I'm amazed to see this many people
here. Oh, I forgot they're coming to
hear Mike. That's what it is. Yeah. That's what it is. Take the worry right off my back
there, Mike. How about turning in your Bible
this morning, please? to the book of Romans chapter 2. Romans chapter 2. And I would like to take as my
text in Romans chapter 2 Verses 28 and 29. But I also want to
read that chapter, if I can do it without stopping to comment
very much, because I do want to deal with what is in these
two verses. But in order for us to understand
these two verses, we need to know what this chapter has had
to say. There are two words in verse
28 and 29 that are opposites, two words that divide the whole
world of religion in any generation, including today. It is the word outward and the
word inward. We must understand those two
words. Every man's religion is either
outward or inward. This is plainly stated in these
two verses. For he is not a Jew which is
one outwardly. Those people over in that country
called Israel are not Jews unless they are in Christ. He is not a Jew which is one
outwardly. He is not a Christian, which
is one outwardly, but rather inwardly, spiritual and not physical. He is not a Jew, which is one
outwardly, neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew. a son and daughter of God, a child of grace, a follower, a
disciple of the Lord Jesus. He is a Jew, spiritually speaking,
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." In this chapter, the Apostle Paul teaches us that
Jews and Gentiles are, for all we need to know, are one and
the same. He tells us in chapter 10 there's
no difference between the Jew and the Greek. No difference
at all. We all have the same heart, spiritually
dead, full of sin. Sin is what we are, Jew as well
as Gentile. All right, let's read it. Therefore
you are inexcusable, O man, whosoever you are. Does not matter your
native land, your language, none of this matters. For wherein
you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you that judge
do the same things." Every man and every woman of Adam's race
from the beginning to the end of time have the same fallen,
dead, Adamic nature. We're just alike. Some of us
like one kind of food and some another. Some of us like to wear
suits and ties, and I ain't one of them. And some of us don't.
But we're all the same. We're all the same. But we are
sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against
them which commit such things. And think you this, O man, whether
Jew or Gentile, that judge them which do such things and do the
same that you shall escape the judgment of God, or despise you
the riches of His goodness and His forbearance and longsuffering,
not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance. But after your hardness and impenitent
heart, treasure up unto yourself wrath against the day of wrath
and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Some people
walk the high road and some people walk the low road, but we're
all in exactly the same condition, lost, sinners from head to toe. Verse 6, who will render to every
man? That is, God will render to every
man according to his deeds. Now, notice there is a colon
at the end of the word deeds. Therefore, this next statement
is to be viewed, and so will the following for that matter,
be viewed in light of that punctuation and that statement, God will
render to every man according to his deeds, to them who by
patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honor and
immortality, God will give them eternal life. They found that
life in Christ in the gospel. You can't find it anyplace else.
You can't find it in the church. You cannot find it in relieving
the needs of mankind about us. You cannot find it in those places.
Here's the other category, but unto them which that are contentious
and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, here's
what they earn, and God will surely pay it. Indignation and
wrath, tribulation and anguish, But every soul of man that does
evil, of the Jew first and also of the Gentile, but glory and
honor and peace to every man that works good. And there ain't
been but one of those. He's pure, perfect goodness. And we are poor, perfect badness. And I mean that about every person
in this room, beginning with me. And if you ain't seen that,
you're still lost, my friend. No matter how well you can defend
the articles of the Calvinistic faith and all other such measuring
devices, that does us no good until we understand that our
only hope, our only plea, is that the Lord Jesus Christ died
for me. Glory, verse 10, honor and peace
to every man that works good, whether he's a Jew or a Gentile,
has no bearing on the subject. And look at what comes next in
verse 11. And I've got a whole page of
notes here on that one verse, but I'm just going to pass by
it. But I'm going to read it. Verse 11, for there is no respect
of persons with God. He doesn't come to you in grace
because you're better than your neighbor. And He doesn't not come to you
because you're worse than your neighbor. Now, that's two negatives, but
you can figure that out, I know. Verse 12, For as many as have
sinned without law, shall also perish without law, and as many
as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law. People
with Bibles will be judged just as people that have never seen
a Bible or heard the name of Christ. Verse 13, For not the
hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law
shall be justified. But none of us can keep the law.
And when we attempt to do so and take pride in doing so and
think that gives us an advantage with God, we may as well spit
in His face because His Son kept the law for every last one of
His people. I lost my place, Marvin. Verse
14, For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature
the things contained in the law, these having not the law are
a law unto themselves, which shows," you can find this back
in Romans chapter 1, "...which shows the work of the law written
in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their
thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another."
Now that's a big contrast between them two words. But that's where
we live. That's what we are. We justify
some things and condemn others. We justify some people and condemn
others. We generally justify ourselves
and condemn others. Verse 16, And the day when God
shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to
my gospel. All those statements we've read
now result in verse 16. All right, verse 17, Behold,
you are called a Jew, and rest in the law, and make your boast
of God. And the man writing this epistles,
he can't deny that. It's recorded forever on the
pages of this book. He knows exactly what he's saying. And knows his will, and approves
the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law,
and is confident that you yourself are a guide of the blind, a light
to them that sit in darkness, an instructor of the foolish,
a teacher of babes, who has the form of knowledge and of the
truth in the law. These privileged people, verse
21, you therefore which teach another, do you teach yourself? You that preach a man should
not steal. Do you steal? What's the answer
to that? Yes. Yes, I do. You probably never stole a dime
in your whole life, but from the day of your birth till today,
we have robbed God of His glory. And that's the crime of all crimes. You that say a man should not
commit adultery, do you commit adultery? Did you know that spiritual
adultery is infinitely worse than any other kind? You that abhor idols, do you
worship idols? Yes, I'm afraid we do. You that make your boast of the
law through breaking the law, do you dishonor God? Yes. For the name of God is blasphemed. Now, Paul's a Jew, and this epistle,
this letter, this chapter is to Jews as well as Gentiles.
But look what he says in verse 24. The name of God is blasphemed
among the Gentiles through you, because of you, you who are more
enlightened, you who should know what other men cannot know because
you've had the Holy Scriptures. Verse 25, for circumcision, truly,
verily, profits if you keep the law. But since we cannot keep
the law, circumcision is worthless. It is indeed a positive evil.
Circumcision profits if you keep the law, but if you be a breaker
of the law, your circumcision is made uncircumcision. things do not save the soul. Verse 26, Therefore, if the uncircumcision
keeps the righteousness of the law through Christ and the gospel,
shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision,
that is, spiritual inward circumcision, and shall not uncircumcision
which is by nature, if it fulfill the law, judge you who by the
letter and circumcision do transgress the law." And that brings us
to these two statements. 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 an operation by the Holy Spirit
of God upon the heart of a sinner, giving him that new heart we
heard about yesterday. It started to say last night,
but it was yesterday morning. Yes, sir. 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." Now, my title this morning is Mocking the Reality with the
Shadow. Religion in our day is all about
the outward. with no knowledge of the inward.
It matters not the denomination or the religion. There are only
two religions on the face of this earth. One is inward and
spiritual and the other is outward and fleshly. If you don't know this, I don't know where you've been
living because it is evident everywhere we go. You can see
it on church billboards. They put the most blasphemous,
ignorant, stupid sayings on those billboards that you can possibly
imagine. Saw one at home a couple or three
months ago, and the first statement on there
caught my eye. It says, if I can remember it,
that the Lord Jesus is awesome. I said, that's right. I kind
of like that. But the next thing, Sid, used
tires. You heard me right. Used tires. Somehow I just couldn't get those
things to go together. Now, I know the man was probably
selling used tires at this little small chapel or whatever it was,
which is fine. A man's got to make a living
somehow or another. But the stuff you read on most billboards is
no worse and no better than used tires. Just takes up space. That's all it's doing. It doesn't
tell men and women what they need. and what God freely gives
in His Son. No, it generally tells them what
to do in order to gain God's notice. Religion is telling men on every
hand, God's done all He can do, now the rest is up to you. If that's true, we ain't got
no business being in here this morning. When it comes to shadows, the
cross is a shadow. It's who's on that cross and
what he accomplished on that cross that is all important. You can find it on buildings.
on bumpers of cars and trucks, on church steeples, on auditoriums,
in pictures, even in jewelry. If you're wearing one, you're mocking the reality with
the shadow. Excuse me, but I just have to
say it. There's a man that lives not
far from us who recently erected a 60-foot cross right in a farming
field on a busy highway between where we live in Raleigh, North
Carolina. And he said that God told him to put that there. And already we've read in the
paper where groups of people are gathering around that cross
to pray in order to get God to do something that God's not interested
in doing. We call it ganging up on God. You listen to me and you listen
good. God does not need to change. And if He does, He ain't God. We need to change. Lord, whatever
Your purpose, whatever Your will, You bring it to pass, whether
it affects me or someone else. I'm just sick to death of this
religion that thinks If you'll get the numbers, you'll get God's
attention. Yes, you will, but it'll be the
opposite of what they think. People sometimes drive up at
home. I have the wonderful privilege
or curse, I'm not sure, sometimes it's one or the other, but people
drive up in the parking lot and the house is on one side of the
asphalt and the church building is on the other. Once in a while,
not very often, people want me to open the auditorium, they
call it the sanctuary, so they can come in to the altar, which
this is no altar, as you well know, so they can pray. Now, I want to be nice. Why don't I just go open the
door and say, sure, help yourself? Because I'm telling them the
opposite of what I'm telling you this morning if I do that.
You cannot do it. And they're not interested in
your explanation as to why you can't. That's mocking the reality with
the shadow. It's telling people that you
can get in touch with God inside this room when you can't do it
out there in your automobile. And that's simply not true. We must make that plain and make
it clear. All right, I need you to look
at a verse of Scripture. In Luke chapter 11, Mike Walker asked me some question
this morning and brought this statement to mind. So I hastily scribbled it down
here on my notepad. Luke chapter 11. Let me tell
you a little story about this statement before I get to it.
Now, you don't know which verse it is, do you? That's good. Without telling you where or
when or who, I was sitting around a table with some preachers and
their wives, and I don't know how this subject came up, but
the subject of demon possession came up. And I said, every person
in Adam's race is demon-possessed until the Lord Jesus casts them
out. And one preacher's wife spoke
up and says, not me. Not me. What about you? And me? Now see if you can handle
this statement. Luke chapter 11, verse 20. These are the words of our Savior.
Here's what He said. But if I with the finger of God
cast out devils, What does it mean? No doubt the kingdom of
God has come upon you. Now, if that ain't conversion,
I don't know what conversion is. And if that doesn't say that
we're all demon-possessed, I don't know what is. Now, some of us
have got good demons and some of them, I'll say some of us
have moral demons and some have immoral demons. Just like we
were talking about the high road and the low road. But I'll guarantee
you the devil would be glad to have his people sitting in churches
this morning believing that they're on their way to heaven. And reality
will prove to be otherwise. We've lost the reality of who
Christ is and what Christ has done. It's missing. in the world of religion in our
day. All right, let's work on that
other verse now in Romans chapter, what was that chapter? Chapter
2. I was just kidding, Marvin. Romans chapter 2, verse 29. But some days my brain is worse
than it is today. Last verse of Romans chapter
2. Now, let's see if we can understand what this means. And if God will
have mercy upon us and open our understanding like He did the
disciples in Luke chapter 24. He opened their understanding
to understand the Scriptures. And at that time, it was the
Old Testament Scriptures. All right, verse 29. But He is
a Jew. A what kind of Jew? Spiritual. inward Jew. He's kin to Abraham, whoever
this fellow is. He is a Jew which is one inwardly,
inwardly, inwardly. And circumcision is that of the
heart in the Spirit. Whether that means in the Holy
Spirit or in the spiritual life of the believer, I don't see
that there's any difference between the two at this point in this
statement. And not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but
of God. All right, let's go do some referencing.
Let's start in Matthew chapter 5. I've got more markers in my
Bible than I know what to do with. What did I tell you? I don't even remember. Matthew chapter 5. Still in the Sermon on the Mount,
in that chapter, the last verse of that chapter. Now I warn you, this statement
separates the men from the boys, believers from unbelievers, self-confessed sinners and self-condemned
sinners, and for sinners who still think they've got it. Now watch this carefully. Let
me give you one other thing to think about. This is my own personal,
private opinion, and you don't have to believe it. It doesn't
matter to me if you do or you don't. Well, I kind of wish you
would, but you can read this Bible one of
two ways. You can look at it trying to
find what you're supposed to do in order to meet God in glory. and have some interest in the
Lord Jesus. Or you can meet statements like
this in our Bibles. The book says we must be holy. The particular language of this
statement is be you perfect. One fellow said, He had been
poisoned by Reformed religion, thought he had found a home at
Bethel and found out he didn't. He said, if the Bible tells me
to be something or to do something, it means that I have the ability
to do it. And my friend, if that's so,
don't listen to anything I've had to say. This is a command. And if you
and I will ever be perfect, God must say like He did on the day
of creation, light be and light was. Spoken, done. Somebody said in the Latin, it's
even shorter words than that. Dictum, spoken, factum, done. And that's how it is in grace. God speaks and it's done. If He ever speaks these words
to you in the power of His grace, it means that He makes you perfect. If God doesn't give what He demands,
we ain't ever going to have it and be condemned forever for
being without it. But the wonder of the gospel,
the wonder of grace, is that God gives exactly what He requires,
and He accepts only what He gives. So if you didn't get hold of
this as a gift in Christ, you ain't ever going to have it. Be you holy, be you therefore
perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. All right? John chapter 6. And all I'm trying to do is explain
verse 29 of Romans chapter 2 by using other statements in our
Bibles to help us shed certain light on that wonderful statement. That person is a Jew which is
one inwardly, and that circumcision is circumcision which is in the
heart. John chapter 6. Verse 63. By the way, Mr. Hawker says when
you come to statements like be you perfect and be you holy,
he said if you'll read them more as a promise other than a command,
it'll help you a great deal. And I believe that's the truth.
Verse 63, John chapter 6. It is the spirit that quickens. I think that's the Holy Spirit.
The flesh is how profitable? Zero. Nothing. Nothing. I'm telling you, the difference
in men is not in their physical persons. It's not in our IQ. It's not in our native and natural
abilities. It's not who our parents are. The flesh, prophets, nothing. But what's this? The words that
I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. Whose words are these? The words
of our Savior Himself. It's not the preacher speaking
that you have to hear. It's the voice of the Son of
God. The words that I speak unto you,
they are spirit and they are life. You remember when he stood
in John 11 outside Lazarus' tomb? Been dead and buried now four
days. And our Lord said, Lazarus, come
forth. And a dead man got up and walked
out of that cave. And that's what happens in conversion. It's an inward work of grace. Now, some of you scholars, and
I'm not a scholar, Marvin, this is for you. Basically, there are two words,
at least in the New Testament, I don't remember about the old, that the word is used two different
ways. One of them is the most familiar
one and the most frequently used. In the Greek, I think, Marvin,
you stand up here and correct me. L-O-G-O-S, logos, correct? He ain't shaking it much, but
just a little bit. But the other word that means
spoken is R-H-E-M-A, Ramah. And that's an interesting study.
There's the difference. The words that I speak unto you. Now, I'm not saying the words
of a preacher or a teacher. or a person who witnesses to
what God has shown him in His Word is not without value. But I'm telling you, it cannot
give life. It cannot raise dead sinners
to life. Only God and His blessed Son,
the Lord Jesus, can do that. Are you still in John? Let's
take a little journey, backing up to chapter 4. I don't have
time to tell you what all is in chapter 4, but our Lord meets
this Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. And he asks her for a drink
of water, and she's shocked that a Jewish man would ask a half-breed
Samaritan for anything, and she takes up the subject from there.
It naturally shifts over onto the religious side, and she wants
him to know how much she knows about God and about religious
things. They worship on Mount Gerizim,
and the Jews worship in Jerusalem, and so they carry on this conversation.
Let's go down to verse 21 in John chapter 4. Jesus said unto
her, Woman, Now, if you'll listen to this, it's got something to
do with what we're looking at in verses 28 and 29 in Romans
chapter 2. Our Lord said, Woman, believe
me, the hour comes when you shall neither in this mountain nor
yet at Jerusalem worship the Father. Now, that was a long
time ago that He uttered these words. And He's going to tell
you in just a moment that time's already here, so we cannot fasten
any special kind of powers to where we are in regard to the
worship and service of God Almighty. It's not in a building, no matter
how old it is, how elaborate it is, or how shabby it is. This place is not holy unless
God visits us. And when he leaves, it goes back
to just being another building. Verse 22, you worship. Our Lord
said this as plain as He could say it to her. I'm sure she didn't
like it, and we probably wouldn't either. You don't even know what
you worship, He said. You tell somebody tomorrow that
that you think it's true about and see what happens. We worship, he said, we know
what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. Don't take that too far either.
But the hour comes, here it is, and now is, when the true worshippers,
are you a true worshipper? When the true worshippers shall
worship the Father in spirit and in truth, For the Father
seeks such to worship Him. God is a spirit, and they that
worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. The woman said unto him, Let me ask you a question. Who's looking for whom? This woman ain't looking for
the Messiah. She's looking at Him right straight in the eye,
and she can't see it. The Lord Jesus is the one pursuing
her. He came to this well on purpose
to save this poor sinner, one of His lost sheep. The woman said, I know that Messiah
comes, that Christ comes. What she doesn't know is that
He's already come, and she's standing in His presence. Now, that's me and you. It's
exactly what we are. We couldn't see God if we met
Him in the middle of the road until He reveals Himself to us. He must take the initiative They that worship Him must worship
Him in spirit and in truth. She said, I know that Messiah
comes, and I know that His name is called Christ. When He has come, He will tell
us all things. And He's been doing that very
thing right in that chapter. He told her to go call her husband
because she's had three and the man she has now is not her husband. And our Lord said, verse 26,
I that speak unto you am he. You don't think just a little
bit we could have maybe been a little better than she was
and figured out who he was. No, it's by revelation. It has to
be revealed. All right, John chapter 8. Now,
we've got to step on the gas here because I don't want to
infringe on Brother Walker's message whatsoever. Oh, goodness,
I can't read all this, I know. All right, I'm going to do it
anyhow. We're trying to nail down the difference between what? Outward and inward. And I'm telling you, this is
more valuable than you can possibly conceive. To be able to distinguish between
the true and the false, between those that worship God and those
that worship something else and call it God. All right, John
8, verse 30. Our Lord has been speaking about
Himself as the light of the world, and it says in verse 30, and
I'm going to read this fairly hurriedly. I hate to do that,
but I must. And as He spoke these words, many believed on Him.
Well, look at there. There's a bunch of believers.
But wait a minute. They're going to prove to be
unbelievers here in just about two or three verses' time. Then said Jesus to those Jews
which believed on him, If you continue in my word, then are
you my disciples indeed. Now salvation doesn't depend
on our continuance, but continuance is an evidence that God has done
a work of grace in the soul. And you shall know the truth.
Here's the most innocent statement in the world, but if you explain
it, it'll make people mad just like it did these people. Verse
32. You shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free. Now watch what happens. They
answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage
to any man. What on earth do you mean saying
you shall be free? They weren't free. And neither
are we by nature. We are slaves of the devil. Jesus answered, Amen, Amen. I say unto you, whosoever commits
sin is the servant of sin. Are you talking about being free? Are you sure? You mean you are
free of sin? Of course not. And the servant abides not in
the house forever, but the Son abides ever. Our Lord repeats
verse 32 in a different form in verse 36. If the Son therefore
shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. I know that you're
Abraham's seed, but you seek to kill me because my word has
no place in you. I speak that which I have seen
with my Father, and you do that which you have seen with your
Father. Oh my, it's getting a little hotter. They answered and said
unto him, Abraham is our father. The Lord Jesus said, if you were
Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. But
now you seek to kill me, a man that has told you the truth which
I have heard of God. Abraham didn't behave like this.
You do the deeds of your father, by which he means the devil,
and he'll tell us that in just a moment. Then said they unto
him, We be not born of fornication. We're not illegitimate children.
We have one Father, even God. Jesus said unto them, if God
were your Father, now watch this. Plenty of people call God our
Father, but the only people that have a license biblically to
do that are defined right here. If God were your Father, you
would love me. People sometimes say that a certain
person, you know, is in good standing with God and believes
in God, but doesn't know Christ. That is absolutely absurd and
impossible. If God were your Father, you
would love me, for I proceeded forth and came from God. Neither
came I of myself, but He sent me. Why do you not understand
my speech, even because you cannot hear my word? Now, the average church would
never read verse 44 to their congregation. It ain't the same Jesus that
they believe in. It's another Jesus. But here's
the real Jesus. And if this ain't your Jesus,
you ain't got one. You are of your father, the devil. Wow. That stings. And the lust of your father you
will do. The devil was a murderer from
the beginning and abode not in the truth, because there is no
truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own,
for he is a liar and the father of it. And because I tell you
the truth, you believe me not. Which of you convince me of sin,
the Savior said, and if I say the truth, if it's true, why
don't you believe me? He that is of God hears God's
words. You therefore hear them not.
Why? Because you're not of God. You don't believe because of
what you are. Which of you convinces me of
sin? If I say the truth, why do you not believe me? He that
is of God hears God's words. You therefore hear them not because
you are not of God. Then answered the Jews and said
unto him, Say we not well that you are a Samaritan and have
a devil? Jesus answered, I have not a devil or a demon, but I
honor my Father, and you do dishonor me. And I seek not my own glory. There is one that seeks and judges.
Amen, amen, I say unto you. If a man keeps my saying, he
shall never see death. Then said the Jews unto him,
Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham is dead and the prophets.
And you say, if a man keep my saying, he shall never taste
of death. What's the problem? They only
know about the outward. They don't understand the inward. Are you greater, verse 53, than
our father Abraham, which is dead and the prophets are dead?
Who do you make yourself out to be? Jesus answered. If I honor
myself, my honor is nothing. It is my Father that honors me,
of whom you say that He is your God. Yet you have not known Him,
but I know Him. And if I should say I don't know
Him, I'll be a liar just like you, but I know Him, and keep
His saying." And here's the corker, "'Your father Abraham rejoiced
to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. Then said the Jews,
You're not even fifty years old, and you think you've seen Abraham. Jesus said, Verily, verily, I
say unto you, Oh my, what a statement. Before Abraham was, I am. What a name, I am. Then took
they up stones to cast at him, but Jesus hid himself and went
out of the temple, going through the middle of them, and so passed
by. Well, it's outward or inward, ladies
and gentlemen. That's what it is.