WEBVTT 00:00:01.740 --> 00:00:03.879 Now, would you please take your Bible and turn 00:00:03.879 --> 00:00:11.640 with me into the book of Romans? We're going 00:00:11.640 --> 00:00:14.240 today to look at the last half of Romans chapter 00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:21.480 2. This section of Romans, remember, deals with 00:00:21.480 --> 00:00:27.760 the matter of sin. In chapter 1, he deals with 00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:32.409 God's righteous judgment upon the pagan. the 00:00:32.409 --> 00:00:36.390 immoral people who degenerate because of their 00:00:36.390 --> 00:00:39.009 rejection of the knowledge of God and their suppression 00:00:39.009 --> 00:00:44.390 of the truth of God. Now lest there be some who 00:00:44.390 --> 00:00:48.250 were moral and who would condemn the immoral 00:00:48.250 --> 00:00:50.429 and thus think themselves. Thank you, sir. It 00:00:50.429 --> 00:00:53.270 is coffee, isn't it? Well, bless you anyway, 00:00:53.469 --> 00:01:00.969 John. Lest there be some moral do -gooders, if 00:01:00.969 --> 00:01:03.850 we may use that term, who would condemn the immoral 00:01:03.850 --> 00:01:05.989 and think themselves to be righteous because 00:01:05.989 --> 00:01:08.930 they had higher moral standards, the apostle 00:01:08.930 --> 00:01:11.349 in the first part of chapter 2 condemns them. 00:01:12.150 --> 00:01:14.950 He says, you who condemn the immoral, don't you 00:01:14.950 --> 00:01:17.069 realize that you do some of the same kinds of 00:01:17.069 --> 00:01:20.010 things yourselves, if not indeed, at least in 00:01:20.010 --> 00:01:23.769 thought? You reject the kindness of God, which 00:01:23.769 --> 00:01:26.920 is intended to lead you to repentance? You have 00:01:26.920 --> 00:01:31.120 a stubborn, unrepentant heart which stores up 00:01:31.120 --> 00:01:33.719 God's wrath which will be poured out upon you. 00:01:35.219 --> 00:01:38.659 And then in chapter 2 verse 17 he begins to deal 00:01:38.659 --> 00:01:42.519 with the Jew. Now the Jew may have been in mind 00:01:42.519 --> 00:01:45.519 in these first 16 verses as well. He doesn't 00:01:45.519 --> 00:01:48.980 specifically mention them, but he does now. He 00:01:48.980 --> 00:01:52.439 comes to the Jews who did feel themselves quite 00:01:52.439 --> 00:01:57.409 righteous. and quite in contrast to the immoral 00:01:57.409 --> 00:02:01.010 people of the world and the idolaters of the 00:02:01.010 --> 00:02:04.870 world, they felt themselves superior to them 00:02:04.870 --> 00:02:10.409 as we shall see here in our text today. Now you, 00:02:10.509 --> 00:02:14.370 if you call yourself a Jew, if you rely on the 00:02:14.370 --> 00:02:17.650 law and brag about your relationship to God, 00:02:18.969 --> 00:02:22.689 if you know his will, and approve of what is 00:02:22.689 --> 00:02:27.729 superior because you are instructed by the law, 00:02:28.370 --> 00:02:31.330 if you are convinced that you are a guide for 00:02:31.330 --> 00:02:34.889 the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, 00:02:35.650 --> 00:02:39.289 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, 00:02:39.969 --> 00:02:43.330 because you have in the law the embodiment of 00:02:43.330 --> 00:02:47.090 knowledge and truth, you then who teach others. 00:02:47.750 --> 00:02:51.240 Do you not teach yourself? You who preach against 00:02:51.240 --> 00:02:55.099 stealing, do you steal? You who say that people 00:02:55.099 --> 00:02:58.259 should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? 00:02:59.620 --> 00:03:06.159 You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? Do you 00:03:06.159 --> 00:03:09.819 brag about the law? You who brag about the law, 00:03:09.960 --> 00:03:13.979 do you dishonor God by breaking the law? As it 00:03:13.979 --> 00:03:17.740 is written, God's name is blasphemed among the 00:03:17.740 --> 00:03:22.780 Gentiles because of you. Circumcision has value 00:03:22.780 --> 00:03:26.039 if you observe the law, but if you break the 00:03:26.039 --> 00:03:29.500 law, you have become as though you had not been 00:03:29.500 --> 00:03:33.400 circumcised. If those who are not circumcised 00:03:33.400 --> 00:03:36.699 keep the law's requirements, will they not be 00:03:36.699 --> 00:03:40.120 regarded as though they were circumcised? The 00:03:40.120 --> 00:03:43.400 one who is not circumcised physically and yet 00:03:43.400 --> 00:03:46.879 obeys the law will condemn you, who, even though 00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:49.969 you have the written code in circumcision, or 00:03:49.969 --> 00:03:54.150 a law -breaker. A man is not a Jew if he is only 00:03:54.150 --> 00:03:58.330 one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward 00:03:58.330 --> 00:04:03.789 and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one 00:04:03.789 --> 00:04:07.789 inwardly, and circumcision is circumcision of 00:04:07.789 --> 00:04:11.650 the heart by the spirit, not by the written code. 00:04:12.710 --> 00:04:15.530 Such a man's praise is not from men, but from 00:04:15.530 --> 00:04:23.829 God. Having showed to us the righteous judgment 00:04:23.829 --> 00:04:29.149 of God upon the moral do -gooders of verses 1 00:04:29.149 --> 00:04:33.089 through 16, the Apostle now focuses particularly 00:04:33.089 --> 00:04:36.709 upon the Jew. So we have said the Jew prided 00:04:36.709 --> 00:04:41.089 himself in his outward righteousness. But what 00:04:41.089 --> 00:04:44.370 the Bible tells us is that this outward righteousness, 00:04:44.889 --> 00:04:48.449 or this self -righteousness, is no righteousness 00:04:48.779 --> 00:04:52.600 in the sight of God. That is an important thing 00:04:52.600 --> 00:04:55.339 to understand because there are many people in 00:04:55.339 --> 00:04:58.019 America today who call themselves Christians 00:04:58.019 --> 00:05:03.319 who are priding themselves in their self -righteousness 00:05:03.319 --> 00:05:06.019 and are planning to get to heaven on the basis 00:05:06.019 --> 00:05:10.279 of what they can do for God rather than on the 00:05:10.279 --> 00:05:12.379 basis of what God has done for them in Christ. 00:05:14.699 --> 00:05:16.399 So it's an important thing to understand that 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:19.430 self -righteousness is no righteousness in the 00:05:19.430 --> 00:05:23.149 sight of God. We have an example in John chapter 00:05:23.149 --> 00:05:27.949 3 of a man who was a Jew and who was depending 00:05:27.949 --> 00:05:30.569 upon his self -righteousness. Would you turn 00:05:30.569 --> 00:05:33.069 there with me to this familiar story, please? 00:05:36.870 --> 00:05:46.709 John chapter 3. That coffee's poisoned, you know 00:05:46.709 --> 00:05:49.639 that? I may die before I get out of here this 00:05:49.639 --> 00:05:56.560 morning. In John chapter 3, we have the record 00:05:56.560 --> 00:06:00.240 of Nicodemus. And it says, now there was a man 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:04.319 of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of 00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:08.720 the Jewish ruling council. This man was a ruler 00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:13.579 of the Jews. The ruling council was called what? 00:06:15.019 --> 00:06:18.259 Sanhedrin. He was a part of that distinguished 00:06:18.259 --> 00:06:23.160 elite group. He was a part of the sect of the 00:06:23.160 --> 00:06:28.420 Pharisees, which was a very strict sect of Jews. 00:06:29.100 --> 00:06:32.399 They would be compared perhaps to the fundamentalists 00:06:32.399 --> 00:06:36.240 of Christianity in the sense that they were concerned 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:42.120 about the exactness of the law and their attempts 00:06:42.120 --> 00:06:45.829 were to keep the law as perfectly as they possibly 00:06:45.829 --> 00:06:50.949 could, and they felt that they did that. And 00:06:50.949 --> 00:06:52.930 it says that this man came to Jesus at night 00:06:52.930 --> 00:06:56.009 and said, Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who 00:06:56.009 --> 00:06:59.209 comes from God. And so he had respect for Jesus, 00:06:59.209 --> 00:07:01.110 but he really did not have a full appreciation 00:07:01.110 --> 00:07:04.769 of who Jesus was at this point. He says no one 00:07:04.769 --> 00:07:07.670 could perform the miracles, the miraculous signs 00:07:07.670 --> 00:07:12.259 you are doing, if God were not with him. In reply, 00:07:12.579 --> 00:07:15.860 Jesus declared, I tell you the truth. Unless 00:07:15.860 --> 00:07:19.019 a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom 00:07:19.019 --> 00:07:22.560 of God. And so the conversation follows that. 00:07:23.379 --> 00:07:27.720 Jesus does not respond to this man's statement 00:07:27.720 --> 00:07:30.560 actually, but he deals with the real need that 00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:33.620 Nicodemus had. Nicodemus was depending upon his 00:07:33.620 --> 00:07:36.740 righteousness as a Pharisee. The fact that he 00:07:36.740 --> 00:07:39.899 had kept the outward law. He went through the 00:07:39.899 --> 00:07:43.319 ceremonies. He did what he was supposed to do. 00:07:43.620 --> 00:07:47.079 He was a Pharisee, a righteous man in the sight 00:07:47.079 --> 00:07:50.600 of the Jewish religion. But Jesus speaks directly 00:07:50.600 --> 00:07:53.699 to the man's need. He says, Nicodemus, unless 00:07:53.699 --> 00:07:56.139 you are born again, you will never see the kingdom 00:07:56.139 --> 00:07:59.699 of God. You see, Nicodemus had the need to be 00:07:59.699 --> 00:08:03.379 born anew, on the inside, to be born from above. 00:08:04.040 --> 00:08:06.160 He had to have a new birth in order to be acceptable 00:08:06.160 --> 00:08:09.620 in God's sight. And the blessed report of the 00:08:09.620 --> 00:08:12.360 Gospel of John is that Nicodemus, over the process 00:08:12.360 --> 00:08:15.660 of time, came to a saving knowledge of Christ. 00:08:16.379 --> 00:08:19.819 He was one of the two men who did what? He took 00:08:19.819 --> 00:08:22.060 Jesus' body down from the cross and laid it in 00:08:22.060 --> 00:08:25.740 the tomb. And so he identified with Christ and 00:08:25.740 --> 00:08:28.860 in that sense gave an open confession of his 00:08:28.860 --> 00:08:31.399 faith and his understanding of who Christ was 00:08:31.399 --> 00:08:35.820 and is. And so we have in Nicodemus an illustration 00:08:35.820 --> 00:08:38.299 of this truth that self -righteousness is no 00:08:38.299 --> 00:08:41.100 righteousness as far as God is concerned. No 00:08:41.100 --> 00:08:43.200 matter how good a person may be, no matter how 00:08:43.200 --> 00:08:47.539 sincere in his religion, no matter how many rites 00:08:47.539 --> 00:08:50.440 or rituals he may have gone through in the name 00:08:50.440 --> 00:08:53.159 of God, in the name of his church, that kind 00:08:53.159 --> 00:08:56.259 of righteousness is no righteousness as far as 00:08:56.259 --> 00:08:59.879 God is concerned. It is not the kind of righteousness 00:08:59.879 --> 00:09:03.120 that a man needs to get into heaven. Now let's 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:09.200 go back to Romans chapter 2. I say again, if 00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:12.379 personal righteousness, if self -righteousness 00:09:12.379 --> 00:09:14.360 had been enough, the Nicodemus would not have 00:09:14.360 --> 00:09:16.740 been told, you must be born again. He would have 00:09:16.740 --> 00:09:20.460 been okay. But that's not what Jesus told him. 00:09:21.299 --> 00:09:23.620 Now Paul explains in the text that we've read 00:09:23.620 --> 00:09:28.419 today three important facts about the Jews' relationship 00:09:28.419 --> 00:09:33.669 to God. He talks about the privilege which the 00:09:33.669 --> 00:09:39.009 Jew had in verses 17 through 20, and then he 00:09:39.009 --> 00:09:42.409 talks about the problem of the Jew, verses 21 00:09:42.409 --> 00:09:47.370 through 27, and finally the proof of a true Jew, 00:09:48.370 --> 00:09:54.009 verses 28 and 29. The Jew was a highly privileged 00:09:54.009 --> 00:09:59.460 person. The name Jew itself was one thing which 00:09:59.460 --> 00:10:02.600 they prided themselves. This name is first found 00:10:02.600 --> 00:10:06.019 in the King James translation at least, in 2 00:10:06.019 --> 00:10:11.360 Kings chapter 16 and verse 6. It was a term that 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:15.840 originally referred to the citizens of the southern 00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:19.600 kingdom of Judah, as opposed to the northern 00:10:19.600 --> 00:10:23.259 kingdom, which was called Israel. You remember 00:10:23.259 --> 00:10:28.860 that the tribes divided. after the death of Solomon, 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:31.679 so that there was a northern kingdom and a southern 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:35.220 kingdom. The northern kingdom adopted the name 00:10:35.220 --> 00:10:37.799 Israel, the southern kingdom adopted the name 00:10:37.799 --> 00:10:42.379 Judah. From the time of the Babylonian captivity, 00:10:43.059 --> 00:10:45.360 that was a time when Babylon came into the southern 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:49.500 kingdom and took the people away, from that time 00:10:49.500 --> 00:10:53.600 it seems that this term Jew began to be used 00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:57.559 of Israelites generally and not just those who 00:10:57.559 --> 00:10:59.820 had been a part of the southern kingdom and the 00:10:59.820 --> 00:11:03.360 reason for that was that By that time there were 00:11:03.360 --> 00:11:07.080 not too many who are pure -blooded Jews who had 00:11:07.080 --> 00:11:08.799 been a part of the northern kingdom they had 00:11:08.799 --> 00:11:11.159 gone into captivity over a hundred years before 00:11:11.159 --> 00:11:15.000 that and Because they were an ungodly nation 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:18.159 actually there were not many of them left the 00:11:18.159 --> 00:11:20.980 larger portion of the people who returned ultimately 00:11:20.980 --> 00:11:24.539 to Palestine and who reestablished the temple 00:11:24.539 --> 00:11:27.379 and the walls of Jerusalem and so on, were members 00:11:27.379 --> 00:11:30.500 of the southern kingdom of Judah. Most of them 00:11:30.500 --> 00:11:33.340 were. And thus most of them, or rather all of 00:11:33.340 --> 00:11:36.360 them, acquired this name Jew at that point. And 00:11:36.360 --> 00:11:38.139 you can see where they get the name Jew. It's 00:11:38.139 --> 00:11:41.320 from Judah. It's a condensation of that word. 00:11:41.419 --> 00:11:45.460 So a Jew is one who is of Judah, the southern 00:11:45.460 --> 00:11:48.740 kingdom, but now applying to all people who are 00:11:48.740 --> 00:11:53.009 descendants of Israel. Now the apostle points 00:11:53.009 --> 00:11:58.909 out ten benefits or ten advantages which the 00:11:58.909 --> 00:12:01.570 Jew had. We're just going to go through this 00:12:01.570 --> 00:12:05.830 list quickly. The first benefit is that he could 00:12:05.830 --> 00:12:10.389 call himself a Jew. In other words, he was a 00:12:10.389 --> 00:12:13.990 descendant of Israel or Jacob, as he was called 00:12:13.990 --> 00:12:18.149 earlier. He could call himself a Jew, one who 00:12:18.149 --> 00:12:22.440 was related to the patriarchs, Abraham. Isaac 00:12:22.440 --> 00:12:26.639 and Jacob. And as the Apostle writes this, he 00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:30.500 emphasizes that word Jew, a Jew you call yourself. 00:12:31.659 --> 00:12:33.659 You see, to be called a Jew, they felt was a 00:12:33.659 --> 00:12:37.539 real privilege, and indeed it was. And then he 00:12:37.539 --> 00:12:41.580 says, if you rely on the law, the second advantage 00:12:41.580 --> 00:12:43.860 or benefit which they had as a part of their 00:12:43.860 --> 00:12:47.299 privilege was that they had the law, and they 00:12:47.299 --> 00:12:50.990 relied upon it. They possessed God's truth, and 00:12:50.990 --> 00:12:54.970 that truth came to them through revelation. You 00:12:54.970 --> 00:12:59.610 see, the Old Testament is not a record of man's 00:12:59.610 --> 00:13:03.929 groping after God, as some people try to tell 00:13:03.929 --> 00:13:07.909 us, but it is the record of God revealing himself 00:13:07.909 --> 00:13:11.730 to man. There's a real difference. There are 00:13:11.730 --> 00:13:13.570 some people who see the Old Testament as a record 00:13:13.570 --> 00:13:16.570 of man increasing in his knowledge of God and 00:13:16.620 --> 00:13:19.179 There develops out of that eventually Judaism 00:13:19.179 --> 00:13:23.820 and so on The Bible says it's just the opposite 00:13:23.820 --> 00:13:25.600 the Old Testament really is a record of most 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:28.919 of the world going away from God degenerating 00:13:28.919 --> 00:13:33.059 in his knowledge of the truth and God chose out 00:13:33.059 --> 00:13:36.019 a people Descendants of Abraham to whom he could 00:13:36.019 --> 00:13:38.700 reveal himself and through whom ultimately the 00:13:38.700 --> 00:13:42.620 Messiah would come So the Jews had the law and 00:13:42.620 --> 00:13:46.340 they relied upon that A .T. Robertson says this 00:13:46.340 --> 00:13:49.379 was a blind mechanical reliance on the Mosaic 00:13:49.379 --> 00:13:52.639 Law, and it was that. It was not really knowledgeable, 00:13:52.759 --> 00:13:54.980 it was kind of a blind thing. It became a custom 00:13:54.980 --> 00:13:57.480 among them, but nonetheless they had the privilege 00:13:57.480 --> 00:14:02.080 of the law. Thirdly, he says you brag about your 00:14:02.080 --> 00:14:05.940 relationship to God. They boasted about that, 00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:09.019 and well they might have had they done it with 00:14:09.019 --> 00:14:12.679 the right spirit, but so often that boasting 00:14:12.889 --> 00:14:15.649 about their relationship to God was with a wrong 00:14:15.649 --> 00:14:19.429 spirit. And God was not pleased when they boasted 00:14:19.429 --> 00:14:21.610 in that way. We have an example of that in the 00:14:21.610 --> 00:14:24.629 book of Micah. I think it would be good for us 00:14:24.629 --> 00:14:32.190 to turn back there into the Old Testament. This 00:14:32.190 --> 00:14:36.090 is one of the minor prophets when they're all 00:14:36.090 --> 00:14:38.570 kind of scrunched together there at the end of 00:14:38.570 --> 00:14:43.000 the Old Testament. If you can find Jonah, just 00:14:43.000 --> 00:14:50.059 turn forward a little bit. Jonah, or rather Micah, 00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:55.019 chapter 3, verse 9, gives us an example of this. 00:14:57.759 --> 00:15:01.559 God is here rebuking his people through his prophet. 00:15:02.980 --> 00:15:06.340 He says in verse 9, hear this, you leaders of 00:15:06.340 --> 00:15:09.179 the house of Jacob, you rulers of the house of 00:15:09.179 --> 00:15:14.149 Israel. who despise justice and distort all that 00:15:14.149 --> 00:15:19.330 is right, who build Zion with bloodshed and Jerusalem 00:15:19.330 --> 00:15:23.730 with wickedness. Her leaders judge for a bribe, 00:15:23.789 --> 00:15:28.029 her priests teach for a price, and her prophets 00:15:28.029 --> 00:15:31.370 tell fortunes for money." He's talking about 00:15:31.370 --> 00:15:34.590 God's people here. He's talking about Israel. 00:15:34.710 --> 00:15:37.350 He's talking about Judah. And notice, he says, 00:15:37.409 --> 00:15:41.179 their leaders judge for bribes. and the priests 00:15:41.179 --> 00:15:44.519 that they have teach for a price. The prophets 00:15:44.519 --> 00:15:48.620 tell fortunes for money. He says, yet they lean 00:15:48.620 --> 00:15:51.659 upon the Lord and say, is not the Lord among 00:15:51.659 --> 00:15:57.100 us? No disaster will come upon us. Therefore, 00:15:57.100 --> 00:16:00.700 because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field. 00:16:01.460 --> 00:16:04.500 Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple 00:16:04.500 --> 00:16:07.740 hill a mound overgrown with thickets. Do you 00:16:07.740 --> 00:16:10.610 see what God is complaining about? Here they 00:16:10.610 --> 00:16:14.210 said all the Lord's among us Jehovah is with 00:16:14.210 --> 00:16:17.110 us. We don't have to worry about ever being overcome 00:16:17.110 --> 00:16:20.929 and Though they boasted about that and bragged 00:16:20.929 --> 00:16:26.230 about that They were not godly people Their leaders 00:16:26.230 --> 00:16:29.950 were godless and there's a nation were godless 00:16:29.950 --> 00:16:32.730 and God says because you boast about knowing 00:16:32.730 --> 00:16:37.750 me and yet your your lives are wicked and sinful 00:16:38.159 --> 00:16:40.580 that I'm going to cause Zion to be plowed like 00:16:40.580 --> 00:16:42.659 a field, Jerusalem's going to become a heap of 00:16:42.659 --> 00:16:45.600 rubble, and the Temple Hill, a mound overgrown 00:16:45.600 --> 00:16:48.480 with thickets. And that's exactly what happened. 00:16:48.919 --> 00:16:51.340 Because they boasted about God, but it wasn't 00:16:51.340 --> 00:16:57.639 real. Now going back to Romans again, in chapter 00:16:57.639 --> 00:17:01.220 two, we see the fourth of the things that he 00:17:01.220 --> 00:17:06.059 mentions that were advantages to the Jews. They 00:17:06.059 --> 00:17:08.019 could boast about their relationship to God. 00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:10.940 They were his peculiar people, but that did not 00:17:10.940 --> 00:17:13.859 humble them. They prided themselves in it. Now 00:17:13.859 --> 00:17:15.519 fourthly, he says that they had the advantage 00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:19.099 of knowing his will. In other words, they knew 00:17:19.099 --> 00:17:21.720 that the will of God was to save and not to condemn. 00:17:22.420 --> 00:17:24.880 They knew that God's will was that all of the 00:17:24.880 --> 00:17:28.519 earth should someday be blessed through them. 00:17:29.279 --> 00:17:31.440 They had that knowledge because God gave it to 00:17:31.440 --> 00:17:34.589 them in the law. In Genesis chapter 12, when 00:17:34.589 --> 00:17:38.289 God called out their most famous ancestor, Abraham, 00:17:38.849 --> 00:17:42.230 he said, Through you will all the inhabitants 00:17:42.230 --> 00:17:45.329 of the earth be blessed. They knew that was God's 00:17:45.329 --> 00:17:48.970 will. And yet, instead of becoming humbled by 00:17:48.970 --> 00:17:51.250 that and allowing God to work that out as they 00:17:51.250 --> 00:17:54.329 should have with the right spirit, they were 00:17:54.329 --> 00:17:56.390 self -righteous, they prided themselves in it, 00:17:56.430 --> 00:18:00.529 and responded wrongly. And then the fifth advantage 00:18:00.529 --> 00:18:02.750 that he gives, he says, and you approve of what 00:18:02.750 --> 00:18:05.230 is superior because you are instructed by the 00:18:05.230 --> 00:18:07.809 law. In other words, they had an understanding, 00:18:07.890 --> 00:18:09.769 not of what God was going to do, but of what 00:18:09.769 --> 00:18:15.089 his moral orders were. They were able to tell 00:18:15.089 --> 00:18:19.390 the difference between truth and man's speculations. 00:18:19.890 --> 00:18:22.549 They were instructed in the law. That was a real 00:18:22.549 --> 00:18:26.609 advantage to them. It was a benefit. Number six, 00:18:27.009 --> 00:18:31.119 he says, If you're convinced that you're a guide 00:18:31.119 --> 00:18:36.400 for the blind, and that's how they viewed themselves, 00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:40.799 the guide was one who led along a road, that's 00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:45.200 what the word literally means, and the Jews supposed 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:48.420 that they were to guide the Gentiles. But instead 00:18:48.420 --> 00:18:50.160 of doing that again with the right spirit, they 00:18:50.160 --> 00:18:53.319 had become arrogant. But that was God's intention 00:18:53.319 --> 00:18:55.619 for Israel. They should be a guide to the blind. 00:18:55.660 --> 00:18:58.680 He says then, a light for the dark. The dark, 00:18:59.099 --> 00:19:01.400 the blind, referring to the Gentiles, you and 00:19:01.400 --> 00:19:04.759 me, who are non -Jewish. God intended for them 00:19:04.759 --> 00:19:08.440 to be a light to the dark, an instructor of the 00:19:08.440 --> 00:19:12.500 foolish. Number eight. That is, they were to 00:19:12.500 --> 00:19:14.299 be the correctors of those who were foolish, 00:19:14.480 --> 00:19:17.200 the stupid, the senseless Gentiles who worshipped 00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:20.460 idols. Instead of instructing them though, what 00:19:20.460 --> 00:19:25.839 did the Jews do? They adopted their idols. Instead 00:19:25.839 --> 00:19:28.759 of instructing those who worship Baal, they adopted 00:19:28.759 --> 00:19:31.740 Baal worship. They failed, but that was a privilege 00:19:31.740 --> 00:19:34.240 that they had. God gave it to them. He says, 00:19:34.359 --> 00:19:37.420 you're a teacher of infants, number nine. Again, 00:19:37.500 --> 00:19:40.019 that refers to the Gentiles, the infants. And 00:19:40.019 --> 00:19:43.019 the idea is those who are proselytes or who are 00:19:43.019 --> 00:19:46.380 novices. He says, you are teachers of them. And 00:19:46.380 --> 00:19:48.779 finally, he sums it up by saying, you have in 00:19:48.779 --> 00:19:51.859 the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth. 00:19:52.619 --> 00:19:55.460 In other words, the Jews had a rough outline 00:19:55.460 --> 00:19:58.539 of knowledge and truth that all belonged to them 00:19:58.539 --> 00:20:02.059 in the law. God gave it to them. And so he outlines 00:20:02.059 --> 00:20:04.779 here very clearly as a Jew himself, Paul was 00:20:04.779 --> 00:20:07.980 a Jew, he outlines the privilege which the Jew 00:20:07.980 --> 00:20:10.779 had, what God intended to do through that nation. 00:20:12.059 --> 00:20:14.099 Now later in chapter 9 we're going to see Paul 00:20:14.099 --> 00:20:17.119 going down a similar list as he explains the 00:20:17.119 --> 00:20:19.680 advantages and the benefits what the Jews had 00:20:19.680 --> 00:20:23.680 and which they rejected. And that brings us to 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:25.559 the second point I outlined this morning, and 00:20:25.559 --> 00:20:28.240 that is the problem of the Jew, verses 21 to 00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:32.339 27. Despite all of the privileges and the benefits 00:20:32.339 --> 00:20:39.220 that they had over the Gentiles, the Jews failed 00:20:39.220 --> 00:20:44.880 to attain righteousness before God. Now why was 00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:50.349 that? They had what they needed. Why did they 00:20:50.349 --> 00:20:52.970 then fail to attain righteousness, salvation 00:20:52.970 --> 00:20:56.349 righteousness, before God? Well, the answer is 00:20:56.349 --> 00:20:58.710 that it became self -righteousness and pride 00:20:58.710 --> 00:21:02.650 to them that they had these advantages. And so 00:21:02.650 --> 00:21:04.769 in these verses beginning in verse 21, you'll 00:21:04.769 --> 00:21:07.750 notice that he kind of summarizes the ten things 00:21:07.750 --> 00:21:09.730 he's previously mentioned, and he takes them 00:21:09.730 --> 00:21:13.170 in an inverse order, and he shows the lack of 00:21:13.170 --> 00:21:16.410 their righteousness. Notice he says, you. Now 00:21:16.410 --> 00:21:19.519 back in verse 17, he said, now you. If you call 00:21:19.519 --> 00:21:21.220 yourself a Jew, and now in verse 20 it says, 00:21:21.319 --> 00:21:25.220 now you then, who teach others, and notice they 00:21:25.220 --> 00:21:27.200 had called themselves those who were teachers 00:21:27.200 --> 00:21:30.359 of infants and instructors and so on. He says, 00:21:30.519 --> 00:21:34.500 you who teach others, do you not teach yourself? 00:21:36.180 --> 00:21:38.059 He says, you who preach against stealing, do 00:21:38.059 --> 00:21:42.619 you steal? He says, you say the people should 00:21:42.619 --> 00:21:44.539 not commit adultery, but he says, I have a question. 00:21:44.980 --> 00:21:48.039 Do you commit adultery, you Jews? You think you're 00:21:48.039 --> 00:21:54.299 righteous? You abhor idols. He says, yet, don't 00:21:54.299 --> 00:21:57.640 you rob temples? Now what does that mean? Well, 00:21:57.640 --> 00:21:59.619 there's a statement back in Acts chapter 19. 00:21:59.720 --> 00:22:03.960 Turn back there a minute with me. Where this 00:22:03.960 --> 00:22:17.599 same thought is used, Acts chapter 19. What we 00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:19.559 have here is a riot that took place in the city 00:22:19.559 --> 00:22:24.460 of Ephesus because of the preaching of Paul and 00:22:24.460 --> 00:22:27.599 the city clerk got up and spoke to the people 00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:30.960 who were in riot. He says in verse 35, Men of 00:22:30.960 --> 00:22:34.000 Ephesus, doesn't all the world know that the 00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:36.140 city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple 00:22:36.140 --> 00:22:39.559 of the great Artemis and of her image which fell 00:22:39.559 --> 00:22:42.799 from heaven? Therefore, since these facts are 00:22:42.799 --> 00:22:44.599 undeniable, you ought to be quiet and not do 00:22:44.599 --> 00:22:49.700 anything rash. You have brought these men here, 00:22:50.160 --> 00:22:53.880 though they have neither robbed temples nor blasphemed 00:22:53.880 --> 00:22:57.279 our goddess." And he goes on to talk. He uses 00:22:57.279 --> 00:22:59.440 that term, these have neither robbed temples. 00:23:01.259 --> 00:23:04.140 What that probably refers to is the practice 00:23:04.140 --> 00:23:07.519 which many of the Jews had of merchandising, 00:23:08.119 --> 00:23:12.839 selling things in the pagan temples. They were 00:23:12.839 --> 00:23:16.220 out to make a buck, though they didn't have bucks 00:23:16.220 --> 00:23:19.279 in those days. But they were out to make money. 00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:23.700 And so they would sell things in these pagan 00:23:23.700 --> 00:23:25.980 temples. Oh, they condemned the temples. See, 00:23:25.980 --> 00:23:29.240 they condemned idolatry. They said, oh, you pagans, 00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:32.160 you immoral people, God's order is not to worship 00:23:32.160 --> 00:23:34.880 false gods. And then they would go over and set 00:23:34.880 --> 00:23:36.720 up their table and put out their wares, and they'd 00:23:36.720 --> 00:23:39.400 make money right there in the temple. And so 00:23:39.400 --> 00:23:41.039 apparently that's what Paul has in mind when 00:23:41.039 --> 00:23:45.940 he says, you who abhor idols, don't you rob temples? 00:23:46.640 --> 00:23:49.839 And then he says, you brag about the law. Remember 00:23:49.839 --> 00:23:51.759 we said they boasted about their relationship 00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:54.539 to God and they relied on the law. He says, you 00:23:54.539 --> 00:23:58.359 brag about the law. Do you dishonor God by breaking 00:23:58.359 --> 00:24:01.579 the law? And the word there literally means that 00:24:01.579 --> 00:24:05.700 they were transgressors of the law. Now that's 00:24:05.700 --> 00:24:09.220 something a Jew never felt that he was, a transgressor 00:24:09.220 --> 00:24:11.819 of the law. He says, you are breaking the law. 00:24:12.259 --> 00:24:14.640 You preach against others, but you don't practice 00:24:14.640 --> 00:24:17.400 what you preach. That's essentially what he's 00:24:17.400 --> 00:24:21.380 saying. And then he quotes in verse 24 from a 00:24:21.380 --> 00:24:22.940 couple of verses really in the Old Testament 00:24:22.940 --> 00:24:26.079 that say about the same thing. He says, God's 00:24:26.079 --> 00:24:31.519 name is blasphemed among the Gentiles. Why? Because 00:24:31.519 --> 00:24:36.720 of you. What an indictment that was of the Jews. 00:24:37.940 --> 00:24:40.319 He says the name of God that you boast yourselves 00:24:40.319 --> 00:24:43.519 in, the name that you are supposed to declare 00:24:43.519 --> 00:24:47.109 to the Gentiles. That holy name is blasphemed 00:24:47.109 --> 00:24:49.890 by the Gentiles because of you and your self 00:24:49.890 --> 00:24:54.210 -righteousness. He lays it on thick here. He 00:24:54.210 --> 00:24:57.230 could well do that because Paul himself had been 00:24:57.230 --> 00:24:59.490 a Pharisee and a very self -righteous person. 00:25:00.170 --> 00:25:02.029 But there came a day on the road to Damascus 00:25:02.029 --> 00:25:04.150 when he laid all of that aside and he realized 00:25:04.150 --> 00:25:07.069 that was nothing, that his need was to trust 00:25:07.069 --> 00:25:09.869 Jesus Christ. And on that day Paul was saved, 00:25:10.009 --> 00:25:12.849 wasn't he? was given the righteousness of God 00:25:12.849 --> 00:25:16.109 and became a new creature in Christ and was a 00:25:16.109 --> 00:25:21.029 Christian, a real genuine Christian. So Paul 00:25:21.029 --> 00:25:23.809 lays it on thick here and as he condemns the 00:25:23.809 --> 00:25:27.630 Jews he explains to their problem to them. Griffith 00:25:27.630 --> 00:25:31.250 Thomas in his commentary has this good sentence, 00:25:32.029 --> 00:25:35.529 there is nothing more solemn or awful than the 00:25:35.529 --> 00:25:40.750 case of a man who in mind and speech is ever 00:25:40.750 --> 00:25:44.950 boastful and glorying in religion, and yet through 00:25:44.950 --> 00:25:48.089 his evil life is bringing discredit to the very 00:25:48.089 --> 00:25:54.250 religion he professes." There are many people 00:25:54.250 --> 00:25:56.630 in the world today who say, well, I'm never becoming 00:25:56.630 --> 00:25:59.829 a Christian because of all the hypocrites there 00:25:59.829 --> 00:26:05.950 in the church. Often that is simply an excuse, 00:26:05.990 --> 00:26:11.119 isn't it? Many times that is a statement that 00:26:11.119 --> 00:26:14.819 is used to cover over that individual's own need. 00:26:16.380 --> 00:26:21.859 But you know the tragedy? The tragedy is that 00:26:21.859 --> 00:26:25.619 there are some Christians who are hypocrites 00:26:25.619 --> 00:26:29.660 and who say one thing on Sunday and through the 00:26:29.660 --> 00:26:34.380 rest of the week live like the devil. Through 00:26:34.380 --> 00:26:40.329 them the name of God is blasphemed too. I remember 00:26:40.329 --> 00:26:44.569 witnessing to a gentleman on one occasion and 00:26:44.569 --> 00:26:47.910 trying to win him to Christ. He asked me where 00:26:47.910 --> 00:26:52.289 I went to church and where I was pastoring, and 00:26:52.289 --> 00:26:56.029 so I told him. He thought for a minute and said, 00:26:56.049 --> 00:27:01.150 is that where so -and -so goes to church? When 00:27:01.150 --> 00:27:04.549 he said the name, I was concerned because I was 00:27:04.549 --> 00:27:07.470 aware as the pastor of some inconsistencies. 00:27:09.209 --> 00:27:13.490 I said, yes, it is. He said, I don't want to 00:27:13.490 --> 00:27:16.450 talk any more about it. He said, if that's what 00:27:16.450 --> 00:27:19.410 a Christian is, then I never want to be a Christian. 00:27:23.329 --> 00:27:25.309 That man will not be able to stand before God 00:27:25.309 --> 00:27:29.490 and use that for an excuse. He will be held accountable 00:27:29.490 --> 00:27:31.910 to God for his own sin. But I'll tell you something, 00:27:32.970 --> 00:27:36.410 that Christian in our church who lived an ungodly 00:27:36.410 --> 00:27:41.130 life will answer for it before God too. He will 00:27:41.130 --> 00:27:43.529 have to give answer to God because through him 00:27:43.529 --> 00:27:50.630 the name of God has been blasphemed. Is the Spirit 00:27:50.630 --> 00:27:54.609 of God applying that to your life? He applied 00:27:54.609 --> 00:27:57.309 it to my life as I prepared for this this morning. 00:27:59.230 --> 00:28:01.109 Dear people, it's not enough that we know how 00:28:01.109 --> 00:28:03.630 to use the four spiritual laws or some method. 00:28:05.289 --> 00:28:07.150 It's not enough that we are willing to share 00:28:07.150 --> 00:28:09.069 our faith or even that we put a bumper sticker 00:28:09.069 --> 00:28:13.680 on our car. As fine as those things are in themselves, 00:28:14.859 --> 00:28:16.880 if we are living lives that are inconsistent 00:28:16.880 --> 00:28:20.420 and hypocritical, then God help us to do the 00:28:20.420 --> 00:28:24.160 best thing, and that is to repent of our sin 00:28:24.160 --> 00:28:27.019 and get our lives straightened out, or to do 00:28:27.019 --> 00:28:28.619 the next best thing, and that is to shut our 00:28:28.619 --> 00:28:31.460 mouths and get the bumper sticker off our car. 00:28:33.240 --> 00:28:36.880 It is better that we say nothing than that we 00:28:36.880 --> 00:28:38.839 should try to bring glory to God and have a life 00:28:38.839 --> 00:28:42.359 that is inconsistent with that. That was the 00:28:42.359 --> 00:28:46.500 problem the Jew had. He wanted to be an instructor 00:28:46.500 --> 00:28:49.099 of the Gentiles, a light for them, a teacher. 00:28:50.180 --> 00:28:52.299 Paul says the very one that you're trying to 00:28:52.299 --> 00:28:55.839 show the Gentiles, you are blaspheming because 00:28:55.839 --> 00:28:59.779 of your inconsistency. He goes on to say circumcision 00:28:59.779 --> 00:29:03.619 has value if you observe the law. Now the Jews 00:29:03.619 --> 00:29:05.680 bragged about their circumcision, didn't they? 00:29:06.539 --> 00:29:09.440 That was a physical circumcision. It was the 00:29:09.440 --> 00:29:12.839 sign of the covenant. that they had with God, 00:29:13.160 --> 00:29:16.819 which Moses delivered to them. It was a very 00:29:16.819 --> 00:29:20.740 special sign of their covenant. And he says, 00:29:20.859 --> 00:29:23.839 it has value, but if you break the law, you become 00:29:23.839 --> 00:29:27.319 as though you had not been circumcised. If those 00:29:27.319 --> 00:29:29.900 who are not circumcised keep the law, in other 00:29:29.900 --> 00:29:31.880 words, the pagans, those who've never had the 00:29:31.880 --> 00:29:34.859 law, who've never been related to God through 00:29:34.859 --> 00:29:38.039 the Mosaic law, if those who are not circumcised 00:29:38.039 --> 00:29:40.420 nonetheless keep the law's requirements, Will 00:29:40.420 --> 00:29:43.079 they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? 00:29:43.859 --> 00:29:45.920 The word in that phrase there is the word reckoned 00:29:45.920 --> 00:29:48.539 or imputed. He says it'll be imputed to them, 00:29:48.579 --> 00:29:50.619 if they obey, it'll be imputed to them as though 00:29:50.619 --> 00:29:54.500 they had been circumcised. He says the one who 00:29:54.500 --> 00:29:56.940 has not circumcised physically and yet obeys 00:29:56.940 --> 00:30:00.779 the law will condemn you even though you have 00:30:00.779 --> 00:30:04.559 the written code and the circumcision and you're 00:30:04.559 --> 00:30:10.119 a law breaker. What is he saying here? He is 00:30:10.119 --> 00:30:12.480 saying that the important thing is not the outward 00:30:12.480 --> 00:30:16.059 ceremony, the outward act. The important thing 00:30:16.059 --> 00:30:21.559 is the heart. How many people are there who are 00:30:21.559 --> 00:30:23.740 trusting their baptism to get them to heaven? 00:30:25.700 --> 00:30:28.359 They were taken to the church as I was, as a 00:30:28.359 --> 00:30:32.180 little baby. They were taken to the front of 00:30:32.180 --> 00:30:34.039 the church and there the preacher said a little 00:30:34.039 --> 00:30:36.000 prayer over them and sprinkled them with water. 00:30:37.349 --> 00:30:39.809 And they think that somehow that brought them 00:30:39.809 --> 00:30:43.690 into God's family. The Bible says that is not 00:30:43.690 --> 00:30:47.390 true. How many people are there who think that 00:30:47.390 --> 00:30:51.690 because they belong to a certain church that 00:30:51.690 --> 00:30:56.490 therefore they are set for heaven? That is not 00:30:56.490 --> 00:31:01.430 true. How many people are there who think that 00:31:01.430 --> 00:31:03.990 by taking the Lord's Supper that they are somehow 00:31:03.990 --> 00:31:06.549 getting more grace before God and more merit 00:31:06.549 --> 00:31:09.109 and that someday they'll be able to stand before 00:31:09.109 --> 00:31:12.410 God because they did that. You see, it's not 00:31:12.410 --> 00:31:15.730 the outward things that we do. It's the inward 00:31:15.730 --> 00:31:19.930 thing that we do by trusting Jesus Christ. And 00:31:19.930 --> 00:31:21.450 that's what he goes on to say in the last two 00:31:21.450 --> 00:31:25.730 verses. He talks about the true Jew. He says 00:31:25.730 --> 00:31:31.190 the distinction between the Jew outwardly and 00:31:31.190 --> 00:31:36.170 the Jew inwardly is what makes the difference. 00:31:36.730 --> 00:31:39.029 There are those who are Jews outwardly, that 00:31:39.029 --> 00:31:41.809 is, who have been circumcised, who are part of 00:31:41.809 --> 00:31:44.549 the Jewish religion, who have been through the 00:31:44.549 --> 00:31:48.730 rites, and yet they have never become a Jew on 00:31:48.730 --> 00:31:51.230 the inside by what he calls here the circumcision 00:31:51.230 --> 00:31:54.509 of the heart. See, that's something on the inside. 00:31:55.109 --> 00:31:58.309 It's not done with a knife. It's not done in 00:31:58.309 --> 00:32:01.490 a temple with a priest. But he's talking about 00:32:01.490 --> 00:32:04.950 the work of the Spirit, as he says here. It's 00:32:04.950 --> 00:32:07.130 the Holy Spirit on the inside who, as it were, 00:32:07.190 --> 00:32:11.269 cuts away the sin that condemns us before God. 00:32:12.130 --> 00:32:15.670 That's the inner circumcision that the Jews needed. 00:32:16.869 --> 00:32:19.869 That's the true Jew. And you know there's a sense 00:32:19.869 --> 00:32:22.130 in which today, though you and I may not be related 00:32:22.130 --> 00:32:26.970 to Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob, that we are a Jew 00:32:26.970 --> 00:32:31.390 if we trust Jesus Christ. We'll see that over 00:32:31.390 --> 00:32:33.960 in chapter four when he talks to talks about 00:32:33.960 --> 00:32:36.779 Abraham. Who are the descendants of Abraham? 00:32:37.759 --> 00:32:40.839 Well, actually it's those who believe, like Abraham 00:32:40.839 --> 00:32:44.759 did, who trust God, not those who go through 00:32:44.759 --> 00:32:49.099 some outward ceremony. Now let's apply that to 00:32:49.099 --> 00:32:53.539 Christianity. It applies well. Who is a true 00:32:53.539 --> 00:32:58.900 Christian? Not one who's been through the outward 00:32:58.900 --> 00:33:03.509 ceremonies. but one who has had the inner work 00:33:03.509 --> 00:33:07.930 of God's Spirit in his life. So I conclude by 00:33:07.930 --> 00:33:11.589 asking this question today of you. I ask it in 00:33:11.589 --> 00:33:15.049 love not to condemn you, but I ask it to be honest 00:33:15.049 --> 00:33:18.750 to the word of God. Are you today a true Christian? 00:33:20.230 --> 00:33:25.009 Or are you just a cultural Christian? I fear 00:33:25.009 --> 00:33:27.650 that some of the 40 million Christians that are 00:33:27.650 --> 00:33:31.759 supposed to be in this country are simply cultural 00:33:31.759 --> 00:33:35.000 Christians. They've been brought up in a certain 00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:37.660 religion, a certain church, they know certain 00:33:37.660 --> 00:33:40.319 Bible verses maybe or certain aspects of doctrine, 00:33:40.720 --> 00:33:43.799 but they've never come to a life -changing experience 00:33:43.799 --> 00:33:48.220 by trusting Jesus Christ. Maybe that's you today. 00:33:49.339 --> 00:33:51.339 You've grown up with the church, you've grown 00:33:51.339 --> 00:33:53.740 up with the language, but you've never come face 00:33:53.740 --> 00:33:56.220 to face with Jesus Christ and repented of your 00:33:56.220 --> 00:33:59.240 sin and asked him to come into your life to save 00:33:59.240 --> 00:34:02.490 you. That's why he came into the world, to die 00:34:02.490 --> 00:34:04.769 and to be raised again, so that he could save 00:34:04.769 --> 00:34:08.909 you. He died for you. Will you receive him today 00:34:08.909 --> 00:34:12.010 as your Savior? He concludes by saying, such 00:34:12.010 --> 00:34:15.949 a man's praise is not from men, but from God. 00:34:16.949 --> 00:34:19.829 It makes no difference what men think. The only 00:34:19.829 --> 00:34:23.570 thing that counts is what God thinks. How is 00:34:23.570 --> 00:34:26.949 it between you and God today? There's an interesting 00:34:26.949 --> 00:34:28.949 play on words here that you can't immediately 00:34:28.949 --> 00:34:33.760 see. He says such a man's praise is not from 00:34:33.760 --> 00:34:37.699 men but from God. He says the true Jew or the 00:34:37.699 --> 00:34:40.179 true Christian, we may say, receives praise from 00:34:40.179 --> 00:34:43.300 God. Do you know what the word Judah, from which 00:34:43.300 --> 00:34:47.699 you get the word Jew, means in Hebrew? It means 00:34:47.699 --> 00:34:52.239 praise. You might say it this way, such a man's 00:34:52.239 --> 00:34:55.800 Jew, his praise, is not from men but from God. 00:34:56.500 --> 00:34:58.460 You see, the important thing is that we'll be 00:34:58.460 --> 00:35:00.780 able to stand before God and hear his words, 00:35:01.019 --> 00:35:04.360 in or in my child, to the place I've prepared 00:35:04.360 --> 00:35:08.699 for you. I hope that you'll be able to hear those 00:35:08.699 --> 00:35:11.440 words someday because you have become a true 00:35:11.440 --> 00:35:15.639 Christian. It's possible to be religious and 00:35:15.639 --> 00:35:24.940 to be lost. Let's bow together in prayer. Lord 00:35:24.940 --> 00:35:28.539 God, our Heavenly Father, we come to you today 00:35:28.539 --> 00:35:32.800 because all of us have sinned and fall short 00:35:32.800 --> 00:35:37.820 of the glory of God. There is not one of us who 00:35:37.820 --> 00:35:41.079 can stand before you and claim to have enough 00:35:41.079 --> 00:35:43.380 self -righteousness to gain entrance to heaven. 00:35:45.619 --> 00:35:49.369 We recognize, too, that there is No church membership, 00:35:49.510 --> 00:35:52.250 nor is there any outward ritual or ceremony that 00:35:52.250 --> 00:35:54.409 we can go through that will make us fit for heaven. 00:35:56.030 --> 00:35:58.730 And Lord, if there be any of us in this auditorium 00:35:58.730 --> 00:36:00.909 this morning who are still trusting in something 00:36:00.909 --> 00:36:04.329 outward and who have never experienced the inward 00:36:04.329 --> 00:36:09.110 reality of salvation, today that one or those 00:36:09.110 --> 00:36:12.570 several would open the heart's door and receive 00:36:12.570 --> 00:36:16.989 Jesus Christ. We pray this in his name, amen.