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The Gospel on Trial (Romans 3:1-8) | Louis Azuma
00:00 Introduction to Romans Chapter Three
02:03 Paul's Audience and Their Reactions
06:34 The Jewish Advantage and God's Words
10:21 The Value of Written Words from God
18:49 Understanding the Bible as a Treasure
20:44 Developing a Love for the Bible
25:46 God's Faithfulness in Judgment
32:33 Avoiding Excuses and Embracing Truth
39:30 Concluding Thoughts and Prayer
Transcript
We're continuing on in Romans chapter three.
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:So why don't you turn
there in your Bibles.
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:Now, one thing that you may have
noticed about Romans so far is a lot
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:of these sermons sound the same, right?
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:They sound pretty similar, and
that's because we're, we're following
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:someone's train of thought, right?
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:And honestly, though.
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:It took me a long time to, to
really understand some of the things
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:that we're talking about here.
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:When I was in middle school and high
school and I was, especially when I was
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:a freshman in high school, it took me so
long to admit that I wasn't a Christian.
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:It took me like a probably two years
of being faced with God's word and
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:then comparing it to my life and
realizing that I wasn't a Christian.
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:It took me like.
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:A long time to admit.
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:In fact, we used to do these things where
we would, um, our high school, when I
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:was in high school ministry, we would
go and meet on campus and like, um,
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:we would have a Bible study on campus.
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:Like all the true north
students that went to my school.
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:We would go and, and talk
about about the Bible.
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:Sometimes we'd have pizza, we'd do
all this cool stuff and my mom really
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:wanted me to go to those and I hated it.
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:I didn't want to go 'cause
I knew that when I would go
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:there, someone would ask me.
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:Hey, what's your testimony?
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:When did you become a Christian?
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:And I did not want any of that smoke.
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:I didn't wanna deal with it.
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:I was so convicted.
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:I was like, Nope, not for me.
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:So I would tell my mom, I went, and
then I would not go, or I would tell
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:her, oh, I went and the door was locked
and I couldn't get in, and I would just
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:make up all of this stuff to get out
of it because I did not want to admit.
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:Then what I started to do is then I
would make up like a fake testimony.
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:Like, oh, I went to summer camp when I was
in junior high and I, I heard this sermon
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:and whatever, and I became a Christian.
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:When I would try to make up stuff to
like, sound right, I just wanted, I
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:just didn't want to acknowledge the
fact that I wasn't a Christian, right.
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:That my, my whole life up that
point, I wasn't good enough.
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:I didn't deserve to go to heaven.
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:In fact, I deserved God's wrath.
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:And maybe that's you right now.
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:Maybe you've heard a lot of these
sermons and, and you feel like you're,
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:God's almost putting you into a corner
and you're like, I, I need to get out.
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:In fact, that's where a lot of these
people in Paul's that Paul's writing
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:to, that's what they feel like.
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:That's what a lot of them feel like.
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:It's, you're gonna see in our passage,
there's people that are, that are
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:trying to escape what Paul is saying.
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:They're trying to escape what God
is saying in the book of Romans,
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:and they're gonna come up with some
really creative ways to get out of it.
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:There's some really creative ways to
either say, well, that doesn't apply to
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:me or Paul, what you're saying about God.
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:That can't be true.
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:People make up all kinds of things, maybe.
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:For you, you've had a conversation with
someone, you, maybe you are a Christian,
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:you have a conversation with someone about
the gospel, and then they try to throw
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:you like a side, a sidetrack, and they
say, well, what about the person in, in
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:the jungle who's never heard the gospel?
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:Or, oh, well if God is good,
why do bad things happen?
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:Those are real questions, but
usually we ask those things so we
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:can get out of, well, what about you?
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:Right?
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:And that's what I want you to, to
think about tonight is we, we cover
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:Paul's argument and all these questions
that he's answering, I want you to
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:think about, well, what about me?
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:What about me?
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:And so I want you to be able
to affirm something about God.
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:I want you to be able to affirm God's
master plan of faithful judgment.
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:This is the, almost the, the
penultimate step in Paul's argument.
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:So it's the second to last thing before
we reach his like big conclusion that
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:we'll see next week, um, in chapter three.
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:So what happens in the
book of Romans, right?
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:That what we've been seeing.
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:Is that Paul's making a, like
they're all connected, right?
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:These aren't just isolated things that
you can just look at and say, oh, cool.
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:I like that.
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:I like that.
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:I like that.
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:Um, Paul's making an argument, right?
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:And he's, he's getting to
this conclusion right here.
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:No one is righteous, right?
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:No one deserves to go to heaven.
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:Everyone falls short of God's perfect
standard and on his way there, right?
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:We've covered a lot of ground.
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:We've talked about how, um, everyone
is responsible because everyone knows.
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:What everyone knows that God exists.
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:Everyone knows that there's a
God and that every everyone knows
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:that they are accountable to him.
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:And we also know that everyone,
regardless of religious background,
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:isn't good enough, right?
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:No matter how much you know, no matter
how many Bible verses you memorize,
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:no matter who your parents are, no
of us ultimately are good enough.
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:None of those external things
make us good enough for God.
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:And then what we'll see next week
is that all of us inherently are.
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:Sinful.
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:And so when Paul's making this
argument, a lot of the people in
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:his audience are Jewish and like
we talked about last week, they are
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:really holding onto the fact that,
well, I'm part of God's people, right?
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:I'm Jewish.
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:I have the signs of God's people.
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:I know the Bible really well.
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:They, they hold onto these external signs.
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:Maybe that's you, maybe you're
holding onto Well, I was baptized.
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:Or I go to church or I serve in church,
or I know that I'm a sinner, you hold
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:onto these external things that maybe
don't even make you a Christian.
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:And so what these, but what the
Jewish people actually did a lot in
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:the early church is they would not
just respond by objecting verbally.
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:They would actually respond violently.
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:There was a guy, um, his
name's Steven, and in.
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:He, uh, there's a story about him in
the Bible and this guy named Steven, he
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:was like a normal person in the church.
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:He, his, his like serving position,
his ministry, he, his job was to help
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:the widows make sure they had food.
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:'cause the, in that culture,
they didn't have enough.
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:Um.
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:They didn't have, they couldn't get jobs.
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:They didn't have as many rights
as people do in our culture.
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:And so he, his job was to
make sure they got food.
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:And Steven started talking about
some of the things that, that Paul
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:talks about here, how no one's
righteous before God and how well,
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:you know, I know that God, I.
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:His people were, were ethnic in
the Old Testament, but in really
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:what it's about is your heart.
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:It's not about those external things.
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:It's about your heart.
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:And the people got so mad at him, they
said in Acts six that he's blaspheming,
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:he's saying bad things about God.
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:So in the early church, the Christians
actually were accused of disconnecting
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:themselves from the Old Testament.
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:Isn't that crazy?
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:The Christians, they said,
the Christians don't like God.
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:So the Jews would say, oh, the
Christians don't like God, and
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:they actually end up killing Steven
because he believes the things that,
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:that we're teaching in this letter.
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:Isn't that crazy?
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:If you lived 2000 years ago, you
were in danger from some people
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:for believing the things that
you're hearing from this letter.
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:Now, the, the Jews, their
objection to what Paul's saying.
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:It comes in like three
stages in our passage.
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:Okay.
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:And these are those.
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:Three stages.
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:So the first thing, the first
argument that, that Paul is gonna
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:tackle here is that the gospel
is an attack on God's people.
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:So what you're gonna see in the first
couple verses is he's gonna ask,
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:what's the point of being Jewish?
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:Right?
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:If, if really, what a, remember
we talked about last week?
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:I showed you that milk carton, the
fake milk carton I made that said
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:true Jew instead of true moo, right?
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:That if true Jewishness, if really being
part of God's people is about your heart.
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:Then what's the point
of the Old Testament?
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:Right?
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:What's the point of the law?
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:What's the point of the sacrifices?
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:What's the point of the temple?
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:Why do we have all this stuff, right?
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:What, why did God waste 39 books
of the Bible on that part of, of
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:religion when really it's just been
about your heart the whole time?
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:So that's, that's one
thing they're gonna say.
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:They're gonna say that it's,
it's Paul, your, your disconnect
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:from, from the Old Testament.
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:The other thing they're gonna
say is, well, what about
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:all these promises God made?
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:To Israel, right?
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:God made all these promises to Israel.
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:He made promises to Abraham
and Isaac and Jacob.
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:What about those?
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:If God breaks his promise towards
those people, how do you know
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:he is gonna be faithful to you?
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:That's a valid question, right?
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:If you're saying that, well, God's
not gonna fulfill his promises
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:to Israel, then what about you?
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:How do you know that God's gonna
fulfill his promises to you?
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:And Paul's gonna ask that address
that question, and then the next thing
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:he's gonna talk about is there's these
people who are gonna say something.
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:How can God punish my sin if my sin
is actually showing his righteousness?
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:If my sin shows that God is a good
judge, then why is it, how can
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:God punish me for helping him out
because my sin is really helping him?
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:That's kind of a weird argument.
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:That's like saying, well, should I right?
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:Maybe you've heard it this way.
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:You should sin so that
God can forgive you more.
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:'cause it shows how
forgiving God is, right?
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:That's kind of a similar argument
to what they're gonna say.
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:Anyway.
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:So all that to say, that's what
we're gonna be looking at is three
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:objections that people might have to
what we just talked about last week.
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:So look with me at Romans
three, verses one and two.
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:So first objection is
what about God's people?
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:What about the juice?
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:What's the whole point?
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:First one, then, what advantage has the
Jew, or what is the value of circumcision?
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:Verse two.
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:Much in every way, which by the way.
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:That's not what you'd
expect Paul to say, right?
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:You tell him to say no, it doesn't
give you an innate advantage, right?
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:That's the whole point of
Romans two, I thought, is Paul
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:contradicting himself now?
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:What's happening?
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:Why is he saying that Jews have an
advantage when he just said that
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:they're just equally guilty before God?
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:That's confusing.
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:And he says, why?
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:To begin with, first of all, the Jews
were entrusted with the Oracles of
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:God, the words of God the Jews got.
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:They received what God said.
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:So Paul doesn't say, the
Jews have no advantages.
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:He says they have a lot.
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:And then he says, first of all, what's
funny too, I don't know if you guys
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:know who Charles Barkley is, he does
the same thing that Paul's doing here.
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:He says, first of all, he's a
guy, he's a sports guy on tv.
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:He says, first of all, and then he
doesn't say anything after, like
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:he doesn't say second or third.
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:He doesn't make any other points.
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:He just says, first of all, for
everything, that's what Paul's doing here.
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:He says to begin with,
and then he says nothing.
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:He just makes one point, he says,
first of all, and then that's it.
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:But I think what he's
doing is he's saying.
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:This is really the biggest advantage.
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:This is the main advantage.
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:This is the one that you
really need to care about.
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:The first advantage that the Jews have
is that they have God's very words.
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:He doesn't say it's the temple.
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:He doesn't say it's promises to Abraham.
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:He doesn't say it's stories
about miracles that God did.
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:He says it's, they have the very
words of God, and you have that same
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:advantage today if you think about
it, you have the very words of God.
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:In fact, you have more.
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:Of God's words.
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:You have better access to God's words,
and I want you to be thankful for that.
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:But I also want you to feel the right way
about the fact that you have God's words.
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:So for our first point tonight,
write down like this, treasure
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:what God has written for you.
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:I want it to be precious to you.
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:I want you to treasure it.
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:I want it to be special to you,
and I want it to be important.
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:I want it to be valuable.
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:That's why I picked that word treasure.
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:There's no greater privilege anyone can
have than having the written words of God.
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:And maybe you've never thought about
this, but think about it the opposite way.
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:What if you never received
anything from God?
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:No written words.
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:You didn't know who Jesus was.
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:You didn't know how
someone paid for your sin.
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:You didn't know that God loved you.
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:You would be a totally different
person if you had never
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:heard of any of those things.
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:In our culture, we really like
written, original, written things.
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:I saw this recently.
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:There was a sports autographed
card that sold for $12 million,
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:um, which, when you think about it, I
also found that, so George Washington's
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:own copy of the Constitution.
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:That he like signed, like his actual
copy was worth less than this card.
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:George Washington's copy of the
Constitution was 10 million.
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:This card was worth almost $13 million
'cause it has Kobe's signature and
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:it has Michael Jordan's signature.
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:$13 million for this one card
with two signatures on it, right?
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:Two really like what four words.
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:On this card, but because it has
those very original words, right, the
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:very words of Kobe Bryant and Michael
Jordan, it gets sold for $13 million.
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:In fact, this is the second most expensive
sports collective of all time, and it's
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:only half of the most, which is Babe
Ruth, babe Ruth's World series Jersey
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:from the 1930s, which was $24 million.
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:Which is crazy.
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:So people are spending this type of money.
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:Think of all the things you
could buy for $13 million.
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:Think of all the Dr.
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:Pepper you could buy for 13.
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:Um, 13 million.
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:It's a lot of money, right?
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:Someone spent $13 million on
this card just to have it, right?
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:Like, what good does this do them?
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:Like, like, cool.
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:They can show it to you when they,
when you come over to their house
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:like this does not really help them.
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:Like this isn't gonna help them get a job.
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:This isn't gonna help them
be like a good family member.
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:This isn't gonna help them live
a second longer of their life.
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:Like this is not gonna do
anything for them, but they
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:think it's worth $13 million.
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:Right.
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:So what's the advantage
of having this card?
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:I mean, you look cool.
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:You could sell it for
more money maybe, right?
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:But why?
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:Why would you buy it in the first place?
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:Well.
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:I want you to think about
what's the advantage of
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:having written words from God?
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:Right?
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:Why?
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:Why did God write a book?
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:Because I think a lot of us,
if we're honest, we'd say, I
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:would rather God show up, right?
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:A lot of us think, oh, I wish
I was one of the disciples.
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:I could have seen Jesus and talk
with him, or, I wish I was Moses
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:and I could have heard God's voice.
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:Because I think a lot of us, if
we're honest, that's how we feel.
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:I wish God would just appear to
me and show me that he's real and
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:tell me what he wants me to do.
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:Why did he have to give me a book?
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:I don't like books.
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:Books are confusing.
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:Books are old.
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:Books are hard to read.
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:Books are boring.
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:Why did God give me a book?
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:I would, why didn't he
give me a YouTube video?
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:Why didn't, because he
could've done that, right?
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:Why doesn't he just show up
to every single person and
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:show them that who he is?
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:Why did Jesus even go back
to heaven in the first place?
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:Why couldn't he just stay down
here and walked around and, and
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:he could have eventually talked
to every single person, right?
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:Why didn't he do that?
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:It's really easy to, to forget
the advantages and actually why?
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:'cause God's really smart.
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:I hope we all realize that God isn't
like, oh, I never thought of that.
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:I didn't know YouTube would exist.
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:God knew YouTube would exist.
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:God knew that you would maybe
rather see him and hear him,
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:but instead he gave you a book.
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:So why, why would that be?
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:Well, I want you to think about this.
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:Think about even like with,
um, think about with Abraham.
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:Okay.
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:Let's say you're one
of Abraham's servants.
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:Abraham said, you're living with
Abraham in around like Iran.
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:That's where Abraham was from, and
you're one of Abraham's service.
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:And Abraham says, Hey guys.
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:Um, God told me that we have to move
across like hundreds of miles to
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:this land that he's gonna give me.
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:What would you say he'd be like,
one, who's this God that you're
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:talking about, never heard of him?
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:Two.
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:Why do we have to move three?
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:How do you know he said that?
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:Four.
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:What did you eat for dinner last night?
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:Right?
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:You'd be like, what are we doing?
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:And then when God tells Abraham, Hey, you
need to do some stuff to show that you're
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:part of my people, you'd be like, hang on.
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:Why are you sharpening the rock?
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:Let's not do that.
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:Right.
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:That would be weird.
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:That probably went over
most of your heads.
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:That's okay.
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:That you'd be like, what are we doing?
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:Because God only gave
that to Abraham, right?
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:He didn't give it to Abraham's servants.
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:He didn't tell Abraham's servants.
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:Hey, but also what if Abraham
misinterpreted it, right?
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:What if Abraham heard what God said and
then was like, Hey guys, uh, we're gonna
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:move across the, you know, the desert.
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:We're gonna, we're gonna walk
with our camels all the way across
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:and move there side of thing.
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:And what if God really didn't mean that?
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:Or what if Abraham forgot
half of what God told him?
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:Right?
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:So the thing with getting
a vision from God is that.
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:One, you might forget it.
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:You might forget parts of it.
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:Right?
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:You might misinterpret it Also,
how you know it's really from God.
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:Also, eventually you're gonna wanna
write it down anyway because you're
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:not gonna be able to, to just
replay it all the time perfectly.
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:So there's, there's a lot of things
that are wrong with that are maybe
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:disadvantages of having a vision
compared to having a written sentence.
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:Here's what God said, right?
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:Because Abraham can't be like.
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:This is what God said.
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:Don't take it from me.
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:Take it from God.
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:Because Abraham has to
say, God told me this.
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:Right?
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:It's kind of like when you
tell your siblings, right?
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:When your, when your mom says,
Hey, um, can you tell your
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:siblings to take out the trash?
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:And you go, tell your
siblings, take out the trash.
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:Mom said so, and they're like, really?
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:Did you, did she really say that?
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:Or are you just making that up?
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:You are like, no, no, no.
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:Mom said so like, believe me, mom
told, and then what do you have to say?
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:Go ask mom.
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:That's all you have to say.
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:Unless your siblings trust
you for whatever reason.
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:I don't know why they would, but, um,
so I want you to think about if God
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:just gave everyone a vision, you'd
have no way of actually knowing whether
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:those visions agreed with each other.
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:'cause you have to talk about it.
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:And then someone could make it
up, someone could lie about it.
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:But the fact that you have a book from God
means you can say, here's what God said.
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:God said, you know, fill in the blank
and you, you read a sentence, right?
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:God said,
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:Jesus wept.
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:And you can say that.
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:That's what God said.
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:Easy, right?
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:God said in the beginning, God
created the heavens and the earth.
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:You can point to the Bible and
say that if someone says, well, I
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:don't know if he really said that.
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:You can say, well, look,
here's what he said.
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:Don't take it from me.
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:Take it from God.
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:So there's advantages to
having the written words.
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:Also, if you forget it, guess what?
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:You can read it, right?
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:Imagine if you got a vision from God
and then you forgot what he said.
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:You are like, oh, I don't
know if he said this or this.
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:What do you do?
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:You, you said to pick something, right?
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:So there's advantages to
having a written word.
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:Also, they're so accessible, right?
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:Because you can, you can copy it,
you can pass it on to someone,
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:you can give it to someone else.
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:So they're easy to study
because you can sit down and
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:think about it and look at it.
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:There's a ton of advantages to having
a written word, but also, I don't
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:just want you to be grateful for it.
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:I want you to enjoy it.
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:That's why I picked that word treasure.
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:I don't want you to be
like, all right, cool.
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:I know I'm supposed to like the Bible.
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:Great.
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:I want you to feel a
certain way about the Bible.
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:It's kind of like, so, um, I went
to someone's house recently and,
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:um, they were awesome hosts and they
made great food, but unfortunately
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:they put cilantro in their food
and I, I don't like cilantro.
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:So I was very thankful for their food and
I ate it and I enjoyed it a little bit,
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:but I really didn't like it that much.
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:Right?
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:'cause it had cilantro in it.
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:But I was grateful for it.
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:I appreciated it.
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:And maybe that's where
you're at with the Bible.
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:Maybe you're like, I'm grateful
that God gave me a Bible.
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:I appreciate it, but I'd really
prefer if it was something different.
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:It's really just not my thing
444
:versus.
445
:If you went to In-N-Out, you wouldn't
just be like, well, I'm really,
446
:if I thought, you know, if we came
over to that person's house and they
447
:said, Hey, let's just go to In-N-Out.
448
:I wouldn't be like, oh yeah, thank you.
449
:I'm really grateful.
450
:I'd be like, that's awesome.
451
:Best idea you've had all day.
452
:Let's definitely go to Inn Out.
453
:Right?
454
:I'd be excited about it.
455
:I'd be think if they, or if they
told me beforehand, like, Hey guys,
456
:we're having In-N-Out for dinner.
457
:Right?
458
:Imagine if you, I told you, Hey,
we're having In-N-Out at True North.
459
:Bet you would, you would be way more
excited about True North, right?
460
:You would enjoy it more.
461
:You would enjoy the process of
eating more because like I'm sitting
462
:there eating, you know, this meal
that I'm really grateful for.
463
:I'm sitting there eating this meal
and I'm just like, I'm eating it.
464
:I'm digesting it.
465
:I'm chewing it, but it's not
like I'm not savoring the meal.
466
:You know?
467
:And maybe that's you with your Bible.
468
:You read it and you're like, it's
like you're going to the dentist.
469
:It's like you're eating that,
you're eating that meal.
470
:You're like, I'm grateful for
this, but it's not my favorite.
471
:I'm not enjoying this.
472
:I want you to, to feel like
your Bible is in and out.
473
:I want you to enjoy your Bible more
than you enjoy in and out or your
474
:favorite food or whatever, because
that's how the Bible talks about itself.
475
:The Bible compares itself
to really good food.
476
:And so I want you to feel a
certain way about the Bible.
477
:I want you to feel like I need the Bible.
478
:Like it's, I'm so excited
to, to, to read it.
479
:I'm so excited to hear
someone talk about it.
480
:I'm so excited to listen to his sermon.
481
:I'm so excited to memorize it,
and I want you to enjoy it because
482
:that's God's design for you.
483
:God's design is for the
Bible to be your food.
484
:God's design is for the Bible to be.
485
:Like treasure to you.
486
:That's what you, that's what
his word says about itself.
487
:I want you to see that the Bible is
sweet, that the Bible is enjoyable,
488
:that the Bible is precious.
489
:That the Bible is awesome because
that's the way God designed it for you.
490
:And the the reason is not because it's
some old book that tells you what to do.
491
:The reason that you're, that
the Bible is supposed to be.
492
:This awesome thing for you.
493
:I realize I didn't even
show you this picture.
494
:Isn't this just make you smile?
495
:Isn't this so good?
496
:See, y'all just like visibly
reacted to that, right?
497
:When was the last time you had that
type of reaction for God's word?
498
:Right?
499
:When was the last time that you saw your
Bible and were like, that's awesome.
500
:I'm so excited for that.
501
:Right?
502
:I would say that most of you
probably would rather think
503
:about this than think about this,
504
:and honestly that that shows that
there's something wrong with us, right?
505
:Because we love this more than this, and
506
:that shows that there's
something wrong with this.
507
:So what if you're like,
oh, how do I get there?
508
:What do I do?
509
:Well, one, ask God.
510
:So many of, so actually the longest
chapter in the Bible is about the Bible,
511
:Psalm one 19, and most of it is prayers
for the, it's the guy talking to God
512
:about the Bible, and he's asking him,
sometimes he's asking God to help him
513
:feel the right way about the Bible.
514
:He's asking God to, to help him
feel the right way about God's work.
515
:So ask God like, and I've legitimately
prayed this before, I've sat down
516
:before my Bible reading and said, God, I
don't feel like reading this right now.
517
:Please make this better
to me than inn out.
518
:I have actually prayed that
519
:I've sat down and been like, God, I
want to like this more than inn out.
520
:'cause I know it's better
for me than inn out.
521
:Pray that it's, that's,
that's a viable prayer.
522
:You can pray that prayer or pick
your favorite food or whatever.
523
:And the goal is for your
spiritual taste buds to change,
524
:and God can do that for you.
525
:But also the, the like.
526
:Also kinda like with, with coffee, right?
527
:A lot of people don't like coffee at
first, but it's an acquired taste, right?
528
:They, they, that's what your parents
tell you because you try coffee
529
:and you're like, this stinks.
530
:This is terrible.
531
:Why do you drink this every day?
532
:One 'cause they need it and
then they start to like it.
533
:Right.
534
:That's a lot of times how your
relationship with the Bible is gonna work.
535
:You start because you need it.
536
:You say, I'm gonna die without this.
537
:God's word gives me life.
538
:God's word gives me wisdom.
539
:I am foolish.
540
:I need help.
541
:I need God's help.
542
:I don't just need human help.
543
:I need God's help.
544
:And so where do I go for God's help?
545
:I go to the Bible.
546
:'cause the Bible is God's word.
547
:The Bible gets me God.
548
:This is the closest I'm gonna get
to hearing God speak out loud, is
549
:reading the Bible and I need it.
550
:Then you read it and you read more
of it and you say, oh, this actually
551
:God knows what he's talking about.
552
:God, there's no one like the God
that I read about in these pages.
553
:There's, there's no one like this.
554
:God, no one talks like him.
555
:No one says the things that he says.
556
:No one knows me the way he knows me.
557
:And you see those things and you're like,
oh, this, this starts to make sense.
558
:And you read it.
559
:You encounter God in his
word and he changes you.
560
:So I want you to, to
see God's word the way.
561
:That God designed it to be for you.
562
:God didn't design Bible reading
to, to be boring or lame.
563
:And the way you get there is sometimes
an acquired taste, and sometimes
564
:you don't feel like it at first.
565
:And you start, and then you start
and, and it gets better as you go.
566
:But also God will help you with that.
567
:And if you, you ask him, there's,
there's a lot of prayers in the
568
:Bible that are, God help me, like
the Bible, help me feel the way I'm
569
:supposed to feel about this thing.
570
:Anyway, I spent way too long
talking about that, but that's okay.
571
:So we're talking about objections
to, to God's word, right?
572
:Objections to this passage.
573
:So the first objection was that the
Gospel's attack on God's people.
574
:The second objection is that the
gospel is an attack on God's promises.
575
:It makes God unfaithful to the Jews.
576
:So look at verse three and four here.
577
:So what if some of the Jews
were unfaithful, right?
578
:They disobeyed God does
their faithfulness or faith?
579
:Let faithlessness nullify
the faithfulness of God.
580
:And then Paul says, by no means when you
see that in the Bible, by no means, that's
581
:like the strongest way Paul can say no.
582
:That's like absolutely not.
583
:No way.
584
:Not at all.
585
:Let God be true.
586
:Though everyone were a liar, as it is
written that you may be justified in your
587
:words and prevail when you were judged.
588
:So this thing right here in quotes,
right, that's a quote from the Old
589
:Testament, that's a quote from Psalm 51.
590
:Psalm 51, is when David is praying
and he's confessing his sin to
591
:God, he's saying, God, I messed up.
592
:And part of confessing
sin is acknowledging God.
593
:You have the right to judge me.
594
:You're God, I'm not.
595
:I'm guilty.
596
:That's what confessing sin is.
597
:It means agreeing with God about your sin.
598
:So that's what David's doing in
this Psalm that Paul's quoting.
599
:So Paul is saying, actually, this
is what the Old Testament says, and
600
:this is what I'm saying, that God
is faithful even when he judges sin.
601
:God is faithful even when he
judges sin, which is really
602
:interesting when you think about it.
603
:You probably.
604
:This might be new for you.
605
:God punishing sin is him
keeping his promises.
606
:God punishing sin is him
keeping his promises.
607
:So our second point tonight, see
God's faithfulness in his judgment.
608
:See God's faithfulness in his judgment.
609
:I want you to see when God punishes sin,
he's being true to who he says he is.
610
:When God condemns something for being
sinful or when he sends a person to
611
:hell, he's being true to who he is.
612
:He's following through on what
he said he was going to do.
613
:He's keeping a promise.
614
:Usually, we only think of God's
promises in a positive light.
615
:Like, oh God promises that he
won't lose any of his people.
616
:That's great.
617
:That's just an encouraging promise, right?
618
:To know that that.
619
:No Christian, no real Christian
will ever lose their salvation.
620
:That's such an encouraging promise.
621
:But another of God's promises is
also that no one will escape his
622
:judgment if they're not saved.
623
:That's, and so when God follows
through on that promise, he's keeping
624
:his promises, he's being faithful.
625
:One of my friends from.
626
:Seminary from school.
627
:He, um, had five kids
and they were crazy kids.
628
:And one of the reason they were crazy
kids is because my friend was not very
629
:good at following through as a dad.
630
:So what happened is he, his, he had
three boys that were like eight to
631
:four, and they would do something
crazy and he'd be like, stop it.
632
:And they would do it again.
633
:He'd be like, stop it.
634
:And they'd do it again.
635
:He'd be like, stop it.
636
:And he wouldn't do anything about it.
637
:He would just sit there
and be like, oh, stop that.
638
:And then just like keep doing his thing.
639
:And he never followed through on anything.
640
:He would just tell him to stop
it and then nothing would happen.
641
:So they learned, oh, he just says,
stop it, and I can just keep doing it.
642
:So they learned that their dad
was not faithful to his promises.
643
:They learned, oh, my dad doesn't keep
his word so I can just keep doing it.
644
:He's never gonna do anything.
645
:Sometimes that's how we think about God.
646
:Well, I sinned and nothing bad happened.
647
:I sinned.
648
:Nothing bad happened.
649
:I'll sin more.
650
:Nothing bad happens, I'll sin more.
651
:Nothing bad happens, and we trick
ourselves into thinking that God is not
652
:faithful to His promises, that God is
just gonna keep being patient forever.
653
:Like we talked about a few weeks ago, we
talked about that, that God's patience
654
:is meant to lead you to repentance.
655
:It's not meant for you to keep on
going and going and going down.
656
:You're a sinful path.
657
:So I want you to remember that God is not
just faithful to keep his good promises.
658
:He's also faithful to keep
his judgment promises.
659
:So if you think God is like my friend who
just says, stop it, and then doesn't do
660
:anything, you're tricking yourself, right?
661
:If you're sitting here and, and you
know, oh, I'm sinning and nothing's
662
:bad, nothing bad's happened to me yet.
663
:You're really saying, God, you're
not gonna keep your promises.
664
:That's what you do when you keep
on sinning, even as a Christian.
665
:If you're a Christian, you say something
like, oh, God will forgive me anyway.
666
:Well, God promises to discipline
his children because he loves you.
667
:He doesn't want you to keep sinning.
668
:He doesn't want you to keep hurting
yourself by sinning, and so he'll
669
:stop you from sinning eventually.
670
:He'll either.
671
:'cause he, he loves you too
much to let you keep sinning.
672
:And so he'll either stop you by
helping you see that it's wrong
673
:and repent from it, or he'll stop
you by disciplining you and he'll
674
:prevent you from sinning that way.
675
:But don't act like God is
unfaithful to his word and keep
676
:on sinning and ignoring him.
677
:I want you to see that whenever God
follows through on his judgment, it's him
678
:being, it's him having integrity really.
679
:It's him being who he says he is.
680
:God always is who he says he is.
681
:He won't ever not be something
that he isn't, right.
682
:And so if we say, you know what, God,
you're just, you're a good judge.
683
:If we, if we affirm that, then you can
count on him to punish sin, even if
684
:you think that you're gonna be the one
person to get away with it, or you think
685
:you're the one person that can hide it.
686
:God is faithful in good ways.
687
:Also in ways that maybe aren't so
good for you, if you think that
688
:you can escape God's judgment.
689
:And that's what these people that
Paul was writing to thought, they
690
:thought, well, we're part of the
right group so we can escape.
691
:And that's not true, and that's not true
for you if, if you just come to church and
692
:say you're a Christian and have no heart
change, you have no relationship with God.
693
:You've never trusted Jesus to save you.
694
:You just have all the
external things, right?
695
:And you say, well, I'm
part of the right group.
696
:I can escape God's judgment.
697
:That's not true.
698
:God is faithful and he will
follow through on his promises.
699
:Then our third objection was
that the gospel is an attack on
700
:God's righteousness, and this is
maybe a question that you might
701
:feel is more relevant to you.
702
:How can God punish my sin if my sin
is actually helping him show hise?
703
:If my sin is actually giving
an opportunity for God to show
704
:that he's a good judge, how
can God punish me for that?
705
:I thought I'm, I'm doing God a favor.
706
:Well, that type of objection
really is just us trying to work
707
:our way around God's justice.
708
:We're trying to get out of
the consequences for our sin.
709
:So our third point tonight, don't
try to outsmart God's justice.
710
:There's a couple.
711
:Arguments that you'll see in these
few verses that are really just
712
:people trying to play word games
to not admit that they're going to
713
:suffer punishment for their sin.
714
:It's really people just trying to, to
outsmart God and, and get around his
715
:consequences that he'll give them.
716
:I tried to do this with my mom a lot.
717
:Um, I, so she would ask
me to clean something.
718
:And I'd be like, well mom, I'm not
the one who wants it to be clean,
719
:so really you should clean it.
720
:I shouldn't have to clean it.
721
:That's what I would tell my mom.
722
:Right?
723
:This is BC Lewis, and I would tell
my mom, well, you're the one who
724
:who wants it to be clean, so I'm not
the one who wants it to be clean.
725
:I really don't care if it's clean
or not, so you should do, you
726
:should be the one who cleans it.
727
:That's really me trying to
like just get out of doing
728
:what I'm supposed to do, right?
729
:That's just me saying,
well, mom, I tolerate more.
730
:Gross stuff than you do, so
you should clean everything.
731
:Right?
732
:That's not really a good argument.
733
:And so I would try to use that to get
out of what I was supposed to do, right?
734
:Which was what my mom told
me to clean things, right?
735
:There's some creative ways
that you might think you can
736
:play word games and get around.
737
:God's judgment and may maybe not, you
think that maybe someone, you know,
738
:might think that, and so the first
one comes up in verses five and six.
739
:So if our unrighteousness
serves to show the righteousness
740
:of God, what should we say?
741
:Right?
742
:I'm helping God by being unrighteous.
743
:That's what they're saying.
744
:You see that here, they're saying, I'm
being unrighteous, that lets God judge
745
:me, which shows that God is righteous.
746
:So I'm helping God show
that he's righteous.
747
:That's what, that's,
that's what they're saying.
748
:They're saying that it's not fair for
God to punish me 'cause I'm helping him.
749
:And then what does Paul say?
750
:Definitely not because how
could God judge any sin?
751
:He's saying that, well, if, if you
think this way, you're saying that
752
:God shouldn't do anything about
anything bad in the world, which
753
:really is how no one lives, right?
754
:Because if, if, if you are gonna
argue that, well, God shouldn't
755
:punish me 'cause I'm helping him show
his righteousness, then guess what?
756
:If I.
757
:Stole all your money, then I'd
say, well, I'm just helping
758
:God show his righteousness.
759
:So you can't do anything bad to me.
760
:I don't deserve to go to jail.
761
:No one lives like this, right?
762
:No one actually lives like this.
763
:So it's really just a word game to get out
of something that we don't like about God.
764
:The second way this happens
is in the other two verses.
765
:If through my lie, God's truth abounds to
his glory, why am I still being condemned?
766
:Same kind of.
767
:Thinking here, right?
768
:I'm lying.
769
:It's making God look really good.
770
:It's like me saying, oh, well,
um, I should just pretend
771
:like I'm an awful person.
772
:So that way people think Shay
is super patient and kind and
773
:loving 'cause she's married to me.
774
:That's a terrible idea.
775
:Right?
776
:But that's what they're arguing.
777
:They're saying I should keep sinning
so that good things will happen.
778
:Right.
779
:I should keep sinning so that God can
show more of his forgiveness or more
780
:of his grace or more of his justice.
781
:And Paul doesn't even really
argue with these people.
782
:He's just like, look,
they're just playing games.
783
:They're just trying to play Word games
and, and get out of what's really
784
:true and what they know is true.
785
:And I think what happens.
786
:Sometimes, and I, I know I've had this
conversation with a lot of people.
787
:You start talking about, oh, like you
start talking with someone, you're
788
:sharing the gospel, you're, you're
trying to help them understand the
789
:gospel and, and become a Christian.
790
:And then they bring up all of these other
things, and then it usually comes down
791
:to, well, they just want to keep sinning.
792
:And, and maybe that's you, maybe
you have all these questions.
793
:Some of 'em are valid questions.
794
:I'm not saying those questions
are all bad, but if that's you
795
:tonight, if you're sitting here.
796
:No.
797
:And you know, look, I've, I've
tried to just make up a bunch of
798
:things and get, get out of this
type of conversation, right?
799
:I just don't wanna deal with it.
800
:So I'm coming up with all these arguments
of why I shouldn't become a Christian.
801
:Because really what it comes down to is,
is you love your sin or you don't wanna
802
:submit to God, or you don't trust God,
or you don't think God's good, right?
803
:Don't try to.
804
:Skirt around those, the real issue, right?
805
:If you have a real question,
great, ask your question.
806
:But if you're just throwing up
smoke screens, you're, you're,
807
:we are wasting your time.
808
:'cause you're not helping
yourself, and ultimately you
809
:are still under God's wrath.
810
:Even if someone answered all your
questions and you said, I still wouldn't
811
:become a Christian, then you're just
throwing up smokescreens and you're,
812
:you're just wasting your own time.
813
:So,
814
:and maybe right for you,
maybe it's God will forgive me
815
:anyway, so I you keep sinning.
816
:Or maybe for you it's, well,
my sins not hurting anyone.
817
:Right?
818
:And those are just things that,
excuses that we make even as
819
:Christians, right, to keep sinning.
820
:So really what this comes down
to is that we're all trying
821
:to evade the inevitable truth.
822
:That we're guilty, we're sinners, and.
823
:The problem is if you never admit that
you're a sinner, you're never going
824
:to turn from your sin and trust Jesus.
825
:Right?
826
:You, you can't keep your
sin and embrace Jesus.
827
:Jesus says you can't serve two masters.
828
:And so if, if that, even if, even if
you are a Christian, maybe there's a
829
:sin that you just don't wanna repent
of 'cause you love it too much.
830
:You can't hold on to both.
831
:You have to admit it.
832
:You have to bring it into the
light and let God deal with it.
833
:That's the only way you're going to
overcome a sin as a Christian, and
834
:that's the only way you can ever
become a Christian in the first
835
:place is if you, you bring your sin.
836
:You just stop making excuses and you
stop trying to, to get around why.
837
:It's okay.
838
:Let's pray and we'll go to small groups.
839
:God, we are grateful that you love
us enough to tell us hard things.
840
:We're grateful that you know that even
though some of us will reject you.
841
:You still love us enough to tell us
the truth, and we pray that tonight
842
:as we think about what you've said to
us, that um, we would remember that
843
:it's coming from your love for us.
844
:The reason that you warn
us is because you care.
845
:You didn't have to tell us anything.
846
:You didn't have to share
the gospel with us.
847
:You didn't have to give us
an opportunity to repent.
848
:Um, but you put us in the
way of the gospel so that.
849
:We might respond to it and embrace
you and be with you forever.
850
:So I pray tonight as we go to small
groups, that we would be focused,
851
:that we would learn things, we'd
ask good questions, um, and that we
852
:would honor you in our discussions.
853
:We pray this in Jesus name, amen.
