Alright, let's take our Bibles and head on over to Romans chapter 2. As soon as I have the page number, I'll get it to you. This morning is a continuation of a series I'm starting called Chapter Summaries, where we summarize a chapter in a book of the New Testament with the goal of getting the entire book completed. We're going to transition this series to Sunday evenings. So if you're interested in Romans 3 through the rest, I encourage you to be here on Sunday nights or tune in. Several of you reached out after last week and said that you wanted a copy of the notes from chapter 1. The same will be available for all the chapters in Romans. We're on page number 1192 in a Schofield Bible or a church loan Bible there. Well, we're going to start a discussion today that I think is really prevalent because of the last two verses of this chapter, and we're going to actually look at those last two verses now. Look at chapter 2 of Romans in 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." There are two other passages in the New Testament that use this kind of phrasing. I want you to look at them very quickly. Hold your spot here in Romans and go to Revelation chapter 2. It's near the back. If you're turning towards the front, turn your Bible the right side up. On page 1322, Jesus is addressing the church in Smyrna, and he makes a statement in verse 9 of chapter 2. I know thy works in tribulation and poverty, but thou art rich. I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Look in chapter 3 of Revelation in verse 9 on page 1334. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are not, but do lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet and to know that I have loved thee. Now that's in his address to the church in Philadelphia. So let's go back to Romans chapter two. This is not the theme of my message, but these two verses, including the two verses in Revelation, are really getting a lot of attention today. I don't know if you have ventured outside or even turned on the radio or even the news, but you can see that there's a lot of tension happening in the Middle East right now and Israel is really at the center of it. And there are some that are saying these verses here are proof that the Gentile church, meaning anybody who puts their trust in Jesus Christ, has really become a Jew. This is called spiritual Israel, and it leads to a very hard doctrine called replacement theology. I want to encourage you to write that phrase down, replacement theology, which is the teaching that the church, whether it's Jew or Gentile, the church is now Israel. So Israel physically has been replaced and God is now dealing with new Israel, spiritual Israel. And they use a lot of stuff in Ezekiel and in Isaiah and in Jeremiah that talks about I'll give you a new heart, you'll be a new people. They use this as the motivation and proof text for why the church is now Israel. This comes from a type of theology called covenant theology, which ignores what I believe is basic truth, that God deals with man according to man's sin, and what God has said to do, he deals with man differently throughout ages. Now, we don't really use that phrase ages anymore, but the proper theological term is dispensationalism. In Daniel chapter nine, there's a prophecy that's made about the Messiah being cut off, but not for himself. And there was going to be a period of time before the next Messiah, so to speak, which is the Antichrist, is gonna be received and he's gonna desecrate the temple and all of that. Well, that Messiah being cut off to the actual year was when Jesus Christ was put on the cross. Now, as a result of that, God has essentially put Israel on hold. And he said, I'm now building a new thing, a thing that I have not revealed before. And he used the apostle Paul to reveal this. And this new thing is called the church, but it is separate from Israel. This is why when you study Jesus and you study His parables, especially, for example, the parables in Luke chapter 14 that discuss about all the, or excuse me, Luke chapter 15 that talk about the lost coin, the lost sheep, and then the prodigal son. all dealing with people who were lost, but they're sheep. How is that possible in light of eternal security? Well, who Jesus is addressing is the unbelieving Pharisees. In the beginning of Luke 15, it tells you where the Pharisees are. They murmured against him, which means to grumble, to sneer at his responses. And he's getting them to recognize just because you are a part of the national identity does not absolve you from meeting the standard of righteousness, which is found in the law. That's how you can have the phrase, a lost sheep. We're not talking about the church there. We're talking about a Jewish person who has all the lineage, all the heritage to be a part of God's chosen group, Israel, but they are lost because they reject the Messiah, the King, Jesus. And just in case anybody is wondering, Jesus is King. Amen? No question about that. And if you do have a question about it, you should probably figure it out before you pass away. Because the only time you'll be able to ask that question or even have anything to say is at the Great White Throne Judgment. And at that point, your fate is already sealed. This idea of replacement theology is very attractive in Calvinist doctrine, reform doctrine, because they deny dispensationalism, they accept covenant theology, and now you have things being said where it's okay to come against Israel because, well, that's not true Israel. And you say, well, what about the book of Revelation, the 144,000, all the things that happen with Israel specifically? Well, in covenant theology, here's how you explain that. It's all an allegory. It's all an illustration of what happened in 70 A.D. when Jerusalem was besieged. So they write away the very clear prophecy in Revelation, and they fill that with, it's already happened. So now you get stuff like this. Instead of you and I looking for Jesus Christ to come back, they teach this idea of kingdom building. I know we're going pretty deep here, but I want you to understand what this means. How many of you have heard that phrase before, building for the kingdom, kingdom builders, all that? It is all over the music today. I was driving in this morning, and I had the Joy FM on, and I heard that phrase, we're building for your kingdom, we're making it ready for you. Theologically, in this line of thinking with replacement theology, we as now true Israel, are preparing the world for Jesus to come back. So think of it as a status bar. Think about the last time you updated your computer. And you saw that status bar very slowly, slowly getting closer and closer to 100% and the product was installed. Well, the teaching of Replacement Theology, Covenant Theology, Reform Doctrine, as far as the last things, is we're not looking for Jesus Christ to come back. We need to prepare for him so that when he comes back, it's ready for him to rule and reign. I just have one question. How is that going? I mean, on a serious note, how is that going? Church is more divided than it's ever been. People, let's look at the second largest denomination in the United States, the United Methodist Church. How's it going with the UMC? They are having a question as to who is able to teach the Word of God. We studied this a little bit last year because there was a major vote that was coming up with the UMC, either to separate, there's a Methodist church right down the road where I was involved in some of the things, I was able to see some of the things that were going on there, and the United Methodist Church is putting scripture into buckets of truth. They're saying, well, this is timeless truth, and this bucket is, this verse, it was relevant for the time, and then they take the word of God, which Jesus says it's easier for heaven and earth to dissolve than for the Word to be changed. They take the Word of God and they say, well, this was actually wrong. And they put God on trial and they sit in the position of judge. How's it going as far as preparing the world to accept Jesus Christ? People rarely use his name. As a matter of fact, if you do use his name, you get censored, you get told you can't do that, that's insensitive, all that stuff. Let's just look at the tenor of the world. Let's put America off to the side for a second and let's look at the tenor or the temperature of the world. Is the world closer to accepting the return of Christ or further away? It's further away, folks. Christianity, and what I mean by Christianity is true Christianity, the one that accepts Jesus Christ as the Son of God, true Christianity is dwindling. Let's look at this phrase that I studied a little bit on Wednesday night. Wednesday night is kind of the time where it's devotional, and I'll read some things that I may have read. This phrase, Christian nationalism. This just popped up on my radar, but I said to you a few weeks ago, be careful that these conservatives that act like they are biblical, that you actually test them by the truth of Scripture, and you come to find out there's a lot of people that want to use all the moral, virtuously correct things of Christianity and deny that Jesus is the Son of God. People are thinking they're Christian because they're against gay marriage and because they're against abortion. And so they say, well, yeah, I'm a Christian because I vote that way. What does the Bible say about that? Romans chapter two is all about this. It's all about this idea that man can think of himself more righteously than he actually is. That's called self-righteousness. Hypocrisy. And it's not just the Gentiles. By the way, if you're curious, am I a Jew or a Gentile? If you're not a Jew, congratulations, we're Gentiles. I can't imagine beginning to address each other that way. And it's good to know that in the body of Christ, who's the head? Jesus. One body, many members, but we should, at least in our minds, we should lose our identity when we realize who we are now placed in. But that's not being taught today. There's a lot of division. There's a lot of problems going on. And in churches, it's failing the most. When I studied music in high school, I studied it for two years of middle school as well. So for six years of my life, I studied music. And in my junior year, I took music theology. I don't think that's the right term, but it was studying music as far as phrasing it. It was almost like it was a language. And one of the things that really made pieces stand out, and they become historic and they become classic, is when the phrasing, although it's intricate, it leads to a complete thought. As a trumpet player, you may have a high note. And for trumpet players, there's a lot of pride involved. You know, if you sit three trumpet players next to each other, they want to figure out who can go the highest and play the loudest and all sorts of stuff. So as a trumpet player, I may have had a favorite note. Let's just say the high C. I want to make sure that I hit that loud and clear all the time. But music is not just one note. It's a series of notes put together with slurs and proper staccato and dynamics, playing softer, playing louder, putting vibrato in, all that kind of stuff that gives it a complete thought. That's why when you listen to your favorite classical piece, it's your favorite from start to end because it tells a story, there's phrasing in it. The scripture is written with the same kind of phrasing. And in Romans chapter 2, the phrasing is, if we were to make it a comparison to classical music, it is loud, it is staccatoed, it is very dynamic, and it's pointed. The problem that's happening with Paul's, the problem that he's addressing in Romans chapter two is you think you'll stand the test of God's judgment, but you're not accepting the standard in which he judges, which is the law. Everyone's gonna be held accountable to that. You'll see that. Whether you've received the law as a Jewish person, you have the Mosaic law, or you're a Gentile and you are without the law, the same will be held to standard. And the problem is, when you get to Romans chapter three, we see that all have fallen short, myself included. But we have this idea in our country that because you're Christian, you'll be accepted and approved of by God. You can't be Christian. As it says in 1 John chapter two, you cannot claim to have God and reject the Son. That's not being taught today, and it's intentional because we, I don't want to say we, but the church, not the true church, the body of Christ, but organized religion today is dead set on being culturally relevant. We don't want to take a stand on things that will affect the money coming in. I listened to a video about a month ago of a guy who came from a mega church, and they had weekly staff meetings in which they would look at the increase or decrease of the offering and then tune their message accordingly. They run the church like a business. Well, it makes sense when you're literally millions of dollars in debt. You've got to keep the money coming in. The bills do, you know? That's why I praise God. Everything that you see here today, we're not loaning anything, amen? This property is being given to us. There's no debt on the buildings, even the units that we just put in here, the stuff that we're doing in the back, all that has been given to us. But can you imagine if we went out there and just built a building for, I don't know, $20 million or something, and all of a sudden I start preaching a certain way, biblically the truth, and people are like, we're not gonna support that, we're not gonna give to that. And then I decide instead of allowing the word of God to speak, I let the people determine what is right and wrong. That happened before in Israel. And every man did that which was right in his own eyes. I think that's a great way to define America today. People are looking for exemptions, right? Well, that's true for you, but it's not true for me. We're acting as though even the very principle of gravity is relative. Folks, if we all fall off the top of a van today, everybody's coming down. There's not one of us that are gonna go, Well, yeah, I don't identify as one who is affected by gravity. You know? But look, that's how people are treating the Bible. When the Bible says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, people go, well, not me. Not me. Because God, what you say is sin. I actually, you know, this is something that is a part of me. It's everywhere today. It's not new. Can I tell you it's not new? Don't worry, don't fret, don't act like God is up there going, I never saw this coming. Paul is addressing it, and we're gonna go all through this chapter. He's addressing it specifically so that we can know the standard of which every person on the judgment day will be judged is the law. Jesus Christ is the agent of that, and the only way you can escape that judgment of perfection is be found in him. This is why the gospel is the most important thing that we can teach. It's how people escape standing on that day in judgment. As a reminder, Romans chapter one in verse 16, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation, that is deliverance spiritually, to everyone that believeth, that's the qualifier. You want spiritual deliverance, you want eternal life, you want justification in the courtroom of God, you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and as Paul said, thou shalt be saved. to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Now look at 17, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed. Through faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith. You will be held according to the standard of the law and everybody will fall short. Everybody. So the just are gonna live an eternal life the same way Abraham experienced deliverance. And what did Abraham do? Well, he followed the Mosaic law. Wasn't even around. Wasn't even around in his time. How did Abraham experience the righteousness of God put to his account? By faith, he believed God. Now I want you to start in Romans chapter two. There are four paragraphs in this chapter I propose to you. The first one is Romans 2, verses 1-11, and I've titled this paragraph, God's Righteous Judgment. The second paragraph is verses 12-16, which is called Judgment by the Law. The next two chapters, you could probably make one chapter, but I broke them up because I thought I saw a good distinction point. But verses 17 through 23 is a warning to hypocritical teachers. That's verses 17 through 23. And then the final paragraph division is no profit in national identity, which is verses 24 through 29. Now I said all that stuff to you in the beginning because it's going to be used throughout this chapter to explain to you why we are here today, what is God doing with Israel, what is God doing with the church, and I wanna inform you that everything is going according to plan. The Antichrist is gonna have no problem in this country, zero. He's gonna have no problem in foreign countries. And the things that are happening in Israel I think they're happening as a part of God's timetable, and we are getting ready for the tribulation period in which 144,000 Jewish men will trust Jesus Christ. See, you have a major last day's issue if you say, we are the church. That's how people say, well, we're going to go through the tribulation. We're not. The tribulation is not for the Bride of Christ, it's for rebellious Israel. What do you do with the 144,000? The 12,000 from each tribe? If we are the Jews now, if we're spiritual Israel, well, you have to explain it away as some type of thing. Go talk to the Jehovah's Witnesses, they got a lot to say about that number. I think actually there are no more spots available. I really do. I think that's what they teach. You can get a different spot and maybe if someone becomes, you know, they lose their qualification status, you can step in. I don't know how all that works. Sounds like a cult, probably is. But this is how you get false teaching. You take what the Bible says clearly and you say, no, no, no, no, no. But what it really means is Careful. So those are the four paragraphs we're gonna look at today. Let's look at that first set, the first 11 verses in Romans chapter two. Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judges, for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself, for thou that judgest doeth the same things. Now we need to qualify the same things. Circle that phrase and draw it back to chapter one, verses 29 through 31. Those are the same things. So here's what's happening in Paul's audience. It's not clear whether he's addressing people fit really in the audience that were his critics, but this is kind of a diatribe, and when he goes off and he addresses the supposed idea that there may be someone who says, well, those things I don't do, so therefore I'm better in the judgment day than the person who does do those things. But Paul says right in the beginning, you have no excuse. You are inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest. This is why Christian legalism won't work. We are not supposed to be building churches in which people follow the teachings of other people. The standards that I set in my life according to how God has shown me his word, I am to do. And I will be held accountable in Christ, and I'll receive either a reward of something profitable or a reward of something that was profitless. But it is not the goal of Calvary Community Church to be like me. It's not my job to go into your lives and tell you to meet my standard of righteousness. The person who's inexcusable in chapter two, verse one, is the one who judges, and that is legalism. What's the fulfillment of the whole law in Romans chapter 13? Love, love one another. Don't you think the devil, if you just twist it one degree, He can get the whole body of Christ to attack one another. And they are. That's happening. No one's without excuse. And the very things that they look down on people and say, look at what they're doing. Paul's saying, you do the same thing. This is why I love reading on. Because people will stop in chapter one and say, because there's a very clear address against homosexuality in verses 26, 27, 28 in Romans chapter 1. And people say, well, see, that's the only sin that's, you know, you're beyond redeeming. Well, there's a whole list, the longest of its sort in the New Testament. And then in chapter 2 verse 1, it says, you guys do the same thing. Uh-oh. Continue on in verse two, but we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth. Mark that. That's how God judges, truth. And as a cross-reference, you can put down Titus chapter one in verse two, God cannot lie. Now, so many people wanna tell you that he can. So many people wanna say, well, he's a liar, he's maniacal, all this kind of stuff. God cannot lie. That's something he can't do. So when he judges according to truth, it is absolute, it is perfect truth. No one's gonna get an exemption on that day. No one's gonna be able to say except for me. He judges according to truth. And I want you to remember Romans 117, the righteousness of God is revealed in Christ. He's our escape. This is why this is so important. None of that has changed. What he said earlier is still applicable here. End of verse two, is according to truth against them which commit such things. So the position is in the courtroom, man stands on trial, God is in the position of the judge. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judges them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? And the answer is yes. There are whole groups of people that think they will be exonerated. at the great white throne judgment. You won't. You won't. And you shouldn't. Because we've all fallen short. Whether it's in the natural law or by the Mosaic law, whether you knew it or not, we did not obey. We failed. And there's not going to be any one of us that's going to stand there and say, rules for thee, but not for me. Or despisest thou, verse four, the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? The person who stands and says in a hypocritical attitude, I'm gonna judge others who are doing the same things that I'm doing, they really hate the things that are there in verse four. They hate the riches of God's goodness. They hate the forbearance and longsuffering that he has on people. Don't you know that by God's revelation of truth is how it leads you to a change of mind? But after, and I want you to highlight this, thy hardness treasures up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Because of our thick skulls and stubbornness, this is what we're earning. This is the scary thing, that people think they're laying up ammunition to receive righteous, proper judgment of God, but they're actually laying up their own destruction. Read that verse again. Treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. So all the things that they thought they were exempt from, they're gonna find out at the great white throne judgment. They were wrong and they are justly condemned. When you think of a family member or a coworker or a loved one who is trusting in their own works to save them, they will be in that group in chapter five, or excuse me, in verse five. They will be the ones who stand before God with nothing to show but their own works and they'll fall short. This is a motivation to share the gospel clearly. I don't want anybody to deceive themselves from the truth. Can you imagine if there were 800 drivers today on Hillsborough Avenue that just decided green is actually red, and vice versa? And at every red light they accelerated, and every green light they stopped? How do you think traffic would go today? It'd go poorly. You wouldn't want people to deceive themselves from the truth of those two colors. It would wreck the flow of traffic, put lives in danger. Why then are we gonna allow people to think that their good works have anything to do with their redemption before God? And I'll hear people say, well, I don't want to offend them. I'd rather communicate in love and offense than be silent and pass on their opportunity to trust Christ. I'd rather be persecuted as my Lord and my Savior Jesus Christ was persecuted than to keep my mouth quiet and to say, well, I don't want to offend. Let it be an offense. You don't know what people think in the middle of the night in the darkness of their room as they're staring up in the ceiling. You have no idea what's going through people's minds. Speak the truth in love and let the Holy Spirit do the rest of the work. When we're quiet, you know who we're partnering with? that blindeth the minds of them that believe not. You see that in 2 Corinthians 4, we take part in the work of the devil when we are quiet on the gospel. And I don't care about Christian nationalism. I don't care about this country becoming a more godly country. I'm looking for a king whose name is Jesus Christ, not looking for a better America. I know that's not going to happen. But as far as where God has planted me in my community, I want to be a light unto Jesus, not myself. But if I keep my mouth shut and say, You don't want to offend anybody. Well, guess what? You have your reward. You've done nothing. Ultimately, it's people's own responsibility to believe. Far be it from me to be a part of the devil's plan to keep people blinded from the truth. And the same for you. Look at what it says in verse six. That judgment day, which is the great white throne judgment, at that day, who will render to every man, look what it says, according to his deeds. Now there's an exemption there. And you say, well, you just told me there's no exemption. Hang on a minute. Those who are found in Christ, they're not at the great white throne judgment in the position of judgment. They're at the judgment seat of Christ, which is a whole different judgment in which that same fire, which is going to devour the adversaries, will try their works. The everyman here is everyman who has rejected the revealed truth, the revealed righteousness of God, which is found in Jesus Christ. I want you to pause for a second, hold your spot, and go to Hebrews chapter one. Just in case there's any confusion, what does the Bible say about Jesus and God? What are these things? Is there any clarity? There is, on page 1291. The writer of Hebrews begins in verse 1 through 3 explaining how God has progressively revealed His plan for deliverance. He has revealed the plan of the ages. Verse 1, God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners, which is to say in many parts and in many ways, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets. So revelation progressively was through What nation? Israel. And Israel stoned their prophets. Their fathers were the children of the devil. And that's not anti-Semitic language, folks. That's what Jesus says about the unbelieving nation of Israel. They have rejected their Messiah. Now God, in verse two, he's changed the program, not because of his lack of immutability, but because as things were revealed, he's now dealing through his Son. And look at the description of his Son. Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory and the expressed Image. Highlight that. Mark it. Make sure that stands out. The express image of His person. This is a one-for-one. He is God in the flesh. Period. And upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high, as far as the plan of salvation The payment for sin, it's been accepted, the work is done, and we're moving on, but that is in the person of Jesus Christ. Go back to Romans chapter two and verse six on page 1193. So verse six, who says, who will render to every man according to his deeds, is the person who is not found in the body of Christ and stands exposed to the judgment of the law, righteously and justly, verse seven. to them who by patient continuance and well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life. But unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that do it evil, of the Jew first and also the Greek." Why? Because the Jew has more responsibility. They have more revealed light. Same thing that was in verse 16. But glory, honor, and peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile." Now look, we don't take these passages and we say, well, look at verse 7. See, if you're patient and you continue in well-doing and you seek for glory and honor and immortality, you'll get eternal life. What is the only way that eternal life can be given by the law? Jay reminded us this morning. James 2, verse 10. You've got to keep the whole thing. If you offend in one point, you're guilty of all. Hold your spot and look in Galatians 3.10. Page 1243. This is known fact, what I'm about to read to you here. Galatians 3.10. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. Whoa, we're gonna call the law a curse? Hang on a sec, it's the goodness of God. Revealed way of righteousness. Yeah, and that's the problem folks. You and I are imperfect. For it is written, cursed is everyone that continueth not in... Now this is important. In the first ten parts, the first ten instructions, No, no, in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. And we fail in number one. We won't have any other gods before me. Folks, there are a bunch of little g-gods running around in this country. And I really believe people think of these themselves. They're at the center of their whole universe. They couldn't fathom the idea of something else outside of them of more importance. So it's not saying, go back to Romans chapter two and verse seven, that you can get eternal life by being good. You can get eternal life by being perfect, and you're not. You fall short. Remember I talked about musical phrasing? Well, the phrase continues into chapter three, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. So anyone who's trying to earn can't earn, they've fallen short, regardless of how much they knew or didn't know. There's gonna be no one who is excusable. Verse 11 is a very important verse. For there is no respect of persons with God. There is not tiered justice in God's courtroom. Everyone's gonna be held to the same standard. They're gonna be judged according to their works. And you may say, well, what about the respect that God has for His Son? I'm glad you asked. He's the elect one. People are trying to figure out in Reformed doctrine, who's the elect? If everybody here represented the entire world, it's like, which one of us are God's elect? It's one that's the elect. It's Christ Jesus. And be found in Him. So God doesn't have respective persons regarding his son. His son is the chosen one. And all those who are found in him, they're predestined through eternal life, period. How do you be found in him? Romans 1 16, whosoever believeth. See how simple this is? How does it get complicated? The devil, workspace religion, changing the clear meaning of God's word into something else. Now we're moving into the second paragraph. That's verses 12 through 16. Judgment by the law. For as many as have sinned without the law." Pause for a second there. Those are Gentiles. You say, well, they're without the law. Well, hang on. Keep reading. But we're talking about Gentiles there, meaning they were not given the Mosaic law as the Jews have been given. For as many as have sinned without the law shall also perish without the law. And as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law. So you have the whole world there. Those who have not received the law, the Gentile people, and those who have received the law, the Jewish people, regardless, they're all gonna perish. And you go, well, wait a second. If the standard of God's judgment is the law, then how can those who stand and say, I don't know the law, be properly judged? Well, keep on. For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. We'll get to that phrase in a minute, but look at this. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature. What does that mean, do by nature? It's a matter of conscience. Let me ask you a question. When Cain slew Abel, was it not murder because the mosaic law was not yet written? It was murder, it was wrong. When the serpent deceived Eve, was it not yet sin because it had not been declared sin by the Mosaic law? There is a natural law and order and conscious to things. When we have people in our society who kill somebody else and they don't feel bad about it, we say something's wrong with that person, something's not right. But none of us can stand here today and act like we don't know the difference between right and wrong. We're going to go before God and play dumb. I didn't know. You knew. And what is being said here is the ones who didn't have the law, they still do obedience to the law. It's a matter of right and wrong, not just a class of people. He's getting to a point there. Do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law, are a law unto themselves, which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their minds, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts demean while accusing or else excusing one another, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men." What is the secrets of men? The stuff that goes on up here. You ever had somebody lie to your face? All the outward is right, but this is where the problem is. And if we're all honest, and that's a big if, you know you've got stuff going on up here that condemns you. In Matthew 5, 6, and 7, Jesus talks all about this ideology. This idea, if it doesn't really matter about the outward appearance or class of people, it matters about what's going on on the inside. You go into the sacrifice hall to make a sacrifice, but you have hate with your brother, leave the sacrifice, figure it out with your brother. You say, I haven't committed adultery, but you've looked upon another person with lust, you have committed adultery. That condemns everybody as a sinner, and it goes on. You have hate in your heart, Jesus says, you have hate in your heart towards a brother, you have committed murder. We're all, we are all condemned. And you say, well, I'm a Gentile, so I was not given the Mosaic Law. The law of natural conscience. You know the difference between right and wrong. That's when kids become, that's when they go from infants to toddlers. When they can understand there's right and wrong, and I can choose the wrong thing. How fun is that, mom and dad? How fun is that? And how unwise would it be as parents to say, oh, that's not really happening. Nobody likes a kid that is undisciplined. Can they be a danger to themselves? Can they be a danger to others? Kids know the difference between right and wrong. Kids do. And we're going to act like adults and be like, well, I don't know. I wasn't given the law. Look at verse 13. I said we were going to come back to that. For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. And who can do the law? See, people pick this out in Lordship Salvation. They say, see, you've got to keep doing and keep doing or else you'll forfeit salvation. This is condemning everybody. Who can do the whole law? Nobody. Let's say you never heard the Mosaic Law and you're a liar. You've sinned against natural conscience. You are condemned as well. Verse 16 there, the agent of that judgment is Christ by Paul's gospel. And what's Paul's gospel message? You see it in Romans 1, 16-17. You say, why does he keep going back to that? Because that's the linchpin of the whole book. Look at verse 17 now, getting into this next paragraph. A warning to hypocritical teachers. Verse 17, Behold, thou art called a Jew. Now he has clearly switched his audience. He's clearly switched who he's addressing in his audience. Look at what he says. Behold, thou art called a Jew. And he even defines further, and resteth in the law. Rest here is in the sense that they rest in some type of security because of who they are nationally. They think because we're a part of God's program, we are exempted from whatever the Gentiles judged against. And there's a mark for that. There's a physical mark for that. It's called circumcision. It's given as a sign to Abraham as a part of God's program. The Jewish culture believes that if a male is circumcised, it protects him from the judgment that happens at the Judgment Day. And Paul is teaching otherwise. You're gonna see at the end of the chapter, God takes more pleasure in a Gentile who is seeking after him, who is God-fearing, than he does take a Jew who is circumcised and is a hypocrite to the law. You'll see that when we get to the end of the chapter. And makest thy boast of God, meaning we are of God, 17. And knowest his will, do they know his will? Yeah. And approvest the things that are more excellent. Absolutely, seeking after righteousness. Being instructed out of the law, they get right from the food source. And art confident that thou thyself art a guide. Now that's where we address teachers. of the blind, those who do not know the law, a light of them which are in darkness. Thou, therefore, which teachest another, thou not thyself, thou that preachest to man, should not steal, dost thou steal? Uh-oh, what's being addressed there? Oh, sorry, I skipped verse 20. An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which has the form of knowledge and the truth of the law, So he's talking about all the things that a Jewish person could rightly instruct a Gentile person in the way of righteousness, which is to follow the law. But look at what is said in verse 21. Thou therefore which teachest another teachest thou not thyself. This is the perfect example of a hypocrite. Somebody who says to do something and then does the very thing that they teach against. He's saying you got all this access, all this knowledge, and you're not doing the very things that you teach. Thou that preachest, a man should not steal. Dost thou steal? The answer is yes. Thou that sayest, a man should not commit adultery. Dost thou commit adultery? Well, according to Jesus's standard, the answer is yes. Thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege, the worship of idols? The answer is yes. Now people, you won't believe this, or maybe you will, people will take those three things and say, if you avoid those three things, then you're good. What about verses 29 through 31 in chapter one? All of that, which includes being disobedient to parents. All of that, which includes debate, deceit, gossip. Paul said in chapter two, verse one, you're inexcusable, you do the same things. So just because he mentioned three things here and didn't mention the rest, doesn't mean that it's just the big bad sins that'll send you to hell. What organized religion teaches that today? The Catholic Church. Mortal sins and venial sins. Well, there's some that'll really send you, and sorry, you're not gonna get there unless you have a real big check. Or there's some that are not that bad and you can kind of pray them out. You know, you can do a couple Hail Marys and stuff. Folks, this is why with our current president, there was such a debate about is he really a Catholic? Because he supports abortion. And you say, well, let me ask you a question. Does it make you a Catholic if you're against abortion? If that's the standard of Catholicism, it's against the righteousness of God. What's the standard of which you'll be judged by the law? Well, I didn't commit that sin. What about the other ones? People are going to be falling short. This is how you can imagine when it says every mouth will be stopped. There'll be no bickering and back and forth defense before God. You're condemned. Justly so. In Luke chapter, it's either 16 or 19, I think it's 16, when we see the rich man and Lazarus, when the rich man is told that gulf cannot be passed, he no longer advocates for himself, but he advocates for the ones who are still alive, who can make the choice of belief. I take that to mean when the people stand before God at the great white throne judgment, there will be no one who thinks it's an unfair trial. they will know that they are justly condemned. And that's why I want to share the gospel. I want people to avoid that. And I don't really care as much if they grow spiritually. That's between them and God. And I'm going to set the standard for that. But I'd rather them be there than miss it. Continue now into verse 23. Thou that makest thy boast of the law through breaking the law dishonorest thou God. You boast on the law, refer back to verse 17, but then you break it. Here's the last paragraph, meaning there's no profit in national identity. Now listen, we're getting close to the end here. What we've just done is called a contextual study. In the beginning, I cherry-picked four verses. Romans 2.28, 29, Revelation 2.9, Revelation 3.9. And I told you how people build some type of doctrine that the believer now is the new church. Contextually speaking, is Paul addressing the difference between a true Jew in the conversion of the church, or is he addressing the hypocrisy within the Jewish teachings? He's addressing the hypocrisy. Now, if you delete verses one through 27, you can make 28 and 29 sound however you want, but we don't get to do that. Surprise, surprise. We have to read it all in context. Look at 24, for the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you as it is written. What does that mean? The very goodness of God is defamed by the hypocrisy of Jewish teachers. That doesn't mean I'm anti-Israel or that you should be either. But folks, we should all be against hypocrisy. Can we all agree on that today? There's nothing worse than having somebody tell you to do something and hold you to a standard which they don't follow themselves. We saw that type of stuff when everything was going on with COVID. People losing their jobs because they're willing to make choices to protect their own body. And then the very people that were taking those jobs away were not doing the things they were requiring of others. We saw governors have great banquets and meals and they're sitting six centimeters away from each other and we're told we can't stand in a grocery line. We see people demand and kick people out because they're not wearing proper facial protection and proper facial protection is a whole nother discussion. What is really proper? But you see all this stuff happen and then you see what those very same people do is they're not wearing their stuff, they're not doing what they tell you to do and that really sent our nation in an interesting direction, did it not? It's going to be much worse for the teacher who tells people to do things that they don't do and they all reject Christ. There will be harsh judgment for them. Look at verse six, who will render to every man according to his deeds. There are three things that Paul has laid out here in regards to God's judgment. Write these down. God will judge according to reality. We can change how things are in reality by the outward appearance and the inward deception, but God will judge according to true reality, both the thoughts and the intents. He will judge the outward actions, whether they are outward honestly or outward covertly, meaning you're trying to deceive somebody by the things that you do. And he will also judge impartially. By the way, that's good news. All those kids walking out, them taters are getting ready. That's good news. but he's also gonna judge impartially, meaning he's not gonna have some person say, well, you're a Gentile, so you get different treatment, and you're a Jew, and you get different treatment. Now, look into verse 25. For circumcision, this is the physical sign in a male, a Jewish male, verily, now Jesus used that word verily too. What does that word verily mean? It means truthfully. So when it says, for circumcision verily profiteth, it means it does have profitability. You are obeying a part of the law. God's gonna honor that, but he's not gonna take that one and say it's keeping all. Do you see what the difference is there? Because a lot of people say, well, I've done 80%, so I won't be judged as harshly because there are people who only did 20%. You gotta do 100%. Remember Galatians 3.10, cursed are those who are under the law, they have to keep the whole thing, they continue with not in all things. Boy, I got good news for you at the end of this, I've got real good news. If thou keep the law, but if thou be a breaker of the law, and you're circumcised, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. Now, you think, well, hang on a second, you mean things physically change? That's not what he means. What he means is, if you're circumcised and you've kept that part of the law, but you break the rest, it's as if you weren't circumcised at all. What standard does that set? 100% obedience. Of which he is trying to get his audience to see, none of you meet, none of you meet that standard. Look at verse 27. and shall not uncircumcision, which is by nature, if it fulfill the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision does transgress the law. Meaning, if the heathen uncircumcised Gentiles do the things which the law says to do, they'll be able to judge over you even though you have the circumcision. You're a part of the whole plan and you're gonna miss out. This is all assuming everybody can do it, but he's trying to address those in his audience who may be self-righteous and claim their national identity as a part of an exclusion to get to think honestly. Then we have verse 28. For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly. What is the outwardly a reference to here? That he's born of a certain tribe? that he has national inheritance, he's talking about those who are Jewish by the physical mark of circumcision, by that obedient. 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. See, it has to do with what the Jewish person believes. And circumcision is that of the heart. Now we're not talking about physical circumcision on an individual. We're talking about a circumcision of the mind. This is an illustration for a change. Something has changed in the way that they think and perceive. And circumcision is that of the heart and the spirit and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God. Who's going to receive the praise of God at the great white throne judgment? Nobody will receive that praise. Who has already received God's praise and acceptance? Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Of which, in the time of this writing, the Jewish people rejected. So you can't read the church into verse 29. It's not addressing the church. It is addressing the Jew who thinks he is better than because he's done physical things and parts of the law, but he hasn't done them all. Paul is trying to win that person. Go to chapter 9. Page 1202. I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, whose are the fathers, and of whom are concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all God blessed forever. Amen. This is Paul's heart of which the Holy Spirit allowed to be revealed. If he could have, and he can't, he would have forfeited his redemption in exchange for his nation's deliverance. Paul did not hate his people, he loved them. But he knew they were in a position of impending judgment because they rejected the very thing. Look at verse four. The adoption, glory, covenants, giving of the law, service of God, promises, the fathers, all that concerning to the actual deliverance of Christ. That lineage, he's a rightful heir to the throne. That's all through the Jewish people, through Israel. And they're gonna forfeit it all. They're gonna miss it because they reject him. That's what verse 28 and 29 is talking about. You're not just a Jew because you're born into the family or because you received circumcision. What have you done about Jesus Christ? And that doesn't matter whether you're Jew or Gentile. Everyone's gonna be held to the same standard. I hope you're tracking with me. I really do. Because this is the prayer of our lives. Our prayer is for Israel to accept their Messiah, period. That's my heart. That should be yours as well. And when we put Jesus aside and we adopt politics, we allow the devil to blind people from the truth. God is gonna do the work that only he can do through his people. We are being used right now to be a light, and that light is coming out. That light is going away. It's gonna be gone real quick. And this world is going to plunge into darkness that Jesus says no period of time has ever seen before. And the Antichrist is going to step in, and he's going to be welcomed and accepted. And even God's people are going to accept him. And there'll be peace on the earth in word only. There'll be disasters, both natural and spiritual. There'll be plagues. And in the end of that three and a half years, that Antichrist is going to receive a deadly wound, as Revelation 13 says. and he's gonna appear to come back from the dead, but he will be indwelt by Satan, and then he will go to that third temple, which will be built and functional, and he will desecrate the temple, and then Jesus says, pray that your flight is not in the winter. And he will murder God's people. But God is preserving 144,000. Yes, they're of a certain tribe. Yes, they're Jews. But the difference between them and the national identity of Israel today is they will believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Son of God, who shed his blood, was buried and rose again to pay for their sins. And God will use them to reach people in the tribulation period. We're not there yet. But we need to be about that message. I know I speak strongly and it's not to scare you or to put some type of false power. I'm bearing my heart to you. Don't get caught up in things that don't matter. They don't matter. Keep your eyes on Jesus. When I go outside and I see a beautiful sunset, it happens right now, especially with this time of year, every Sunday night and sometimes on Wednesday night. I'll walk out there and I'll see a little splash of orange and slight purple and pink and it's right over the church sign and I see it. And my heart hopes that one day I'll look on that Sunday night and I'll see my Savior. I'm looking for Him. I'm not looking for anything or anybody else. And the tears I shed now are not out of sadness. Most of the time when I get emotional, it's because I'm overwhelmed with joy. There's nothing greater in this life than having Jesus Christ and he knows me. There's nothing greater. And how dare we allow people to twist scripture to meet their own political agenda. I pray for their souls. Because if they die in that state of unbelief, that day will be intolerable. But they will be without excuse. And I am not the hand of God for judgment. Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord. I'm supposed to humble myself and reach those, even if they take my own life, I'm supposed to reach them with the truth. And in Romans 9, 1 through 5, the very impossible thing Paul wishes could have been done so that his kindred would be saved. This is just where we are today, folks. It's just where we're at. You don't hear preaching like this because this kind of preaching is not popular. Well, too bad. It's the truth. It's the truth. You've got people in your lives. You've got neighbors in your community who I believe are a part of your responsibility to win. And you say, how do I do that? Go talk to him. I know, that sounds crazy. Sometimes we see our neighbor and we're like. We go into Jurassic Park mode. He won't see you if you don't move. You know how you get over your fear of talking to your neighbor? You take a step down in your own self-importance and love them. You praying for your neighbors? Say, why are you focused on neighbors? I mean, you live right next to each other. I mean, you live, literally, you live a majority of your life next to each other. Reach out. In the community that I live in, I live in a townhouse community. You can close your Bibles, we're coming to an end here. And we have these dumpsters that everybody shares. And there's times where I'll walk out there and my neighbor will be walking right alongside me. I think that's a great opportunity. And we'll talk and we'll chat. My neighbor across from me, his name was Lenny and he passed away in 2021. Lenny was a very, very proud man. He loved his national identity. He loved his food. He loved to come and talk to me. Well, that's great. I remember sitting down in the little porch, which looks just like mine, just from a different angle. I remember sharing the gospel with Lenny. I remember going back to my house and saying, there's no greater joy than being able to make that message clear to Lenny. As far as I know, he stuck with his Greek Orthodox tradition. And I pray he changed his mind, but I gave him the gospel as I could. I might not have liked the things that Lenny said and did. He may have been a hard person for me, but I'm willing to let all that go and reach him with the truth. That's what we need in our communities. We don't need bigger this. We don't need a new building project and all of that. They met in houses in the early church. This is a blessing. You realize how much of a blessing this is? That law enforcement can drive by up and down and they can't infringe upon our right to be here. This was not something that they had in the early church, not even close. Keep Jesus the main focus, please, I beg you. And if you need help, you need equipment, tools, whatever it is, we will equip you to do that. That should be my job. I take that job very seriously. How many of you learned something today? Okay, good. I was a little nervous there. two hands went up, and one of them was my wife, you know, so I was like, ugh. We talked about who will render every man according to his works. And the agent of that judgment is Christ. We talked about how he's the elect. You may be here today and you say, Pastor, I have no idea whether I'm going to be at the judgment there where I will earn according to my works or whether I'll be found in Christ. You can know that. We had a funeral here about three weeks ago. And through the life of a man who was vocal about his faith, There were three people that put their trust in Jesus Christ at his funeral. I've done a lot of funerals. It's a really good opportunity for people to understand, yes, I'm going to pass too, and I don't know if I'm going to see my loved one or be accepted by God. You can have that assurance. The Bible teaches of that. The type of life that is given upon those who believe in Jesus Christ is eternal life. This hand represents you and me. This block of sin represents sin. I put it on top of my hand because as we just saw in Romans chapter two, none of us are gonna make it. We all fall short. God loves us, yes, but he hates sin. And as the righteous judge, this will be judged. It separates us from him. To get to heaven, you have to be sinless, without any sin, and we all fall short. Doesn't matter if you're Jew or Gentile. The standard is perfection, and we can't make it. The word death means separation. And those who die without having a payment put to their account will be judged according to the law, they'll be found wanting, and they'll spend an eternity separated from God in a literal fire-burning hell. But God loves us. He made a way for us. But the devil also hates us and wants to deceive us. And he tells man what man already knows. I think I'm somebody. I'm not as bad as this person. And so people start to amass a whole pile of good works. And they say, well, all these things are a part. of how God can redeem me. The wages of sin is death. It's not good works. This hand represents Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, fully God and fully man. And what Jesus did is He took that sin, which we could never pay, He became sin for us. He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Salvation is not do, do, do. Salvation is done. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever, people don't like that, that's too bad, that's how God chose it. Whosoever, anybody, believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Salvation was accomplished on the cross. Salvation is applied to you when you believe that Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, shed his blood, was buried and rose again three days later, and he did that to pay for your sin. And something miraculous happens, something that God has been working on from the foundation of the world. You, the sinner, me, the sinner, become justified eternally by the blood of Christ. And there's no mountain, no government, no evil work that could ever separate what God has done. Amen? You can rest secured in Him. Would you bow your heads and close your eyes? Nobody looking around. We've got a great meal prepared for you in the back. A lot of hard work has been done. Those kids, not only are they working, but they're also learning. Would you pray for those kids? Society wants to cast kids off. They want to teach them things that are not true. Would you pray for them and pray for our volunteers and staffers at the church who work with them? More importantly, if you're here today and you say, Pastor, I changed my mind this morning. I walked into your church and I said, I'm trusting in myself or my good works or the fact that I'm not that bad to get to heaven, but I've learned if the standard is perfection, I fall short. And today I've changed my mind and put my trust in the Son of God, Jesus Christ. I'd like to pray for you. Would you raise your hand and let me know? Raising your hand doesn't save you, it just lets me know that you've believed on Jesus Christ and you know you're going to heaven. Anyone before we close? Heads are bowed and eyes are still closed. Don't be deceived. Stay close to your Savior. Stay buried in the word. And go reach others with the gospel. We do not have much time left. Pastor, how much time? I don't know. Less than we did yesterday. Father, thank you for all that you've given us. I pray for the food in the back, that it would be blessed to nourishment of our body, and thank you for the spiritual food that we've received this morning. In the precious, wonderful name of Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, we pray these things, amen.