I invite you to turn with me
to Romans chapter 2. Romans chapter 2. As I said earlier, my subject
this morning is the true Jew. It's going to be hard for you
to read through the Old Testament and find promises These great and precious promises,
as Peter describes them, to anyone but the Jew. You remember the woman that came
to the Lord and sought him, and he said, it's not me to give
the children's bread to dogs, telling her what she was. She
was a Gentile dog. And she said, yeah, Lord, I know
that. But the master's dogs eat from
the crumbs. I was feeding mine yesterday. He's feeding his today. The true Jew You see what I'm
saying? I have a personal interest in
this thing of knowing who the true Jew is because all of God's
promises is to the Jew. Alright, let's read here, Romans
chapter 2 verse 28. For he is not a Jew which is
one outwardly, Neither is that circumcision
which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew which is one
inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit,
and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of
God. We live in a day of massive,
absolutely massive universal presence of religion. I believe it is so great in the
earth today that it is unequaled in any other day. Religion, it's everywhere. It's in politics, it's in the
government, it's on every street corner, it's in the newspapers,
it's on the television, it's everywhere. You can scarcely go more than
a few blocks in any city without seeing church buildings of some
kind. There are so-called Christian
schools, Christian music, Christian radio stations, Christian
stores, Christian buses, religions everywhere. Everywhere you turn,
everywhere you look. Because of its massive presence
and its powerful influence, even the powerful governments of the
world seek their approval and their support. Not a politician
running for president this year not going to appeal to so-called
Christians. They want their votes, and they
know there are many. And there's not a government
that I know of anywhere in the world who has not incorporated
into their structure the basic principles of religion. Yet for all of its massive presence
and influence, there's never been a generation so ignorant
of the word of God as we live in today. How can there be so
much religion and so much ignorance at the same time? That's the day we live in. And I'm telling you this morning,
don't be deceived into thinking because there's a cross on a
staple or the name Christian on a sign that those within know
and love the living God. Most of them don't know God. Religion, for the most part,
ministers to men and women being totally ignorant of the Word
of God. That's how God first dealt with
me. I was, like Paul, I was zealous. I was trying to do something
for the Lord, that's what I was told to do, and that's what I
was doing, and I was out inviting people to come to church, Went
up to my brother-in-law's house, and his brother was there visiting.
And he kept telling me, he said, no, you don't want to invite
him. I said, well, sure I do. No, you don't want to. I'll invite
him. I'm not. I went up there, and
I said, I want you to come to church. He said, why? Nobody ever asked me that before.
I know what to say. I said, well, we're having revival
this week, and we've got an evangelist. He said, what's he preach? And I gave him the same cop-out
everybody else does. I said, oh, he preaches the gospel. And this man's in cut-off jeans
holding a long-neck blue-ribbon beard talking to me. And he said,
you wouldn't know the gospel if you met it in the middle of
the road. And I said, what do you mean
I don't know the gospel? Well, if you know the gospel,
what is it? And for the first time in my
life, I realized I didn't know. I was just religious. I didn't
know anything. And I said, well, you kind of
got me off guard. I said, I'm going to go home
and read my Bible. Oh, he said, believers ought to read their
Bibles. He cut me up to ribbons. I was angry, I went home and
I read that Bible and I found out I didn't know anything about
God. I was fascinated by what I was reading about God. They minister to men and women
being totally ignorant of the Word of God. They preach a God
who's subject to the will and determination of men. God is. He can't do anything
if you don't let Him. You listen to what they're preaching.
I'm telling you the truth. They preach a God who's subject
to the will and determination of men. They use terms like His
hands is tied. Can you imagine? Who's going
to tie up God? I opened the Bible up and began
to read, and I read things like this over in the book of Isaiah. He said, I'm God. There's none
else like me. Whom will you compare me? I'm God. I declare the end from the beginning
and from ancient times the things that are not yet done saying
my counsel will stand and I'll do all my pleasure. I never heard
a God like that preached when I was growing up. God I heard
preached, his hands was tied, he couldn't do what he wanted,
he was frustrated, he was upset, he was appealing to men's sympathy. One man said, Everything he did
gonna be for naught if you don't commit yourself to him. He just
died for you for nothing. You give that some thought. He
died for nothing? Is that what they're preaching?
I'm telling you the truth. Don't be deceived. They talk about his knowledge
being limited. He can only see things when they
come to pass. Isn't that what they say? The ignorance of the character
of God. They talk about his power being threatened by Satan. His purpose is being threatened
by Satan or affected by circumstances. They're ignorant of the character
of God. They talk about a God who's subject to change. God
plainly says in His Word, I never change. I change not. Well, which
is it? Which is it? They preach a God who's willing
to compromise his character to save some, though we're plainly
told in the scriptures that he won't. Speaking to the forerunners of
our generation, the natural Jews, he said in Psalm 50 verse 16,
but unto the wicked God saith, what hast thou to do to declare
my statutes? or that thou shouldest take my
covenant in your mouth. Who do you think you are who
just decide one day I'm going to be a preacher, decide one
day I'm going to be a prophet? Who do you think you are that
stood up and spoke for me and took my covenant in your mouth
and started talking about my things? Who do you think you
are? These things hast thou done,
and I kept silence. Didn't mean that he approved
of them, but he kept silence. He said, you thought I was altogether
such a one as thyself, but I will reprove thee, and I'll set them
in order before thine eyes. Now consider this, you that forget
God, lest I tear you in pieces, and
there be none to deliver." The Jew of his day was no different
than the Baptist, or the Pentecostal, or the Nazarene, or any of the
many denominations of our days. They were convinced that they
were God's people, that they were recipients of
His covenants, and that they were wise in the things of God. You read Romans chapter two. You read in there what he said.
Thou art competent that thou art a guide to the blind and
a teacher of babes. They believed God loved them.
They believed God was blessing them. And they believed that
all his promises were directed to them. I look back at our text
here in Romans chapter two. Look up here at verse 17. Behold,
thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast
of God. knowest his will and approvest
the things that are most excellent being instructed out of the law. And you're competent that thou
art thyself a guide of the blind and a light to them who are in
darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes,
which has the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. Now, if there's a better definition
of the religion of our day, I've never read it. This is an accurate description
of the religion of our day. In Romans chapter 10 and verse
2, Paul said, I bear them record. They have a zeal of God, but
not according to knowledge. They're active. They're running
here and running there. They're everywhere. They got
buses and radio stations and evangelists and missionaries.
They're everywhere. You can't read a newspaper without
seeing them in there. They're everywhere. They're zealous.
But they're stupid. They're ignorant. And they're
blind. That's what Paul said about his
people. I bear them record, they have a zeal of God. But it's
not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's
righteousness. Oh my soul, if you're ignorant
of God's righteousness, you're lost. They're ignorant. Being ignorant
of God's... Now listen to me. You're preaching
to people. I'm preaching to people. I preached
three weeks ago to a man. Two weeks after I preached to
him, they buried him. He never heard another message.
I'm preaching to men. I'm preaching to people. I'm
preaching to the lost. Maybe my last message. Maybe
the last one you'll ever hear. The name of the message I preached
to him was safe in the ark. The only place he could be safe
was in that ark. God destroyed everything else.
The only thing he preserved was in that ark. They being ignorant of God's
righteousness. Now listen to this. And going
about to establish their own righteousness. How'd they do
that? Keeping the Sabbath, going to the synagogue on the
Sabbath, reading the Bible, being generous, giving, straightening
people out. They had a form of knowledge
and of the truth in the law, Romans 2.20. The law said the
soul that sinneth shall surely die. They believed that. But
they didn't understand what sin was. They were ignorant of the righteous
character of God and of the nature and curse of sin. Man born in
sin, the very nature of sin, all he can ever do is sin. Even
his righteousnesses, Isaiah said, were filthy rags. They hoped in the letter of the
law, but by their own standards of obedience and motives. But
mostly they rested in their persuasion that God loved them and was willing
to do anything for them. Now I hope that I've at least
convinced you that our text is not just talking about the Jews.
He's using the Jew as an example and as a basis of what he's preaching,
which is the gospel. He's talking about any and all
false professors of religion who don't know God. Now look
back at our text here in Romans 2, verses 28 and 29. Let me point
out a few things for you to think about. First of all, let me call
your attention to verse 28, here in Paul's leading statement.
He is not a Jew which is one outwardly. Now think about that. David, I can't look at you, what
you wear, how you wear your beard or cut your hair. A Jew is not one outwardly, period. There's nothing about this true
Jew that you can see outwardly. I believe I'm a true Jew, but
I don't look anything like a Jew. You can't tell what I am by looking
at me, because he's not a true Jew, which is one outwardly.
And how he looks and how he talks and what he wears and what his
nationality is has nothing to do with his being a true Jew. You cannot discern a true Jew
by looking at him or a true believer by his outward appearance. Turn
with me to 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. I quote this to you often. And I do so hoping that you'll
be able to quote it for yourself and bring it to mind often. 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 4. Knowing, brethren beloved, your
election of God. Now that's what we're talking
about. We're talking about the true Jew. The true Jew is who makes up
the children of God. This is God's children. This
is God's people. That's what he calls them. So that's what we're talking
about, God's people, his beloved children, the true Jews. All
right, Paul said he knew that. He knew their election of God.
He knew them to be true Jews. How? For, or because. Our gospel came not unto you
in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost, and in
much assurance, as you know what manner of men we were among you
for your sakes. What happens when the gospel
comes in word only? Huh? Goes in this side and comes out
that side. Word only. It comes as perhaps a stated
fact, maybe just an opinion. I've been
told that many times. Well, that's your opinion. Well,
yes, I suppose it is. I suppose it is. Sometimes it's called a private
interpretation. And if they really don't like
you, they'll call it a suggestion. It comes in word only when it
has no effect on the heart, only the mind. And it's usually something debatable
or questionable at best. Another way it comes in word
only is that it produces no assurance. It leaves the hearer exactly
the way it found him, without hope. Paul said, if you depart from
this that I've declared unto you, there remaineth no more
sacrifice for sin. This is it. The only sacrifice
for sin there is is in Christ. You leave that, there's nothing
out there. Comes in word only, that's how it leaves you. That's
how you got here, that's how you left here. You heard in word
only, had no effect on your heart whatsoever. All right, well what
about when it comes in power, how does that work? He said he knew their election
of God because it didn't come in word only, but it came in
power. How does that work? Or when it comes in power, it
comes being accompanied by the Holy Spirit of God. What's that mean? Well, he said
when the Spirit is come, he gonna convince of sin. When the gospel comes in power,
it convinces a man of sin. that He is nothing but sin. It's His nature. It's His very
nature. Everything that comes out of
the heart, you see, evil thoughts, adulteries, murders, fornications,
all of these things, this all comes forth out of the heart.
Whose heart? The sinner's heart. Paul lays this gospel out all
so beautifully in 1 Corinthians 1 and 2, and then he goes down
to verse 14 and he said, but the natural man, who's that? That's the sinner. Natural man,
he receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. Why? They foolishness to him. They never got past his head.
which is filled full of idolatry and ignorance and darkness as
I described to you earlier. Never gets past that and he looks
at it and it's just foolishness to him and he disregards. Neither
can he know them because they're spiritually discerned. The only
way you can understand them is the Spirit of God reveals it
to you. If he don't work, nothing's gonna happen. I don't care how
much preparation I do. I don't care how well the message
is organized. I don't care how good of illustrations
I have. I don't care how much affection
you have for me. If the Holy Ghost don't attend
this, nothing's going to happen. It's going to come and word on
me. It's going to go right in that ear and right out that side.
You're going to come in here empty and go home empty. But
oh, if the Holy Ghost. if he attends. Oh, it's a whole
different story then. That man, all of a sudden, he's
overwhelmed with his sin. All of these things that gave
me comfort over the years, they're all sinful. My sacrifices were
sinful. My prayers were sinful. Everything
sinful, my walk and my obedience and everything. I'm just a sinner. Like that man said, Lord have
mercy on me. The only way he could describe
himself, the sinner. Paul called himself the chief
of sinners. We said he wasn't a drunk. He wasn't an adulterer. He didn't worship Buddha. What's
he mean he's the chief of sinners? He sank to the bottom of the
barrel in religion. I tell you, preachers nowadays,
they big on jumping on these homosexuals. Boy, that's just
the worst thing there is. Listen to them talk. And I'm
not commending them, I'm just trying to tell you something
here. Our Lord said about those homosexuals down there in Sodom
and Gomorrah, He looked at the Pharisees, He said it's going
to be worse on you in the Day of Judgment than it was on them. Down below them that we can barely
talk about mixed company, down below them is the religious. Huh? When the Holy Ghost comes
in power in the gospel, he convinces of sin. And a man quits looking
to himself. There's nothing in there but
a black hole. And he's lost. And he's got no
hope. He's got no comfort. He's got
no rest. Comes in power. He convinces
of sin, and if He ever does convince you of sin, He'll have to convince
you of righteousness, because you'll never believe that one
is possible. No salvation for me. I can't be saved. Oh, let me tell
you, there's one who can save you. There's one. Oh, my soul. He comes in power. He comes in
the Holy Ghost, convincing men of sin, convincing men of righteousness. And if He convinces you of righteousness,
the third thing the Holy Spirit of God is going to convince you
of is judgment satisfied. and no more condemnation to the
believer. Judgment's gone. Christ bore
his judgment on the cross. Christ is my righteousness. He's
my redemption. God hath made him to be unto
us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. I have it all
in Christ. He strips the sinner bare, and
then he points him to Christ. Now he can worship. Now he can be thankful. Verse six, 1 Thessalonians 1. Paul said, you become followers
of us and the Lord. You want to know when you're
going to become a follower of that man who preaches to you
when the gospel comes in power. That's right. Very next thing
happens, you become. It didn't happen instantly. But the more that man preached,
the more it made sense, and the more he talked about the Scriptures
and opened to them. It's just like when Christ walked
along the way in the beginning of Genesis, and He went all the
way down through Malachi, and He told him those things concerning
Himself. And later on, after He'd gone,
they said, Boy, didn't our heart burn within us as we walked along
the way? That's what happened. You become
followers of us and the Lord. You don't just bow all of a sudden
and say, oh, that man's a God. No, you become followers of us
and the Lord. And I'm gonna tell you something
else. If the Lord ever speaks to you, he's gonna speak to you
through a man. There's a passage, where'd we
find that, Brian? 1 Samuel 3, was it? 1 Samuel
3, 6, I think. It's where Eli and Samuel, you
know. And he heard this voice in the
middle of the night, and he run in there, and he said, what do
you want? He said, I didn't say nothing.
Go on back to bed. You drained me. Went back to
bed, and the Lord spoke to him again. He run back in, and he
said, you called me. He said, no. Didn't have anything
to do with you. Third time, the old man realized
what was going on. He said, next time he calls you,
you say, yea, Lord. And the Lord was giving him a
message for the old man. He was going to speak to him,
but he didn't speak to him. He spoke to this man, who in
turn spoke to him. Isn't that something? You find
that pattern all down through the scriptures. All down through
the scriptures. He makes him a follower of God's
ambassadors and the Savior he preaches. He causes him to overlook
his fleshly weaknesses. One lady said I wasn't a seminary
graduate. Well, thank God for that. Glad
I'm not. If I had a diploma, I wouldn't
show it to anybody. I'd go hide it, burn it or something. causes men to overlook his fleshly
weaknesses. He can't speak in proper English.
He just can't. I don't want to. I'm trying to
communicate with sinners. I'm trying to communicate the
truth. Who cares if I get a thee or
a they backwards? Brother Mayhem was preaching
one night. And he was talking about the high
priest and his dress and all that. And he used the word britches. And after the message, everybody's
come by and shaking his hand and stuff, going out the door,
he's greeting them. And this lady come by and she said, I
enjoyed the message, but she said, I got a bone to pick with
you. He said, oh? He said, what's that? He said,
well, you used the term britches. And you know what to say. He
said, well, what's the proper word? She said, trousers. Well, he said, let me ask you
something. He said, what'd I say before I said britches? She said,
I don't recall. Well, he said, what'd I say after
I said britches? I don't remember. Well, then
if I was you, I'd go home and thank God for britches. If it
wasn't for britches, you wouldn't have got anything. Makes him a follower of God's
ambassadors and the Savior he preaches. And causes him to overlook
his fleshly weaknesses and receive his message with joy in the Holy
Ghost. Makes them examples of how God
saves sinners. That's the next thing down in
verse seven. Makes you an example. You're gonna be example of God's
grace if he saves you. It's gonna make you of like precious
faith. Verse eight, makes them willing
participants in the gospel ministry. Didn't preach on giving, but
they gave. The only thing he said about giving
was that Christ gave himself. Well, if he gave himself, and
this is the Son of God, And he gave himself. Huh? What's that say about my giving?
He gave all that to me. Listen, I was raised in religion,
and I don't want to poke too much fun at him, but it's funny
to me looking back on it now, but we passed an offering plate,
and there's nothing wrong with that, When the offering plate
had come, they'd get that little change purse. You've seen them
old rubber change purses. Some of them may still use them.
I don't know. But they'd squeeze that thing open and look down
in there. And they wouldn't just dump it. They'd just pick a few
things out of there and throw it all away. Christ gave himself
for us. And I'm going to take my change
purse? I don't think so. I don't really have to preach
on giving, do I? I mean, I'll deal with it if I come to it
in a verse, but I'm preaching Christ. If they don't motivate
you to give, you're beyond help. And that's what he's saying here.
They become willing participants in the gospel ministry. They
now live and rearrange their lives around the ministry of
Christ. They realize that that's what's
going on in this world. That's why this world has a continuance. God calling out his elect, those
days shall not be shortened except for the elect's sake. That's
the only thing keeping this place standing. God got a purpose and
he's fulfilling that purpose and when it's done, he's gonna
wind her up. That'll be the end of it. Verse nine, cause them to turn
to God from their idols in real and sincere service. Believers
don't play church. They come to worship God. Verse 10, they live with a patient
expectation of the coming of Jesus Christ, their Lord and
their Savior. Now, if these things are not
present in your experience of grace, I don't think you have
an experience of grace. And that's according to the word
of God. Paul said, I know your election of God because of these
things. He said, I know. Believers believe,
they submit, they worship, they rejoice, they give. And when they do, giving is a
joy. Hearing is a privilege. We've been eating chicken so
long at the table. If chicken ain't there, we won't
gripe about it a little bit, though. Huh? Chicken. Where's the chicken? I don't like bean or schnitzel.
I want chicken. Boy, you wasn't singing that
song when you didn't have anything to eat. Huh? What happened? What happened? Oh, believers believe, and there's
a joy in giving. Hearing is a privilege, and servants
is the least you can do, isn't it? Oh, the least I could do? Go mow that yard? Oh, that ain't
that bad. That's the least I could do. Lord, what else would you have
me to do? It becomes a privilege, not a
chore. Now he's not a Jew, which is
one outwardly, because you believe in election don't mean that you're
elect. You let that sink in for a little
bit. Believing God is sovereign doesn't mean you're a true Jew.
The devils believe God's sovereign. What hast thou to do with us
before our time? They knew who was sovereign and
who wasn't. The devils believe in trembling.
And then listen to this, here's the next thing, he said, neither
is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh. Now in
the kingdom of God, I don't have time to give you all the references
to this, but in the kingdom of God, there's neither Jew nor
Greek, neither born nor free, now listen, there is neither
male nor female. for you're all one in Christ
Jesus. Now circumcision is something
done only to males, is that correct? So that ain't gonna work in the
kingdom of God. Because they're neither male nor female. This old circumcision not gonna
work. Preach it all you want to, believe
it all you want to, it's not gonna work. Turn with me to Colossians chapter
two. In Colossians 2, Paul's talking
about our being complete in Christ. All we need concerning all things
is in our Redeemer and Substitute. He plainly states Him to be our
head and representative. He tells us in verse 11, in whom
also ye are circumcised. with the circumcision made without
hands and putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the
circumcision of Christ. Now the cutting off of the foreskin
was but a picture of the cutting off of our Savior, whom God said
was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression
of my people, was he stricken, Isaiah 53a. Now watch this, verse
12. Buried with him in baptism, wherein
also you're risen with him through the faith of the operation of
God who hath raised him from the dead. Christ is our circumcision
and it's a work of the covenant which is done in the heart by
faith and marks us out to be true Jews. True Jews, He's our circumcision. Verse 13, And you being dead
in your sins and uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened
together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting
out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, contrary
to us, and took them out of the way, nailing Him to His cross. He's a Jew. which is one inwardly. And circumcision is that of the
heart and in the spirit and not in the letter. He shows us in
the heart that Christ is our circumcision. And now we're true
Jews. We're true Jews. If we're circumcised
in him, if he would cut off for us, we're true Jews. And we understand this by the
faith of the operation of God. He is a Jew which is one inwardly,
one inwardly, by faith of the operation of God. He begats his
children by an inward work of grace. It says in John 6, 45,
it's written in the prophets, they shall all be taught of God.
Every man, therefore, that has learned of the Father, taught
of the Father, he comes to Christ. That's what he does. It's a circumcision of the heart
and in the spirit. It's a mysterious work, Paul
said, and one which the world has never seen or known. It's
the hidden wisdom, he said, which God ordained before the world
under our glory. It's a work which none of the
self-proclaimed princes of religion ever knew. I have not seen or
heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which
God has prepared for them. But God hath revealed them unto
us by Spirit, the Spirit of truth and the Spirit of grace, the
same Spirit which makes preaching effectual. And all these things freely given
to us of God, Paul said, we speak not in words which man's wisdom
teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth. And then look at this, Romans
2, 29. I'm trying to hurry. The last line of the verse. We're
still talking about this true Jew. The true Jew is one whose
praise is not of men, but of God. I believe God saved him. That's
what they say. I believe God saved him. Everything about the believer
has to do with the free and sovereign grace of God. The election of
God is an election of grace. The appointments of Christ before
the world was as a result of God's purpose and grace. Our
representation in Christ by divine representation is called by grace
you are saved. And what about faith? By grace
are you saved through faith, but not of yourselves. It's the
gift of God. The praise of his work is not
the praise of man, but the praise of God. And Jesus Christ is the
author and finisher of this faith. Who is the true due? The true
due is one inwardly. You can't see his heart. Sometimes
we think we can, we talk like we can, but you can't see his
heart. Can't see his heart. I tell you, if you was looking
at David at the wrong time, you'd say, he's not a Jew. That's not
a true Jew. Yeah, yeah he was. Yeah he was. Oh, may the Lord give us some
understanding of what this thing is. to be a true Jew. Thank you.