Now, my subject tonight has a
big title, The Greatest Danger of All. That's what I'm going to speak
about, The Greatest Danger of All. Now, my text is found in Romans
2, but let me make a few opening
comments. You who are familiar with the
Book of Romans, the Apostle Paul spared no words and literally
tore into the pagan world, the pagan Gentiles, with a no-holes-barred
passion, exposing sin and ignorance of God and idolatry. He says
they professed themselves to be wise and they've become fools. fools. He said three times, God
gave them up. God gave them up to uncleanness,
to dishonor their bodies among themselves. God gave them up
to vile affections. He said God gave them over to
a reprobate mind. He said they not only delight
in evil, but they delight in those who do evil. That's the
Gentile world. That's chapter one. You can't
read it without blushing. But then in chapter two, the
apostle slips into the sacred house of worship. He's been out
there among the tribes of the Gentiles. He's been out there
among the pagan idol worshipers, the propane, the wicked, talking
about their evil. God gave them up. But then he
slips quietly into the sacred house of worship, where men and
women gathered in the name of God, where the holy days were religiously
observed, where the holy law was read on the Sabbath day,
where men were circumcised in a in a special ceremony and named
names that referred to God, where the tide was collected and the
storehouse abided, where the scriptures
were read and where prayers were made, long prayers, and where
men made their boast of God. And where men prayed prayers
such as this, I thank thee, Lord, I'm not like other men. I tithe
and I fast and I give alms to the poor. And he says, Paul says, in that
sacred house of worship, after he had exposed the pagan Gentile,
he said, and behold, thou art called a Jew. Thou art called
by the name of God, and rested in the law, and makest thy boast
of God." Well, he says there's no respect of persons with God. With Him, one man is no different
from another, be he Jew or Gentile. And there's no difference between
the two, he says, for all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God. And he says, all who have sinned
not having the law will perish without regard to the law. That's
the pagan out there I've been talking about, he said. All who
have not the law will perish without regard to the law. But
all who have sinned under the law will be judged and condemned
also by the same law. Look at verse 25. of Romans 2. For he says, your
circumcision is verily prophesied if you keep the law, all of it,
to the letter. But if you be a breaker of the
law, your circumcision is made uncircumcision. Your profession and your rituals mean nothing.
Read on. Therefore, if the uncircumcision,
the man who has no religion, keep the righteousness of the
law. shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision."
In other words, he says, here's the thing, it's the same law
on both of you. The man out there in the pagan wilderness who violates
God's law, even though he's never read it, will be judged by it.
But the man in the house of worship who is going to live by his religion
and live by his works and live by his self-righteousness If
he violates the law, he's going to be judged just exactly like
the man out in the wilderness. If that man were able to keep
the law perfectly, his uncircumcision would count for circumcision.
And your having broke the law, your circumcision means uncircumcision. And then in verse 28, he says,
for he's not a Jew. He's not a Jew, which is one
outwardly. A man is not a child of God.
That's what we're talking about here. A man is not a child of
God, seed of Abraham, who is one outwardly. A man is not righteous
before God and justified by wearing the name Jew or Christian or
Baptist or Catholic or Gentile or whatever. A man is not redeemed and righteous
before God by the outward form or the letter of the law or the
creeds or ceremonies of Christianity. or even by submitting to the
various ordinances and practices of Christianity. Verse 28, look
at it again. He's not a Jew which is one outwardly.
He's not a Christian who's one outwardly. He's not a child of
God who's one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is
in the flesh. Look at the next verse. But he's
a Jew. He's a child of God. He is a
son of God. He is a redeemed man. He is a
seed of Abraham which is one inwardly. inwardly. See, regeneration is a hard work.
Circumcision is of the heart. Regeneration is of the heart.
It's in the spirit, it's not in the letter. He has made us
able ministers of the spirit, not ministers of the letter of
the law. Regeneration is in the spirit, not in the doctrine.
Regeneration, look at it, whose praise is not of men. Regeneration's
praise is not of men. Actually, the natural man is
unable to discern a real work of God. Did you know that? You can put a believer in a group
of men and women who work in a store or a factory. I mean
a true, circumcised, regenerated born again, child of God, in
whom the Spirit of God, by grace, has done a permanent, eternal
work. And those people do not have
the spiritual discernment to recognize that he is a child
of God. They don't have the spiritual
discernment. Now, if he is a religionist who can put on and put out a
phony religious error, He can deceive them. He can use the
words that they think are godly. If he can carry on the conversation,
if he can put up the pretense, they can recognize that he's
religious. But a true child of God, it's
impossible for an unspiritual man to discern the marks of regeneration. Did you know that? Totally impossible. If another true believer moves
into that store, or that factory, or that circle, or a teacher's,
or wherever you work, or electric company, if another true believer
moves in there beside him, he'll recognize him. That's right. He'll recognize that man is a
child of God because he has spiritual discernment. You see, the natural
man received it not, understand it not. The things of God, they're
foolishness to him, neither can he know them, they're spiritually
discerned, spiritually understood. And it's an impossibility for a man
with no spiritual discernment to recognize a true child of
God. Because the true character of
a child of God is unseen. The true faith of a child of
God is unseen. The true works of a child of
God are unseen. God alone sees them. He does
not do His work to be seen of men. He does not pray to be heard
of men. He does not do His alms to be
seen of men. His relationship with God is
not something He does for men's approval. It's a hard work. Now, this is what He's saying
here. He is not a Christian. He is not the child of God, which
is one outwardly. and circumcision, regeneration,
the cutting of the heart is just that. It's a cutting of the heart
in the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not of me, but of God. And God knows His
child. His child knows Him. And that
child's heart beats with the heart of the Father. And the
Father will will praise him and he'll praise
the Father. And his praise will be of God. But the natural man
will not recognize it. In fact, you can live in the
home of a true child of God and not know it unless you yourself
are a child of God. You won't recognize his qualities
because they're unseen. They're undetected. Anybody can put on a show. Now,
that's no problem. But true salvation is not a show.
It's a heart operation. That's right. Now, if there's
a message for us here, we've got chapter one and chapter two.
Hulk goes out there in the pagan wilderness and he just roots
it up. Roots it up. Then he comes into
the house of God. He roots it up too. He said this
thing of walking with God is not an outward show, it's an
inward operation. It's a heart operation. It's
the work of God. The work of God. Now, if there's
a message for us, without question there is, in these first two
chapters. It has to be a message for me. What is it? Well, one thing I know, I'm not
in chapter one. I'm not in chapter one. I'm not
a homosexual, or a pervert, or a drug addict, or a worshipper
of idols. It's a new art, either. But maybe
we're in chapter two. Maybe. Maybe. But we are in the
house of God, aren't we? That's where we are tonight.
We've come here. You and I have come here. We've
assembled here. We're among those who preach.
We're among those who pray. We're among those who profess
to know God. We're among those who practice
the principles of godliness. So this is the message to us
here in these verses. The message to us is beware of
looking to the letter of the word. Beware of trusting the
outward duties of religion. Beware of seeking the approval
of men, especially our own approval. Self-satisfaction. For the praise of God is what
we seek. Like Paul said, wherefore we
labor, whether present or absent, we labor to be accepted of Him. He said, Christ said, how can
you know God that seek honor one of another and seek not the
honor that comes from God? So this then is the greatest
danger of all. The greatest danger of all is
a confusion. and not being able to discern
between the outside and the inside. It's not being able to discern
between that which is flesh and that which is spirit, that which
is the letter of the Lord, that which is the spirit of God, that
which is the form, a form of prayer, a form of worship, a
form of faith, and not the heart of faith. And I have three areas
I want to talk about tonight in this, and this is something
I've been thinking about a good while. Number one is the doctrines of
grace. I hear that quite frequently talked about, the doctrines of
grace. And then the second one is this thing called faith in
Christ. Faith in Christ. I want to look
at that in respect to these two things, the letter and the spirit.
the letter and the spirit, the letter and the spirit, and the
third one is Christian love. Grace, faith, and love. All right, let's turn to Romans
chapter 8 first. Now, the doctrines of grace. I frequently hear people talk
about coming to a knowledge of the doctrines of grace. I even
hear preachers say, well, I've preached for years, and then
I came to a knowledge of the doctrines of grace. In Romans 8, 29 through 30, I
have no problem accepting the doctrines of grace. Do you? They're
true. Romans 8, 29. Listen. 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, then he
also called. and whom he called, them he also
justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified." Listen
to me. The doctrines of grace are scriptural. Almighty God
is sovereign. The scriptures bear that out.
God is sovereign, absolutely, immutably sovereign. The scriptures
bear that out. Man, indeed, is a fallen creature. The scriptures bear that out.
Do they not? It's scriptural. God did indeed elect the people.
There's no doubt about that. The word elect, election, occurs
in the Bible frequently. Christ is the representative.
Christ is the surety. Plainly said, He is the surety
of that better covenant. The Spirit of God does indeed
awaken. You have to be quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sin. There's no doubt about that.
And salvation is eternal. If there's any salvation, it
stays eternally. Well, it's scriptural. Also,
the doctrines of grace are not only scriptural, but they're
logical. They all rise and fall together. That's what you see
here. Whom he did foreknow, he did predestinate. Whom he predestinated,
he called him. He called him justified, he was
justified, he glorified. These things stand together if
you begin with God. If you begin with God, you've
got to have all these sovereign acts of God. He cannot fail if
he's God. Let God be God. So they're logical. And then the doctrines of grace
are historical. I know that, and most of you
know this, that every confession of faith written by churchmen
of ancient days is Calvinistic to the core. Just name them. Westminster, Heidelberg, Philadelphia,
London Confession, the 39 Articles of the Episcopal Church, all
of them are right to the core Calvinistic. Don't even allow
any room for human will. All the great churchmen such
as Calvin, and Luther, and Owen, and Edwards, and Whitfield, and
Spurgeon, and Gill, and Bunyan, and Toplady, and Watts, and just
keep, they were all, the old missionaries, Judson, Terry,
all of them, they preached doctrines of grace. Very well, preacher,
if I scripturally, logically, and historically accept the doctrines
of grace, then I'm a child of God. No, that's the letter of
the law. That's the very thing Paul's
talking about. That's the very thing. The Jews came into the
temple and scripturally, logically, historically accepted the traditions
of their father. They practiced the Sabbath day,
and the tithe, and the ceremonies, and the ordinances, and the rituals,
and believed these things as they were taught by their fathers.
And that's what Paul warned them about. And that's what I'm trying
to warn people whom I preach, especially those well-versed
in orthodoxy, that orthodoxy doesn't save. Christ saves. Now let me show you this. I don't
want to be too heavy tonight on you or me. But this thing
of what we call the doctrines of grace, you don't arrive at
Christ by learning doctrines. You learn doctrines when you
meet Christ. You see, we're not preaching the sovereignty of
God, per se, or as a doctrine. We're preaching the God, the
living God, who Himself is sovereign. He has the crown rights. And
I've come to a proper understanding and acceptance of what we call
the sovereignty of God when I bow to Him who is sovereign in here.
That's where it is. And if I haven't bowed in here
and submitted in here to the crown rights of Christ, and that's
what Brother Barnard came to Pollard talking about, and I'd
been, I was 24 years old and had been to school and preached
a little bit and studied the Bible and never heard the word
crown rights of Christ, lordship of Christ. And a man who's never
heard of and bowed to in his heart the Lordship of Christ
ain't saved whether he's a preacher, deacon, or whatever he is. Is
that correct? And then this thing, the new
heart experiences the effects and consequence of the fall.
Depravity is not a doctrine, it's an experience. Oh, wretched
man that I am. Do you understand that? You can
believe in the doctrine of depravity and never repent. But you can't
experience it never again in the light of God's holiness.
That's where depravity is learned. Depravity is not learned in the
school of the law. It's learned in the light of
God's holiness. That's where it's learned. When I start comparing
myself with a holy God, that's where I come up short. That's
when my failures are all magnified, when I see them in the light
of His holiness. And I experience that. And I
don't know anything about it till I do, and I can't preach
it till I experience it. And the new heart looks at election
not as a doctrine, not even as a fact. It looks at election
as good news, my soul. A man who doesn't deserve anything
is not going to find fault with a benefactor. A man who's suing
for mercy is not going to find fault with a judge who dispenses
it. He's just going to be mighty thankful if the judge gives him
mercy. He doesn't deserve it. He doesn't deserve it. Election's
not just a doctrine, it's good news. It's not the Senator's
enemy, it's the Senator's friend. It's not a door that shuts men
out, it's a door that lets men in. That's experience. There's nothing harsh about election.
The harshness would be if there were no election. There'd be
no salvation. Somebody asked Spurgeon one time,
what's your theory of the atonement? He said, the atonement's not
the theory to me. It's a person and an experience. I don't know
anything about a theory of the atonement. Am I talking about
different theories of the atonement? It's no theory. It's God justifying
God. It's God reconciling God to sinners. It's a happening. It's an accomplishment. And the new heart does not serve
God and persevere out of duty, or fear, or covetousness. The new heart delights in His
way. We don't always do it, but we
love the will of God. We don't always walk in perfect
holiness, but we want to, we'd like to, wouldn't we? We approve
of it, we love it. His commandments are not grievous,
not to the believer. their delight. I delight to do
thy will, O my God. I don't always do it, but I delight
in it. I delight in it. Salvation is not coming to a
position or a doctrine. It's bowing to a person. And
when one has genuinely met and met Christ and bowed to his crown
rites, whatever he says is the will and delight of that individual.
There's no grappling with it. There's no argument against it.
There's no argument. All right, here's the second
thing. So that doctrines of grace as a lever of the law, as a thorn,
is really It's really a dangerous position or refuge unless we
know the person. It's another refuge. And what
I'm saying is the pagan without religion is no more lost than
the religious man without Christ. That's what he says here. His
uncircumcision and your circumcision is the same thing. God's no respecter
of claims or personages. All right, here's the second
thing is faith. Turn to John 3. Now, we would all, every one
of us without exception, we've quoted this all our lives. Let's
look at it in a minute. Now, you're going to enjoy this,
because it's going to give you comfort. I find this. When I preach messages like this,
number one, it is a weapon or ammunition for the Holy Spirit
to lay bare the heart and bring a man to Christ, but also it
comforts God's true people. They find some hope in the preaching
of that saving relationship with Christ, delight in heart, in
heart relationship. John 3, verse 14, And as Moses
lifted up the serpent of the wilderness, even so must the
Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have everlasting 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. Jesus Christ did come to
this earth. That's a fact. And Jesus Christ
did die on the cross. That's a fact. And he did indeed
rise from the tomb according to many witnesses. That's a fact.
Now, if I give mental assent to these established facts, and
I say I believe it, then I'm a Christian. Not so. Not so. Because regeneration and salvation
is not in the letter, it's in the spirit. It's not in the outward
form, it's in the inward operation. It's not in the flesh, it's in
the spirit. Now, here's three things for
us to apply here. First of all, salvation does
begin with a knowledge. God doesn't work apart from the
mind. It begins with a knowledge. Paul,
in that great definition of faith, says, I know whom I have believed.
I know whom I have believed. I know why he came to this earth. I not only know he came, I know
why he came to this earth. He came that God may be just
and justified. He came that he might reconcile
us to God. He came that he might perfect
for us a perfect holiness and righteousness. He came that He
might be our substitute and sin offering. He came that He might
taste death for His people. He came for that purpose. I know
why He came. I know where He is now. You do
too. So knowledge is imperative. I know Paul said you can't believe
in one of whom you haven't heard. You can't call on one in whom
you haven't believed. So it starts with that. But that's not the
end. Now listen to And secondly, salvation starts with knowledge,
and it continues with confidence. I know Christ, and I'm confident.
I know whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded that all that
He said He'll do, He'll do, all that He promised to do, He'll
do, that He's able to save to the uttermost them that come
to God by Him. He's able to keep us from falling.
He's able to present us faultless before His throne with exceeding
joy, blameless and holy. He's able, I'm confident He's
able to do all that He says. Here's the third one. Faith,
indeed, does consist of knowledge. I know whom I have believed.
And faith, indeed, does consist of confidence in his ability. But if you stop there, it's cold
dead letter. There's a committal. He said
he's able to keep that which I've committed to him, that which
I've cast upon him. Huh? John, that's what that article
you gave me today said. It's a committal to Christ. Like
that article said, He's my depository, all my hopes in Him. He's my
banker, all my valuables are vested in Him. All of them! He's
my righteousness, all my holiness is found in Him. He's my life,
all my faith rests in Him. He's my rest, all my delights
in Him. He's my hope. All of heaven is
revealed and realized only in Him." That fellow was talking to the
man named John. He thought he hadn't gotten anywhere,
because he said to John, he said, John, he said, you do have a
soul, don't you? And John said, no, I have no
soul. You have no soul, John? I have
no soul. I had a soul. And I lost it. And Jesus found it. So I'm going
to leave it with Him. I like that. Isn't that good? That's where you better put it. Because you'll lose it again.
Yeah, you would. Sure enough. You can't be trusted,
and I can't either. That's commitment. I had a soul,
and I lost it. And Jesus restored my soul, and
I'm going to let Him keep it. Because I know that He's able
to present it in that day without blame and holy. That's it, Chuck. I've committed it to Him. 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 the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me. Now the rest of it's
letter, the rest of it's just profession. There is no turning
back. There's nowhere to turn. There
is no recanting, because we're not even the same persons that
we were. We move in a different area. We live in a different
kingdom. We're sons of a different father.
You don't go back to something that's dead. We're alive in Christ. I've committed it to Him. Now
really, that's salvation. That's the reason Paul said,
I prevail till Christ be formed in you. The formation of Christ
in you destroys anything else. that vies for his affection.
He has no competitor. He has no rival. He's it. He is my life. And that's the difference. And
that's what Paul's talking about over there in Romans chapter
2. He's not a Christian or a believer or a child of God who's won outwardly.
Who says he is. He's a Jew who is won inwardly. And circumcision is not of the
flesh. You can put water on and cut
the flesh Dress up, put me in the water, back and bow their
heads, burn the candles, grow their hair long, or wear whatever
you... It's in the heart. It's in the heart. All these
other things are discernible to men, but God looks on the
heart. And God, pardon the English now, don't pay no attention to
the outward countenance. I notice these people roll their
eyes up, you know, like this. God doesn't pay attention to
trash like that. You might as well stand on your
hand. God's looking at the heart. You can roll your eyes and your
heart be rolling somewhere else. You can fold your hands and your
heart be a clenched fist. But you can clench your fist
and that heart be broken. Here's where God's looking, not
here. Thank God for that. Here's where men are looking,
though. You ever lose your temper? No, you don't do that. But if my soul's in his keeping,
I never lose my soul. That's right. Here's where it
is. The third is Christian love.
Look at John 13. Love is not in the letter. God
help us if it is. Love is not just outward. Love
is a heart grace. John 13, 35. Well, 34 and 35, he says, A new
commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another, as
I have loved you, that ye also love one another. And by this
shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye love one
another. I detect this, and I hesitate
to say a thing like this, for fear that, and God knows our
hearts and why I say what I'm saying, but I see more of this,
of this believe in love here than any place I've ever been.
And I hear that in other places where I go. I was sitting around
a table in California and some preachers were there and one
of the missionaries said, dear Walter Milton, one said, if you
want to see love demonstrated, go to the 13th Street Baptist
Church. There people love each other. I hope that's so, don't
you? I believe it is. I do know this, that whatever
this love is, it's not natural. If we do have believing love,
it's not natural, I'll be the first to admit that, because
our Lord said in John 5, you have not the love of God in you.
And secondly, whatever this love is, I know it's essential, I
know we'd better have it. You say, well, you know, we don't
have, we'd better have it. Peter said to our Lord, you know
all things, you know I love you. He that loveth not knoweth not
God. Now we can be bashful and humble and so forth all you want
to, but we better have this genuine believing love, hadn't we, for
Christ and one another? Because if we don't have it,
we don't know God. And whatever this love is, we
can take no credit for it, it's shed abroad in our hearts by
the Holy Ghost. It's the gift of the Holy Ghost. Faith's a
gift of God. Repentance's a gift of God. And
if you do tonight love each other, it's because God gave you that
gift to love each other. You don't take any credit, boasting
excluded. Pride I base, I'm just a sinner
saved by grace. And this love, whatever it is,
it's an evidence of the new birth, because he said love is of God. And everyone that love it is
born of God. I want to read you a scripture
out of the Amplified Bible. Don't you turn. Just see if I
can read it so that you can enter into it. And this is something that I
want us to have and something in which I want us to grow because
it's so essential. It's so absolutely essential.
This love for one another, this love for Christ, this love for
His people. Not in form. outwardly, not in
word only, but indeed in truth, a genuine affection. And listen,
here's what he says it is. Here's what he says it is. Love endures long. It lasts. And it's patient and
kind. Love is not envious. Love does
not boil over with jealousy. Love is not boastful or vainglorious
and does not display itself haughtily. Love is never conceited, arrogant,
and proud. Love is not rude and unmannerly
and does not act unbecomingly. Love, that is God's love in us,
does not insist on its own rights and its own way. It's not self-seeking. Love is not touchy and fretful
and resentful. And love takes no account of
evil done to it, pays no attention to a suffered wrong. You've seen
that demonstrated, especially in the hearts of mothers and
fathers. And then love does not rejoice
in iniquity. It doesn't rejoice in the fall
of another. It does not rejoice in unrighteousness. Love rejoices when right and
truth prevail. And love bears up unto anything
and everything that comes along and is always ready to believe
the best of every person. Love endures everything without
weakening and it never fails, never fades out or becomes obsolete. or comes to an end. As for prophecy,
it will be fulfilled and pass away. As for tongues, they shall
be destroyed and ceased. As for knowledge, intelligence,
and so forth, and that area, wisdom, natural wisdom, even
what we think we know spiritually, it'll pass away, lose its value,
and become superseded by full truth. One day I'm going to know
so much I'll look back and say, what a dummy. What a dummy. He ought to be saying that now.
Like you are. Our knowledge is fragmentary. Our teaching is fragmentary,
incomplete and imperfect. Love, somebody said, is a principle
that wishes to bestow the best that it can on the object of
its affection, whatever that may be. So take these three,
take these three things that I've talked about this evening,
grace, faith, and love, and look into them. Let's be certain that what we like claim to or what
we rest in is an inward experience of grace, faith, and love, and
not just a religion. This is serious and it's true
and it's very important.