide to the blind, but you're really a blind guide
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The religion has Tranquilized you You Should be a light to the nation's and you're just trying to give
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God the bare minimum You fail to practice the law you proclaim and you're going to face judgment verse 21
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You ever heard this phrase practice what you preach? You then who teach others do you not teach yourself
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While Hugh preached against stealing do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery do you commit adultery?
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You Who have so much? Disgust that you feel nauseous about idols. That's the word of whore
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You want to throw up when you think about idolatry? You rob temples Paul isn't
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Doing anything except loving them by telling them the truth. It's one of my all -time pet peeves is
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Somebody's got Cancer and they're gonna die and the doctors like well, maybe we shouldn't tell them
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No, you need to know Sin cancer is gonna kill everybody and you need to know
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Verse 23 you boast in the law Torah dishonor
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God by breaking the law For as it is written This is not supposed to be happening
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This is supposed to be the opposite the Jews are supposed to give the light to the Gentiles Psalm 117 and others for as it is written.
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The name of God is blasphemy among the Gentiles because of you a Context is hypocritical
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Jews, but could be applied to a lot of folks Maybe the worst story
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I know of temporally about pretentious posing and pretending
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It's about the guy who put a note under the windshield wiper of a parked car The note read
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I Have just smashed into your car The people who saw the accident are watching me.
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They think I'm writing down my name and address I'm not And what the
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Jews held closest in the law in Torah was circumcision
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Divinely ordained. Yes But look what's happened because if it's not a circumcision of your heart, it doesn't matter
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If you've been circumcised anywhere else for circumcision
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Literally the word means to cut around Indeed is of value if you obey the law
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If you break the law your circumcision externally becomes uncircumcision internally
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You think you're gonna get to heaven because you've been baptized or circumcised or no rituals damn rights damn
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Unless they have the reality on the inside and reality with the right object Rabbi Menachem said our rabbis have said that no circumcised man will see hell
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Another rabbinic saying was circumcision saves from hell The Midrash written around 200
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AD or compiled then Jewish traditions God swore to Abraham that no one who was circumcised should be sent to hell
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The Midrash also said quote Abraham sits before the gates of hell and never allows any circumcised
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Israelite to enter Verse 26 so if a man who is uncircumcised a
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Gentile keeps the precepts of the law He's acting like his heart has been circumcised that the
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Old Testament talked about a lot even Moses talked about circumcise your hearts will not his uncircumcision physically be regarded as circumcision of the heart
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Yes, we know the answer then verse 27 He who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law
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Will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision you're holy of holies, but break the law
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You can't hide behind Circumcision and by the way, Joe wasn't circumcised
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Enoch wasn't circumcised Noah wasn't circumcised Right and religious duty doesn't do anything verse 28 for no one is a
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Jew who is merely one outwardly Was never God's standard the problem isn't being
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Jewish the problem is being a hypocritical Jew Nor is circumcision outward and physical but a
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Jew By the way Jew or Judah we have the Hebrew word praise come from that but a
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Jew is one inwardly and Circumcision is a matter of the heart by the spirit not by the letter his praise his
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Jewishness his Judah'sness is not from man, but from God How do you drive out self -righteousness by God is going to judge every act that you've ever done
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Religious act are not It cannot be escaped God's judgment. It's equitable.
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It's impartial and it comes especially on those who know better Friends this is how you evangelize
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Don't be so fast to offer the solution until they know they have a problem
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That's exactly what Paul did here forget the Romans road How about just thinking through Romans before the positive good news of Romans?
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321 and following Paul make sure what look check chapter 3 verse 19
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He doesn't let up in his preaching of God's requirement how people are unrighteous and how they need the righteousness of Christ Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law
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What's the purpose of all this? Why one? Why two? Why three? so that every mouth may be stopped
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When you evangelize I want you to evangelize in such a way by the Spirit's power where the person says this
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You know what if everything you've said is true my own conscience Creation and the
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Word of God Dams me and if you are right what you've said means that I'm gonna go to hell right now.
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I've earned hell Then you talk about the
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Savior, but as long as they're running their mouth. Yeah, but I was good I'm not as bad as so -and -so. There's a bunch of hypocrites of the church.
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You see the people on TV and what about this scandal? What about that scandal? How could God do that?
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The Bible is written by man. What about evolution then? What do you give them? I'll tell you what you don't give them
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You don't tell them Jesus loves them and has a wonderful plan for their life And here's the Savior you keep trying to apply by the
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Spirit's word The the bad news so then they actually care about the good news
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I'm not saying if you talk to G about Jesus to people too early. You somehow you did the wrong thing I'm glad you talked about Jesus But you get my point people need to know that they're lost before they know that they've got to have a
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Savior And Maybe the refrain for all of us in our evangelism should be from Romans chapter 2.
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Did you know? Unbelieving friend that God is going to give each man according to his works
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That's what you're gonna get You're gonna get what you? For us as Christians after we realize all this after we realize we were the
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Romans two people We were the Romans one people Now when I read Romans 5 it sounds so much better Because there is a righteousness that we're gonna look at in the next several weeks.
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That's gonna blow away all kinds of things including Any kind of Sorrow that we used to have about our sins because we'll realize how great
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Christ Jesus is no wonder chapter 5 sounds better now Therefore since we have been justified by faith we have peace with God through our
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Lord Jesus Christ Through him. We have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand and we
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Rejoice in hope of the glory of God. That's a lot different than anger and wrath and indignation and fury
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Verse 6 for while we were weak while I was that Roman to person looking at everybody else saying amen, they're wicked
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The right time Christ died for the ungodly. He died for chapter one people chapter two people
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One will scarcely die for a righteous person though Perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die
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But God shows his love for us and that while we were still sinners self -righteous hypocritical sinners hiding behind moralism
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Christ died for us Since Therefore we have been justified by his blood much more
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Shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God for if while we were enemies? We are reconciled to God by the death of his
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Son much more Now that we have our reconciled shall we be saved by his life more than that We also rejoice in God through our