Romans 3:21-26 "The Heart of the Gospel" - 7/27/2017

to be back with you and we've got a phenomenal study in store I want to welcome those who are watching us wherever you are around the world thanks for joining with us and as you would have any questions during this study you can let us know right underneath as you're watching perhaps on Facebook you can send us a question and we'll try to get to it here at at the end we're gonna meet next Wednesday so in six days and we'll just keep working our way through this section but I want to begin in a word of Prayer father I pray that as we can now come to this study that you would bring your word to our minds into our hearts that you would use this to further equip us to live the Christian life use this to conform us into the image of Christ and wherever people are watching this for those who are without Christ and without hope I pray that you'll use this as the means by which they would come to saving faith in Christ so father we ask now your blessing upon this study in Christ's name Amen all right take your Bible if you would turn with me to Romans chapter 3 and we're gonna be in verses 21 to 26 and we'll see how much time we have to work our way through this be thinking of questions as well and I'm gonna save us time at the end for us to discuss this but of all the studies for you to come to that this has got to rank near the top it really is so I just want to begin but by reading these verses and I'm entitling this the heart of the gospel the heart of the gospel so Paul writes beginning in Romans 3:21 now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been manifested being witnessed by the law and the mufon's even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe for 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 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in his blood through faith this was to demonstrate his righteousness because in the forbearance of God he passed over the sins previously committed for the demonstration I save his righteousness at the present time so that he would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus I hope we can get to all of these verses today but we're going to savor these verses it's really the heart of the gospel so hey we got a little building program going on here bringing some more rent look good to see you man all right all right Luke yeah for those of you around the world this is Luke it came in a little bit late this morning so and I guess the other thing to point out since we met last Keenan has been married okay to Luke's sister so if if you notice a certain glow in here this morning we're gonna turn out the lights and look at Keenan okay so all right these verses 21 to 26 the heart of the gospel Martyn lloyd-jones the great expositor arguably the greatest expositor the 20th century actually says in the entire Bible these are the greatest verses that they're that there are then that's quite a statement coming from quite a man so we really want to get down to the the nuts and the bolts of this for lloyd-jones to say this this is all about the doctrine of justification and to this point beginning in chapter 1 verse 18 extending through chapter 3 verse 20 the umbrella over those those verses was condemnation the condemnation of the entire human race that the entire human race because of sin is under the wrath of God and that was a devastating case that Paul presented that brought indictment to the entire human race so as we come down to chapter 3 in verse 21 there is a dramatic change as we go from condemnation to justification and justification is the total opposite of condemnation and you'll note the first two words verse 21 but now and Martyn lloyd-jones has said praise God for the butts in the Bible but now and everything pivots and hinges with those two words but now it's the bridge from the condemnation of the entire human race to now a position in a place of justification by the grace of God this doctrine of justification and you'll notice that it is mentioned in verse 24 being justified as a gift by His grace is the first time the word justification are justified is found in the book of Romans and everything to this point has been a ramp up to come now to this extraordinary truth of justification Martin Luther who was used by God to recover this doctrine five hundred years ago and the Reformation has said that this doctrine of justification is appointed for the rise or the fall of the church meaning every true church holds to this doctrine and any church that does not hold to this doctrine is a false church it is outside the kingdom of God this doctrine that we're looking at is that important it is that pivotal there is a there is no room for any equivocation whatsoever on this doctrine and john calvin said during the Reformation that this doctrine of justification is the hinge of the gospel in other words it's the tipping point it's the turning point everything in our understanding of salvation turns with this truth it's that important and J I Packer has said that this doctrine of justification is the mighty atlas that upholds the entirety of the gospel everything is held up by this singular truth so we can't afford to be wrong at this point to be right here is to be right with God to be wrong here is to be wrong with God and to still be under condemnation so we can't we cannot overstate the importance of these verses now as we go through verses 21 to 26 and we'll see how our time permits us to do this I have nine headings and I want to give you and I and I see that several of you are note takers and I just want to walk through this kind of phrase by phrase and for us to dig this out okay so the nine truths about the heart of the gospel which is justification and the first is it is apart from the law so he begins in verse 21 now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been revealed when he says the righteousness of God has been revealed he is referring to the righteousness that we desperately need that can come only from God that gives us a place of acceptance with holy God in heaven when he says the righteousness of God he means the righteousness that comes from God what God requires God provides and he says number one it is apart from the law when he says apart from the law he means apart from any works of the law that we could ever hope to perform or achieve when he says apart from the law he means from the keeping of the Ten Commandments apart from the keeping of the requirements that God has already revealed in his written word there is no way by our own efforts that we can pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps and meet the high mark that God has required in order for us to enter into heaven and what God requires is absolute perfection God will not grade on the curve God will not look for the happy medium God has established the standard of his own perfect holiness in fact at the universe 23 he says all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and that is a standard of measurement which is the glory of God we're not going to be measured against other people we're not going to be measured even against our own selves it is by the standard of the glory of God that we are weighed in the balances and by the our attempts by our own good works to keep the law we could never achieve the righteousness that God requires so this is where this this first begins and I know that all of us here around this table surely understand this that it is not within us to be able to meet the standard that God has set for us so that's where it begins it's apart from the law visions 2:8 for by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of your self we bring nothing to the table we have nothing to contribute to to our own salvation other than the sin that was laid upon the Lord Jesus Christ that's all that we bring to the table in my hands nothing I bring simply to your cross I cling so that's number one it's apart from the law number two it is witnessed by the Old Testament so he goes on to say being witnessed at the universe 21 by the law and the prophets and when he says the law and the prophets that is a summary term that encapsulates the entire Old Testament what is for us the 39 books of the Old Testament from Genesis to Malachi for us in the order of the books in the Old Testament canon and he says that the entire Old Testament bore witness of the righteousness that God requires and the righteousness that God will provide in the gospel and Paul wants us to know this is not a new message what he has to say is as old as the Old Testament it is as old as the book of Genesis this is not a new way of salvation this is not a new way now for Gentiles to come into the kingdom of God there is only one way of salvation whether it is the Old Testament or the New Testament whether it is for a Jew or whether for a Gentile there is only one saving gospel and I would refer you back to chapter 1 and verse 2 when we first began this study through the book of Romans Paul threw his cards down on the table at the very outset of this book and told us from from from the the very beginning that this was witnessed by the prophets recorded in the Old Testament scripture from the very beginning and so in chapter 1 verse 2 he says which and the which refers to the gospel not whom but which an impersonal pronoun which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures so the gospel was made known in the Old Testament and the righteousness that was required if you would turn back to Genesis chapter 15 in Genesis chapter 15 and we see a very clear statement of how Abraham was made right before God the gospel was preached to Abraham and in Genesis 15 and verse 6 we read this very simple statement then he Abraham believed in the Lord and he referring to the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness it's crystal clear that is the doctrine of justification by faith alone taught in the Old Testament the righteousness that Abraham so desperately needed to find acceptance with God it was provided by God and God Himself reckoned it meaning credited it to the account of Abraham and it was credited exclusively on the basis of faith alone in the Lord and in John chapter 8 we understand that Abraham knew that it would be in the Messiah it would be in the one who had come in the fullness of time the Lord Jesus Christ Abraham had Christ preached to him and he believed and it was reckoned to him as righteousness if you come to psalm 32 just to give you another Old Testament passage in which we find this this imputation of the righteousness of God in psalm 32 verses 1 and 2 david writes how blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered how blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity and and in whose spirit there is no deceit God does not impute sin to the one who puts their faith and trust in him and instead there is the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ that is imputed to them now the word impute is not a word that we normally use in our daily English language but it simply means to credit to the account of to reckon to the account of it can it's a it's a legal term also in which a judge declares one who stands before his judgment bar to be the righteousness of God in Christ I'll show you one more verse Isaiah 53 in verse 11 and as soon as I say Isaiah 53 you know this will be a good verse this is the summit of the entire Old Testament Isaiah 53 and in verse 11 Isaiah records as a result of the Aang wish of his soul and that refers to the suffering servant of jehovah the messiah who would come he God the Father will see it and be satisfied by his knowledge the righteous one my servant will justify the many as he will bear their iniquities there is the doctrine of justification by faith alone it's it was witnessed in the Old Testament and there are many other passages to which we could go so Paul wants us to know as he enters this section now on justification that this was taught in the Old Testament the law referring to the first five books of the Old Testament Genesis Exodus Leviticus numbers and Deuteronomy and the prophets referring to Joshua through Malachi all bore witness of this doctrine of justification so that's the second thing that we learned here it was witnessed by the Old Testament now number three it was provided by God at the beginning of verse 22 even the righteousness of God when he says the righteousness of God he is not referring to the righteousness that belongs to God he's referring to the righteousness that comes from God now the righteousness that comes from God is the righteousness that belongs to God but this is referring to the source of this righteousness it comes from outside of ourselves and it comes from outside of the church and it comes from outside of this world it is a righteousness that comes down down from the throne of God it is what Martin Luther called a foreign righteousness an alien righteousness it is a righteousness that God requires that comes from God himself and only God could provide that which he requires because God's standard is absolute perfection in order to be received by him into his presence so this righteousness we must come to God to have this righteousness we must receive from God the righteousness that he alone can give to us we have to do business with God to have this righteousness we can't go to a preacher we can't go to a priest we can't go to a church we can't go to the denomination we can't go to an association we can't go to a ministry we have to go to God to have this righteousness that he alone can give so here's what we're saying this is the heart of the gospel this righteousness from God number one it's apart from the law number two it is witnessed by the Old Testament number three it is provided by God number four it is received by faith and he goes on to say in verse twenty-two even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ the only way to receive this righteousness is by exercising saving faith in God's Son the Lord Jesus Christ and faith is only as good as its object and it is only a faith that is in Jesus Christ that will give to us the righteousness of God if you put faith in anything else or in anyone else there will be no righteousness from God God will only deal with us on the basis of faith in his son now just to remind you what faith is faith is the commitment of your life to Jesus Christ it is nothing less it is more than mere head knowledge it is more than warm feelings it is the exercise of your will to entrust your life to Jesus Christ to cross the line to enter through the narrow gate to entrust all that you are to all that he is and a half trust will not get you there there must be the in the the the reliance of your entire life upon Jesus Christ you cannot hold back any part and try to contribute through your own good works a right acceptance before God true faith is only when you come all the way to Jesus Christ and there are some people who try to straddle the fence and they want to have faith in Christ and baptism faith in Christ and church membership faith in Christ and good works in order to commend me before God and it's not until you burn all your other bridges behind you and you turn away from anything else that you would rely upon and turn exclusively to Jesus Christ alone and put your full in him do you receive this righteousness from God you you can't play all ends into the middle I'll believe in Jesus I believe in religion I believe in the church I believe in this and that this and that that's not faith faith is when you take that decisive step of faith and you leave the world system and you commit your life to Jesus Christ you leave behind the world of religion and self-righteousness and you entrust yourself to Jesus Christ it is the decisive step it begins with the mind to know the truth the truth of the gospel the truth about yourself the truth of the fact that you're under the wrath of God and that salvation is found exclusively in Jesus Christ you have to know this or you cannot be saved you also in your heart must be convinced of your need for this and convinced of the of the truthfulness of this message and the Holy Spirit has come into the world to convict men of sin and righteousness and judgment and then as an act of your will on the basis of what you know to be true in the Word of God and on the basis of the conviction of the Holy Spirit in your own heart and soul you take that step of faith and you come all the way to Jesus Christ and you embrace him as your Lord and Savior so it is it is received by faith and and Paul will be labor at this point throughout the rest of this section the emphasis upon faith and I want to add the word alone faith alone not faith and faith alone Sola fidei by faith alone and you'll notice throughout the rest of this this section in verse 25 he says it is in his blood through faith at the end of verse 26 the one who has faith in Jesus verse 27 no but by a law of faith verse 28 a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law in verse 30 God will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith verse 31 do we know if I the law through faith may it never be faith faith faith faith and the word believe in the word faith are synonymous terms in chapter 5 verse 1 therefore having been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ Ephesians 2 verse 8 for by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God and as a result of works lest any man should boast this is the distinguishing mark of the true gospel of Jesus Christ every other religious message in the world is a message of salvation in which man makes some contribution to his own righteousness it is Christianity alone that is a message a pure grace that is received by faith alone so what we're saying number four is what Paul is saying it is received by faith by the empty hand of faith now number five it is needed by all verse 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God every single person in the history of the world and in this present moment and until the end of the age has sinned and fall short of the glory of God and that is a wonderful definition of what sin is there are many different different definitions that are used in the Bible of sin this is just one of those it is to fall short of the divine standard of absolute moral holiness I want to say again God is not comparing us to our neighbor to someone we went to school with to the expectations we would have of ourselves if you can picture some scales and on one side of the scales is place the entirety of your life on the other side of the scales is the glory of God and the glory of God here refers to the sum and the substance of all of the attributes of God and that starts with his perfect holiness holy holy holy is the Lord God Almighty and we we know we have been weighed in the balances and measured against the absolute infinite unvarnished holiness of God the glory of God and we have sinned and fallen short when measured against that standard every single person in the world desperately needs the righteousness that only God can give in order to give them a right standing before him whether you live in the United States whether you live in China whether you've heard the gospel whether you've never heard the gospel whoever you are wherever you are whether you grew up in church whether you grew up outside of church whether you're religious whether you're not religious whether you're male female whoever you are wherever you are you have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God I have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and so this righteousness of God is desperately needed by all you will never meet a person the rest of your life who does not need the righteousness of God that is found in the gospel of Jesus Christ so that's number five it is needed by all now number six it is declared by God at the beginning of verse 24 we read being justified we are passive someone else is active someone else is justifying us we cannot justify ourselves we are passive someone else is active someone else is the justifier we are the one who is justified who is being justified who is this one who alone can justify us and the answer is stated for us very clearly in verse 26 so that he God would be just and the justifier you see that in verse 26 it is God and God alone and when we say God here we're referring to God the Father it is God the Father who alone can bring the gavel down and declare us to be the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ and all that matters is what does God have to say on this matter so it is it is declared by God justification is what we call a a forensic declaration and the word forensic meaning a legal declaration God the judge declares the guilty sinner to be righteous before his judgment bar on the basis of what Jesus Christ has done on our behalf and this justification is immediate it takes place in a split second it takes place in a moment sanctification is progressive throughout the entirety of one's life glorification takes place in a moment and lasts throughout all eternity justification takes place the millisecond one believes in Jesus Christ you walk into a Bible study lost and under the wrath of God and condemned and in the middle of that Bible study while the truth is being made known to you you put your faith in Jesus Christ and before you get up out of your seat and walk out to go back to work you are immediately justified before God it is immediate second it's irrevocable it can never be reversed what God has declared stands in the courts of heaven forever there is no higher court that could overrule the declaration of God in heaven on this matter third it is complete you can never be more justified than what you are the moment you believe in Christ and God declares you to be the righteousness of God this justification is the reversal and the opposite of condemnation before you believe you are condemned before God the moment you believe you are justified by God this is the very heart of the gospel and it is that which puts us in right standing before God now it is more than the removal of the penalty of sin it is more than being forgiven of your sin that's only the removal of the negative justification brings the acquisition of the positive you are given a positive righteousness before God so please understand all of us around this table need far more than the forgiveness of sin all the forgiveness of sin does is bring us back to point zero and zeros don't go to heaven forgiveness washes away sin but in order to have a right standing before God we must be more than neutral we must be more than at Ground Zero there must be deposited into our account the righteousness of God in other words what forgiveness does is it washes away the debt that we owed to God and brings us back to square zero we have a zero balance in our checking account because of the forgiveness of sin it removes the debt but in order to go to heaven there has to be a positive deposit that is made not just the removal of of the debt but the positive deposit and what must be put into our account is what only God can put into our account his righteousness that comes from him this takes place in them in the split second of justification by faith when we believe Jesus Christ so it is declared by God number six excuse me number seven it is given as a gift as we continue in verse 24 notice he says being justified as a gift by His grace you understand the difference between wages and a gift wages is what you work hard for you earn them you deserve them because by your own efforts and by your own work your employer now gives to you what is rightfully yours because you have worked and have received it a gift on the other hand is the total opposite there is nothing you can do to deserve a gift it's it's it's freely given you've done nothing to deserve it it is based upon the mercy of the giver to choose to give which you have done nothing to deserve God gives his righteousness freely to those who have no merit of their own who have no basis by which to make any claim on this righteousness who have done nothing to work for it who have done nothing to deserve it in fact it is the very opposite they in their life have done everything to deserve condemnation but God now freely chooses to give as a gift and when he gives it as a gift he is the one who has paid for it it is a prepaid gift you can't even pick up the tip it's not like well God will pay for the meal and you throw down the tip here I got the tip ah yes there is nothing you can add to it it's all been paid for and accomplished by what we're going to look at next number eight it is acquired by Jesus Christ God the Father has sent His Son Jesus Christ into this world to accomplish and pay for the entirety of this gift that the father will give to those who believe and so as we continue in verse 24 being justified as a gift by His grace and now at the universe 24 and in verse 25 we see that it has been paid for in full by Jesus Christ so he says at the universe 24 through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus the word Redemption here means the payment of a ransom in order to secure the release of one who was held captive under the tyranny of another and Jesus Christ when he entered this world he entered into the slave market of sin he came into the prison house of this world and through the perfection of a sinless life and through his substitutionary death upon the cross through the shedding of his own blood Jesus Christ has purchased in full the redemption to pay the ransom to secure the release from the tyranny and the mastery of sin everyone who will believe in Jesus Christ you'll never hear any better news than that the rest of your life everything else is secondary this is what is primary and the entirety of this redemption notice at the University 24 it is in Christ Jesus there's not a drop of it outside of the Lord Jesus Christ it's not in the church it's not in the pulpit it's not in the pew it's not in the elders it's not in the Deacons it's not in any teacher it's not in the nomination it's not in any service worship service it's not in good works it's not in the baptistry it's not in the communion cup it's not in the bread that we take in the Lord's Supper it is all in the person and work of Jesus Christ the entirety this is why we say salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone it is acquired by Jesus Christ now in verse 25 he lets out a little bit more a robe the pro fund it t of what he just said at the end of verse 24 the height the depth of breadth and the length of it is beyond our getting our arms around it but he lets out a little bit more rope in verse 25 he says whom and whom is a personal pronoun referring back to the antecedent Christ Jesus whom God referring to God the Father displayed publicly that refers to the cross his incarnation his life is death as a propitiation in his blood through faith now the word propitiation means appeasement satisfaction now this is important not only did the death of Christ purchase our salvation securing our release from our bondage to sin it also satisfied the righteous wrath and anger of God toward us it did something toward us and it did something toward the Father the death of Christ toward us it bought us and the payment was paid to the Father it bought us out of our slavery to sin never to return to that state of slavery again if the Sun shall set you free you shall be free indeed but it also did something toward God the Father and let us not forget what it has done toward God the Father it has placated the righteous anger vengeance fury and wrath of a holy God toward all that which is violently offensive to his own Holiness Psalms says God is angry with the wicked every day God is angry with the wicked every day God has indignation towards the wicked every moment of every day it is the death of Christ on behalf of all who will put their faith in Him that completely Pro PGH the righteous wrath of God towards us forever that is why Romans 8 verse 1 says there is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus there is not one drop of wrath or anger that God the Father has left for you because Christ took it to himself upon the cross and when Jesus died upon the cross God the Father transferred our sins to him and him who knew no sin God made to be sin for us and when Jesus bore our sins the father unleashed the entirety of his wrath for our sins upon Jesus Christ God did not pour out his wrath into a hole in the desert and just cover it up with sand so that his wrath is now moved someplace else God the Father unleashed the entirety of the fury of his wrath and vengeance upon his son as his son was made to be sin for us and the only people who can even begin to fully comprehend or to some way comprehend what that is are damned souls in hell this moment who are suffering under the wrath of God the entirety of all those for whom Christ died was unleashed in a moment a tsunami of wrath fell heavy upon his son as he bore our sins the unleashing of the entirety of the wrath of God upon God's son there is now no more wrath for you and me so it was acquired by Jesus Christ and if you want to think of a triangle think of a triangle at the top is God the Father at this corner is God the Son and in the other corner is you and me the death of Christ is in the middle on this line excuse me on this line connecting God the Father and God the Son that is propitiation God the Son propitiated the wrath of God the Father propitiation had nothing to do with us it had everything to do with God the Father on the line connecting God the Son and you and me is Redemption and Jesus Christ has redeemed us out of the slave market of sin and on the line connecting us and God the Father is justification as God the Father declares us to be the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ understand that simple triangle and you will understand the three theological words that are found in this passage in verse 24 is justification and redemption in verse 25 is propitiation justification occurs between God the Father and the center propitiation occurs between God the Father and God the Son and redemption is occurs between God the Son and the center and in the very middle is the death of Jesus Christ that he has accomplished on our behalf each of those three theological words and which are more than just words they are theological realities show something of the multi-dimensional value and benefit of the death of Jesus Christ on our behalf so we need more than justification we need more than just propitiation we need more than just redemption we need all three and there are even other field theological words that we'll get to like reconciliation and verse in Chapter five we'll get to that later so verse 25 and we'll wrap this up and God displayed publicly as a propitiation in his blood through faith this was to demonstrate his righteousness you see the righteousness of God demanded that there be one who would suffer in our place if we were to be released from our sin the righteousness of God demanded it God could not just wink at our sin God could not just sweep it under the carpet sin had to be dealt with in full because in the forbearance of God he passed over the sins previously committed and that refers to all the saints in the Old Testament through the death of Christ upon the cross God was able to pass over all their sins and Old Testament times verse 26 for the demonstration I say of his righteousness at the present time so the universe 25 refers to the past verse 26 at the beginning refers to the present so that and here is the mystery of the gospel that he would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus that God has just means he must punish our sins that he is the justifier means that he has devised the plan whereby another would stand in our place and bear our sins and suffer our punishment and the wrath that is deserving us so that God can justify us without sacrifices own justice God's justice is fully met in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ how could God be both just and the justifier only in the cross of Jesus Christ and he ends in verse 26 with the emphasis that he's been making all this is by faith in Jesus you've got to put your trust in Christ you must renounce your own self-righteousness you must turn away from any efforts on your part to commend you to God you must turn away from a life pursuit of sin and turn to God through Jesus Christ and commit your life to Christ and when you do that God immediately declares us to be the righteousness that Jesus Christ accomplished for us well I need to land this plane that as but as you can tell there is so much packed into these few verses understand these verses and you understand the gospel this is the heart of the gospel so mark yeah oh oh okay number nine I didn't even say it I declared by God I declared by God this this righteousness of God he is the justifier God the Father is the justifier the basis is God the Son the instrumentality is faith the object of that faith is also Jesus Christ so Jonathan we have anybody checking in with us because they're lost and have a fallen nature and because they're spiritually blind and cannot see the truth and it is only an unbeliever who would believe in a universal salvation the natural man receives not the things the spirit or they're spiritually discerned he cannot understand them so in in in simplest terms it's because a blind man cannot see the light yeah someone someone else around the table I mean we got just a couple minutes here anyone have any inside or thought question and amen mark I am reminded of how much I missed this study be if we were doing this I was curious how far we'd be along at this point 15 yards for piling on you're reading this you know when someone comes to faith you don't really understand at that moment everything that has happened that's right and you learn it as you go through the scriptures yeah looking in the rearview mirror yeah and but the most I think you said it earlier you said knowledge and I would say assent would be agreement to it and then you said total commitment yeah and I think I spent about 20 years of my life with knowledge yeah and assent yeah but no commitment yeah I went to church yeah I considered myself a believer but I didn't have a heart that was seeking obedience yeah and so you said total commitment I would say trust and obedience yeah he's saying there's an anonymous yeah and it isn't until I think the heart's desire is obedience we won't fulfill that because we're sinners but this resonates so much with me because I spent so much of my life with head knowledge but what I would say not hard knowledge yeah and when you don't have hard knowledge your feet in your hands don't seek to please the Lord yeah yeah and I think I think a lot of people in this country have had knowledge oh yeah but they don't have heart they're not trusting right right and I see that in your teaching and a minute but you you run across people all the time that say they're believers and then there's the biggest negation but I believe God but I was this past week I was with some a man and I told him I was a Calvinist and he said yeah I believe God is sovereign but but what yeah I think that's where most of the church is yeah I would agree with you I would agree with you that I think the broad path that's headed for destruction is the religious crowd those who are saying Lord Lord did we not prophesy on your name cast out demons in your name perform many wondrous works and I will say into them in that day depart from me you who work iniquity I never knew you that's the religious crowd that are saying Lord Lord and he says not everyone who says to me Lord Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven but he who does the will of my father who is in heaven so yeah we're talking about essential matters here of life and death in heaven and in hell and so I just trust all of us around this table and everyone who's watching really understands the magnitude of the implications of this this is not a peripheral issue this is a primary issue this is who's in and who's out this who's in the kingdom and who's out of the kingdom this is who is under condemnation and who is justified by God through Christ and saving faith means you come all the way to Christ not just in your head and not just in emotions and and assent but as the act of your will you just make a decisive commitment of your life to Jesus Christ so that's where it begins well guys I need to wrap this up and and let you go and I've so missed this as I wrap this up I'm gonna just ask you to look at me and smile I just want to get a picture of all you guys so I can remember you I can't can you lean back just go away all right let's go listen to words father in heaven thank you people around this world who have never even heard what we just looked at you you have blessed us beyond measure to open our ears to open our eyes to open our mind to this truth but more than that you've opened our heart and you've activated our will to put our trust in Christ what a savior he is and I just pray that throughout the rest of this day as you would give us opportunities to talk to others about Christ that we would seize the moment and we would tell them the greatest news there is we pray this in his name amen all right guys next Wednesday next Wednesday right here we're gonna pick it up at verse 27 and it just keeps getting better and better we're just beginning to wade out into the water okay it's it's only at our ankles it's going to come up to our knees next week and then it'll be our waist oh they did

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Length: 62min 8sec (3728 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 07 2017