Lesson 6a

Alright, we are on lesson six. You know, I wanted to start with something else just real quick. You know, just yesterday when I was reading The Hungry Heart, I really liked The Hungry Heart yesterday. It was just kind of an uplifting one, so if you'll indulge me, The Hungry Heart from yesterday. As believers, we rejoice in the fact that the Lord Jesus died for us. I think everybody 99% of all believers are all believers. Rejoice in the fact that the Lord Jesus died for us. But fewer are affected by the fact that He arose for us. Fewer still realize that we died and arose with Him. Learn the facts. There will be continual struggle and failure until we gain adequate understanding of the liberating truth.

The Lord Jesus on the cross removed the barriers which separated me from God, my guilt, my sin, the law, and He dealt with my enemies, the world, the flesh, the devil. These six things were dealt with so that we need no longer be in bondage through fear and that we may come boldly to the throne of grace.

Have we given a hearty assent to these things which the Lord Jesus did for us? Or have we, as we have read the word drifted by them, taken it all for granted? Let us lay hold of that which God has laid hold of us. Let us gird up the loins of our mind and consent to that which He did for us. Let us enter into all which being united to Christ as our life means.

Let us rejoice in all that was accomplished for us on Calvary. Yeah, I think as we study Romans and as we see the foundation, our identification with Christ, we see about the payment of sin and we think of that. And I think everybody who comes to know the Lord understands that, just the payment of sin and that Christ took all of our sins on a cross. But the fact that it's brought out there is He arose also. We have life in Him and what that means for us now.

And I think a lot of us just look to the payment of sin and then we kind of go merrily down the road. And I look in the mirror. I mean, I'm not saying it to you guys. I look in the mirror and think about that. How much I think of my risen life in Christ.

Not only the payment that my sins were paid for, but what I have in Christ, that unity with Christ, in one of my favorite sections, John 17, and just about our union with Christ. And do we lose that focus a lot of times? We only think, oh gee, that sin, or when we're sinning and we confess, and that's the only thing we look at. There is so much in the life of Christ that we have that I think a lot of times we miss that. And I just thought yesterday that was a great one. I think maybe it was just slapping me in the face yesterday. I don't know. Probably one of those more than anything. So how much I take for granted all the things we have in Christ, the life that we have in Christ.

We are in Romans class, Lesson 6. So if you don't have Lesson 6, it's in the back of the room. This is on chapter 2, verses 17-19. However, on the first question, I'm kind of going to go back a little bit on what J.D. was starting to go through, but we kind of re-advised a little bit and told him we'd pick it up on this one, just based on question 1.

We looked at six principles by which God judges man. So what is the seventh and last principle of God justified? Well, I want to go back. Can anybody even think about what the six are? Well, right here. And it was actually the last of JD's lesson, which he kind of finished part of it, and then I'd pick it up.

So we'll look at the six previous ones, and then we'll get to the seventh. Then we'll get into our section, the two 17 through 29. So the first one that we went through when we started, and this is all from Romans 1 through, well actually Romans 2, in Romans 2 about God's judgment of man. And these six principles we've gone through as we've studied up through verse 17. So God's judgment according to truth, and that comes from Romans 2. Romans 2, and we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. I kind of was like, well, where's that? So actually that's under the New American Standard. When you look at the King James, it comes out a little bit more.

But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. So the first judgment is about according to truth. against those who practice such things. And then the second one is according to accumulated guilt. Remember, these are the judgments of man, the unbeliever.

And that comes from Romans 2 verse 5. But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. I guess the question I have is, is that a good place to be? Storing up wrath?

Then the third one is according to works. So in verse 6 of Romans 2, who will render to each person according to his deeds? Okay, so the third one is according to the works of the deeds of man. So, what are the deeds of an unbeliever? Can an unbeliever ever do works that are pleasing to God? So, what deeds can he do?

Everything that is contrary to God. That's the only thing. That's what we said. The only thing, when you only have one nature, and it's a sin nature, the only thing you can do is sin. Even though there may be good works, there may be good things, but the motives are probably wrong.

And can it ever be pleasing to God from an unbeliever? Is there anything that God goes, wow, that's pretty cool. I think just a little bit, that wrath that I'm storing up for him, I'm thinking just a little bit less. We're going to negate that a little bit. Is there anything that an unbeliever can do that would negate the wrath that is stored up for him?

I'm saying, in an unbeliever's state, we know that once you are a believer, yes, so you can't. And that's kind of an overwhelming thought when you think about it, that there is nothing that an unbeliever can do that would please God. Isn't that kind of how many millions and billions of people there are that fit that category? And they can't please God? There's no way they can?

That's kind of overwhelming to me. Fourth one. So, they are without respect of person. So, it doesn't matter. This comes from Romans 11. For there is no partiality with God. What does that mean? There's no partiality with God? Everyone's on an equal plane. That's right. So are there rankings in the unbeliever category? Yes. There are. Romans 1. So what are the categories?

It just gets worse and worse. But from God's standpoint, there is nothing. So when you put that in perspective, and I was saying about this yesterday, assuming that Hitler was not a Christian, a believer, what about comparing Hitler with an unbelieving little grandma who bakes cookies every Sunday? How does God see them?

The same. The same? Isn't that kind of weird? But it's true. He shows no partiality. So an unbeliever is someone, ultimately, the only question is if they reject Christ or not. That's how God sees them. Everything on this side, if they reject Christ, is all the same.

They are separated. no real difference between Hitler and an unbelieving grandma who bakes cookies or the little boy scout who walks the old lady across the street as an unbeliever. There may be different consequences in the world. I mean, obviously Hitler had more of an impact than the little old lady and grandma. But in God's eyes, the question is, and there's only one question, do you accept or reject my son?

And there's no middle line on that. And that's why I say when you look at this, there's no partiality. Do you understand what that means? It doesn't matter. You either accept my son or you reject my son. That's really the key. And it's all weighted on this side, where if you reject Him, it's all the same. The outcome is going to be the same. When you get to the judgment seat, there's going to be judgment for all these things, but from God's perspective, you either accept Christ or you don't.

I think also it goes to the source of your behavior. The man in Adam, his source is sinful Adam. Yes, he really doesn't have a choice, so he's always going to prefer or work from the source where the man in Christ, his source is different. His source is the resurrected Christ, even though he may not conduct himself out of that source all the time.

Well that's where you have the will. Finally, when you have a will and there are two natures, would you yield to the spirit or yield to the flesh? When you're an unbeliever, what choice is there? So that's why I said it's kind of interesting when you look at this, it says there's no partiality. So, sinner, unbeliever, all on this side. Believing, in my son, all on this side.

So, but we're talking in this case the judgment of man. But I thought that was kind of a, you know, we try and rate things. You know, it's like when you see, I always love this, when you see a high-profile, like, murder case, and you see the guy, there's a, there's, I think, This was an illegal immigrant guy who'd shot a sheriff or something, and he was like just grinning and smiling, and I'd like to kill more. Oh man, I'm angry about that one. But then you see the repentant person who killed whoever, and he's so sorry. Oh, and you feel a little sorry for him.

How does God, if they're both unbelievers, how does God see them? Exactly the same. If you're sinning or whatever, if you're really sorry about your sin, you're a better person than the person who is angry or non-repentant about their sin. If they're on the unbelieving side, how does God see them?

All the same. So what about this whole idea God rendering to each person according to his deeds, that seems to have a weight to it, right? Which side are we on? Yeah. And that comes at the judgment seat. I think that's when the judgment seat, you'll be judged for all your deeds. So, yes, in that perspective, I look at the... Judgment seat of Greg White Throne. Is it Greg White Throne?

Yeah. And so your deeds will be brought forth. Yes. But on that point, you're going in the lake of fire. And that's kind of the interesting thing is that the location is the same for everyone, but there's still a judgment according to their deeds, right? We don't necessarily understand what that means. But there's a weight of deeds that is... But the consequences are the same, but there's still this confusion potentially for us to have with the scripture when it talks about According to the deeds, you tend to think, OK, well then those deeds are far greater than these deeds, right? Yeah, the outcome is still the same. It's still the same. Same location, same problem, same everything. Yeah. Yeah.

Aren't there degrees of punishment? I mean, I don't know where that is in the scriptures, but there's someplace that indicates it might be. Does it mean somebody's got their hand up? I mean, per se, there's a bounding and there's, we know, greater punishment with regards to those that fell. But we don't know, from a human perspective, what, according to their deeds, will be at the White Throne, other than the location that they remain separated for eternity. And I think, remember, this is judgment of man, too. These are not to angels. So this is the judgments against man.

I just think it's kind of interesting though, we try and categorize these things and wait and do all this stuff. It's a human nature, right? Yeah, it's what we do. And that's why I'm just saying, between Hitler and a little old lady who's an unbeliever, the consequence is going to be the same if they leave this planet without accepting Christ. So, you know, just, but our minds go to, well this goes to our fairness doctrine and all these things. We're partial. We are. He's not. He's not.

And that's the point. You know, we try and make it, you know, weighted and all this, so. I definitely want that old granny to have a second. So you need to speak to her about the Lord. Okay, the fifth one, according to performance, not knowledge. And this is out of Romans 2, verse 13. I'll read 12 for context. For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are just before God, but the doers of the law will be justified." So again, it's not by performance, it's not what you do, it's by knowledge. And the sixth one, God's judgment reaches the secrets of the heart.

So judgment is by the secrets of the heart, and that comes from Romans 2.16, and I'll read 14-16 for context. For in Gentiles who do not have the law do instinctively the things of the law these, not having the law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the works of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them. And then 16. On the day when, according to my gospel, In my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus. So, the secrets of the heart. I thought that was kind of an interesting one. The secrets of the heart. What does that mean? It's that little old lady's biggest problem. That's a good point. I mean, that really is.

It is, you know, the motives, the everything behind, but the underlying is a rejection of Christ. That's, you know, I think the secrets of the heart is the total rejection of Christ. Ultimately, that's the root. And that's really, like I've said this many times, that's really the only question for every human being on this planet, is who is Christ?

Do you accept Him or reject Him? That's ultimately the only question that ever needs to be asked or answered, and what the eternal consequences of that. So I think that is the secrets of the heart. Maybe the little old lady goes home and kicks her dog or something. I don't know. Anything that God knows your heart, that's the key. He knows your heart. Alright, so now we're getting to the last principle and we'll read the passage for this lesson which is Romans 2 verses 17 through 29.

But if you bear the name Jew, and rely upon the law, and boast in God, and know His will, and approve the things that are essential being instructed out of the law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and of truth, you therefore who teach another, do you not teach yourself?

You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law, through the breaking of the law, do you dishonor God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, just as it is written.

For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the law, but if you are a transgressor of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the law, will he not judge you, you who through having the letter of the law and circumcised are a transgressor of the law? For he is not a Jew who for he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. And his praise is not from men, but from God." So, basically who is this addressing? Jews. It starts out right away. But if you bear the name Jew. So this is really focused on the Jews, but it will have principles for us also, or we can take some of the principles out of it.

So the seventh principle by which God judged man is according to reality, not religious profession. That was in particular directed to the Jews and their religion. The seventh principle of his judgment, therefore, is that even a divinely revealed religion provides no security to its professor if devoid of reality, where the Jew's religion at the beginning of the dispensation, or the Christian religion, has come to be called the day. So, really looking at the religious system or religious aspect versus personal reality.

And so, really this is focused at the Jews, but we look at the principles how it applies to us as believers, too. Or the Christian religion, I should say. That's more the aspect. So, question two. Can God judge the Jews who have greater privilege on a less strict basis if the Jew was faithless to the light he had and as bad as the heathen he despised? Do you understand the question?

So how did the Jew value himself? The chosen people, okay. They had the law. They had the law. So what did they usually do? When they had the law, what did they think about the Gentiles? Lawless. What? Dogs. Dogs, lawless. Those people over there, very, very smug about things. The Gentiles were these heathen barbarians, dogs. You didn't associate with them. You didn't eat with them. You didn't do anything because they were heathen. And the Jew felt that he had it all. He was a chosen person. He had the law. He had everything. He thought he knew the true God as his God. He knew God's will, and his ability to decide things was more excellent.

So, pretty snooty. The Jew thought they were up here, and here were the Gentiles. So what did he... They were. They had an advantage. They had an advantage. It's the attitude that he's really judging here. It's the attitude. They have it. They have the law. They were a chosen people. It's the attitude that's being addressed here. They considered themselves superior to the others. And they were, but what were they doing?

Not following any of the laws. What's the, do as I say, not as I do? Don't steal. In our neighborhood, there's a lot of quite a few aesthetic cues. And, you know, they're not all lawless in the sense that they're just breaking laws all the time. But there's always with everyone that we have observed, there's always one or two things about them. You know, this this guy over here may not do this, but the guy in the black suit next to him, he does it. There's this old Jewish man in the neighborhood. He never met a stop sign. Totally recommended guideline. He's got a van full of kids and he's racing around the neighborhood. Surprising he hasn't killed anybody by now.

Think about how the Jewish, the 614 laws, what were the 614 laws meant to do? Bypass the other five, the 614 was to bypass the 613 ahead of it. They tried to figure any way out of how to get around the law. Well, they have another set of laws out from this law that if they kept that one they wouldn't break this one. Right, that's what I'm saying. The 614th was in the progression of... That 1228.

Yeah, that is, you know, how to avoid, how to avoid everything that's, you know, you could only do what? Travel? What was it? So, so you carried it. a thing from your house, because you can only travel one day, or what was it? Two miles. Two miles, but if you brought something from your house, that meant your house was here. So then you can do another two miles, and then you drop something else and it became another two miles. You can run eight feet. I forget what they call it, but there's a wire. Oh yeah, within the wire. You have to stay within the wire. The wire is two miles from that same guy. Yeah. What's funny is, the snooty, right? America. Right, Nick? I'm just saying, that's us too, though, right? In a lot of ways, we embody the same mentality around towards the rest of the world. And so we can relate to that Jewish mentality. Speaking of Arnold Frutenbaum, he's a Messianic Jew, so he's a believer. But he had gone through training for being a rabbi, and had memorized the Torah, and had gotten that far. Well he would come to Texas and teach at one of our churches and he was good friends with a friend of ours and that guy loved driving fast. But what was funny, we went to a He actually got pulled over and he got himself out of a ticket.

But Arnold, we were at a conference one time and the conference was over and we were cleaning up and stacking chairs and whatnot, a group of guys there, and he was there speaking. And he was just sitting there watching and I was like, you want to help or what? He's like, no, I just love watching Gentiles work. It was a joke. He has a really interesting sense of humor.

But that always stuck with me. That's generally the ideology of the Jewish mindset. I am privileged. I am special. I've been given something that you haven't. And it's hard for me not to think Snoodley. They got it directly from the God. They didn't make up their own religion. I mean, they are.

As Americans, we kind of feel that way. We have something special here. Yeah, take off your Make America Great hat again. I just love watching those other countries work. But that was an interesting experience for me because I kind of got a glimpse into, not only myself, because that's the way I behave. I mean, we all do. We all look with a long nose down at somebody, somewhere, at some time.

That's one of the, let me get the right word, one of the trap doors about being in a place like College Hills. Yeah. That would focus on truths other than just evangelistic truths, or gross truths, and things like that. And along with that knowledge comes a little bit of arrogance. Yeah, we're kind of special. Both Baptists don't know what we mean. That kind of stuff.

Not that the Jews blame us. Not that we're not blameless because we are. We want to set the world straight because we got all the right answers, right? You know, going through Peter, I think some of that today in my daily, you know, about having peace in our home and all the things and what it tells us to do scripturally. We're not supposed to do that, but we do it.

And that's the old man. You know, when you realize it, that's the old man. I'm just saying, we are so much more Jewish than we recognize, in terms of the way we behave and the way we think. You know, the funny thing is, when you read this and you see what's going on, you know, you who profess, do not steal, and you steal, do, do, do, do, do, do, do.

What was the law meant to do? What is it, and I look it up, Well, the law was a tutor to point us to Christ. And that's the, what is that, the late Galatians, or, yeah, 2, 28, or whatever it is, 23 and 24. They always forget the last part of that. The tutor was to point us to Christ. The second verse, the people who write like law always point to that verse, but they forget the next verse that says, now that Christ has come, there's no, or, now that he's come there's no need for the tutor anymore. We're not under law.

But think about what does the law do? What does it say? I should look that verse up. 523. Wait, you want to look it up? What is law meant to do? Kick up the sin. It's to turn it up. Just contrary to what 99% of probably believers think, the law is meant to reign you in and to make you a better person.

The law came in so that this transgression would increase. It will very soon increase the grace of God. So, actually, the law is doing what it was there for. It actually makes you increase in sin, which is really contrary to what most believers think about what the law is. The law is meant to make you holy and just. Even though the law is holy and just, it actually incites the sin nature. So when you see these, you know, actually the law is doing what it was there to do. All right.

So question three. What are the three grounds the Jews claimed that they were exempt from condemnation? Why were they saying they were exempt from condemnation? There are three things. One we just discussed. Chosen. Chosen. I don't think it does. Well, sort of, in the son of Abraham, that they were sons of Abraham, that's the third one. First one, what we were just discussing, that causes us to, causes the sin nature to go crazy? The law. The law. They thought they were exempt from condemnation because they had the law. And you see that in verses 17, 18, 20, and 23, and I'll read those with a highlight.

But if ye bear the name Jew, and what? rely upon the law, and boast in God, and know his will, and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the law, again these are all things referring to the Jew, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, to the light, who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and of truth, Again, this is talking to the Jew.

You, therefore, who teach another, do not teach yourself. You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law, through the breaking of the law, you dishonor God.

And going on. They thought they were exempt because they had the law. That those heathen dog Gentiles didn't have the law. So, they had the law. Second one, he was circumcised. That was the identifying mark, or identifying physical feature. He was circumcised, and you see that in verses 25, 26, and 27. For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the law. But if you are a transgressor of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirement of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the law, will he not judge you, who though having the letter of the law and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law?

So they thought, They had the circumcision. Another thing given by God to identify the Jew and separate them from the world was circumcision. And the last one is really, what Joe brought up, basically who they are. And they were a son of Abraham. So that comes in verses 28 and 29 and also out of John 8, 33. For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that which is in the heart by the Spirit, not by the letter and praise. And his praise is not from men, but from God." Again, God's selection of them.

And then if you look at John 8 and look at 31 through 33, So Jesus was saying to those Jews who believed him, If you continue in my word, then you are truly disciples of mine, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. They answered him, We are Abraham's descendants, and have never yet been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say you will become free? Again, they were boasting in the fact that they were Abraham's descendants. They were Jews. So, again, to the question, why were they exempt from the condemnation? They had the law. They were circumcised. And they were chosen by God. Sons of Abraham. So we're above condemnation.

At least they thought. It's interesting that the guy that's telling them all this stuff. Can you imagine knowing Paul beforehand and then hearing this after? You're like, man, what about 360U? And you know, that's why I think God uses those conversions. From somebody who was so far to this side, there was no question there was a change in Paul.

Everything that he's saying about the Jew is was true of him, right? Or it still is. I mean, he is a Messianic Jew as well. He knew it all. He knew it all. Sitting down and hearing Paul teach you something as a Jew, having known where he was as a... Killing Christians because they weren't following the law. It's just incredible. Yeah.

You know, I think about all that and then I look in the mirror and I figure, how did God make me? I wonder that about you too. Yeah, I know. A lot of people do. You know, I think that there are those amazing conversions of people who were just totally, you'd never think could ever accept the Lord, and they do, and they change their life completely. and just the transformative effect of having a new life in Christ and what that does. I look at Paul too.

I think I've used this before. We did catering on some stuff for the band booster thing. And we had some Jewish things where it really came out to me how... and these were orthodox. You had to have the silverware separate. You had the milk products. All these things had to be separated. There was just all this total law and rules.

And I thought, man, this is so crazy. And then I'm thinking, here's Paul. And Galatians is the one really that shows between law and grace. And I can just feel Paul's heart talking to the Jews who, you can see it here, they had just a love of the law. This is what made them special. And Paul comes up and says, you're not under law now, you're under grace.

I understand how hard that would be for those people. To convince these people who were just at a catering event, you're not under law. You don't need milk and separating the silverware here and doing what? Or living inside the wire. You got to live inside the wire. You got to walk to the synagogue on Sunday? Saturday? Saturday. Saturday, yeah. So, I want you to tell me if I sinned when I did the following. Well, if it's you, you're right off the bat. Absolutely.

An accepted Jewish man is not to touch any other woman other than his wife, so he won't shake hands with her. And it's the same way with his wife. She's not supposed to touch me, right? So my neighbor, who's Jewish, her dog gets loose. So I go get the dog, right, on the leash, and I'm thinking all the way up to her eyes. I'm going to grab her hand, and I walk away thinking, yeah.

I can tell you that there was a wrong motive. Was love the motive of this? This is what I was reading in Peter about, you know, peace to all men, doing all this stuff. Yeah, I think you have a little confession on that one. I think you have a little confession on that one. Motive was really out there on that one. I thought it was a great motive. No, no. But it did get the dog. Yeah, it did get the dog, yeah. She probably had to go get cleansed. Yeah, she could not participate in anything after that for weeks, probably. I'd wash my hands after it, yeah.

Okay, what were the five advantages on which the Jew based his hope? So, we'll get through a couple of these. So, the five advantages on which the Jew based his hope was his name, and that was in verse 29. Judah means one who is praised, so the Jew or the Jewish name.

His trust. He trusted in the law that it would save him. His boast. The God of the Jews was a true God. So he knew that the God that they worshiped was a true God. And his knowledge. It's God's will, not his will. And then his confidence. Where was his confidence?

He was a guide to the blind, a light to them who were in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, teacher of babes. He was pretty confident that they were going to lead these heathens and they were going to lead the Jews because of their knowledge of all these things. He was a guide to the blind, a light to them who were darkened. advantages, because they had the law, they were chosen, all these different things, so they claim all these things as advantages, or that's what his hope was based on, the Jew. Okay?

And then question five, can verses 7 through, and this is where I really want to get at too, can verses 17 through 22 be applied to Christianity, or Christendom today? And this is, If you look at 17 through 22, those are those verses about the knowledge and relying upon the truth and kind of the smug nature of it, all those different things. Does Christendom fall into the same category? I think JD kind of hit it a little bit this morning anyway. Can Christendom fall into the same smugness, the same attitude?

I think absolutely. Newell puts it this way. If we should thus apply this passage, 7-29, must it not read something like this? If thou bearest the name of a Christian, and restest on having the gospel, and glories in God, and knowest his will, and approvest of things that are excellent, being instructed out of the gospel, and are confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, having in the gospel the form of knowledge and of truth. Kind of the same. Just put it in. Then we follow the searching questions of verses 21 and 22, for do we not know teachers that teach others but refuse to follow their own teaching? No comments. I was looking at that, what's the other one, and I just got through that the teachers are judged more severely than anyone else.

That gives you a little wake-up call when you're up here teaching. held accountable to a much higher standard which, as we get up and teach, that is in the back of the mind at some points, and preachers that denounce stealing but then accuse the world of being themselves money grabbers. So it would read, now this is the following verses, Thou who glories in the gospel Through thy disobedience to the gospel dishonors God. The name of God is blaspheme. The preaching of the gospel is called in the world a learned profession, along with law and medicine, instead of a high calling of God. The world sneers at the ecclesiastical politics and self-seeking that it sees displayed so often. You know, and I think, how many pastors have we seen that have gone down? Sexual misconduct, money laundering. There was a guy here, he was going, oh, oh. Ingrid's grandmother got taken by him. He had a retirement thing. Blair. Blair. You know, and just built millions out of all these people. You know, how many ones who had sexual misconduct? all these different things that add up to supposedly Christians who then falter. How damaging is that to the gospel?

When somebody who's out there preaching, we just saw this the other day, you know there are license plates that you can get, or the covering on the license plate that will keep you from getting photo radar? They're kind of like a plastic, so when it flashes, It makes it opaque. I think they're illegal. Aren't they illegal?

But I see them on cars all the time. So I'm behind a car there and we're driving and I see one of those. I look up and then I see the sticker on the back. He, H, greater than I. He is greater than I. Have you ever seen those? He is greater than I. Meanwhile, he's got the illegal license plate thing on. Or when I'm seeing somebody cutting somebody off and doing just road rage and they have the little Christian fish symbol on it or something like that, I'm like, oh man.

I always think that was an unbeliever that just bought the car. Because that would never be a believer. So what are we saying here? What kind of message do we say when you say you're a believer and you are out just acting like the world? Kind of the same principle. We're snooty and we think we're right, but really we don't have to follow the scripture. We can do whatever we want. And you know the world will take that. Every Christian that falters is just put up on the billboards to the world, that look at this fake religion, these guys who are holier than thou, and look at them, they're no better than we are. Immediately it's brought out. So again, I think the same sort of thing would apply to us, and I think that's what Newell's saying here too. Question six.

Should the Jew admit that he's guiltier than the Gentile before God? What do you think? Yes? No? Strangely silent. Isn't everyone equally guilty? Okay. Everybody equally guilty? Even though they've had more truth, they still reject you. Any other thoughts? Well, we talked a minute ago about teachers being, what's the word?

Held to a higher standard. I think the more truth you have, the higher the standard. So, yeah, I really do think that. Consequences, though. Yeah. Other consequences. Again, no partiality in all the different things we discussed. I think from the worldly perspective, and as we're saying, teachers are held to a higher account. There is the ultimate, and this is for Jew non-believer. And that's a very important point to make. That's the key on this. If you're thinking about us, and we kind of melded the two concepts together with the teacher. From an unbelieving perspective, there is what we're talking about. From a believer's perspective, there is no condemnation. And when we say as teachers we're held to a higher standard, it's not a matter of punishment from a believer's perspective.

We're not talking about, hey, we're going to wipe the judgment, the bema seat, and we're not going to get our due. Because you said something up there that you didn't say out there. It's a loss, right? It's a loss at the judgment seat. It's not a punishment. You know, I think, you know, and the consequences, I think, you know, there could be consequences here if you're teaching totally non-scriptural things, representing, I think, there may be consequences here.

How about a person, like, in our country that's raised in a Catholic environment, Baptist, doesn't matter, one of the denominations, he hears all these truths, or she hears them, Barbara Jackson. Is this a believer? Non-believer. You know, like I grew up in Catholicism.

When I was approached with the gospel, the first thing the person said was, you know that Jesus died for your sins. I said, yeah, I already know that. Yeah, again, the end consequence, that's why I bring it to the point where there's only one question. Do you accept or reject Christ? Yeah, believing. That's the only thing. Here's what's interesting.

All of the elements of the gospel, I knew them my whole life. What I didn't know was that they were just for me. Personal? Personal. He died just for me. And the second thing I didn't know was that upon believing that, that he would save me for all eternity, that I wouldn't be responsible for my salvation anymore.

I think the personal aspect is the thing that, you know, in Satan's clouding view is to get as close to the truth as possible, but not there. To make people feel warm and fuzzy and think they're good and all this. They're doing okay. They're doing okay.

I think that's the hardest thing. You know, I think, you know, I know in some of the missionaries, Some of the hardest countries to really evangelize are Catholic. A lot of Catholic in Europe, South America, the hardest ones to evangelize are some of the Catholic countries because they are so steeped in the religious and not the personal aspects. We think of the person lost in deep dark Africa or whatever. bend in the truth and feel good.

Alright, I think we're done, right? I didn't hear the bells. We have so much insulation in this new room, you can't hear the bell? Brian left. I saw him, but I didn't hear the buzzer. Yeah, let's go. Let's close. We thank you for today again. We thank you for these truths. Most of the truths were directed to the Jews.

We see the application to us as believers and Christendom, as we call it. We just thank you that our relationship is personal and that, again, you have a personal relationship with every one of your blood-bought children in Christ. And we rest on those facts. Thank you for those facts of what we'll get to as we get into Romans 6 and our identification, our co-crucifixion with Christ and our being risen with Christ. We just thank you again for this time. We pray for Vern in the next meeting. Just bring us the word accurately and truthfully and prepare hearts to receive it. We thank you for this day. In Jesus' name. Amen.