WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:01.480 Romans, chapter three, 00:00:01.600 --> 00:00:02.720 verses one to eight. 00:00:02.720 --> 00:00:07.256 I remember when I sort of carved out this little section in the outlines 00:00:07.256 --> 00:00:13.800 for. As I was laying out all the outlines for Romans over the last few 00:00:13.840 --> 00:00:17.296 months, and I looked at this one and there's a quote in the middle of 00:00:17.296 --> 00:00:18.946 here that comes from David. 00:00:19.200 --> 00:00:23.544 And we always talk about David and King David and everybody knows King 00:00:23.592 --> 00:00:26.660 David. And this is an interesting little, 00:00:27.040 --> 00:00:31.080 little eight verses that I enjoyed studying. 00:00:31.160 --> 00:00:33.816 So I'm going to enjoy preaching it because God, 00:00:33.816 --> 00:00:34.400 like I say, 00:00:34.400 --> 00:00:36.384 God beats me up before I beat y'all up. 00:00:36.384 --> 00:00:37.696 So let's read it. 00:00:37.696 --> 00:00:38.232 Here it goes. 00:00:38.232 --> 00:00:41.020 Then what advantage has the Jew? 00:00:42.160 --> 00:00:45.256 Or what is the benefit of circumcision, 00:00:45.368 --> 00:00:46.980 great in every respect? 00:00:47.440 --> 00:00:48.240 First of all, 00:00:48.240 --> 00:00:51.210 that they were entrusted with the oracles of God. 00:00:51.440 --> 00:00:52.168 What then, 00:00:52.224 --> 00:00:53.874 if some did not believe, 00:00:53.930 --> 00:00:57.602 their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, 00:00:57.666 --> 00:00:58.090 will it? 00:00:58.090 --> 00:00:59.442 May it never be. 00:00:59.626 --> 00:01:01.602 Rather, let God be found true, 00:01:01.602 --> 00:01:04.082 though every man be found a liar. 00:01:04.146 --> 00:01:10.002 As it is written that thou mightest be justified in thy words and 00:01:10.026 --> 00:01:12.818 mightest prevail when thou art judged. 00:01:12.994 --> 00:01:14.890 There's a little King James language there. 00:01:14.890 --> 00:01:16.282 Some of you like that. 00:01:16.282 --> 00:01:19.426 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, 00:01:19.458 --> 00:01:20.410 what shall we say? 00:01:20.410 --> 00:01:23.862 The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, 00:01:23.926 --> 00:01:24.542 is he? 00:01:24.542 --> 00:01:26.446 So I'm speaking in human terms, 00:01:26.446 --> 00:01:27.766 may it never be. 00:01:27.790 --> 00:01:31.142 But if through my lie the truth of God abounded to his glory, 00:01:31.142 --> 00:01:34.262 why am I also still being judged as a sinner? 00:01:34.262 --> 00:01:35.438 And why not say, 00:01:35.438 --> 00:01:39.366 as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm, 00:01:39.398 --> 00:01:40.388 that we say, 00:01:40.446 --> 00:01:41.542 let us do evil, 00:01:41.542 --> 00:01:43.410 that good may come, 00:01:43.710 --> 00:01:45.654 their condemnation is just. 00:01:45.822 --> 00:01:48.822 Alright, let's pray before we start to pick this apart. 00:01:48.822 --> 00:01:52.304 Father, thank you for today and the opportunity we have to hang out 00:01:52.304 --> 00:01:53.656 together. God, 00:01:53.688 --> 00:01:57.600 the privilege we have in Christ is that we get to walk and talk with you 00:01:57.600 --> 00:01:58.632 all week long. 00:01:58.816 --> 00:02:02.384 And then on Sundays we get to come together as the body and the family 00:02:02.384 --> 00:02:05.256 and we get to spend this time together singing. 00:02:05.256 --> 00:02:09.120 We get to shake hands and hug each other's necks and say hi again this 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:10.264 week. And God, 00:02:10.312 --> 00:02:11.140 we want, 00:02:11.440 --> 00:02:12.568 as we gather, 00:02:12.664 --> 00:02:14.644 we want to hear from you. 00:02:14.960 --> 00:02:16.728 We want to hear your voice from, 00:02:16.728 --> 00:02:19.730 from your word as you speak through the Bible. 00:02:19.810 --> 00:02:25.410 God, we want to understand what you're showing us and revealing to us 00:02:25.450 --> 00:02:26.162 about yourself. 00:02:26.226 --> 00:02:28.410 So God help us to hear you this morning. 00:02:28.410 --> 00:02:29.554 In Jesus name, 00:02:29.642 --> 00:02:31.490 Amen. All right, 00:02:31.530 --> 00:02:34.674 so I asked myself after I read this passage, 00:02:34.722 --> 00:02:36.026 and this was months ago, 00:02:36.026 --> 00:02:38.122 the question that popped into my mind is, 00:02:38.122 --> 00:02:40.870 can I multiply God's righteousness? 00:02:43.040 --> 00:02:50.296 Can Anything that I do in any way increase the righteousness of God, 00:02:50.488 --> 00:02:51.512 right? Now, 00:02:51.536 --> 00:02:55.512 here's the truth of it is we can help each other be righteous. 00:02:55.512 --> 00:02:56.704 Did y'all know that? 00:02:56.704 --> 00:02:58.296 I can encourage you. 00:02:58.448 --> 00:03:00.232 I can read to you. 00:03:00.416 --> 00:03:01.540 I can actually, 00:03:01.920 --> 00:03:04.890 if I happen to notice you're a bit unrighteous, 00:03:05.200 --> 00:03:07.180 I can get in your face, 00:03:07.520 --> 00:03:08.448 right? And go, 00:03:08.448 --> 00:03:09.602 whoa. So see, 00:03:09.626 --> 00:03:10.114 I told y'all, 00:03:10.114 --> 00:03:11.434 I'm a good judge, 00:03:11.618 --> 00:03:13.410 I'm a great legalist, 00:03:13.490 --> 00:03:15.990 which makes me a great judge. 00:03:16.810 --> 00:03:20.706 And yet God didn't call me to be one, 00:03:20.858 --> 00:03:22.706 right? But you see, 00:03:22.778 --> 00:03:29.986 we are to encourage one another to righteousness and to the walk that 00:03:30.058 --> 00:03:32.368 draws us closer and closer to God. 00:03:32.322 --> 00:03:35.984 So this whole argument that Paul's making that God is, 00:03:36.082 --> 00:03:40.160 has given for Paul to make in Romans chapter three is. 00:03:41.420 --> 00:03:46.052 I like it because of the way Paul asks the questions. 00:03:46.196 --> 00:03:48.964 He asks the questions with an assumed answer. 00:03:49.012 --> 00:03:53.108 And it's a practice of rhetoric that Paul likes to use. 00:03:53.164 --> 00:03:57.596 And that's fine because we have to answer the question as he answers the 00:03:57.596 --> 00:03:58.160 question. 00:03:58.940 --> 00:04:00.590 So here's the whole point. 00:04:00.780 --> 00:04:02.960 God is revealing himself to us. 00:04:03.470 --> 00:04:06.582 Word of God is the revelation of God himself to mankind. 00:04:06.582 --> 00:04:07.902 It's the written word. 00:04:08.006 --> 00:04:09.238 We've got the living word, 00:04:09.238 --> 00:04:09.942 that's Jesus. 00:04:10.006 --> 00:04:13.630 We've got the spirit of God who opens this up for us. 00:04:13.630 --> 00:04:14.030 You see, 00:04:14.030 --> 00:04:15.574 we've got God revealed. 00:04:15.622 --> 00:04:17.478 He's showing Himself to us. 00:04:17.534 --> 00:04:18.198 So therefore, 00:04:18.294 --> 00:04:19.622 we've got to take notice, 00:04:19.622 --> 00:04:20.774 we've got to pay attention. 00:04:20.774 --> 00:04:24.404 We've got to understand that God is revealing himself to us. 00:04:24.222 --> 00:04:28.198 And the better we get to know God or the better glimpse of God we get, 00:04:28.198 --> 00:04:31.820 the more God is able to change who we are, 00:04:32.680 --> 00:04:33.632 transform us, 00:04:33.656 --> 00:04:34.368 refine us, 00:04:34.424 --> 00:04:36.672 shape us into the image of His Son Jesus, 00:04:36.672 --> 00:04:39.312 because He's told us that's what he's doing. 00:04:39.480 --> 00:04:40.680 So as we look at this, 00:04:40.680 --> 00:04:43.800 the statement that I set out this morning was just to simply say God is 00:04:43.800 --> 00:04:44.500 righteous. 00:04:46.520 --> 00:04:48.816 That is a simple three word sentence. 00:04:48.816 --> 00:04:50.656 God is righteous, 00:04:50.848 --> 00:04:53.968 okay? So when we understand that God is righteous, 00:04:54.064 --> 00:04:57.034 we don't start trying to pick apart God's righteousness. 00:04:57.144 --> 00:04:59.330 We understand that God is righteous. 00:04:59.410 --> 00:05:00.386 I'm not. 00:05:00.538 --> 00:05:01.474 You're not. 00:05:01.562 --> 00:05:03.810 And we know from Romans chapter 1, 00:05:03.850 --> 00:05:04.610 verse 17. 00:05:04.730 --> 00:05:07.770 Remember, the whole outline leading up to this point is Paul says, 00:05:07.770 --> 00:05:08.482 hi, I'm Paul. 00:05:08.482 --> 00:05:09.202 I preach. 00:05:09.346 --> 00:05:10.586 I preach the gospel. 00:05:10.418 --> 00:05:13.362 The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, 00:05:13.362 --> 00:05:14.170 to the Jew first, 00:05:14.170 --> 00:05:15.170 also to the Greek, 00:05:15.170 --> 00:05:19.460 for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, 00:05:19.586 --> 00:05:20.418 you see? 00:05:20.554 --> 00:05:24.110 So God is revealing his righteousness to us. 00:05:24.460 --> 00:05:27.332 God is showing us more about himself. 00:05:27.476 --> 00:05:32.964 He is identifying those things about him that we can have some semblance 00:05:33.012 --> 00:05:33.796 of understanding. 00:05:33.828 --> 00:05:37.588 But here's what we're learning as we make our way through Romans chapter 00:05:37.588 --> 00:05:38.908 one and chapter two. 00:05:38.796 --> 00:05:40.280 I'm not righteous, 00:05:41.100 --> 00:05:42.480 and neither are you. 00:05:43.580 --> 00:05:44.980 Right? Sin is. 00:05:45.020 --> 00:05:46.356 Sin is sin. 00:05:46.548 --> 00:05:48.636 And that's what we get in chapter one. 00:05:48.460 --> 00:05:48.996 And remember, 00:05:48.996 --> 00:05:50.316 everybody wants us to. 00:05:50.476 --> 00:05:52.940 Everybody wants a preacher to look at chapter one and go, 00:05:52.940 --> 00:05:53.324 all right, 00:05:53.324 --> 00:05:54.360 this is sin. 00:05:54.900 --> 00:05:55.540 You know, 00:05:55.540 --> 00:05:56.972 and since we sit in this church, 00:05:56.972 --> 00:05:58.000 we're not guilty. 00:05:59.380 --> 00:06:02.084 Since we sit in a room that's pointed on top, 00:06:02.084 --> 00:06:03.220 we don't have to worry about that. 00:06:03.220 --> 00:06:05.716 We point at all the world around us and go, 00:06:05.716 --> 00:06:06.960 that's sin. 00:06:07.860 --> 00:06:09.160 Well, guess what? 00:06:09.940 --> 00:06:10.930 Sin's in here, 00:06:10.964 --> 00:06:14.676 too. That's why Paul takes the next chapter and a half to say, 00:06:14.676 --> 00:06:15.480 guess what? 00:06:15.940 --> 00:06:17.360 Sin is sin. 00:06:17.940 --> 00:06:20.684 And all the Gentiles are sinners. 00:06:20.732 --> 00:06:23.042 And. And all the Jews are sinners. 00:06:23.106 --> 00:06:25.066 And then we get to chapter three, 00:06:25.066 --> 00:06:28.706 and it's like he kind of puts an exclamation point on it in chapter 00:06:28.706 --> 00:06:30.866 three. Fact of the matter is, 00:06:30.938 --> 00:06:34.962 what God is trying to reveal to us is we are all sinners. 00:06:34.962 --> 00:06:36.354 We're all guilty, 00:06:36.482 --> 00:06:38.230 we'll all be judged. 00:06:39.130 --> 00:06:41.186 And that we're not the judge. 00:06:41.298 --> 00:06:42.910 Okay, so this. 00:06:43.210 --> 00:06:45.626 And it was funny walking up the sidewalk with Kyle this morning. 00:06:45.626 --> 00:06:47.546 Didn't y'all enjoy seeing Kyle again? 00:06:47.546 --> 00:06:50.022 We sent him off to Burgos for a little bit, 00:06:50.022 --> 00:06:54.806 and now we're working out sort of how that team looks to be sharing and 00:06:54.806 --> 00:06:56.456 preaching up there in Burgos. 00:06:56.382 --> 00:06:57.038 So anyway, 00:06:57.038 --> 00:06:59.574 it's kind of cool Greg's preaching up there this morning. 00:06:59.574 --> 00:07:05.326 It was really funny because Kyle got a note from Greg this morning, 00:07:05.398 --> 00:07:07.050 said, who's preaching this morning? 00:07:08.550 --> 00:07:09.350 Kyle was like, 00:07:09.350 --> 00:07:11.902 what? And finally Greg said, 00:07:11.926 --> 00:07:12.606 I'm just kidding. 00:07:12.606 --> 00:07:13.326 So anyway, 00:07:13.438 --> 00:07:16.166 so Greg dabs preaching up at Burgo this morning. 00:07:15.990 --> 00:07:17.086 So y'all pray for Greg. 00:07:17.086 --> 00:07:19.958 Scott left just now to go up there and lead worship up there. 00:07:19.958 --> 00:07:22.126 So Scott and two guys, 00:07:22.318 --> 00:07:27.934 Scott and Marvin and Jason, 00:07:28.062 --> 00:07:30.806 yeah, all three of them are going to be leading worship up there this 00:07:30.806 --> 00:07:34.326 morning. So it's cool to see a team come together to help lead up there. 00:07:34.326 --> 00:07:35.976 So y'all pray for them. 00:07:35.542 --> 00:07:38.062 Alrighty. So anyway, 00:07:38.126 --> 00:07:39.174 so it was good. 00:07:39.174 --> 00:07:41.686 Kyle and I were walking up sidewalk and he said. 00:07:41.686 --> 00:07:43.894 He said something about the message this morning. 00:07:43.894 --> 00:07:44.246 I said, 00:07:44.246 --> 00:07:44.806 well, I said, 00:07:44.806 --> 00:07:45.250 honestly. 00:07:45.310 --> 00:07:45.602 I said, 00:07:45.602 --> 00:07:47.252 we'd probably be done early. 00:07:47.650 --> 00:07:50.674 This is the same message I've been preaching the last two months, 00:07:50.674 --> 00:07:51.334 three months, 00:07:51.378 --> 00:07:52.122 January, February, 00:07:52.186 --> 00:07:53.610 March. See? 00:07:53.650 --> 00:07:55.146 And so basically, 00:07:55.258 --> 00:07:59.914 now, as Paul comes to summarize it with a Question. 00:08:00.002 --> 00:08:00.770 He says this, 00:08:00.770 --> 00:08:03.550 then what advantage has the Jew? 00:08:03.890 --> 00:08:06.810 Or what is the benefit of circumcision? 00:08:06.890 --> 00:08:09.914 Now, what we've seen is Paul identifies sin. 00:08:09.962 --> 00:08:10.370 He says, 00:08:10.370 --> 00:08:11.472 gentiles are sinners, 00:08:11.586 --> 00:08:12.772 Jews are sinners. 00:08:12.916 --> 00:08:13.956 And he said, 00:08:14.108 --> 00:08:16.600 what is this advantage of being Jewish? 00:08:17.020 --> 00:08:19.844 And so this idea that all of Christianity, 00:08:19.892 --> 00:08:20.452 and remember, 00:08:20.452 --> 00:08:22.452 Paul's audience is primarily, 00:08:22.516 --> 00:08:27.332 or the larger part of it are those Jews who have trusted and received 00:08:27.436 --> 00:08:30.076 salvation in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. 00:08:29.836 --> 00:08:31.100 And so he's making this case. 00:08:31.100 --> 00:08:31.500 He says, 00:08:31.500 --> 00:08:33.348 so those of us who are Jews, 00:08:33.348 --> 00:08:34.372 what's the big advantage? 00:08:34.372 --> 00:08:34.716 He said, 00:08:34.716 --> 00:08:36.356 well, it's great advantage. 00:08:36.388 --> 00:08:38.038 It's great in every respect. 00:08:38.067 --> 00:08:39.041 First of all, 00:08:39.041 --> 00:08:40.633 that they were entrusted. 00:08:40.681 --> 00:08:44.481 And I love that this translation comes this way because a lot of them do. 00:08:44.481 --> 00:08:48.109 Entrusted with the oracles of God. 00:08:48.849 --> 00:08:50.269 Y'all like that word? 00:08:50.609 --> 00:08:52.389 Doesn't it sound really important? 00:08:53.489 --> 00:08:54.149 Doesn't it? 00:08:54.129 --> 00:08:54.769 I mean, 00:08:54.769 --> 00:08:56.009 oracles of. 00:08:56.129 --> 00:08:57.337 I did that on purpose, 00:08:57.337 --> 00:08:58.545 so it'd sound important, 00:08:58.545 --> 00:09:00.729 right? The word's still Logos. 00:09:00.809 --> 00:09:03.149 Logos loggia. 00:09:03.580 --> 00:09:05.560 It's just the word of God. 00:09:06.060 --> 00:09:09.716 The Jews were entrusted with the word of God. 00:09:09.908 --> 00:09:13.520 They were entrusted with the revelation of who God is. 00:09:13.820 --> 00:09:14.316 I mean, 00:09:14.316 --> 00:09:14.796 think about it. 00:09:14.796 --> 00:09:16.100 God called Abram, 00:09:16.260 --> 00:09:20.676 right? Probably a shepherd out in the wilderness somewhere. 00:09:20.708 --> 00:09:21.428 And God goes, 00:09:21.428 --> 00:09:25.052 hey, I want you to leave all this behind and go somewhere where I'm going 00:09:25.052 --> 00:09:25.676 to lead you to, 00:09:25.676 --> 00:09:26.908 and I'll tell you when to stop. 00:09:26.908 --> 00:09:27.920 And they went, 00:09:28.300 --> 00:09:30.110 okay, right? 00:09:30.150 --> 00:09:30.486 I mean, 00:09:30.486 --> 00:09:33.126 just think of Abram as a normal guy. 00:09:33.990 --> 00:09:35.998 Put yourself in Abram's shoes. 00:09:36.174 --> 00:09:40.062 My challenge in scripture all the time is to ask myself, 00:09:40.126 --> 00:09:41.776 what did that look like? 00:09:41.990 --> 00:09:44.406 What if I was the guy tending sheep when God said, 00:09:44.406 --> 00:09:45.390 hey, Bobby, 00:09:45.550 --> 00:09:47.014 I want you to leave your family, 00:09:47.014 --> 00:09:48.574 I want you to leave all your kinsmen. 00:09:48.574 --> 00:09:49.862 I want you to leave your land, 00:09:49.862 --> 00:09:53.162 and I want you to go until I stop you. 00:09:53.190 --> 00:09:56.648 Huh? I kind of like it here. 00:09:56.704 --> 00:09:58.328 God, no. 00:09:58.384 --> 00:09:58.960 Abram said, 00:09:58.960 --> 00:10:00.080 okay. So he takes his family, 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:00.944 packs them all in, 00:10:00.944 --> 00:10:01.832 heads up to Canaan, 00:10:01.832 --> 00:10:02.492 up to. 00:10:02.624 --> 00:10:03.248 You know, 00:10:03.248 --> 00:10:04.552 first they stop in Haran, 00:10:04.552 --> 00:10:06.532 and then they go to Canaan. 00:10:06.800 --> 00:10:07.592 You see, 00:10:07.696 --> 00:10:10.940 Abram, he has this promise. 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:12.980 You know, 00:10:13.360 --> 00:10:15.848 I'm gonna be the father of a nation. 00:10:15.472 --> 00:10:17.122 I'm a hundred years old, 00:10:19.920 --> 00:10:21.080 75, probably, 00:10:21.160 --> 00:10:22.312 at the time of the promise. 00:10:22.312 --> 00:10:23.180 But anyway, 00:10:24.400 --> 00:10:26.050 then he has a son. 00:10:26.880 --> 00:10:31.660 Wow. And then the son has a couple sons, 00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:35.100 And Jacob has 12 sons. 00:10:36.240 --> 00:10:37.256 And you see, 00:10:37.408 --> 00:10:39.540 so the Jewish people, 00:10:40.240 --> 00:10:41.944 this family group, 00:10:42.032 --> 00:10:43.648 understand, that's how it started, 00:10:43.648 --> 00:10:43.978 right? 00:10:43.984 --> 00:10:45.912 It started as a family. 00:10:46.016 --> 00:10:47.432 And they go into slavery, 00:10:47.432 --> 00:10:48.200 into Egypt, 00:10:48.280 --> 00:10:50.904 and they multiply and expand to millions. 00:10:50.952 --> 00:10:52.712 They come out and in the Wilderness. 00:10:52.712 --> 00:10:57.840 God shapes them into a nation and shares through Moses all of the law, 00:10:58.940 --> 00:11:04.996 the specificity of how to be a people separated unto God. 00:11:05.188 --> 00:11:05.748 So yes, 00:11:05.748 --> 00:11:09.048 it was a privilege that God reached down and went, 00:11:09.260 --> 00:11:10.516 I called you, 00:11:10.588 --> 00:11:11.748 I formed you, 00:11:11.804 --> 00:11:12.964 I made you, 00:11:13.052 --> 00:11:14.284 I grew you up, 00:11:14.284 --> 00:11:17.914 and now I have made you a people and a nation. 00:11:19.100 --> 00:11:21.460 You know why I wanted to go through all that? 00:11:21.460 --> 00:11:25.090 Because I want you to think about when God called you. 00:11:25.190 --> 00:11:29.150 I want you to think about what God's done in your life. 00:11:29.910 --> 00:11:30.454 You know, 00:11:30.454 --> 00:11:31.294 quite honestly, 00:11:31.342 --> 00:11:33.982 I like to think I'm pretty good guy. 00:11:35.270 --> 00:11:38.010 I like to think I do things right. 00:11:38.390 --> 00:11:38.886 You know, 00:11:38.886 --> 00:11:43.570 the word right is simply the first part of the word righteous. 00:11:44.950 --> 00:11:46.366 I know I'm not righteous, 00:11:46.366 --> 00:11:48.676 but I like to think I'm right. 00:11:49.330 --> 00:11:50.070 Right? 00:11:52.450 --> 00:11:54.100 You see my point here, 00:11:54.194 --> 00:11:58.602 right? We tend to like to think of ourselves as right. 00:11:58.786 --> 00:12:01.122 And so when I look at this and I look at what he's saying here, 00:12:01.122 --> 00:12:01.410 he says, 00:12:01.410 --> 00:12:01.762 first of all, 00:12:01.762 --> 00:12:03.354 they were entrusted with the word of God. 00:12:03.354 --> 00:12:03.826 What then? 00:12:03.826 --> 00:12:04.850 If some did not believe, 00:12:04.850 --> 00:12:07.738 their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, 00:12:07.738 --> 00:12:08.306 will it? 00:12:08.146 --> 00:12:11.498 You see the argument he's making Because God is always righteous. 00:12:11.498 --> 00:12:14.554 And God revealed himself to the Jewish nation, 00:12:14.642 --> 00:12:15.170 called them, 00:12:15.170 --> 00:12:15.794 made them, 00:12:15.794 --> 00:12:16.778 made them who they are. 00:12:16.778 --> 00:12:18.758 Just because they refuse to believe. 00:12:18.778 --> 00:12:20.642 Does that mean God's not righteous? 00:12:20.642 --> 00:12:21.682 No, absolutely not, 00:12:21.706 --> 00:12:23.002 is what he's saying. 00:12:22.810 --> 00:12:23.226 Matter of fact, 00:12:23.226 --> 00:12:24.266 that may never be. 00:12:24.266 --> 00:12:25.256 Is this double, 00:12:25.346 --> 00:12:30.082 double argument in Greek that makes that like a absolutely not. 00:12:30.186 --> 00:12:31.386 My Greek professor said, 00:12:31.386 --> 00:12:32.650 no, you can translate that. 00:12:32.650 --> 00:12:33.130 No way, 00:12:33.130 --> 00:12:35.602 Jose. I was like, 00:12:35.626 --> 00:12:37.606 dude, that doesn't even sound right. 00:12:37.354 --> 00:12:38.650 Anyway, but the point was, 00:12:38.650 --> 00:12:39.898 is that what he's saying is, 00:12:39.898 --> 00:12:40.626 no, no, 00:12:40.698 --> 00:12:42.114 no, in any case, 00:12:42.202 --> 00:12:48.310 ever does the unbelief of mankind make God unfaithful or unrighteous? 00:12:48.810 --> 00:12:50.194 God is always faithful. 00:12:50.242 --> 00:12:51.750 God is always righteous. 00:12:52.570 --> 00:12:55.298 And even if we want to put the charge against God, 00:12:55.298 --> 00:12:57.802 that in my life something didn't work out, 00:12:57.802 --> 00:12:58.258 so God, 00:12:58.258 --> 00:12:59.908 you didn't treat me right. 00:13:01.130 --> 00:13:02.706 The argument is, 00:13:02.858 --> 00:13:04.258 God's always right, 00:13:04.394 --> 00:13:05.910 God's always righteous. 00:13:06.970 --> 00:13:09.130 And that's the case that Paul's making right here. 00:13:09.130 --> 00:13:10.554 But that's when he goes in to say, 00:13:10.554 --> 00:13:11.434 may it never be. 00:13:11.434 --> 00:13:12.898 Rather, let God be found true, 00:13:12.898 --> 00:13:15.208 though every man be found a liar. 00:13:15.430 --> 00:13:17.870 And then he quotes from Psalm 51, 00:13:17.910 --> 00:13:21.726 which is David's great confession of his sin with Bathsheba, 00:13:21.758 --> 00:13:25.670 remember? And he says that you might be justified in your words. 00:13:25.390 --> 00:13:27.598 What David is saying is that God, 00:13:27.598 --> 00:13:28.798 in judging me, 00:13:28.854 --> 00:13:30.370 you are righteous, 00:13:31.830 --> 00:13:34.190 you are just in judging me. 00:13:34.230 --> 00:13:36.930 That's what David saying in that psalm. 00:13:37.350 --> 00:13:44.330 And that you might prevail that your words are true when you judge. 00:13:44.670 --> 00:13:47.390 See? So I look at this whole thing and I go, 00:13:47.390 --> 00:13:49.040 God, I'm not that great. 00:13:50.670 --> 00:13:55.510 Which brings up the next argument that Paul makes here. 00:13:55.550 --> 00:13:58.566 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, 00:13:58.598 --> 00:13:59.918 what shall we say? 00:14:00.270 --> 00:14:02.502 The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, 00:14:02.502 --> 00:14:02.974 is he? 00:14:02.974 --> 00:14:04.062 So here's the whole point. 00:14:04.062 --> 00:14:05.086 Well, you know what? 00:14:04.878 --> 00:14:07.518 If I'm as bad as I can be, 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:11.980 doesn't that just magnify the righteousness of God? 00:14:12.480 --> 00:14:14.580 I am crushing something up here. 00:14:14.960 --> 00:14:16.416 You see what I mean? 00:14:16.416 --> 00:14:18.400 If I can be just as bad as I am, 00:14:18.400 --> 00:14:21.112 doesn't it just magnify the righteousness of God? 00:14:21.256 --> 00:14:22.906 Because I am so bad, 00:14:22.976 --> 00:14:24.680 and a righteous God says, 00:14:24.800 --> 00:14:26.450 me, who is so bad? 00:14:27.120 --> 00:14:32.824 And that's kind of the argument that was sort of going on among 00:14:32.912 --> 00:14:35.518 Christians and those who were not during Paul. 00:14:35.518 --> 00:14:36.182 And he said, 00:14:36.182 --> 00:14:41.550 no, God's not unrighteous in punishing sin. 00:14:41.710 --> 00:14:44.718 God's not unrighteous in judging the sinner. 00:14:44.814 --> 00:14:47.590 God's not unrighteous in being the judge of the world. 00:14:47.590 --> 00:14:48.430 For otherwise, 00:14:48.510 --> 00:14:50.730 how will God judge the world? 00:14:52.390 --> 00:14:53.454 God's the judge. 00:14:53.502 --> 00:14:54.054 I'm not. 00:14:54.054 --> 00:14:54.782 You're not. 00:14:54.886 --> 00:15:00.046 Do you know that when we decide somehow that God's unrighteous or God 00:15:00.078 --> 00:15:01.038 didn't treat us fairly, 00:15:01.038 --> 00:15:06.350 you realize we're putting ourselves in a place of judgment over God? 00:15:08.130 --> 00:15:08.990 Whoo. 00:15:09.570 --> 00:15:10.650 Be careful. 00:15:10.810 --> 00:15:11.870 Be careful. 00:15:12.930 --> 00:15:17.110 So I got angry twice this week, 00:15:18.290 --> 00:15:19.750 just so y'all know. 00:15:23.010 --> 00:15:23.818 Think it's funny? 00:15:23.818 --> 00:15:25.002 When I get to confess sin, 00:15:25.002 --> 00:15:26.114 I do it to 100 people. 00:15:26.114 --> 00:15:26.990 It's okay. 00:15:28.220 --> 00:15:29.804 I was at Dad's house this week. 00:15:29.804 --> 00:15:30.724 Dad's doing well. 00:15:30.540 --> 00:15:31.908 Thank y'all all for asking. 00:15:31.908 --> 00:15:32.916 He's doing fine. 00:15:33.028 --> 00:15:33.836 He does his thing, 00:15:33.836 --> 00:15:34.826 and that's cool. 00:15:34.980 --> 00:15:37.164 He gets outside more when I'm there. 00:15:37.164 --> 00:15:40.324 So he rode around in his golf cart and watched me work all week long. 00:15:40.060 --> 00:15:42.370 That's not what I got mad about. 00:15:42.460 --> 00:15:45.716 But my sister told me a story this week that made me mad. 00:15:45.716 --> 00:15:46.652 That wasn't her. 00:15:46.652 --> 00:15:48.308 It was something that something had happened, 00:15:48.308 --> 00:15:49.116 something had been done. 00:15:49.116 --> 00:15:50.106 And I just. 00:15:49.788 --> 00:15:51.092 I. In the moment, 00:15:51.092 --> 00:15:51.908 I just had to be quiet. 00:15:51.908 --> 00:15:55.770 I learned something years ago in my life. 00:15:56.070 --> 00:15:57.686 Things kind of rocked along pretty good. 00:15:57.686 --> 00:15:58.470 In my life. 00:15:58.214 --> 00:16:00.358 Things happened the way I'd like them to happen. 00:16:00.358 --> 00:16:03.526 And not that I didn't suffer some things or experience some bad things in 00:16:03.526 --> 00:16:03.830 my life, 00:16:03.830 --> 00:16:04.820 but, you know, 00:16:04.854 --> 00:16:09.190 the only time I get mad is when things don't go the way I want them to. 00:16:09.190 --> 00:16:10.410 Y'all know that. 00:16:10.870 --> 00:16:11.286 You know, 00:16:11.286 --> 00:16:14.070 they tell me now they call It OCD or something. 00:16:14.070 --> 00:16:15.650 I'm a control freak, 00:16:16.470 --> 00:16:17.790 just so you know, 00:16:18.070 --> 00:16:18.526 right? 00:16:18.598 --> 00:16:22.390 And so when things don't go just the way I want them, 00:16:22.390 --> 00:16:23.970 I get frustrated. 00:16:24.270 --> 00:16:26.250 I look for who to blame, 00:16:26.750 --> 00:16:28.750 right? If they don't go the way I want them to, 00:16:28.750 --> 00:16:31.190 then somebody's at fault. 00:16:31.350 --> 00:16:33.438 And if I can't find somebody in reach, 00:16:33.438 --> 00:16:34.290 then I. 00:16:34.590 --> 00:16:36.240 Am I susceptible to going, 00:16:36.270 --> 00:16:39.900 God, why didn't that happen the way I wanted it to? 00:16:39.710 --> 00:16:41.090 See my point here? 00:16:41.630 --> 00:16:42.890 I got angry. 00:16:43.390 --> 00:16:44.902 I get angry when. 00:16:45.006 --> 00:16:45.454 All right, 00:16:45.454 --> 00:16:49.630 so when I was thinking about this little part of this thing in my own. 00:16:49.630 --> 00:16:51.176 Because I have to. 00:16:51.318 --> 00:16:56.964 I have to take the text every Sunday and look at it like a mirror. 00:16:57.012 --> 00:16:59.428 God, what are you revealing to me? 00:16:59.564 --> 00:17:02.240 What are you revealing about me? 00:17:03.340 --> 00:17:08.772 God, what is it you're showing me about myself before I ever get up and 00:17:08.796 --> 00:17:15.360 share with you guys what I believe God's word is teaching us right here? 00:17:16.620 --> 00:17:20.162 So the idea that God somehow is unrighteous in his. 00:17:20.276 --> 00:17:25.254 In his judgment or in his dealings or in the way that he conducts himself 00:17:25.382 --> 00:17:26.902 among his creation, 00:17:26.966 --> 00:17:27.246 I mean, 00:17:27.246 --> 00:17:29.226 we wouldn't be here without him, 00:17:29.630 --> 00:17:31.894 right? That he could somehow be. 00:17:31.982 --> 00:17:32.642 No, no. 00:17:32.670 --> 00:17:33.550 May it never be. 00:17:33.550 --> 00:17:35.462 You see that twice in this text? 00:17:35.126 --> 00:17:35.670 Verse 4, 00:17:35.710 --> 00:17:36.198 verse 6. 00:17:36.254 --> 00:17:37.702 May it never be. 00:17:37.886 --> 00:17:40.970 Under no circumstances is God unrighteous, 00:17:41.630 --> 00:17:44.530 for otherwise how will God judge the world? 00:17:45.560 --> 00:17:47.576 So when I look at this thing and I thought about it this week, 00:17:47.576 --> 00:17:47.816 I thought, 00:17:47.816 --> 00:17:48.476 you know, 00:17:48.520 --> 00:17:49.872 Wednesday before I. 00:17:49.976 --> 00:17:52.460 No, it was Thursday morning at about 5:30. 00:17:53.560 --> 00:17:56.200 And we were talking and I was like, 00:17:56.200 --> 00:17:57.660 that just isn't right. 00:17:58.120 --> 00:17:59.860 And in the moment, 00:18:00.920 --> 00:18:02.992 here's the true confession of this. 00:18:03.096 --> 00:18:03.808 In the moment, 00:18:03.808 --> 00:18:04.798 I was thinking, 00:18:05.880 --> 00:18:07.860 what can I do about it? 00:18:09.560 --> 00:18:11.140 I want some vengeance. 00:18:12.450 --> 00:18:14.760 I want to go correct this thing. 00:18:15.730 --> 00:18:16.710 I want. 00:18:18.050 --> 00:18:20.030 And then it happened again Friday, 00:18:20.530 --> 00:18:21.794 I heard another story, 00:18:21.794 --> 00:18:24.210 and I was mad because of something that had been done. 00:18:24.210 --> 00:18:25.200 I was like, 00:18:25.330 --> 00:18:29.390 mmm, I wanted to strike out in anger. 00:18:30.050 --> 00:18:32.938 Then I remembered Paul also wrote in Ephesians, 00:18:33.034 --> 00:18:34.698 it's okay to be angry. 00:18:34.874 --> 00:18:37.070 Just don't sin in your anger, 00:18:37.550 --> 00:18:37.958 right? 00:18:38.014 --> 00:18:41.414 Don't let the sun go down on your wrath. 00:18:41.542 --> 00:18:47.606 So in my anger about an event that I heard about on Thursday morning, 00:18:47.758 --> 00:18:48.958 and then on Friday, 00:18:48.958 --> 00:18:50.742 I heard about another event. 00:18:50.926 --> 00:18:53.896 And so it was two days in a row. 00:18:55.470 --> 00:18:56.918 I started to yell for y'all, 00:18:56.918 --> 00:18:58.568 but I decided not to. 00:18:59.230 --> 00:19:00.118 But in my anger, 00:19:00.118 --> 00:19:01.438 I was just like, 00:19:02.110 --> 00:19:04.420 I want to do something about it. 00:19:05.950 --> 00:19:11.558 And God used that to shine this mirror back on me and ask me this 00:19:11.614 --> 00:19:12.210 question. 00:19:15.150 --> 00:19:19.850 Do you think sin in the world angers God? 00:19:21.550 --> 00:19:23.200 Listen to what it says. 00:19:24.270 --> 00:19:27.462 But if through my lie the truth of God abounded to his glory. 00:19:27.462 --> 00:19:29.894 Why am I also still being judged as a sinner? 00:19:29.894 --> 00:19:30.974 And why not say, 00:19:30.974 --> 00:19:32.854 as we are slanderously reported, 00:19:32.942 --> 00:19:33.958 and as some affirm, 00:19:33.958 --> 00:19:34.654 that we say, 00:19:34.654 --> 00:19:35.846 let us do evil, 00:19:35.846 --> 00:19:36.810 that good may come, 00:19:36.810 --> 00:19:38.322 their condemnation is just. 00:19:38.426 --> 00:19:42.106 But when you flip that back up to what he says right here, 00:19:42.106 --> 00:19:45.602 the God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, 00:19:45.666 --> 00:19:46.106 is he? 00:19:46.106 --> 00:19:47.756 That's up in verse five. 00:19:49.690 --> 00:19:52.770 Sin. You know, 00:19:52.810 --> 00:19:55.910 when we make light of our sin, 00:19:58.730 --> 00:20:00.470 that's the injustice. 00:20:01.700 --> 00:20:09.980 When we don't really look at ourselves and recognize that God called us 00:20:10.020 --> 00:20:11.360 like he did Abram, 00:20:12.580 --> 00:20:16.220 that God revealed himself to us like he did Abram. 00:20:16.300 --> 00:20:17.932 These oracles of God. 00:20:17.996 --> 00:20:20.780 As I made a big deal about the word of God, 00:20:20.780 --> 00:20:21.532 guess what? 00:20:21.636 --> 00:20:23.220 God's revealed himself to us. 00:20:23.220 --> 00:20:24.412 We've got the word of God. 00:20:24.412 --> 00:20:26.204 What is the advantage of being Jew? 00:20:26.204 --> 00:20:27.140 Ask yourselves the question, 00:20:27.140 --> 00:20:29.134 what's the advantage of being Christian? 00:20:29.252 --> 00:20:30.762 We've got the word of God, 00:20:30.762 --> 00:20:32.082 the revelation of God. 00:20:31.962 --> 00:20:33.378 We should pay attention to it. 00:20:33.378 --> 00:20:35.562 We should bow before God. 00:20:35.626 --> 00:20:39.522 We should submit and surrender ourselves to him and recognize that he 00:20:39.522 --> 00:20:44.670 loved us so much that in the face of my anger, 00:20:45.250 --> 00:20:46.986 in the face of my sin, 00:20:46.986 --> 00:20:49.390 in the face of my unrighteousness, 00:20:53.250 --> 00:20:55.560 when the court of heaven was held, 00:20:56.750 --> 00:21:05.910 Jesus stood in my place and took my sin and died the death that I 00:21:05.950 --> 00:21:09.410 deserved. See, 00:21:10.350 --> 00:21:13.320 and I want to go back and read this. 00:21:14.030 --> 00:21:15.582 If some did not believe, 00:21:15.582 --> 00:21:19.206 their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God. 00:21:19.398 --> 00:21:21.590 See, God is always righteous. 00:21:21.670 --> 00:21:24.250 God is always righteousness. 00:21:25.950 --> 00:21:28.478 If you want to know what righteousness is, 00:21:28.478 --> 00:21:30.090 study more about God. 00:21:30.670 --> 00:21:31.870 Discern what it now. 00:21:31.870 --> 00:21:37.610 It doesn't give us the right to act like God or be the judge. 00:21:38.110 --> 00:21:41.450 Understand? God is righteous. 00:21:42.190 --> 00:21:45.990 God righteously reveals himself to us. 00:21:46.030 --> 00:21:52.540 God righteously acts to accomplish salvation and redemption and to do for 00:21:52.580 --> 00:21:55.788 us on our behalf that which we can't do ourselves. 00:21:55.788 --> 00:21:57.772 We can't accomplish it ourselves. 00:21:57.916 --> 00:21:59.140 We don't deserve it. 00:21:59.140 --> 00:22:00.020 And yet God says, 00:22:00.020 --> 00:22:01.252 because I love you, 00:22:01.252 --> 00:22:03.960 I'm calling you my child, 00:22:07.700 --> 00:22:12.012 and I'm giving you a redemption that you can't accomplish on your own. 00:22:12.116 --> 00:22:17.180 God is righteous when he created and made and formed and shaped the 00:22:17.220 --> 00:22:18.076 Jewish nation, 00:22:18.148 --> 00:22:18.808 the people. 00:22:18.836 --> 00:22:21.440 God is righteous in choosing Gentiles. 00:22:23.200 --> 00:22:24.850 And I look at God, 00:22:24.856 --> 00:22:25.656 I honestly, 00:22:25.688 --> 00:22:26.678 as I study. 00:22:26.704 --> 00:22:28.712 And God took me all right, 00:22:28.816 --> 00:22:30.136 yesterday morning. 00:22:30.288 --> 00:22:31.620 I don't know why, 00:22:32.880 --> 00:22:34.648 something crazy overtook me. 00:22:34.704 --> 00:22:40.376 So I went for a run yesterday morning for the first time in eight years. 00:22:40.448 --> 00:22:42.300 I ran six miles. 00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:46.820 I haven't run that far since I ran that marathon in 2017. 00:22:48.170 --> 00:22:55.010 But it was throughout the run that God started leading me in my own heart 00:22:55.050 --> 00:22:59.470 and mind down a purity question. 00:23:01.290 --> 00:23:04.034 What does righteousness look like in my life? 00:23:04.202 --> 00:23:08.670 What does purity look like in my life? 00:23:10.090 --> 00:23:12.400 Do I make light of my sin? 00:23:14.820 --> 00:23:18.668 Do I let my angry thoughts result in. 00:23:18.724 --> 00:23:19.332 I mean, 00:23:19.332 --> 00:23:19.716 you know, 00:23:19.716 --> 00:23:20.356 Jesus is one. 00:23:20.356 --> 00:23:20.676 He says, 00:23:20.676 --> 00:23:22.156 you heard it's wrong to murder, 00:23:22.156 --> 00:23:24.020 but if you hate your brother in your heart, 00:23:24.020 --> 00:23:25.560 you've committed murder already. 00:23:27.940 --> 00:23:28.652 See, God. 00:23:28.716 --> 00:23:32.276 God took me on a journey on that six mile run yesterday to go, 00:23:32.276 --> 00:23:38.000 Bobby, before you get up to preach tomorrow, 00:23:40.110 --> 00:23:42.090 you got to examine your heart, 00:23:43.230 --> 00:23:45.210 got to examine your motivations, 00:23:46.350 --> 00:23:52.690 you got to examine who you are against the backdrop of who God is. 00:23:53.950 --> 00:23:57.170 See, God's righteous and I'm not. 00:23:58.750 --> 00:24:01.398 And I somehow believe I can put myself. 00:24:01.494 --> 00:24:04.910 And maybe it's because I've been in ministry and a pastor for so long, 00:24:04.910 --> 00:24:10.590 I think some God's given me some sort of special place. 00:24:11.530 --> 00:24:13.570 Then what advantage has the Jew? 00:24:13.650 --> 00:24:14.498 Well, okay, 00:24:14.594 --> 00:24:17.950 I've studied the Bible for decades now. 00:24:19.370 --> 00:24:22.950 Doesn't give me a right to act unrighteously in anger. 00:24:23.850 --> 00:24:30.978 Doesn't give me any added sort of right. 00:24:31.114 --> 00:24:33.870 I've got to examine my heart every day, 00:24:34.800 --> 00:24:36.256 every moment of the day. 00:24:36.080 --> 00:24:37.776 And can I just go ahead and tell you. 00:24:37.776 --> 00:24:41.160 So do you see, 00:24:41.200 --> 00:24:42.420 God loves you. 00:24:43.120 --> 00:24:43.768 And yeah, 00:24:43.768 --> 00:24:45.176 we're dealing with judgment. 00:24:45.288 --> 00:24:49.180 Over and over and over again we're talking about judgment. 00:24:49.600 --> 00:24:54.232 Because what I heard one preacher say this week when I was listening to 00:24:54.256 --> 00:24:55.060 him say, 00:24:55.920 --> 00:25:04.660 one of the reasons why people struggle with the gospel being for them is 00:25:04.700 --> 00:25:06.480 they're not convinced they're lost. 00:25:08.300 --> 00:25:10.280 They don't think they're that bad. 00:25:11.740 --> 00:25:14.200 They don't see themselves as unrighteous. 00:25:15.820 --> 00:25:17.200 But we all are. 00:25:18.300 --> 00:25:19.680 And God said, 00:25:20.860 --> 00:25:22.000 I love you, 00:25:24.300 --> 00:25:26.996 which takes me back to the first verse we ever memorized, 00:25:26.996 --> 00:25:34.770 right? For God so loved you the world that he gave his one and only Son, 00:25:35.190 --> 00:25:45.290 that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. 00:25:46.390 --> 00:25:48.090 God loved you that much, 00:25:49.430 --> 00:25:51.662 right? It all starts with Jesus, 00:25:51.726 --> 00:25:53.706 folks. If you don't know Jesus, 00:25:53.742 --> 00:25:54.930 you need Jesus. 00:25:56.260 --> 00:25:58.340 That's where the book of Romans takes us. 00:25:58.340 --> 00:26:04.332 It explains to us the how and the why God did it the way he did it. 00:26:04.356 --> 00:26:05.220 And we'll get there. 00:26:05.220 --> 00:26:06.396 There's 16 chapters. 00:26:06.428 --> 00:26:07.800 We just started three. 00:26:08.420 --> 00:26:13.120 That means you got to be here every week for the next decade, 00:26:16.420 --> 00:26:18.460 right? I mean, 00:26:18.500 --> 00:26:19.280 God's. 00:26:20.270 --> 00:26:22.650 God's blessed us with his oracles. 00:26:23.230 --> 00:26:24.550 Let's study them together, 00:26:24.574 --> 00:26:27.478 okay? If you don't know Jesus this morning, 00:26:27.534 --> 00:26:31.062 we want to introduce you to him because you're loved. 00:26:31.206 --> 00:26:33.294 And if this is the first time you're here this morning. 00:26:33.294 --> 00:26:38.166 I hope somebody hugged your neck because we love you too. 00:26:38.238 --> 00:26:39.518 We're glad you're here. 00:26:39.518 --> 00:26:43.382 Alrighty. We're going to sing one more song and gives you the opportunity 00:26:43.382 --> 00:26:45.206 to respond to God and his word. 00:26:45.206 --> 00:26:47.186 And I want to encourage you. 00:26:50.500 --> 00:26:53.876 I think one of the things I learned yesterday on that run was God was 00:26:53.876 --> 00:26:54.276 just saying, 00:26:54.276 --> 00:26:54.812 be careful, 00:26:54.812 --> 00:27:02.412 Bobby. And I thought about it after the fact because I know that that 00:27:02.436 --> 00:27:05.406 whole statement of the devil's crouching at your door, 00:27:06.020 --> 00:27:07.000 look out, 00:27:07.940 --> 00:27:09.140 pray with me if you will. 00:27:09.140 --> 00:27:10.280 God, thank you. 00:27:11.460 --> 00:27:14.524 Thank you that you love us and God, 00:27:14.572 --> 00:27:22.386 you have called us and provided for us to have salvation and actually 00:27:22.458 --> 00:27:24.066 healing God, 00:27:24.098 --> 00:27:24.738 in many ways, 00:27:24.738 --> 00:27:31.070 sin can be seen as a sickness in a way. 00:27:31.690 --> 00:27:32.754 We're incomplete, 00:27:32.802 --> 00:27:33.830 we're broken. 00:27:34.890 --> 00:27:35.522 And God, 00:27:35.522 --> 00:27:41.310 the only thing that can make us whole is redemption in Christ. 00:27:42.170 --> 00:27:43.042 So God, 00:27:43.186 --> 00:27:43.770 this morning, 00:27:43.770 --> 00:27:45.922 if there's somebody here that doesn't know that redemption. 00:27:45.922 --> 00:27:47.242 God, I just pray. 00:27:47.250 --> 00:27:52.178 Pray for them to see you and to acknowledge you. 00:27:52.234 --> 00:27:55.602 God, I pray for Christians in the room today. 00:27:55.786 --> 00:27:59.826 God, that as we examine not just the world, 00:27:59.898 --> 00:28:01.258 but examine our own lives, 00:28:01.258 --> 00:28:04.710 God, help us to see your truth. 00:28:05.610 --> 00:28:07.706 Help us to surrender and bow before you. 00:28:07.706 --> 00:28:09.594 And we pray it in Jesus name, 00:28:09.594 --> 00:28:09.970 Amen.