All the World Is Guilty First B Jackson 2016-04-03 Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record. ---- There are just as many of you standing as there are sitting. Will y'all y'all come on in and gather? After the first service this morning, somebody said, oh, it's spring break. Y'all can kinda see in here. It's spring break right now. So, we've got lots of folks that are all over the country traveling. I'm glad that you stayed with us and that you're here and so, come on in and we'll sing. Scott's already up here. Yeah. Good. We're gonna sing. He keeps me singing. Look at this weak side over here. They all went on spring break. Not all of them. Not all of These are the spring breakers. Yeah. Sing loud over here. So, would you stand with us and we're gonna sing He Keeps Me Singing. We'll worship. We'll worship big numbers, small numbers. I'll stand right over here and help this side, right? Jesus whispers sweet and low. Fear not I am with thee peace be still in all of life's lemon flow Jesus Jesus Jesus sweetest name I know, fills my every longing, keeps me singing as I go, all my life was wrecked by sin and strife discord filled my heart with pain Jesus swept across the broken strings stirred the slumbering cords again Jesus Jesus Jesus sweetest name I know fills my every longing keeps me singing as I go feasting on the riches of his grace resting beneath the sheltering wing always looking on his smiling face that is why I shout and sing here we go Jesus Jesus Jesus sweetest name I know fills my every longing keeps me singing as I go though sometimes he leads through waters deep trials fall across my way though sometimes the path seems rough and steep see his footprints all the way Jesus Jesus Jesus sweetest name I know, fills my every longing, keeps me singing as I go, Jeans coming back to welcome. There's another verse. For beyond the starry sky. Shall make my flight to worlds unknown. I shall reign with him on earth. Okay. We all know the chorus now. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, sweetest name I know fills my every longing keeps me singing as I go. Amen. Sometimes you just keep singing regardless of the words. Strong until that last verse. I knew exactly where you're going until that. Amen. I love that. How great thou art. This is a a favorite and I always, every time we sing it here, I think, man, this one, this one sounds great here because you see it every single day. How great thou art. Amen. When I consider all the worlds thy hands and legs. Amen. God see the stars I hear the rolling thunder, thy power throughout the universe display, then sings my soul, my savior God to thee how great thou art how great thou art then sings my soul my savior God to thee how great thou art how great thou art and when I think that God his son not sparing send him to die I scarce can take it in that on the cross my burden gladly bearing he bled and died to take away my sin then sings my soul my savior God to thee how great thou art how great thou art then sings my soul my savior God to thee how great thou art how great thou art when Christ shall come with shout of acclamation and take me home what joy shall fill my heart and I shall bow in humble adoration and there proclaim my God how great thou art and sings my soul my savior God to thee how great thou art how great thou art then sings my soul my savior God to thee how great thou art great thou Amen. Y'all can have a seat. Got a few announcements. Awana normally is in here on Monday nights but not during spring break. We are going to give a break. We've got lots of volunteers out of town, lots of kids out of town. So, we're not going to do Awana this week. Monday nights at First B normally happens on Monday nights. Obviously, at 06:00, meal music and a message but not this week. We're skipping that for spring break because Carl is in Florida. He he texted a picture of a baseball game. He went to see a Yankees game and Eugene, our guitar player for the first service was in Florida too and they met at this Yankees game. Had a good time together. So, it's good. We'll start that back up next Monday. So, Monday week, if you're from the South. We'll start back up. The children are not doing that this morning. Y'all don't have a children's church service in this service. Connect hour still happening every Sunday between services. We have coffee and donuts and that sort of thing down the hall. If there are any of you that are young adults that you want to be involved with other young adults this summer starting next week actually. So, April 8. That's dinner and an improv show, the laugh staff at the Little Black Box Theatre over here. If you wanna come get together, Chris, Darren is involved in that. If you'll call him or you call us, we'll get you in touch with him. Dinner and then their comedy improv show and then May, they're doing a town cleanup and a mud season meal with mud season themed. I don't know what that would be. Rocky Road ice cream maybe. Muddy stuff to eat and then Shadow Mountain Campout in June and a String Lake Picnic in July. We're doing family fun nights on Fridays. This will start after spring break also. So, the first Friday after spring break is April 15 and it'll go until May 27. It's going to meet at 05:30 to eat pizza and then, the parents have a study upstairs that's kind of fun stuff and then the kids will meet downstairs and have games and other kinds of fun stuff. So, it's good. And I think that's it. All other announcements are in your bulletin like they are every week and we still print that thing for a reason. So, if y'all wanna look in to see what's happening, let you know what's going on and also let you know who's on rotation for what. So, would you stand and greet one another and it feels kinda quiet and empty in here this morning. So, would you stand and make some noise? Oh, it's wonderful to worship with you all this morning. This next song is a wonderful song of worship. As we sing these words, let God penetrate your soul this morning. Let's just open our eyes and our hearts to Jesus and worship. Open our eyes lord we want to see Jesus to reach out and touch him and say that we open our ears lord and help us to listen open our eyes lord we want to see Jesus open our we want to see Jesus to reach out and touch him and say that we open our ears lord and help us to listen open our we want to see Jesus. Amen. Why should he love me so? This is a good one. This is a good one. Let's put a smile on our faces. I love this song. Love sent my savior to die in my stead why should he love me so meekly to Calvary's cross he was led why should he love me so why should he love me so why should he love me so why should my savior to Calvary go why should he love me so he'll pierce his hands and his feet for my sin why should he love me so he suffered sore for salvation to win why should he love me so why should he love me so why should he love me so why'd you my savior to Calvary go why should he love me so oh how he agonized there in my place why should he love me so nothing withholding my sin to efface why should he love me so why should he love me so why should he love me so why should my savior to Calvary go why should he love me so Amen. Y'all can have a seat. I get the frontline team to come forward and would y'all join me as I pray? Why should he love me so, lord? That is the question because we didn't deserve it and I think of the biblical answer to that lord is your grace that you extend unmerited favor for those of us which is all of us who don't deserve it. So, God, as I stand before you today, would you grant us the understanding of the costliness of your grace? Lord, we wanna acknowledge every gift that you've given. First is that. All of the other stuff too, lord. James tells us that every good and perfect gift is from above. Lord, we want to acknowledge that you're good even when we're not. You're faithful even when we're not as a sermon will say and lord, we want to give back a portion of that which you've given us saying that we trust you. We trust you to advance your kingdom. We trust you to build your church and lord, we want to be a part of what it is that you're doing, extending your unmerited favor towards the world. Lord, let us be participants in your amazing grace. In Jesus name, amen. I'm thankful that we have the privilege again to be here in God's house. Amen? And we're gonna sing a song that, of course, has a beautiful message about the cross. That's the place where we all should understand who we are and why we are here. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Frenchie and Florine. So, for Easter and for Palm Sunday actually, we took a little bit of a detour. Next curses away from our study. In Romans, we had been going along. The last thing I covered in Romans was on Palm Sunday. We talked about just the last little portion of chapter two twenty five through 29 which deals with circumcision. So, we dealt with that just before we took the detour and went to Lazarus in the tomb and resurrected and then Jesus going in for that triumphal entry. Then, last week, we did the resurrection and as we went through that, I was thinking, I wanna get back to this. I wanted to come back from the detour last Sunday and you know what? There's just too much. You can't do it all every time and so today, if you look in your bulletin, you'll see that there's a full chapter. All of chapter three is in the bulletin but as I looked at that and thought about it and prayed over it this week as I was preparing, I thought, that is too much. Again, it's too big a chunk. We're gonna go with the first eight verses. Now, I wanna read those to you first, highlighting only the questions. I put highlights on the question marks up there. If you see the green question marks and I want for you to consider this. As I say it in straight time, consider yourself in Rome for one thing. In Rome, having heard this, you've already heard the first chapter Romans, that introduction, and then the gospel, the whole theme of the letter in sixteen and seventeen where he says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel, the good news that Jesus is the Christ, the message of the cross. I'm not ashamed of the gospel because it's the power of God unto salvation for all who believe. For the Jew first and then for the Greek, okay? That's where he starts. The gospel. Then, he moves just after that good news statement right there. He follows it up with the bad news for you Gentiles is you fall way short. You're sinful and sinners and you are under God's wrath. You're under his condemnation and that's hard but if you're a Jewish believer in this little church and or then in this church of Rome, all of the churches in Rome but if you're in this church in Rome and you're a Jewish background, Jewish flavored Christian and you hear Paul start out with the gospel which you have agreed to already, you agree but when he gets to that part about Jew first and also the Gentile, it's like, ugh, that makes me uncomfortable. I don't like that. When you get to the next part, all of chapter two, he's saying the Gentiles are on or all of the end of chapter one, he's saying the Gentiles are all under God's condemnation. They're all sinful. If you're a Jewish believer, you stand up a little taller and you're saying, that's right, Paul. I agree with you. I'm with you. But then, all of chapter two, he says, and the Jews too fall short. At the very end and that's what we covered on Palm Sunday, he says that your circumcision or your Jewishness becomes un Jewishness, uncircumcision if you don't believe. If you wander away, if you sin, if you're not faithful to it, all. If you sin in any one part as James says, you've transgressed the law and so, Paul is explaining that. So, that's harder for the Jews to take to say, wait a second now. This is what I've been my whole life. You know, for guys, circumcised on the eighth day and I've been brought up with the Shema. I've been brought up with the Torah, with the law, with the prophets, and I have gotten this Jewishness very naturally from being in synagogue, being in the assembly, and it should count for something, right? And so, all of that teaching that he's done, Gentiles under God's wrath. Jews also deserve the wrath of God. When he's teaching this, these people, it's begging these questions. I'm going to read it all together. Consider yourself in Rome. You pick for yourself. If you're a Jewish flavor Christian or a Gentile Christian, if you've been in church your whole life, you probably would identify more with the Jewish flavor Christians, okay? Because you have known this stuff. If you're an adult, saved as an adult or if you're here and still seeking, consider yourself like the Gentile flavored folks but listen to this altogether at once, these eight verses. Then, what advantage has the Jew? And what benefit is circumcision? Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God. They, the Jews, were entrusted with the oracles of God. What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief would not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? May it never be. Rather, let God be found true though every man be found a liar as it's written that you may be justified in your words and prevail when you're judged But if our right unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, then what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is he? I'm speaking in human terms. May it never be. For otherwise, how will God judge the world? But if through my lie, the truth of the God abounded to his glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner? And why not say as we are slanderously reported as some claim that we say, let us do evil that good may come. Their condemnation is just. Okay, I highlighted the questions. Now, the big question is this, if it were your turn to preach, what would you do with those eight verses? You got, y'all y'all responded the way I would have responded. The first service, I had people saying, oh, I can't wait. Let me get up there. No, not really. I'm just kidding. They they responded just like you did. If you had to preach, what would you bring out? Seriously, out of these verses, I'm asking you for real. I'm gonna pick one of you to stand up here and preach. No, not really. I'm asking you for real though. What would you bring out of these verses? What advantage has the Jew? That's a question. It's a rhetorical question. Paul's obviously asking it, trying to get them in their minds to process this. Think about it but tell me, what would you bring out? This guy right here, that God is just. That's what he said in the first service. Chris Darren in the back said, that they had been given the prophets. They had been given anticipation of the Christ, the Messiah. They had been given the foreknowledge of this passed down generation after generation and in scripture, they had this. Those are the two things that anybody spoke up about this morning. Is there anybody else has anything that you'd bring out of this passage? Yes, ma'am. Man hangs on to his own human merit. Amen. That is that is true. Throughout the ages, man has hung on to that and wanted to do something. What must I do to be saved? People say. The Jews didn't, the Jews did not share the knowledge of God as they were supposed to. They were to be a light to the Gentiles and they had hoarded the blessing of God and said it's just for us and that prejudice was actually sneaking into the Christian church and that's what Paul was writing to try to correct in a lot of ways. Anybody else? I have broken this down. I am going to preach it. I just wanted to know. I want you to consider for a minute my task when on Friday or Saturday sometimes. I'm sitting in the office and I'm thinking, what am I going to say? What am I going to say to this? So, in this particular message, it's not easy. The grammar of it in Greek is really hard actually. It's really hard because he's discussing some things that are hard to get across and there are some things that appear to be contradictions here because of the flow of it. Now, you might have read it and said, it doesn't seem that hard to me. I think I got it and you might have. Praise God. I I'm glad you did but this one's a kind of a hard one to break down and I I actually when I'm listen to or when I do all of my study and I get to that point and go, lord, what would you have me say? What shall I say? Hide me behind the cross, all of that. I want everything that I say up there to be true. I want all the meditations in my heart to be true and I want for them to get what you want out of this to come across just what it says, lord and so when I hit that point, sometimes I'll go back and listen to a pastor I had in South Carolina or I'll listen to a couple other guys and I told y'all at the beginning of the study, Martin Lloyd Jones preached on this for thirteen years. He preached the book of Romans for thirteen years starting in 1955 and so, that's a long time ago. Sixty years ago, he starts preaching on this. He is in chapter three and I listened to one of his sermons this week and I thought, okay, he said, this is one of the hardest passages in the Bible to preach. I thought, well, I'm in good company. And then I fast forwarded a few, you know, forty forty years forward and listening to John Piper preach this passage and he said, exactly what I just told y'all. He said, I was sitting in my study Friday going, what am I going to say? I know the relationship. I think I know the relationship but this is some hard stuff. It's hard concepts and so he said, so I went back and listened to Martin Lloyd Jones forty five years ago which is cool. I I thought that was neat but at least I'm in good company and y'all, if you thought that you got it, please share with me afterwards. Somebody came up after the first service and said, I got one thing that I've always interpreted. I never heard you say it and I said, none of the commentaries say what you just said but I think you're right. So, I'll include it in this sermon. So, if you have it and you feel like God's given you this, please tell me about it. I wanna hear it. I I think that I clarify it. Don't don't let this undermine. I've done the study. I think that God's got something for you but I do wanna say that John Piper and Martin Lloyd Jones and Ray McDaniel are in good company again because this is what Peter has to say about Paul. Peter, the apostle, says in in second Peter three fifteen and sixteen, he says, our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him by God, that's a divine passive. According to the wisdom that God has given him, wrote to you as also in all of his letters concerning salvation is where the. Dots are in there. In which are some things that are hard to understand. Which as which the untaught and the unstable distort as they do also the rest of the scriptures to their own destruction. So, this morning, I'm going to try to teach you exactly what it says, the way that I see it so that we don't distort what it says and make it more advantageous than it is or more profitable but also so that we can avoid avoid distorting it. So, here we go. Romans three one. What advantage has the Jew Or what is the benefit of circumcision? If we were to bring that into the modern day, we could say, so what advantage is it at all to grow up in Awana, to grow up in church, to be here, and know this from the cradle all the way forward. What advantage is it to be a child raised in church? Or what benefit is church attendance? We might say, you know, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night kinda church where I grew up. What is the benefit of that? Is there any advantage of it? What you're telling us, Paul is, you're, you said the Gentiles were excluded and now you said the Jews are excluded. You said our circumcision doesn't matter. You said that their uncircumcision doesn't matter. Everything that we have believed our whole lives is being called into question here, Paul. What advantage is it for us then? Because we're the chosen people of God. We're the ones that he chose. We're the elect of God. What are you saying? Is there any advantage to that at all? What advantage is there? That's the question and Paul anticipates that question because he's done this, right? He's been traveling for twenty three years and he's been teaching all over and where does he always start? The synagogue. When he starts in the synagogues, all the Jews have the same objections because they've been taught the same things. They're the chosen people of God. So, he says, what advantage is it to be born and raised Jewish or Baptist or whatever for us today, okay? Great in every respect he says. First of all, it's interesting that he says, first of all, because he doesn't do a second of all or a third of all and he doesn't close out. Until chapter nine and in chapter nine, he gives three more reasons and then he closes out but the first of all right here, he might or I could translate it as firstly or of primary importance and the person in the first service said, I actually interpreted that my whole life. I've always thought of it as being first of all, meaning, God gave the Jews the law. First of all, that's pretty good. I like that. None of the commentaries say it but you know, that's that's alright. First of all or firstly, of primary importance that they were entrusted, the Jews, have been entrusted with the oracles of God. The oracles of God. What is that? Chris said this morning, he said, they had been entrusted with the prophets. All of the anticipation of Christ, telling them all the different things. Think of Psalm 22 and all of those different things that are pointing towards Christ, the messianic Psalms. All of the prophecies. Jeremiah that I will write my law on your hearts that I will send my spirit to dwell in you. All of that. They have been given the patriarchs. So, the history of all patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. All the stories that Moses wrote down, the patriarchs. They've been given the prophets and the prophecies. They've been given the whole Old Testament, the oracles of God in this sense is God communicates himself in actual words. He created us for relationship and he created us for communication and we understand primarily in words. God gave them words, communicated in their own language. So, first of all, he had given them the oracles of God, the Old Testament scripture and we could say he's given us the Old Testament and the New Testament. The two are tied together multiple places and multiple ways in the New Testament. What then? So, if they've been entrusted with the word of God, propositional truth in the form of our Old Testament, their Torah and prophets. If some did not believe, you think there were ever any Jews that did not believe the Torah and the prophets? Yeah. Can we see that? Yeah. They walked away from God over and over and over and over again in the time of the Old Testament and then in the intertestamental silence between the old and the New Testaments. Yeah, they really walked away from God there too. So, if some Jews did not believe that and actually, since these were Jewish flavored Christians that he's writing to and knowing that they have already believed in the Messiah was Jesus and there are lots of Jews that didn't believe that. They're still just being Jewish. Paul was unable to convince him in the synagogues. They're unable to convince their friends and relatives. They have walked into Christian circles away from traditional Judaism. If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? He says, will it? Will it? Y'all are, bunch of y'all are going no. That's right. That's the right answer to that. No doubt in Greek that he's anticipating a negative response. So, if some of them did not believe, their unbelief does not shake God's faithfulness. Right. We agree with that. Okay, good. Well, may it never be? Of course not. God is not going to be unfaithful. He says, what he will do, he says what he'll be. Remember the prophet Hosea who went out and God said, go and marry a prostitute. You're going to play the role right now of the faithful one and she's going to be as unfaithful as Israel and I want you to keep on and keep on loving her and keep on bringing her back. You're going to play the role of God in this Hosea. That's tough. God is going to remain faithful. That's the way that it is. No matter what. If some did not believe, their unbelief is not gonna nullify the faithfulness of God. Are you with me so far? Okay. Mega Noito. That is the may it never be. Mega Noito is translated variously in different translations of the Bible and it is you, it is the strongest language that Paul uses. May it never be. It's usually with an exclamation point like it is right there. Absolutely not. Perish the thought. That is absurd. Those are all various translations. Meganoito. What's interesting is the very next word here is which is may it never be, may it be. So, it's the opposite of that. May it never be rather and that's a good translation. May it never be that God is unfaithful. May it never be that. It can't be that. God is not unfaithful. God is steady and true. He is always faithful. Rather, let God be found true and every man be found a liar. God is just, God is true, and we are not. We're not faithful. We're not just and we're not true. Every man be found as a liar. Just as it is written and every man there, he's already covered that all the Gentiles and he's already covered that all the Jews fall short of God's glory and he'll make it explicit in 03/23 a week from now. Let God be found true though every man be found lacking and fallen short of the glory of God. Just as it is written that you may be justified in your words and that and prevail when you are judged. Now, the first time when I read over this and I thought and when we put in the bulletin, that was gonna be three one through 21. I was gonna muddle through this. I understood most of it but I didn't understand this. I didn't get it because I just read this and it didn't spark for me a little memory of a different verse. Now, these guys were thoroughly steeped in the Torah, the Psalms, the hymn book of Israel, and they knew this and when they heard that line, they'd see the quotes around it. They knew who said it. They knew exactly where it was from. They knew what it was about. And they picked up on it. Now, I didn't and I'm a pastor. Did any of y'all pick up on it? Do you know where it's from? I knew one guy in the first service that it's one of his favorites and he meditates on it quite often. I knew he would know it and another one that I knew would know it because I told him last night but it's from right there. I don't expect y'all to be able to read that but that is the fourth verse or half of the fourth verse of Psalm 51. So, it reads Psalm fifty one four reads, against you and you only, I have sinned and done what is evil in your sight so that you are justified when you speak and blameless when you judge. So, that is David. It's a Psalm of David after he had sinned with Bathsheba and killed her husband, Uriah, the Hittite, by sending him to the front line. Stories in second Samuel. David, upon the realization of his sin, when it set in and he agreed with God about what he had done and he recognized it, this is what he went to. Against you, God, and you only. Capital, why? Now, see, right here, that you may be justified in your words, God, and prevail when you are judged. I'm going to read something. A friend of mine has a devotional that he reads most mornings, some mornings, and yesterday's was this, and it's actually from the problem of pain, CS Lewis. Traditional doctrine, traditional doctrine points to a sin against God. That is an act of disobedience, not a sin against the neighbor and certainly, if we're to hold the true doctrine of the fall, that's the capital F fall, the fall of man. In any real sense in our lives, we must look for the great sin on a deeper and more timeless level than just that of social morality. Do you get what we're talking about? That our sin against God is what it's all about and that's what Paul's been talking about for three chapters. Primarily, our sin is against God. Not just about our neighbors, not just about the way that we act within ourselves, our morality. It's not just sin management. We are sinful all the way down, deep and so, the sin has been described by Saint Augustine as the result of pride, capital P, pride, of the movement whereby any creature that is an essentially dependent being whose principle of existence lies not in itself but in another. That describes every single one of us. We were created by God and so, we are dependent beings. When that dependent being tries to set up on its own to exist for self. Such as sin requires no complex social conditions, no extended experience, no great intellectual development from the moment that a creature becomes aware of God and as God and of itself as self, the terrible alternative choosing God ourself for the center. That's the center of our universe. Where we're going to be, is it going to be me centered or is it going be God centered? It's open to it. The choice of God or self for the sinner is open to it. This sin is committed daily by young children and ignorant peasants as well as sophisticated persons by solitaries no less than by those who live in society. It is the fall in every single individual life and in each day of in each individual life. The basic sin behind all other particular sins at this very moment. You and I are either committing it or we're about to commit it or we're repenting from it. Ain't that interesting? That last line reminds me of something else and I'm not sure exactly where it came from. It's kind of something you arrive at if you read scripture much. I've heard a couple of different pastors say it. Every single human soul will either be condemned justly by just and righteous almighty God. Every human soul will either be condemned justly or they will be saved mercifully. The option is there. He's made the way for us to be saved mercifully but if that's not our choice, condemn justly and that's what this whole passage of Paul is writing to the Romans is about. He's getting to the root of it. Actually, if you look at the New American Standard heading over this section, it says, all the world is guilty. Just these eight verses. All the world is guilty. Quoting King David, after his sin, a man after God's own heart, after he'd sinned with Bathsheba, after he'd had her husband killed, after Nathan, God's man, right? Came to him and said, hope, there's the story and so there's there's this thing that's happened. There's one man who has lots of sheep and he's got this great flock but he sees another guy and he wants his sheep and so he goes and he gets his sheep and he brings them back to his flock and he has that sheep for his own and what should we do to that man? Nathan says to David and David says, we ought to kill him. He gave sheep. He deserves severe punishment. Nathan says, you are that man. And then when he realizes what he has done and it comes like, you can't hide this, David. When it comes upon him, the weight of his sin all on him, all at once. Psalm 51 is what he writes. We'll come back to Psalm 51 at the end and I'll read it before we take communion because I think that's the posture that we need to take. Coming before God recognizing that it is his gracious invitation. It is his loving kindness. It is his compassion. So, we'll come back to that. Okay. So, we're we have been in four, where is it? Right there. May it never be rather let God be found true and every man be found a liar. He's saying, even though every single one of us is bad, everyone of us is defective, completely, all of us. God is still true and good and just and faithful. Amen. That you may be justified God in your words. Everything that you've written is going to end up being true. You may prevail when you are judged. Nobody's going be able to say on judgement day that God didn't do what he should have done. Some of us hold on to God didn't make me the way he should have. He made me flawed and I'm blaming him for it and we'll see that in the next few verses. So, we back up to five but if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, as David's did, right? David was God's man. He's man after God's own heart but he sinned. Does God get more glory? Does he get more fame for having forgiven David? Yeah, actually he does. He didn't need it. He didn't need for David to sin but if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, then, what shall we say? Paul has had this debate in synagogue after synagogue and when he's describing this, they're coming to the point of seeing that. So, when we sin, it shows God to be merciful. We declare his justice all the time and we try to order our life in accord with his word so that we don't sin against him but ultimately, they end up in pride and sin against him anyway. If our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous. Is God just when he punishes sin? Yes or no? Yes, he is. This anticipates that and then Paul says, I'm speaking in human terms here. I'm getting to you on your level, on your arguments level. I've had this discussion before. I've had this debate before. Actually, I I translate it this way. This is very loose translation. I can't even believe. I have to answer this nonsense again. Y'all are really gonna go there? God is just when he punishes sin, right? And he's already talked about some of Israel is unbelieving. Some of the Jews are unbelieving and if God punishes that, would he be right? He would be right because he's faithful and true. And just. May it never be. May it never be. For otherwise, how will God judge the world? How's God gonna judge the world if sin doesn't matter at all? How's he gonna judge the world? He can't just judge by two different standards, can he? No. He's gonna judge righteously. May it never be. For otherwise, how will God judge the world? But if through my lie, the truth of God abounded to his glory, then why am I also being judged as a sinner? Now, he's opening a door here that he will try to close again in chapter six. This one's a hard one because it leads to the question of if God is so gracious and so good, why should we not just keep on sinning? Because his grace abounds even more. It makes him a greater God. If we're sinful, it makes him even better because as bad as we are, the vilest sinner who truly believes that moment from Jesus. That's what it leads to and he's recognizing this. If through my lie, the truth of God abounded to his glory. Why am I also still being judged as a sinner? Do you get that? So, God made me this way. Plenty of people arguing this point these days. God made me how I am and I can be exactly like I am and I hold no moral responsibility for it because God made me this way. It's his fault, not mine. That's wrong. Yeah. Because let man be found. Every man be found a liar. God is still true and when he says something's wrong, it's wrong. When he says it's sin, it's sin. That's just the way that it is. If through my lie, the truth of God abounded to his glory. Why am I also still being judged as a sinner? And why not say, as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we do say, let us do evil that good may come. So, that's where the chapter six argument goes on about God's grace abounding. So, let's just keep on sinning because it makes him look better. No. That is pure sophistry. It's fallacious argument. It's setting something up and saying, no, that that doesn't make any sense, Paul and Paul's anticipating all these objections and saying that. Why not say that? You know better than that. That's what he's saying. Let us do evil so that good may come. You know better than that. Every single one of you in here knows better than that and that's what he's saying right here. You know that. You know better than that. Don't try to bring that on me. You know, it's just crazy. Their condemnation is just. Now, in my readings of this and in my study of this, every time that I've read this, I've hit this their condemnation is just and I have minimized it. I've actually minimized it thinking it's an offhand comment that Paul made off handedly about these folks, the ones who slanderously reported him as saying, let us just do whatever we want to because sin doesn't matter so that God's grace shows even more. Let us do evil that good may come. Let's throw Joseph in that pit because that's going to get him to Egypt. No. No. God can turn what someone does for evil into good but you don't tempt that. You don't set it up. You don't try to get God in that position. This their condemnation is just. I thought it was just pointing to those people. I think that the heading in the New American Standard Bible is right. All the world is guilty. Their condemnation is just. Every human soul will either be condemned justly by their actions, by their words, by their deeds, by their thoughts. Every human soul will either be condemned justly or they will be saved mercifully. So, this does not have in these eight verses, the gospel. The gospel was in one hundred sixteen and seventeen. It's going to be again in 03/19/2021 right in there. We're looking forward to that but this their condemnation is just is a heavy stopping point. So, we're going to Psalm 51. So, all of us, let's say, every single one of us in this building outside of Christ, obviously, every single one of us outside of Christ stands condemned. There is but one way that has been made for dealing with sin. The Jews in the Old Testament had to look forward to Christ coming and put their trust in God's provision. We have to look back to God's provision but listen to Psalm 51 before we approach the Lord's table here and think about this. I always like to give a chance before we do communion. Sorry. For us to think about our lives, to self evaluate, and see where we are, and to see how we are living this life. How is it that we're living this life? If we've already believed in Jesus and we have considered ourselves dead to sin, are we still practicing sin? Have we mortified it? Put it off, taking it off completely, or are we still involved in it? If we are, I like to give that chance before we take communion for you to lay all of that down at the foot of the cross. Make sure that you're going forward with a clean slate and I think a really good way to do that. Would you just listen as I read through Psalm 51? Consider yourself in David's position. You have found out that you have sent. Be gracious to me, oh God. Grace is unmerited favor. You don't deserve it. What you're calling out for is something that you know you don't deserve. Be gracious to me, oh God, according to your loving kindness. It's not on my merit. It's not on anything I've done. According to the greatness of your compassion, your mercy. Blot out my transgressions. I'm asking you, God. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity. That's another word for sin. Cleanse me from my sin for I know my transgressions. I agree with you, God. I know what they are. My sin is ever before me. It is against you and you only that I have sinned and done what is evil in your sight so that you're justified when you speak and blameless when you judge. So, even though David was the king of Israel and had the right to do pretty much whatever he wanted to, honestly. He was the king. He recognized his own sin and he called and he said, it's against you and you only that I have sinned. Done evil in your sight so that you're justified when you speak and blameless when you judge. I stand under condemnation justly, lord. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and sin, my mother conceived me. Behold, you desire truth in the innermost being and in the hidden part and you will make me know wisdom. That's the only place that it's available. Wisdom of God comes from him. Wisdom comes from God. Purify me, lord, with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness. Let the bones which you have broken. Can you imagine David's dumbfoundedness when Nathan said, you are that man. He knew the just punishment for that sheep stealer. Now, this is human. He'd stolen Uriah's wife and then had him killed. That news broke his bones, just killed him. Let the bones which you have broken rejoice. That's almost saying thank you for the consciousness of the sin right there. Hide your face from my sins and blot out my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence. Everyone will be condemned justly or saved mercifully. He's calling for being saved mercifully. Don't cast me away from your presence and don't take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, not my salvation, yours, you gave it. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. I do not want to walk in rebellion, lord. I want to walk willingly your path. Then I will teach transgressors your ways and sinners will be converted to you. Deliver me from blood guiltiness, oh God, the God of my salvation. Then my tongue will joyfully sing of your righteousness. Oh Lord, open my lips that my mouth may declare your praise. He wrote like half of the Psalms, over half the Psalms. Open my lips that I may declare your praise. For you do not delight in sacrifice. Otherwise, I would give it. He recognizes that the blood of bulls and goats is not cover sin. If you delighted in it, lord, if there was anything that I could do, I would do it but I know that there's not. I'm coming asking for mercy because that's the only plea that I've got. It's calling out to you. That's a humble heart. A man after God's own heart. He was humble and recognized his shortcomings. You do not delight in sacrifice. Otherwise, I would give it. You're not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God, those pleasing sacrifices of God, our broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, oh God, you will not despise. He ends with a little note about Israel. By your favor, do good to Zion, to your people, the people of God. Build the walls of Jerusalem, protect us, then you will delight in righteous sacrifices, in burnt offering, and whole burnt offering. Then, young bulls will be offered at your altar. That's a voluntary sacrifice at that point. After you're made right with God, after he has blotted out your iniquities. Now, we're gonna come when I get the, can I get the frontline team to come forward? And having considered Psalm 51, I'm looking forward to next week when we hit the gospel full force again. I don't like dwelling in this but it's a big part of it to recognize humbly before the Lord. Our inadequacy. So, God, would you bless right now this bread as we distribute it? Would you bless everyone in this room that takes it lord that we would consider your sinlessness. The fact that you did not deserve the beating that you took. The fact that you did not deserve the death that you chose to die as a ransom for many. Lord, thank you for living that perfect life and I thank you for your body which was given for us. So, lord, would you please bless this for everyone that takes and everyone who has to let it pass because they just have not yet put their faith in you. Jesus, be with us. Amen. And on the same night that Jesus was betrayed, he took bread after supper and after he blessed it, given thanks, he said, this is my body which is given for you. Take this and eat in remembrance of me. Lord God, thank you for for sending Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. God, for coming and living among us and being tempted in all of the ways that we're tempted but yet being without sin to for doing what was necessary for paying the price in your life your earthly life here, and then for actually paying that price for sin by your shed blood on the cross. Lord, I thank you for that. Would you bless this cup as we pass out this little vial of grape juice? Lord, in remembrance of you. Nothing can for sin atone. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. So lord, as we remember you, would you bless each one that partakes and each one that has to let it pass? Would you give them, lord, insight into the oracles of God that point toward this, that look back to it. In Jesus name, amen. In the same manner that Jesus had taken the bread, he took the cup and he said to his disciples, this is the new covenant in my blood. Do you realize that a lot of what we study here on Sunday mornings is about the trouble of going from the old covenant thinking to resting your security in the new covenant. A lot of what we talk about is that, the old covenant of works. Jesus said to his disciples, this is the new covenant in my blood, that which Jeremiah had forecast, that he would write his law in our hearts, that he would send his spirit to indwell. Jesus said, this is the new covenant in my blood. Take this and drink it off as often as you will in remembrance of me. Paul tells us that we declare until he comes again, Jesus's death every time that we do that. I think we're going to skip cleanse me. How about that? I think the time has passed. The time has passed. So, would you stand with me and we'll sing the doxology to close? Praise God from whom all blessings flow Praise him all creatures here below. Praise him above ye heavenly host. Praise father son and holy ghost And may the Lord make his face to shine upon you and give you peace. Amen.