You may be seated.
Good morning.
My name is Matthew Capone, and I'm the pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church,
and it's my joy to bring God's Word to you today.
A special welcome if you are new or visiting with us.
We're glad that you're here, and we're glad that you're here not because we're trying to fill seats,
but because we're following Jesus together as one community.
And as we follow Jesus together, we become convinced that there's no one so good,
they don't need God's grace, and no one so bad that they can't have it,
which is why we come back week after week to hear what God has to say to us in His Word.
This week we are continuing our series in the book of Romans,
and before we jump in, I want to make a couple corrections from last week.
A couple of you reminded me that Daniel, in fact, does not appear in Daniel chapter 3.
It's just Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
And it is Moses, not Abraham, who's almost killed for failing to circumcise his son.
So I'm going to keep on the straight and narrow path.
This morning I got into the shower. I still have my glasses on, so I'm just trying to make it here, you know.
We are continuing our series in the book of Romans,
and you'll remember that the book of Romans is a letter written by the Apostle Paul in the 50s A.D.,
and it is called Romans for a very simple reason,
which is that it is written to the churches in the city of Rome.
This letter is about the gospel.
It's about the good news of Jesus' death and resurrection.
And Paul's hope, as we saw in chapter 1,
is that those who receive this letter would be established in the gospel.
Paul will make many applications, as we've already seen, as we go throughout this letter,
but he is especially focused on the mission and the unity of the church.
And while we will go on many spokes,
we're going to go on many different side quests like we did last week,
we will be constantly returning back to the hub of the gospel.
It is tempting, as I've said many times now,
to come to passages like the one we come to this morning
and believe this is a random section of Scripture making random points.
But in fact, Paul is actually making one argument
from chapters 1 through 3 of Romans,
and it's summed up in verse 23, which we'll get to in just a couple weeks,
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Chapter 1, he's establishing that non-religious people fall short of God's glory.
Chapter 2, he established that religious people fall short of God's glory.
Chapter 3, he's been responding to some potential objections from chapter 2,
and soon he will tie it all together.
This week is our last week dealing with these objections
before he really ties it together for us in chapter 3.
Following up from last week, remember we talked about the fact
that the Bible is this great blessing,
that one of the greatest privileges of growing up in the church
is having access to the Word of God.
And so another objection then rises up that Paul wants to respond to,
and it's this, if the Bible is such a great blessing,
why do so many Christians fail?
The Bible is such a great blessing,
why do so many Christians still fail?
And on that theme,
is it actually fair for God to judge the world?
So with those two questions,
I invite you to turn with me now to Romans chapter 3.
We're going to start at verse 3,
and as we come there,
remember that Proverbs chapter 30, verse 5,
tells us,
every word of God proves true.
He's a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
And so that's why we read now Romans chapter 3,
starting at verse 3.
What if some were unfaithful?
Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?
By no means.
Let God be true,
though everyone were a liar,
as it is written,
that you may be justified in your words
and prevail when you are judged.
But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God,
what shall we say?
That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us?
I speak in a human way.
By no means.
For then how could God judge the world?
But if through my lie,
God's truth abounds to His glory,
why am I still being condemned as a sinner?
And why not do evil that good may come,
as some people slanderously charge us with saying,
their condemnation is just.
I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's Word.
Our Father in heaven,
we do again praise You and we thank You
that You have given us Your very words,
that You as a loving Father instruct Your children,
that You guide us and direct us.
Even more than that,
You show us the great mercy and grace
that You offer us through Your Son.
We ask that You would do that again this morning,
that You would pour out Your Spirit here among us,
that You would make Your Word clear and alive
to our hearts and our minds,
and most of all,
that You would show us, Jesus,
that we would see Him
in all His glory and beauty and authority
and holiness and majesty
and mercy and grace and love.
We ask all of these things
in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Just a few weeks ago,
on October the 3rd,
the New York Times published an article
with this title,
Around Dallas,
the church scandals seem to have no end.
And then the subtitle was this,
In this part of Texas,
a pastor with a clean reputation
is not to be taken for granted.
The article then goes on to discuss
the number of scandals that have happened in Dallas
over the last year.
They tell us that there's a radio station in Dallas
that has been keeping a tally,
and it now contains 17 names,
including five involving criminal charges.
Now, those sorts of articles
raise a lot of questions for us.
One of them is this.
It seems like the Bible perhaps is not so great after all,
and perhaps God isn't so faithful after all.
Because, of course,
if the Bible was and if God was,
how in the world would this be happening?
Is God actually true to his word?
Paul here in this section of Romans 3
is responding to an almost identical objection.
Verse 3 here, he says,
What if some were unfaithful?
Does their faithlessness nullify
the faithfulness of God?
Last week, we talked about the fact
that the Old Testament
was this tremendous blessing to the Jews,
and I told you it was a blessing ultimately
because it showed them Jesus.
If God's word is so powerful,
Paul is saying,
why did the Jews fail so magnificently?
If God's word is so powerful,
why did the Jews fail so magnificently?
If it was such a great privilege,
if it was such a great blessing,
why didn't they do better?
And you just have to think back
to our previous sermon series,
right in the book of Judges,
what did we see time and time again,
if not God's people failing over and over?
Not just the Old Testament.
We could also talk about the New Testament.
If the Jews were so blessed,
if this was such a great thing
for them to have the oracles of God,
why did so many of them reject Jesus when he came?
If the great blessing of the oracles of God,
if the great blessing of the word
is that it shows Jesus,
and yet the people who have it reject Jesus,
how can you say that God is actually faithful?
That doesn't sound like a blessing.
It sounds like a waste.
That's the objection that Paul is raising here,
and he immediately gives a response in verse four.
And he says essentially this,
God's faithfulness shines brightly even in man's sin.
Verse four, he says,
by no means let God be true,
though everyone were a liar,
as it is written,
that you may be justified in your words
and prevail when you are judged.
And he's making a quotation from the Old Testament there.
He's quoting from Psalm 51.
And if you're familiar with the Psalms,
you know that Psalm 51 is King David's psalm of repentance
after his great sin with Bathsheba.
He's been exposed.
He's in a sense this religious leader,
this king of God's people,
who's been caught in this extramarital affair.
And he says, look, when God has condemned me in this,
he's actually being faithful.
He's faithful in his judgment.
He's faithful in his punishment.
We saw the same thing.
Deuteronomy chapter seven,
which Jim read for us earlier this morning,
God makes these promises of faithfulness,
promises of his steadfast love.
And then he also makes promises of punishment.
Both of those things are part of God's word.
And so whichever one falls,
God is being true to what he has said.
And so Paul's making a simple point.
Whether God shows mercy or he shows judgment,
God is still faithful.
Whether God shows mercy or judgment,
he is still true to everything that he's promised.
Even in and as he judges,
he's showing that we can trust his character.
And so as we go back and think about these churches in Dallas,
we can ask, how was God faithful?
How is he faithful?
I'm sure there's a number of ways we could answer that.
I'm going to give you three examples
of God being faithful to his promises.
First, he's faithful to Jesus' promise in Luke chapter 12.
Jesus says this,
nothing is covered up that will not be revealed
or hidden that will not be known.
Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark
shall be heard in the light
and what you have whispered in private rooms
shall be proclaimed on the housetops.
Why is it that we know about these 17 pastors
and their failure?
We know because God has honored his promise
that what has been whispered in private rooms
will be shouted from the rooftops.
God's faithful to his people.
He's kept his promise.
He's kept his promise in Galatians chapter six.
Do not be deceived.
God is not mocked.
For whatever one sows, that he will also reap.
We see this failure, right?
We see these things being brought into the light.
That too is an expression of God's faithfulness.
That too is God doing what he said he would do.
And in the midst of that, we might think,
okay, good, God is being faithful.
He's saying that he's going to bring things to light
and he has,
but what about his promise to the church?
We could look again, Matthew chapter 16, verse 18.
Jesus says this,
on this rock, I will build my church
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
How can God be faithful?
How can the word be so powerful
in the midst of such failure?
And the answer is this,
God's kingdom continues.
17 pastors are not powerful enough
to derail the mission of the living God.
Let God be true,
though everyone is a liar.
Paul's reminding them,
God is faithful in every situation.
God is faithful in every circumstance.
Nothing can thwart his purposes.
Nothing can stop his promises.
God is faithful when he shows mercy.
He is faithful when he shows judgment.
We've talked before,
2 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 20,
reminds us all the promises of God
are yes and amen in Jesus Christ.
Romans chapter 8,
which we'll get to, you know,
in a few decades,
reminds us, it says,
look, if God gave us his own son,
will he not also with him give us all things?
In other words,
in the midst of the imperfection and scandal
and sin of God's people,
he will build his church.
The gates of hell will not prevail against it.
Let God be true,
though everyone were a liar.
There's a deeper point here for us as well,
that God will accomplish his purposes
no matter what.
One pastor has put it this way,
you cannot stand in the way
of the freight train of God's kingdom.
Your imperfection and sin and failure
cannot thwart or stop
God's purposes and his plan.
Your flawed and imperfect parenting
is not powerful enough
to block God's work
in the life of your child.
Your trauma
from your past
is not so powerful
to stop God
from using you
as his instrument
in this world.
And pastor's failures
are not so great
that God has been blocked
somehow
from working his will
in the city of Dallas.
Let God be true,
though everyone
were a liar.
Now I'm not saying
there aren't real,
deep,
and painful consequences.
I am not saying
it doesn't matter
how you live.
What I am saying
is this.
God is faithful
to his word.
He's faithful
to his people.
What I reminded you of
multiple times
during the series
in Judges,
2 Timothy 2,
verse 13,
if we are faithless,
he remains faithful,
for he cannot deny himself.
Nothing's changed
since Paul wrote
Romans chapter 3.
God was faithful
to his people then.
God is faithful
to his people today.
God gave us his son,
Romans chapter 8.
Will he not also
with him
give us
all things?
Nothing can separate us
from the love of God.
In the midst
of man's failures,
God's kingdom
marches on.
God's faithfulness
after addressing that,
Paul goes on
to lay out
another objection.
Okay, Paul,
if man's unfaithfulness
shows God's faithfulness,
isn't sin
kind of a good thing?
That's what's happening
here in verses 5 and 6.
Verse 5,
but if our unrighteousness
serves to show
the righteousness
of God,
what shall we say?
That God is unrighteous
to inflict wrath
on us?
In other words,
hey, look,
you've said here
that when we sin,
it shows God's glory
somehow.
It shows that he's faithful.
Great.
Let's sin more
so we can show
his faithfulness more.
Now, if that doesn't
really make sense,
I want you to think
about it this way.
Many pastors
will explain the gospel
like this.
The gospel is this
bright diamond,
and diamonds look best
on a black background.
Right?
So what you want
is you have to understand
that the gospel
is beautiful
against the background
of our sin,
the backdrop
of our sin.
Now, one of the most
interesting jobs
I think that someone
could have,
maybe it's a boring job,
I'm not sure,
it's to pick the names
of paint colors.
Right?
Who is it that imagines
up all of these things?
And I looked into this,
there are actually
a variety of shades
of black
that you can get.
You might be thinking,
well, if it's a shade
of black,
then it's gray.
False.
Okay?
Here's a list.
You have obsidian black.
There is ink black.
There's also jet black,
coal black,
and leather black.
And so what Paul's
objectors are saying
is, look,
the more we sin,
the darker the shade
of black.
And the brighter
the diamond shines.
So let's sin more.
The more we sin,
the brighter that diamond is.
So why would God judge us?
We're helping him.
We're making God's jewels
look great.
He shouldn't judge us.
We're making his diamond
shine brighter and brighter.
Wow, God,
you're welcome.
Aren't you so glad
for having people like us?
How can you punish us
for making you look so good?
Paul in verse five,
at the end,
starts his response.
He says,
I speak in a human way,
which is his way of saying
only a human
could say something
that stupid.
And then he goes on
in verse six,
by no means,
of course,
this can't be true.
Why?
For then how could God
judge the world?
In other words,
if you follow that logic out,
no one will ever be judged.
You might think that Paul here
would defend the idea
of judgment,
but he doesn't.
He's speaking to a Jewish audience
who are all in
on the concept
of judging the Gentiles.
And so Paul's saying,
your beliefs actually
don't match up.
You want the Gentiles
to be judged,
then you can't make
this argument
end of discussion.
If we follow it through,
then we end up
with zero judgment.
And of course,
you,
my Jewish receivers
of this letter
and me,
Paul,
know that that's
not going to work.
Now,
that might not be
as obvious to us today
because most of us
are in fact not Jewish.
And in our culture,
we are not committed
as people were
in Paul's culture
to the idea
of a judgment.
And so this argument
is not necessarily,
at least on the face,
of it as powerful to us
as it was
to them.
It ended the discussion
for the Jews.
It may not end it for us.
However,
I'd like to suggest this.
If we are truly honest
with ourselves,
we also believe
in judgment.
If we're truly honest,
whether you're a Christian
or a non-Christian,
you believe
in judgment.
You might say you don't.
You might say that
as your stated belief,
right?
And yet,
you cannot live
consistently with that.
Just think for a minute
about the way people
talk about their
political enemies.
Think about the way
people talk about
other people
who vote differently
than they do.
We hear this all the time.
These are words
filled with judgment,
right?
Filled with judgment.
We all make sorts
of moral valuations,
on the one hand,
claiming that we're
more merciful than God,
and then the other hand,
when someone crosses us
or violates us,
our anger rises up.
We actually,
deep down,
long to see justice done.
Whether we admit it or not,
all of us
believe in judgment.
We are closer
to first century Judaism
than we'd like
to admit.
Now, this is on the back
of your worship guide,
speaking of Paul's words here.
Paul asks us
to imagine a world
where there is no judgment,
no accountability,
and no recompense
for evils that are done.
Such a world
is intolerable
and senseless,
degrading our humanity
since what we do
with our lives
would be insignificant
and have no moral value.
Without judgment,
everything would be permitted.
Nothing would be verboten,
and goodness
would vanish
into the midst
of nothingness.
In other words,
do you believe in goodness?
Then you believe
in judgment.
Do you believe
that your actions
in this world
matter at all?
You believe in judgment.
Are there moral things
that you find reprehensible
and believe
should be punished?
you believe
in judgment.
I speak in a human way
by no means,
for then how could God
judge the world?
We all want judgment.
We all want justice to come
if we're truly honest.
In fact,
we demand it, right?
What are protests
about
if not a cry for justice?
The only problem is this.
The catch is this.
We want justice
for other people,
not for ourselves.
We want to be
the dispensers of judgment,
not the receivers
of judgment.
That's the catch.
That's the dark backdrop
against the diamond
of the gospel, right?
That is what Paul
is trying to push us towards.
Back all the way
in chapter one
where he says
there's a righteousness
that comes from faith,
for faith.
Judgment is coming
not just to those
who have hurt us,
but to us as well.
And so there must be
another answer.
We want,
we demand
to live in a world
with judgment.
We just don't want
to receive judgment.
Paul then goes on
to push things
one step further.
Verse six,
how could God
judge the world?
Then verse seven,
he says,
hey,
if you think
that your sin
shows God's glory
even more,
then let's take that
to its logical conclusion.
But if through my lie
God's truth
abounds to his glory,
why am I still
being condemned
as a sinner?
And why not do evil
that good may come?
As some people
slanderously charge us
with saying.
Okay,
so first he responded
to this objection.
Every time we sin,
we're helping God,
so why stop?
Next,
okay,
let's continue it.
Every time we sin,
we're helping God,
so let's sin
more and more.
Let's do it.
Let's do as much
as possible
because every time
we do it,
the more we do it,
the greater God
appears.
and Paul basically
says this,
if you argue for that,
you are arguing
for evil.
If you're arguing
for that,
you're arguing
for evil.
You're not on the
side of the good,
you're on the side
of the wrong.
It's a very simple
argument.
Paul doesn't spend
much time responding
to it.
He concludes with this,
their condemnation
is just.
He's saying,
look,
your argument's so bad.
It's self-condemning.
I'm not going to
waste time
responding to it.
If that's what you think,
then judgment
is coming
for you.
Remember,
I've been telling you
that Paul here
is responding
to this idea
since chapter 2
from the Jews
that somehow
they can presume
on God's grace
that since they're
God's chosen people,
they have access
to circumcision
and the law.
There's nothing else
that they need
to worry about.
And Paul again
is telling them
as he's told them
many times before,
no.
No,
you can't presume
on that.
You will show
God's faithfulness
whether he has mercy
on you
or whether he judges you.
You cannot presume
and live
however you want.
I've also been telling you
that this Romans
is the fifth gospel.
that what Paul teaches
Jesus taught first.
In Matthew chapter 3,
John the Baptist
comes to prepare
the way for Jesus
and he says this,
Do not presume
to say to yourselves,
We have Abraham
as our father.
For I tell you,
God is able
from these stones
to raise up children
for Abraham.
Even now,
the axe is laid
to the root
of the trees.
Every tree,
therefore,
that does not
bear good fruit
is cut down
and thrown
into the fire.
God's glory
is shown
in his mercy.
His glory
is shown
in his judgment.
And so to tie
all of these things together,
I'll simply say this.
No one
wants to live
in a world
without judgment.
And
no one
is prepared
to face
God's judgment.
Say that again.
No one
wants to live
in a world
without judgment.
No one
is prepared
to face
God's judgment.
We want
to be the ones
dishing it out,
not the ones
receiving it.
That second point
drives us back
to the first point.
Our only hope
is this,
that God
is faithful
no matter
what.
That's the only way
we resolve
those things.
How do we
handle it
that we can't
live without judgment
and we can't
face it?
Our only hope
is in Jesus
and Jesus
alone.
After John the Baptist
introduces him,
Jesus goes on
to say this,
John chapter 3,
again,
whoever believes
in the Son
has eternal
life.
Whoever does
not obey
the Son
shall not
see life,
but the wrath
of God
remains on him.
God's judgment
is coming
and it is just.
God's justice
is shown
in his mercy
and his justice
is shown
in his wrath.
Do you believe
in the Son?
Do you have
eternal
life?
If you do,
then you can sing
with us
in our closing hymn.
We're going to say
exactly what it is
that's our hope.
Those he saves
are his delight.
Christ
will hold me fast.
precious
in his holy sight,
he will hold
me fast.
He'll not let
my soul
be lost.
His promises
shall last.
Right?
Let God be true
through everyone
be a liar.
Bought by him
at such a cost,
he will hold
me fast.
Let's pray.
Our Father
in heaven,
we do
thank you
and praise you
that you are
true to your words.
That your faithfulness
is proved
no matter
what man does.
We ask
that you would,
for those of us
who are Christians,
that you would
establish
our belief
in the Son
who has eternal life.
For those of us
who are not,
you would show us
the contradiction
that we want judgment
but we can't face judgment.
That we would run
to the only one
who's offered
to take it for us.
We ask all of these things
in his name,
the mighty name
of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
I invite you to stand
for our closing hymn.
Amen.