The title of the message this
evening is taken from verse 19, which says, Now we know that
what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under
the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world
may become guilty before God. The title of the message is All
the World. guilty before God. All the world
is guilty before God. And let's go back to chapter
2, verse 28. The last two verses we'll look
at again. And you're very familiar with
it, but we'll look at it anyway. Verse 28 and 29 of Romans 2.
For he's 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, not in the letter, whose praise is not
of men, but of God. What does Paul say? He says he
is not a Jew which is one outwardly, that he is being A direct descendant
of Abraham does not make a man an Israelite. A Jew, in the fact
that he's one of God's chosen, that doesn't make him a Jew or
an Israelite, being a direct descendant of Abraham, or even
being a member of the Twelve Tribes, or a keeper of the laws,
or holding to the tradition of Judaism. That doesn't make one
a Jew, an Israelite, a member of God's family and nation. That doesn't make him part of
Zion. And circumcision, there in verse 28, he said, circumcision
is not outward in the flesh. Well, one circumcision is, circumcision
which God gave to Abraham and all of the Jews. was a token
or a sign, only as a picture and a type, of God's covenant
with Abraham. Every man who was circumcised
was part of national Israel, the chosen people. But circumcision
in the flesh is not a true sign of the covenant of God with Abraham
through It's not in the flesh, it's in the heart. So verse 28
says, He's not a Jew, which is one outwardly who can trace his
ancestry and pedigree back to Abraham, or one who's been circumcised
in the flesh, which was at that time a sign of that outward covenant. But he's a Jew. He's an Israelite. He's a true Jew, which is one
inwardly. He's a true Jew, that is, he's
one of those Peter talks about when he said we're a chosen generation,
we're a royal priesthood, we're a holy nation, we're special
people. So one who's a Jew, an Israelite,
one of those chosen people in the covenant of grace is a person
who inwardly is born of God. who inwardly, by the power of
the Spirit of God, believes on Christ. That's one who's a Jew. That's an Israelite. That's the
Son of God. And this circumcision, what is
this circumcision? Well, this circumcision is in
the heart. It's an operation on the heart.
And it's evident that God has performed that operation upon
the heart by his The two verses over in the book of Psalms, the
first one is Psalm 34, verse 18. Psalm 34, verse 18. The sign and evidence back in
Old Testament days that a man was a member of the nation Israel
was circumcision in the flesh. A sign now, an evidence, that
a man or woman is a member of the true Israel, the family of
God, the covenant people, the truly chosen people, is not an
outward thing at all. It's seen of men, it's in the
Spirit, it's in the heart, it's an operation on the heart, and
here it's described in Psalm 34, verse 18. The Lord is now unto them that
are of a broken heart, and saviors such as be of a contrite spirit. That's the And in Psalm 51, in
that great psalm of repentance, David repeats it. The sign and
evidence that we are God's people, that we are a chosen nation and
a royal priesthood, is circumcision in the heart. Verse Psalm 51,
17. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and
a contrite heart, O God. thou wilt not despise." Someone
wrote this. A man is a true Jew, a redeemed
person, who has a work of grace in his heart, who has renounced
his works, who has looked to Christ and worships God in spirit
and truth, who has the law of God written not on tables of
stone, nor carried about in his not on his wall, but written
in his heart, and whose praise is from God, and not from me."
So back to the text. He is a Jew, he is an Israelite,
he is of the covenant people, who is born of God inwardly,
and circumcision is that of the heart. It's an operation of grace
upon the heart, and it's in the spirit, not in the letter. And its praise is not of men,
but it's of God. If you'll turn to Philippians
3, the Apostle Paul sums this true circumcision up in one verse,
in Philippians 3. And he says in verse 1, let's
look at Philippians 3, the first three verses. To write the same things to you,
to me, is not gravious. To tell you the same things over
and over and over again, that's not tiresome, but for you it's
safe. Now, beware of dogs. That's what
Isaiah called these false prophets, dumb dogs. Beware of evil workers. That's what Christ called those
people in Matthew 7 who said, we did many wonderful works and
we cast out devils. He said, I never knew you, you
workers of iniquity, evil workers. Beware of the concision, the
circumcision. Beware of people who glory in
your flesh, who always want you to do something, do something,
do something, and then take credit for your doing something under
their leadership. That's the circumcision. Now
watch this. We are the circumcision. We are
the Jews. We are the Israel of God. We
are the circumcision, three things. We worship God in spirit, not
in form, not in days, not in duties and traditions. We worship
God in the spirit. That's what Christ said to the
woman at the well. God is spirit. And they that worship God, worship
him in spirit and truth. For the Father seeketh such to
worship him. You don't worship in this mountain
or in Jerusalem. You worship in spirit. We worship
God in spirit. We quit going to church and we
start worshiping God. There's a difference. We stop
paying the time and start giving. We stop reading the Bible and
start studying it. That's right. We stop bragging
on religious people and start seeking the Lord. That's the
difference. We worship God in spirit, and secondly, we rejoice
in Christ Jesus. He is our joy and he is our rejoicing. We rejoice with joy unspeakable
and full of glory in Christ Jesus. Sit here and hear Mike sing about
Christ and rejoice in the Spirit. Take these old hymns and sing
about Christ and rejoice in the Spirit. Hear the preacher talk
over and over again from the same scripture about who our
Lord is and what he did and why he did it and where he is now
and just rejoice all over again. Rejoice in Christ Jesus. We just
have no confidence in the flesh. Mine, yours, anybody else's.
But we have confidence in Christ. That's what Paul Williams said
to me a while ago when I was standing there and he said, I
don't know what this examination night is going to reveal. It
may reveal that I have cancer again. It may not. But he said,
if I didn't know the Lord Jesus Christ, I couldn't take this.
I couldn't stand this. I couldn't go through this, but
I'm at peace. I know Christ. That's the difference.
We don't have any confidence in, you don't go back and tell
the profession you made years ago, I did this and I did that,
and I've been faithful to the church, and I gave my tithes,
and I taught Sunday school, and I preached the gospel. No! My
confidence is in Christ. Christ alone. That's just so.
And that's a Jew, that's a son of Abraham, and that's an Israelite,
and that's a member of Zion, and that's a man or woman that's
in the family of God and the covenant of grace of partaking
of the sheer mercies of David. All right, verse 1, chapter 3,
what advantage then hath the Jew? Chapter 3 has a series of questions. There's a series of questions
in the first nine verses, just questions, questions, questions,
questions. Paul asks questions and answers
them. And here's the first question.
He said, what advantage then hath the Jew? What profit is
there of circumcision? What advantage does a man have
who's been raised back there in the Old Testament days? We're
not talking about now, what advantage a Jew has now. He's talking about
what advantaged those people who were brought up in those
Jewish homes back there under the law and under the types and
shadows and pictures. Let's read over here in Romans
9 about those people. Romans 9, verses 4 and 5. Here's the people we're talking
about. What advantage hath the Jew? What profit is there? in being a Jew? Well, in Romans
9, verse 4, who are Israelites? To whom pertaineth the adoption
and the glory? Where was the shekinah glory
of God? In Israel, in the tabernacle
and the temple, on the mercy seat. And the covenants, covenant
made with Moses, covenant made with Abraham, covenant made with Isaac, and the giving of the
law, Moses gave the law to Israel. And the services of God, who
had the priest? Israel. Who had the feast days? Tabernacle, first fruits, Passover,
Israel. And the promises, the promises
of the Messiah, they were made to Israel. Whose are the fathers? Moses was a Jew, David was a
Jew. Solomon was a Jew, Isaiah was
a Jew, our Lord Jesus. Well, let's read on here. And
concerning the flesh, Christ came, born of the seed of David,
whose overall God blessed forever. Back to our text now. What advantage
then have the Jews? What property is there in circumcision? Well, much every way, much every
way, because these Jews Like Paul wrote to young Timothy,
he said, Timothy, your mother and your grandmother, Eunice
and I forget the other one's name, but they did what Moses
told the Jewish mothers to do. They taught him the scriptures. And he says, Timothy, from a
child you have known the holy scriptures that are able to make
you wise to salvation. Back when you were a little boy,
sitting by your grandmother and your mother, His daddy was a
Greek, Gentile, but his mama and his grandmother were Jews.
And they taught that boy about a sovereign God, about the law
of God, about the Messiah's coming, the Redeemer's coming. They taught
them all the Passover feasts, taught them about Moses and David,
all these people. So there's in much every way
advantage in being brought up in a home where the scriptures
and brought up in a church where the Word of God is preached.
You can apply that to our families and our children here. Your children
do not understand everything you read to them. They don't
understand everything I preach to them. But let me tell you
this, that seed is planted here and I believe someday here. Don't lie to them. Don't invent
things and try to bring God down here to their understanding.
They can't understand unless the Holy Spirit reveals it. So
teach the word like it is. It may seem deep to them. It
will, deep to you and me. You may say, well, they won't
understand that. They're never going to understand it until
God reveals it, but tell it like it is. Talk about God's sovereignty
and election and particular redemption and irresistible grace and incarnation
and justification and righteousness. Talk about those things, just
like they are now. That's what these Jews did, they
taught these children the types and the pictures. Paul said,
it's able to make you wise unto salvation in the days to come.
Here's another question, verse 3. What advantage then hath the
Jew, what profit? Verse 2 says, "...much every
way, chiefly because unto them were committed the oracles of
God." The things of God, the word of God, the law of God,
the priesthood, all those things. Now, here is the second question.
What if some did not believe? What if some did not believe,
and a lot of them didn't believe? Didn't believe. Shall their unbelief
make the faith of God without effect? What if some didn't believe,
and most of them didn't? Does this make void the promise
of God? The promise of God to Abraham
is the fact that these Jews did not believe the message of Moses. Isaiah said that. He said, Lord,
who hath believed our report? To whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? They did not believe. Does that unbelief hinder or
diminish God's covenant purpose, well, Paul answers verse 4, God
forbid, God forbid. What a foolish and vain supposition. God's purpose, God's promise,
God's covenant, God's kingdom, the kingdom of his Son, does
not depend upon anything that any person does. It doesn't depend
upon what men think. God's purpose and promise does
not depend upon what men do or whether or not they accept it
or believe it. God's purpose is determined before
the foundation of the world, and it's unchanging from the
beginning. Let me read you two scriptures.
The first one is Isaiah 46. What if some did not believe,
and the majority of the adults accountable, responsible adults
did not believe, did not believe, and do not now believe. But that
does not alter or hinder or change the purpose and promise of God.
Isaiah 46, verse 9. Remember the former things of
old. I'm God, and there's none else. I'm God, and there's none
like me. I declare the end from the beginning. From ancient times, the things
that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, I'll
do all my pleasure. Calling a ravenous bird from
the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country.
I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed
it, I'll also do it. The other scripture you know
by memory. All that my Father giveth me
will come to me. And him that cometh to me, I am no wise cast
out. I came down from heaven, not
to do my will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is
the will of him that sent me, that of all which ye have given
me I lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day."
So, what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the
faithfulness of God, the promise of God, the purpose of God of
no effect? God forbid. Now watch what David
says. Let God be true. Let God be true. Let that be our creed. Let that
be our foundation. Let that be our confidence. Let
that be our faith. God is true. God is true. God is righteous. God is just. And God is God. And what God
does is right. What God does is wisdom, what
God does is just, what God does is decreed and determined and
ordained by God for his glory, and what God does is sure. And every man, let God be true
now, let this be your creed and confidence and faith. Let God
be God, let God be true. Whatever he says, whatever the
Bible declares, that's what we believe. And let every man be
a liar. Every man, high or low, rich
or poor, old or young, learned or ignorant, important or unimportant. He is by nature a liar. He is
by nature a thief who would rob God of his glory, and who would
rob others of the key to God's glory, like the Pharisees. Every
man by nature is unjust, unfaithful, and will not come to God. And
God would be perfectly just and righteous if he destroyed us
all. And that's what Paul quotes from
David in the next line. That thou mightest be justified
in thy sayings, and might overcome when you judge. What if some
do not believe? Shall their unbelief make the
promise, purpose, faithfulness of God of none effect? God forbid. Preposterous, preposterous. Such
a supposition is impossible. Let God be true, every man alive. And then watch this when he quotes
David. Let's turn over and read what
David said over there in Psalm 51. Let God be true and every man
a liar. If God destroyed us all, he would
be perfectly just. David said, Even me. Even me. Psalm 51, verse 3. I acknowledge my transgression,
my sin as ever before me. Against thee and thee only have
I sinned, and I have done this evil in thy sight. that you might
be justified when you speak and clear when you judge. When you
speak against me and judge me, you're righteous. I've got no
excuse, no alibi. Now we look around, let's apply
that. I went back to that first question, what advantage does
a Jew have? What advantage do our children
have? They have much more advantage than those Jews. Those Jews have
the promise. They've got the fulfillment.
Those Jews have the types. They have the Son of God in the
flesh. Those Jews have the priesthood
in picture. Our young people have, we have
a great high praise of Christ Jesus. They're even more advantageous
than those Jews. But what if some of them didn't
believe, and many of them didn't? Well, Paul said, Let God be true,
and every man a liar. But David said, Even me. If he
destroys us all, he's just and holy. Now then, what if some
of ours do not believe? Does their unbelief change the
gospel? Does their unbelief cause us
to lighten up a little on the truth of God? Does their unbelief
cause us to make another way for them? Does their unbelief
change the gospel of God's grace and make it of no effect? No,
sir, it doesn't. It does not. God will save whom
he will, and only God can save them. We'll be like Eli. It's the Lord. Let him do what
he will. It's the Lord, let him do what
he will. Another question, verse 5 through 8. There's kind of
a series of questions here. Paul asked these questions, he
said in verse 5, I speak as a man. I speak as a man. Let's read
5, 6, 7, 8 and look at these questions. If our unrighteousness commend
the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous
who takes his vengeance? Now, I'm talking like a man,
he said. God forbid! For then how shall God judge
the world? But if the truth of God hath
more abounded through my lie unto his glory, then why yet
am I also judged a sinner? Why is God angry with us? Why does he look on us as sinners?
and not rather as we have slanderously reported and as some affirm that
we say. Well, let's do evil that good
may come. Their damnation is just. Let me paraphrase these. We know this, verse 5, if our
unrighteousness can commend the righteousness of God. Christ
came to save sinners. Let me bring this down where
we can enter into it. Christ came to save sinners,
not the righteous. He said, I'm not come to call
the righteous, but sinners to repentance. And he gets great
glory from saving sinners. That's right. His chief glory
is saving sinners. David in Psalm 130 said, Lord,
if you should mark a nick with this, who would stand but this
forgiveness with thee, that thou mightest be praise and worship
and reverence. He told Moses, My chief glory
is showing mercy to whom I show mercy. Paul himself is an example. Turn to 1 Timothy 1. Paul himself
is an example of God saving the chief of sinners, the greatest
of sinners. In 1 Timothy 1, verse 15, Paul
said, This is a faithful saying, worthy
of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners, of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtain
mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering,
for pardon to them which should hereafter believe on him the
life everlasting. Saving the chief of sinners magnifies
his grace, brings him greatest glory. Then these people ask
the question, well, why is he angry with sinners? If saving
sinners gives him great glory and exalts and magnifies his
grace, why is he angry? Why does he punish sin? Why don't
we just do evil that good may come? Let's do evil that God
may get glory. God forbid. The whole supposition
is wrong. Now listen to it. Here's the
explanation. Our sins and our unrighteousness do not glorify
God. No, our sins do not glorify God. Our unrighteousness does not
glorify God. Our unrighteousness and our sins
do not make his name glorious or his grace glorious. The word
that helps us is contrast, compare. In other words, I take a diamond
and hold it up here, perfect diamond, a beautiful, perfect
diamond, with light and purity, one that just exceeds all other
diamonds. And I lay it against a black
background. And that black background does
not add anything to that diamond, doesn't magnify it, doesn't make
it more beautiful, doesn't make it more glorious. Doesn't make
it more valuable? It's valuable in itself, it's
glorious in itself. But when I put it against that
black background, the diamond's beauty and excellence is seen
in contrast to that black background. And the love and grace and forgiveness
of God Almighty, our Lord, is perfect and pure and holy and
magnificent and wonderful. but is seen in his greater brilliance
and beauty when he saves the chief of sinners, like the thief
on the cross, like Mary Magdalene, like Saul of Tarsus, like you
and me. That's when his grace and mercy
is magnified against the black background of our sins. And that's
what this is saying right here. You know, when the prodigal son
returned home, and the father went out and met him, and here's
that bum that's done everything so contrary to his father's wishes
and will and desires. And he's come back home. And
the father goes out. Now, the Father has grace and
mercy and goodness and love. When he planted a kiss on that
boy's cheek and put the robe on him, the shoes on his feet,
killed the fatted calves, you see that grace magnify. That boy's sin didn't make the
Father gracious, but it showed his graciousness, and that's
what Paul is saying here. That's what he's saying. All right, verse 9, here's another
question. He's talking about these Jews
here in verse 9. What then? Are we better than
they? They said, What advantage does a Jew have? Well, much in
every way. Well, they didn't believe, but
that didn't change the purpose of God Almighty. And while our
sin and our wickedness, by contrast, shows and magnifies the grace
of God to sinners, is the Jew better than the Gentile? Are we better than they? Are
we better than they? What's Paul asking here? Well,
he's asking this, are we better than they in the sight of God? Is the Jew more holy than they?
If you look at Philippians chapter 3, let's turn over there. This
is Paul's testimony we looked at a while ago, but I want to
look now at verse 4 through 6. He was a Jew, and he's asking,
is the Jew better? You know, people who are religious
today think they're better than the people of the world. They
go to church, they're better. They read the Bible. They teach
Sunday school, they preach, they abstain from worldliness. Are they better than the folks
out there? That's what Paul is asking. Are
we Jews who keep the law, who keep the Sabbath, who are circumcised,
who worship God, who go to the temple, are we better than them? The folks out here in the gutter,
are we better than them? Then I'll show you what he says
about himself here. Though I might have confidence
in the flesh, if any other man thinketh he hath whereof he might
trust in the flesh, I am over. I was circumcised the eighth
day of the stock of Israel. That Gentile, Father Timothy,
was never circumcised. I'm from the tribe of Benjamin.
He's a Greek. I'm a Hebrew of Hebrews. He's
a pagan Gentile. Touching the law, I'm a Pharisee.
I've studied at the feet of Gamaliel. I'm a Pharisee. He's never studied,
he never even read the Ten Commandments. Concerning zeal, I persecuted
those who disagreed with me. Touching the righteousness of
the Ten Commandments, blameless. Am I better than he? I was brought
up in a Baptist church from the time I was a little boy. All
of my family was religious, and many of you, too. And we had
certain rules and regulations we think we could do and couldn't
do. Are we better than the children who never saw the inside of a
church? Are we better than them? Let me tell you the answer. Better off? Yes. Better? No. Are your children better than
the children in the world? Better off, but not better. That's right. A man's better
off who's temperate. A man's better off who's honest.
A man's better off in church than he is in a honky-tonk. A
man's better off who worships on Sunday than a man who does
other things. A man's better off who reads
his Bible. But he's not better. No, he's not better. Now, he's
not better. Pascal will answer that. Are we better than they? Now,
understand, I say we're better off than they. But better? No, he said, in no wise. We have
before proved both Jew and Gentile, they're all under sin. Jew and
Gentile, all under sin. You'll forgive me, I'm going
to use my little great-granddaughter here a minute now. Do you mind
if I tell you that? You don't. That child is better
off. I was looking at her the other
day and I thought, she doesn't realize how blessed she is, how
fortunate she is, how fortunate your children are, born to these
parents. In that nursery from the time
she was two months old, under the gospel, brought up in a family
that loves the gospel, is she better? She's a sinner. That's right. She's under sin. She's under
the power and reign of sin. She's born in sin. She goes astray
from the time she was born, speaking lies. She's under the curse of
Adam's fall. She's on the sentence of death,
the soul that's sentenced to die. That's right. Now, those things are offensive
to the natural man. That's just so offensive to the
natural man, he can't stand it. It's so offensive. But she needs
the same work of grace that that drunk out there needs. She needs
the same power of God's Spirit, God's Word, the gospel, as the
most fallen creature in the streets of Ashton tonight. The same grace
that Satan, the thief on the cross, will have to be given
to her by God. I know that and you know that.
That's what Paul said. Better than they? No. We're all
under sin. Listen, there's none righteous,
holy by birth or nature. There's none that understand
it. They're not wise. They don't know God. There's
none that seek God. They've all gone out of the way,
they've together become unprofitable, there's none that do us good,
no not one. He says our throat is an open
sepulchre. You talk about our words, deeds,
and thoughts. Our throat is an open sepulchre,
our tongues we use to see the poison of Ashes under our lips.
That covers our mouth, doesn't it? Our words. Deceit, poison,
snakes, a mouth full of cursing and bitterness. Now look at our
deeds. Our feet are swift to shed blood, destruction, misery
in our ways. And here are our thoughts. The
way of peace we don't know, and there is no fear of God before
our very eyes. Are we better than they? Better off, but not
better, not by nature, not by birth. There is the summary. That whatever this book says,
it says to them who are under the law, that every mouth may
be stopped and all the world become guilty before God. That's
my message. All the world, same guilt, guilty
before God. Now, Sunday morning, we're going
to get out of this mess. Sunday morning, that's the bad
news. Sunday morning, the good news. is the righteousness provided
by a loving Savior and a great God.