Trust in Jesus, amen? That's who we trust. Not them, not our children, not people. We trust in the Lord to do His work in His time and in His way. Amen? Amen. May God be the praise. He has a way, I tell you. He has a way. I was thinking about it last week. I had a, y'all know with with Jacob and Hannah who were married last week. I married them and I always use a specific Bible when I marry folks. And it's a Bible that Brother Roy and Miss Alona gave to me back in 1990. Now when they gave me that Bible, gave it to me in November of 1990, I was lost, didn't know a thing about the Lord or or or about the word of god and didn't for for years and uh... but the lord seen it fit and his own providence seven years later to save me and now that bob was the very bible that i used to uh... they had no idea that they prayed us through amen anybody else he trusted me with it all, even when it don't make sense. Amen? You can trust Him and walk with Him. Okay. I want you all to think with me and see if you all recognize some of these. You all remember a couple of weeks ago when we started out our reading in the book of Romans, we did some famous quotes or some famous slogans. And most of you were very familiar with these slogans. You all quoted them before I could finish them. And very familiar and I said we want to get for me with the book of Romans that away We won't indulge ourself in it But I have some quotes and I want to see if y'all recognize these or tell me who they came from So y'all follow along and see if y'all can pick this up. You only live once but if you do it, right once is enough Who said that? These quotes may be a little more challenging than these slogans. Those slogans we pick up on because we see them on a regular basis, don't we? With advertisements and things like that, they're always before us. All right? That's Mae West who said that. In three words, I can sum up everything I've learned about life. It goes on. Anybody? I did. Robert Frost. No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. Who? Not Abraham Lincoln. Somebody with that status, but not actually carrying that status. A female. Who? That's right, you got it. Eleanor Roosevelt. If you can tell the truth, or if you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything. Y'all know it, come on. Famous author. Mark Twain. Somebody said, I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying. Ilona Davis. Oscar Wilde. Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, what? You too? I thought I was the only one. Famous author, thinker, wrote books that have movies in the Christian circle as well. C.S. Lewis, to be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. older anybody Ralph a woman is like a teabag you never know how strong it is until it's in hot water huh a woman is like a teabag you never know how strong it is until it's in hot water It's a lady. We've already quoted her once. Eleanor Roosevelt, yeah. The fool doeth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool. Sounds like the Bible, don't it? Who is that? Another famous writer of days gone by. William Shakespeare. The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read. Mark Twain. Mark Twain. I'm going to give you one right here to remember. His purpose always outlasts the temporary. His purpose, the Lord's purpose, always outlasts the temporary. Some you need to remember. Yeah. No. No. No. No. Me. You said it, brother. There's something to remember. Why? Why I say that? Because we recognize that in our day a lot of things that are going on and what you're going to be faced with on a daily basis is temporary. But what we're learning in the book of Romans is God's God's purpose it's something that is permanent it's principles that outlast the temporary and that's what we want to learn that's why we want to learn what is what is given to us in this book and what we do often with with say the Word of God or many other things we kind of pick and choose things that are that we feel are good quality that we want to keep and have and I want to tell you everything in the Word of God is written for a purpose. And the book of Romans has such a unique purpose that the more you learn it, the more you know it, the better equipped you are to live for the glory of God and be a benefit to other people. And you'll be able to help people because we live in a culture, we're learning some things in Romans already and I'm going to do a little recap of where we've been thus far. There's another thing that we quoted, Ms. Pat put it up on there, this is something to keep in mind and this is something we learn out of the book of Romans as well, is that boundaries are beautiful when we embrace their purpose and not their limits. If we would remember that, boundaries are a beautiful thing when we embrace their purpose and not their limits. And we find in that the boundaries God gave to his people, the purpose of the law. Recall, remember last Sunday we pulled this mirror and we used the mirror to see that this mirror is perfect in what it does. What does the mirror do? It what? It reflects an image or what's before it. And it's perfect in what it does, but can the mirror change your image? Can the mirror clean that which is dirty? What does the mirror do? It reveals that which is right or that which is wrong. It reveals that which is out of line or that which is bright or however you want to say it, that which is dirty and that which is clean. A mirror does that. And when you look in the mirror, most of us look in the mirror not to see perfection but all the flaws that are there. You see, and that's what the law of God does. It's like a mirror. When we look in it, it reveals to us the flaws that are so connected to us. It reveals the dirt that is in our life. It manifests that. It stands out. That which I could not see prior to the law of God is used to reveal that to me. So when I embrace that, I see that as a beautiful thing and not something to shy away from because it should be within all of us to want to see that there's error here or there's a flaw here and we recognize that the mirror cannot, y'all looking at yourself? The mirror cannot do anything for me other than reveal to me the problem. I have to go to another source to help clean me up. And that's where Romans helps us. It takes us a little step further. It shows us that not only is the law purposeful and intentional of manifesting these things in our life, but I must have the very grace of God to actually cleanse me, to clean me, to change me. This cannot change how I look. It only reveals What? What I look like? the mayor can't do that something else has to happen in my life and that's what Paul is doing and he's he's challenging us to take the the see the purpose of the law so that we will indulge ourselves in the grace of God not that we take away the law not that we nullify the law we we see that the law is purposeful and intentional and it's extremely beneficial to reveal where we all are before the Lord But the law cannot cleanse me even though remember we looked in what psalm 19 I think it's in psalm 19 6 or 7 that says for the law the Lord is perfect converting the soul. The law cannot convert you. It is saying that the law is perfect in what it does. The law reveals to us that there is a deeper issue going on in our heart that needs to be changed. And we cannot change that outside of the mercy and the grace of God. And that is where the law is so perfect in doing and revealing to us that we need help, that our souls need to be transformed and changed, because apart from God's work of gracing us, we're going to continue to do what we've always done, and the law is just going to continue to condemn us and make us feel bad about ourselves and wound us and hurt us, but when we recognize that it's for a purpose, it's not to limit us or to bind us or to put us in a place where we can't function, It's to show us that we need something else to really function for the glory of God And that's where we turn to the mercy of the Lord. Amen Now what we have to be careful of is when we get in the book of Romans How many of you use Romans in quoted Romans on a pretty consistent regular basis? most of us do a lot of times we'll quote it and sometimes what we have to be careful is taking it out of its context or quoting something in the word of God that really doesn't fit but it sounds good it almost seems like it'll work with our situation you know a lot of people do that and mislead and misguide people we want to be so familiar with the Book of Romans, it's kind of like those slogans. We've heard it, we've heard it, we've heard it, we've heard it. We could actually quote it and we can quote it in its context. As a matter of fact, most of the slogans that we know, we not only know them by what they say, but we can remember the commercials that we saw it on and the setting in the commercial or the billboard that we saw or the slogan on the bottle or the box because we visualize it and we can see it and we remember it in its context, not only what it says. And we need to be that familiar with God's Word as an entirety but also specifically like a book of Romans and we could really make a difference in our day and time. I was thinking about that this morning as I was praying and preparing. How many of you don't eat bread? You don't eat bread? But I seen you eating bread yesterday. You may not eat bread all the time because you're watching your figure. I understand that. She ate a sandwich yesterday. To eat a sandwich, you've got to have bread, right? How many of you are like me when you open up your loaf of bread and never get the first two pieces or three pieces in there? You kind of dig on in there. Am I the only one? I knew we were friends, amen. What? I'm not the only one. You do that too. Why do we do that? It's just, it's a little fresher. You see, sometimes we do that with God's Word. We bypass so many other great truths and principles that are there, that are part of what God's Word is as a whole, and we reach Him because we feel like something may be a little more fresher for us at this very time. and and and and and rightly so there are principles that we live by and lean and lean on that are helpful for us right now but we've got to learn not to always go past that which may be difficult for us or that may be a challenge for us or may kind of be a little stale to us right now just to get to this we need to know every little detail that gets us to that point so that we can properly apply it in our daily lives. And I want to tell you, when we do that, what happens is when you go through trouble, because you're going to go through trouble. We talk about that a lot. Romans 5 helps us with the fact that the only way that God builds hope in you and me, a hope that won't disappoint, a hope that's not going to let us down, is that God puts you into a trial. He puts you through tough times, difficulties, where you cannot but turn to Him. Nobody else can help you. I mean, your spouse can't get you out of it, your mama can't get you through it, your daddy's not gonna come in and be a rescuer and help you out of these things, it's not gonna be somebody else, the government's not gonna come in and put a little dollar on the table and tell you it's okay, and your doctor's not gonna have an answer for you. God's gonna put us all through situations that nobody can bear you through except Him. And he does that to build hope in us that will never disappoint us. Now we may not always want to go through that. We don't want to see our loved ones go through those things. But that's the way God works. And we want to recognize that. Romans teaches us that. Romans teaches us the fact that God's law is perfect at revealing the flaw. A lot of times we want to make people feel better about themselves than really what God is wanting to do with them at that current time. He's bringing them into a place. As a matter of fact, He wants them to see that they are a sinner that has fallen short of His glory. humble them and we have a tendency to want to kind of sugarcoat and kind of dance around it and and say you don't need to feel that you don't need to feel bad about this or whatever it may be I think you know what I'm talking about you ever have a good friend or a loved one that that's under conviction and and they having a difficulty with where they are and what's going on and God's revealing things to them and and we don't we don't like seeing them in that position We do things to try to get them in a position where they feel better about where they are, where God is using His truths, His ways, His laws to really get them to a place where they can't but cry out to Him. Every time we come in, and not that we don't want to show compassion and we don't want to be merciful, but we don't want to skip the first few pieces to try to make some refreshment come in when the whole time God's got a whole loaf He's building here, and every piece counts. You take this bread and some places that don't have bread and there's a lot of places around the world that folks just don't have anything to eat. I guarantee you, you open this loaf up and you let them take a bite, they gonna grab the first piece they come to. We just a little spoiled, are you with me? And you see, we try to spoil folks around us because we don't like seeing people hurting. are going through things and and that that rightly so i understand that that that most all of us are in that position we just want to be in tune with the spirit robert that we can and recognize when that is going on in god is using something actually help people get into a place that he can pick them up bring them out only he can do that and the only way that happens is that we have to indulge ourselves in these truths. These are not things that we just take lightly. It's not something that we take in passing. It's something that we enjoy. It's something that we ask God to help us enjoy. It's that we ask God, Lord, give me a passion for these truths, for these words, for your word, for this message that you have for us. I want to know it. I want to be able to quote it. I want to understand it. I want to enjoy it, and I want to be able to talk about it and give it away, and I want to be able to rejoice with those who rejoice over it. And it's kind of like a movie. I know everybody in here likes watching a good movie every once in a while. Some people like movies better than others, but everybody likes a good movie. Has there been a movie that you really liked that you watched a couple times? Anybody? What's a movie? David, what's a movie you like you watched a few times? a christmas store anybody else it's a wonderful life their movie out there that that that you like that you've watched a few times but we're all here watching one of time gone with the way chair it's a file uh... is there's and and i'm on time with being able to uh... to watch movies and have remotes and dvds are how many have still use vhs tapes I like VHS tapes better than I do DVDs, really. I think they're easier to work with better, and we still got one, and still have some movies. But you ever watch one of the movies that you really like, and you rewind that thing, and you watch it over, or you see a little part in it that you like, and that quote, and you just back it up and rewind it, back it up and rewind it, And before you know it, you've got that ingrained in your head and in your mind, and you don't mind talking about it and sharing it when you come across somebody else that likes it, and you just get all happy with them about it. Well, you see, This word, this is our second time in this month reading it. We're on chapter 9 today. It's kind of like this remote. We need to just keep backing it up, rewinding, going over it again, over it again, over it again, and find out what is he saying here. Just keep backing it up and reading it again. Amen? not that we're just trying to get through it to say that I've read it and I've marked it off I got it no back it up let's look at what he said again because there's so many neat little treasures in there that you'll be able to help people and you'll be able to bless people with for an example chapter 5 you know there's some things in chapter 5 and in chapter 2 of the book of Romans that talk about A term that you may be familiar with. How many of you ever heard this term age of accountability? Anybody ever heard that before? What does that mean when I say age of accountability? What are we referring to? So we believe there is a time. Is there a specific age that the Bible refers to that a person comes to a certain age in time that they believe that they must be saved because they reached a certain age? Or is it a sense of maturing? That side of it. Anybody want to add to it? What do you think? B? Like little Lily here. Is there a day or a time when she turns four, five, six years old that she's going to be accountable before the Lord? Or is it a time where she begins to recognize that she has broken God's law and she has transgressed against God? And when that happens, will she be accountable? Is it an age or is it a time frame in her life? an age of understanding well there's some passages it is it's different for each one but there's some principles enrollments that deal with it chapter five chapter two that that explain this for us but before we read it let's go back and look at what the scriptures would say say in deuteronomy turn to deuteronomy chapter one deuteronomy one deuteronomy is the Word that Moses gives to the people not long before he is going to go on with the Lord, God's going to not allow him to enter into the promised land and he is preparing the people to enter into this land flowing with milk and honey. And it's recapping what took place and some of the things that happened and some of the principles. And if you'll look in verse number 34, I'll start reading there. because what we read here is connected with what we understand in the newer testament he says in verse thirty four of deuteronomy one and the lord heard the sound of your words and he was angry And he took an oath, saying, Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land of which I swore to give to your fathers, except Caleb the son of Jephnuah. He shall see it. And to him and his children I am giving the land on which he walked, because he wholly followed the Lord, singleheartedly. Verse 37. The LORD was also angry with me for your sake, saying, Even you shall not go in there. And Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. Moreover, your little ones and your children, who you say will be victims, who today, this time, have no knowledge of good and evil. They shall go in there. To them I shall give it and they shall possess it. So we see something here when he's telling this group of people who's going to go into the promised land. He made reference to them as your little ones and your children who have no knowledge of good and evil. I think that's a good indicator for us of what he's leaning toward and speaking on to help us with, all right? Let's move a little bit further in the Old Testament. Go to Isaiah, Isaiah chapter number 7. Isaiah chapter number 7. Look in verse number 14. Isaiah 7 and verse number 14. This verse is familiar to most of us, especially as we progressively move toward Christmas. This will be heard and quoted and used. He says in verse number 14 of Isaiah 7 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and you shall call his name Immanuel. That is, what does that word, what does Immanuel mean? God with us. Now notice in verse 15 Curds and honey he shall eat. that he may know to refuse the evil and choose the good now exactly how that plays out outside of the perfect righteousness of god we know we're talking about jesus here and we see that through humble means of dependence upon the lord that god's going to teach him by his parents and by his presence how to refuse the evil and choose the good verse 16 for before this child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her king So there is a time in the life of a child, we recognize this, that they can't discern between the good and the evil. They don't have knowledge between good and evil. Even in this direct reference to Christ Himself, He's going to eat curds and honey. God had a plan and a purpose to teach him how to be able to choose good and evil, to know and have knowledge of those things. That's important. We want to remember this. Now go to the book of Jonah. Jonah chapter number four Jonah chapter number four and look in verse number 11 The terminology that is used in this You'll see here of how he is speaking on these things and this idea of knowledge and discernment. Verse 11 says of Jonah 4, And should I not pity Nineveh? That great city in which are more than 120,000 persons, souls, people who cannot discern between their right hand and their left and much livestock. So the idea of this discerning between the right hand and the left, between choosing good and choosing evil, having knowledge of that which is good and evil, we see those interlocked and interconnected together, this thought process of this idea of accountability before the Lord. How does this play with the idea of accountability where Romans answers that question for us? Look in chapter number 5 of the book of Romans. How many of you have been in a discussion with somebody on the job or in a community about these things? I guarantee you, if you're dealing with a world around you, somebody's going to ask you about a child. Well, when do they respond to Jesus? Or what if they die before they respond to Jesus? What is the conditions on these things if a small child dies when he can't discern between good and evil, the right hand or the left hand? What happens to them? Where are they? Have you ever talked about that with anybody? you see the book of romans gives us the answer to these things and they are a launching pad to lead into not only them uh... the little children you talk about but to every single so let's look what he says in chapter five in verse number twelve Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all men have sinned. For until the law, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam. So what do we have here when he says in verse 13, sin was in the world it was obvious it was in the world men still died and kids still died people still died but sin is not imputed when there is no law now how do we take this a little bit further look over in chapter two look if you would in verse number fourteen for when gentiles who do not have the law but by nature do the things in the law these although not having the law are a law to themselves that means they are accountable verse fifteen who show the work of the law written in their hearts for their conscience also bearing witness in between themselves and their thoughts accusing or else excusing them in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. So when a man, the purpose of the law is to reveal sinfulness, right? It's to see that sin abounds in a man. But until that happens in a person, the Scripture says, when they don't have the knowledge between the right hand and the left hand, when they don't have the knowledge between good and evil, to choose good and evil, the Scripture says, even though they are a sinner because they were born a sinner, where there is no law, sin is not imputed. Are you with me? So what that does is say that a small child that is in the position of a place where they can't discern that and they pass away, we can legitimately say, based on the authority of the Word of God, what we know from the Older Testament and the principles concreted in the Newer Testament, we believe that child is with the Lord. Amen. because they never came to a place where they recognized their sinfulness, even though they were a sinner, even though they were born in sin, even though they had been speaking lies from the very beginning, the scripture teaches us that that sin has not been credited to them, it's not been imputed to them. but when they come to a place in life when they recognize because of the law that is within them and they recognize that we have a law of transgression here and they reach that accountability that's when sin is credited to their account and they must be under and submitted to the Lord Jesus Christ intentionally and purposefully. The book of Romans covers, I'll try to share this with you, I believe it covers every dynamic in life either directly or indirectly. You can trace it back to Romans. It's so thorough in the condition of man. Where man is, what God has done for man, and where God is taking man through Christ Jesus, it's all covered in there. The way man thinks is covered in Romans. The why man doesn't think the way he thinks is covered in Romans. The conditions with little ones and big ones and old and small, it doesn't matter. It's all covered. And I want to just keep rewinding it so that I can have it covered. So that I can help somebody else around me know what God has said about himself and about the condition of man and what he's made provision for man in Christ. Amen? I've got to recognize that the whole loaf is good and I'm hungry enough to get in it and I'm just not going to bypass the first few pieces to get a more fresh piece for me. I'm hungry. And I'm hungry to know, and I want to know Him, and I want to know what He said and how He said it, and I want to know about men so I can help men. I want to know more about the Lord and what He said about men than I want to know what men say about the Lord. Amen? Romans is the book to get in and do that with. Stick with it. Stay to it, because it's going to help you. And I guarantee you, in no short time, you're going to get into a discussion with somebody about this principle that we just talked about. And when you do, you can reveal the truth to them, but then you turn around and ask them, well, let me ask you, I would believe that you have made it to a place of accountability. And sin has been imputed on your account. And you can stand with David and say, blessed is the man for whose transgression or not credited to him. And that only happens through the grace of God, through the shed blood of Jesus, amen? And you can open up a door and share truth with people, and depend on God to do the work. And I want to tell you, you may help somebody in their eternal condition, because you know the book. You know what God has said, and you're hungry for it, amen? and you can take people through it and teach them about themselves and about the Lord and what God's done for them and He'll help you. Amen? You can help them see that look, yes, God's given us boundaries but it's for a purpose and when we embrace that it's a beautiful thing. Quit looking at the limits on it and look at its purpose. It's to reveal that we've crossed the boundary and we need help and you can help them. and it empowers and strengthens and God will use it for His glory. To Him be the praise. Amen. Would you stand with me? Father, we bless you and thank you so much for being so generous and kind to us and we ask you now in this service and this invitation and this response as we reflect on these things that you would minister to the spirits and the souls of men that you will help them, speak to them and encourage them And bless them, Lord. Give them a hunger. I pray that you'll give us a hunger. You'll open our spiritual eyes of understanding that we'll taste and see that you're good and that we would hunger and thirst for righteousness and you've promised that you would fill us. So we give you praise and glory and honor. Work with us as you have already begun and we'll give you all the glory. In Jesus' name, amen.