Hi, my name is George Sinclair. I'm the lead pastor of Church of the Messiah.
! It is wonderful that you would like to check out some of the sermons done by Church of the Messiah,
either by myself or some of the others. Listen, just a couple of things. First of all, would you pray for us
that we will open God's Word well to His glory and for the good of people like yourself?
The second thing is, if you aren't connected to a church and if you are a Christian,
we really, I would really like to encourage you to find a good local church where they believe the
Bible, they preach the gospel, and if you have some trouble finding that, send us an email. We will do
what we can to help connect you with a good local church wherever you are. And if you're a non-Christian,
checking us out, we're really, really, really glad you're doing that. Don't hesitate to send us
questions. It helps me actually to know, as I'm preaching, how to deal with the types of things
that you're really struggling with. So God bless.
Let's bow our heads in prayer. Father, we give you thanks and praise that you know
everything there is to know about each one of us, that you know each of us personally.
Father, you know us from the moment we were conceived in our mother's womb. You even know
our future. You know the dreams that we do not remember when we wake in the morning. You know every
mask and front and posture which we go to from moment to moment throughout the day. You see us as we truly
are in all of our depths and all of our superficialities. And still you love us. And still Jesus came and died
on the cross to be our savior. We ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would bring the wonderful truths of
your word deep into our hearts this morning, that we might learn, Father, to preach the gospel to
ourselves day by day. And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Please be seated.
A very common human problem is that, and maybe it's, I don't know, I'm not going to say it affects
everybody who's here. Maybe it affects most of us to some extent, but for some people it's a quite deep
problem. And that is this. We fear, we believe, and we fear that if somebody got to know me better,
they would like me less. If people got to know me better, they would like me less. In fact, for many of us,
we have the functional, whether we're conscious of it or not, we function on the level that if people
actually got to know us, they really wouldn't like us at all. They would hate us. And it's a very, very
hard thing for us to deal with, that type of situation. And it's funny. It might very well be
that the shy person has this as a problem, and they use their shyness to sort of hide so people
don't even get to know them very well. But actually, just as well, the very extroverted person can have
the same problem. The exceptionally confident person can have the same problem. And they use their
extroversion and their confidence and their confidence to keep everybody at arm's length, never
wanting anybody to get past this arm and start to come to see that person as they really are.
The text that Daniel read, which is what we're going to be looking at in a moment,
it starts off in a very unpromising way. But it actually has some, the best and most beautiful wisdom
ever written is found, is opened up in this text about dealing with this very common and very
disconcerting and painful human condition. So it would be very helpful to me if you would get in
yourself, if you open your Bible, and we're going to look at the Bible text together.
It's Romans chapter 2, verses 17 to the end of chapter 2. Romans 2, 17 to the end. It will be up on the
screen if you don't have a Bible, but it's really good if you have your Bible yourself and
to look and hear what it has to say. And it begins in a very, very unpromising way. In fact,
probably some of you who have good memories for listening say, George, this is going to be a very
interesting stretch, how you could get that introduction and connect it to this text. And
it begins in a very unhelpful way for many of us. It begins like this. By the way, when I say it begins
in an unhelpful way, one of the best ways to grow when you're reading your Bible is to be honest about
what you think and feel. I mean, God already knows that you think this is lame. It's better if you
acknowledge that you think it's lame, because then God can do more when you're acknowledging it. But that's
a whole other separate topic. So it begins like this. But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law
and boast in God, and for a lot of us, all of a sudden we check out. I don't know how many, I mean,
I think there's, I know there's some Jewish people in the room right now, but for the rest of us,
it would be like me getting an email that says, for chartered professional accountants who want
to know how to manage staff over 20 and doing taxes, we have a workshop for you. Delete, right? I'm not a
chartered professional accountant. I don't have a staff of 20. That's completely and utterly irrelevant to me.
And so when a text like this begins by, for if you, but if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the
law and boast in God, we just check out. I'm not Jewish. I don't seem to do any of these things.
Well, believe it or not, this is actually, well, so here's what's going on before we get any further.
At different times in the book of Romans, and it might mention it or might not later on,
a lot of times the arguments go from lesser to greater. It's sort of a little bit like if
this is a problem for George, then imagine what is a problem for somebody who's way better and more
competent, right? If this is a problem for a child, imagine like, you know, if peer pressure is a
problem for 12 year olds, wait until you become a 45 year old civil servant. And then you're really
going to understand what peer pressure is, or you know, whatever the situation is from the lesser to
the greater. And, but here there's an argument from the greater to the lesser. And this is the
counterintuitive first thing you not need to understand. There's an argument from the greater
to the lesser. So when it says, but if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast,
here's what's going to be addressed and why it's addressing the human condition or a certain segment of
the human condition and not just everybody. From the Bible's, I mean, and not just Jewish people.
From the Bible's point of view, the Jewish people up until the coming of Christ, who is Jewish,
of course, and is going to be introducing like the spirit of the law and tightening things up and,
and dealing with the sacrificial system and a whole pile of other things. Up until the coming of Jesus,
the Jewish people were the one, the ones who had a special relationship with God. Only they,
out of all of the people on the planet, had a special relationship with God. And out of all of
the systems of right and wrong and all of the, all of the, of the rules around ceremonies and rituals,
only they had a perfect one that came from God. Only them.
Not the Romans, not the Greeks, not the Chinese, not those in India. God, not, not because, you know,
the Old Testament that is the Bible, God says, it's not because you're the greatest and the smartest
and most holy people. I chose you to show my greatness. It's an early version of how God uses
the weak and the foolish to shame the wise. But the Jewish people were chosen to be his special
possession, a special relationship with God. And they were chosen and they, out of all of the people
on the earth, were given the perfect ones that actually came from God about how to live and how
to worship him and how to order your civic and common life. And so what Paul is going to be doing is going to be
saying, if the Jewish people with all of these privileges can't have these problems and can't
live out of it, how much more will everybody else? But I'm jumping ahead. See what I mean when I look at,
and you'll start to see why it applies to other people as well. Look at verse 17 again.
But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God and know his will
and approve what is excellent because you are instructed from the law, and here the law means
what we would call the Old Testament, and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind,
a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children,
having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth. And we're going to pause there.
Now here, Paul is not putting them down. These are good things. These are, in fact,
many of the things that God has told them that they were to do. That God gave them the law and
gave them this covenant so that the whole world would look and see how great and glorious God is
and want to know him. And so he's not putting them down. But if you listen to this and remember that
what he's going to be showing in a moment is the problem that is revealed, in a sense using the
Jewish people as a test case, well here, if you could put up the first point, Claire, that would be helpful.
It is good to want to know and teach what is beautiful and good. That's a good thing.
And this text shouldn't be read as trying to undermine that. It is a good,
it is good to want to know and teach what is beautiful and good.
And so we are filled in Canada with people who are very moralistic. In fact, part of our problem
right now is warring moralistic groups and multiple war, but we have people who follow
religions or spiritualities and are very, very moral. And they themselves, in fact, a way to
insult a Canadian, many Canadians would be to say to them, I don't think you're fit to teach other
people how to live a good life. Whoa! You want to have somebody hate you for years to come?
Just say that to them. Why? Because most of our self identities are around being good people,
being moral people. And we might not be spiritual or religious like those other people, but we have
our own way of doing those types of things. And there's obviously some people who delight in doing wrong.
But it is a common thing to want to know and what that's good and think that you have a right,
almost an obligation. Maybe not a specific platform like I have, but in the Starbucks
amongst the baristas, you understand yourself as actually being a good and moral person that
you should give instruction to other people around your office or in your neighborhood,
or because of a particular religious or spiritual group that you talk to.
You see, what Paul is going to be doing is the way that Paul's letter is structured,
right? There's a summary, and then he's going to sell the problem, and then he's going to show how
the gospel solves the problem, and then he's going to show how you live in light of the gospel solving the
problem. And the problem here before us is why do good people need the gospel?
Why do moralistic and religious and spiritual people need the gospel? Why do they need the gospel?
But if you're here and you haven't, you're outside the Christian faith or if you're watching this and
you're outside the Christian faith, I want to share a secret with you. A lot of Christians are too
intimidated by your togetherness and your goodness to think they could ever tell you about Jesus.
It's a very common Christian problem. I can't tell that person. I can't tell my boss. I can't tell
that person about Jesus. Look at them. I mean, they're together in their money. They live a really
good life. Everything about them is just really, really good. How on earth could I ever say something
to them? It's a very common Christian problem. But this section is going to go through why is it that
good religious together people actually need the gospel just as much as people that the rest of us
think are very, very bad. And here then is where it's going to be an argument from the greater to
the lesser. Because there are many groups that even though they might not say they're instructed from
the law, they just take that out, but it describes them. You know, they've been instructed by,
you know, by Oprah Winfrey. They've been instructed by Trump. They've been instructed by,
you know, take, take, pick your guru, by Muhammad, by Krishna. They've been instructed. They,
they have a body of teachings. They're good people. They're moral people. They're moralistic.
They're religious and spiritual in their own way. And they think they have an obligation to teach other
people. So why on earth does somebody like that need the gospel? Well, the first and most basic problem
is revealed in verse 21. And Paul's going to sort of identify two groups of reasons why those of us
who are moralistic and religious and spiritual need the gospel just as much as people who are very clearly
bad people. And look at verse 21. The first part of 21 summarizes the whole problem. Verse 21,
you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? Ah, there's the problem. Now he's going to unpack it.
If you could put up the second point, Claire, that would be very helpful. It's a human problem. It's not a
Jewish problem. It's a problem for Jewish people who are devout and for the Anglican Church of Canada
and for those who are parts of Brethren Churches or a church like ours or a cell of Wiccans or just
very moralistic baristas. The human problem, you don't have a good track record in doing what you teach.
You don't have a good track record in doing what you teach. Now just to be clear in this, when I say
you, it's to try to make it more punchy, but I mean me too. It's a human problem. That's why I say it's a
human problem. It's not a problem just for a particular religious or ethical group. We don't
have a good track record in doing what we preach. And Paul's going to sort of unpack this in two
different ways. And the first one will just continue. Look at verse 21 again. You then who teach others,
because many of us might think that's not the case, but you then who teach others, do not,
do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must
not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who have poor idols, do you rob temples?
You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. For as it is written, the name of God is
blasphemed among the pagans because of you. And there Paul is just quoting, that's Isaiah 52, and he's
quoting a whole pile of Old Testament texts that if you're really interested in you can go and
Google them and you can see it's a constant theme, especially of the prophets, but also of Moses.
And so here's the thing, and it might be that in a room like this not many of us steal.
Although, you know, I don't know if God checked over your income tax return, he would agree with
every deduction that you made. And I don't know if he looked at how you manage attendance at work and
productivity if he would agree that you actually don't steal time from your employee, your employer.
I mean, if God was doing it with a really tight thing and you couldn't sort of gaslight him and
charm him and distract him. But the second one, this is where Jesus really comes in. And Jesus
tightening it up. And the Bible says that if a man or a woman looks at another human being and lusts
after them in their heart, if they imagine, you know, they imagine sexually knowing them or they
flirt with them or whatever, that they have committed adultery. And I don't know how many of us would
actually be able to pass that test. I'm sure some of us could. Although once again, as to whether in
the whole course of our life and God was using his standards, we'd pass it, we might be a little bit
red-faced, more than a little bit red-faced, even the most holy of us. But the perplexing thing at the
end is actually the real killer. That's the real thing which punctures everything. If you go back to
verse 22 again, it says, you who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery?
Now this is an odd phrase, you who abhor, that's really hate idols, do you rob temples? And there's
lots of debate in the scholarly literature about what he's meaning. But I think the simple way to
understand this particular text is to read it within its context. And in chapter one, which is just before
that, Paul has identified that a common, that the most common feature of the human condition is that
we're idol worshipers, that we create idols that we worship. And so this, what this is saying is,
it's saying, let's say, to the brethren elder, it's saying to the adoc priests like myself,
you say that you're completely and utterly opposed to idols, and you're very good at following the rules
externally. But in your heart, are you following those rules externally because you have idols in your
heart? Very good example for a minister. Very common problem for ministers is they have to do a sermon,
and they read the text, and what they're really looking for is how to be clever, how to be funny,
how to move your heart. And they don't read it at all about whether it speaks to them.
Pray for every pastor, pray for me, that I die to any temptation or tendency that I might have to
only read the Bible text so that I can come up with clever things to say to you so that you think I'm
clever. And pray that I'm not serving in type of idol by telling you that so that you'll think I'm even
more clever. And even more holy than I really am. Because you see, the fact of the matter is,
is that we can be very good at following external rules. But inwardly, we have, you see,
an idol in the ancient world was just a visible sign of a functional heart issue, whereby you gave
yourself to something or someone, seeing it as ultimate or as very important or as more important
than other things that you needed to honor, and you needed to serve, and you needed that to have meaning,
you needed that to have success, you needed that to have peace, and there's an actual need to do that.
And the idols have not changed. The names have changed. But they're centered around sexuality.
And they're centered around power. And they're centered around money. And they're centered around
politics. And they're centered around group identity. And they're centered around racial and ethnic and
linguistic identity and differences. And though, and it's centered around self. And those things haven't
changed. The names you put on them change. It's centered around fertility. It's centered around
children. It's centered around having a legacy. You could go on and on and on. And so you could
be apparently a very, very good person doing all of the things for the right reason, but really
what's motivating you is something else, and it's an idol. I say I hate those idols, but I really
like this one because I really want other people to think well of me, and I want to have power,
and I want to be seen as the center. And what's really motivating me to do those external things
is these inner idols. And that's why if God was to reveal your life as one day it will be revealed,
people will see, oh, George didn't do that sermon because he loved the congregation,
but because he wanted the congregation to love him.
Boy, that changes how you hear it, doesn't it?
And on and on and on. You flatter your boss, you flatter your co-workers because you
have an idol of promotions. Go on and on. And so you see, the problem is it is good to want to know
and teach what is beautiful and good. The human problem is, for moralistic people, is that we don't
have a good track record in doing what we teach. We're very good at seeing, we're very good at
flattering ourselves too much to detect or hate our own sin. You know, I got in, this is a few years ago,
in a coffee shop that I used to be a regular at, and I got to know a lot of the people very well, actually,
and it's very interesting how many of them thought that they were the most moral person
and disliked the other people all on the same thing. So the person they disliked, if you talked to them,
they were the only one who actually really was concerned for staff and really concerned about doing a good job
and really concerned about speaking the truth. And they'd take to another one, and they'd say,
that person over there, Sarah, they're terrible at all those things. And you talk to Sarah, and they'd say,
well, you know, over there, Bob, Sarah would say, I'm the only one who's doing all of these things.
That's the problem with Bob. He doesn't do all those things. And that's how moralistic people look at each other.
They're very good at flattering, we are very good at flattering ourselves too much to detect or hate our own sin,
and we are very good at finding specks in other people's eyes and not seeing the log in our own eyes,
and not even being aware of the fact that we walk around with idols as our glasses.
And that's how we see the world, and that's what motivates us.
We don't have a track record in doing what we teach.
But the second problem, Paul goes, is also in there, and that is seen if you look at verses 25 to 27,
and it loops up to something that he said at the beginning. We'll read it first,
because he seems to take an odd track here, verse 25 to 27.
So what this is basically saying is that for the Jewish people, the sign that you become a Jew
is if the male in your family grouping has been circumcised.
The Old Testament taught the circumcision of males.
It would completely and utterly be opposed to female circumcision.
Female circumcision is a horrific thing to hurt women and make them not even second-class citizens,
but tenth-class citizens. It's a horrific thing. The Bible has never taught it.
The Old Testament would have completely condemned it,
because the Old Testament wanted to honour women, not condemn them.
But it's talking about the circumcision as a sign of being Jewish,
having this privileged position vis-à-vis God.
And the point is, do you think really God was interested in having in-groups and out-groups,
or was he actually interested in changed lives?
So go back and read verse 25 again.
For circumcision is indeed of value if you obey the law,
or you practice the law. That's actually more literally, practice or do it.
But if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision.
So if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law,
that's the moral principles, not necessarily the Old Testament words,
but will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?
Because ultimately God wants behaviour, action,
and action lining up with your heart, not group identity.
Then he who is physically uncircumcised, verse 27,
but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision,
but break the law.
So it's not just talking about hypocrisy,
because the Bible isn't interested so much.
I mean, it is really interested in hypocrisy,
but what Paul is doing is trying to open up something about the human condition,
and something about a way out of this problem
that respects the valid longings and yearnings that God has put within you.
The point of this text, and the earlier part, I meant to mention it last week,
isn't that teachers should stop teaching children how to behave
and what's right and wrong.
It's not trying to say that parents should start,
abdicate the responsibility of teaching a child what's good and right
and things which are bad.
It's not saying that.
It's how do you get to that
without this problem of being moralistic and self-righteous.
That's the problem, not the task.
The solution we're going to come to in a moment keeps that as a valid thing that you need to do.
But here's the problem with group identity,
and it's an issue of presumption.
You see, remember, you know, the guy,
I can't remember the guy's name,
the guy who launched all the shut,
I know I'm touching on a raw nerve for people,
all those COVID lockdowns was based on a model,
you know, that was going to have millions,
hundreds of millions of people killed.
And while he was doing that, what did he do?
He kept meeting his lover and having adultery with somebody,
even while he was causing everybody else to be shut down in lockdowns.
Like, that's the problem.
We give ourselves a pass, right?
People in in-groups give themselves mulligans.
They flatter themselves too much to detect or hate our own sin.
So, you know, if you're centering around Pierre Pauly,
you say, oh, look at the liberals, what they just did.
Oh, that's really, really terrible.
Well, they themselves are doing the exact same thing,
but that's different because, like, we're around Pierre.
Or the other way around.
You know, yeah, we're all around Carney, we're all liberals.
Look at how terrible those Pierre Pauly people are.
And then somebody points out, you do the same thing.
And they say, no, no, no, we're not doing the same thing.
But really what they're doing is they're just agreeing
that they're going to give themselves a pass.
And so it's interesting.
Go back to verse 17 for a second.
It's all hinted at there, but it's not clear in the English.
Verse 17,
But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God,
and there's this word boast.
And in the original language, there's two different senses of boast.
And you need to understand from the context which one is going on.
And one sense of it is a virtue,
and one sense of it is a vice, is a bad thing.
One sense of it is a type of presumption.
It's very interesting.
I'm going to get the word slightly wrong,
but those of you who like basketball,
many, many years ago,
when the Michael Jordan and the Bulls won their last NBA championship,
their sixth won in eight years,
and Steve Kerr, who's now the coach for Golden State Warriors,
he was just a bit player,
like a seventh-ranked player on the team or something like that.
And the person interviewed them
after they'd won the NBA championship.
They interviewed Michael, Steve Kerr,
and some other person said,
well, you know, how does it feel
to be a really good player on a really, really good team?
And Steve Kerr said,
that's not us.
We're just the lucky average players
who got to play with a basketball god,
and he won the game.
He was basically saying,
if I wasn't on the same team as Michael Jordan,
you wouldn't even be interviewing me.
You probably wouldn't even know who I am.
Michael Jordan carried the whole team on his shoulders.
And in that type of sense,
there's a type of boasting which is good.
That was a really good sermon.
All things come of you, Father,
and of your own have I given you.
There seems to be some health in the congregation.
Boy, if you know what we were really like,
if you know what some of us were like
before we knew Christ,
you'd want to get 100 miles away from us.
It's just really what Christ has done for us.
That's the type of boasting that God wants,
a confidence in Christ.
The other type of boasting is presumption.
I don't really have to follow those rules
because, I mean, I'm Jewish.
I don't really have to follow those rules
because I'm woke.
I don't really have to follow those rules
because I'm really into Andrew Tate and Nick Fuentes.
By the way, if you're into them,
you really need to repent.
They're terrible, terrible, terrible people
who will terribly lead you astray.
Homophobic, anti-Semites,
Nazi lovers.
Stay away from them, by the way.
But I say that because some young men
are fascinated by those guys
and they're really, really bad news.
But the bottom line is,
we think we get a pass.
Because you're an evangelical,
because you're a Baptist,
because you're a Pentecostal,
because you're an Anglican,
because you're this group or that,
you have a type of presumption.
That's the type that's all wrong and all bad.
And so that's the second aspect of the big problem,
the human problem,
is you don't practice,
you don't have a good track record
in doing what you teach.
So now, okay,
now that I've depressed you all,
and now that God's depressed you,
and you're just going to think,
yeah, yeah, I suck.
I suck all the time.
And the more I try to not suck,
the more I suck.
That's not the message.
But here's the really surprising thing.
What we expect now,
out of our human condition,
is that now,
Paul is going to introduce
the Christian rituals that you need to do,
and the Christian rules that you need to follow,
so that these human condition problems
don't apply to you.
That's what we expect.
And he doesn't do it.
He goes in a completely and utterly,
shockingly different direction,
but the direction he goes
is exactly the direction we need.
Look, it's not obvious,
but it is once you see it.
Look at verse 28 and 29.
For no one is a Jew
who is merely one outwardly,
nor is circumcision outward and physical.
And by the way,
you read the Old Testament prophets,
you can find all sorts of prophets.
You can find Moses saying that,
actually, in the giving of the law.
And then verse 29.
But a Jew is one inwardly,
and circumcision is a matter of the heart
by the Holy Spirit,
not by the letter,
not by words.
His praise,
that is,
one who has come into a proper relationship with God,
is not from human beings,
but from God.
I'll read those two verses again.
For no one is a Jew
that is in a special relationship with God,
who is merely one outwardly,
nor is circumcision outward and physical.
But a Jew is one inwardly,
and circumcision is a matter of the heart,
by the Holy Spirit,
not by the letter.
His praise is not from man,
but from God.
If you could put up the third point,
Claire,
that would be very helpful.
You need the Holy Spirit
to circumcise your heart.
You need the Holy Spirit
to circumcise your heart.
I need it too.
You see, it's funny.
What he's basically saying
is that all of the texts
in the Old Testament
about circumcision
were a sign,
a true sign,
but the question that you have to ask
is if it's a sign,
what's it pointing to?
And what it's pointing to
is a true and greater circumcision
that would only come
when the Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world
was to walk upon this earth
and live the life
that you should live
but couldn't
and die the death
that you deserve
and he didn't
where he becomes
the Lamb of God
who takes away
the sin of the world.
If you go back
and you read Genesis 12
to about,
I can't remember,
20 or 21,
there's a very interesting
series of stories
which capture
what's going on here
very well.
It sets the pattern.
And in the ancient world,
the idea of covenant
was very common
and there would be
a warlord
or a king
or an emperor
who would enter
into a covenant
with a group of
lesser people
maybe with a city
that was going to come
under his rule
or a family
or a tribe
or a person
and in that
there would be things
that would be set forward.
I will be your great Lord
and I will be your savior
and your deliverer
and you will be mine
and we will have a relationship
with each other
and this is a special
set-aside relationship
and these are the things
that you need to do
and these are the things
that I will do
and you need to do
these things
and if you don't
do these things
here's all the punishments
that are going to happen
to you.
It's a little bit like
I don't know
a bit 70-ish.
You go to a mafia don
and you want a mafia don
you want to come
under the mafia's employee
and he says
I'll take you
and my employee
you know
and you got to do this
but you know
if I catch you stealing
I cut off your head.
If I catch you doing this
I cut off your arm.
If I catch you doing this
I'm going to kill
your wife and children.
If I catch you doing this
I'm going to skin you alive
and kill you.
That's how a lot of people
think God is
by the way.
And the amazing thing
in the story of Abraham
which is pointing
ultimately to Christ
is that when it comes time
God makes this covenant
with Abraham
and he says
I will be your Lord
and you can be my person
and from your seed
all the nations of the world
will be blessed
and I will take you to myself
and then when it comes time
for the circums
the part of the ceremony
where the
you know
they lay out
all of the things
that you need to do
and then when it comes time
to have that ceremony marked
and all of the things
that the bad things
that will happen to you
if those
the terms of the covenant
aren't kept
Abraham doesn't walk
through that ceremony
but God does
for Abraham
and so this gives us
a bit of a sense
about what's happening
with the person of Jesus
and why Paul
is talking about all of this
you see if you
when we're going to do
the Lord's Supper
in a couple of moments
we remember that Jesus
said that by his coming
and by his death
and by his resurrection
God had created
a new covenant
for people
of every tribe
and every nation
of every language group
of every type of sexuality
he has made
one covenant
that you enter
by faith
and the sign of that
is a variety of signs
but the consequences
for not being able
to keep it
fall on Jesus
it's very interesting
that in the garden
the cup of God's wrath
is drank by Christ
since Jesus drinks
the cup of God's wrath
so that by faith
in Christ
you can drink
the cup
of the new covenant
and so what Jesus
in a sense
is what God is saying
is that when Jesus
dies on the cross
all of the
all of the consequences
and penalties
that should fall on you
if you can't keep
the words of the covenant
and can't keep
the special relationship
they actually fell on him
and so when I put my faith
and trust in Christ
and he brings me
into himself
so that I am in union
with Christ
then all of those penalties
for not keeping the law
and not living up
to what I teach
all of those penalties
that I deserve
fall on him
and this covenant
of blessing
of favor
that goes even
into eternity
are now bestowed
upon me
and so that's why
it says here
that if you look back
at verse 29 again
but a Jew is one
inwardly
circumcision is a matter
of the heart
that's applying Christ
we're in union
with Christ
and so at a very depth
of who we are
because that's what
the heart is
Christ
that
all those punishments
and all those blessings
that
they have now come
to me
in my heart
and they're brought
by the Holy Spirit
not by any particular words
and the one
who is
praise
who prays
and is blessing
and is excited
about all of this
is God the Father
about what Christ
has done for you
and that's why
every human being
now how does this
apply though for us
then in terms
of how we live
well if you could
put up the fourth point
that would be very helpful
you see Jesus
the Holy Spirit
the Father
wants us to receive
the gospel
to be made right
with God
and then he desires
that we preach
the gospel
to ourselves
you preach the gospel
to yourself
day by day
to become more
Christ-like
see that's the order
and just very briefly
I've reached my limit
but I want to say
a few things
about how you preach
the gospel to yourself
and why that's so
unbelievably important
and it's so
unbelievably important
because Christians
still have the human
condition
I don't practice
what I teach
neither do you
and that's not
going to stop
until we appear
before God
face to face
and we become
like Christ
when the Holy Spirit
completely and utterly
makes us like Christ
and we dwell
in the new heaven
and the new earth
forever
so how do we do this
well really
the whole structure
of Romans
tells us
how that we
preach the gospel
to ourselves
you see
preaching the gospel
to ourselves
is not adoration
of God
that God is love
and it's not
remembering
that God is love
it's a matter
of the fact
that you don't
just hear these
words about Christ
to become right
with God
and then you move
on to something else
you move on
to therapy
you move on
to spiritual direction
you move on
to meditation techniques
you move on
to exercise
and wealth techniques
you move on
to other types
of things
and all you need
is to know Christ
and give your life
to him
and that makes you his
and then you move
on to something else
because the gospel
doesn't apply
to the rest of your life
but it does
and we'll use
the example
of the fact
that many of us
struggle
with the idea
that if people
got to know us
better
they wouldn't like us
the more they get
to know us
the less they'd like us
and if you just
meditate upon God's love
that's a good thing
to do
but it's not going
to be very helpful
for your human condition
you see
what I need to do
is I need
I need to preach
the gospel
to myself
and that means
first of all
coming to Jesus
and saying
Jesus
I live out
of this
lie about myself
that the more
people get to know me
the less they'll like me
and so I lie
and I cajole
and I joke
and I avoid appointments
and I avoid commitments
and I do all of these
types of things
and it's just going
to hurt me
and I've done
these things
which are wrong
and so we go
and we acknowledge
our sin
and then we don't
just think about
God being love
but we meditate
upon the riches
of the gospel
and in particular
is this
I acknowledge
and confess
my sin before God
and the problem
in my heart
which is tearing me down
and then I meditate
upon this profound truth
that Christ
was cut off
from life
and love
and the Father's presence
out of love
for me
my deep fear
is that if people
were to know
who I really am
that they would
cut me off
and I would be
cut off
from other people
and from life
itself
and now
I understand
I come to Jesus
acknowledging
and confessing
this as a problem
and I realize
that Christ
was cut off
for me
in my place
and I am
in him
and the source
of love
himself
the source
of life
himself
smiles
and is pleased
at what Christ
has done
for me
and he was
cut off
that I might
know the Father's
love forever
and so
the truth
of the gospel
that Christ
was cut off
for one like
me
afraid
of being
cut off
by others
and I can
thank him
and it is
out of that
humble place
of acknowledging
sin
and that's
just one
particular example
if you labor
under anger
if you labor
under debt
if you labor
under shame
if you labor
under defeat
if you labor
under time
after time
and if you
as we go
through the book
of Romans
the structure
is always this
to come to God
not in presumption
and not in arrogance
or merely meditating
upon the attributes
and qualities
of God
as wonderful
and powerful
as those are
but to come
to God
acknowledging
my sin
and the fact
that I don't
do these things
and I do
these other things
and I kick myself
and I ruin
my life
and realizing
how there's
a particular
rich
an aspect
of the gospel
that specifically
speaks
to my situation
and to thank
him again
that he was
cut off
so that I
will not be
cut off
from the source
of love
and life
and then to have
an emotionally
secure
and intellectually
secure
and beautiful
place
to deal
with the problems
in my life
confident
in God's
acceptance
of me
in Christ
and we need
to preach
the gospel
to ourselves
and to each
other
and it is
out of that
that we can
humbly say
to a child
you shouldn't
steal
you should
be generous
you should
chair
you shouldn't
treat little
girls that way
to teenage
boys
you shouldn't
treat a girl
that way
to teenage
girls
you shouldn't
treat a teenage
boy that way
not out of a
place of arrogance
but a place of
having been
humbled
and healed
by the cross
of Christ
we need
to preach
the gospel
to ourselves
invite you
to stand
father you
know those
in this
room
who struggle
or maybe
don't
they don't
even struggle
father
they're just
being beaten
up day
in and day
out
with this
a lie
that is
whispered
into their
ear
that if
people got
to know
them
they would
like them
less
and father
you know
who we
are
in the
room
and we
ask father
that you
would
help
these
riches
of the
gospel
father
to speak
to our
heart
and heal
our
heart
heal
our
heart
in a
way
which
is
humble
and not
presumptuous
which
is filled
with
gratitude
which
is
conscious
of sharing
the human
condition
with other
people
in the
same
situation
that
humbles
us
so we
don't
lift
our
heads
in
prayer
to you
but really
what we're
doing is
looking down
our noses
at others
but we
aren't
looking down
our noses
at others
but from
the bottom
and being
held and
surrounded by
the love
of Christ
and what he
has done
for us
on the
cross
so we
look up
to you
father
to see
your
praise
your
blessing
upon us
all in
the power
of the
Holy
Spirit
father
we ask
that you
would help
us to
hear the
gospel
and help
us to
preach the
gospel
to ourselves
and we
ask these
things in
the name
of Jesus
your son
and our
savior
amen