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May 21, 2020 2:00 am
The apostle Paul found many enemies among the religious elite of his day, among both Jews and Gentiles. In the message "Four Mistakes Religious People Make," Skip shares how you can live out God's grace and share it with others.
This teaching is from the series Heart & Soul: A Study Through Romans.
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Most people do not know their own spiritual condition and the worst is a hardened heart against God because hardening of the arteries may send you to your grave hardening your spiritual heart will send you to hell, and that's the mass religious people can hide behind walls exposing what all people to know saved by grace, sin involves good news is, anyone calls it can be overwhelming to look at all the people in the world today instead of just willing of the bad things. It's vital to focus on God's good today on connect with Skip Heitzig Skip explains how God's grace empowers you to better love the people around you get here is a great resource that will help you discover the origins of man and God's plan for redemption, never walk into a movie like you may never catch up on the one well seems to the Bible is the opening book your questions Genesis is the foundation it's the ground floor. If we don't understand the book of Genesis and what follows that's divisive reminding that our redemption, death and resurrection starts in the book of Genesis, God says to Satan, I will put enmity between you and the woman between your seed and her seed office of vital discover the foundation of your faith. Genesis our gift to you $35 or more today. Request your copy when you get online securely connectwithskip.com/Oliver or call 800-9200 92 1880 okay we're in Romans chapter 2 Skip Heitzig extorts today's there's a second mistake that his brashness what I mean by this is setting as a child's while forgetting you're actually standing before the first three and do you think this old man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same that you will escape the judgment of God.
You know some pious people are experts at evaluating everybody else and they forget their being evaluated by God that just escapes them. There, standing before the judge.
John Stott, an Anglican preacher who is now in heaven always loved his work, wrote a commentary on the book of acts he said and I quote what we are often doing is seeing our faults in others and judging them vicariously. That way we experience the pleasure of self-righteousness without the pain of penitence" now the problem is in our thinking.
That's what the verses verse three and do you think this will man the word think here is the word lot get so my luggage so my means to evaluate it means to estimate means to calculate lot get to my we get our word logic. So the religious person uses logic calculates, but he doesn't wrongly he is logical, but is not theological, so his logic is skewed so he calculates and evaluates people's lifestyles, calculates and evaluates God's judgment. He calculates and evaluates his own life, but he does it falsely. Why, because this is the danger of self-righteousness.
Somebody was self-righteous is always underestimating God's perfection and overestimating their own. They are content to be plaintiff and judge forgetting there actually the defendant in Hebrews chapter 4 verse 13 the writer says there is no creature hidden from his site, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him.
Listen to this, to whom we must give account. Who's going to give account. We must give account twice in the New Testament.
Paul said we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ mass the only one who has perfect knowledge of all things, but this secret hope of the hypocrite. You know what it is. Secret hope of the hypocrite is that God will judge them by a lower standard there hoping that God will wink at his sin, but wack others for their sin. They want God in their case to grade on the curve or to give them a password to give them an a on the final exam, even if they deserve an F on the final exam. One person observed there's some kind of still little voice and everybody that constantly convinces them that in the end it's going to be okay.
Note the little voices your fallen nature is always trying to justify yourself. Now I just want comment on this. This is not a call to suspend analytical judgment work were called in the Bible to think critically about life and to use discernment, but the point here isn't suspend discernment, suspend critical analytical thinking as much as he is saying don't take God's place as judge condemning others without examining yourself that's hypocritical. That's a double standard because the truth is, and he's going to be leading up to this in chapter 3 or all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, so that is mistake brashness blame pointing the finger but not perceiving the heart brashness sitting as a judge, while nuts, while actually standing before the judge third mistake bitterness is the big one. What I mean by bitterness is hating people's badness more than loving God's goodness. Some people just they know what's bad that's all they know they look around at the world that people are wicked, they see if they smell it.
They complain about it, that's all they see is the badness and they love to point out badness more than pointing out God's good verse four or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance.
Love talking about how wicked the world is all about the world is not Helga. Good God is like the word despise means they scorned it they look down on it they undervalue it where they undervalue God's patience fact, I want you to notice how patient God is on the give you a few words.
Actually, Paul gave him two youngest and explain some of the words in verse four Paul uses some colorful words to describe God's goodness and patient first is the word forbearance you see that in verse four, you despise the riches of his goodness for parents forbearance refers to withholding judgment.
It's as if God calls a temporary truce.
Example God announced at one time that he would judge the entire world. In an event called the flood, you know how many years he waited before that happened.
Noah built the ark and assist preached preached a people 120 years forbearance 120 years. I'm calling a truce. Let's not can happen for 120 years.
Noah get the word out that word out because some might happen in the hearts of these people forbearance. Another example for hundreds of years. Scott announced that his people if they keep going down that path of disobedience would be taken captive in Babylon for 70 years.
He sent profit after profit or for profit.
God waited from the first announcement 800 years before that event happened that's forbearance.
That's one word forbearance the word after that is the word long-suffering. I love this work, long-suffering means just like it sounds suffer long with people.
The Greek word great working Mac Pro through metal. It comes from two words is a compound word Mac Pro but you know what macro means big large macro. The other word for Thomas means anger ortho man health Thomas means anger so the word means large great anger when when applied to God. It means that God has this incredible amazing capacity to store up anger before he ever lets it spell out and judgment. It's almost like you can you can check God off, but he won't do anything from all.all its common but he's Mac Pro through mail.
He is long-suffering puts up with a lot then notice the word goodness mentioned twice in verse 40 despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance that the English were good is related to the English word God. And that's because our Anglo-Saxon word for God.
Originally meant the good and wise unimportant means that in the mind of the ancient Anglo-Saxons who developed the language they saw that goodness was such an essential part of God's character that goodness was part of God in God is good. We even say that right in an anthemic theme refrain of the church historically is God is good all the time all the time God is good. I bet you've heard that least 18. If you have heard so God is good God is long-suffering God is forbearing. Do you know that some scorn that attribute of God. The despise that attribute of God. They undervalue underestimate that attribute of God you really know yeah it's as if there thinking how could God ever forgive something that that may give an example.
This happened many years ago, but I remember it and I had the conversation with Dobson last year about this years ago there was a serial killer named Ted Bundy anybody heard his name to Ted Bundy he admitted to killing and raping 30 victims. He was sentenced to death before his death he asked Dr. James Dobson to come into his jail cell for a final interview.
He was very open and very honest and Dobson spent hours with them interviewing him and led to him to a Dobson said was a sincere authentic commitment of his life to Jesus Christ being sorry for his past and amazed that there is a God in heaven who could forgive but Dobson set I believe it was absolutely sincere. I believe I believe he said he say no when that happened you know it came out in the in the press anger anger scorn despite all that's a sham that's a scam that's a cover-up. It's a ploy. See people hated the notion that God could or ever would forgive such badness instead of loving God for his goodness. They hated God, for forgiving badness. Do you think the religious leaders that Jesus had a conflict with number.
The woman caught in adultery. The registered owner to pick up stones is that whoever is without sin throw the first one is okay.
They dropped him and walked away. And then Jesus said to her moment where your accusers, Sir, I have not, neither do I condemn you go and sin no more. Do you think those religious leaders that he had a confrontation with were happy with Jesus after the you think about and he so God is so forgiving he so I lucked out about a new note they said let's kill him. That is a mistake. Religious people make bitterness hating people's badness more than loving God's goodness know there's a question.
Why is God so good. Good luck answering that right. Why is God so good was actually the text answers why is God so long-suffering was the purpose of this apparent success to lead them to up to lead them to repentance second Peter chapter 3, God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance, so God is in being lenient when he waits for judgment. God is being patient when he waits for judgment. He's not winking at sin he's waiting for the center to change his mind. He he's given space. He's hoping maybe this 800 years. Maybe this hundred and 20 years of no imprint may be on the give them a chance on the give them space to change their minds. Why would anyone ever despise that. Why would anybody looked down her underestimate her undervalue that before you hate people's badness in the world's wickedness over God's goodness initial question was God patient with your ignorance and your rebellion. Was he just very kind long-suffering with you when you didn't know any better before you came to Christ, then as a transformed individual filled with the Holy Spirit of God, and to look at other people with the same eyes will religious people don't.
And that leads us to our fourth and final mistake and that is blindness, meaning they behold other sin, but they're blind to their own verse five, he continues, but in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each one according to his deeds is quoting several Old Testament passages in that verse six eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath tribulation anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek glory, honor, peace to everyone who works what is to the Jew first and also to the Greek. This whole section uncovers the human tendency to be hard in our judgment of others.
Soft inner judgment for ourselves. We love to call that righteous indignation right. Sometimes it's really self-righteous indignation not righteous indignation. Sometimes you just being hard on others, but you're being soft on yourself and why is it was like the guy driving on the country road.
He ran over skunk. That's kind of stuck in the front of his car to drive other robots must be a skunk out of those woods somewhere Donna's car. He did not.
He keeps driving gets worse, not better. And it must be like a lot of sconce out there in that country.
This steak is going wherever he goes sin. So often we go stake his people stank.
No, dude, you stink your smelling yourself on them. See this kind of blindness, this noticing others problems and failures and sins without acknowledging your own that reveals hard heart verse five in accordance with the hardness and your impenitent heart. I just wanted to point out that the word hardness in that verse is a word you need to know about practice a word you know some of you know since Calais latte top you know you're wrong. I don't know to here it is again in another form sclera Ross heard of sclerosis, arterial sclerosis, or atherosclerosis. One in four Americans die of that one in four Americans die hardening of the arteries. This word sclera Ross Clara Tate is is the hardening of one spiritual heart becoming insensitive to God, which is far worse than the hardening of the arteries.
Jesus was in the synagogue. One day, and up the religious folks were there you would think all these religious people are here to worship God. And you know what they were. Therefore, they want to see Jesus would heal the dude on the Sabbath, they can and nailing.
You can't think people can get healed like really like like the miraculous healing policy that see if you can do that if he does on the Sabbath. He's in trouble. Notices.
Jesus looked around at them and was grieved because of the hardness of their hearts sclerosis of bark and here's the sad thing about arteriosclerosis. One in four Americans die of most people that haven't don't know they have first symptom is a heart attack. Now they know sometimes too late though I feel good. I'm fine. I've held a picture of help heart attack what arteriosclerosis they did know they have it. You know that most people do not know their own spiritual condition and the worst is a hardened heart against God because hardening of the arteries may send you to your grave hardening your spiritual heart will send you to hell, and that's the mask. Religious people can hide behind. That's why Paul is exposing because he wants all people to know were saved by grace, all of send involved for the glory of God. The good news is, anyone who calls on him to be set know one thing about Paul the apostle II just admires that he was never blind to his own condition. He didn't so yeah I crown chapter 1. I've never been like that are really bad you know what he said. He said this is a faithful saying that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
What what Paul the apostle said he was like the worst sinner. What is at lease Worse off than Paul. Paul knew it, and he admitted to. Here's the bottom line. The essence of the good news. The essence of the gospel is that God extends grace to unworthy people and we all are. Whether you're a high moral Greek or Roman or a religious Jewish person or Catholic or Protestant can hide behind this close to the story disorder lighten things up and and bring a fine point on this. I me tell you about Bubba right name, right Bubba Bubba was from Alabama is a good old Southern Baptist boy, but he loved to go to the races on the weekends and bet on the horses so Bubba was at the horse race one Sunday when we can know when that horse races in Alabama, he's there, he's losing all of his money happily, but he sees a priest go out on the racetrack before one of the races and bless the four head of one of the horses and then goes back in the crowd disappears and Bubba goes not so longshot that horse can win horse won the race. Bubba said while so for the next race he sees a priest out there again blessing the four head of another horse.
He goes and buys a ticket for that horse a little bit horse wins you get some money. When this happens all day and the guys making handover for others making money on what the priest is doing so.
The last race promises to take all the money I have in savings good.
I'm going to my ATM on the go big. The priest goes out on a track blesses the four head and eyes and ears and hoofs of a particular horse, Bubba. That's all of his savings on that horse, that horse comes in last and then falls over dead. Now Bubba finds the priest goes do what up we were doing good you and I together.
I was bitten and we were when I was going to but now you because of you I lost all of my life savings because of what you did on the last horse and the priest smiled and said that's the problem with you Protestants. You can tell the difference between a simple blessing and the last rites.
Now some of you have been everything on a ritual. Some of you have bet everything on your family heritage. I was raised in a Christian home. Some of you have bet everything on tradition, ceremony and religious experience. You need to know the difference between the blessing and the last rites. You need to put all your life that everything on one thing one person what Jesus did for you because all the sin and fall short of the glory of God by simple trust in what he did for you only will a whole new horse race then wraps up Skip message from the series partnership right now you Skip to tell you your support these messages coming your way and how it connects more people to the gospel when our lives seem to be on shaky ground. It's important to remember God is in control. Nothing surprises him. That's why it's vital for you and me to know his word so we can build our lives on his solid truth, but these biblical messages on air are only possible thanks to support from friends like you.
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