Romans 2

You'll also need to start training yourself in Godliness. You'll need to allow God to fill your life with himself. Just as Wilma Rudolph trained her physical body to win the Olympics, you'll need to exercise your spiritual life unto Godliness by engaging in some indispensable exercises.

Let's look briefly at five essential disciplines you'll need to consider. Let me go through these real quick, just so you know. Number one is prayer and fasting.

Number two, reading and meditation. Number three, worship and praise. Number four, silence and solitude.

And number five, stewardship of time and money. Let me read them again. Prayer and fasting.

Reading and meditation. Worship and praise. Silence and solitude.

And fifth one is stewardship of time and money. So let me just comment on these a little bit. Take his comments.

Prayer and fasting, first of all. It's essential that you develop a healthy prayer life. Take time to commune with God each day.

Pouring out your struggles, asking for power to overcome. You may find that keeping a prayer journal is helpful. Writing your requests down and answering prayer.

Writing down your requests and answering prayer. Fasting is also important. We live in a time when fasting is needed more but used less.

Giving up food for a time can help you train. But fast for more than just food. Anytime you sense some passion being a part of your life beginning to take control, have the courage to declare a fast.

Analyze your relationship with technology often and take an occasional fast. This will allow you to ensure that you're controlling your device rather than your device controlling you. Reading and meditation.

Paul told Timothy, telecom. Give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. He knew Timothy would need proper nourishment to survive.

Yet Timothy needed to do more than just read. He was also instructed to meditate upon these things. Give thyself wholly to them.

It is one thing to quickly skim a chapter each morning. Like Shallow, another guy in this book. But it is another thing to meditate and assimilate it into your lives.

Take time to consider what God's telling you through his word. Then purposely go and apply it in your life. Third one, worship and praise.

Scripture tells us to offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. That is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. Train yourself to spend each day in thanksgiving.

Spend time each day in thanksgiving giving praise and worship to God. In addition to specific times, learn to praise God while taking walks, driving, or whatever else you're doing. Silence and solitude, number four.

It has become a noisy world and constant background racket seems the norm. But don't be afraid to push back. Think about the type of home you want to have someday.

Do you really want a home environment that's overwhelmed and controlled by beats and buzzes? Jesus repeatedly took time to get away from the clamor. He was seeking a quiet time with his father. Purposely seek times of quietness.

Technology brings the potential of constant music, podcasts, sermons, and a host of other good material. But don't allow the good to become the enemy of the best. As our world continues to produce more and more sound, have the courage to purposely pursue silence and solitude.

Ask God for an opportunity to speak into your life. Or allow God an opportunity to speak into your life. And the last one, number five.

Stewardship of time and money. God is the ultimate owner of everything. Yet he's entrusting you with resources and expects you to use them for his purposes.

Earlier I mentioned the struggle I had giving up flying. I enjoyed flying but came to realize that money spent on flying was an opportunity lost to bless someone else. Time or money wasted is opportunity lost.

You can't buy that new shotgun or pair of shoes and also help the poor or the persecuted church with the same money. Neither can you spend hours with electronic entertainment and simultaneously invest deeply in family, church, or neighbors. Our time and money are limited.

Train yourself to use both in a way that honors God and builds his kingdom. Finally, the choice is yours. These are five essential spiritual disciplines you can probably think of more.

You're surrounded with an abundance of distracting devices and survival demands that you prayerfully consider God's will as you make decisions. Satan's goal is to make sin, foolishness, and immorality exciting while causing holiness, sobriety, and godliness to become dull and uninteresting. Electronic entertainment is helping Satan achieve his goal.

Some of it may not be explicitly wrong but if it makes Jesus boring, Satan is pleased. Years after Wilma Rudolph's Olympic victories, she made this profound observation about life. The triumph can't be had without the struggle.

You're in a battle and the choice is yours. It isn't an easy time to serve the Lord and yet there are exciting and unprecedented opportunities right before you. Don't be distracted by the silly and the central.

True fulfillment is found alone in Jesus Christ working together with Him. God's given you a desire to live and connect with something larger and grander than yourself. Which is why youth tend to chase movie and sports stars.

Something within us just wants to attach to something of greater significance. But understand, there is nothing greater, grander, or more fulfilling than serving the king of the universe. Within the kingdom of God is authentic fulfillment and satisfaction for your deepest longing.

So purpose to pour your life into Jesus. Turn your back on Satan's shallow stupidity. Don't allow technological distractions to keep you from what is best.

I have the confidence that in the coming years you'll look back and be thankful that you chose to invest in the kingdom that endures. And that's the end of the book except for the Bible study section. Let's pray.

Father we come to you in the name of Jesus and we thank you Lord for this challenge about the dangers of the world we live in. New dangers that have not always been here Lord. We know there's always been dangers but there's new ones in this generation.

There's also new opportunities. I pray that we would turn our back on the dangers and turn our face toward the opportunities to build your kingdom. Knowing there's nothing grander or greater than aligning ourselves with you, the king of the universe.

And with your kingdom. So Lord help us to do that. Help us all to do that.

I know this book is addressed to the youth but we all need to hear what we just heard. And I pray that we would do that Lord in Jesus name. And I just pray that you would go with us now as we look into Romans chapter 2. Help us to get from what you would have us to receive.

Help us to go home with a renewed focus on your kingdom Lord in the way you want us to do that. In Jesus name. Amen.

Alright. Romans chapter 2. This is a book that as we read before you know how much the focus is the gospel. Now the Romans has a, I don't know if it's a reputation or what it is.

There's people that will say Romans and Paul's teachings are not the same as Jesus teachings. They're different. What Romans says about you know what salvation is, what was necessary for salvation is different than what Jesus said is necessary for salvation.

I would like to push back a little bit on that. I'd like to encourage you all to help me as we go through this chapter. What actual similarities do we see? As we go through and we read through what Paul says.

Where do we also see that in Jesus teaching? And so maybe we'll start here. And I'm just debating whether we should go ahead and read the whole thing or not. Let's just start.

We'll just read a few verses at a time. I wonder if a few of you guys. You three right up here.

Benjamin, Caleb, and Moses. Can you turn also keep a finger here in Romans. Gotta make sure count how many fingers you got.

Put another finger in Matthew chapter 7. Okay. And just keep your Bibles open to Matthew 7. And also Romans 2. And I'm going to ask you to read some of those in just a little bit here. And again we're trying to compare Romans and Paul's teaching with Matthew and Jesus teaching.

And see if you can recognize the difference. So let's just go ahead and start reading. Romans chapter 2. Starting with verse 2. Back to these glasses again here.

Romans 2 verse 1. Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest. For wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself. For thou that judgest doest the same things.

But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doeth the same, that thou shall escape the judgment of God? So what's the theme of these first three verses? I'm going to, this is going to be a little bit of a, you know, maybe a Bible study. So if there's some interaction, that's good if you want to reply.

But can you think of anything that this is saying in these first three verses that corresponds to something Jesus said in his teaching? What's he talking about here? He's saying that we shouldn't what? Judge. Where did Jesus say that? Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 7. Let's read that. Go ahead, Caleb.

Read verses 1 through 3, 1 and 2 of Matthew 7. Matthew 7, 1 and 2. Judge not that ye be not judged. But with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged. And with what measure ye meet, it shall be measured to you again.

Alright, and then he goes on to comment there, Jesus did, about the hypocrisy of judging someone else while you yourself are, have, you know, as bad a problem or a worse problem. Okay, so there you see again the parallel of Jesus' words and, or Paul's words and Jesus' words. So let's keep going here.

Romans chapter 2, verses 4 and 4. For despisest thou the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance, but after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasures up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath, and the revelation of the righteousness of God. So again, here I have a question for you. As we read these next few verses, my question is this.

There's a judgment day coming, we all know that. Jesus talked about the judgment, Paul talks about the judgment. Are we going to be judged then, when that day comes? By what we believe, some people call that faith.

Or are we going to be judged by what we have done? Some people call that, we can call that works, and there's various definitions of that. But what we do, which are we going to be judged by? So let's keep reading here. But after thy, verse 5, after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasures up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath, and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God who will render to every man according to his deeds, to them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality and eternal life, but unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile, but glory and honor and peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile.

For there is no respect of persons with God. So here we have Paul saying, there's a judgment day coming. And it's going to be based on what you have done, what your works were.

Did Jesus say the same thing? Do Paul and Jesus agree? Read Benjamin Matthew 7, verses 21 through 23. Not everyone that sayeth unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name have done many wonderful works? And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, and ye that work iniquity.

Okay, thank you. So again, there Jesus is saying the same thing. There's going to be a judgment coming, and it's not those who just profess, but those who do the will of God.

Let's keep reading Romans 2, verse 12. For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law. Now here's again the question.

Who's going to be right with God? Those who hear what God has to say, or those who do it? So get ready there, Mose, you're going to be reading Matthew 7, verses 24 through 27. But just hold off for a second, I'll have you read that. But again, what's Paul saying is important.

Hearing or obeying. And then we'll see if what Jesus and Paul say is the same thing. So let's keep reading here.

Verse 13 again. For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law, are a law unto themselves, which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another.

In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel. So what's he saying here? Not the hearers, but the doers. What's Jesus saying now? Go ahead, Mose.

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand.

And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell. And great was the fall of it. Okay, thank you.

So once again, we see this continual correspondence between what Jesus said and what Paul said. What Paul said and what Jesus said. Same message.

He seems almost to be quoting from Jesus in a way. You see the same things you read up to other gospel, epistle writers, like James. You know, he goes through the book of James, and it's not at all word for word from the Sermon on the Mount, but he keeps going back to things from the Sermon on the Mount.

Above all, my brethren, swear not at all. Why does he say that? Well, he's quoting from Jesus. Paul, you know, he talks about marriage and saying, you know, about divorce and remaining single and things like that.

1 Corinthians 7. And at one point he goes, it's not me that's saying this, it's the Lord that's saying this. It's Jesus that's saying this. And that's what these people are, that's what these epistle writers, Paul and Peter and James and John, what they're trying to do is reflect back to Jesus himself.

But we do come to a new issue now, that it's a word that's in this passage, the word law. And many people have read this and thought, well, is Paul saying that we're supposed to keep the law? And when they say the words the law, they mean the Old Testament law. That's usually more common what's meant when people talk about the law.

They're talking about the Old Testament law. And Paul uses the word law over and over again. And so my question is, as we read through this, is that what he's saying? What clues do we have about what Paul is saying here that would indicate is he advocating for going back and keeping the Old Testament Mosaic law that was given by Moses on Mount Sinai? Is that what Paul is saying that we need to be doing? So you keep your eyes open for some clues in answer to that question.

And what really is the answer? So let's go ahead and read the rest of the chapter and again just keep your eyes open and see if we can come up with some answers about what is Paul really trying to say here? Who's he speaking to and what's his overall message? We're ready for verse 17. Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, and knowest his will, and approvest of things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law, and art confident thou thyself are a guide to the blind, a light to them that are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law, thou therefore which teachest another teachest not thou thyself, thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? Thou that abhorst idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonorest thou God, for the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written, for circumcision verily profiteth if thou keep the law, but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. Therefore, if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? And shall not the uncircumcision, which is by nature, if it fulfilled the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision doth transgress the law? For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not of the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Alright, what did you see? I'll open it up here a little bit. Did anybody see an answer to the question? What's Paul advocating here? What's his... Is he saying that if you, you know, are going to live the Christian life, you need to keep the mosaic law given on Mount Sinai? Is that what he's saying? What clues do you see in this passage? Anybody have a thought? I know it's supposed to be a sermon, I've turned it into a discussion, but that's okay if you want to have a discussion. Verses 26 and 27 is referring to the uncircumcision keeping the righteousness of the law, and in 27 fulfilling the law, yet they don't have the mosaic law, but somehow they are fulfilling what was intended by the law.

Excellent. Okay, that's exactly what I saw. And let me read this, just to make it more clear.

Some of the King James verbiage is a little murky, but let's go on here to... I'm going to read this verse 27 especially. Listen to what the NIV says, and I looked this up on some others, ESV, and I think they kind of say the same thing. But verse 27 says, the one who is not circumcised physically, and yet obeys the law, will condemn you who, even though you have the law, you have the written code, and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.

Okay, let me read that again, just the first half of the verse this time. Listen closely. The one who is not circumcised physically, and yet obeys the law.

Now think about that. If it's talking about the law of Moses, that would be impossible, to not be circumcised physically, and yet obeys the law. He's talking about some other law.

He's talking about the fulfillment, the Christ law, the law of God, the law that is in effect now when Paul is writing. That's the law he's talking about. And he's saying, you know, circumcision, fine, but if you don't obey God's law, you're not even a true Jew.

Keep reading. He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly, verse 28, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh. So, a man is not a Jew who keeps the law of Moses on Mount Sinai, and that's where he stops and ignores the commands of Jesus.

He's not, according to Paul, he's not even a Jew. And these are people that are claiming to be Jews. Dennis, can you read a verse to, turn up to Galatians 3 and read verse 29.

In just a second here. Turn to Galatians 3, get ready to read verse 29. So, again, we're examining the claim of Paul.

He's talking about the law. He's talking about how important obedience to the law is. But what is the law? That's the question.

What is a true Jew? What does it mean to be a keeper of the law, a true Jew, part of the Israel of God, is another term that's found in the New Testament. Go ahead, Dennis, read verse 29. And if you are Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring.

And if you are Christ, you are Abraham's offspring. And Jews, you can see why they'd probably be offended at this kind of language. People who, when I say Jews, I'm talking about modern-day people who call themselves Jews who deny Christ, who deny the validity of, you know, the New Testament, the resurrection.

They deny all that. Jesus was an imposter, they say. And now here's Galatians and Romans saying, well, actually, you guys aren't even Jews.

If you deny Christ, you're not true Jews. A true Jew is one who obeys the law of God. And the law of God is the fulfilled law given through Christ, the Sermon on the Mount.

These commands, these commands that Jesus said, go and teach others to obey, that is the fulfillment. And, you know, it says to all these Jews, you know, you're keeping some of these laws, circumcision, the Sabbath, whatever you want, you're keeping those things from the Mosaic law. But if you're not obeying Jesus, you're not really a true Jew.

Anybody else have any thoughts there before we go on? Then let's go, and let's just look at another little bunny trail here, another little thing that Paul talks about. Maybe it's not a bunny trail, maybe it's really, maybe one of the most important things he said. But he talks about this in this whole context of law.

He talks in verse 22, actually back up to 21. Thou, therefore, which teachest another, teachest not thou thyself, thou that preachest, a man should not steal. Does thou steal, thou that sayest, a man should not commit adultery? Does thou commit adultery? Thou that abhors idols, does thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast in the law, through breaking the law dishonorest thou God.

For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles, even you. And we'll just stop there. Because here Paul is talking about this thing of hypocrisy.

And he could say it to the Jews, he could say it to us today. People who claim to be a follower of Jesus and yet aren't really obeying Jesus. And it is bringing blasphemy.

People are looking at these evangelical preachers. People are looking at stories like Rabi Zacharias. You know, one of the greatest in my generation evangelists who go around the world preaching and people would respond.

And it's hard to know what to do with all his teachings now. What about the people that got converted under Rabi Zacharias' teaching? And then they find out after he died that he had been committing adultery for years. In secret.

Hiding it. What do you do with all that? Does that mean those conversions are not valid? I think this is a scary thing that we need to point out is that a person who preaches truth, they themselves may not even be living in the truth. It doesn't make the truth invalid.

Paul said this. He said, I bump at my body and keep it under subjection lest after preaching to others, I myself should be a castaway. He recognized that danger.

And his message was still true. We have the New Testament here. It's a true message even if Paul would have fallen away.

Which he knew there was a danger that that could happen. Rabi Zacharias hopefully knew that there was a danger of falling away. And he did.

King David fell away. Great and thankful he came back. His son Solomon fell away and it's just kind of murky.

Did he ever come back or not? I don't know. But he wrote Proverbs during his lifetime. And Proverbs is in the Bible.

It's part of the Word of God. And it's valuable instruction even about avoiding immorality. What Solomon wrote is valid teaching.

But Solomon, where is he today? Did he die in the will of God? I don't know. It looks like maybe not. But meanwhile he left us some good instruction from the hand of God.

And so these are some serious warnings that Paul has given here about even those of us who spread the gospel, go to Mexico, pass out tracks, go talk to our neighbors, get up front and preach. And he says if you're preaching to others, others ought to do this. What about yourself? What about us? And he gives these clear warnings about that.

So any other, again I'll just open up briefly and anybody have any thoughts about that? Got one more thing I want to point out here then. Back up to the beginning of the chapter, verse, we're going to talk about this thing of repentance or this thing of impenitent heart. Here he talks about your, because of your hardness, verse 5, after thy hardness and impenitent heart you're treasuring up unto yourself wrath against the day of wrath.

Whether you're someone who has never made a commitment to Christ or whether you're one of these hypocritical preachers who has preached the gospel to others and then fell away yourself through pride. Whatever it is, this thing of treasuring up wrath is a scary thing to consider. He talks about the judging back in verse 3, and you despise the riches of his goodness.

God is good. And there's two kinds of ways we can interpret good. Good means either high quality, which ought to be convicting to us, but there's also goodness that means kindness.

I think that's the second one that is. God is kind. He's patient.

He gives people opportunities to repent. And that very kindness, Paul says, was designed to lead you to repentance. In the NIV, God's kindness leads you to repentance.

That's what the intention is. For God to give you his kindness and you to come to repentance, but because of our proud and penitent heart, what do we do? We do the exact opposite. We take God's kindness, he waits, he's long-suffering, judgment hasn't come right away, and we wait.

And in fact, his kindness actually leads us away from repentance. If he would just immediately, like in the law, you know, a child was rebellious, they got stoned. You know, under that kind of law that they had back then, that would cause a lot of fear to a lot of people.

Don't ever do that. Don't gather sticks on Sunday or Saturday or you'll be stoned. Don't, you know, rebel or blaspheme, say the wrong word.

They could get stoned to death in a moment. But then Ecclesiastes says God is kind and it says that because judgment doesn't come speedily, the heart of man is fully set to do evil. That's God's kindness.

He gives people an opportunity and waits on them and God says, I'm waiting on you to give you an opportunity to repent. I'm giving you this to lead you to repentance. And sadly, so many people are taking that same kindness and patience and leading them away from repentance.

I have a I have just a little, I didn't have a chalkboard so I put it on these kind of boards instead. I hope you can all see this. I drew it out on a piece of paper.

But this is what it's supposed to represent. I'll point out the things of it. This is a world of sin that we're in, we're born into, we've all sinned and come short of the glory of God.

This is the kingdom of God. It's a glorious kingdom, it's a light, it's freedom and it's joy and it's peace and God wants us to leave this life of sin and he wants us to enter the kingdom of God. But there are some stepping stones.

Is this high enough? I know it might not be big enough. Let me make it just a little bit higher here. But I'll point it out as we go so you can follow along.

But there are some stepping stones into the kingdom coming from this world of sin. There's some stepping stones that lead down and into the door. And that's by design because we do need to go down to get over here to this kingdom.

The first stepping stone is this one right here. There's an R there but it means realization. It's a realization of where I'm at, a realization of sin.

And before we realize that we're in sin, there's no way to get out of sin. Only those who realize where they're at can take this stepping stone. They get the first stepping stone.

Does that mean they're in the kingdom? No. They're not there yet. They've got more stepping stones they've got to take.

We've got the next one here. It's called acknowledgement. Not only do I realize it but I acknowledge it to myself.

I acknowledge it to God. I might confess to God, God I'm lost. I might confess to others, I know I'm lost.

I know I'm a sinner and I'm on my way to eternal damnation. Acknowledgement. Am I there yet? No I'm still not there because there's another one.

This one here, this stepping stone is called remorse. I not only know that I'm a sin, that I'm living in sin but I have remorse about my sin. I feel badly for what I have done.

I realize that this was a wrong thing to do. And I'm not blaming others or anything but I have true remorse and sorrow for my sin. Still not to the kingdom yet because even at this stage Judas Iscariot, he took these first three steps, you know that? He took the three steps of realization, acknowledgement of his sin and he had remorse for his sin.

But he never made it to the kingdom. Because he didn't take this fourth step of repentance. He took the step of suicide to avoid this repentance and so forth.

This repentance or this calls it penitence. I think that's basically the same word. Penitence, repentance kind of the same thing.

But this repentance means I'm going to turn around. I'm not only going to acknowledge where I'm at and feel remorse for it but I'm going to turn. I'm going to change.

I'm going to get on a new path. Repentance. And then there's faith and finally surrender that leads us into this kingdom.

And these are hard steps. This is a downward walk and it's humiliating and it's hard. And there are some side roads.

You might see these little two other stepping stones over here that are highlighted in yellow. And this one says I'm not so bad. It would be a lot easier to get to acknowledgement and go up there to this I'm not so bad attitude rather than walk downhill through remorse, repentance and so forth.

Or here's another one. Blame. Blame someone else.

Yes I know I messed up but it's my dad's fault. It's my parent's fault. It's my spouse's fault.

It's my preacher's fault or the government's fault that I am the way I am. Blame someone else and I don't go down through this journey of remorse and then repentance and then faith and surrender. And so those are little byways that won't lead you to the kingdom of God.

This is the way to get into the kingdom of God. So just wanted to what's Paul talking about here when he talks about this journey into his kingdom. Here's just a little thing I pulled from a book that I like to read called Royal Insignia.

It's called the low door of the cross. The door of faith. This little door here into the kingdom.

The door of faith is a narrow one. For it lets no self-righteousness, no worldly glories, no dignities through. We're all kept outside until we strip ourselves of crowns and royal robes and stand clothed only in the hair shirt of penitents.

We must make ourselves small to get in. We must creep on our knees so low is the vault. We must leave everything outside.

So narrow it is. We must go one by one. The door opens into a palace but it is too straight for anyone to trust in himself.

That was written by Alexander McLaren. We must go in there one by one into this door. It opens into a wonderful palace but it's small and it's narrow and we need to take a one by one and leave everything outside.

Here's the thing that we didn't draw in this picture and that is that there's also a back door. There's an exit door. People can come into this kingdom and then they can walk out of that kingdom through backsliding.

They can walk out of that through maybe the snares of sin, maybe through lukewarmness. And when they walk out of that, where are they at? They're right back over here in this thing of sin. How do you fix that if that's what happened? You made it into the kingdom one time but then backslid.

You're back here. It's the same steps. Realization, acknowledgement, remorse, repentance, faith, surrender to get this fixed, to not fall into this.

Just because we've made it into the kingdom one time doesn't mean the journey's over. We can still fall away. Those things are constantly around us.

They're constantly attacking us. This lukewarmness, the pleasure, all the things that are around us. I just have one thing I'd like to read to you here in closing.

It's this question that we need to ask ourselves. Comfortable or good? 2 Timothy 2.3 says, Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. There's been much said about the question, why did God not make all men good? If he created a beautiful and comfortable world like we have, why did he go on and finish it by making all in it good as well as comfortable? The truth is that making a man comfortable does not make him good.

The opposite's true. God knows that with the simple nature of man, given to choose the flesh over the more noble spirit, we persistently follow selfish inclinations and destroy ourselves. God does not want robots.

He wants good men. We cannot be good without consenting to be made good. The will of man must be brought under the dominion of Christ.

As Christ suffered to show us the way to righteousness, so we too must suffer to be made righteous. We die with him that we may live with him. We suffer with him that we may reign with him.

We endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Our battles are spiritual. Haven't we learned yet that being comfortable does not win the battle? The battle is won by hardness and endurance.

We may suffer as Paul, condemned as an evildoer, that others may obtain salvation also. In this battle, it's far better to be good than to be comfortable. Your choice is to let Christ have his way with you.

To let Christ have his way with you is the best choice. In the end, being comfortable will stand against us in the judgment. It's best for us to let go of the desire for comfort and let Christ help us to truly be good.

James Berry. Thank you. God bless you.

Let's pray one more time. Father, we come to you in the name of Jesus, and we realize again this journey. Lord, as we hear the testimony from our brother Paul, the apostle in Romans, talking about the battle we must fight, and the consistency, and the obedience, the law, the fulfilled law given by Jesus Christ.

Father, we realize that there is a back door to this kingdom. We realize that even for those of us who have entered the kingdom, there's a danger that we need to beware lest we fall away in some way, lest we grow lukewarm, lest we fall into the pleasures and riches, and they choke the word and we become unfruitful. So, Lord, I pray for your help.

I ask you to come and give us that fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom. I ask you to send us home now with the desire to serve you in your kingdom. Guide us through this week and the things ahead.

Lord, I just pray that you would fill us and touch others through us. In Jesus' name, amen. Alright, thank you.

God bless you all. I'm not sure what stood out to you, but what stood out to me was this idea of circumcision of the heart. And how this has always been what God has desired in His people.

I know Zach Coonan talks about how you watch a man come into a new church in early church years, and he's always been a man of faith. just become saved, he's got the joy of the Lord, and what does he have? He has about zero when it comes to knowledge. But when it comes to humility, he's got a hundred.

So if you watch that same guy go through the years, 20 years later he's in the same church, he's about a hundred at knowledge now and about zero on humility. And that's the danger we all face. Here it says, as Brother Joel pointed out, it says, talking about the Jews, it was interesting, I noted in my thoughts that it said, who by the letter had circumcision.

So they approached everything by the letter. They had all the dots, I can't even say it right, dotted and their T's crossed, they had the letter down, but somehow this guy who was uncircumcised, who wasn't even technically fulfilling the law, right? He wasn't, because he was uncircumcised, he wasn't technically fulfilling the law, but yet he fulfilled the law. Think about that.

The ones who had the letter down weren't fulfilling the law, the ones who weren't technically fulfilling the law were fulfilling the law because of where his heart was. And it's interesting, back in Jeremiah four it says, this is the prophet crying out to Israel and he says this, break up your fallow ground, and so not among thorns, circumcise yourselves to the Lord, now listen to this, and take away the foreskin of your heart. This thought was already here.

This was an issue, and this is an issue with all of mankind, is we can, we've got to daily cut away that flesh, we've got to daily, as it says in, I think it was Philippians chapter three, it says, it says, for we are the circumcision, so here Paul is saying, talking about the Jews in their day, we are the circumcision, who worship God in the spirit. This idea of worshiping God in the spirit is where we are. It says, what he just read was saying, it said, in Romans it said, circumcision is out of the heart and in the spirit.

So I challenge each one of us, live your life in the spirit, which means that what Brother Roger read at the end, our will, we have to circumcise that away to enter into the spirit where we can worship God. And that is people who are humble, that is people who don't have it all together. Let's stay 100 on humility, maybe that means we're still 10 on knowledge, right? Because that's gonna make no difference at the end of the day.

What stood out to you with what we read in Romans chapter two? What did the Lord speak to you, in your heart, in your spirit? It was a blessing to go through that chapter, Romans two, there's just a lot there along these lines. That's a good reminder. The passage in Matthew, it's kind of a difference between what they did and didn't do.

And then this whole chapter in Romans two, it's all there, it's spelled out. And I think, you know, so often, you know, and I hear sermons on the radio, that, you know, in these days, it's like, you know, we want you to be born again, pray this prayer with us, and we'll send you a Bible, and congratulations, welcome to the family. But the repentance and the remorse, like those steps that Roger showed, yeah, you know, you never hear about that, right? You know, it's like, like, and also, the long-suffering of the Lord, it's actually, I feel like it's a lack of motivation, and sometimes can have the opposite effect.

People can be able to sleep in their sin, because Jesus loved you, right? You know, right, and he accepts you as you are. Right? It's just a blessing, a reminder. And it's not just the sermons, it's also a lot of the Psalms nowadays, the contemporary Psalms, some of them have this doctrine that it's not anything we do, but what do we just read? What we do shows what we really believe.

And it will be done. Somebody else? I was just listening to a question-and-answer column. A fellow called in and said, I'm having a constant debate with a friend of mine, that he believes that, based on a verse in Romans, it says, if you confess that you do not believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord, then you're saved.

That repentance is not part of that. That was another part of the church. We are under this faith, and that Jesus did all the work, and it just, you know, you know the doctrine.

And I thought the answer was so evident. He said, you know, it's interesting that your friend uses that verse. What does that verse say? If you believe in your heart and confess your mouth that Jesus Christ, what is Christ? Christ is king.

So if he's king, then he has a right to rule, and if he's ruling, then whatever he says is a rule you need to obey. Well, it's going on. Jesus Christ is a Lord.

If you believe in your heart and you confess your mouth that he is king and he is Lord, then you'll be saved, absolutely. That's absolutely true. Now, he says to repent, so repent.

He says to be baptized, so be baptized, be baptized. So we have to follow what he has to say to believe in our heart and confess with our mouth. And I thought that was a great answer.

I wish I was a flannel ball when he went back to his friend. Yeah, it's not enough just to say it. Your life needs to reflect, Jesus is Lord.

Then people say, oh, that's Lordship, salvation. Isn't that what the Bible teaches? All right, someone else? I was listening to some speeches by a guy named Jordan Peterson. He's a famous guy that was basically, I don't know if you would call him self-atheist, but more or less unreligious up until recently.

He's been changing his views on that. I don't know exactly where he is, but he's definitely walking on that path of learning more about Christ. And he has some interesting things to say.

He said, well, I'm gonna ask you if you believe in God. He said, well, I don't know what that means exactly. But he said, to me, belief in God means acting as if he's real.

And he mentioned, he said, the evidence of belief is action, I think is what his quote was. And he goes on. Basically, he was saying that from his perspective, it seems to him that believing in Christ requires living like you believe it.

It's not just a sort of method state. And I thought that was actually kind of profound that he had picked up on that, when a lot of Christianity has picked up on that. Yeah, 24, for the name of God is blasphemy among the Gentiles through you.

How much more can the name of Jesus be blasphemed through us when we say we're Christians, but don't walk like Christians? Anyone else? At the end of the verse in Romans 10, 16, there are talks about circumcision of the heart. Hebrews 10, 16 says, this is a comment that I will make with them after those days, say, Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds while I live. So it just, that was the verse that came to my mind.

It's a matter of a heart and it flows out in our actions. Yeah, that's right. I guess when you get to close and be a song leader, does anybody have a song on their heart? Because I don't have one today.

Well, maybe I do on my phone. I have a song that I have really wanted to sing. Okay, before we sing that, we'll turn to page 88.

Is there anyone else that has a testimony?