WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.600 As we turn to God's word let's pray. Dear God our Father we are so aware that as we 00:00:07.600 --> 00:00:13.300 come to Your Word we need Your help and we pray that You'd give us all an open 00:00:13.300 --> 00:00:18.440 heart and open ears to hear Your voice and may Your Word be written on our hearts 00:00:18.440 --> 00:00:25.600 and may it shape everything we do and may it all be to Your glory. Amen. 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:29.839 Well today we're carrying on our study in the letter to the Romans and we've 00:00:29.839 --> 00:00:32.920 come to the end of chapter 7 and after this week we're going to take a break 00:00:32.920 --> 00:00:38.359 because in many ways at the end of chapter 11 we reach the end of the first 00:00:38.359 --> 00:00:44.719 section of this letter. So we're going to pick it up again in January from chapter 00:00:44.719 --> 00:00:50.719 12 but over the last three months we have covered a huge amount of ground in 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:56.079 chapter 5 to 11 of this amazing letter and I hope that we've learned a lot 00:00:56.079 --> 00:01:02.079 because this section of Romans in fact the whole of chapters 1 to 11 sets 00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:10.439 before us a huge amount of teaching but as we've built up our study of that 00:01:10.439 --> 00:01:14.079 teaching and as I hope we've learned a lot we have to make sure that there's 00:01:14.079 --> 00:01:19.280 one thing that we don't forget and that's the truth that's been set before 00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:24.079 us in the very last verses of chapter 11 which is what we're going to study 00:01:24.079 --> 00:01:29.640 together today. Oh the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God 00:01:29.640 --> 00:01:35.920 how unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways but who has 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:40.560 known the mind of the Lord or who has been His counselor or who has given a 00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:46.759 gift to Him that He might be repaid for from Him and through Him and to Him are 00:01:46.760 --> 00:01:57.800 all things to Him be glory forever. Amen. I'm sure you'll all remember that the 00:01:57.800 --> 00:02:01.760 letter to the Romans is basically divided into two parts I've shown you this 00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:06.080 slide before but that's a very brief and basic summary of the whole letter you 00:02:06.080 --> 00:02:11.159 got a brief introduction and a brief conclusion the main section is in two 00:02:11.159 --> 00:02:17.479 parts knowing the gospel and living the gospel so chapters 1 to 11 which we've 00:02:17.479 --> 00:02:21.599 been studying are primarily doctrine when we talk about doctrine we just mean 00:02:21.599 --> 00:02:26.879 teaching and so we're growing in our knowledge of God and in all that He has 00:02:26.879 --> 00:02:30.280 done and the second part from chapter 12 the bit we're going to come into in the 00:02:30.280 --> 00:02:34.639 new year is in many ways much more practical and that's that pattern that 00:02:34.639 --> 00:02:37.560 Paul follows quite often you read his letters in the New Testament you'll 00:02:37.560 --> 00:02:42.879 often see the first half is kind of meaty theology and then very often in the 00:02:42.879 --> 00:02:47.280 second half of his letters he'll apply that to the lives of the people that he's 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:53.640 writing to and that's reminding us that that theological knowledge and practical 00:02:53.640 --> 00:03:00.159 application always always go hand in hand it's never one or the other the two 00:03:00.159 --> 00:03:07.360 always go together what we know should always shape what we do. So 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:11.560 chapters 1 to 11 have given us a huge amount of doctrinal teaching a lot of 00:03:11.560 --> 00:03:17.280 really meaty theology many of the great doctrines of the Christian faith are 00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:21.480 set out in this letter and I did a bit of a quick summary I sort of scanned 00:03:21.480 --> 00:03:26.520 through chapters 1 to 11 to see all the different doctrines that were taught all 00:03:26.520 --> 00:03:30.400 the different big chunks of teaching that it has before us and I've got a 00:03:30.400 --> 00:03:35.360 list for you it's not exhaustive I don't think but but it's a big list these are 00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:40.760 all the things that Paul talks about okay we're gonna blast through them in 00:03:40.760 --> 00:03:45.680 90 seconds okay he talks about the doctrine of sin that's where he starts 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:50.720 he explains the tragic story of humanity in chapters 1 2 and the first half of 00:03:50.720 --> 00:03:55.880 chapter 3 where we've exchanged the truth of God for a lie we've rejected our 00:03:55.880 --> 00:04:02.240 creator we've started worshiping the creation itself and sin has had a 00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:08.240 catastrophic effect on this creation of God it's wrecked the world it's wrecked 00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:13.080 us as humans individually it's wrecked a relationship with each other it's left 00:04:13.080 --> 00:04:20.360 us broken lost and guilty and we are not righteous so God's standards are this 00:04:20.360 --> 00:04:25.040 perfect standard of righteousness and we don't meet it he is righteous we are 00:04:25.040 --> 00:04:29.920 not and we face a massive problem but then he goes on to talk about the 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:34.360 amazing doctrine of justification chapters 3 and 4 tell us that instead of 00:04:34.360 --> 00:04:39.400 being condemned as we deserve we are pronounced righteous that's simply what 00:04:39.400 --> 00:04:43.800 justification means to be pronounced righteous that's made possible because of 00:04:43.800 --> 00:04:48.400 a glorious exchange that takes place at the cross his righteousness Christ's 00:04:48.400 --> 00:04:53.200 righteousness counted to us our sin counted to him that's what we mean by 00:04:53.200 --> 00:04:57.120 the third thing the doctrine of propitiation the fact that God's wrath 00:04:57.120 --> 00:05:01.639 is turned away from us and turned on to someone else whenever you see that big 00:05:01.639 --> 00:05:08.600 word propitiation it just means a turning away of wrath or of anger and so on 00:05:08.600 --> 00:05:16.600 the cross the punishment that we deserve was turned away from us and it was 00:05:16.600 --> 00:05:23.480 turned on to Jesus we benefit from that work through faith all that God asks of 00:05:23.480 --> 00:05:30.879 us is to trust in him so we are justified by faith and that's at the 00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:36.640 center of what Paul teaches in the early part of Romans but he also emphasizes 00:05:36.640 --> 00:05:44.759 that as amazing as justification is it is just the start just the start of a 00:05:44.759 --> 00:05:49.800 whole host of amazing blessings that flow from that he talks about redemption 00:05:49.800 --> 00:05:53.560 the fact that we are bought out of slavery that tells us two wonderful 00:05:53.560 --> 00:06:00.560 things one that if we trust in Jesus we are free absolutely free from the 00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:07.600 horrible power and penalty of sin and secondly it means that we now belong to 00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:17.480 God he has bought us for himself reconciliation means that our relationship 00:06:17.480 --> 00:06:20.560 with God has been restored so back at the start we said that God's righteousness 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:24.160 is here we are down here that means we're alienated but the doctrine of 00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:29.160 reconciliation tells us that that alienation has been exchanged for peace 00:06:29.160 --> 00:06:38.280 in other words you're no longer at enmity with God God is now your friend but 00:06:38.280 --> 00:06:43.520 he's not just your friend he's your father which is what the doctrine of 00:06:43.519 --> 00:06:49.680 adoption tells us God is your father God the father is your father God the 00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:54.599 son Jesus is your brother and that adoption is sealed by something what's 00:06:54.599 --> 00:06:59.240 it sealed by it's sealed by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit God himself 00:06:59.240 --> 00:07:05.240 comes to dwell in you to guarantee and confirm and seal that adoption God 00:07:05.240 --> 00:07:09.359 himself comes to dwell in our hearts by his spirit which means quite simply that 00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:16.960 God wants to be as close to you as he possibly can he comes to dwell within 00:07:16.960 --> 00:07:22.439 us and as the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us he begins our work that work is 00:07:22.439 --> 00:07:28.879 called sanctification whereby the Holy Spirit renews us and fixes us bit by 00:07:28.879 --> 00:07:34.199 bit so that we become more and more like Jesus we become conformed to the image 00:07:34.199 --> 00:07:39.479 of God's son so that we will ultimately bear the image of God perfectly and 00:07:39.479 --> 00:07:44.240 fulfill that purpose that God had in us from the beginning all of that process 00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:48.199 is grounded in the doctrine of election the amazing reassurance that God chooses 00:07:48.199 --> 00:07:55.120 us before we choose him God loves us before we love him our salvation is so 00:07:55.120 --> 00:08:00.519 so secure that election doesn't mean that the gospel is a fatalistic message 00:08:00.519 --> 00:08:04.919 which there's nothing we can do we just sit back and let God do it all on the 00:08:04.919 --> 00:08:09.919 contrary Romans also highlights to us that the gospel is freely offered to 00:08:09.919 --> 00:08:14.279 everyone to absolutely everyone we need to go out with that message and 00:08:14.279 --> 00:08:18.919 proclaim it and the climax of all of that is the doctrine of glorification a 00:08:18.919 --> 00:08:24.560 future event when Jesus returns and brings all his people to be with him in 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:29.199 a perfect union and a perfect fellowship and where we can enjoy the 00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:35.679 glorious inheritance of the new heavens and the new earth and all of that is 00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:40.840 grounded in the doctrine of union with Christ the fact that by faith we are 00:08:40.840 --> 00:08:45.480 united to him which is why Paul says that neither death nor life nor angels nor 00:08:45.480 --> 00:08:49.159 rulers nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor 00:08:49.159 --> 00:08:53.360 anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of 00:08:53.360 --> 00:08:58.519 God in Christ Jesus our Lord he's given us a massive amount of teaching now I 00:08:58.519 --> 00:09:01.600 want to really emphasize that that you are at the center of all of that 00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:06.720 teaching because if you put your trust in Jesus you are the one who was in the 00:09:06.720 --> 00:09:12.079 depths of sin broken and needy who Jesus through his work on the cross has 00:09:12.079 --> 00:09:16.240 enabled you to be pronounced righteous by God all you've had to do is put your 00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:20.120 faith in Jesus and this extraordinary transformation takes place you go from 00:09:20.120 --> 00:09:23.759 being in the depths of sin to being justified pronounced righteous you're 00:09:23.759 --> 00:09:27.480 freed from sin your relationship with God is restored you're brought right up 00:09:27.480 --> 00:09:30.840 into the state it's not just of the friend of God but the child of God 00:09:30.840 --> 00:09:35.039 confirmed by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who's working in you renewing you 00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:38.879 making you more and more and more like Jesus all of which is grounded on God's 00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:44.080 eternal choice to love you and to hold you and to save you he can use you to 00:09:44.080 --> 00:09:48.039 proclaim that free offer of the gospel and it's ultimately pointing towards this 00:09:48.039 --> 00:09:52.920 amazing future where you will be in the new heavens in the new earth with Jesus 00:09:52.919 --> 00:09:58.479 and with all our brothers and sisters in Jesus in Christ to enjoy so many 00:09:58.479 --> 00:10:10.120 incredible blessings it's all for you it's all for you but that's not all that 00:10:10.120 --> 00:10:15.079 Paul talks about because he also talks about God and if you go through Romans 00:10:15.079 --> 00:10:19.279 one to eleven he talks about so many things about God God's righteousness 00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:23.799 kindness truth law purpose wrath power judgment faithfulness glory promise will 00:10:23.799 --> 00:10:29.319 word calling mercy grace love that's all in Romans one to eleven these chapters 00:10:29.319 --> 00:10:37.199 are so incredibly full and we have to ask ourselves what's the point of learning 00:10:37.199 --> 00:10:46.519 all that stuff about God why should we learn all this doctrine what effect 00:10:46.519 --> 00:10:55.039 should all of this have on us well the end of chapter 11 shows us that learning 00:10:55.039 --> 00:11:05.120 all of that stuff should make us say wow oh the depths of the riches and wisdom 00:11:05.120 --> 00:11:11.639 and knowledge of God how unsearchable at his judgments and how inscrutable at his 00:11:11.639 --> 00:11:18.439 ways there's no wonder Paul says these words when he's taught all that 00:11:18.439 --> 00:11:24.240 incredible doctrine in these 11 chapters and it's a great reminder that the goal 00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:32.639 of theology is not knowledge the goal of theology is worship and like Paul we 00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:37.679 want to reach the end of this chapter and fall on her knees and and worship the 00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:45.559 God who has been so incredibly incredibly good to us and this is reminding us of a 00:11:45.559 --> 00:11:50.879 really really important point the letter to the Romans is arguably the richest 00:11:50.879 --> 00:11:55.839 theological document that's ever been written the depths of theology in this 00:11:55.839 --> 00:12:01.839 letter are vast and it's easy to think that it's all beyond us that the doctrine 00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:09.040 in Romans is too much for people like us but who was Romans written to was it 00:12:09.040 --> 00:12:20.000 written to minister to professor to students of theology no Romans was 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:27.160 written to ordinary people like you and that's because all this stuff is what 00:12:27.159 --> 00:12:33.439 Paul and ultimately what God wants you to know and the truth is when we see the 00:12:33.439 --> 00:12:38.039 astounding transformation that all these doctrines explain for us it's 00:12:38.039 --> 00:12:45.399 impossible not to look at all and just say wow but the crucial point is that 00:12:45.399 --> 00:12:50.079 that doctrine isn't there for us to say wow isn't it good to have all this 00:12:50.079 --> 00:12:57.039 knowledge no it's there for us to say wow isn't it so good to have this God 00:12:57.039 --> 00:13:08.319 and these verses at the end of Romans 11 give us amazing words of praise for the 00:13:08.319 --> 00:13:16.599 God who has transformed us and made us his own and so these chapters have 00:13:16.599 --> 00:13:24.199 contained just a vast amount of incredibly rich teaching explaining just 00:13:24.200 --> 00:13:32.600 how huge Jesus's salvation is and when you reach the end of Romans 11 I suppose 00:13:32.600 --> 00:13:42.160 you can do two things you can join in Paul and worship God like that or but you 00:13:42.160 --> 00:13:49.240 can say to God no I don't really want that and I don't really want you 00:13:49.240 --> 00:14:01.279 God forbid that any of us would come to that kind of conclusion so these verses 00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:06.519 are a brilliant expression of praise to God and that's always the effect that 00:14:06.519 --> 00:14:10.200 our doctrine should have the whole point of learning about God is to love him 00:14:10.200 --> 00:14:15.600 worship him glorify him and enjoy him forever and that's why these words are a 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:19.039 great way to conclude the first half of Romans that a great general 00:14:19.039 --> 00:14:25.759 expression of praise and worship but they're more than just a general 00:14:25.759 --> 00:14:29.839 expression of praise and if we actually look at these verses together that we'll 00:14:29.839 --> 00:14:34.240 see that even in these verses of praise and worship we're actually being taught 00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:41.199 more amazing stuff there's more for us to learn in these four verses and that's 00:14:41.199 --> 00:14:44.679 what I want us just to do together for the next week while is just look verse 00:14:44.679 --> 00:14:51.159 by verse at what these verses are teaching us what's Paul saying well he 00:14:51.159 --> 00:14:56.079 starts off by saying oh the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God 00:14:56.079 --> 00:15:03.039 how uncircable are his judgments and how inscrutable are his ways now before we 00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:06.439 go into this verse I'm going to say there's a there's a teensy we translation 00:15:06.439 --> 00:15:11.439 issue in this version it's not a crucial one but if you have an NIV in front of 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:16.240 you and you'll see that the verse is just a tiny bit different the NIV says oh 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:22.440 the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God ESV says depth of 00:15:22.440 --> 00:15:26.040 the riches and wisdom and knowledge and God you might say well that doesn't seem 00:15:26.040 --> 00:15:29.960 to make a huge difference and it doesn't really the only issue is that the ESV if 00:15:29.960 --> 00:15:36.800 you look at it is telling us to think about the depth of three things riches 00:15:36.800 --> 00:15:41.360 wisdom and knowledge the NIV is telling us to think about the depth of riches 00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:46.200 of two things wisdom and knowledge there's not a huge difference but you can 00:15:46.200 --> 00:15:49.600 see I just wanted to explain that in case any of you did have an NIV in front 00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:55.840 of you because without going into it too much the ESV is the slightly more 00:15:55.840 --> 00:16:02.600 literal translation which I think I think is I prefer it I think it's a 00:16:02.600 --> 00:16:08.080 weird not that the NIV is bad but I do think that that Paul wants us to think 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:14.840 about three things he wants us to think about riches wisdom and knowledge and 00:16:14.840 --> 00:16:17.920 so that's what we're going to focus on just for a wee minute each of these 00:16:17.920 --> 00:16:25.480 things because Paul is making a really important point first of all he tells us 00:16:25.480 --> 00:16:29.800 to think about the depth of these things now that word depth is really 00:16:29.800 --> 00:16:36.879 important it's pointing us to the idea of immensity and inexhaustible abundance 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:42.159 something that's really deep really abundant there's an inexhaustible 00:16:42.159 --> 00:16:49.000 abundance that applies to these three things God's riches God's wisdom and 00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:57.559 God's knowledge so what are God's riches anyway it's the kind of thing that's 00:16:57.559 --> 00:17:00.679 really easy to say isn't it we say all the depths of God's riches but what 00:17:00.679 --> 00:17:05.119 exactly what do we mean when we talk about that because when we talk about 00:17:05.119 --> 00:17:12.239 riches we tend to think about material wealth but that's a very narrow view of 00:17:12.239 --> 00:17:17.919 of riches because in broader terms and I think really in more serious terms 00:17:17.919 --> 00:17:23.039 riches refer to things that are valuable I'm going to use an illustration now 00:17:23.039 --> 00:17:27.639 that only people in their 30s will probably get and so the rest you will 00:17:27.639 --> 00:17:32.199 have to bear with me so way back in the 90s there was a famous American actor 00:17:32.200 --> 00:17:41.120 called Macaulay Culkin yes so famous most of all for home alone but he was 00:17:41.120 --> 00:17:47.120 also in a film called Richie Rich great forget Lord of the Rings Richie Rich 00:17:47.120 --> 00:17:56.000 good film and his parents were super duper rich and they had this vault 00:17:56.000 --> 00:18:03.240 where they kept all their most valuable things and there was this sort of person 00:18:03.240 --> 00:18:08.559 who managed their affairs who was like that whatever that household manager who 00:18:08.559 --> 00:18:12.640 the parents didn't realize this but he was actually out to steal from them and 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:15.599 although he was supposed to be looking after their stuff actually he wanted to 00:18:15.599 --> 00:18:19.240 steal from them and he arranged I think for the parents to be to try and get them 00:18:19.240 --> 00:18:23.160 killed so he could steal everything that was in this vault and the whole point of 00:18:23.160 --> 00:18:26.800 the film is that he's trying to get in the vault and we Macaulay Culkin saves 00:18:26.800 --> 00:18:33.519 the day as he would but the climax of the film is they finally get into this 00:18:33.519 --> 00:18:38.240 vault where this super billionaire keeps all his riches and they get in there and 00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:45.840 what do they find they find teddy bear shunt photos and an old broken pram from 00:18:45.840 --> 00:18:50.400 when Macaulay Culkin was we and the parents come back and they say yeah 00:18:50.400 --> 00:18:56.800 this is the stuff that really is valuable to us and the guy who tried to 00:18:56.800 --> 00:19:02.640 steal it was horrified but it's true there's a really important point there 00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:06.320 that that we tend to think of wealth in terms of material things but but the 00:19:06.320 --> 00:19:14.080 true stuff that's valuable is often not money or stuff so what is truly valuable 00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:22.039 to God because it's certainly not wealth or jewels or property what does God 00:19:22.039 --> 00:19:34.279 value well God values kindness patience forbearance grace and love Paul talks 00:19:34.279 --> 00:19:38.079 about that early in the letter he talks about the riches of God's kindness of 00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:45.240 his forbearance of his patience and he is reminding us in this verse here that 00:19:45.240 --> 00:19:48.720 these things in God his kindness his patience his love these are the things 00:19:48.720 --> 00:19:59.039 that are really valuable and they are inexhaustibly deep and one of the great 00:19:59.039 --> 00:20:03.960 tragedies of humanity today is that we pour pour all our energy into gaining 00:20:03.960 --> 00:20:09.960 riches that really are very very shallow so the clothes we wear the car we 00:20:09.960 --> 00:20:16.720 drive the house we own the salary we take home do any of these things really 00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:23.880 have depth to them when you lie in your deathbed will you say I wish I had 00:20:23.880 --> 00:20:32.799 earned more or will you say I wish I had loved more the world is busy chasing 00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:38.839 shallow riches but in the gospel God is offering us true riches joy peace hope 00:20:38.839 --> 00:20:43.879 security love and this verses reminding us that these riches in God are riches 00:20:43.879 --> 00:20:53.960 that are inexhaustibly deep so will God's patience with you his kindness his love 00:20:53.960 --> 00:21:05.840 ever run dry never deep what about the depth of God's wisdom you ever asked 00:21:05.840 --> 00:21:10.759 that question how deep is God's wisdom what we mean by that well we look at 00:21:10.759 --> 00:21:16.519 ourselves often our wisdom reaches its limits so we face situations that seem 00:21:16.519 --> 00:21:22.160 really hard to overcome even in practical terms we face a circumstance 00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:29.680 where nobody really knows what to do I think that I don't not make any political 00:21:29.680 --> 00:21:34.440 judgments at all but I do think that the Brexit referendum really left Britain 00:21:34.440 --> 00:21:40.200 in the situation where we're like we don't actually know what to do and none of 00:21:40.200 --> 00:21:43.840 us really know what to do from the top of politics to the bottom none of us 00:21:43.840 --> 00:21:47.560 actually know what to do and it's the same in so many other situations in life 00:21:47.560 --> 00:21:51.960 you look at homes and communities that are so broken you look at people whose 00:21:51.960 --> 00:21:58.400 lives are so just absolutely tangled up in a web of all sorts of horrible stuff 00:21:58.400 --> 00:22:04.000 and you think we just need wisdom because we don't know what to do and very 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:09.360 quickly our wisdom reaches its limit and that's why humanity has never been able 00:22:09.360 --> 00:22:17.640 to solve the problem of humanity never the same keep keep same problems keep 00:22:17.640 --> 00:22:22.520 coming up again and again and again our wisdom reaches its limit God's wisdom is 00:22:22.520 --> 00:22:29.120 inexhaustibly deep and so we find ourselves even just looking at specific 00:22:29.120 --> 00:22:34.840 situations and we think we don't know what to do so you think of the whole 00:22:34.840 --> 00:22:38.800 issue of just of corruption as an example how do we fix that humanity can't 00:22:38.800 --> 00:22:44.000 fix that take one specific example and it's too hard for us God looks at the 00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:52.480 whole universe he looks at everything that sin has wrecked everything that is 00:22:52.480 --> 00:23:01.119 broken and he says I'll fix it and all those doctrines we were looking at are 00:23:01.119 --> 00:23:06.839 part of this glorious perfect plan where God has pieced every step together in 00:23:06.839 --> 00:23:16.199 order to fix it to perfectly fix it all of that centers on Jesus Christ in 00:23:16.199 --> 00:23:21.720 whom everything fits together as a perfect plan of salvation it all comes 00:23:21.720 --> 00:23:27.359 from the deep deep wisdom of God which means that no matter how much of a mess 00:23:27.359 --> 00:23:36.599 your life is in God will never ever ever say I don't know what to do his 00:23:36.599 --> 00:23:43.000 wisdom is deep enough to help you often when people's lives are in a mess we'll 00:23:43.000 --> 00:23:48.000 say they're in the depths that's an expression that we tend to use and 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:53.799 because they're just so low they're in serious trouble we can often say they're 00:23:53.799 --> 00:24:02.159 too far gone well no one no one is too far gone for God and nobody is in the 00:24:02.160 --> 00:24:09.759 depths far down enough for it not to be deep enough for God's wisdom to reach 00:24:09.759 --> 00:24:13.600 and then there's the depth of God's knowledge how deep is God's knowledge 00:24:13.600 --> 00:24:18.680 well at one level that refers to what we call the fact that God is omniscient the 00:24:18.680 --> 00:24:23.440 fact that he knows all things and we read and sang about that in Psalm 139 00:24:23.440 --> 00:24:28.040 there is an inexhaustible depth to the knowledge of God he knows how many stars 00:24:28.039 --> 00:24:33.920 there are he knows the number of hairs on our head he knows every detail of 00:24:33.920 --> 00:24:40.200 every square inch of this vast vast universe always remember that every 00:24:40.200 --> 00:24:44.240 single scientific discovery that's made is just finding out the stuff that God 00:24:44.240 --> 00:24:50.720 already knows but I want to focus in particular on the great truth that 00:24:50.720 --> 00:24:56.319 Psalm 139 presents to us because Sam 139 doesn't just say that God knows all 00:24:56.319 --> 00:25:00.879 things it emphasizes most of all that God knows us all Lord you have searched 00:25:00.879 --> 00:25:08.759 me and known me and it's reminding you that God's knowledge of you is 00:25:08.759 --> 00:25:16.159 inexhaustibly deep so he knows your story he knows your hurts he knows your 00:25:16.159 --> 00:25:25.079 fears he knows your needs your hopes your dreams he knows it all and if God was 00:25:25.079 --> 00:25:31.519 like us if God was like people then that would make us feel very very uncomfortable 00:25:31.519 --> 00:25:35.599 because if everybody in here knew everything about me if you knew all of 00:25:35.599 --> 00:25:40.399 my mistakes all the stupid things that I've done in my life all the insecurities 00:25:40.399 --> 00:25:48.839 that I have if you all knew that then I would be emigrating probably to Antarctica 00:25:48.839 --> 00:26:01.079 and that's why just as an aside that that's why it is so hideously cruel when 00:26:01.079 --> 00:26:09.000 social media exposes people stupid mistakes to the whole world and the 00:26:09.000 --> 00:26:12.720 young people in here always always remember that if somebody if you see 00:26:12.720 --> 00:26:17.799 evidence of someone doing something really stupid just just get rid of the 00:26:17.799 --> 00:26:25.079 evidence never show it to the world if if God was like us his knowledge of us 00:26:25.079 --> 00:26:31.599 would make us very uncomfortable but but thankfully thankfully God is not like us 00:26:31.599 --> 00:26:39.319 God knows us so deeply but the reason he knows us so deeply is what it's because 00:26:39.319 --> 00:26:45.319 he loves us so much so when we are vulnerable vulnerable before God we 00:26:45.319 --> 00:26:51.839 are never taking him by surprise. Callum led us in a prayer of confession and 00:26:51.839 --> 00:26:56.839 that's a really important thing to pray prayers of confession to acknowledge 00:26:56.839 --> 00:27:00.359 your sins before God but the word for confession in the New Testament is a 00:27:00.359 --> 00:27:06.359 really interesting word because literally it means to say the same thing so 00:27:06.359 --> 00:27:11.399 when we confess our sins to God we can easily be afraid because we think that 00:27:11.400 --> 00:27:15.960 we're going to shock God into hating us so if you tell God about the stupid 00:27:15.960 --> 00:27:19.200 thing that you did even in your mind then you're going to shock him into 00:27:19.200 --> 00:27:22.759 hating you but the truth is when we confess our sins to God we're simply 00:27:22.759 --> 00:27:28.320 telling him what he already knows we are acknowledging and agreeing that we've 00:27:28.320 --> 00:27:35.960 made mistakes and we're on the path to healing never ever ever forget that 00:27:35.960 --> 00:27:42.680 God's knowledge of you is inexhaustibly deep and that's why you can go into this 00:27:42.680 --> 00:27:48.120 week with a brilliant prayer one of my favorite prayers that's only two words 00:27:48.120 --> 00:27:59.160 long you know and so if going to work tomorrow morning is a horrible thought 00:27:59.160 --> 00:28:09.600 you can say Lord you know God's riches of kindness grace and patience are 00:28:09.600 --> 00:28:13.240 inexhaustibly deep God's wisdom for dealing with the problems we face is 00:28:13.240 --> 00:28:19.160 inexhaustibly deep God's knowledge of you is so personal so intimate so loving 00:28:19.160 --> 00:28:28.279 it is inexhaustibly deep and then Paul asks two questions two great 00:28:28.279 --> 00:28:31.960 questions which are actually taken from the Old Testament one from Isaiah 40 00:28:31.960 --> 00:28:36.839 the other one from Job 35 he says who has known the mind of the Lord or who has 00:28:36.839 --> 00:28:42.759 been as counselor or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid these 00:28:42.759 --> 00:28:46.399 are two really interesting questions the first one emphasizes in many ways it 00:28:46.399 --> 00:28:51.200 reinforces the point that he's just made that God's wisdom and knowledge is far 00:28:51.200 --> 00:28:56.799 far deeper than ours that again is pointing us to the world view that runs 00:28:56.799 --> 00:29:01.919 through the whole of this letter the fact that God is Creator and we are His 00:29:01.919 --> 00:29:08.119 creation and that Creator creation distinction is reminding us that even 00:29:08.119 --> 00:29:15.639 the greatest achievements of human knowledge a tiny compared to God there's 00:29:15.639 --> 00:29:20.559 a brilliant diagram that displays this God is Creator we are creation you look 00:29:20.559 --> 00:29:26.399 at the highest points of human knowledge they're just a teensy spec in the 00:29:26.400 --> 00:29:35.240 we circle God's knowledge is so so so much bigger that's why when it comes to 00:29:35.240 --> 00:29:42.480 this verse it's absolutely crazy to think that we could be God's counselor or 00:29:42.480 --> 00:29:49.160 that we could tell him what to do or that as the second question says that we 00:29:49.160 --> 00:29:55.519 could pay him something as a repayment and we could tie in in some ways make 00:29:55.519 --> 00:30:05.879 him indebted to us it's utterly bonkers to think that we can tell God what to do 00:30:05.879 --> 00:30:13.359 or to think that we could bargain with God because we have what he needs it is 00:30:13.359 --> 00:30:23.639 theologically absurd and yet we do it all the time so people constantly think 00:30:23.640 --> 00:30:32.720 that they can tell God what to do don't they and so humanity today I think 00:30:32.720 --> 00:30:39.759 often expects God to remove everything from our lives that we don't like so 00:30:39.759 --> 00:30:44.320 stuff that we don't like we expect God to take it away but at the very same time 00:30:44.320 --> 00:30:49.520 we expect God to ignore the fact that our lives are full of things that he 00:30:49.519 --> 00:30:55.200 doesn't like we expect God to give us all the blessings and yet at the same 00:30:55.200 --> 00:31:00.240 time we expect to be resolved absolved from all responsibility we think the 00:31:00.240 --> 00:31:04.359 whole world thinks they can tell God what to do people also think that they 00:31:04.359 --> 00:31:09.599 can give God a gift that he might be repaid and when you read that I think 00:31:09.599 --> 00:31:12.079 well what's twice Paul talking about that well he's talking about it because 00:31:12.079 --> 00:31:16.119 it's something that people do all the time because countless people base their 00:31:16.119 --> 00:31:21.839 eternal security on the fact that they've been a pretty good person and that 00:31:21.839 --> 00:31:28.759 that will be a good enough payment to God and you have to make sure that both 00:31:28.759 --> 00:31:33.639 of these actions are deadly make sure you recognize that both of these actions 00:31:33.639 --> 00:31:40.799 are deadly you can't tell God what to do he is God he is creator so even the 00:31:40.799 --> 00:31:45.559 most basic level of common sense tells you that your job is not to tell him 00:31:45.559 --> 00:31:53.319 what to do your job is to listen to what he says to us and in exactly the same way 00:31:53.319 --> 00:32:00.960 we can't pay God we can't bargain with him and the reason you can't pay God is 00:32:00.960 --> 00:32:07.720 because you simply can't it's just impossible a human a tiny speck in that 00:32:07.720 --> 00:32:14.240 creation cannot make a payment to the Creator and that's reminding us of a 00:32:14.240 --> 00:32:23.559 really really important point that God is not a barterer because very often in 00:32:23.559 --> 00:32:28.559 life our dealings come down to bartering we think if you give me this I'll do that 00:32:28.559 --> 00:32:32.799 we haggle I'll do this you do that so we want to get the best deals in our 00:32:32.799 --> 00:32:36.680 purchases we want to try and get in there at work with a good impression to 00:32:36.680 --> 00:32:40.279 our colleagues or to our supervisors we want to impress our friends with stuff 00:32:40.279 --> 00:32:44.160 and the hope that it'll give us a sense of worth we think that if we use our 00:32:44.160 --> 00:32:48.040 powers of persuasion if we do this do that things will go well we'll get this 00:32:48.040 --> 00:32:53.279 we'll get that we can easily go through life like that and we can easily think 00:32:53.279 --> 00:32:57.840 that in a similar way we need to kind of get in there with God and persuade him 00:32:57.840 --> 00:33:05.360 to want to like us and persuade him to want to save us but God is not a barterer 00:33:05.360 --> 00:33:10.160 and that of course means that God is never manipulated you can't get the 00:33:10.160 --> 00:33:16.120 better of God it also means that you can't earn your salvation as some kind 00:33:16.120 --> 00:33:23.200 of deal we can't manipulate him we can't bargain with him we can't persuade him 00:33:23.200 --> 00:33:29.600 it's utterly non-negotiable in that sense we cannot manipulate God but the 00:33:29.600 --> 00:33:33.400 amazing truth is you don't have to 00:33:33.400 --> 00:33:42.120 you don't have to haggle with God because the gospel is not about bartering the 00:33:42.120 --> 00:33:47.759 gospel is far far better than that it's impossible for us to pay for our 00:33:47.759 --> 00:33:54.759 salvation which is precisely why God does not ask us to pay for our salvation 00:33:55.680 --> 00:34:02.720 instead he says you can have it as a free gift that's the only logical 00:34:02.720 --> 00:34:06.120 possibility in terms of restoring our relationship with God that he would 00:34:06.120 --> 00:34:10.400 initiate it and that's exactly what he's done God offers us a perfect 00:34:10.400 --> 00:34:15.000 salvation as a free gift not by works not by our payment not by our 00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:23.079 persuasion it's a free gift from the abundant grace of God and that's a 00:34:23.079 --> 00:34:30.960 great reminder that you don't have to persuade God to give him your affection 00:34:30.960 --> 00:34:41.199 you don't have to persuade God to like you because so often we feel even as 00:34:41.199 --> 00:34:47.639 Christians that we need to kind of pay God or repay God for him to love us and 00:34:47.639 --> 00:34:51.679 the fact that we muck up every week means that God is probably going to feel 00:34:51.679 --> 00:34:58.000 pretty disappointed with us at the very best of times because that's so often 00:34:58.000 --> 00:35:03.639 how people deal with us we think that we need to kind of tie and earn God's 00:35:03.639 --> 00:35:12.480 affection but it's not true because God's affection is inexhaustibly deep 00:35:13.119 --> 00:35:21.639 it's like an ocean God's love for you is like an ocean and so if you imagine 00:35:21.639 --> 00:35:27.639 going up to God and standing beside this vast ocean of his love would you 00:35:27.639 --> 00:35:33.839 really say to him Lord can I buy a wee bit of this ocean and take it with me 00:35:33.839 --> 00:35:37.719 and so you'd get a bucket and pick up this wee bit of ocean that you've paid 00:35:37.719 --> 00:35:40.920 and you've gone away from it would you really do that no when you go to the 00:35:40.920 --> 00:35:49.119 ocean you don't take a piece of ocean away with you do you what do you do you 00:35:49.119 --> 00:35:57.359 just jump in and that's what we do with God's love we just jump in and let him 00:35:57.360 --> 00:36:03.000 pour his love and affection all over us God's affection for you is already there 00:36:03.000 --> 00:36:13.920 it's inexhaustibly deep he wants you to just enjoy it so you don't need to tell 00:36:13.920 --> 00:36:19.920 God what to do and you don't need to earn your favor with him as some kind of 00:36:19.920 --> 00:36:27.120 repayment and then last of all Paul says for from him and through him and to him 00:36:27.119 --> 00:36:32.519 are all things to him be glory forever I just want to say one thing about this 00:36:32.519 --> 00:36:36.799 verse often when we look at the Bible we're drawn to the big words aren't we 00:36:36.799 --> 00:36:40.440 so when we had that big list of doctrines at the start of the sermon it 00:36:40.440 --> 00:36:44.880 was loads and loads and loads of big words and the big words are brilliant 00:36:44.880 --> 00:36:48.920 but I want you to never forget that the little words in the Bible are brilliant 00:36:48.920 --> 00:36:54.239 too and there's three little words in this verse that are crucial there are 00:36:54.239 --> 00:36:59.199 tiny words in in Greek one of them is a wee bit bigger in English but they're 00:36:59.199 --> 00:37:07.559 still little words from through and to and these three words these three 00:37:07.559 --> 00:37:14.919 prepositions remind you that from start to finish our salvation your salvation 00:37:14.919 --> 00:37:22.559 is God's work so it's initiated from him it's his plan his initiative his 00:37:22.559 --> 00:37:27.840 provision it's accomplished through him he paid the price he took her sin he 00:37:27.840 --> 00:37:32.400 paid the debt he made the sacrifice he finished the work and it's all leading 00:37:32.400 --> 00:37:37.400 to him the great goal of the gospel message is the perfect fullness of 00:37:37.400 --> 00:37:42.599 worship and fellowship in and love in the presence of God forever God does it 00:37:42.599 --> 00:37:49.320 all he initiates it he achieves it he will consummate it our salvation and 00:37:49.320 --> 00:37:55.120 the whole of history all things are from him through him and to him and as a 00:37:55.120 --> 00:38:05.960 result what does God get he gets the glory he gets the glory and rightly so 00:38:05.960 --> 00:38:10.920 because the fact that God has done it means that all the glory goes to him 00:38:10.920 --> 00:38:21.720 that's why there is no place whatsoever for pride or arrogance in the gospel we 00:38:21.720 --> 00:38:28.800 don't come to God and say how great we are we just come and recognize the 00:38:28.800 --> 00:38:37.200 amazing work that he has done and the fact that he gets the glory but if God 00:38:37.199 --> 00:38:45.279 gets all the glory what do we get what does verse 36 give us often in life 00:38:45.279 --> 00:38:52.039 when other people get the glory we can feel insecure can't we so sometimes 00:38:52.039 --> 00:38:58.879 maybe you'll have a maybe you'll have a set of exams and your whole class might 00:38:58.879 --> 00:39:06.199 do quite well but one person will do really well and as much as we try to be 00:39:06.199 --> 00:39:10.879 delighted for that person it's hard not to think oh I'm locked up and we feel 00:39:10.879 --> 00:39:17.159 insecure same maybe in sport if if one person in the team is really good they 00:39:17.159 --> 00:39:22.359 get the glory and we can feel insecure maybe at work someone gets a promotion 00:39:22.359 --> 00:39:27.799 ahead of you they get the glory we feel insecure it's so easy to feel like that 00:39:27.799 --> 00:39:33.879 I'm guilty of feeling like that at times often in life when others get the glory 00:39:33.880 --> 00:39:40.760 we feel insecure but that does not happen in the gospel that's one of the 00:39:40.760 --> 00:39:47.119 amazing things about the gospel because in that verse the fact that it's from 00:39:47.119 --> 00:39:52.200 God through God and to God the fact that he's the one who does it all and the 00:39:52.200 --> 00:40:00.360 fact that he's the one who gets the glory means that we you get perfect 00:40:00.360 --> 00:40:09.039 eternal security because the very fact that it's from through and to God means 00:40:09.039 --> 00:40:18.200 that if you trust in Jesus you are utterly secure and eternally safe 00:40:18.200 --> 00:40:28.680 because he has done it all God gets all the glory and for that very reason you 00:40:28.679 --> 00:40:36.440 can have eternal security and that's the amazing thing about the gospel at no 00:40:36.440 --> 00:40:46.679 point does it rely on us at every point it relies on Jesus 00:40:48.119 --> 00:40:55.359 back in Carlisle way I had a wonderful elder whose name was Angus but 00:40:55.360 --> 00:41:00.840 everybody called him choppy the Isle of Lewis most people are called Angus so 00:41:00.840 --> 00:41:04.760 everyone needs a nickname so he was called choppy and choppy is a very dear 00:41:04.760 --> 00:41:10.440 friend of mine and choppy had an amazing conversion how in his late 40s 00:41:10.440 --> 00:41:16.840 early 50s from a life where he had struggled with with alcohol he had 00:41:16.840 --> 00:41:20.240 been saved and he used to love telling his testimony and he would talk about 00:41:20.240 --> 00:41:24.720 all the different things that God did in bringing him to faith in Jesus Christ 00:41:24.719 --> 00:41:33.759 and at the end he would always say this and the best thing about it God did it 00:41:33.759 --> 00:41:42.719 and we're all the same because we come together to worship we come together as 00:41:42.719 --> 00:41:49.239 Christians and the best thing is that God has done it all that makes it perfect 00:41:49.239 --> 00:41:54.639 that means the devil has no chance of taking it away from you and that means 00:41:54.639 --> 00:42:00.719 we can go on and live for him knowing that everything is from him through him 00:42:00.719 --> 00:42:09.639 to him so to him be the glory or ever amen let's pray 00:42:12.000 --> 00:42:21.559 God we just want to give you the glory because everything that we have is from 00:42:21.559 --> 00:42:28.519 you through you and to you God our Father Jesus our Savior Holy Spirit our 00:42:28.519 --> 00:42:55.400 Comforter to you be glory now and forever amen