Walking in Deep, Sticky, Stinky Mud

February 14, 2016 · Romans

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Series · Romans · Week 19 of 85

Scripture referenced 20 passages

The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.

Romans 1:16 quoted as the opening statement of the gospel, the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes

16 For I am not ashamed of the Good News of Christ, because it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes; for the Jew first, and also for the Greek.

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1 Corinthians 1:18-19

referenced as the source of the message-of-the-cross language applied to Romans 1:16

18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are saved it is the power of God.

19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, I will bring the discernment of the discerning to nothing.”

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Romans 1:17

quoted to show the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, and the righteous shall live by faith

17 For in it is revealed God’s righteousness from faith to faith. As it is written, “But the righteous shall live by faith.”

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Romans 3:21-26

quoted as the bookend gospel passage showing justification by faith apart from the law

21 But now apart from the law, a righteousness of God has been revealed, being testified by the law and the prophets;

22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all those who believe. For there is no distinction,

23 for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;

24 being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus;

25 whom God sent to be an atoning sacrifice, through faith in his blood, for a demonstration of his righteousness through the passing over of prior sins, in God’s forbearance;

26 to demonstrate his righteousness at this present time; that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him who has faith in Jesus.

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Romans 1:18-23

quoted as the unrighteousness of the Gentiles, suppressing the truth God made evident through creation

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

19 because that which is known of God is revealed in them, for God revealed it to them.

20 For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse.

21 Because, knowing God, they didn’t glorify him as God, neither gave thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened.

22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

23 and traded the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed animals, and creeping things.

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Romans 1:24-32

quoted as the consequences of Gentile rejection, God giving them over to impurity and a depraved mind

24 Therefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves;

25 who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

26 For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For their women changed the natural function into that which is against nature.

27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural function of the woman, burned in their lust toward one another, men doing what is inappropriate with men, and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error.

28 Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting;

29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, malice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil habits, secret slanderers,

30 backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

31 without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, unforgiving, unmerciful;

32 who, knowing the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.

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Romans 2:1-5

quoted as the condemnation of those who judge others while practicing the same things

1 Therefore you are without excuse, O man, whoever you are who judge. For in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you who judge practice the same things.

2 We know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things.

3 Do you think this, O man who judges those who practice such things, and do the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?

4 Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

5 But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath, revelation, and of the righteous judgment of God;

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Romans 2:6-11

quoted on judgment according to deeds, tribulation for evil and glory for good, with no partiality

6 who “will pay back to everyone according to their works:”

7 to those who by perseverance in well-doing seek for glory, honor, and incorruptibility, eternal life;

8 but to those who are self-seeking, and don’t obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, will be wrath and indignation,

9 oppression and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

10 But glory, honor, and peace go to every man who does good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

11 For there is no partiality with God.

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Romans 2:12-16

quoted on judgment by a fair standard, the law written on Gentile hearts and conscience bearing witness

12 For as many as have sinned without the law will also perish without the law. As many as have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

13 For it isn’t the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be justified

14 (for when Gentiles who don’t have the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves,

15 in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience testifying with them, and their thoughts among themselves accusing or else excusing them)

16 in the day when God will judge the secrets of men, according to my Good News, by Jesus Christ.

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Romans 2:17-24

quoted as the Jewish failure to honor God, teaching others while breaking the law themselves

17 Indeed you bear the name of a Jew, and rest on the law, and glory in God,

18 and know his will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law,

19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide of the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,

20 a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of babies, having in the law the form of knowledge and of the truth.

21 You therefore who teach another, don’t you teach yourself? You who preach that a man shouldn’t steal, do you steal?

22 You who say a man shouldn’t commit adultery. Do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?

23 You who glory in the law, do you dishonor God by disobeying the law?

24 For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” just as it is written.

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Romans 2:25-29

quoted on circumcision being worthless without keeping the law, true circumcision being of the heart

25 For circumcision indeed profits, if you are a doer of the law, but if you are a transgressor of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.

26 If therefore the uncircumcised keep the ordinances of the law, won’t his uncircumcision be accounted as circumcision?

27 Won’t the uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfills the law, judge you, who with the letter and circumcision are a transgressor of the law?

28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh;

29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter; whose praise is not from men, but from God.

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Romans 3:1-4

quoted on the advantage of the Jew and the faithfulness of God not nullified by unbelief

1 Then what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the profit of circumcision?

2 Much in every way! Because first of all, they were entrusted with the revelations of God.

3 For what if some were without faith? Will their lack of faith nullify the faithfulness of God?

4 May it never be! Yes, let God be found true, but every man a liar. As it is written, “That you might be justified in your words, and might prevail when you come into judgment.”

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Romans 3:5-8

quoted on the objection that God is unrighteous to inflict wrath, answered in human terms

5 But if our unrighteousness commends the righteousness of God, what will we say? Is God unrighteous who inflicts wrath? I speak like men do.

6 May it never be! For then how will God judge the world?

7 For if the truth of God through my lie abounded to his glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner?

8 Why not (as we are slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say), “Let us do evil, that good may come?” Those who say so are justly condemned.

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Romans 3:9-10

quoted to conclude that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin, none righteous not even one

9 What then? Are we better than they? No, in no way. For we previously warned both Jews and Greeks, that they are all under sin.

10 As it is written, “There is no one righteous; no, not one.

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Psalm 14

cited as the source of the extended quote that none are righteous, none seek God

1 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt. They have done abominable deeds. There is no one who does good.

2 Yahweh looked down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there were any who understood, who sought after God.

3 They have all gone aside. They have together become corrupt. There is no one who does good, no, not one.

4 Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and don’t call on Yahweh?

5 There they were in great fear, for God is in the generation of the righteous.

6 You frustrate the plan of the poor, because Yahweh is his refuge.

7 Oh that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When Yahweh restores the fortunes of his people, then Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

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Psalm 53

cited alongside Psalm 14 as the source of the extended quote on universal sinfulness

1 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity. There is no one who does good.

2 God looks down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there are any who understood, who seek after God.

3 Every one of them has gone back. They have become filthy together. There is no one who does good, no, not one.

4 Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and don’t call on God?

5 There they were in great fear, where no fear was, for God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you. You have put them to shame, because God has rejected them.

6 Oh that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When God brings back his people from captivity, then Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

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Romans 3:19-20

quoted to close the bad news section, every mouth closed and no flesh justified by works of the law

19 Now we know that whatever things the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God.

20 Because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. For through the law comes the knowledge of sin.

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Psalm 19

referenced as the heavens declaring the glory of God, day after day pouring forth speech

1 The heavens declare the glory of God. The expanse shows his handiwork.

2 Day after day they pour out speech, and night after night they display knowledge.

3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.

4 Their voice has gone out through all the earth, their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun,

5 which is as a bridegroom coming out of his room, like a strong man rejoicing to run his course.

6 His going out is from the end of the heavens, his circuit to its ends; There is nothing hidden from its heat.

7 Yahweh’s law is perfect, restoring the soul. Yahweh’s testimony is sure, making wise the simple.

8 Yahweh’s precepts are right, rejoicing the heart. Yahweh’s commandment is pure, enlightening the eyes.

9 The fear of Yahweh is clean, enduring forever. Yahweh’s ordinances are true, and righteous altogether.

10 More to be desired are they than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the extract of the honeycomb.

11 Moreover by them is your servant warned. In keeping them there is great reward.

12 Who can discern his errors? Forgive me from hidden errors.

13 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me. Then I will be upright. I will be blameless and innocent of great transgression.

14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, Yahweh, my rock, and my redeemer.

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Nehemiah 9:6

quoted as the tag beside one of the cosmic paintings, declaring God alone made the heavens and all in them

6 You are Yahweh, even you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their army, the earth and all things that are on it, the seas and all that is in them, and you preserve them all. The army of heaven worships you.

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Romans 15:13

quoted as the closing benediction, the God of hope filling with joy and peace by the Holy Spirit

13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit.

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Recap

The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.

The pastor opened by placing this Sunday's passage inside the sweep of Romans as a whole: the good news of justification by faith that he preached last week has a shadow side, and you cannot fully feel the weight of the gospel until you have walked through the bad news first. This sermon was that walk. It was not comfortable, and he said so plainly before he started.

What was said

He began by reminding the congregation where Romans left off. The gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, and the righteousness of God is revealed in it from faith to faith. That was the bath from last week. What follows in Romans 1:18 through 3:20 is what Douglas Moo calls the universal reign of sin, and no one in Paul's original audience, and no one in the room, gets out from under it.

Paul's first target in the letter is the Gentiles, which is nearly everyone in the room. His argument is that God has made Himself known through two things available to every person on earth: creation and conscience. The invisible attributes, eternal power, and divine nature of God have been clearly seen through what He has made, Paul writes, so that people are without excuse. The pastor lingered on that phrase. It is one of the hardest lines in the Bible, he said, and it means that awareness of the Creator is not a privilege reserved for people who grew up with a Bible.

Even with that awareness, Paul says the Gentiles did not honor God or give thanks. Instead they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, exchanging the glory of the incorruptible God for images of corruptible things. The pastor pointed to humanism as the form that exchange most visibly takes today, the elevation of man in place of God, and noted that the pagans in Paul's day did the same thing with birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

Just when the Jewish believers in the church at Rome would have been nodding along and saying amen, Paul turns. He addresses everyone who passes judgment on others while doing the same things themselves. He is speaking to religious people who bear God's name, know His will, and can teach others, but whose lives contradict what they teach. The name of God, Paul writes, is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you. The pastor extended that directly to people who have grown up in church their whole lives.

The section closes in chapter 3 with a string of quotes from the Psalms: there is none righteous, not even one, none who seeks for God, none who does good. By the works of the law no flesh will be justified. The pastor was direct about what that means. If you have been in church your whole life and know the Bible backward and forward but have not put your faith in Jesus, you are in exactly the same position as someone who has never been inside a church at all. All have sinned is a universal statement, and working harder does not change it.

Then the passage turns, and the pastor said that turn is the whole point of walking through the mud in the first place. Apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been manifested through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. God displayed Jesus publicly as a propitiation, a substitutionary payment in His blood, and in His forbearance He has passed over sins previously committed. That patience, the pastor said, is itself a demonstration of God's righteousness, and it is the reason anyone in the room is still breathing and still able to hear the message. The justifier justifies the one who has faith in Jesus, and that is an open invitation.

Doing a Bible study?

Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.

Pastor Chris described Romans 1:18 through 3:20 as walking through 'deep, sticky, stinky mud' before arriving at the good news. Why do you think Paul spends so much time on the bad news before restating the gospel, and what would be lost if he had skipped straight to justification by faith?
Paul says the wrath of God is revealed against those who 'suppress the truth,' and he points to conscience and creation as things God has given everyone. Where have you seen people push back against what conscience or creation seems to be pointing to, and how do you personally respond to those two witnesses?

and 3 more questions in the guide

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0:00 That song, Tanya and I served at a school for the deaf in Mexico. Most of y'all know that. If you're visiting, you probably didn't know that, but we were there for seven years, and that was one that we held on to. Golly. I wasn't gonna cry this week.

0:17 A purple sky to close the day. I weighed in the surf where dolphins play. The taste of salt, the dance of waves, and my soul wells up with hallelujahs. Praising Yahweh. Praise to Yahweh.

0:29 Praise to God. A lightning flash, my pounding heart, a breaching whale, a shooting star, give testimony that you are. And my soul wells up with hallelujahs. Oh praise him. All his mighty works.

0:44 There's no language where you can't be heard. Your song goes out to all the earth. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

0:52 Oh cratered moon and sparrow's wings. Oh thunder's boom and Saturn's rings. Unveil our father as you sing and my soul wells up with hallelujahs. This CD got stuck in the van. Our ministry van down there and it would play two songs.

1:09 This one and the untitled hymn, Call to Jesus. A pulse of life within my wrist, a fallen snow, a rising mist. There is no higher praise than this and my soul wells up. Oh, my soul wells up. Yes, my soul wells up with hallelujahs.

1:29 Oh, praise him. All his mighty works. There's no language where you can't be heard. Your song goes out to all the earth. Hallelujah.

1:37 Hallelujah. Hallelujah. So, that's Chris Rice. Praise God. Love.

1:42 Good songs with good messages. So, last week, we heard over 100 responses. Actually, it's probably in this service. It was closer to 125. Responses to what is the gospel in 10 words.

1:55 I even got one this morning. What is love? Question mark? Jesus. Three exclamation points.

2:02 100 responses of what is the good news and so we went through that last week and and afterwards, a lot of people came up after the first service and after the second service and they said, it feels like I've just been in a cleansing stream or a bath. I've just been washed over by the good news that God loves us. Most of em were 10 words or less. There are some of em that were a sentence or some of em that were 80 words with two semicolons and two parenthesis. Many included a bit about the bad news though within their summary statement.

2:32 So, the good news of the gospel does show that there is bad news. Now, we're up to the point in Romans where we're hitting the bad news and God is good all of the time and all the time. That's right. Even during the bad news, God is God and he is good. I want you to remember that.

2:51 We went over runs Romans 116 through 17 last week and this is Romans one sixteen. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, the good news, for it is the power for of God for salvation or unto salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. And I took this slide that I have been using since first Corinthians one eighteen and nineteen and I amended it and said, the gospel, the message of the cross is the gospel. The message of the cross, the gospel to everyone who believes is the power of God for salvation. It is foolishness to the ones who are perishing.

3:31 We pick that up from first Corinthians but this is to everyone who believes, the Jew first and also the Greek, the gospel is the power of God for salvation. So, it's a really strong statement of the universal invitation to believe. And Paul says in verse 17, for in it, the gospel, in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith or from out of faith into faith. From faith to faith, just as it is written, but the righteous man shall live by faith. The gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed.

4:10 Remember that, the righteousness, the goodness, the righteousness of God is revealed and the righteous man shall live by faith. Now, the last part of that, I gave you and my little doodad has moved over for some reason. Computers do that sometimes. The by faith, I told you last week, it can go with the righteous by faith. Meaning, you're justified by your faith.

4:31 The righteous by faith shall live eternally. Yes, let's sing about heaven because we believe in Jesus. We're gonna be there. It's a good thing to sing about. The righteous by faith shall live but it also goes the righteous shall live by their faith and that's what I challenged you with last week, the homework assignment.

4:47 Actually, was not intended to be written but a lot of you wrote me which is good. You sent me a paragraph of how you would live this out and I loved it. Imma read one to you right now. The gospel transformed my life. Nothing is the same.

5:00 My only logical response to amazing grace is willing submission to God and love towards him and towards others. I'm compelled to share the good news, the gospel. As well as live in such a way that others ask about my belief and having been fed daily on the word and being led by the spirit, I have a ready answer to whomever asks. Amen. That's great.

5:26 That's how to live out the gospel but I do wanna say, it's justification by faith. I challenge you with it because it can grammatically be both but justification by faith is the message of the gospel of John, of the whole Bible, and of Romans, the righteous by faith shall live. And the next time we see this is in 03/21. So, we see it in one seventeen, the one who's righteous by faith shall live and then we see it in three twenty one through 26. Now, today, I'm gonna give you a context sermon.

6:00 It is about the context of what we're gonna say. I'm gonna cover a few verses I want you to see the gospel before and the gospel after because last week felt like a bath. This is gonna feel like walking in deep, sticky, stinky mud, okay? Just that's the way it is. The good news necessitate.

6:16 There is bad news. Listen to this though, justification by faith from Romans three but now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been manifested or revealed. The righteousness of God has been revealed. I ask you to remember that. Being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe for there is no distinction for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

6:40 That's a little restatement of the bad news. Being justified as a gift by his grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. Whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation. That's a substitutionary sacrifice, a propitiation, paying the payment in his blood through faith. This was to demonstrate God's righteousness because in the forbearance of God, he passed over the sins previously committed for the demonstration I say of his righteousness at this present time so that he would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

7:15 So, you see that it's justification by faith and it is in both places. That is kind of the spark that sparked the reformation. When Luther got that, it is what gets forward progress in the church that the gospels advance is when people understand that it really is about what you believe. What you do follows what you believe and not the other way around. Does that make sense?

7:39 When this letter was originally read, it would have been read in its entirety. I'm talking about Romans, the letter to the Romans. Phoebe carries it from Centra down to Rome and when it's read in the churches, it would have been read all in one continuous motion. 15 pages in our Bibles. Who knows how long a scroll in theirs.

7:57 It would have been read in its entirety. A 15 page letter for us to read on a Sunday morning would be excruciating. I don't think y'all could sit through it. It reminds me of this cartoon. Good morning.

8:07 Today's sermon deals with modern society short attention span. The end. Amen. We have been conditioned by television and radio and everything else just the popping of information comes out as an internet and everything else. So, we don't often take a time to just dwell in something or get deep down.

8:28 So, this is the passage today but I'm not gonna preach thoroughly through all of it but you've gotta have the context or it won't make as much sense and it'll be even more disturbing than it is, okay? So, Romans one eighteen through three twenty, this is the bad news, alright? The universal reign of sin is what Douglas Moo. He's a commentator, a theologian, good guy, calls this the universal reign of sin. In these passages, no one is exempt.

8:59 No one gets by unscathed. We all have to admit that we are wanting and in need of a savior. So, the universal reign of sin. In particular, this is what we're gonna cover today. Little deeper is the unrighteousness of the Gentiles.

9:15 Romans 118 through 23. Now, how many of you in here are Gentiles? Almost all of us probably are Gentiles. Are is there anybody in here who is of the race of the Jews? Maybe, usually, there's one guy that sits in the back he's not here today.

9:29 So, anyway, came to the first service. Anyway, unrighteousness of the Gentiles. We're all Gentiles. I wanna point that out. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven and this particularly is about the rejection of God by the Gentiles and that may seem odd because the Jews had God's special revelation in the fact that they had the Old Testament.

9:51 They had word from on high. They had the 10 commandments. They had the prophets but the Gentiles did not have that. So, to see that they rejected God, there's something there. That's what we'll study towards the end of this.

10:03 I'm gonna do context first and come back and cover these six verses. So, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness because that which is known about God is evident within them. For God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes, his eternal power, and his divine nature have been clearly seen. Now, this is by the Gentiles.

10:32 Are you with me? His invisible attributes, his eternal power, and his divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made so that they are without excuse. Now, Paul is a Jew so he's saying they there because he's talking about everybody else. For even though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks but they became futile in their speculations and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became as fools and exchanged the glory of incorruptible God for an image in the form of the corruptible man and of birds and four footed animals and crawling creatures and if you're one of the Jews at the church at Rome, at this point, you'd be going, amen.

11:16 Get em, Paul. Tell em because this is the way these Gentiles kinda took over the church. No, no, no, no, no. You tell em Paul. The consequences of the Gentile rejection.

11:29 Therefore, God gave them over in the lust of their heart to impurity so that their bodies would be dishonored among them for they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and they worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever. Amen. And everybody in the Jews would have said, amen. Tell it Paul. For this reason, God gave him over to degrading passions for their women exchange a natural function for that which is unnatural and in the same way, also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another.

12:02 Men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons, the due penalty of their error. Jews would go, amen. Get em Paul. The religious folks, definitely. That's right.

12:14 Amen. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to the, to do those things which are not proper. Being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, their gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful, and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same but they also give hearty approval to those who practice them. Does it feel like walking in deep mud to y'all? And then he turns the tables a little bit Therefore, you have no excuse.

13:07 Now, he was saying they a minute ago. Therefore, you have no excuse. Everyone of you who passes judgement for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you who judge practice the very same things and we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things but do you suppose this, oh man, that when you pass judgement on those who practice such things and do the same yourself that you will escape the judgment of God? Religious church folk, or do you think lightly of the riches of his kindness and his tolerance and his patience not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance but because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.

13:56 Now, the gospel he said is the revealing of the righteousness of God and he said that in 17, he's saying it again in 03/21, 03/25 but right here, he's talking about the revealing of the wrath that God is storing up wrath. Now, for us to think about wrath is a little bit hard because we think of anger as always being pretty much always being bad. Be angry but sin not. We do see that Jesus was angry. He flipped over the tables at the money changers in the temple.

14:24 So, we know that it's possible to have a righteous indignation. Well, God's wrath is always righteous. It's always righteous. Always. But it's hard for us to think that because we judge on human scale, right?

14:38 I'll keep going. We don't judge on God's scale and Paul is laying out for us God's scale. So, he said, unrighteousness of the Gentiles first and then the condemnation for the unrepentant is right there. So, storing up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, not the righteousness of God which is still the same. The righteous judgment of God.

15:07 The word storing up there is like having a dam built and it is literally storing up but what it's storing up is the righteous anger of almighty God. In his forbearance, in his patience, in his kindness, in his love, he is damned up the stream of his wrath. But you're storing it up. If you're not repenting. God, who will render to each person according to his deeds, to those who by perseverance and doing good, seek for glory and honor and immortality and eternal life.

15:40 But to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath, and indignation. This is pointing to judgement according to their works. Now, we've got the gospel at the beginning. Justification is by faith. We got the gospel at the end, justification by faith but he's saying, wrath and indignation to those who do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness.

16:03 There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek, for there is no partiality with God. Is anybody feeling like you're escaping this? Is it missing you? Because it's hitting all of us. Really, really square and Paul has said it already about five times that it's not that and it keeps on.

16:28 So, the judgment by a fair standard. For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are just before God but the doers of the law will be justified. For when Gentiles who do not have the law do instinctively the things of the law, These not having the law are a law unto themselves. In that they show the work of the law written in their hearts.

16:56 Their conscience, remember that too. So, the righteousness of God is being juxtaposed against the wrath of God and then he's mentioned that they know and they know and they know and then he says, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternatingly accusing or else defending them on the day when according to my gospel, Paul says, the good news, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus. I know this is a lot of scripture to get through. It's not 15 pages though, okay? The Jewish failure to honor God, their transgression of the law.

17:33 If you bear the name Jew, religious folks, and rely upon the law and boast in God and know his will and approve the things that are essential being instructed out of the law and we might even extend this to ourselves, Christians who've been in church your whole life. You can look at this and go, okay, you bear the name Christian and you rely upon God's word and you boast in God and you know his will and you prove the things that are essential being instructed out of the law and you're confident that you yourselves are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth. You therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you, yourself, steal? You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery?

18:26 You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law, through your breaking the law, do you dishonor God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you. Just as it is written. Ain't that heavy?

18:41 So, he's talking to both groups of people. They are one body, the church at Rome but there are Jews there, there are Gentiles there, and he's saying, none of you are exempt. All of you fall up under this. For indeed, circumcision is of value if you practice the law but if you're a transgressor of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. Now, circumcision, of course, was a sign of the covenant with God for his people, Israel.

19:09 Your circumcision has become uncircumcision if you're a transgressor of the law. So, if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? And he who is physically uncircumcised if he keeps the law, will he not judge you who though having the letter of the law and circumcision are a transgressor of the law. For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh but he is a Jew who is one inwardly and circumcision is that which is of the heart. By the spirit, not by the letter, and his praise is not from men but from God.

19:49 It's a long passage. And what advantage has the Jew? Paul says, or what is the benefit of circumcision at all? It's great in every respect. First of all, they were entrusted with the oracles of God.

20:05 Now, for those of you who grew up in church, I grew up in church and I've known the Bible. I've been preached at and preached to and and have had Bible study with people my whole life. So, I've known this and it has been of great benefit to me. I agree with Paul. What advantage is it to grow up in church?

20:21 It's a great advantage to already know this but to see it practiced in your life is much much better. Great in every respect. First of all, they were entrusted with the oracles of God. What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?

20:36 Meganoito, may it never be. After the service this morning, one Bible student said, the way I've heard this described is the strongest language Paul uses in the New Testament is, no way, no, no, no. That's what it is. So, it is may it never be. Meganoito, absolutely not.

20:56 Anything but that. God forbid. No. Rather, let God be found true though every man be found a liar as it is written that you, God, may be justified in your words, oh Lord, and prevail when you are judged. God, his his righteousness, his judgment is righteous and good but if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say?

21:20 The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is he? Now, I'm speaking in human terms and again, I wanna say, we judge on a human scale. When people read this passage and they get bogged down in it, I'm I'm telling you, we will get bogged down in it, but we're gonna take it a little at a time. I just want you to have the context. A lot of times that we speak, we speak in human terms.

21:41 And a lot of times when we think, we think in human terms. We don't think on God's scale, we think on a human scale. So, we look around and we say, he's a pretty good guy. Yeah, he is a pretty good guy. As guys go, but we all fall short and that's what this whole passage is pointing to.

21:55 Gentiles, unrighteous. Jews, also unrighteous. Jews were chosen as God's people to deliver the savior to the whole world. And he gave him the law to prepare him for it, to point out their sin. I'm speaking in human terms.

22:12 Meganoito. Uh-uh. No. He's not unrighteous. For otherwise, how will God judge the world?

22:20 But if through my lie, the truth of God abounded to his glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner? He's thinking in human terms and we've got a lot of things that we feel are unfair about the way God does things but it's because we're thinking in human terms and why not say as we're slanderously reported and as some claim that we say, well, let us do evil then that good may come. Their condemnation is just. We don't really say that. So, this gets at the heart of it.

22:48 Unrighteousness of all people. Nine and ten verse three, nine, and 10. What then? Are we better than they? Not at all.

22:56 For we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin. So, Jews and Gentiles, that's everybody is all, they're all under sin just as it is written. There is none righteous, not even one. He quotes Psalm 14 and Psalm 53 right here in an extended quote. There is none righteous, not even one.

23:18 There's none who understands. There's none who seeks for God. All have turned aside. Together, they become useless. There's none who does good.

23:26 There's not even one and some people might object right there especially outside of the four walls of this building. Some people say, well, Gandhi was a good guy. Martin Luther King was a great guy. There are lots of good folks. Yeah.

23:38 If you're looking in human terms, they're great. If you ask Gandhi, would he say he was sinless? No. Or he'd be a liar. One.

23:48 There's not even one. The throat is an open grave with their tongues that keep deceiving. The poison of asps is under their lips whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their paths and the path of peace they have not known.

24:03 There is no fear of God before their eyes. There is no fear of God before their eyes and what is the fear of God? Beginning of wisdom. So, three nineteen through 20 and this will wrap up our bad news section. Now, we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law so that every mouth may be closed.

24:26 He's saying that in the in the law, do you not see that you're a sinner? Can you not see it, people? Every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. By the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. So, I told you it's about justification by faith.

24:49 He's saying right here, you cannot work for salvation. You cannot earn it. For through the law comes the knowledge of sin and that's a big leg up for the Israelites. What were the Israelites doing at the bottom of the mountain when God gave them the 10 commandments? They were breaking every single one of them.

25:10 At the foot of the mountain where God has given to his servant Moses the law, the 10 commandments and they're breaking them through idolatry and adultery and everything else at the bottom of the hill and I like this but but and I like when it turns on that. So, no flesh will be justified. No one will see or meet God by the works of the law but there is the saving righteousness of God and we get back to what I'm read at the beginning. Now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been manifested or is being revealed, okay? As he says in 17, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all of those who believe.

25:56 There is no distinction for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Being justified as a gift by his grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. You hear the state in the gospel over and over again? He just keeps on saying it. Now, we've been walking in deep mud but this is the antidote.

26:13 This is the antidote to the poison of the universal reign of sin. Whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in his blood through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness. He's revealing his righteousness in the gospel because in the forbearance of God, he passed over the sins previously committed. For the demonstration I say of his righteousness at this present time.

26:36 Now, when he was writing to the Romans, it was close to the time of the crucifixion but salvation, redemption had been completed in Jesus's perfect life. Sacrificial death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. So, he's saying at this present time, we have all of the pieces to put all this together for all of the peoples of the whole world and so, he's passed over your sins, people, the sins previously committed, and your neighbors up until this point, if they're still breathing, they haven't suffered under the punishment of God for their sin. You have the only message that cures this. That's what Paul's saying to these Romans.

27:16 Sins previously committed for the demonstration I say of his righteousness at this present time so that he would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Now, he is going to be the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus, makes them right. If you go back to all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, all have sinned is a universal statement. So, if you've been raised in church your whole life and you know the Bible backwards and forwards, yet you still have not put your belief, your faith in him, you're in just as bad a shape as someone who has never been in at all. All have sent.

27:52 Now, I told you we had bookends. The the introduction was this. There's a blessing at the end. That's that. There's a lot compact between the two and it's the whole story.

28:01 It's not 10 words or less. It's 16 chapters. I told you last time, we're up to right there. Well, we're up to about right here now. We have gotten through the bad news but I wanna go back to just those first six verses right there, the unrighteousness of the Gentiles.

28:17 Seems how we fit all into that category and we know that even if we were Jews, we wouldn't have any leg to stand on anyway. The wrath of God. I mentioned this is the righteous anger of God. It's hard for us to imagine but imagine it. It is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.

28:44 Now, what truth is he talking about that they're suppressing, that we're suppressing, that people suppress. What truth is Paul talking about? So far in this passage, he has not mentioned it but he's going to right here because that which is known about God is evident within them. For God made it evident to them. Within them.

29:06 He's talking about some of the gifts that he has given universally to everyone. He has given conscience to everybody. We say that people have no conscience. Have you no conscience? But it's usually because they have beaten it back, beaten it back, beaten it back, not paid any attention to it.

29:24 He'll cover that in about two weeks. We'll get to that. Because that which is known about God, this is an awareness of God. It's evident within them. For God made it evident to them.

29:37 For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes, his eternal power, and his divine nature have been clearly seen being understood through what has been made. This is about creation. So, we've got conscience and we've got creation that are screaming out. When I when I read the poem at the beginning or we read, we heard that song during the offering about the purple sky closing the day and all of those things that point to God. There is a way to take that in and go, wow.

30:10 This is amazing creation and then creator is behind it. This is where the art show comes in. So, there was an art show last weekend. It was at the tattoo parlor here in town and there were some great cosmic images And these are paintings by a young lady, and she painted these things of different galaxies, and I don't know all the terms, astronomical, all those terms. But she painted these nebula and different things, and they're just beautiful.

30:42 And beside each of those was a little tag. One of them was Nehemiah nine six. And one of them was Psalm thirty three six. Psalm 19, the heavens declare the glory of God. Day after day, they pour forth speech.

30:56 There's no language where it can't be heard, you know? So, I don't mean to embarrass you, Tandy. So, it the show was absolutely fantastic but to me, what she saw was the invisible attributes, the eternal power, and the divine nature of God. She replicated it because God, the creator, has made us creative and she imitated what she had clearly seen and understood through what had been made and she gave reference to. Do y'all know what Nehemiah nine six is?

31:27 Does anybody have a real Bible? Let me look this up. So, Nehemiah nine six says, you alone are the Lord. You have made the heavens, the heaven of heavens with all their host and the earth and all that is on it and the seas and all that's in them, you give life to all of them and the heavenly host bows down before you. You are the Lord God.

31:49 Amen. Now, that just as easily could have had a tag next to it if it had been somebody else that coulda had a tag next to it that said, Hubble Space Telescope, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, right? Just saying what is. This is what we see but not given any attribution to the one who made that, you know. Amen.

32:12 And then he says, one of the hardest lines in the Bible, so that they are without excuse. So, God has given us a conscience. He's given us creation. He's given us a body. He's given us mind.

32:23 He's given us all this to be able to think and then, this bomb drops so that they are without excuse. It appears that conscience and creation are enough to hold you accountable to almighty God. One of those one of the 10 word statements last week was damnable as mankind is. God provides a way out. The truth is, we're without excuse.

32:50 Every single one of us and without a savior, without the blood of Jesus, we are all just as doomed, all of us. So, conscience plus creation equals what theologians call common grace. Common grace is that which God spreads on every tribe, tongue, and nation all over the place and them crying out to him. Amen. He sends us.

33:18 For even though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks. In verse 21, he's saying that through your conscience and through creation, you have an awareness of the deity. Now, in our society, people push that back and teachers suppress that truth all the time and it happens from very very early on. We're growing up in a cultural milieu that suppresses the truth about God and tries to make you feel foolish for believing. Even though they knew God and he's saying everyone of them did, they didn't honor him as God or give thanks but they became futile in their speculations.

33:59 Expelled. That movie, Expelled. Have you all seen that? Ben Stein's movie? He's asking where everything came from and it's talking about in particularly in school systems, where did all of this come from?

34:11 And people are guessing different things. And eventually, guys get down to evolutionists mostly get down to what may have been aliens or it may have been crystals. I'm not joking. That's what they get back to. Is that a futile speculation?

34:25 That is exactly a futile speculation. They don't give thanks to God nor do they honor him as God but they became futile in their speculations and their foolish heart was darkened. It is a fool who said in his heart, there is no god. Professing to be wise, they became fools and they exchanged the glory of incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and an underlying man right there because humanism is probably the biggest ism we have surrounding us right now. Maybe post modernism but humanism says that it's deep within all of us that all of us are created good and we can do this if we could just get together but the Bible says, we're all bad and we can't do this because we can't get along without Jesus.

35:12 There's only unity through him. They changed that they exchanged the glory of incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man. They elevated man and removed God and for the pagans, they also had birds and four footed animals and crawling creatures. Now, we'll get back to this but now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been manifested. He's saying the gospel, Jesus's death on the cross, his ascension, I mean, his resurrection and ascension, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.

35:46 Everything in the Old Testament was pointing towards Jesus, Even this righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe. There's no distinction. He's saying it again. We all come unworthy but he gave through his grace. All of sin fall short of the glory of God but being justified as a gift by his grace, unmerited favor.

36:08 Truly a gift. You did nothing to earn it. Just because you went to Sunday school and you had the check mark over, I brought my Bible. I did my, I did my homework. Y'all y'all with me?

36:16 I brought my offering. I have two quarters in this little envelope. You check all the boxes but all have sinned fall short of the glory of God. It's by his grace, the unmerited favor through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus alone, whom God displayed publicly as the just and righteous payment in his blood through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness because in the forbearance of God, he passed over sins previously committed.

36:43 Now, somebody came up after the first service and said, wait a second, what about Sodom and Gomorrah? He did not pass over those sins. He punished those sins. Like, yeah, but for the people listening to this message and the people here listening to this message, in the forbearance of God and in his patience with you, he has passed over your sins previously committed. He's left you here to hear this for them to hear this message from Paul and say, it is a demonstration of God's goodness and his righteousness that he has overlooked the sins previously committed for the demonstration I say of his righteousness in the gospel at this present time so that he would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

37:28 That's a very real invitation for you to believe in Jesus and be saved. So, that's the gospel. All have sinned and if you look at these two different comparisons that I've been making, the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel or the wrath of God is revealed this way. It's revealed from heaven against ungodlessness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth that God says they know. Though they are fully well aware of him, they've chosen to suppress that truth, ignoring him, and all of the evidence so that there's no excuse.

38:03 That's one of the saddest verses in the Bible. But it's juxtaposed right up against this one. The righteousness of God is witnessed by the law and the prophets through faith in Jesus. For all who believe and justified as a gift by his grace through redemption in Christ Jesus. The public propitiation and what we celebrate in the Lord's supper is the propitiation, the payment for the penalty of sin that we all deserve and Christ paid it.

38:31 Provided by God in blood through faith demonstrating his righteousness by passing over previously committed sins. At this present time, he shows himself just, justifying the one who has faith in Jesus. That's an open invitation and appeal. Now, may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope. Amen.

38:55 Amen.

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Creation Points To God Everyone A Sinner Salvation By Faith Without Excuse Wrath Of God

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