How Not To Be Saved - [Romans 10]

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Was meeting Pradeep Wednesday night for dinner and went down to White City, and there's a little
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Chipotle there Trader Joe's parking lot and Pulled up a few minutes early, and I was just going through a few details and my window was rolled down And young lady came up to my door.
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She had a really big book with her and She said hi. I'm raising money for our youth group.
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Could you help I? Looked at her, and I said I love youth groups
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Tell me about your youth group. Oh, it's a good news youth group raising money for a week -long camping trip
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I Said what church are you with? She said I'm with the Unification Church and before I could catch myself.
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I just blurted out. You're a moony I said don't doesn't your leader didn't he used to believe sung young moon that he was the
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Messiah oh No he never believed that I said well, yes, he did I said, but that's not really the point now
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You're a youth group leader. You're raising money. You're here. I said. I'm really glad you're here because I would love to go to heaven
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Please tell me how do I get to heaven you're with the Good News Club? What's the good news? How do I get to heaven
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I? Really love to go to heaven. She kind of looked at me puzzled
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She said God is love You have to be good I said oh
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I'm bad though. I Lie, I have thoughts that I ought not to have
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I'm self -righteous. I'm Prideful, I'm arrogant. I'm selfish
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I Don't honor God like I should and I guess there's no hope for me, and I said
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I'm wicked and I need help And she looked at me like you wicked why am
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I walking up to a wicked man's car in White City, and I said And you're wicked too.
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You haven't loved the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind strength. You haven't loved your neighbors yourself That's a bad example of witnessing.
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God is love and You ought to do good. You know you can learn a lot from bad examples.
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I Drove past Chelmsford High School this week Chelmsford High And out front there was a car that was wrecked
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And I don't know what it was it was too wrecked. It was probably an old Cutlass, but in my mind.
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It was a 1972 Pinto Right it'd been rear -ended and the
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Illustration was Don't drink and drive because something bad could happen to you an illustration of something that was bad.
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Don't do it Take your Bibles, please and open to Romans chapter 10.
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We have an illustration of Israel What not to do? Israel's bad example
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We're going chapter by chapter through Romans, and now we're in chapter 10 Israel did not believe chapter 9 because they weren't chosen by God Chapter 10 they didn't believe because they didn't choose
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God The ultimate cause for Israel's rejection is found in the sovereignty of God Romans 9
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The immediate cause of Israel's rejection was found in their responsibility.
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They rejected the Messiah Romans chapter 10 Chapter 10 is really the rest of the story it is true that God is sovereign overall but it's also true that men and women and the nation of Israel is
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Responsible for their rejection of the gospel When men and women perish eternally there are two causes ultimate cause sovereignty of God Immediate cause they didn't believe and what
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I really like about chapters 9 and 10 Paul doesn't go into how these two doctrines reconcile themselves
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It's clear. God is sovereign in Scripture, and it is clear man is responsible But Paul doesn't tie things up because you know what friends don't need to be reconciled now do they
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Both are true And it shouldn't shock us that we are finite people and we can't get our arms around all of God's truth
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To make sure we figure it all out You have to accept both If you think to yourself
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There's a rope here And it goes all the way up to heaven and there's a pulley that you can't see up in heaven
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And then the rope comes down the other side of the pulley Kuiper said what you do if you're a good
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Bible student is you grab the rope of Romans chapter 9 the utter sovereignty of God And you also grab the same
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Rope, but the other side of it Romans 10 man is responsible and hold on to both because the scriptures teach both if you grab hold of one
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Sure, oh down you down goes the rope if you had to grab hold of the other Same thing happens now. I do
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I sound like I'm creaking I'm creaking 53 years old things happen like that.
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I'm gonna just kind of move this around a little bit and I Knew I shouldn't have worn a purple tie today, but that's another story
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Okay. Now we're gonna just keep going And edit that out of the tape Paul is saying in the book of Romans With the theme the righteousness of God Chapters 1 2 & 3 we don't have any righteousness and we need righteousness
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What God requires of us to get to heaven we don't have in and of ourselves But what we don't have
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Jesus Christ has earned for us and gladly bestows on all those who would believe Chapters 3 4 & 5
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I'm still creaking, but I'm just gonna power through Okay, Charlie. It's my watch
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Do I want to do the pulpit mic? I didn't know what this was. This is some kind of like There's like the kitty that you go to at a restaurant in the
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Chinese restaurant and there's a little orange there That's in front of the kitty that the kitty never eats though. I wonder why
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I'm just gonna keep going if I talk louder creak we go louder. It's got a brand new battery in it, too
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Okay, so what we're going to do today is we're gonna learn from a bad example
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Israel What not to do as we look at how they rejected the Lord Jesus Christ And it doesn't come as a surprise because look at chapter 9 verse 30 through 33
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We probably have a bad location for a new chapter in chapter 10 verse 1 because look at how we see their
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Responsibility and their unbelief in chapter 9 verse 30 What should we say then that Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it that is a righteousness that is by faith
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But that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law
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Why because they did not pursue it by faith? But as it were based on works as if it were based on works
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They have stumbled over the stumbling stone Christ Jesus as it is written behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense and Contrary to works and working your way to heaven whoever believes in him will not be put to shame
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Israel is culpable Israel is responsible even though God is Sovereign and Israel is a bad illustration of what not to do
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Let me today give you the topic and the sermon title is how not to get saved
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We're going to do that because that's exactly what this text is teaching us Don't do what Israel did if you're not a
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Christian here today. This is not what to do. This is a bad example This is driving past the street seeing the wrecked car.
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Don't do that falsehoods to avoid And we learn from Israel's plight
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How not to be saved Lessons from Israel number one. I think I'm gonna give you nine of them today number one
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How not to get saved believe that sincerity is enough As long as you're sincere, it doesn't matter what you believe verses 1 & 2
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Verse 1 brothers you can just hear the the Romans 9 Plea of the early verses of Romans 9 here
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Paul's pastoral heart his kind heart beautifully expressing his his love for his fellow
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Israelites brothers my heart's desire and Prayer to God for them the
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Israelites is that they may be Saved isn't that really a sign of true
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Christianity true? Redemption where you want other people saved you get saved and the first thing you want you to what you want to have happen is
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Your mom to get saved your spouse to get saved your kids to get saved and he's got this burden very pastoral burden of saving wicked
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Jews Louis Talbot Met a person who said do you expect me to love the
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Jews why they are terrible people and Then Talbot said yes, they are terrible.
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In fact, they're nearly as bad as the Gentiles Yes, they rejected the
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Messiah. Yes, they stiff -armed Jesus Christ But you know people like that too, and don't you want them to be saved?
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Don't you want their sins forgiven? Don't you want them to go to heaven don't you want them to recognize the
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Messiah that was Paul's desire And he could have knocked
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Israel's block off by saying these are all the things they haven't done But he he gives a little positive here
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It's not ultimately positive, but he says in verse 2 for I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God They're zealous for God.
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They're concerned about divine things far from being apathetic far from being removed Come see come saw they have a zeal for God But not according to knowledge
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I wonder if Paul was thinking about his own life as a Pharisee as a man who persecuted the church
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Did Paul have a zeal before he got saved to persecute the Church of God? Yes, he did, but it wasn't according to knowledge
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This verse forever strikes down those who would somehow believe that it doesn't matter what you really believe as long as you're sincere
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If I have some water here That's not really water and it's full of strychnine and arsenic If I just kind of drank it a little sip here and a little sip there kind of sitting back in my easy chair
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Just leisurely sipping it kind of apathetically It makes no difference if I do that or if I pick it up and just guzzle it on down with great fervent
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Reverb and with sincerity If you believe the wrong thing, it doesn't matter Sincere belief in false doctrine will damn you just as easily as a lack of days ago belief in false doctrine if you could get to heaven by being sincere why kill
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Jesus? No need for Jesus to die if you just need to be sincere by the way
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That's why it's so important for us to preach the gospel clearly and accurately These people were sincere they were religious, you know how we would call these people today in our society
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I'm very spiritual Well doesn't matter if you're spiritual religious zealous if it's not according to the knowledge of the scripture
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Christ crucified Christ the representative substitute has been raised from the dead. It doesn't matter Maybe the most zealous religious spiritual people in all the
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Bible Jesus said this to them woe to you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites because you travel about on sea that's zealous and land that's sincere to make one proselyte
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When he becomes one you make him twice as much the son of hell as yourselves they were sincere they were zealous But look at the text, but not according to knowledge
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Remember chapter 9 we just read that part about they stumbled over the stumbling stone
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Jesus Christ and that word knowledge there in chapter 10 verse 2 It's got a preposition on it, which means it's more emphatic.
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It's just not no knowledge It's full knowledge the Jews memorized scripture. They knew scripture.
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They had scripture. They strapped it to their upper arm They strapped it to their head with the phylacteries Sincerity is not enough if you think you're gonna get to heaven today because you're a sincere person and a religious person and a spiritual person
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Learn from Israel. That's not true Number two, what's the second lesson learned from Israel on how not to be saved go your own way?
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Figure out your own way in your religious walk go your own way spiritually found in verses 3 & 4
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There are popular funeral songs, and I just googled popular funeral songs today, and I found this potpourri of funeral songs
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Amazing grace by Elvis Presley and then the list goes downhill from there angels among us,
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Alabama Perry Como for the older ones in the congregation of a
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Maria Baby mine by Bette Midler, how did she make the list?
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I don't know beyond the sea Bobby Darin Mariah Carey had Mariah Carey had two songs butterfly and bye -bye
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Candle in the wind Elton John's circle of life Elton John Close to you by the carpenters.
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What a wonderful world Louis Armstrong Lean on me Bill Withers. We'll meet again
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Vera Lynn You'll never walk alone Jerry and the pacemakers
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Knocking on heaven's door guns and roses how that one make it imagine
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John Lennon Stairway to heaven Led Zeppelin morning has broken
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Cat Stevens wish you were here Pink Floyd And the most popular funeral song that is secular
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Frank Sinatra My way I Did it my way? That's exactly what
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Israel did and it'll damn you Take a look at the verse. This is the error of the
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Jew. This is the error of so many today I'm gonna do it my own way. Thank you. I will not have this man reign over us for verse 3 being ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own
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They did not submit to God's Righteousness, we're not gonna do this by faith.
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Like you tell us to we're gonna earn our own. We're gonna do it our own way Sinfully that's where we default to just a works righteousness.
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There's a sociologist in America. He calls this kind of religion Sheila ism Because Sheila says
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I think I'll bring in a little Hinduism. I think I'll bring in a little paganism I think I'll bring in a little post -modernism.
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I think I'll bring in a little Christianity I'll bring in a little bit of Work with your own hands and feet and and put it all together and I'll determine what's right and my name's
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Sheila So what's your religion Sheila ism? That's exactly how people do it today. This is how not to be saved.
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This is what Israel did wrongly and They were ignorant of really the nature and character of God how holy he is and how righteous he is
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Don't make that mistake that's an eternal error Galatians 2 says if righteousness were through the law then
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Christ died for no purpose. I did it my way Jesus is the only way
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The pride and arrogance of the Jew and many people today No knowledge friends.
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You need righteousness but self -righteousness blinds
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You need what God requires righteousness And doesn't the scripture tell us all we like sheep have gone astray each of us has turned to his her own way
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Seeking to establish their own. I don't like your righteousness God. I'll do it my way I'm not gonna subject myself put myself under you now.
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This is happening here locally to now I think Bolton is a farm a pro farm community or something in Santa Cruz We have a lot of organic stuff a lot of homemade stuff a lot of local stuff
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They have a farmer's market, of course now all across the country all across the country. They have them. I Don't mind that when it's radishes and pecans
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But if you want local homegrown organic religion It's going to damn you because God has provided the only way of salvation through belief in Christ Jesus By the works of the law no flesh will be justified in his sight
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Romans 3 No wonder Isaiah 57 it says I will declare your righteousness and your deeds, but they will not profit you
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No wonder Isaiah goes on to say in chapter 64 all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment
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This is Israel like the lawyer who runs to Jesus and what he wishes to justify himself
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This is like the Pharisee that stood and was praying thus to himself God. I thank thee that I'm not like the other people
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Swindlers unjust adulterers are even like this tax gatherer. I fast twice a week I pay tithes of all that I get
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The tax gatherer standing some distance away was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven and beating his breast He said
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God have mercy on me sinner verse 4 goes on to say that The law is ended
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Any way to try to earn your own righteousness by keeping the law is kaput because Christ came take a look at verse 4
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For Christ the Messiah is the telos the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes
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Now in four or five years, we'll come back to Romans and we'll go verse by verse through it slowly And we'll talk about this a little bit more
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But to say this there are three different interpretations of the word end For Christ is the end of the law number one.
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It may be that Christ is the goal of the law. That would be a proper Grammatical interpretation that everything in the
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Old Testament Leads itself to Christ. The law is a tutor that brings you to Christ.
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That's a true statement But that's not what Paul is talking about here Secondly, it could be translated Christ is the fulfillment of the law all those sacrifices all those ceremonies all those offerings all the pomp and circumstance of Old Testament liturgy all points to Jesus.
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That's true Jesus did not come to abolish the law Matthew 5 but to fulfill it But that's not what
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Paul is talking about here He's saying the end here is the termination the wind -up the finish
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The old age the legal age is done with the only way you get righteousness is through Christ and his sacrifice
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And wasn't that true? Think about your own life the second God opened your heart
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Made you born again gave you saving faith You look back on your life and you said, you know,
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I was trying to earn all these things and for me particularly I tried to earn myself salvation by baptism by consecration by catechism by Going on missions trips by doing things with the church by being good
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But then the light went on in 1989 and I realized everything I had done in the past was my feeble effort to try to earn
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Favor with God. It's like me standing at what's the place down by the ocean there in Massachusetts?
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You go to Martha's Vineyard Vineyard Woods Hole If I was in Catalina, I'd say standing at Long Beach trying to jump to Catalina But here you're at Woods Hole trying to jump to Martha's Vineyard and I realized we all fall short
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It can't be done. Someone has to come and rescue me God has to do it and you think my old way of religion is a thing of the past That's what
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Paul is talking about here belief in the
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Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord Stops forever the futile desert the futile earning of Your own righteousness that you could never earn
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Wears be said Christ is the end of the law in the sense that through his death and resurrection He has terminated the ministry of the law for those who believe a side note this kind of statement should forever put to rest any desire you have to get involved with Messianic Judaism and Bringing in all the
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Old Testament laws for today are at least some of the ceremonial ones. That's an exclamation point divinely given
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You know in the old days Still it happens, you know you get all the snow accumulating on these kind of roofs and I just wish
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I had a little button to push for that stuff to come avalanching down with Thunder and sound for emphasis from the pulpit
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Number three How not to be saved think you can be sincere to get to heaven go your own own way number two number three
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Try to get to heaven by works This is all implicit in the text, but let's make this explicit here verse 5 try to get to heaven by works
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Now it can't be done. But hypothetically if you kept all the Old Testament you could earn for yourself a righteousness verse 5 for Moses Writes about the righteousness that is based on the law
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Here's the hypothetical. Of course, you've got to forget Adams fall You have to forget imputation of Adam sin. You have to forget sin nature have to forget all that but hypothetically
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Here is the standard That the person who does the commandments always shall live by them
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But the purpose of the law was to let men and women know that they couldn't keep the law
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Here Moses quotes Leviticus 18 I read you all of the verse So you shall keep my statutes and my judgments by which a man may live if he does them.
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I am the Lord and The Jews would say yes, but I did do them. But did you do them perfectly?
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Because James 2 is also true for whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in how many points?
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One has become guilty of all if you could keep the law until you were 91 years old and then one sin out
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The Romans 8 we've already learned that what the law could not do weak as it was to the flesh God did sending his own
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Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin That's why
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I love Rock of Ages Not the labor of my hands can fill thy law fulfill my laws demands could my zeal no respite
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No, could my tears forever flow all for sin could not atone thou must save and thou alone
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The Bible teaches that cursed it is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law
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That's why Galatians 3 is so wonderful when it says Christ redeems us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us
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Number four how not to be saved learning from Israel's bad example do everything and anything except believe
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Do anything and everything except believe? Now verses 6 through 8 if you look at the text here
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Probably don't hear people talk about this much because if you're a Romans road person You just jump down to 9 and 10 good stuff verses 9 and 10
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But this is the good stuff right here He's quoting from Deuteronomy 30 if you were talking to the
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Jews I would guess that you would quote the Old Testament quite a bit if you're talking to them or about them and Now look at what the personification of the righteousness based on faith says verse 6
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But the righteousness based on faith says if it were able to speak this is what it would say Do not say in your heart
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Who will ascend into heaven that is to bring Christ down or don't say in your heart who will descend into the abyss?
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That is to bring Christ up from the dead What does it say? The word is near you in your mouth and in your heart.
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That is the word of faith that we proclaim Two weeks ago.
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I read on the internet that 78 ,000 people signed up for a one -way trip from Earth to Mars Whatever it was 2035
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One -way trip to Mars I Had a lot of thoughts Learning from a bad example, but here's the thing
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Knowing how ghastly hell is knowing how eternal hell is Knowing how bad sin is how holy
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God is how real hell is If you were told you had to go to the moon
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To earn your salvation so you wouldn't have to go to hell Just how soon would you start making your rocket?
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If you were told the only way you can go to heaven is to get to the moon That's what you have to end up doing.
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Are you gonna go to hell? I think you'd start working pretty hard I know I would be consumed with as the
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Damocles sword of every day of my life passed by I'm not gonna make it I better try to figure this out and Here's what
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Paul is saying quoting Deuteronomy chapter 30 You don't have to go to heaven to get
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Christ to come down for the incarnation because he's already been incarnate incarnated You don't have to go into the depths of the abyss to say
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Jesus. Are you still down there? I better raise you from the dead. You don't have to travel anywhere You don't have to do anything because it's already been done.
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You don't have to scale the heavens Jesus has come down and glories filled our soul.
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Let me read to you Deuteronomy 30. You'll get the idea Without turning there. Let me just read to you the full section from where it's quoted
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For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you. Neither. Is it far off? It is not in heaven that you should say who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us that we may hear it
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And do it Neither is it beyond the sea that you should say Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us that we may hear it and do it?
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But the word is very near you it is in your mouth and in your heart so that you can
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Do it. You don't have to go do anything. You don't have to go someplace
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You don't have to say you know what for my salvation. I need a man to die for a man So let me go up into heaven now climb
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Jacob's ladder if it's possible have Jesus cloak himself with humanity and then bring him down here because the only way
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I can get to heaven is having a representative who lives for me and Then he's gonna have to die for me because the wage of sin is death and he dies for my sins
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He didn't sin But I did so he dies for me and then he goes down into the grave and now I've got to bring him back up again
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Because his salvation isn't good enough until he's been raised from the dead Paul says you don't have to do anything
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MacArthur said his point is that the righteousness of faith does not require some impossible Odyssey through the universe to find
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Christ And If I could give you a southern accent from J. Vernon McGee, you don't have to make the trip anywhere to get it
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But I can't do accents You don't make the word flesh
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The word became flesh and dwelt among us You don't have to go to heaven to find
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Christ. He's near to you in the gospel Israel you don't have to go to heaven to get the gospel
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You don't have to go down to the abyss to get the gospel. The Gospels been preached to you Starting in Genesis chapter 3 because your most sincere efforts can't get you to heaven think
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Tower of Babel Can't do it No need to bring
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Christ down from heaven. He's already come And what does it say chapter 30 of Deuteronomy found in your text verse 8 the word is near in your mouth and in your heart
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You can immediately receive righteousness by faith trusting in the word of the gospel
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It's accessible It's available You don't have to go into the tent of the
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Holy of Holies to find God God came down Charles Hodge said instead of directing us to climb up into heaven are to go into the depths
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Paul tells us the thing that is required is simple and easy believe with your heart and you will be saved
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Which leads us to number five? How not to be saved? Number five just accept
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Jesus in your heart and go on living like you used to Just accept Jesus in your left ventricle and go do what you want verses 9 and 10
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Now we always go to chapter 10 verses 9 and 10 and we'd like to confess these words
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We'd like to say them. We'd like to memorize them. I love these verses but see how it's tied with the last verse because Look at verse 8 again friends.
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Here's a little nugget just for you so you can see context Chapter 10 verse 8 in your mouth and in your heart in your mouth and in your heart
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Confess with your mouth and believe in your heart. See how it's tied together He's thinking of Deuteronomy 30 verse 9
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Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart
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With all you've got in other words Not talking about location. It's talking about fervency
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Belief that God raised him from the dead you will be saved for with the heart one believes It's justified and with the mouth one confesses and is saved
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Jesus as Lord now think about this for a second That is a stumbling stone for sure
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Jesus as courios as Lord do Jews like to say that I'd like you to go to Israel today and go around and tell people
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Jesus is Lord now think about this for a second Old Testament written in Hebrew God's name is
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Yahweh personal covenant -keeping name Yahweh But most of the time when the
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New Testament was thinking about the Old Testament it was the Greek version of the Hebrew Old Testament called the
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Septuagint where we get the word 70 and the Septuagint was written in Greek because Alexander the
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Great came down and brought in the Greek language Now everybody's speaking Greek. And so guess what the name is for Yahweh in the
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Greek 7 ,000 sometimes when you see the word Yahweh in the
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Old Testament in the Greek it's translated. What? courios Lord Jesus is
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Yahweh Israel has to accept that and right now for the most part They aren't chapter 11 next week.
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We'll see that there's a hope for Israel a future for Israel Jesus as Lord, he's the divine covenant -keeping
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God that made everything He's the God man Isaiah 7.
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He's the mighty God Isaiah 9. He's the substitute for sinners Isaiah 53 He's the king Micah chapter 2.
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He is Yahweh. This is a real belief. It's not just intellectual. It's with your heart
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Now it's interesting to me that Gentiles wouldn't want to do this either.
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I was just in Corinth with some of the folks that are even here today and When we went to Corinth we could see the
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Bema seat 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 verse 10 the judgment seat but over by the front there was the little temple to Apollo And you know, it was very simple
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You just had to go there once a year didn't you and take a little pinch of incense and walk over to the temple entrance and just Sprinkle it out like a little fairy dust and say
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Caesar is Lord You can go do whatever you want for the next 365 days takes you eight seconds to say it two seconds to say it
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Caesar is is curious That's all you have to do Caesar's curious But Gentiles can't do that now, can they?
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When the gospel comes by faith, here's what you must recognize. It's not faith in faith It's faith in the revealed person of Christ Jesus who is
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Lord You don't make Jesus Lord. Jesus is Lord and you either confess him as Lord or you don't
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Confess means to agree with I agree that he is Lord. I believe with all my heart that he is
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Lord He is Savior. He's my Savior Martin Luther said the life of Christianity consists of possessive pronouns
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It's one thing to say Christ is a Savior it is quite another thing to say he is my Savior and my
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Lord The devil can say the first The true Christian alone can say the second
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I wonder if you're here today and you're not a Christian Jesus is Lord. You must believe
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Jesus is Yahweh sovereign powerful authoritative
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And when Jesus died on the cross God the Father raised him from the dead What does the text say that God raised him from the dead?
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You can study the resurrection the Holy Spirit raised Jesus Jesus raised himself But almost every other time it talks about the father raising
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Jesus why? because the father Raises the son because he accepts the son's ministry when
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Jesus said it is finished. The father says I Validate that death on behalf of sinners
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Everywhere you go Christ was raised from the dead the Apostles had that as a mantra as a theme
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Acts chapter 2 God raised him up Acts chapter 2 God raised up Acts chapter 3
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God raised from the dead Acts chapter 3 having raised up his servant Acts chapter 4
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God raised from the dead Acts chapter 5 the God raised Jesus whom you killed
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Acts chapter 10 God raised him on the dead Acts 13 God raised him from the dead
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Acts 13 raising Jesus Acts 13 raised him from the dead
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Acts 13 God raised him up Acts 17 Any guesses raising him from the dead?
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faith in faith hardly Faith that just says yeah, I I believe some of that stuff and go on living
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No, this is with everything. What does the text say with the heart with the center of all your personality?
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Don't say to yourself heart knowledge head knowledge. That's not thinking like the Bible This is with your mind with your soul with their mission control center with all you've got with your heart
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Serious affection you have knowledge of it. You have a scent you have a trust. This is saving faith number six
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How not to be saved don't trust the scriptures Don't trust the scriptures if you don't want to be saved then don't trust the scriptures.
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Oh, how do you know the Bible is true? verses 11 through 13 Of course, he's talking to the
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Jews and we can learn from that. But here he says for the scripture verse 11 singular says
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Pointing to Isaiah 28 everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame. No shame.
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No disappointment For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek the same
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Lord is Lord over all bestowing his riches on all who call on him we learned a little bit of that in Ephesians chapter 3 reading today didn't we and Everyone who calls on the name of the
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Lord literally and all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved The same gospel is accessible to Jew and Gentile and you can just imagine the
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Jewish Monopoly on this God and Paul says no, that's not true at all.
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And when he saves no one will be disappointed No disappointment when you get saved no being ashamed
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He's got a power to save whether it's a Jew or a Gentile abounding in riches high privileges privileges excellencies of God And everybody who believes
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Will be saved because the scriptures teach that Israel's failure was a failure to believe
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God in his word that you have to believe You don't work for heaven. What shall we do that?
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We may work the works of God. They asked Jesus He said this is the work of God that you believe in him whom he has sent
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And just a few more number seven Believe that people only need natural revelation to get saved believe that people only needed to learn about the
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Sun and the moon and the stars and how powerful God is and how wise he is by nature by creation to be saved verses 14 through 17 don't teach that it teaches that people need to have an
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Idea of who God is it's not faith in faith. It's in the object of faith Verse 14 and 15 haven't these verses inspired millions of missionaries?
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How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed now we're thinking of Israel here But of course it has great implications for us
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The people we know and how are they Israel to believe in him of whom they have never heard
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How are they to hear without someone preaching? See how the rhetorical questions just start adding up.
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There's got to be preaching. There's got to be hearing There's got to be belief so they can be caught so God can be called on and how are they to preach unless they're sent
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As it is written more Bible How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news
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I said to the young Mooney lady
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I said Let me tell you some good news Now, I don't think anybody really has beautiful feet visually physically my opinion every person ever born has hobbit feet
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Just look bad But by the grace of God, I preached the good news to her and for a flash on Wednesday night my feet were really beautiful I just thought
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I pulled in randomly To get a good spot. No door chippers underneath this tree
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But God had me pull right there and here comes a girl to my door And then I said, let me tell you some good news in spite of your wickedness
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She looked at me. She said Do you really think I'm bad? I said, I think you're so bad that if you die the second you're gonna go straight to hell forever
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She said really I said, yeah, but here's the good news. You don't have to I have some really good news for you
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Jesus Christ of the Bible is true and he is such a kind Savior such a generous
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Savior Such a good Savior He didn't stay in heaven. He cloaked himself with humanity and heaven came down The personal work of Christ Jesus and he lived the life you could never live
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Think about it up until his dying breath practically. He's obeying the law for you.
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What does he say to Mary? He says of Mary to John I'm honoring his parent to the very end
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John behold your mother Taking care of his mother earning righteousness for all those who would believe and then he dies on the cross
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He dies on the cross for people like me who are arrogant and prideful and selfish and for you to try to tell people that Sung young moon is the
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Messiah Actually sung young moon in 1935 was approached by Jesus allegedly small
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J and Jesus said I didn't finish everything at Calvary Could you help me? You got to repent of that kind of thinking
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I have good news for you. I said wouldn't you like to be forgiven? Wouldn't you like to go to heaven?
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You've got a zeal but not according to knowledge How do they believe in whom they've not heard and I wanted to tell them who
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Jesus was? Reminds me of the story of the evangelist gypsy Smith. It's a gypsy in England.
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He came to Christ as a young boy He loved to preach up and down the country there in America Harry Ironside said the gypsy
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Smith came to Moody Church in Chicago on one occasion and held meetings and told about his conversion in his
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Gypsy life the people would sit in trance with these wonderful stories He told at the end of the meeting.
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He would give an altar call and people would surge forward in great numbers Dr. Ironside said he he used to wonder what they were coming for Did they want to be gypsies or what because he never told them about who
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Jesus was and all his glory And they never were given anybody to believe in God could have picked angels to preach the gospel to people
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He could have had an angel come down and bring some gold tablets as a representative, but he picked people like us
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How beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings of good things?
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Verse 16, but they have not all obeyed the gospel Israel has not obeyed for Isaiah says quoting
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Isaiah 53 one Lord who has believed what has been heard from us What he has heard from us rather so faith comes from hearing and hearing through the message of Christ a body of truth doctrine
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They didn't believe God sent the messengers. They proclaimed the message Jews heard the message.
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They didn't believe Spurgeon said faith cannot be washed into us by immersion or sprinkled upon us in christening
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It is not to be poured into us from a chalice nor generated in us by a consecrated piece of bread
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There's no magic about it. It comes by hearing the Word of God and by only that way Literally out of a report of God That's why we want to preach the full counsel of God number eight two more and then we're done
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How not to be saved learning from Israel's bad example Number eight make excuses for unbelief
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Make excuses for unbelief How could a good God do that thing and allow the bombings in Boston?
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How could he allow those tornadoes? There's a thousand kinds of unbelief that's out there You know the
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Jews heard, but maybe they can stand behind the excuse I heard, but I just didn't understand
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Paul's gonna take away that excuse too And he's going to turn to the gospel as it relates to Jews and Gentiles Israel pleading ignorance
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We don't know verse 18 but I ask Have they not heard?
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Indeed he quotes psalm 19 here verse 4 For their voice has gone out to all the earth and their words to the ends of the world
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Applying that verse on natural creation now to specific revelation. He goes on to say in verse 19
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But I asked did not Israel did Israel not understand First Moses says
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Deuteronomy 32 21. I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation with a foolish nation
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I will make you angry. Yes, they did understand because they're so full of understanding They're mad and jealous and envious that the
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Gentiles are now in they understood it enough to know what was going on with the Gentiles believing Then Isaiah is so bold to say
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Isaiah 65 1 I have been found by those who did not seek me Gentiles I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me
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Israel's Unbelief has no excuse I could say today because I want you to believe if you're not a
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Christian There is no excuse for not believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, I met a lot of Christians. They're hypocrites
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Oh I could never call God my father because my father abused me and the list could go on and you could have all kinds of valid hurts in your life
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But I'm telling you a God who made the God who made you and gave you a conscience is telling you now through the scriptures
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Your sinful and you need a Savior. Here's the Savior look and live and finally number nine
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How not to be saved? reject God's gracious invitation
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Of course God's sovereign but look at the responsibility here of Israel and now I apply it to you as well
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The graciousness of God who's a God like this who's slow to anger and forgives
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If I was God, I sure wouldn't do this. But this is the God with whom you have to do verse 21 But of Israel he says all day long.
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I've held out my hands If he was Moses, he'd need somebody to hold up his arms to a disobedient and contrary people quoting
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Isaiah 65 To the emphasis here in the Greek is all day long all day long
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Isaiah 65 says in its fullness I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people who walk in a way that is not good
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Following their own devices a people who provoke me to my face continually sacrificing in gardens making offerings on bricks who sit in tombs and spend the night in secret places who eat pigs flesh and Broth of tainted meat is in their vessels
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But he says in verse 9 I will bring forth offspring from Jacob and from Judah possessors of my mountains my chosen shall excuse me shall possess it
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Extending his hands out To think that even every person here who's not a believer the first time you sin
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You deserve death and hell and God's been patient with you hasn't he waiting for you to believe
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One day you'll die. I read a book this week about death in the first sentence Hooked me on the book because I needed to hear it.
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The first sentence of the book was One day you will die Israel can't use
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God's sovereignty as an excuse. God is waiting She's willfully
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Rebellious as I talked to Karen a little bit longer she would say things like Yes But you mean to tell me that if you wait till your deathbed and believe in Jesus then you're gonna go to heaven even though You lived a wicked life.
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I thought well, she's heard that from Christianity someplace And I said, you know the thief on the cross The scoundrel the sinful man the one that deserved death looked at Jesus and he said
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Lord Remember me when you come in your kingdom And what the Lord Jesus Christ say not when
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I come but how about today And that just like the Lord just abounding and loving kindness and just overdoing extravagant love today
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You will be with me where in paradise now later. I did some research I didn't know this when
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I talked to Karen the thief on the right in Mooney theology
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That sounds funny doesn't it means? capitalism and the thief on the left, of course left
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Communists Communism capitalism, but she didn't know it and I didn't know it.
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So it didn't matter. I just said but the Bible says Jesus said
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I Grant you forgiveness Because I die for sinners like you
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This is what essentially was going on and I'm gonna be raised for sinners like you and that thief got it.
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I said yes It's true because Christ Atonement is so great But you're not supposed to wait till later believe today
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She said well I've got to get going There was a big black van full of all kinds of other kids there and they would just descend on White City and then go
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Someplace else. I thought you know, she's like my daughter an 18 year old girl
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And I just said You know, there's a reason why we met today Here's a little booklet by John Blanchard called ultimate questions
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And it's gonna tell you more about Jesus because I know you have to go. I want you to be forgiven
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I Want you to go to heaven? Said what's your name? She said my name is
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Karen. I Said Karen and I got out of my car. I said I'm gonna be praying for you
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I'm gonna pray that God shows you the excellencies of Jesus Christ the only way of salvation
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Because one day you're gonna die and then you're either gonna go to heaven or hell and Jesus is the way you ought to repent and believe in this risen
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Savior and She started walking away she smiled and I said I'm praying for you
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Let's pray Father in heaven how great it is to come to this text and understand more of your divine counsel
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Not any of this here in these passages Could we ever figure out on our own by looking at the
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Sun or the moon of the stars? You had to specifically tell us Through your servant
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Paul through Isaiah through Moses and others. I Pray for Karen the
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Mooney. I Prayed that she would Rip away all her self -righteousness and that she would flee to the cross with repentance and believe
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Father I pray for all those who are here today. There certainly must be some or maybe many Like Israel not ignorant but willfully rebelling
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Have heard from their parents from when they were little grew up in church Father I pray that you would rip away
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Their disdain for you their hatred for your son And that you would change their heart of flesh
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Give them a change the heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. I pray that you'd grant them salvation
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Let them see there's no excuse. I pray that you would not give them rest nor peace until they find their rest in the risen
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Son And father for Bethlehem Bible Church those dear ones that are saved here today. I With them.
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Thank you that we were saved. We're not better than anybody. We were just like Israel. We were going our own way, but God Rich in mercy mercy.
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Thank you for your sovereign love towards us help us to be Men and women who preach the gospel and give good news