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?