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2, verses 17 through 29, is our
section tonight as we move through the book of Romans, asking the
Holy Spirit to illuminate his truth to our hearts and minds. Romans, chapter 2, verses 17
through 29. Last time we looked at Romans
2, 1 through 16, which gave the principles for divine judgment.
We found that there are four principles that God is going
to judge us according to the truth or his word, that is according
to man's deeds or his works, that is an impartial judgment
on the basis of God's wisdom, and it is according to his gospel
which speaks of the wounds of Christ. Tonight we are moving
on to this next section, and I pray that the Holy Spirit would
open our minds and spiritual understanding as we look together.
Would you please follow as I read to you tonight? Behold, thou art called a Jew,
and resteth in the law, and makest thy boast of God, and knowest
his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent being
instructed out of the law. And art confident that thou thyself
art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness,
an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast
the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law." Thou,
therefore, which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? Thou that preachest, a man should
not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest, a man should
not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? Thou that abhorrest
idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of
the law, through breaking the law dishonorest thou God. For the name of God is blasphemed
among the Gentiles through you, as it is written. For circumcision
barely profiteth, if thou keep the law. But if thou be a breaker
of the law, Thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. Therefore,
if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall
not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? And shall not
uncircumcision, which is by nature, if it fulfill the law, judge
thee? Who by the letter and circumcision
thus transgress the law? For he is not a Jew which is
one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward
in the flesh. But he is a Jew which is one
inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit,
and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of
God." Let us ask God's help as we endeavor
to unfold this passage. Father, we thank you that this
indeed may be the dawning of that grand and glorious day of
your coming. It could be tonight. It may not
be for another year. We know not when. You have told
us to occupy until you come. Certainly every one of us is
appointed to die and after that the judgment.
We know not when our time of leaving this earth may come.
So teach us to number our days and apply our hearts to wisdom.
May we be careful to be obedient, humble followers of thy words. we pray in Jesus' precious name.
Amen. In this passage we're looking
at a religious person who is trusting in his religious background,
his training and his religious activities to save him. There's
probably no one who is harder to reach with the gospel of Jesus
Christ than a religious person. And for this reason, I've entitled
this exposition, Religious but Lost. Religious but Lost. You know, most religious people
have very definite beliefs about what they feel is right and wrong. They've been taught certain ways
to pray. They've been taught to do certain
things at church. And these beliefs that they've
been taught are termed orthodoxy. Orthodoxy, a term that means
correct belief. A person who is orthodox in his
thinking about things pertaining to scripture, is a person who
bases his beliefs upon the Bible. It's a very good thing to be
orthodox in your belief, amen? Isn't that our goal? Amen? We want to be biblical, we want
to be orthodox, amen? If you're not orthodox, you're
a heretic. It's just that simple. If you're not biblical, you're
unbiblical. If you're not right, you're wrong.
Nothing wrong with being Orthodox. And most people also have very
definite things they've been taught about religious practices.
How to take the Lord's Supper, how often to take the Lord's
Supper, how to be baptized, when to be baptized, who should be
baptized. These are called religious ordinances. And in this passage we're going
to see that Paul says that religious orthodoxy and religious ordinances are worthless to save you. That you can believe the right
thing and you can do the right thing and be lost. And that's tough to swallow. And most people don't believe
that. That you can genuinely believe the truth and practice
certain ordinances. Tending church is one of the
ordinances. Tithing is one of the ordinances,
in the broad sense of the term. Praying is one of the ordinances.
And you can do all this and still be lost. Let's divide these verses into
two sections for tonight. The first dealing with religious
orthodoxy, verses 17 through 24. Now, orthodoxy, correct belief
in religion, presupposes two basic requirements. In order
to have correct belief, to be orthodox in your thinking, you
have to have two things. You have to have access to the
truth. And there's also accountability
to the truth. Access and accountability. In verses 17 through 20, we find
that the Jews were orthodox because they had access to the truth. Verse 17, the first part of it,
they were connected with the truth by birth. Behold, thou
art called a Jew. They prided themselves in being
a member of God's covenant people. And God had made a covenant with
a group of people called Jews. He had not made covenant with
other nations. And so these people, and he's
focusing specifically on a Jew, but the application transcends
Judaism. The application applies into
your life and my life. Are you religious? You can be religious, but lost.
And Paul says that these people that he's talking about, and
he was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, he was a Jew. He said it is true
that you can have connection with the truth by birth. And
these people had it. And then they were confirmed
in the truth by training, verses 17b through 18. confirmed in the truth by training. They rested in the law from childhood. They had been taught in their
synagogues, our equivalent of Sunday school. They had been
catechized. They had been instructed. They
had to memorize certain passages of Scripture. That's wonderful.
We count bringing our children up in the knowledge of the Lord
a wonderful thing, don't we? And there's nothing listed here
in this Section of verses 17b through 18, that's bad. It's
all great. It's indeed a privilege. You
make your boast in God, and to make one's boast in God is to
turn away from oneself and give God the glory. That's good. That's wonderful. And furthermore,
you know His will. Well, that's important to know
His revealed will. And you approve the things that
are more excellent. In knowing the revealed scripture,
you have a keen moral sense of discernment. You can draw the
line between things that are more important and less important.
You can really discern what's the story, biblically. Now that
also is important, isn't it? In addition to being connected
with the truth by birth and being confirmed in the truth by training,
they were confident of the truth because of their excellent teaching,
verses 19 and 20. Confident. And thou art confident
that thou art a guide of the blind, a light of them which
are in darkness. They felt that they were qualified
to give spiritual guidance to those that didn't have the truth. Certainly, isn't that a worthy
goal? That's a wonderful thing. Goes
on to say, you feel like you're confident that you're an instructor
of the foolish. Now, the word foolish here is
the word that means unlearned. And you feel like you're a teacher
of babes, immature. And you have the form of knowledge
and of the truth and the law. My, what privileges! I know of nothing better to say
about you folk. You could say nothing better.
If all of these things predicated in those verses were true, then
indeed, you folk would be orthodox in your belief. But access to the truth is not
the total picture. along with knowing the truth,
inevitably comes being accountable to live the truth. So this brings
us to not only access, but accountability to the truth in verses 21 through
24. Instead of being a blessing to
others, as people with these privileges should have been,
They were actually a blight. Instead of being a blessing,
they were a curse. Now, how could such a thing be?
People that had a religious background through birth and had the Hebrew
Bible and were trained in all these things and they knew that
they knew, they were confident, How could such people be a curse? Because, first of all, of spiritual
insincerity. Spiritual insincerity, verses
21 through 23. Knowing the truth and not yourself
practicing what you know. You that teach another, shouldn't
you be teaching yourself? You that say that a man ought
not to steal, do you steal? You say a man ought not to commit
adultery. Jesus said that even impure thoughts
were guilty of committing adultery. You abhor idols, this phrase. You commit sacrilege. The Jews
were very strong against idols, but they wouldn't think a whole
lot bad about robbing heathen worship centers. Isn't that something? Now that makest thy boast of
the law through breaking the law, are you dishonoring God?"
And the answer is yes. And I want to pause for a moment
here and say to you and I that if you don't stand for something,
you should. If you don't know the difference
between right and wrong, it's high time you start finding out,
biblically. And I would dare say that every
one of us here tonight have firm beliefs that we are not hesitant
in voicing about what ought to be and what ought not to be.
Amen? But did you know that if our
lives are not exemplary of the Christian virtues and graces
that we are preaching through our lives, that we are spiritually
insincere. May I illustrate and become pointed. Before I do, maybe we ought to
move on to the next verse. Verse 24. Not only spiritually
insincere, but spiritually insensitive. Let's look at verse 24. For the
name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as
it is written. Let me read you a couple of statements
I've gotten out of some men who wrote commentaries on Romans.
On verse 24. A good sinner is better than
a bad Christian. The interpretation of verse 24.
I want you to listen to this. A good sinner is better than
a bad Christian. I'm going to explain that in
a minute. Listen to another comment. External position, profession,
preaching are worse than nothing. if they do not represent a true
Christ-like behavior. And you all know the old, old
saying, what you are, speak so loudly I can't hear what you're
saying. You've all heard that, haven't
you? I want to ask this question. What impact is your life having
on those around you? I picture most religious people
writing these verses. And what a tragedy that when
people get the bitter end of our tongue, that they blaspheme the name
of God because you showed up and gave them a piece of your
mind. If that's what being a Christian
is, And if that's what being a follower of Christ is all about,
I don't want anything to do with it. And I don't blame them, do
you? And let's stop and talk just
for a moment here in this very delicate area. Paul was laying
it on his own brethren, the Jews. And I want to make application
tonight to your heart and my heart that you are having impact
upon those people you're coming in contact with. And if you find fault with people
and express it, that your life's having a definite
impact, and it's certainly not one of kindness and one of gentleness. You know, it's so easy to find
fault with brothers and sisters. and express it to people who
are not the one at fault. And it's so difficult to find
people with enough grace in their heart, and enough moral backbone
in their back, that if they feel like there's something wrong,
that they'll keep their mouth shut about it until they see
the one who they think is at fault, and then privately try
to work it out among themselves. But what a shame! What a crying
shame! That far rather, under the guise
of not wanting to make trouble, under the guise of not wanting
to argue, under the guise of, I don't think they'd listen if
I went to them, under whatever guise, whatever excuse we want
to give, I'm a peace-loving person, oh no, I wouldn't want to say
that they just misunderstand. But we say things other places
to other people that's negative. about the other person or place
or thing. Amen? No, that's wrong. Beloved, that's wrong. Can I
say it? I want to say it as kindly as I know how. That's wrong.
Does that sound kinder? That's just wrong. I want to
say it just as lovingly, and that's wrong. Whether I do it
or anyone else does it, it's wrong. And we ought to quit it. Amen? I didn't get enough amens. Amen? Amen. Now let me tell you something,
folk, about Community Bible Chapel. We preach the full gospel here,
from Genesis through Revelation. People ask, what do you believe?
And I tell them, we believe it from cover to cover. Whatever
it says is so. And there ain't no ands or ifs
or buts about it. I don't quite put it in that
phraseology, but you understand. That's the bottom line. Whatever
it says is so. You don't want to read into it
or take away from it. And you know what people expect out of
folk who say, we go by this book, and I'm only holding up the New
Testament tonight, but this represents the whole thing. This is only
part of it. But I'm talking about the whole
Bible. When we say we stand for this book, you know what? Then
they're going to expect something out of our life, and they have
every right to, don't they? Now, I wanted to explain something
about this statement, a good sinner is better than a bad sinner.
Because people seize on a statement like that and say, you know,
I'm not doing so well in my Christian life, I don't want to be a hypocrite,
so I think I'll just be an out-and-out sinner. Because after all, isn't
a good sinner better than a bad Christian? Isn't that what the
preacher said? Well, that interpretation is
not what he meant. Let me tell you what the preacher
meant. He meant that you ought not to
be a bad sinner at all. The option is not open. If I
won't be a good Christian, I'll be a bad sinner. The option is
be a good Christian. There's no other option. There's
no merit in being a bold, grassy sinner so you won't be labeled
a hypocrite. Why don't you be a nice, thoughtful
sinner if you've got to be a sinner? Be a sinner that respects other
people's taboos. Right? If you know people don't
like you doing something around them, don't be a good sinner
and just do it anyhow. That's a rotten sinner. That's
a no-good, low-down, impolite, unmannerly sinner. And it's so
bad I'm stuttering trying to get the word out. You see how
people misunderstand that I'm just going to let it all hang
out just like I am, and I'm going to not be a hypocrite. That's
not an option. That's nastiness. Okay? Now, if a person is going to
be a sinner, he ought to be the most polite, kind, thoughtful, loving sinner
possible. If he has bad habits, he doesn't
do them in front of other people. If he uses nasty words, he doesn't
use them in front of other people. That's being a good sinner. Okay? But, to be a Christian, quote-unquote,
And then to be nasty is horrendous. It's horrendous. Because you're
dragging the name of Jesus in the gutter, in the dirt. To be a Christian means that
you are endeavoring to be Christ-like. And that means you're supposed
to be just a fine person, because Christ was a fine person. He was the kind of person that
you wouldn't mind your wife being around alone. And that's the
kind of person you are to be. He was the kind of person that
you would trust them with your children. Responsible. Thoughtful. He was the kind of
person that you did a crummy job on his car and you charged
him an exorbitant amount. That he'd come in meek and mild
and gentle. He wouldn't say, I'm tired of
this rotten service around here. I come in here and wait four
hours. He wouldn't do all that. Valuable. But you know, we do all kinds
of un-nice, un-Christian things and say, I just told them they
needed to hear it. They needed to hear it. Well,
they don't need to hear it from a professing Christian. Amen? When you go in the grocery store,
do you put on a smile? Do you realize
that people have you marked? You say you're a Christian. You
know, they look as unhappy as I am. It must not be too good
being a Christian. They even look worse than I feel. It must not be hot stuff to be a
Christian. You know something? When I go
in the store, when I go out in public, I remember I am on parade. I'm on parade for Jesus. He lives in this body. And the only Jesus a lot of people
are ever going to see is what Jesus they see in me. And I'm sorry to say they haven't
always seen Jesus. I've repented for those times
when they didn't see Jesus. I want them to see only Jesus. I was out with a couple friend
of mine. We were having a good recreational time. And I was paying him the amount of
money he had to pay to pursue this recreational pursuit. And
you're all dying to know what it is, but that's not the point
of the story. And he swore up and down, this
guy did, figuratively speaking, that it ought to have been paid.
Well, you know, who wants to argue with a guy when you're
trying to give him money that you don't want to give to start with? And
the guy says, no, I won't take your money, it's paid for. Won't take my money, paid for.
I said, are you sure? You know, the guy looked like,
are you calling me a liar? You know, I didn't want to offend
the guy, I was just trying to give him some money. Okay, I go out to my buddies
and say, hey friends, I said, they said it's paid for, otherwise
do you guys pay for it? I knew none of those guys were
good enough guys to pay for it. I'm just joking, some of those
guys are listening to me tonight. That was for their benefit. I knew the chances were, I thought,
I had a little hope, but I really kind of felt deep down, they're
not going to pay for me. I said, they did not. What should
I have done, huh? Turn it up one? You know, I've
been snapped a lot of times and gouged here and there. There's
one for me, kind of evens the column. You think that thought even ran
through my head? Well, I wouldn't think of it
now if it hadn't run through my head then. Well, of course
it ran through my head. I can't help what the devil puts
into my head. You know that. I can't help that,
but I can help what I decide I'm going to act on. So we pursued our game and at the end I went on in. And I want to be able to preach
it straight to my people. Some other people were listening
in and they kind of nodded and thought that was a good idea
too. If you're going to preach it straight, why not live it
straight? What am I saying here tonight? I'm saying that I could
have let that go by. Maybe my buddies would have thought
something. Maybe they wouldn't have thought something. I don't
know what they would have thought. But I know what I'd have thought.
I had cheated the place out of their rightful due. And that
would have been wrong. And you and I are on parade every
day. And when you fall behind in your
bills because you're out of work, the thing to do is not just to
ignore. those letters that come every
month, and think to yourself, I'll put you in the hat, and
if you keep bugging me, I won't even put you in the hat. You ought to be glad you're in
a hat, buddy. It might be that your name will get drawn out
one of these days. That's not the way to handle
them. As a Christian, that's the way sinners handle them. What should
you do? Write a little note, put it in
the envelope, Sorry I can't pay you this month.
I want you to know I'm thinking of you. Maybe you'd rephrase
it a little bit better than that. But I'm a Christian. I will pay
you. Be assured of that. I'm doing
my best. Here's five bucks to go on the
$500 bill. Here's a dollar. Here's something. You say, well, they don't want
to be messing around with that. That's the Christian way to handle
those situations, to let them know you care. Amen? These places of business that
you're going, you know Community Bible Chapel is getting a reputation,
I don't know what kind, I'm hoping for the best, but they're getting
it through you and me. And when you walk in a store,
if you didn't feel like, when you get out of the car, the moment
you open that door, say to yourself, on goes the smile, come on smile,
where are you? and put it on. Practice in front
of the mirror if you don't know how. Please, folks, this is important.
You say you're supposed to fake it? Listen, if you fake it long
enough, you'll feel it after a little while. Really. I've practiced. And people watch you. It doesn't
hurt to say hello, nod your head at some strange, big, hulking
monster you've never seen before. It won't hurt you. In fact, they
might even nod their head back at you. Hold the door for them. When you're coming down the lane
in the grocery, be careful you don't run into people over their
toes or try to brody in the line before the next person. Or if
somebody cuts in front of you, you know, you give them that
royal, dirty look, like, you know, where did you appear from?
That's not what Jesus would do. Jesus wouldn't do that, would
he? You say, Brother Brown, do you like it when you're standing
in line and somebody inconsiderately cuts right in front, just like
they own the place? Oh, I just love it! In case you
didn't know, that's sarcasm. Which is a way to say something
that you mean the opposite of. No, I don't like it. Well, what
do you do? What I should do, if I'm doing
what I should do, I ask Jesus for grace and patience, to possess
my soul in patience, and I try to be nice, just like Jesus would
be. And what happens if somebody
kicks your tools? You laid them down on the job,
and somebody kicks your tools, or moves your tools, or does
something unthoughtful to your tools. You find out where their
tools are, right? No. But you know, there's more
that goes on than you'd believe, or maybe you would believe it.
You find out where they parked their car. They lay out the tire. A little this, a little that,
you say, Brother Brown, all kinds of nasty things transpire by
people who profess the name of Jesus. All of the guys that you
can't let them push you around, you've got to let them know that
their business stops where your nose begins. And that's not a
biblical mandate, folk. That is not a biblical mandate.
When he yanked his beard, he didn't reach out and see theirs.
Did he? No. And they spat on him. He didn't spit back. Could it be that people think
less of Jesus because of us? May it never be. Amen? May it
never be. By God's grace, we will be on
parade for Jesus, which is another way of saying letting our light
shine. Amen? You are the light set on
a hill. Now, that's not on parade. Tell
me what it is. You are the salt of the earth. We must be Christlike,
or they will think less of our Jesus. Religious but lost. Orthodoxy
will not save you. During the last war, World War
II, I meant by last war, not the Vietnam War, but World War
II. A German Jew escaped just in time from his home. A few
moments later, the stormtroopers pounded on his door, broke in,
saw that he was gone. circled the house, caught a glimpse
of him running, chased him. He finally dodged into an alleyway
through various twists and turns. He lost them, but he came eventually
to a dead end where there was a door. He didn't know who was
there. There was no way to go but either back or through the
door. So he knocked on the door. in
the door, not knowing who was going to open it, realizing that
if it was the wrong person, if it was most any person, he was
just going to be turned in again anyhow. But in the providence
of God, it happened that a German Christian opened that door. And seeing the plight that took
that man in, fed the man, concealed the man, week after week, even
though the hunt was getting closer and closer and closer to their
house. If they discover him in our house, our lives will be
lost, the lives of our children will be lost. But they said we're going to
do our best to protect this man's life. Through a miracle, they were able to help this man
escape out of the country. Before he left, they had witnessed
to him. They had had family devotions
in front of him. They had invited him to be there,
and out of politeness, he had remained. They prayed and lived
in front of him. They never knew if they'd made
any impression whatsoever on this man. He was one of those
kind of fellows you couldn't tell what they're thinking. When
he was gone to England they thought they'd never see him again. But
one day there came a letter from the man with an English postmark
on it. They opened it. And there was
a brief friendly letter of appreciation. But at the end of the letter
they read these words. Your life and goodness compelled me, in
spite of all of my prejudice, to love the Christ that you serve. Your life and goodness compelled me, in
spite of all of my prejudice, to love the Christ, you, sir. Are our lives compelling people
to love our Jesus? You know, beloved, I take a strong stand for the
truth, but I warn us all that we can be offensive in our standing
for what is right, because we do not stand for it with gentleness
and humility and love. And we must never let truth make
us to be a sharp, cutting instrument against other people. must rather mold us and melt
us until we become like Jesus. That we can not become like a
chameleon and take on the characteristics of those who are doing wrong. We can be with those who do wrong,
be loving and kind, and not do wrong. and not do wrong in a manner
that does not heap ridicule or judgment upon them, but rather
is expressing our love to Jesus. And there's a vast difference,
a vast difference in standing for the truth out of love and
standing for the truth with a sword that chops and hacks. I suppose one of the greatest
dangers, and Paul knew that in these verses, of people who have
great privilege of training and of exposure to God's Word, is to hold the standard high
and end up themselves falling short in this area, that area,
the other area, but still keeping it real high for the other guy. but not keeping it high for yourself
as well. Now if you're falling short in
this area, in this area, in this area, the solution is not lower
the standard. The solution is to get your eyes
and guns off of these people, leave the standard high, but
turn all of your focus in on your own needs and get grace
from God to help in time of need. and move on up to where you know
you should be. And you know what will happen
when you get up there? You'll find that when you're drawing
closer and closer to God, your criticism and judgmental spirit
is becoming less and less and less toward others. That's what
happens. Your distinction between right
and wrong will not dim. It will become sharper, if anything. Your love for the truth will
not dim. It will become stronger. But
your attitude and the way you express yourself will become
more gentle. And this is what we need. A holiness
of life that is gentle. Amen? That's what compels and
convicts other people out there. You know, they were so nice about
it. They were so nice about it. Religious orthodoxy will not
save you. It's important to be orthodox.
But in and of itself, that won't save you. Neither will religious
ordinances, verses 25 through 29. The religious person usually
feels that he has a special standing before God, not only because
he believes what he feels is the right thing to believe, but
because he does certain things, or doesn't do certain things. Verses 25-27, Paul mentions one
ordinance, circumcision. He could have mentioned any other
particular ordinance. The reason he chose circumcision
is because in Genesis chapter 17, when God chose Abraham and
established the Abrahamic covenant, he constituted circumcision as
the outward physical sign of that covenant that he had made
with Abraham and would make with all of his descendants through
Isaac. And as a result of that, these
people got the cart before the horse, so to speak. Just as today,
baptism is the outward sign to the world that you have died
with Christ, you are buried with Christ and risen with Him. Just
as baptism is that outward sign of an inward work of grace, And
apart from that inward change, you can go down a dry sinner
and come up a wet sinner and remain a sinner. If there's no
inward reality, those ordinances are meaningless. Indeed, in some
cases, as the Lord's Supper, they can be absolutely harmful
if you take them without proper qualifications. But Paul is pointing
out in these verses that there is only limited value to rituals. limited value. The value of any
authorized ritual is based upon two things. Verse 25, the law
that God has given, if it is something God requires, good. Verse 25, thou that makest thy
boast of the law, no, verse 25, for circumcision barely profiteth
if you keep the law. The law required all covenant people to be circumcised. It was according to the law.
But there's another thing, verses 26 and 27, according to your
light. It's one thing for the Bible to require something. It's another thing for a person
to know that the Bible requires it. And Paul was arguing, you know,
you folks who meet up to this standard, and you pride yourself
on meeting up to this standard. He said, why, in your hearts,
you don't have the reality of what this standard outward sign
symbolizes. It should symbolize a relationship
with the Lord Jesus Christ. He said there are other people,
Gentiles, who do not know about this law of circumcision. which was the Abrahamic covenant
sign. They don't know about that, but by their own inward relationship
with the Lord, they're showing you a better life than you who
are measuring up to the standard, but are inwardly not what you
ought to be. And what I find, what I find
in my experience, is I find usually two groups of people, and they
polarize. There's people who take a strong
regard for external standards, whether they be ordinances, or
dress practices, or separation from the world. And then there
are others who pick, who feel that some things are not as important.
And then they become, you know, this group says compromiser,
and this group says legalist, and this group says a lot of
things. Why must we have those two groups? If this group over here looks
at this group who are doing things that they feel are genuinely
unbiblical, they ought to pray for them. Because you know, beloved, you
don't get a person desiring to do right to long-term do right
by twisting his arm behind his back and seeing how close you
can put his fist up to the back of his head. You can get a guy,
if he's smart, to say, Uncle, I give, before you break it. I consider that being smart.
I never was a great believer in allowing somebody to ruin
my arm just because I didn't want to say Uncle. But you know, you can force through
peer pressure people to do things that when they get under other
peer pressure, they're going to change. And is our purpose to force people
to conform? No. Our desire is to love people
into conformity. And there's a difference. to love them into conformity
to biblical standards. And may I say, on the other side,
folk, if you believe some things are notions and non-essentials, don't go around crusading for
them. Your liberty, or whatever you
want to call it, Have liberty or have it before
God. That's what the Bible says. Have
it to yourself and before God. But don't go around seeing how
many people you can enlist into your liberty movement. Liberation
theology. That's not the way to do it either.
If you think people are benighted and misinformed. Pray for them. You know what prayer is? Prayer
is a great equalizer, a great leveler. People who are deficient
will find those deficiencies revealed in prayer. And people
who are unwise, God will temper them with wisdom. And people
who need to move up, God will call them to move up. And people
who need to slow down, God will teach them to slow down if you're
praying. But you know what happens, beloved?
In these two camps, neither one of them are characterized by
genuine, godly, consistent intercession. Now, I have seen a couple exceptions
in the legalistic camp. Well, I labeled it, too. Poor,
poor gray matter up here. I knew they had good prayer life,
they just didn't have a lot of sense. I've yet to find the exception
in the more liberal camp where they were deep in prayer, intercession, and pickin' and pursadin' for
liberty at the same time. These rituals only have a limited
value. They are expressions, as they
should be, of inward reality. Inward reality. Why do I get
baptized? Because God commanded those who
are saved to be baptized. For what purpose? To signify
my union with Christ. Okay? But only as it signifies
my union with Christ does baptism have any validity. Verses 28 and 29, Paul says that
there is limitless value, limitless value of true reality. He speaks about what it means
to be a Jew. He's talking spiritually here,
not nationally. Naturally to be a Jew, you must
be born of a Jewish mother. At least that's the late last
statement from Israel. Israel is very ambiguous. They
really don't know what a Jew is. The Supreme Court has said
he is a Jew who says he is a Jew. And so, in Israel, the Supreme
Court of Israel, the one who claims to be a Jew, by definition,
is a Jew. Okay, but Paul tells you who
the spiritual descendants of Abraham really are, spiritually. He is a Jew, which is one inwardly. For God is concerned about the
inner man. I ask you tonight, are you having a positive impact on others
for Christ. Are you walking in all the light
God has given you? Are you endeavoring to love Him
better and to know Him more? Are you seeking to be transformed, not conformed to this world but
transformed by the renewing of your mind. Are you meditating day and night
in his law so that you can be like a tree planted by the rivers
of living water? Your leaves shall not wither,
bring forth fruit in its season, and whatsoever you do shall prosper.
This comes only by meditating day and night by knowing Him and loving Him,
and endeavoring to let God make you more and more like Him. If you find yourself speaking
harshly, stop and say, I'm sorry. Some of the best antidote is
a piece of humble pie. How many like humble? You ever
heard of humble pie? I don't like the flavor. Don't
like the serving. I suppose some people wish I'd
take a larger serving. That can help me. Well, God has
a way of giving you another piece. Here, have another piece, Allen.
Really, no thanks, Lord. Somebody was in my office not
long ago, groaning, moaning, because God had just shown him
another restitution. You know, they came to, do I
have to? Well, my response was, well,
what does God say? Well, of course they knew what
God said. I said, I agree with him. You have to. And then this
person says, when am I ever going to reach the end? I said, hang
on. Sure enough, someday, somewhere,
you'll reach the end. You'll make the last one. I remember
when I made the last one. That's come to mind. My whole slate of wrongs that
I had to make right, I'd stolen and cheated and the rest is none
of your business. I had to make it right. It was
under his blood, but he told me to straighten up the crooked. So I made it straight, and it
was expensive, and it was tough, it was humbling. It was miserable,
but after each one I made, oh, how good I felt. Another one
off. I remember when I checked the
last one off my list. Wow. Sure cure for sticky fingers. No, you're going to have to make
it right. Sure cure for nasty words. No, you're going to have
to go back and say, I'm sorry. There have been people that God
had to help me. I never wanted to tell I was
sorry. Because they were just such sort
of people I never wanted to have to humiliate. And you better
believe I have been very, very, very careful around them. And
they kept my mouth shut. I didn't want to go back and
say I spoke too hastily. Now the Lord has been working
on some attitudes about are you willing to do it, Brother Brown.
But I tell you what's the truth now. It sure taught me caution. Because when you hurt somebody
and you find out about it, The only right thing to do is go
and apologize. Isn't it? Isn't that awful? That's right. It's of the Bible. It's Scripture. And when your
brother has off against you and he doesn't like you, what do
you say? What did Jesus say to do? Pray for him? No. If you and your brother or your
sister have something against you, you go to them. You go to
them. That's tough, sure it's tough.
It takes a man, it takes a real woman to be a Christian. But I tell you what comes along
with it, peace and joy and contentment and all the resources of heaven?
A title deed clear and readable to a home in the sky? The promise
of a Savior here and now to walk beside you, to make you more
than a conqueror? Hallelujah! The benefits are
worth it! They sure are. Let's not be religious,
but lost. Let's be all that we ought to
be, by the grace of God. And all the people said, Amen. Shall we stand and bow our heads?
Religious but Lost
Series Expositions of Romans
| Sermon ID | 31614145432 |
| Duration | 58:50 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | Romans 2:17-29 |
| Language | English |
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