All right, brethren, if you will,
open to Romans chapter 2. Romans chapter 2. I wish I could
get the ear of everybody in this nation, everybody
in this world, this religious world that we live in. I wish
I could preach to them. I hope they could hear it. I
hope you can hear it, and I hope I can hear it. This might ruffle
some feathers of a natural man, but it will give great comfort,
I'm confident of that, to the Lord's people. Paul shows us
clearly in chapter 1 of Romans the state of this pagan world. He said they profess to be wise,
but they prove themselves fools. He says three times that the
Lord gave them up, first uncleanliness, then to vile affections, And
then finally, the Lord gives them up to a reprobate mind,
turns them over. Those people that served their
own lusts and hated them, He left them to themselves. They
not only delighted in evil, but they delighted in those that
do the same thing. They encouraged it. My pastor
used to tell me when I was young, you can't read Romans 1 without
blushing just a little bit. It's kind of hard, but it's true
verse stated. But that isn't us, is it? That's
not me. I don't commit those things.
Outwardly, in the flesh, I don't practice homosexuality. There's
perverts running around this country, those things. You don't
do those things. In chapter 2, Paul stops condemning
the heathen tribes of the Gentiles, and he addresses the Jews. The
Holy Spirit gave Paul the strength, the wisdom, and the words to
address the people who professed to be followers of God. These
people went into the temple. They preached in the house of
God. They read the Word in the temple. They gave tithes in the
temple. They prayed. They sang songs. They observed
the holy days. Men were circumcised in ceremonies
there in the temple. Today we call those people church
goers. Chapter 2, this applies to you
and this applies to me. We gather here this evening,
haven't we? It's where we are now. So it'll be good, wise direction
Paul give these people. After he exposes those pagan
Gentiles, he said, behold, thou art called a Jew and restest
in the law and makest thy boast of God. But God's no respecter
of persons. It doesn't matter if we're judged
outside the law, or if we've been given the law, or if we
make up our own religious laws. God doesn't respect the person.
In Romans 2, beginning in verse 17, we're going to read through
our text. It's going to be the last two
verses, but it's good to see this in context. Romans 2, 17. Behold, thou art called a Jew,
and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, and knowest
his will. and approve us the things that
are more excellent, being instructed out of the law, and are confident,
they have a confidence here, 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 has
the form of knowledge and of truth in the law. On the outside,
these people look like godly men and women. Looks like they're
doing the right thing. Verse 21, Thou therefore which
teachest another, teachest not thyself. Thou that preachest,
a man should not 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 thou boast of
the law, through breaking the law dishonest thou God? For the
name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as
it is written." What Paul refers to there is Isaiah 52. And also
2 Samuel, when Nathan was telling David, the Lord's put away all
of his sin for killing Uriah and taking his wife. But Nathan
tells him, how be it thou has given great occasion to the enemies
of the Lord to blaspheme. And that's a child of God. We
know that many times a true believer doesn't look like or act like
a child of God. I don't. However, most people that look
and act like the children of God outwardly do not know Him. It's only a show. Paul's telling
these Jews that these heathen in the wilderness that never
had the law, if they're going to be judged by God and condemned,
And the Jew that's been given the law will be judged under
that law and condemned as well. He's saying through that there's
no difference between a Jew and a Gentile. All flesh is grass. We've all come short of the glory
of God in ourselves. There's none righteous, no not
one. There in verse 25 it says, For circumcision verily profiteth,
it truly profits, if thou keep the law. Circumcision will be
great for you, but you have to keep the whole law with it. That
indebts you to the law. But if thou be a breaker of the
law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. All the rituals
and professions mean nothing if you don't completely fulfill
it. If you don't hold that whole
law. Verse 26, Therefore if the uncircumcision,
the Gentile, keep righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision
be counted for circumcision? If those Gentiles, if they keep
Christ, the fulfillment of the law is counted to them, and that
includes the circumcision. Everything required is provided
for by Christ. Verse 27, And shall not uncircumcision,
which is by nature, those Gentiles, If it fulfill the law, judge
thee who by the letter and circumcision thus transgress the law. The
Gentiles who by natural birth never had the law, they're justified
and sanctified by Christ alone. They'll be the judge of those
who attempt to come to God by the works, by the law. They'll
have discernment for those things. Gil noted that Noah was not a
Jew, but he condemned the old world, didn't he? So these Gentiles
saved by God's grace, they will condemn these religious Jews,
these outwardly religious people that say they know God. Verse
28, For he is not a Jew, a child of God, a seed of Abraham, which
is won outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward
in the flesh. A man is not righteous before
God by carrying the name of Jew or Catholic or Baptist or Calvinist
outwardly. We are not redeemed by the outward
form, by the letter of the law. We are not counted in the fold
of Christ's blood and His sheep by performance ceremonies. These
ceremonies are Christianity outwardly. Who is? Verse 29, but he is a
Jew, a child of God, a redeemed man, which is one inwardly. Regeneration is not something
that's on the outside, it's on the inside. It occurs in the
heart. Circumcision is a heart work,
not in the flesh. It says he's made us able ministers
of the Spirit. We're not made ministers of the
law, we're made ministers of the Spirit. 2 Corinthians says,
"...who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament,
not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter killeth,
but the Spirit giveth life." Remember verse 29, Romans 2.29,
"...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." It says, "...whose praise
is not of men, but of God. The natural man cannot distinguish
a real true work of God. They don't know the difference.
You can take a true redeemed believer, someone that's been
circumcised in the heart, and you put them in the workplace.
Take them down there to the VA. Put them in an office. And no
one in that room can tell that they're a child of God. They
might be able to notice some outward things. Well, they don't
They don't act like everybody else does. They don't say the
things everybody else does. At best, they'll just chalk you
up to that group of, well, she's a religious person or he's a
religious person. But they don't know there's any
difference. They don't see a difference. Many may be in that workplace
and they put on an outward show. They act religious. They don't
say things on purpose to be seen to people. They do say things
on purpose. They don't eat certain things. They don't drink certain
things. And all the people that are unregenerated look at that
person that's an outward Jew, an outward religious person,
and they say, ooh, what a godly man, what a godly woman. They're
close to the Lord, aren't they? But they can't tell God's sheep
from anyone else. And that unregenerated person
that's religious, they're the same way. They don't know. Many times in my life, I've been
asked, are you a Christian? And I said, what do you mean
by that? What's that word mean to you? What's your definition
of that? And we talked for a while, and several times at the end
of it, we talked about the scriptures, talked about who Christ is, what
he did, what he accomplished, what's done, what's fulfilled. And I said, well, we're going
to the same place, we're just taking different paths. No, we're
not. They can't tell the difference. But if you put another true,
blood-bought, purchased child of God in that same place, it
won't take long. And they'll be able to say, that
person knows something. I want to talk to them. They
can distinguish that. Why? The Lord's gave us discernment,
hasn't He? He gives His children discernment,
spiritual discernment. Why can't the other people tell?
That's because the true faith of a believer is inward. not
outward. The true character of a child
of God is unseen. The works of a true child are
unseen. The Lord sees them. The Lord
knows their faith. The world may not. These people do not do their
giving to be seen of men. They don't pray to be heard of
men. They don't do things for men's approval. They do them
inwardly. God looks on the heart. I don't
care if people really like my messages, if they have an opinion
on my motives or my actions, that doesn't concern me. I'm
concerned about what the Lord thinks. And I can do that quietly
sitting in my car, and I do it often. Anyone can put on a show, but
salvation is not an outward work, it's a heart work. It says there, whose praise is
not of men but of God. None of the praise for regeneration
goes to any man but God. The Ethiopian version of the
Bible reads, circumcision of the heart by the Holy Ghost and
not by the letter. I think that's a good translation. But I want to look at these facts
of inward and outward knowledge of God in three different areas. I want us to look at the letter
and the Spirit in three areas. The first one's the doctrines
of grace, plural. I hear that often. I want us to look at the doctrine
of grace, singular. I guess that's four areas. Those two are one. Next, I want
us to look at faith in Christ, both of the letter of the faith
and spirit of faith, and the love of the brethren, the letter
of love and spirit of love. So grace, faith, and love, that's
what we're going to look at. So first, the doctrines, plural,
the doctrines of grace. Turn over to Romans chapter 8.
I've heard preachers in the past say,
well, I preached for a long time and then I came to know the doctrines
of grace. Depending on who says it, I want
to listen very carefully. to the words that follow that.
I want to listen intently to them. Romans 8 verse 29, For
whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified,
and whom he justified, them he also glorified. Let's first look
at the letter of grace. All these things here are true,
they're scriptural, they're logical, and they're historical. The total
depravity. Man fell in the garden, in Adam,
but by himself, currently, can do nothing but sin. That's true. That's scriptural. Scriptures
tell us that. Unconditional election. God chose
a particular people through no merit of their own. Those people
that the Lord chose, there was nothing in them that made him
choose them. That's true. Irresistible grace. The Holy
Spirit, only through the preaching of the gospel, only through the
preaching of the gospel, comes to cross sheep and quickens them,
regenerates them, gives them life, gives them a new nature
inside of them. Paul wrote for the Corinthians
for after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew
not God and it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. Some people say, well, I locked
myself in a basement and I studied Gil and I studied the scriptures
and stuff and I come out and I knew the doctrines of grace.
I didn't know Christ. I did it that way. That ain't
what pleases God. It pleases God by the foolishness
of preaching to do it. Perseverance of the saints. All
the dead dog sinners. Those old-timers used to say
a dead dog sinner. You ever seen a dead dog? Ain't
no life in them. They smell bad. Got flies all
over them. It's nasty, isn't it? That's what we are. All those
dead dog sinners. The Father chose. He sent His
Son to die for them. and irresistibly he called them
and he's going to keep them forever. That's true. That's scriptural. And that's historical. All the
old writers and all the confessions of faith, Philadelphia, London,
Gil, Hawker, Spurgeon, they all say the same
thing, don't they? People can say, I believe those
things. Those things are true. Those things are in the Bible.
They're clear. They rise and fall together. They're logical.
Can't have one without the other. All the writers of old believed
them. Those great men of faith, they believe those things. I
believe those things. That means I'm saved. Not so. James 2.19 says, Thou believest
that there is one God. Thou doest well. The devils also
believe and tremble. An angry, very angry man told
my pastor when I was young. He said, I know my Bible. Henry
said, I wish you knew the author of it. That would do you a whole
lot more good, wouldn't it? You can memorize a lot of scripture.
It won't do you a bit of good if you don't know who wrote them,
who it's about. Believing in God is not believing
in God. Bowing to truths is not bowing
to Christ the truth. So now this doctrine of grace,
singular, the doctrine of Christ, it's our only hope, it's the
spirit of grace, that's the letter. We can look at these facts, we
can bow to facts, but we're not bowing to Christ. The spirit
of grace looks at total depravity and says, man fell in the garden,
but I fell in the garden. Man can do nothing that's righteous,
but I can't do nothing that's righteous. Someone's made to
see what their nature is, they no longer look at anyone else.
They don't compare themselves to other people. They come to
that throne of grace begging mercy, don't they? They have
no concern. The Lord truly shows us, gives
us a glimpse, just a touch of how depraved we are. I don't
say, well, I'm not like him. I'm a little bit better than
her. I don't do what she does. No, you hit your knees, don't you?
Beg for mercy. No hope for you. Unless it comes
from God, there's no hope for myself. Unconditional election
is not just a fact to someone who's experienced it. Depravity,
you can believe in depravity fully and not repent. But if
you experience depravity, if you experience your depravity,
without question there'll be repentance. There'll be a turning. With elections, to someone that's
experienced that depravity, The Spirit has entered into them,
giving them knowledge of sin. That's not a fact. That's a blessing.
That's hope. God chose some folks regardless
of what they are. That gives me a chance. We don't
preach election. We preach a God that does elect.
Limited atonement. Those that were enemies against
God have been made at one with God. This is no longer a logically
reasoned point. sat down through deductive reasoning
and this makes sense. It's a sinner just screaming
out, our surety conquered death and conquered hell for his people.
It's finished. It's accomplished. We don't just
preach the payment for sin was done. We preach the one that
paid the price. Who it was that paid it. Payment
don't matter if the one that paid it can't afford it, right?
We don't just rejoice in the payment only, we rejoice and
give glory to the God that's just and a justifier. Irresistible grace is no longer
the function of salvation. Well, the Lord calls his people.
If he's meant for us to have a pastor, he'll send one. He'll
drop one out of an airplane. If he's meant for me to go to
church, he'll drag me. Maybe. That irresistible grace is not
just a function, it's a necessity of our salvation. This dead,
helpless flesh that I am cannot and will not come to God unless
He drew me. Puts those ropes of grace around
you and drags you. We don't just preach a sovereign
God, we preach the God that is sovereign. Perseverance of the
saints. Understanding that the Lord did
those things, those things are facts and He'll keep them to
the end doesn't make one rejoice. The Holy Spirit putting it in
someone's heart, one of those elect children of God, that all
the work's been accomplished. The Father's fully satisfied
and He will be satisfied. It was effectual forever, no
matter what. Now we rejoice, don't we? He
did all the work. He's going to be the one that
keeps me. He didn't just stand me on my own two feet and now
I have to walk by myself. He did it all, forever. This
is what Paul is warning that church in Rome. Those Jews were
well-versed in the Law and the Scriptures and the things taught
by their fathers. And he's telling them, these
things will do you no good. This outward work, just agreeing
that, yes, there's a God, I believe there's a God. It ain't going
to do you no good. The things they've learned on their own
aren't going to do them any good. And I would like to warn people
in our country, people in every country, Orthodox people, good
strict Baptist folks, that a systematic, logical, historical, true theology
does not save, Christ saves. So you're boiling it down so
simple that it doesn't make any sense. I hope so. I hope it's
one man wide. Salvation is not believing in
a doctrine. Salvation is believing in a person. Turn over to John chapter 3.
This leads us to faith in Christ. John chapter 3 verse 14. Most of the religious world could
quote this. John 3.14, "...and as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, who
believeth, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life." I looked that word, in,
up, in a concordance. Whosoever believeth in Him."
Do I believe in Christ? Do you believe in Christ? Here's
what the word in means. It means to, towards, concerning,
and by. Isn't that beautiful? Our belief is towards Christ. Our faith and our belief is concerning
Christ. And our faith and our belief
in Him is by Him. But there's a letter of faith.
I have a real good friend who's a police officer. He says, well
there's a letter of the law and a spirit of the law. Police officers
know that. A bunch of them went up and down this road could probably
tell you that. The law says this, but the spirit of the law is
the intent. I like to get pulled over by those people that believe
in the spirit of the law. The spirit of faith, or the letter
of faith, the letter of faith, says the Son of God came to this
earth That's a fact. It did happen. He was born of
a virgin. That's a fact. He died on a cross. He rose again from the grave.
Ascended to the right hand of God. Those are facts. A lot of
people believe in those. But if I mentally agree with
these facts, if I mentally believe in these facts, am I a Christian?
Not so. Regeneration is not just the
letter, it's in the Spirit. It's not the outward motions
or the works of the mind, what I've conjured up. It's the inward
operation of the heart. Turn over to 2 Timothy. Take
a look at this. 2 Timothy chapter 1. Verse 12. Paul writes to Timothy,
For the witch cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I
am not ashamed. For I know whom I have believed,
and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed
unto him against that day." Salvation does begin with the knowledge.
The Lord doesn't do a work outside of our consciences. Through that
foolishness of preaching, we have to hear something, don't
we? But Paul writes there, For I know whom I have believed.
It starts with knowledge. Then we have a confidence. He
says, And I am persuaded that He is able. We begin knowing
who we believe and then we have confidence in who we believe. But if we stop there, that's
just the dead letter of the law. I know who He is and I think
He's able. But then there's a spirit of faith. We have to have a new
spirit put in us. After we know Christ, we have
confidence in Christ, we have commitment to Him. We have a
loyalty, dedication, devotion to Him. It says, he is able to
keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. I
tried writing the word committal and it wouldn't come up. That's
what the old writers of old, those historical writers, they
use the word committal. There's a committal when it comes
to Christ. I had to look that word up and make sure it was
right too. Old writers use that, but we would say commitment.
They would say committal. Committal means burial. Isn't
that wonderful? buried me in Christ. That's committing
to Him. I want to be surrounded by Him.
I want to be immersed in Him. That's what we declare when we
have believer's baptism. We say, I died with Him on that
cross. I buried in that tomb with Him,
surrounded by Him, covered in His righteousness. And I rose
again when He rose again. Galatians 2.20 says, I am crucified
with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh I live by, by the faith of the Son of God, who
loved me and gave himself for me. This faith, knowledge, confidence,
and commitment is not external, is it? That's internal. Inward Jews have this. Those
true, redeemed children of God. The other thing they have is
love for the brethren. Turn over to John chapter 13. John 13 and
34. I'm on the wrong page here. John 13, 34, our Savior said,
A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another,
as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this
shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love
one towards another. There's a letter of love. That
law of love. Have you ever seen a spouse that
submits to the other one, but they do it because they have
to, not because they want to? They just grit their teeth and
shout, I love you. Aren't you thankful love is not
by the letter? Could you imagine living in this
country if we didn't have a spirit of love, even worldly people?
If everybody just was kind to one another because they had
to be. We call it the Northeast. It
would be a hard place to live if it was by the letter. I love
those people down there at San Diego Grace Fellowship because
I have to. The Bible says so. I love you because you have the
same spirit in you. You're my family. Our Lord looks
on the heart. He knows what we don't even know
about ourselves. Christ told those Pharisees they
were at the Feast of the Jews in Jerusalem. He said, and you
will not come to me that ye might have life. I receive not honor
from men, but I know you that ye have not the love of God in
you. We can't fake love. You can for a little while, for
a season. You can be kind to somebody, but you can't fake
love. We can't choose to love someone. Someone went and murdered your
children, Mike. And they said, you go down there
to that murderer in that prison and you love him. I may go say hello,
but I'd grit your teeth with him. We can't quit loving. Somebody told me to stop loving
that woman right there. Can't do it. I can move to another
state. It's in my heart. It's given to me. And we're thankful that our Lord
can't quit loving us. I feel like I quit loving Him every
day. But He gives us the Spirit to love,
don't He? Turn over to 1 John. I'll wrap this up. 1 John chapter 5, verse 1. Whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. And everyone that loveth
Him that beget loveth Him that begat, loveth Him also that has
begotten of Him. By this we know that we love
the children of God. When we love God, we keep His
commandments." John's telling us the belief
and the love there, those words are the same words. They're in
verse 1. To believe Christ is to love
Christ. To love someone is to believe them, isn't it? We know
those things. I want to read this to you. You
don't have to turn there. It's 1 Corinthians 13. It's out
of the amplified version. I do not recommend amplified
Bibles. I don't recommend you get one. Sometimes study and
they're okay. If the Lord's giving you solid
discernment. I thought this was good. It puts
it clearly. We can understand it. Here's
the Spirit of Love. If I speak with the tongues of men and of
angels, but have not love, Charity is the word. Charity is love. If I have not love, and that's
love for others growing out of God's love for me, then I have
become only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. I'm just a distraction. Then I have, I'm sorry, and if
I have the gift of prophecy and speak a new message from God
to the people, the prophesy nowadays is preaching. If I stand up and
preach, and understand all the mysteries, and I possess all
the knowledge, and if I have all sufficient faith to move
mountains, but I don't have love, I don't reach out to others and
tell them that. Tell them what Christ has done for me. I am
nothing. If I give all my possessions
to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do
not have love, it does me no good at all. Love endures with
patience and sincerity. Love is kind and thoughtful.
And it is not jealous or envious. Love does not brag and is not
proud or arrogant. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking,
it is not provoked, nor is it overly sensitive or easily angered. It does not take into account
wrong endured. If we endure, have wrongdoing
done towards us, we look over those things, don't we? It does
not rejoice at injustice, but rejoices with truth. Love bears
all things regardless of what comes. It doesn't matter what
trials put in front of us. Those trials are hard. They just
bring you down to nothing. The Lord sent those. Those are
normally the sweetest. Love bears all things, believes
all things. It looks for the best in one
another. Hope hopes all things, remains steadfast during those
trials, endures all things without weakening. Love never fails,
it never fades, it never ends. But as for prophecies, they will
pass away. As for tongues, they cease. As
for the gift of special knowledge, it will pass away. All the things
we think are wonderful gifts and pleasures and benefits of
this world now, it's all going to perish. Everything's going
to go away. But love never fails. how gracious
our Lord is that He loves us. We know Him, but He knows us. I pray that we can have an inward
work of grace performed. I pray we're given inward faith
to look towards Christ, concerning Christ, and by Christ, the source
of our faith. And I pray we're given that inward
love to the brethren as Christ loved us and gave Himself for
us. Those three things, that yoke
is light, isn't it? That burden is easy. He gives
us all things. I need grace. I need mercy. He
gives it. Lord, I want to believe you. I need faith. Lord, I believe,
help thou my unbelief. He gives it. I want to love my
brethren. You have Christ in you. I want
to love you because of that. What does He do? He gives me
love for you. That's easy. He's a yoke to bear
in. How thankful we are. I hope he
blesses us. Let's pray together. Father, we're so weak and feeble
and we don't even know ourselves. We don't understand how weak
we are. You're so gracious to us and we don't understand how
gracious you are or we believe that Help our unbelief. Let us know what Your grace is. Let us know who Your grace is.
Let us see the work that Christ has done in us and for us and
for our brethren. Give us the faith to believe
in Him, to believe on Him, through Him. Give us His faith. Give
us the ability to love our brethren as You've loved us. All these things have to come
with you. We have none of these in ourselves, Lord. We're in
need that you bless us with all spiritual blessings in your Son.
What a privilege it is to be able to know Him, to look to
Him, and trust Him. Keep our feet planted firmly
on that rock. Keep us always, Lord. Persevere
us to the end with confidence that you will, and we commit
to you various and thoughts of our Savior. Smother us, Lord. It's in His name that we ask
it. Amen.