Today's sermon is last week's
sermon where you couldn't hear well. It is Romans chapter 2
verses 17 through 29. the title of the message is Circumcision
of the Heart. I'm going to start with a word
of prayer, and then we're gonna go from there, all right? Father,
we thank you for this day. We thank you for your mercy and
grace towards your people, your love, and your kindness. We pray
for those who do not know you, who, if they're one of your elect,
they'll be saved by the preaching of the gospel. For faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. And we thank you
for it. Please bless this time in the
word. as we read it and then expound on it to the glory of
your grace and Save your people you pray for the city that we're
in that You would draw your people out by hearing this gospel and
we give you praise in Jesus name you pray. Amen Alright, so reading
from Romans chapter 2 verses 17 through 29 It says behold Thou art called a Jew, and restest
in the law, and makest thy boast in God. I don't know how to turn
these comments off, because I can't see. OK. And knowest His will, and improvest
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?" Now Paul's talking to the Jews
here, the Orthodox Jews, you know, the Pharisees and Sadducees,
those who were the current leaders in the church at that time. He's
telling them, hey, you say a man shouldn't steal, are you stealing
yourself? And I would say he's accusing
them of stealing, all right? He says, verse 22, through breaking the law, dishonorest
thou God." So these guys were always breaking the law, you
know. But they're telling everybody, you have to obey the law. "'For
the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you,
as it is written.'" So, I mean, the name of the Lord was being
blasphemed by other people who weren't Jews, the Gentiles, right?
So he says, "'For circumcision verily profited if thou keep
the law." So in other words, if you're circumcised, which
is what the Jews told everybody, hey, you have to be circumcised,
you have to be proselytized to become a Jew, then you're okay.
Now you have to live by the law. That's not the case. He says,
for circumcision verily profiteth if thou keep the law. But if
thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. And this is part of the heresy
that happened in the Church of Galatia, When Paul went and told
them that the Judaizers, which were promoting circumcision,
they're saying, yeah, we know you're saved by grace through
faith, but you have to be circumcised. So they were adding a work in
order to be saved, right? And that's not the case. He said,
if you be a breaker of the law, which is what they were promoting,
your circumcision is made uncircumcision. In other words, your circumcision
isn't worth a penny. It's not worth anything. Therefore,
if the uncircumcision, which is the Gentiles, if they keep
the righteousness of the law, if they're the ones that are
obeying the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for
circumcision? In other words, these guys who don't know the
law, who aren't circumcised, they're obeying the law, aren't
they counted as righteous according to the law that you're promoting
and that you're not even following? Okay, and shall not uncircumcision,
which is by nature, if it fulfilled the law, judge thee, they're
judging them, right? If it fulfilled the law, it says
who by the letter, and let's read that verse over, and shall
not uncircumcision, which is by nature, if it fulfilled the
law, judge thee. In other words, these circumcised
people, the Gentiles, they're obeying the law, they're not
circumcised, now they're going to be the ones judging you guys,
right? He says, judge thee who by the letter and circumcision
transgress the law. In other words, they knew the
letter, they knew the scriptures, right? But the letter, not the
spirit of the letter, and the law. That's why Jesus told them
when they came to Him, you search the scriptures for in them you
think you have life. they are those which testify
of Me." Jesus is telling the Pharisees that. And by Him telling
them that, they realized He was making Himself equal with God,
so they wanted to kill Him as a result. Then it goes on to
say, "...for He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly, neither
is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh okay so
just because you're circumcised doesn't mean you're a jew and
that's what the jews are telling everybody hey you had to be circumcised
remember the old testament story about Jacob's sons when they went to
Shechem and his daughter Dina fell in love with the prince
of Shechem. They convinced them that if they were circumcised,
like the Jews were, that they can be in league with them. Then
what did they do? After they were sore from the circumcision,
they killed them. They killed the whole town. And
Jacob said, You guys are making us reproach these people by what
you did. So circumcision is no big thing, right? It says, "...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. We're talking
about a real believer in Christ. He's a Jew which is one inwardly. circumcision is that of the heart
in the spirit okay in the spirit and not in the letter whose praise
is not of men but of God I mean I know I I know people who are
believe they're Christians they believe they know Jehovah I'm
gonna try this other speaker too and they talk about the law
right the letter hold on a second Wait a minute, hold on. Okay. And these same people who claim
they know the letter, they're not born again. They're not circumcised
of the heart, and they haven't been born again, so they haven't
been born of the Spirit. I don't like the way this makes
me sound. I can't hear myself. So anyways,
the title of my message is, Is Your Heart Circumcised? Now we
know, scripture says in verse 29, that he's a Jew, which is
a true believer in God. There's a distinction. The Israel
of God are His elect, His chosen people, those who were chosen
before the foundation of the world, in Him, in Christ. So
that's not saying you can become a believer by something you do.
That's a work, right? So they're saying all you have
to do is believe, or your faith is what justifies you, or even
the object of your faith If you're chosen in God, and that's before
the foundation of the world, just like it also says in John
15, 16, you haven't chosen me, but I've chosen you, then you're
gonna be born again. And being born again is a spiritual
birth. It's not born of flesh and blood,
but born by the Spirit of God. So a person has to be born again
in order to understand these truths. So going on to say, now
I'm gonna tell you about a man's heart. My heart, your heart,
anybody you've ever known. Like I said last week, your mama's
heart, your daddy's heart, your brother and sister's heart, your
friend, your children's heart. Man's heart is not good. Now,
let's go to Genesis chapter six, verses five through eight. So
you're gonna have to turn your Bible a little bit, okay? We're
gonna read there. Genesis 6, 5-8 says, And God
saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. So he's talking about man's heart,
right? Everybody on the face of the earth, their hearts and
their imaginations of the thoughts of their heart was wicked, evil
continually, and repented the Lord that he had made man on
the earth, and it grieved him at his heart." He was grieved, you know. But
at the same time, he knew what he was doing. And if I get a
chance, I'll explain that later, or you have the opportunity.
And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from
the face of the earth, both man and beast, and the creeping thing,
and the fowls of the air. For it repenteth me that I have
made them. So God was like man. You know, he already had a purpose
in creating man. He created man, man fell, but
he had already, his son, the God-man, God the son, had already
died. Revelation said he was slain
before the foundation of the world. So before the earth was
even formed. Christ was slain. Then he died
in time at Calvary. Like I said last week, we as
people, we live, we're born, like I was born in 64. When I
die on my tombstone, it's going to say July 21st, 1964 through
whatever that date is. We're born in time. We see things
in time. We understand things in time.
God knows everything. He knows the end from the beginning. And He does whatsoever He pleases.
Known from the foundation are everything that He does. It doesn't
matter what transpires. God already knows about it. Nothing
takes Him by surprise. So going on to the next verse.
It says, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Okay,
now let's go to chapter eight of Genesis, verse 21. And that says, And the Lord smelled
a sweet savor, and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again
curse the ground any more for man's sake, for the imagination
of man's heart is evil from his youth. In other words, you know,
I remember talking to a guy a couple weeks ago on a Saturday, And
he was saying, you know, yeah, we're born innocent, and children
are born innocent. Children are born innocent. We're conceived
in sin, the Bible says. We're born and shaped in iniquity.
And we come out of the womb speaking lies. You can look that up in
the Psalms, okay? So this is what God's word says.
So now we're gonna go to Jeremiah 17, verses nine through 10. I'm going to read some more so
you guys understand that man's heart is messed up. It's evil. It's totally depraved. It's wicked. I mean, from the
nicest person you ever met to the meanest person you ever met,
their heart's in the same condition before God. This is how we stand
before God. Okay, Jeremiah 17, verses 9 through
10. And it says, the heart is deceitful
above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it? God
knows our heart. I've heard people say, well yeah,
God knows my heart. Yeah, I know your heart too.
I know the Bible says your heart is desperately wicked. My heart's
desperately wicked. So I know that. That's why I
think desperately wicked thoughts. That's why I want to kill the
guy who cuts me off on the 152 on my way to work. flip someone
off on the 101 before I get to the 85. It's in my heart. It comes out. So the next verse
says, I, the Lord, search the heart. I try the reins even to
give every man according to his ways and according to the fruit
of his doings. So that's speaking about the
heart of man. So now let's go to Romans chapter
3, verses 10 through 12. And that says, as it is written,
there is none righteous, no not one. There is none that understandeth,
there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of
the way, they are all together become unprofitable. There is
none that doeth good, no not one. So, the scripture is telling
us there is none good. No one good, you know. No single
person who has ever been born on the face of the earth from
Adam to the last person born is good. That's our standing
as a result of the fall. Adam and Eve fell. It was Adam's
transgression. He knew what he was doing. Eve
was deceived, but she knew what she was doing as well. Okay?
So man's heart's not good. So it's not... So going back
to our our scripture and what we're reading in Romans 2, it's
not the Jew or the Gentile whose heart is good. You know, the
Jews are saying, be circumcised. That's why I said, it's your
heart circumcised. Be circumcised. Obey the law.
You do all these things and you're going to be okay. You're going
to be right before God. That means if you're working
for your righteousness before God, you're okay. But you have
to do, this is what you have to do. Right? Like, say you have
a problem and you want to fix it, you talk to someone who knows
how to fix it, whether it's a mechanic or it's a, I don't know, a plumber
or an electrician. They say, well, just do this.
And we know that they know what they're doing because they're
professional and we've seen their work and their work is reputable.
So it's not the Jew or the Gentile. That means no man is good, right? Men, they boast of their good
heart. Yeah, I have a good heart, you
know. I remember years ago watching Braveheart with Mel Gibson, and
I would say, Braveheart, I say, Gabe Hart, you know, to my coworkers,
as if, you know, I had a good heart. I was, you know, bold
and courageous. But the Word of God, it tells
us that no man's heart is good. The standard, God Himself is
a standard. He's a just God, right? So, in
other words, His standard, leaves all men wanting. That's why we
have the law. The law tells us, hey, honor
thy father and thy mother. If I ever got mad at my mom and
called her a name, or I disobey her, guess what? I've broken
the law, I dishonored my mom. If I blaspheme the name of the
Lord, or if I use the Lord's name in vain, I've broken that
commandment. Scripture says in James that if you've broken one
commandment, you've broken them all. And in order to fulfill
the law, you have to fulfill it perfectly from cradle to grave. So there's none good. We've all
fallen in some way, form, or shape, or another. So I'm trying
to drive this point home that this is the problem with fallen
man. So how is the heart made right? Let's go to Job chapter
9, verse 2. Job is right in the middle of
the book, pretty much, of the Bible. It's right before Psalms.
And like I said before, if you guys ever have a problem finding
a book in the Bible, just go to your index in the beginning.
You know, you open up your Bible, you have an index of books, you
know, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Judges, Joshua. Anyways, okay,
we're at Job chapter nine, verse two. Now Job is asking a question,
and if you know the story of Job, Job was a righteous and
an upright man. He feared God and he hated evil.
But he wasn't right in God's eyes. The only reason why he
was is because he was a believer. So Job 9.2 says, I know it is
so. of a truth. But how should man
be just with God?" So Job is telling his friends who are rebuking
him for saying there's something that he did that caused all of
this calamity to fall on him. His oxen and his sheep were taken
in two separate days, and then his children died, all of his
children died, all in a few days. And then he was He was covered
from head to toe with sores. The Lord told Satan, hey, you
can afflict him, but you can't destroy him. Job didn't know
that the Lord allowed this to happen, but we know because we
read it. So Job's saying, how can a man's heart be made right? If He will contend with him,
He cannot answer him. One of a thousand. So how can a man
be just with God? It's only through Christ, the
mediator, the substitute and surety of His people and His
people alone. I have to make that clear whenever
I share with you guys or anyone else that God has a people that
He has Determined to say that's Matthew 121 his name shall be
called Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins His
people not all people the same the same people that don't that
that will say that will say well What is John 3 16 say God so
loved the world he gave his only begotten Son He didn't love the
whole world. You know Jesus says in John 17.
I pray not for the world I pray for them which were his disciples. God is distinct and He's particular
and He separates His people, just like He separated Israel
from Egypt. You know, if God loved all those
people in Egypt when Israel was there and they were taken captive,
would He have killed them in the plague of the death of the
firstborn? Every single plague that came
upon those people, it said it didn't harm the children of Israel.
So there's a distinction that's made, and we have to make that
distinction. And that's something that people have to recognize
and be taught. Otherwise, you think, oh, well,
God is love. He loves everybody. It's God's love in saying that
he wishes none would perish. But in that chapter in Peter,
He said He's long-suffering to us-ward. The us-ward who He is
long-suffering to are His elect, His chosen, His people. So there's a difference and we
have to understand that. So we know what Job 9.2 says. Now let's go about how the heart
is made right. Let's go to chapter 25, verses
4 through 6. And that says, how then can man
be justified with God? Or how can he be clean that is
born of a woman? So, you know, Bildad is talking
to Job, and he realizes, hey, no one's good, no one's right
before God. How can a man be justified with
God? Or how can he be clean that's born of a woman? So, we're born
in sin and shaped in iniquity. Behold, even to the moon, And
it shineth not, yea, the stars are not pure in his sight." You
know, one of you heard anything about a star talking to another
star saying, hey man, I'm a good star, you know, I'm a bad star,
I'm a death star. You know, they don't say that.
We never hear that in scripture, which is how we judge everything
in light of scripture with a biblical perspective and a correct biblical
perspective. It says that, how much less man,
that is a worm. And the Son of Man, which is
a word, we know Christ became man, God became man so that he
could die for his people as a substitute. So he had to take the wrath of
God, which was supposed to be on us, on all men, but he chose
a people out of all men to save. And that's good news, that's
the gospel. So let's go to Ezekiel 11, 19. And that says, And this is how a man's heart
is made, right? And I will give them one heart,
and I will put, this is God speaking to people through the prophet
Ezekiel, when he sent them to Israel when they were in captivity.
I'll give them a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within
you, and I will take this stony heart, which is a hard heart,
a wicked, deceitful heart, right? And a heart's not just a muscle.
It's not doing a transplant, right? Like, I had a kidney transplant,
that doesn't mean my kidney's perfect. Or if I had a heart
transplant, that wouldn't mean I have a perfect heart. I just
have another heart to take the place of mine that was failing.
The heart in scripture speaks of the mind, the intellect, the
will, the emotions, the feelings, all of what we are. So he says
he's going to give them a new heart, take the stony heart out
of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh. Which
is talking about the new birth. So let's see, Ezekiel 11, 19,
and then there's chapter 36 of Ezekiel, verse 26, let's go there. All right, 36, 26, and that says, a new heart also will I give
you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away
the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart
of flesh. So in verse 27 says, and I will put my spirit within
you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep
my judgments and do them. Now we know that Christ is the
one that did them, right? So when Christ dies as a substitute
for his people, we have his righteousness imputed to us, right? So that
we stand justified, we're justified by faith, and faith is a gift
that is given to us in the new birth, right? It's not something
that we have, it's not something we drum up, because the scripture
also says not all men have faith. If faith is a gift, how do you
have something that's not been given to you? You don't. It has
to be given in order to first have it. So we have to make sure
we understand what the scriptures say. Now let's go to Jeremiah
31-33. We're going to go a little bit backwards. And that says... Jeremiah, I'm sorry, I mean Ezekiel. All right, Jeremiah 31, 33. And
that says, but this shall be the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel. After those days, saith the Lord,
I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts
and will be their God and they shall be my people. God is the
one doing the saving. God is the one making the heart
right. Okay, we have to understand it. Now let's go to the New Testament,
that's the Old Testament. Let's go to Hebrews 8, 10. And that says, for this is the
covenant that I will make with the house of Israel to those
days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their
mind and write them in their hearts and I will be to them
a God and they shall be to me a people. And I think that really
all that is in this verse is just saying the same thing that
Jeremiah said. It's a companion scripture. But
it's good because we have to constantly emphasize the truth
of God's word. Now let's go to Romans 2. And chapter 29 says, He's a Jew,
whose heart, which is one inwardly, and circumcision is out of the
heart, and the spirit is not in the letter, whose praise is
not of men. In other words, we can't say
it's something we did. Like, when I was in false religion,
I believed I was saved by making a profession of faith. going
down to an altar and accepting Christ, accepting God, the Almighty
God, right? He has to accept people. We can't
accept Him. Because remember, I showed you
how the heart is not good. There's none good, none that
seek God. So we can't go looking for God and searching for God.
And people will tell you, well, I'm looking for the answer. Well,
the answer has to reveal itself to you. In other words, God has
to reveal Himself in you if you're one of His people. And He'll
do that if it happens. You know, last week we spoke
about deceivers and the deceived. And part of that comes from Romans
2, 18-23, and it's talking about the Jews, how they were deceived
because they were telling people, hey, you have to obey the law,
you have to get circumcised, you have to follow the Ten Commandments.
They had added all kinds of other laws, rules, and regulations.
to it, so that they put burdens on people that they couldn't
fulfill and that they wouldn't even lift a finger to try to
fulfill, right? So it's also in Matthew. Let's
go to Matthew 24.5. I want to read some more stuff
to you guys from there. And that says, that says, Many shall come in
my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. So there's
a lot of people saying that God loves you, He loves everybody.
That's not the Christ of Scripture. He's very particular in whom
He saves. He saves His people only, not
all men. He says, Jacob have I loved,
Esau have I hated. He hates workers of iniquity.
Did he love the people that he saved, that he killed in Genesis,
in Noah's flood, when he destroyed the earth? Even animals. You
know, what did the animals do that were bad? You know, did
they say something bad about God? Did they even talk to God?
You know, we don't know, but we know that there's nothing,
even the stars aren't pure in his sight, right? How much less
a man who is a worm, right? So we have to understand that.
These same people who talk about Christ, let's go to verse 11,
many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. We see
that all over the place and especially nowadays you got people in the
reformed circle that like if you'll go to a church and say
well we're reformed, we believe in the doctrines of grace, we're
Calvinist or we're sovereign free grace people. But yet they
talk about doing something in order to be right before God.
It's not by the works of the flesh that we're made right,
it's by what Christ, it's his substitutionary death on the
cross that's the result of the atonement of his people and his
people alone. So these people tell you, hey,
Christ is here, Christ is there, let's go follow him. These false
prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. Let's also go to,
I mean, how many times have I seen stuff on TV where you've got
guys like Benny Hinn, you know, come to his healing crusade and
be healed, or he weighs his jacket and whole rows of people fall
back. That's baloney! But people believe that, and
they're fooled, they're deceived. Why are they deceived? They're
not the elect. And there might be a time when
the elect are fooled, but God's gonna bring them out of that.
We don't know who the elect are. They don't wear a shirt or have
a big E on their chest or back. We don't know, but God knows.
That's why it says in 2 Timothy 2.19, nevertheless the foundation
of the Lord stand assured the Lord knoweth them that are his.
God knows. So he's gonna save his people,
Matthew 1.21. So these deceivers, they're all over the place. They
call themselves, and they're very cocky and confident in that
they're leading people, you know, and that they're guides, lights,
and instructors, all the while they're denying and compromising
the doctrine of Christ. The doctrine of Christ is Christ
has done it all. Like that old song, Jesus paid
it all, all to him I owe. Well, if Jesus paid it all, How
is something that I do necessary for my salvation? That just means
that Jesus didn't pay it all. He paid most of it, but now I
have to pay the rest. We can't do enough to atone for
our sins. It has to be a perfect sacrifice,
right? These people that I'm talking
about, they promote the law, which is the Ten Commandments.
The Ten Commandments is the rule of life. No, the law of Christ,
which is to love the Lord with all of your heart, mind, soul,
and might, and you neighbor as yourself, which, by the way,
no one does, no one has, nobody ever will. Only God, man, God
the Son, has done that. So we have to make sure we understand
that. Now my next point, My next point
is going to segue into next week's message, which we're going to
go into Romans chapter 3. And that says, where does this
leave man? Knowing that there's none good,
our hearts are wicked, are they circumcised or not? How is the
heart made right? Where does this leave man? It
leaves us wanting. It leaves us wanting. You know,
that means we fall short. All have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God, right? So, something has to be done
in order to be made right before God, but it's nothing we can
do. Like that old song by Augustus Toplady, Nothing in my hands
I bring, Simply to thy cross I cling. naked I look to Thee for grace,
helpless I flee to Thee for grace. Not the labor of my hands can
fulfill the law's demands." It leaves man under the wrath of
God. Verse 1 of chapter 3 says, What advantage then hath the
Jew? or what profit of there is circumcision.
Remember we were talking about circumcision, how the Jews are
telling everybody, hey, you have to obey the law and you have
to be circumcised. What advantage does it have to the Jew when
they're the ones that are breaking the law? The name of the Lord
is being blasphemed among Gentiles because of them. Here's what
happens. The law, this leaves man under
the wrath of God. All men. all men. But the good
news, so let's read chapter 3 verses 1 through 4. What advantage then
hath the Jew, or what profit is there of circumcision? Much
every way, chiefly because unto them were committed the oracles
of God. In other words, the word of God came to the Jews. When
God called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees, he was teaching
him the gospel. Men already began to call on
the Lord during Adam's days when his sons were born later on.
That's what the scripture tells us. But when he took Abraham
out, you know, because he destroyed the world in a flood later on,
right, in Noah's days. So the men who called on the
Lord, apparently they, not many of them made it out, you know,
only eight souls were saved in the ark. It says, for what if
some did not believe? Remember, unbelief is not believing
and trusting in God. It's believing in something you
do, your own self-righteousness. Right, shall their unbelief make
the faith of God without effect? No, that's not gonna make the
faith that God gives his people. God's going to give people faith,
and they're going to believe Him. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and you shall be saved. God gives you faith to believe,
and it's because you're His chosen vessel. You're a vessel of mercy
and not of wrath. It says, God forbid, yea, let
God be true, but every man a liar, as it is written, that thou mightest
be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou
art judged. So, mankind is wanting, and they're under the wrath of
God. And the only way to escape the wrath of God is to be in
Christ. Chapter 1, verse 18 of Romans.
It says, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against
all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth and
are unrighteous. In other words, who tell you, yeah, all you have
to do is this and you're saved. Just believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, right? They say that. The Romans wrote, the Romans'
confession. You believe in the Lord, you
confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, you shall be saved.
No, you have to believe in the true Christ. His person, who
He is, and His work, what He did. He died to save His people.
His people are the ones that were chosen in Him before the
foundation of the world, the ones that God the Father gave
to the Son, who will come to Him by hearing the Gospel. Not
the ones who fall away. If they fall away, it says they
left us. and they were among us, but they left us because
they never were of us. It says that in 1 John. So we have to
understand that. And the only reason why God's
people continue and persevere until the end is because God
causes them. He who will be done a good work
in you will perform it until the day of Christ Jesus, right?
That's what it says in, I believe it's Philippians. And then in
Judas it says, Paul also said it in one of his letters, but
Judas said it, How is it that we're going to be presented before
the throne with spotless, It's because we're justified
by faith. We have Christ's righteousness
imputed to us. That's something we have to understand,
right? This is how man escapes the wrath
of God. Let's go to a chapter of, we're
still in Romans chapter one. We're gonna go to chapter two.
Verse two says, we are sure, we being the saints that are
in Rome, that the judgment of God is according to truth. In
other words, God's gonna judge the world in righteousness by
the man, Christ Jesus, right? He's gonna come back and judge
the world. So it says, we're sure that the judgment of God
is according to truth against them which commit such things,
which do what? All the lists in Romans chapter
one, all these heinous sins, covetousness, lying, homosexuality,
lesbianism, murder, drunkenness, all of this stuff, you know,
the reprobate mind, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness,
envy, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, haters
of God, despiteful, proud, bolsters, you know inventors of evil things
disobedient to parents all of these people and that's not a
comprehensive list that's just some of the things that were
given in the scripture that that that are wrong and that people
do so that's two verse two Now let's go to verses five through
six. It says, but after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest
up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation
of the righteous judgment of God who will render to every
man according to his deeds. So remember I had talked about
reaping and sowing. You reap just what you sow. I
remember a friend of mine, a choir director, saying, yeah, we used
to sing a song, you reap just what you sow. We all reap what
we sow. And the scripture says that. divine law of reciprocity. If you sow something, you're
going to reap it. So if I do something bad, like
say I fornicate with a woman out of wedlock, she gets pregnant,
she's going to have a baby. I've reaped reaped what I have
sown. So we have to understand that.
That's verses five through six. Now let's go to verse 16. It
says, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus
Christ, according to my gospel. Now Paul's gospel is my gospel
as well. And it's yours if you're a believer in Christ. And it's
Christ's gospel. It's not just Paul's. And when
Paul wrote, he wrote by the spirit of God being upon him in writing. So when we talk to people and
we share the exact word of God, That's the gospel as well. We
have to make sure we rightly divide it and don't Twist it
and pour a different meaning into it that takes the glory
away from God and gives it to man because that's that's wrong
That's what's called. I see Jesus and I heard my friend
James Tipton say we used to say that's how I see Jesus, but it's
how does God see Jesus because Jesus told Peter at one time,
who do men say that I am? And Peter told him, you are the
Christ. And he said, flesh and blood hath not revealed this
to you, but my Father which is in heaven. So how does man escape
the wrath of God? They escaped in Christ alone,
right? Genesis 3.15, let's go there. And I will put enmity between
thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall
bruise the head, thou shalt bruise his heel. So that's a promise. That's the proto-evangel, where
God tells Adam and Eve after the fall, hey, he clothed them
already with coats of skin, so he saved them. They were born
again, because they weren't born spiritual. I was listening to
an old Henry Mahan tape, and he was saying in the tape that
Adam and Eve were born impeccable, and they were born spiritual.
But the scripture, Paul tells us that They were born earthly. The first Adam was of the earth.
You know, God said he took of the dust of the earth, he breathed
his spirit into him, and he breathed life into him. Adam wasn't born
again. He was just a created being in
the image of God. Then he fell, right? And he had
to be born again. That's why when they tried to
coat themselves, they took fig leaves, but God coated them with
skins, animal skins, which meant that an animal had to be killed,
a blood sacrifice. Remember, without the shedding
of blood, there's no remission of sins. So Adam was restored,
but then came the law. He was told, hey, you can't do
these things now. And not only that, he drove him
from the garden. So man escapes the wrath of God in Christ alone.
And it's in the preaching of Christ, which is the Gospel,
the good news of His person and His work, that a man is saved.
So we preach Christ, Him crucified, Him resurrected. and His person
and work, and we preach Him as our all. He's my righteousness,
He's my sanctification, He's my glorification, He's my justification,
He's everything. I don't progress in my sanctification. If I'm in Christ, I'm in Christ.
If I'm not in Christ, I'm not in Christ. The only way to progress
in sanctification is to be in Christ and then you're sanctified.
He's become unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification.
Right? He sat down at the right hand of God interceding for us.
So we're secure in Him. If I'm not secure in Him, then
I can't progress in Him. The only thing we progress in
is the knowledge and grace of God. So in other words, we grow
more, we know more about Him, we love Him more. I mean, I would
hope so. I know for me, I do. And then
I can say, wow, I used to believe this about God, and I was wrong,
so I'm corrected. You know, because we know in
part And then we can tell others the truth. And then, like I tell
everybody all the time on these posts, these live streams, if
I'm wrong, please correct me. Please help me. I'm not perfect. I'm not an apostle. There's no
such thing as apostles, by the way. you know, and don't let
prophets, don't let people fool you into believing that, because
I see it all the time. You know, in my friends' posts,
you know, come see this apostle, come see that prophet. They're
nuts to follow these people, just follow Christ. Christ does
give us, God does give us pastors after his own heart. So we're
taught that the body come to the unity of the faith, right?
We know these things so that we can equip the body for the
ministry. So when we preach Christ, and
the good news of the gospel. That's how his elect escape the
wrath of God. They are born again to the Spirit
of God. They're given faith and they're
no longer under the wrath of God. Let's go to Romans chapter
one. and I believe it's verse 16,
because it talks about the gospel. It says, for the gospel is the
power of God unto salvation. It says, for I'm not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ, chapter one, verse 16, for it is the
power of God unto salvation to everyone that believe it. To
the Jew first. and also to the Greek, for therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the
just shall live by faith. That's how fallen man escapes
the wrath of God. They hear the gospel, God saves
them, they believe the gospel, then they look to Christ, they
believe in Christ, they look to Christ, his person, his word.
That's what the hope of the believer is. Let's go back to chapter
two, verse 29. He is a Jew, remember, he's a
Jew, which is one inwardly, and circumcision is out of the heart,
in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of
men, but of God. That's how you escape the wrath
of God. That's the hope of the believer. In chapter one, verses
six through seven, Paul says, among whom are ye also the called
of Jesus Christ. We're called, we're called, we're
predestined, we're elected, And this is all in the scriptures,
right? And it says, to all that be in
Rome, beloved of God, remember He's loved you, He's loved His
people with an everlasting love, the eternal covenant of grace.
Called to be saints, they're called, they're elected, they're
chosen in Christ. Grace to you and peace from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. That's a great song by
Fernando Ortega that I love. I heard it and I thought, oh
wow, that's right from the scripture, that's pretty cool. So that's
the hope of the believer. Verses 16 through 17. I read
that earlier about not being ashamed of the gospel for it's
the power of God unto salvation chapter 2 of Romans verse 4 says
or despises thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance
and Long-suffering remember like the people saying first Peter
or I think it's first or second Peter God is not slack concerning
his promise But his long-suffering to us were not willing that any
would perish But that all would come to repentance and guess
what his people will he'll make sure he saves him, right? and
not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance."
These people were saved as a result of God's long-suffering towards
His vessels of mercy. Vessels of wrath are just storing
up judgment against themselves for the day of wrath. That's
what it says in the next verse, "...but after thy hardness and
impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the
day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God."
We escape the wrath of God by being in Christ, right? That's
the hope of the believer. Go to chapter two, verse seven,
and it says, to them who by patient continuance and well-doing seek
for glory and honor, and immortality, eternal life. Verse 10, but glory,
honor, and peace to every man that worked with good, to the
Jew first, and also to the Gentile. Verse 13, for not the hearers
of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall
be justified. And then finally, verse 29, which says, He's a
Jew, which is one innerly. Now, remember, it's not by something
we do. Like, you can look at those scriptures
and say, for instance, in verse seven, to them by patience, continuance,
and well-doing. There's people now like Lordship
Salvationists and Progressive Sanctificationists and Holiness
people who tell you, oh no, these are commands that you have to
do and you have to show your faith by your works. The faith
that has been given to me is based on the work of Christ.
It's not my works. Remember, My work has to be perfect
from the start to finish or else it doesn't qualify. It doesn't
count. It doesn't make the mark. It won't save me. It's only Christ's
work. People will say they're imperatives
and commands. Yeah, we want to honor God. in
love, because He loved us, and do our best, but we still fall.
Scripture says the just man, the just man, one who's right
before God, falls seven times. And not just seven, probably
we fall short every day. But God upholds us, right? He
was able to keep you from falling. How is it that I, in Christ,
I never fall? Because I have His righteousness,
His righteousness, the Lord our righteousness, imputed to me.
so that I don't fall anymore. My sins are forgiven. If my sins
are forgiven, past, present, and future, by something He did
before I was born, what is what I do, how is that going to nullify
what He's done? You know, we tell people, God's
work plus your work won't work. But the same people who say that
are now saying, well, if you're not praying enough, or not giving
enough, or not doing enough, or you're not obedient enough,
You're not saved. They're wrong. They're erring
from the gospel. We tell people it's Christ alone.
He's the author and finisher of our faith. He's the one that's,
He who begun good work and will perform it. So if God has done
something, it's forever. Forever, oh Lord, is thy word
settled in the heavens. We have to understand that and
we have to tell people that. This is the hope of the believer.
Let's go to Titus chapter two. This is my last scripture point
and will be finished. And Titus two, 11 through 15
says, for the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared unto all men. Christ came. That's
the incarnation, right? He came to earth. He was born
of man. He had to be a man to be a substitute
for man. But he wasn't just any man. He
was the God-man. He was the perfect man. He was
impeccable. He was holy, harmless, without
sin. He was undefiled and he was separate
from sinners. But he was still a man, right? So that he could
suffer like we suffer, every single thing that we've ever
been tempted with, whether it's bad health, bad breath, I mean
anything, God has suffered those things so that he could help
us, he could succor us, right? He could be there to help us. He knows our infirmities. He
knows how frail we are when we're sad, when we're lonely, when
we're angry, when we're happy. He knows that. All creation is
naked in his sight. So he's the hope of the believer.
So verse, Verse 12 tells us. teaching us that denying ungodliness
and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and
godly in this present world. And we should, okay, as Christians,
as believers. We should do everything within
our power, as God's hand is upon us, to live, to live a holy life,
to live a righteous life. But we're gonna fall short. You
know, the minute I get angry at my wife and mumble at her
under my breath, or yell and scream at my daughter for doing
something that made me happy or interrupted me, I've sinned,
right? So we should strive to live that
way and we should love God. We love Him because He first
loved us. It says, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious
appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. This
is looking for Christ's return. He's going to come. And like
I said before a few weeks ago, not in a secret, not in secret
like which is what the rapture dispensationalists teach. He's
going to come he's going to come in secret and take his people
away, the rest of us are going to be left behind, then he's
going to come again. No, he has a first advent when he already
came, when he was born and married, that's the first advent. Then
there's a second advent when he's going to return. He told
the apostles when he left them, he said he's going to behold
I'm going to return in like manner." So he's going to come down out
of the clouds, right? He's not going to come in secret
and then come again. That would be three appearances, and that's
incorrect. So we have to make sure we teach
the people the truth. It says, "...who gave himself
for us, greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down
his life for a friend." The good shepherd lays down his life for
the sheep. He's the good shepherd. I love that. I love that. He's
my good shepherd who gave himself for us that he might. Not that
he might, he will. He shall. If he has all power,
there's nothing he cannot do. For with men, it's impossible.
With God, all things are possible. So he's able to save to the uttermost.
Right? It says who might redeem us from
all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous
of good works. And we are. What are the good
works? It's preaching the gospel to people, the true gospel. And
people think that we're crazy because we're not telling them
Jesus loves you, and Jesus loves everybody, and he died for everybody.
They're like, that's not right. God loves everybody, and how
could he not? Or how can someone not be gay and be a Christian? Well, you're going against the
word of God. You might struggle with that, and God will help
you all along the way, but you're not gonna wanna be that way,
knowing it's wrong. It's like, if I know something
is wrong, and I still do it, I'm grieved. I grieve the Spirit
of God, and then I'm going to be chastised. So you can't contradict
the Word of God. So going on to the last verses,
these things speak and exhort. and rebuke with all authority. The Word of God has all authority.
If I tell somebody something that the Word of God says, that's
it. I've told them, I've warned them,
just like I tell people, whether it's family or friends, hey,
you're bucking the Word of God, you don't know God, you don't
know His Word, at least you don't know Him yet. you know, and what
you're saying is wrong, you're twisting the scriptures, and
you're going to be judged, and I hope that you're not. But this
is what we do. It says, let no man despise thee.
That's how that scripture ends. So, that's where I'm going to
end this sermon. Next week I'm going to go to
Romans chapter 3. I pray that I'm doing better.
Like I said, I put some posts on earlier of what's going on
with me. I know that God is able to keep me, and whether He does
or not, His will is going to be done. So I want you guys to
take heart in that, take His word to heart, meditate on it,
and think on it, and ask God to help you and to give you insight
on it. Stay in it to the best of your
ability because it you'll be the better for it. You know you
won't be Lesser like you won't be it won't kick you out by not
doing these things But it's it's just something good for you to
do and that I would encourage you to do you know and I won't
Chastise you if I if I if you don't do that. I'll just keep
encouraging you to do this okay, so let's pray father We thank
you for your word. We ask that you would bless it
and allow your people to hear it and to meditate on it and
rejoice in it, that you would give us insight into it. And
we give you praise. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Alright you guys, till next week. God bless you. Bye.