26-0222sc Transcript

(0:04) Let’s go to our Heavenly Father in prayer. (0:07) Most gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for this day and for the opportunity we have to come together as brothers and sisters and your children to study your Word (0:20) and to try to comprehend the things that you would like for us to know about our faith and about our life and how we should conduct ourselves. (0:32) We’re very grateful for the fact that we have sin in our lives and you reach out to us and want to reconcile us to you and that you’ve done that through Jesus.

(0:47) You’ve given us the opportunity to be reconciled to you through Jesus and his sacrifice, his death on the cross, that death that needed to be paid for us. (0:59) That gives us the forgiveness of our sins and then gives us the righteousness that we need to have to stand before you and approach you like we are. (1:09) We ask your involvement in our study.

We ask that you give us understanding and insight to the writings that Paul, being inspired by the Holy Spirit, has provided for us. (1:23) We pray that as we get into his letter on Romans that we can comprehend the things that he desires for us to understand and to be able to employ in our lives. (1:38) We ask your blessings in these things.

In Jesus Christ’s name, amen. (1:44) As we approach the letter of Romans, we just barely scratched the surface of it last week. (1:51) I always ask the question, what pleases God? And so what’s the answer? (2:00) To believe that he is and that he’s a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.

(2:07) And so as we get into this, what is Paul’s desire when he’s writing to the Romans church? What is Paul’s desire? I’m sorry? (2:22) Right. To develop a believing faith. (2:25) His primary thing is, remember, the congregation is made up of Jews and Gentiles.

(2:32) And they brought with them their baggage. (2:36) And the Jews are hanging on to their faith in God and basically the lifestyle that God embraced in them under the law of Moses and as Jews. (2:54) We also know that the Gentiles come with their baggage and they have a faith in God, but their faith in God may not necessarily be the God that Abraham and Isaac and Jacob believed in.

(3:11) And so Paul’s asking all of them, whether they’re Jews or Gentiles, to give up their faith and accept the faith that Jesus wants them to have, that God wants them to have through Jesus. (3:27) So what was the purpose of Jesus? (3:39) He wants to establish his own church. (3:42) And Paul wants us to become members of Jesus' church.

(3:48) So he wants us to abandon the law of Moses of the Jewish faith. (3:54) He wants the Gentiles to abandon their faith. (3:57) And he wants them all to embrace Jesus' faith.

(4:02) Faith in Jesus. (4:04) He wants them to become members of Jesus' church. (4:08) And so that’s the thing that we need to understand, that we want to become members of Jesus' church too.

(4:19) Not anybody else’s church. (4:21) We don’t need to have anybody else’s faith. (4:24) We want to have the faith that God wants us to have through Jesus and Jesus' faith.

(4:32) So this is what Paul wants us to understand. (4:36) That our faith lies in Jesus. (4:39) And Jesus is our high priest.

(4:41) And Jesus is the high priest of his faith and the faith that we embrace. (4:48) And we’re becoming disciples of Jesus, aren’t we? (4:52) What was the commandment that Jesus gave to his disciples and the Christians? (4:57) Go into all the world, making disciples of me. (5:08) Not anybody else.

(5:10) Making disciples of me. (5:13) Baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (5:17) And he that believeth in his baptized shall be saved.

(5:21) And according to Peter’s first sermon on the day of Pentecost, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (5:29) And that’s something that we really need to comprehend also. (5:36) So, as we reflect upon this thing, Paul is writing to the church in Rome.

(5:44) And he’s trying to help them become members of Jesus' church. (5:50) And not have competing faiths. (5:54) When I say competing faiths, Gentiles are the Jewish people wanting to say, (6:03) I know more about God than you do.

(6:06) And, of course, the Gentiles coming in not knowing anything, basically, about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (6:14) They only know their gods that they worship so ignorantly and approach them superstitiously. (6:23) So, as we reflect upon this, let’s see what Paul wants us to understand.

(6:29) Let’s start from the very beginning again. (6:33) And I will reserve my comments until we get a little bit further into it. (6:41) Any questions or any observations that you want to make? (6:45) The basic thing that I was just sharing with you is from hermeneutics and the science of studying the Bible.

(6:57) I see we’re going to have apologetics. (6:59) And that’s another Greek word. (7:03) And what is apologetics? (7:05) It’s defense.

(7:07) Defending Christianity. (7:09) Defending God. (7:12) So, it’s not making an apology for being Christian.

(7:16) It’s not making an apology for being who you are. (7:19) It’s defending your faith. (7:22) And that’s what apologetics is all about.

(7:25) And making a defense. (7:27) And so, when we think in terms of apologetics, that’s what Paul is going to be doing, too. (7:33) Paul is going to be defending.

(7:36) He’s making apologetics. (7:38) He’s defending the faith. (7:39) So, as we reflect upon that.

(7:44) I’m going to be reading from the New International Version. (7:50) Let’s start with verse 1. (7:52) And then, when I get down to verse 18, we need to stop and comprehend or give some thought about what he is going to be talking about here. (8:09) When I studied on my own time and in my own house and really working on it, I ran across this thought.

(8:24) And I think it’s a lovely thought. (8:29) It’s rumination. (8:31) Rumination.

(8:34) What is rumination? (8:40) Going over it again. (8:43) And rumination is what a cow does when he’s chewing his cud. (8:49) He’s running over it, trying to figure out exactly what is being said.

(8:55) So, we’re going to ruminate and try to do those things. (9:01) So, it’s a ruminate of the passage. (9:05) Verse 1, New International Version.

(9:35) And who, through the Spirit of holiness, was appointed the Son of God in power by His resurrection from the dead. (9:45) Jesus Christ our Lord. (9:47) Jesus Christ our Lord, period.

(9:50) Through Him, we receive grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for His name’s sake. (10:01) And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. (10:11) To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be His holy people, grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

(10:24) First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is reported all over the world. (10:35) God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of His Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times. (10:49) And I pray that now, at last, by God’s will, the way may be opened for me to come to you.

(10:58) Now, I’ll just pause there to mention my hobby, my thought. (11:05) Divine intervention, providence, and preservation. (11:08) Paul really believes in that, and he’s bringing it out there.

(11:12) God’s divine intervention. (11:13) And says, I pray that now, at last, by God’s will, the way may be opened for me to come to you. (11:22) Verse 11.

(11:24) I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong. (11:31) That is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. (11:38) I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to come to you, but have been prevented from doing so until now.

(11:51) In order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles. (12:00) There again, he’s talking about his divine intervention, providence, and preservation. (12:04) As he says, God is directing him to be there.

(12:12) He’s kept him from there. (12:14) Verse 14. (12:17) I’m obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.

(12:24) That is why I’m so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome. (12:32) Verse 16. (12:34) For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.

(12:43) First to the Jew, then to the Gentile. (12:47) For in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last. (12:56) Just as it is written, the righteous will live by faith.

(13:04) Let’s stop there for a minute. (13:10) Paul is saying that, here, I’m not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes. (13:20) First to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

(13:22) For in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last. (13:32) Just as it is written, the righteous will live by faith. (13:35) So, when we reflect upon this righteousness, what is the righteousness that Paul is going to be reflecting on? (13:50) God’s righteousness, but we’re not talking about God himself and his righteousness.

(13:55) We’re talking about the righteousness that God is holding out to mankind. (14:01) You follow that? (14:04) He’s offering us righteousness. (14:08) The hearers of the gospel, the people who have defamed him, the people who have turned against him, (14:16) the people who have violated him, he’s extending to them the right hand of forgiveness.

(14:28) But they have to accept the righteousness that he is offering to them. (14:34) They have to have that righteousness first. (14:37) And so, through the gospel of Christ, God’s gospel, that he sent Jesus to die on the cross for us, (14:45) to pay the debt that we needed, he’s extending to us righteousness through Jesus' sacrifice.

(14:55) So, the righteousness that God is extending to us is obtained through the gospel. (15:03) It’s not obtained through any other way. (15:06) It is obtained through the gospel.

(15:08) It’s God extending to us, in the gospel, the message of the gospel gives us the opportunity to have reconciliation to God. (15:21) And that reconciliation requires righteousness. (15:27) And so, the only way that we obtain righteousness is by responding properly to the gospel, (15:35) because it’s in that gospel that God is offering us the righteousness, the right hand of forgiveness, fellowship.

(15:45) I don’t know if I’m making myself any clearer or not. (15:50) But we’re not challenging God’s righteousness. (15:53) We will be, eventually, in this letter.

(15:57) He’s going to be defending God. (15:59) But what he wants us to realize is the gospel, what is contained in the package of the gospel. (16:08) What is contained in the package of the gospel is the righteousness that is required for reconciliation to God, (16:18) and to be able to come to God and to be in his presence.

(16:22) Yes? (16:22) I guess another way of saying that is, the only way we know anything about righteousness is that God reveals it in good news. (16:35) Right. But it’s going to require faith.

(16:40) It’s going to require faith. (16:43) And this is what Paul is trying to point out to us. (16:49) We have to accept it on faith, yes.

(16:54) We have to believe in it. (16:55) We have to believe this gospel. (16:57) And we respond to the gospel because we believe in it.

(17:02) And so we have that. (17:04) So, it requires faith. (17:07) First of all, we have to believe, first of all, in God.

(17:12) We have to believe in the creator of the world, that he truly does have control over the world and us. (17:21) We have to believe in God and everything he stands for and everything we understand about God. (17:26) We have to believe in God and that we have alienated ourselves from God.

(17:35) And so Paul is going to talk about how we alienated ourselves from God. (17:43) And that’s what’s coming up in the balance of this chapter. (17:47) He wants us to understand that we need to be reconciled to God.

(17:52) And God is extending to us that righteousness that is required to be reconciled to him. (17:59) And that we really have alienated ourselves from God. (18:05) So, how did we alienate ourselves from God? (18:10) And so Paul is going to be talking about that.

(18:12) So, we have to have faith, first of all, that there is a God. (18:17) And we have to have faith that God is extending us righteousness through Jesus. (18:23) That’s the gospel.

(18:24) The gospel is the package that Jesus is in. (18:32) He’s the package. (18:33) We have to believe in Jesus, that he is the son of God.

(18:38) Any other comments? (18:41) So, we have to have that. (18:44) It says, I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes. (18:53) You’ve got to believe.

(18:54) First to the Jew, then to the Gentiles. (18:57) For in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed. (19:04) For in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed.

(19:09) A righteousness that is by faith from first to last. (19:15) Just as it is written, the righteous will live by faith. (19:22) So, we have to, first of all, hear the gospel.

(19:27) We need to realize that we’ve alienated ourselves from God. (19:31) And that we need to be reconciled to him. (19:34) And the only way we’re going to be reconciled to him is to come to him through Jesus, which he is offering us.

(19:41) He’s offering us reconciliation. (19:43) He’s offering us salvation. (19:45) He’s offering us forgiveness and fellowship.

(19:48) If we’ll come to him through Jesus, we have to have that faith. (19:54) We have to have that faith. (19:59) Okay.

(19:59) So, Paul’s going to talk about that. (20:02) How did we alienate ourselves from God? (20:07) How has anybody alienated themselves from God? (20:11) And then he’s going to point out, as we know, he’s going to point out the fact that there is nobody on the face of this earth that has not alienated God. (20:23) That we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

(20:26) That alienation is under the term sin. (20:33) So, sin represents more alienation. (20:37) They’re one and the same.

(20:39) If we’ve alienated ourselves from God, we’ve sinned. (20:42) And the act of alienating ourselves is sin. (20:46) And that’s where Paul’s going to be talking about as we go on a little bit further.

(20:52) Starting now with verse 18. (20:56) Where Paul is going to point out to us the acts that demonstrate our alienation from God. (21:06) Why God is angry at us.

(21:10) And then he’s going to point out the various activities that mankind demonstrates the fact that they’ve alienated themselves from God. (21:23) That they don’t want to have anything to do with God. (21:26) Or they have made a decision that God is not their God.

(21:32) They don’t want to have anything to do with God. (21:34) So he’s going to point that out to us. (21:38) But we’ve got to ruminate.

(21:41) We have to ruminate a little bit. (21:44) As we reflect upon this. (21:48) So, verse 18.

(21:52) Paul is pointing out to us God’s wrath is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people. (22:03) Okay. (22:07) There’s a comma.

(22:09) He’s going to be revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people. (22:17) Period. (22:19) How do they demonstrate the wickedness and godlessness of God? (22:25) They demonstrate it through suppressing the truth by their wickedness.

(22:33) Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. (22:40) Or since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities, his eternal power, and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. (22:59) So he’s talking about the fact that God has demonstrated himself.

(23:05) There is no reason in the world why we cannot come to the conclusion that there is a God. (23:12) And we come to that conclusion that there is a God by what we observe around about us. (23:23) There is nobody.

Yes. (23:25) He makes speaking points, as I remember reiterating, I think. (23:31) And the English Standard, it says it’s eternal power and divine nature.

(23:38) And just because I’m doing the Genesis 1 through 11, doing a lot of studying in Genesis 1, the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (23:50) The problem with a natural solution, which is what the world wants. (23:56) They don’t want anything supernatural.

(23:59) The supernatural we would call spiritual. (24:02) They don’t want a spiritual answer. (24:04) They don’t want a supernatural answer.

(24:07) They want a natural answer. (24:08) Right. (24:08) One of the problems with the natural answer solution is at the beginning.

(24:16) And even the naturalists are recognizing that nature hasn’t been around forever. (24:24) It’s not eternal. (24:27) Right.

(24:28) And one of the laws of nature is everything is winding down. (24:35) It’s not even going in the right direction that they want it to go in. (24:39) And so it’s at the beginning and it’s winding down.

(24:43) And here Paul gladly ends it. (24:46) You need something outside of nature. (24:49) How are we here? (24:51) I don’t mean to take over your class.

(24:53) Oh, that’s all right. (24:54) Go ahead. (24:57) If something exists, where does it come from? (25:02) And if you go back so far and you say, well, it came from here, which is what they want to try to do.

(25:09) Well, where did that come from? (25:12) You have the problem, where does it come from? (25:15) In nature. (25:16) And there’s no answer to that in nature. (25:21) There has to be something outside, beyond nature, cause nature.

(25:31) Right. (25:31) If there was nothing in the beginning, how did something come from that? (25:38) Right. (25:38) There’s something here.

(25:40) So something had to be before the beginning. (25:44) What is that something? (25:46) It’s eternal. (25:47) It has to be.

(25:50) And it cannot be natural. (25:52) And Paul says, so what did God show? (25:56) His invisible attributes. (25:58) Namely, his eternal power.

(26:02) He’s the motivator between it. (26:04) He’s the energy that created it. (26:07) And that he’s eternal, which is, they have to solve that problem.

(26:11) And his divine nature, not natural nature. (26:17) He’s outside of it. (26:18) He creates nature.

(26:20) So he’s outside of it. (26:23) So both of those are solved in the scriptures. (26:27) What’s fascinating is, not that you can come to that logically, (26:31) but that’s actually what the Bible said from the beginning.

(26:37) Right. (26:37) And that’s the answer. (26:40) But they’re just trying to find out the answer to now, (26:43) and they don’t want to, they willfully reject.

(26:48) They’re suppressing that truth. (26:49) They won’t recognize it. (26:53) But the answer to them, that’s what those terms, (26:58) it’s been a long time to understand what that eternal power and divine nature is.

(27:04) How is that the solution that nature can provide? (27:11) Okay, and that’s exactly what Paul is trying to point out to us, (27:15) is that God created the heavens and the earth, (27:18) and there’s no question about it. (27:21) So what is God going to be fighting? (27:24) What does God want us to believe in? (27:29) God wants us to believe that he is. (27:32) He’s a being.

(27:34) He’s an entity. (27:38) What kind of entity? (27:40) He’s a deity. (27:41) But he is a person, and he has feelings.

(27:48) He created us. (27:51) So what happened in the Garden of Eden is what happens to anybody in the world. (28:00) So we have God, who apparently, according to the third chapter of Genesis, (28:09) comes down and visits them.

(28:12) He walks with them. (28:13) He is a being. (28:16) He has feelings.

(28:20) And so he loves his creation. (28:22) He comes down and walks with them. (28:24) And he tells them, just like we would our children, (28:27) don’t touch the oven.

(28:29) Don’t touch the burners. (28:31) You’ll get hurt. (28:34) So he’s telling them, don’t eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

(28:38) Don’t touch it. (28:42) So he comes down, and everything’s hunky-dory. (28:46) They haven’t touched the tree.

(28:48) They don’t want to touch the tree. (28:50) And we see that Eve is confronted, and she’s challenged to make a decision. (29:07) How many of you have heard of make that decision? (29:12) We’re challenged to make that same decision.

(29:15) We know that God doesn’t want us to curse. (29:19) We know he doesn’t want us to be drunk. (29:21) We know he doesn’t want us to have sexual immorality.

(29:26) We know those things. (29:30) But what transpires in your mind when you decide to do it? (29:38) What made you do that? (29:40) What made Eve do that? (29:44) She made a conscious decision. (29:47) Every person in the world who’s ever existed has made a conscious decision to do what they didn’t do, (29:58) or didn’t want to do.

(29:59) That’s Paul’s argument there in chapter 7 and 8 of Romans. (30:04) He doesn’t want to do what he does do. (30:07) He does do what he doesn’t want to do.

(30:09) Who’s going to help him? (30:11) Jesus is going to help him. (30:13) Jesus, in Romans 8, says, (30:20) So, what caused Eve to do that? (30:26) Can we bring ourselves to understand what she did? (30:33) Why she did what she did? (30:35) It’s because of sin. (30:39) It’s self-reliance.

(30:43) It comes up here in chapter 2. (30:46) It’s self-seeking. (30:48) It’s the world. (30:50) All of a sudden, you’re saying to yourself, (30:54) I like this.

(30:56) Why can’t I do this? (30:58) What makes you do that? (31:00) You know you’re not supposed to. (31:02) What makes you make that decision? (31:04) It’s an overt decision. (31:09) Everybody who has ever walked the face of this earth (31:13) has made that decision.

(31:16) And so, in essence, God takes it personal. (31:21) And he is saying, (31:24) You don’t want me to be your God. (31:27) You don’t want me to be your father.

(31:29) You don’t want me to be your friend. (31:32) I used this illustration the other day with my daughter (31:36) because she has a problem with her husband. (31:43) He’s committed sexual immorality.

(31:47) So I said to her, (31:50) How do you feel? (31:54) How did you feel when he did that? (32:01) Well, how did God feel? (32:03) Because God considers that to be immorality. (32:06) The minute that you do that, (32:08) you’re immoral. (32:10) You’ve taken another God.

(32:11) You’ve abandoned him. (32:13) You’ve put him off to the side. (32:15) You’ve alienated him.

(32:18) So, how do we get reconciled to him? (32:22) Paul wants us to recognize the difference. (32:26) What happens when we stay with God (32:31) or when we reject God? (32:35) The signs are very evident. (32:38) What are the benefits of staying with God? (32:41) And what are the benefits of rejecting God? (32:47) And he’s saying, (32:49) God’s wrath is out to those who’ve made that overt decision (32:55) to disobey.

(33:00) I’m no longer God. (33:03) You’re not accepting me as God. (33:07) What does God say in the 10th commandment? (33:11) I shall have no other gods beside me (33:15) because I am a jealous God.

(33:24) He’s telling us right up front. (33:27) I’m a jealous God. (33:30) A wife is not jealous.

(33:33) What kind of emotion is she demonstrating (33:37) when her husband goes astray? (33:41) Or what husband, (33:44) his emotions when his wife goes astray, (33:50) alienated, (33:52) hey, have nothing to do with you anymore. (33:56) That’s what God is with Adam and Eve, isn’t it? (34:00) Because he takes them out of the tree, (34:03) out of the garden, (34:05) and he says, (34:06) I was giving you everything you wanted. (34:12) I was providing everything you needed.

(34:14) I was meeting every need you had. (34:18) And I will continue to do that (34:20) as long as you remain faithful to me. (34:22) He’s offering and extending to us (34:25) the same benefits if we come back to him.

(34:30) He’s extending the same benefits if we come back to him. (34:33) Jesus tells us that. (34:35) He continues to look after us, doesn’t he? (34:40) He continues to look after us.

(34:42) I think it was Psalms 107 or 108, (34:45) somewhere in that area where it talks about (34:47) God’s involvement in our lives. (34:51) And we can look at that at another time. (34:55) But our attitude is what’s going to kill us.

(35:04) And it’s the attitude that God is looking at. (35:09) It’s the attitude. (35:11) I just lost my scriptures because I got too carried away here.

(35:18) There we go. (35:19) It’s that attitude. (35:23) He’s really working at our attitude.

(35:26) What is our attitude towards God? (35:29) And that’s the attitude of where is it going to get us? (35:33) And so he goes on and he talks about it. (35:35) Any other observations or questions? (35:39) So the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven (35:42) against all the godlessness and wickedness of people (35:49) who suppress the truth by their wickedness. (35:54) So we’re suppressing the truth when we make that decision.

(35:57) It’s our attitude. (35:59) So we’re suppressing the truth. (36:01) Since what may be known about God is plain to them (36:07) because God has made it plain to them (36:10) for since the creation of the world of God’s invisible qualities, (36:15) His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, (36:19) being understood from what has been made (36:22) so that people are without excuse.

(36:27) Now he’s going to go on and he’s going to talk about the attitude (36:29) and where that attitude is going to take them. (36:33) And when you go out into the world (36:35) and you’re meeting the people of the world, (36:37) they have an attitude. (36:41) Look at what’s going on in Minnesota.

(36:44) Look at what’s going on throughout the world. (36:47) They have an attitude. (36:49) And it’s definitely anti-God.

(36:54) They don’t want to know anything about God. (36:56) They suppress the knowledge of God. (36:58) And so it’s an attitude.

(37:01) You ain’t going to tell me that I can’t have tattoos. (37:06) You ain’t going to tell me that I can’t have a homosexual relationship. (37:10) You can’t tell me that I can’t do this and this and this.

(37:15) And Paul is going to point out what a Christian attitude should be (37:20) and how it should be carried out throughout the life. (37:24) So we as Christians need to change our attitude (37:28) and make sure that our attitude is in line with God (37:32) and not in line with Satan. (37:35) So he talks about it.

(37:37) For although they knew God, (37:40) they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him. (37:46) But their thinking became futile, (37:48) and their foolish hearts were darkened. (37:51) So he’s talking about an attitude.

(37:55) So the minute they made a decision that God was not going to be their God, (38:01) their lifestyle became under their own. (38:06) I will. (38:07) I have my own way.

(38:09) I will. (38:11) And so he’s bringing that out. (38:14) Their thinking became futile, (38:16) and their foolish hearts were darkened.

(38:19) Although they claimed to be wise, (38:20) and boy do they claim to be wise, (38:24) they became fools (38:26) and exchanged the glory of the immortal God (38:29) for images made to look like a mortal human being (38:33) and birds and animals and reptiles. (38:38) So they believe almost anything except what they ought to believe. (38:43) It’s like when the Egyptians or the Israelites came out of Egypt.

(38:49) At first, when God brought them over the Red Sea, (38:54) ah, isn’t God glorious? (38:57) Isn’t God great? (39:00) But then when they got on the other side, (39:03) all of a sudden they started to show their true being (39:07) because who comprised the group of people that came over the Red Sea? (39:14) Not just Israel, (39:16) but the Egyptians who wanted to identify with them. (39:23) And so when the Egyptians come over with them, (39:26) what are they bringing with them? (39:29) Their own faith. (39:31) They didn’t leave their faith on the other side.

(39:37) They brought it with them, (39:39) just like Noah brought sin with them (39:43) when he brought his sons Ham, Shem, and Japheth. (39:48) Because the minute they came out on the other side (39:50) and out of the ark, (39:54) sin presented itself again, didn’t it? (39:59) So sin didn’t get kept over on the other side of the flood. (40:04) Sin traveled over to this side.

(40:07) What was it? (40:09) Attitude? (40:11) What caused, you know, Ham to do what he did? (40:18) Who knows? (40:21) It’s an attitude. (40:23) It’s an attitude. (40:25) So we’ve got to make sure that when we pass over (40:28) that we’re not bringing with us baggage and disbelief.

(40:33) And this is what Paul’s challenging them. (40:35) Paul wants to challenge the church (40:37) to leave the sin on the other side, (40:43) outside that door. (40:45) So you, therefore, (40:50) who is he talking about? (40:52) It’s the conclusion of it.

(40:54) It’s the conclusion of the fact (40:56) that these are things that we want to do (41:00) and that an attitude is. (41:04) You, therefore, have no excuse. (41:08) You who pass judgment on someone else (41:11) for at whatever point, (41:14) for whatever point you judge another, (41:18) you are condemning yourselves (41:20) because you who pass judgment (41:23) do the same things.

(41:25) Now we know that God’s judgment (41:27) against those who do such things (41:30) is based on truth. (41:32) So when you, a mere human being, (41:35) pass judgment on them (41:37) and yet do the same things, (41:40) do you think you will escape God’s judgment? (41:44) Or do you show contempt (41:45) for the riches of His kindness, (41:49) forbearance, and patience, (41:50) not realizing that God’s kindness (41:53) is intended to lead you to repentance? (41:56) Sounds like Paul’s lesson (41:59) on Acts, the 17th chapter, doesn’t it? (42:02) And so we reflect upon the kindness of God. (42:07) So what is he saying there? (42:09) It’s a difficult thing to…​ (42:12) This is where you have to ruminate.

(42:15) You have to stop and think (42:16) and try to reflect upon (42:18) what it is he’s talking about. (42:21) Our judgments are false (42:24) in comparison to God’s judgment. (42:29) God’s the only being that knows everything.

(42:32) He’s omniscient. (42:34) But He can make a judgment (42:35) because He knows more than (42:38) the person He’s judging, even. (42:42) Where are we, on the other hand, (42:44) that from our faith (42:47) we’re not omniscient? (42:49) We don’t have all of that.

(42:51) We don’t even have an understanding (42:53) of all the knowledge, probably, (42:55) that we do have. (42:57) So our judgment would always be false. (43:02) And he’s also talking about a behavior.

(43:05) He’s talking about a group of people (43:11) and their interactions with one another. (43:14) If we come in here (43:15) and we see him in chapter 12 and 13 and 14 of Romans (43:22) talking about our brothers and sisters in Christ (43:26) and how we look at them (43:28) and how we have an attitude (43:31) about judging their behavior (43:33) and saying, he really isn’t a Christian (43:35) because he wouldn’t be doing that. (43:40) He’s pointing out to us (43:42) that if you have the ability (43:44) to judge someone else (43:46) and condemn them to hell (43:49) because of what they’re doing, (43:51) yet you’re not doing any better.

(43:56) You’re not doing any better. (43:59) You’re being hypocritical. (44:02) So don’t focus on (44:05) what the other person is doing or ain’t doing.

(44:10) Focus on yourself. (44:14) You, who have the ability to pass judgment (44:17) on someone else, (44:20) pass the same judgment on yourself. (44:23) Isn’t that what the scripture says? (44:24) Judge yourself before you judge anybody else.

(44:30) And the thing is, (44:32) what we need to realize is (44:33) that we’re looking at a person who’s in Christ. (44:39) What are the benefits of being in Christ (44:42) as a Christian? (44:46) Forgiveness of our sins. (44:48) God continues to forgive us that way (44:51) because Jesus' blood continues to cleanse us.

(44:55) And so, I might be doing something (44:57) that I should not be doing. (45:02) You don’t have the right to condemn me (45:03) because of that. (45:05) Because who stands before God? (45:07) Who has the right to condemn you? (45:08) If Jesus isn’t condemning you, (45:10) I can’t condemn you.

(45:12) If God is not going to condemn you, (45:15) I can’t condemn you. (45:18) So what do I have to do? (45:21) I need to focus on myself (45:24) and make the same judgments (45:26) and put myself under my own…​ (45:29) Because if I know enough to condemn them, (45:32) I should know enough to condemn myself. (45:36) Make sense? (45:39) You can follow up on that next week.

(45:41) Our time is up.