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All right, we're continuing through the book of Romans as we're going verse by verse and getting through all the chapters here over the next several months. And in Romans chapter 2, I want you to notice what it says in verse 17, where it says, Romans chapter 2 verse 17, Behold thou art called a Jew and restest in the law. The name of the sermon is resting in the law. Resting in the law. What this is referring to is people that are putting their trust in the law to save them. Their confidence, their rest is not in what Jesus Christ did, but in the law of God. They believe that they're following God's law and they feel comfortable and safe. They're resting in the law. Okay, notice how it says thou art called a Jew. See the Bible teaches that people that are the true Jews, spiritually Jews, are those that believe on Jesus Christ. Okay, and so there's people that are called a Jew that people would say they're Jewish, but they're trusting in the law. They're resting in the law. And yet throughout the entire Bible, salvation has always been by grace through faith. Okay, and so yes, there was the law of Moses that was presented. People did not trust in the laws of God to get them to heaven though. Say why? Because we've all sinned. We've all lied. We've all done what's wrong before. And so if you're resting in your good works and your lifestyle, you're gonna end up in hell one day. Why? Because you've broken the law. Okay? Turn in your Bible to Hebrews 4. Hebrews chapter 4. Now look, if you're doing what's right in a secular standpoint, okay? There's the laws of the land and you haven't done anything wrong. You can have confidence and rest in the fact that you're innocent of anything. Right? You've never killed anybody. You've never stolen anything. You're not doing anything illegal. You can rest in that fact. I don't have to worry. But then there's people that are unsaved that they're resting in the laws of God. Like look at me. I've kept the law. It's like no you haven't. I mean people that think they can work their way to heaven, they're resting in that. It's like you've already sinned. You're already guilty. It's like you've broken. I mean, I've never killed anyone. Hey, there's a lot of Commandments besides thou shalt not kill. I'm glad you're not a murderer. I hope you're not a murderer. And there's a lot more laws than just thou shalt not kill. Okay? And so notice what it says in Hebrews 4. Verse 1, Let us therefore fear lest a promise being left of us left us of entering into his rest. Any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them. But the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. See the Bible says there is a rest for the people of God. When you believe on Jesus Christ and you get saved, you enter into that rest. What does that mean? It means you never have to worry or be scared of where you're gonna spend eternity. Look, I mean it depends on what age you got saved. I got saved as a late teenager, 18 years old. And if you got saved later in life, then you know, it's different for a child that gets saved. But if you get saved as an adult, once you get saved and enter into that rest, the greatest feeling of relief will sweep over you. Because even though you are a Baptist here in the Philippines, many of you were scared about where you're gonna spend eternity for years and years and years and years. Why? Because you had not entered into that rest. But once you fully understand the gospel and you believe on Jesus and you get saved, there's a rest for the people of God. You never have to worry anymore. It's done. You're saved and on your way to heaven. Should you live a good life? Absolutely, but you don't have to do anything to stay saved or to prove you're saved because you've entered into that rest, the Bible says. Verse 3, Hebrews 4 verse 3, For we which have believed do enter into rest, as He said, as I've sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For He spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, and God did rest the seventh day from all his works. Now, it talks about entering into the rest of God for someone who's saved. Then it mentions the seventh day. What is the seventh day? Saturday, the Sabbath day. That's what it's referring to. Okay, it talks about basically, you know what, there's a day of rest. You say, what does the Sabbath day have to do with salvation? Okay, go to Colossians chapter 2. Colossians chapter 2. You see, Jesus Christ, when He came, what the Bible says in the Sermon on the Mount is He did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill the law. When Jesus came, that doesn't mean all the rules are gone from the Bible. They still apply. I mean, is it wrong to kill someone? Well, yeah, because it's still wrong today. That law didn't change. I mean, in the Bible there's all kinds of laws in the book of Leviticus, like it's wrong to be married with your aunt and things like that. It's still wrong today. Okay. Yes, that person's off-limits to get married to. Okay, those laws in the Bible, they still apply. They're not done away because Jesus did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill the law. Okay. Now you say, Brother Stuckey, the Sabbath day, is that done away? Well, yes and no. It's not done away in the fact that when you get saved, you've got that Sabbath. Okay, but in terms of us following the Sabbath today, it is done away. You say, why? You just said He didn't come to destroy the law, but to fulfill the law. When He rose again, many parts of the law were fulfilled, including the Sabbath, and I'll prove this to you. See, there are some laws you need to understand in the Old Testament that were a picture of Jesus Christ. And so when Jesus rose again, they were fulfilled. Okay, but that doesn't change the fact it's still wrong to murder people. That doesn't change the fact it's still wrong to be a homo. That doesn't change the fact that it's still wrong to marry your aunt. That doesn't change the moral laws of the Bible, but there were certain laws. Like for example, look, you're allowed to eat whatever you want. You want to eat pork? Go ahead and eat pork. Say why? It's not a sin today. Why? Because Jesus fulfilled that when He rose again. The unclean animals... Look, you see that in the book of Acts with Peter. It explains that those things are done away with. It's not wrong to eat bacon. Okay, it's not wrong to eat pork or other meats that were against the law in the Old Testament. Now, it's up to you what you want to do, but it's not a sin to do that. Now, those were a picture of Jesus Christ, and He fulfilled those when He rose again. The one commandment out of ten that we do not follow today is the Sabbath day. You might not realize that here today. You might say, Brother Stuckey, aren't we fulfilling the Sabbath by coming to church on Sunday? Where in the Old Testament does it say coming to hear a sermon is the Sabbath day? The Sabbath day was a day of rest, a day of no work. We don't follow the Sabbath day. I mean, nobody is following the Sabbath day anymore, okay? Nobody's following and keeping a day, just a full day of rest as it says in the Old Testament. And here's the thing. You don't have to, okay? The Bible doesn't tell you that you've got to just take a day off. You know, no. See, the Bible shows us here in Colossians 2 that the Sabbath day was done away. Notice what it says in verse 14. Colossians 2 verse 14. Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. Certain ordinances were done away. Verse 15. And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink or in respect of in holy day, which is like a holiday, holy day, of in holy day or of the new moon or of the Sabbath days. Okay, the Bible specifically mentions the Sabbath days. You know, I know there's a religion that the seventh-day Adventists, they say, well, it's wrong to have church on Sunday. It's a big sin. You got to have church on Saturday, even though in the New Testament they had church on Sunday. And it's a big deal. You must have church on Saturday. And yet they don't follow the Sabbath day. It's like having church that's not fulfilling the Sabbath. Okay, the Bible says don't let anybody judge you in Sabbath days. You say, why? Verse 17, which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ. You see, if you're outside and you're out in the sun, you're gonna see your shadow on the ground, okay? The shadow is not you, but it's a picture. It's a resemblance of you. I mean, you can sort of understand what somebody looks like to a degree from the shadow. It represents the person. It's not the actual person, okay? The Sabbath day was a picture of salvation, that when you get saved, you enter into that rest. And so when Jesus rose again, bye-bye Sabbath day. We don't have to follow it anymore. That was fulfilled when Jesus rose again. But look, it's still wrong to worship idols today. That wasn't fulfilled on the cross, okay? That wasn't fulfilled when Jesus rose again. Yeah, the Feast of the Black Nazarene is still a wicked holiday here in the Philippines. That didn't change. It's still wrong to blaspheme God's name. It's still wrong not to honor your parents. It's still wrong to have idols and gods before God. It's still wrong to kill and to commit adultery and steal and covet and bear false witness. Hey, those things are still wrong because those are moral laws. But the Sabbath day was actually for us, the Bible says. And it's a picture of the rest we enter into when we get saved, okay? Turn in your Bible to Luke 18. Actually, turn to Romans 2 real quickly. Romans 2. So when it comes to resting in the law, what we need to realize is that the Sabbath day, which was part of the law, that was a day of rest that you're supposed to take. And when Jesus rose again, that was fulfilled. It's done away, okay? You are welcome to work on whatever days you want, okay? There's many times before where I went to church and we had Sunday morning and evening church and I worked in between church services. Right after church on Sunday morning, I left, went to work. I worked for five hours or six hours, quickly came back and came to evening church. You say, why? That's the schedule they gave me, okay? And so I was there for Sunday morning church and evening church, but you know what? I worked on Sunday. Is there anything wrong with that? Absolutely not. Look, if you want to go home today after church and you say, man, I'm gonna work for six hours on something and make money, you're welcome to do that. It's not wrong. It's not a sin. There's no day you have to take as a complete day of rest, okay? And what's interesting about this is that Jews claim to believe the Old Testament. But do they do sacrifices? No. Do they follow the Sabbath day? No. So what part of the law are they fulfilling? Because we fulfill the law a lot more than them. It's just like they don't even apply God's law at all that they say they believe in. I mean, they don't do any of it. Okay? Notice what it says in Romans 2, because look, the context here are about the Jews, okay? That's why I'm mentioning them. It says in Romans 2 verse 17, Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God. Do you notice that the same person that is trusting in their works is also an arrogant boaster, the Bible is saying. The same person that's trusting what they get to heaven, what it's saying is, you know what, they make their boast, that look at me, I'm a good person, I deserve to go to heaven, okay? The same person trusting in their works to get to heaven, you know what, that's arrogance. And guess what? Before I was saved, I was trusting in my works. That's arrogance to say that you're good enough to go to heaven. Okay? Turn to Luke 18. Luke 18. Luke 18. I mean, you go soul-winning sometimes, and sometimes you run into people that say, I don't think you can know you're going to heaven, and they say, I think it's arrogant to say, well, you know you're going to heaven. And in a sense, they're right, okay? Because look, if somebody's trusting in their works to get to heaven, that is arrogant to say, you know what the level is of how good you need to be to get to heaven. The difference is, we're not saved by works. We're saved by faith. If we were saved by works, you could never know if you're going to heaven, because you would never know if you're good enough. But since we're not saved by our works, you can know. You believe on Jesus Christ, then you've entered into that rest, and you never have to worry about it, okay? Luke 18, verse 9. And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others. The same people that trust in their works to get heaven, they look down on other people. Say, why is that? Because what they're saying is, I'm good enough, that guy's not good enough, okay? What's interesting is that when somebody is, let's say, a drunk and a drug addict or whatever, they still think they're good enough to go to heaven. And they'll just find somebody that's a little bit worse than them, and say, look at that guy. I mean, that guy, his life is a mess. It's like, why don't you look at yourself? It's like, and look, here's the thing, even to save people, this attitude can enter into churches. Where people look at themselves, it's like, man, I read the Bible three times a year. That person only reads it once a year. It's like, I'm a better person than them. No, you're an arrogant person, and you're gonna be shocked one day when you get less rewards at the judgment. You're gonna be shocked when it turns out that all your works were done to be seen to men, and you've got nothing to show for it. It's like, hey, that's great. You're spending an hour reading the Bible a day, but if you're looking down on others because of what you do, bye-bye rewards, and according to the Bible, that person who's reading the Bible less is a better Christian. Why? Because they're not an arrogant, obnoxious person, okay? Don't brag in the great works that you do, okay? We're not fighting the same spiritual battle. We're not meant to compare ourselves to one another. It's foolish. It's stupid, and it's wrong, okay? I remember one time, you know, there's a guy who visited, and you can ask me after the service. I'll tell you who it is because many people don't know who this is, but this was at Verity Baptist Church, and there was a deacon from another church that came to visit our church, okay? And he preached at that church, and my wife and I had him over for, you know, dinner at our house and everything like that, and, you know, his family. And they seemed nice when we met them and everything. He turned out to be a oneness heretic leading some crazy Baptist cult. You know, you guys already know who I'm talking about now, the people that... But anyways, when we were there at dinner, he asked me, he's like, you know, how many chapters of the Bible do you have memorized? I just thought it was an odd question. Why is he asking me how many chapters of the Bible? And I didn't think anything of it because, you know, I'm a bit too naive or too trusting, I believe, but I told him, you know, I'm not sure, you know, such-and-such amount or whatever, and then he told me, oh, this is how many I had memorized. And, you know, he asked me how many times I read the Bible and stuff like that, and I kind of figured it was just for the fact that I worked for a church, and he worked for a church, so I didn't think too much of it. But it turns out he was doing that to everybody at Verity, people that have been saved for six months. How many times have you read the Bible? Oh, I haven't finished. Oh, I've read it 25 times. It's like, yeah, you're an arrogant, obnoxious person. I hope when you were raised as an independent, fundamental Baptist, you've read the Bible more than someone that got saved six months ago. I hope you have more memorized in the Bible than someone that got saved six months ago. But what's the purpose of saying that? That's just someone showing they're arrogant, right? I mean, that's wrong, and it's foolish, and it's stupid. There's no reason to try to compare our spiritual levels, okay? And here's what you need to understand. Whenever you compare yourself to somebody else, you will always highlight the things that you're good at. I mean, you're going to look at the things that you're good at and say, well, I'm better. You're comparing yourself to someone else who's an athlete. You both play sports, and the other person can dunk a basketball. He's really fast, really strong, but you're better at golf, and you think you're a better athlete because you're better at one thing, okay? You're better at golf, and he's better at soccer, football, baseball, hockey, rugby, or whatever sport, right? You always look at the things that you're good at, okay, to look down on others. The Bible says don't compare yourself. And this person in Luke 18, he's looking at himself, and he's righteous, and he's despising others. Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are. Does that sound like a person who's humble? Mapakum baba, not to me. Sounds pretty arrogant to me, right? I thank thee that I am not as other people are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. So there he's specifically looking at one person. So he's not an extortioner. Do you know what extortion is? To steal money by force. I hope you're not stealing money by force. Congratulations, you're not an adulterer. Wow, you've never cheated on your wife, okay? We don't even know if this guy's married, he's probably not married. It's like, wow, I'm not an adulterer, you're not even married. I've never had a divorce before, you've never been married. It's like, wow, good job, okay? You're not an adulterer, I mean, he's a Pharisee, I mean, he's probably literally not married. So, wow, okay, you didn't find some woman that was married to sleep with, good job. I mean, this guy could be a fornicator, not an adulterer based on his own words. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And so this Pharisee is trusting in himself. He's trusting in his works. And at the same time, he's looking down on somebody else who maybe isn't as much in some areas as him, okay? Turn back to Romans 2, Romans 2. And look, you might be the greatest thing since sliced bread, but let me tell you something, nobody likes people like this, the Pharisee. Nobody likes that. I mean, there's nothing more annoying than somebody that always talks to you about how great they are. Man, I'm great at this and this and this and this. It's like, why are you bragging about it? I mean, it gets obnoxious and annoying. And here's the reality. We got a church here, plenty of people here today. Every single person in this room has something they could brag about, something that you're just really good at, right? I mean, there are plenty of things, all of us, we have plenty of things that we're really good at, but did you know that all of us have plenty of things we're really bad at? It's like, why don't you tell us what you're terrible at? It's like, come up and serve and say, you know what, brother, here's the truth, Brother Stuckey. Man, I'm terrible at grammar, like awful. It's like, I don't even know how to make a sentence, okay? It's just like, why don't you tell us what you're bad at before you brag about what you're good at, okay? Because this Pharisee I'm sure could have mentioned a lot of things that he's bad at. It's like, yeah, you know, I want to kill the Lord Jesus Christ. Why don't you tell us that, okay? Romans 2, verse 18, someone resting in the law, verse 18, and knowest his will and approvest the things that are more excellent being instructed out of the law. So this is referring to actual Jews here in Romans 2. And here's someone who feels like he knows God's will, okay? He approves the things that are more excellent. He knows what is really right and proper to do. And here's the truth, okay? If you are not from church and you've never been in church or a church like this, there are probably some things you're going to learn over time. And people that have been here for 10 years, there might be things where, you know what, they could honestly say, you know, they're able to prove the things that are more excellent. They know some of the deeper things of the Bible. But just simply because they've been in church, okay? That doesn't make them a better person though. I mean, one thing that's a big mistake people do, and it's funny because sometimes people come to this church and people are dressed a certain way and people will look down on them and criticize them for how they're dressed and they're just like a new person at church or whatever. Or whatever, they've been at church for a long time and it's like, why don't you just worry about yourself and let them worry about themselves? It's like, let them worry about their life and you worry about your life. Because we could all, if we wanted to take out a pen today, write down all the problems with everybody. We could write down somebody's name and say, you know, Brother Ehrman is the biggest gossiper in the world. It's like, I mentioned Brother Ehrman because everybody knows that's not true. So it's like, Brother Ehrman's like the biggest gossiper. He's always bragging about how great he is. It's like, man, I speak this language and this language. We know that's not true with Brother Ehrman, okay? So I'll brag for him, he speaks many languages, okay? But it's like, you know, we could all look at people and say, you know, so-and-so always does this, this and this. What's the purpose of doing that though? When sermons are preached, you have to apply it to your life. If you hear a sermon about why you need to read the Bible, and let's say, for example, you read the Bible more than anybody at this church. And look, I don't know how much people read the Bible. I don't go around asking people, okay? Other than the fact there is a qualification requirement if you're gonna be a pastor, because you need to have proven that you know the Word of God, if you're gonna be teaching and preaching to people. But look, I don't go around asking how much people have read the Bible. But let's say you've read the Bible more than anybody, okay? It's just like you wanna brag about that one thing. What is the purpose of doing that? You need to ask yourself that question. See, if a sermon's preached on why you need to read the Bible, if your attitude is I read it more than anybody else, there's the problem, my friend. Because I can promise you that there's nobody in this room that reads the Bible as much as they should, including myself. I promise you there's nobody in this room who's patient enough. I promise you there's nobody in this room who prays enough. So look, even if you're better than everybody else, that doesn't mean you're perfect at it, okay? Notice what it says in verse 19. And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which has the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. So this unsaved Jew, which is the context we talked about last week, the unsaved person trusting and resting in the law, this person's confident that they're actually a teacher, that they really know God's word, that they understand God's word. And many times you see this with false religions, that people that are unsaved, they think they know the scriptures really, really well. They really think they know everything about the Bible and they're gonna instruct and teach. And many times they haven't even read the Bible cover to cover. There's many Baptist pastors here in the Philippines that have never read the Bible cover to cover. How are they gonna teach you anything then if they've never read it cover to cover? It's like, I don't wanna hear somebody, I mean, you might've read a commentary about the Bible, but did you actually read the Bible? So why would you be teaching anybody anything if you haven't read it? And yet here in Romans 2, you've got these people, they think they're so spiritual because they're dotting every jot and tittle. They make sure they tied the right amount, that they're following this rule and this rule, but they don't know anything about the Bible. They're just trying to follow laws to be spiritual and righteous, right? Like one example of this, because if you look at my hair right now, my hair's short, right? I mean, I could probably use a haircut in the next couple of weeks, but it's not long. It doesn't look like the hair of a woman, right? I mean, I've got short hair here. I could probably get a haircut soon, okay? But look, it's not the hair of a woman. But you know, in Bible college, in most Bible colleges, if your hair touches your ear, you have to get a haircut. Now, show me that in the Bible, because right now my hair touches my ear, but by no means is my hair down here like a woman's, okay? And it's like, your hair is touching your ear. It's like, you know what, you gotta get a haircut. And it's like, so literally in Bible college, people get a haircut once every week and a half. And it's like, they'll check you at the door. They will check you at the door. They'll check your skirt. They'll check, you know, your haircut and everything like that. They make sure you're following all these rules. You know, that doesn't cause people to want to actually live for God though, okay? All that causes is to force them to follow such and such set rule, especially a rule that's not even biblical, okay? Now, I don't believe on forcing people to follow things as it is anyway, but at least if you're gonna have a rule that people have to follow, at least have a verse that shows, you know what, you're right, okay? There's not a single verse. The Bible says short hair for a man, long hair for a woman. And it's like, there's nothing about, oh, the hair's touching the ear. It's, I mean, sometimes I get a haircut and it's still touching the ear. You know, you get that one piece of hair. You shave your head and then all of a sudden you find out like a week later, oh, I forgot that one piece. Like, oh man, I'd get kicked out of Bible college, you know? I forgot that one piece of hair, right? Okay, look at verse number 21. Thou therefore which teachth another, teacheth thou not thyself. And what Paul is saying, you that wanna teach everybody all the things you know, why don't you teach yourself first? Why don't you get rid of the beam that's in your eye? Thou that preach'st a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that say'st a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? Thou that abhor'st idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? And see, what Paul is saying here, when he's talking about adultery and these things, you're looking at people that have committed adultery or whatever and saying, you know what, they deserve to go to hell or whatever. And in a sense though, we've all committed adultery before. The Bible says that if you lust after a woman in your heart, then you've committed adultery. And let me tell you something, if you're a guy and you say, you know what, I never sinned in that way, I've never lusted after a woman. Well, I'm really worried about you then. It's just like, yeah, you know what? Obviously, we all sin and that's wrong. But if you tell me, man, I never struggle at all with lusting after a woman, it's like, well, you know what, I'm really concerned about you then. It's like, what or who are you lusting after then? Okay, it's like, yeah, you know what, that's wrong to lust after someone in your heart. But look, if we're honest, all of us have had bad thoughts before, okay? And so look, this person who's saying, I've never committed adultery, but why don't you look inside yourself and really apply that law where it hits home? Have you ever lusted after a woman? Have you ever allowed your eyes to look upon something that you knew was wrong? Because I guarantee you, if any guy is honest, they would say, yeah, you know what, I've done that before, I'm not perfect. Even Job said he had to make a covenant with his eyes, like an agreement with his eyes. I will not let you look upon someone. Why? Because as guys, you know what, that's something that guys tend to struggle with. And it's wrong, but it's the truth, okay? And so look, this person who's saying, I don't commit adultery, you've never lusted after a woman before? I'm sure you have before. Or, you know, he says he doesn't steal. Obviously in some ways, Paul's saying that this person's guilty of stealing. I'm sure he is, especially as religious leaders, they steal more money than pretty much anybody. And so it says in verse 23, thou that makest thy boast of the law through breaking the law dishonors thou God. And he's saying, you're breaking the law and you're dishonoring God by breaking God's law. For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you as it is written. And see, here's the thing, there are people that do break the law, but they don't cause God's name to be blasphemed among the Gentiles. But see, religious false prophets, boy, they can follow certain rules and say, I'm following the law and maybe they are, but they cause God's name to be blasphemed around the world. Okay, turn to Malachi one, Malachi one. Malachi chapter one. And when it comes to God's name, God's name is meant to be held in reverence, okay? Now part of that is called not blaspheming, okay? Look, if you say JC or GD, you need to clean up your mouth. You need to clean up your tongue if you're blaspheming God's name. But I'll tell you what, in today's world, people need, I mean, when I was a kid, if I said anything inappropriate, my mouth was washed out with soap. And I'll tell you what, I hate to admit to my parents because I always told them I thought that was cruel and unusual punishment, you know, as I got older. But I have to admit, when I hear other people's mouths, then you know what, maybe that was actually good because I would have never thought to say anything that you hear people do. It's like I have never in my life ever heard either one of my parents ever say a cuss word ever. Now I'm not saying they never said it, but I have never heard either one of my parents ever say a cuss word. Brother Stuckey, why is it we never hear you cuss? Because my parents didn't cuss. It's like because if I got caught cussing, which, you know what, as a kid, yeah, there were a couple times I said something, you know what happened, here comes the soap, here comes the tongue, and you know what, I learned I'm never saying anything bad. And you know what, I hate to break it to Zef, but considering how I hear a lot of people talk, maybe we're gonna bring that to our home if necessary. Okay, because people just, it's not just that people blaspheme God, people just say things that are filthy and disgusting and inappropriate as not even just believers, as anybody, okay? Notice what it says in Malachi 1. For from the rising of the sun, even out of the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles. God's name is supposed to be great among the unsaved people. And in every place, incense shall be offered unto my name in a pure offering, for my name shall be great among the heat, and saith the Lord of hosts. But ye have profaned it, and that ye say the table of the Lord is polluted, and the fruit thereof, even as meat, is contemptible. He said also, behold, what a weariness is it? And ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts, and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick. Thus he brought an offering. Should I accept this of your hand, saith the Lord? But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing, for I am a great king, saith the Lord of hosts. And my name is dreadful among the heathen. You say, Brother Stuckey, how should the unsaved world look at the God that we worship? They should look at the God we worship as a holy and righteous God. You know, when Muslims criticize what we believe, because obviously we're against Islam, it's a false religion, but you know, what's sad is there's many Muslims that follow God's laws better than Christians do. And that's pretty sad, my friend. Because people oughta look at your lives and you say, you know what? Such and such person is holy. Such and such person is righteous. Like Daniel, hey, this coworker's a little weird, he doesn't hang out with us at the bar, but you know, there's nothing I can criticize this person about. And look, God's name is meant to be dreadful among the heathen. And see, the holiness of God leads people to the truth. It doesn't turn people away. Because when you see the holiness of God, it makes you realize there's a righteous God that's gonna judge us one day. But when the unsaved world sees Christians living just like the world, it's not gonna cause them to think God's name is dreadful and he's gonna judge you one day. Look, you oughta be different than the world. And the things you say and the life you live, it oughta be different. The world watches this on TV, you watch something different or you don't watch. The world's listening to this and you're not listening to it. There oughta be a major difference between the things and your lifestyle as what the world's lifestyle is. It shouldn't even be close at all. Yeah, it's okay for an unsaved person to do whatever because of the fact they don't even know. They don't know what they're supposed to do. But when you come to Verity Baptist Church in Manila, you know what you're supposed to do. You cannot walk out of this church and say, oh, I didn't know it was wrong to watch porn. I didn't know it was wrong to listen to rock music. I didn't know it was wrong to say these cuss words because I preach against all that stuff. And so God's name oughta be dreadful among the heathen where people look at the saved people and say, you know what, they are different than other people. The way we dress, the way we act, the things we watch, the things we talk about, it oughta be different than the world. Go to Romans 2, Romans 2. What the Bible's saying with these unsaved Jews that are trusting in the law, it's not different. It's like they oughta be different and holy. And they think they are, they're trusting in the law, but in reality, they're causing God's name to be blasphemed among the Gentiles. I mean, unsaved people oughta look at your life and notice a difference between you and them. It oughta be a clear difference because when I worked at a secular job in the US, in Maryland, you got half the workers take like five smoke breaks a day. And it's just like, here's the thing about this. For one, obviously we preach against smoking and it is what it is. I'm sure people in this room smoke from time to time or whatever, it's wrong, but you're struggling with it. But here's what I'm saying, they are getting paid to smoke cigarettes outside. They're not just smoking a cigarette, that's worse than smoking a cigarette. They're stealing money from the company. It always boggles my mind, at least in the US, where basically if you're addicted to cigarettes, you're allowed to have like six smoke breaks a day. But if you don't smoke cigarettes, you're not allowed any breaks during the day, just a lunch break. How does that make sense? It's just like, you're allowed to just go outside. It would be funny, I would go to lunch sometimes, people were outside smoking, I come back the same people were outside smoking, and I'm just thinking, what are they getting paid for? And then all of a sudden, the phone calls come in from them and nobody's at their desk to answer, then all of a sudden they get transferred to you and it's like, you don't even know what it's talking about because it's not your job. And it's just like, you at your job, you ought to be different than everybody else. You work a secular office job, your friends, coworkers, whatever, they talk about sports, you know what, you're talking about the Bible, you're talking about things that are different. On the lunch break, you're reading the Bible, you're serving God, you know, the best you can. There ought to be a difference between the things that they talk about and the things you talk about, the way they live their lives and you live their lives. Verse 25 of Romans 2. For circumcision verily profiteth if thou keep the law. Circumcision is in a reference to basically the literal act of circumcision, you know, for a boy, but also like a Jew, you know, the word circumcision is often used in reference to them because they would circumcise their sons at eight days old in the Old Testament. Now, this was also something that was a symbol, it's not something you have to follow today, it's totally up to you as a parent, but notice what it says, it profits to follow that law in that way if thou keep the law. See, if you're trying to work your way to heaven and live a perfect life to get to heaven, makes sense that you gotta follow every single law, but if you've already broken the law, you're guilty. These people are trusting in the law and trusting in everything they do, but they're guilty. If thou be a breaker of thy law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision, okay? They are just as guilty as anybody else, okay? Next verse, verse 26. Therefore, if the uncircumcision, which are the Gentiles or the non-Jews, keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? You say, what does that mean, Brother Stuckey? What it's saying is the fact that, you know what, some unsafe people, they actually do keep the righteousness of the law to some degree, more than people that actually know the laws of God. Okay, go to Acts 10, I'll show you an example. Acts 10. Now, I strongly believe that if you grow up in a Christian home and you hear the word of God preached, you've got a leg up on the competition, right? I mean, if you are a part of a good church and you raise your kids in this church where we're preaching the Bible, your kids are more likely to end up serving God and being godly. It's not a guarantee, though. And some kids come from the unsaved, secular world, and yet they are doing what's right. Now, it's not common, but it takes place, right? I mean, many of us didn't grow up in these sorts of homes hearing this kind of preaching, but we still turned out right. And look, when somebody isn't a part of this church, let's say somebody in this church ends up committing adultery, okay? Now, you might have heard the word of God preached a million times, but somebody who's not part of this church or unsaved or whatever, but they're keeping God's law, they can judge you for being guilty. They're keeping God's law better than you even though you know the law better. Now, the Jews had the Old Testament law. They knew the law more than the heat of nations and the Gentiles and all those things. But look, unless they're actually keeping it, it doesn't mean anything, okay? Look, if you look at Greek mythology, Zeus, which is really famous in Greek mythology, because obviously during this time period, the Greek conquers the world shortly before the time of the New Testament, hundreds of years before. It was all over the world. A lot of the Bibles, I mean, the New Testament was written in Greek. And it's like the religion of Greek mythology is wicked. Their god Zeus rapes, you know, men and boys in Greek mythology, okay? And if you grow up with that sort of religion, yeah, it's pretty wicked, but do you know there's some people that grew up with that religion that just wanted to do what's right though? And they wanted to be a good person and not a bad person, and yet there's people that come from a good church that decide they're gonna do what's wrong and break God's law. Acts 10, verse one, There is a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, a devout man and one that feared God with all his house. Now, this man Cornelius, I don't have time to prove this, I've done it in other sermons. This is an unsaved man, okay, in Acts chapter 10. You can see that in Acts 11, Peter comes and Peter doesn't just come to have dinner and fellowship with him. Peter comes to give him the gospel, okay? We see that in Acts 11. But let me ask you a question. This unsaved man, does he fear God according to Acts 10, verse two? Yes, he does. And all of his house fears God. You say, why? Because Cornelius was doing a good job raising his family, right? All of his house fears God is what the Bible is saying here. Fear God with all his house. Now, this is not a man who grew up with the law, but he still fears God, okay? Fears God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people and prayed to God always. He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day, an angel of God coming into him and saying unto him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid and said, what is it Lord? And he said unto him, thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. This man's prayers are answered by God. God hears this man's prayers. But did you know that there's some believers that your prayers aren't gonna be answered? You say, why? Because you're living a filthy life. Look, if you live a sinful life, don't expect God's like Santa Claus, okay? And he's just gonna answer whatever you say. No, I mean, you live a filthy life, you might not get your prayers answered, okay? And so Cornelius didn't have the right background of the law, but he was still doing better than what the people coming from a good religious background were doing. Go back to Romans two, Romans two. Romans chapter two, we'll close up here in a second. Look, I want you to realize something. There are people in false churches that are unsaved that fear God in every religion. Even ones that are, I mean, religions, false religions are wicked as it is anyway, okay? But I mean, some of these really wicked false religions, there are still people in those religions that might not be saved, but you know what? They're not gonna commit adultery because their conscience tells them no. Despite what their false scriptures say, their false Bibles or Vedas or whatever their religion is, their conscience says no. And they say, you know what? Even though it's okay in our holy book, I feel wrong about it and I'm not gonna do it. And they could look and judge someone who comes from a good background, who hears the word of God preached, but is living a filthy life, okay? And so look, there are people out there like that. Romans 2, verse 27. And shall not uncircumcision, which is by nature, referring to the unsaved world, the non-Jews, if it fulfill the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law. And Paul's saying, you know what? These Gentiles, which were not raised like you, who didn't have the law, they got saved, they're following it, and now they get to judge you, unsaved Jews. Now, I'm pretty sure that any Jew who read the book of Romans probably wanted to kill Paul the Apostle. So much for the Jews being God's chosen people here today, because he says right here, the Gentiles are gonna judge you, you unsaved Jews, okay? Verse number 28. For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh, okay? And so you're not a Jew just because outwardly you're going through all the motions, okay? Now in the Old Testament, the Jews were from the tribe of Judah, okay? Not the 12 tribes, because all the other tribes went with Israel. They had the northern and the southern kingdom, the southern kingdom of Judah, but then the word Jew comes from the tribe of Judah, which was the tribe of Judah plus, you know, largely Benjamin, okay? And so a Jew comes from the tribe of Judah, not the 12 tribes, okay? But nowadays those words are kind of mixed up and people don't know what they are. I mean, biblically speaking, a Jew is from the tribe of Judah. And so look, but what the Bible is saying is the reason why the tribe of Judah was used even more than the tribe of Israel is because they were more godly, right? I mean, when you read 1 Kings and 2 Kings, throughout as you're reading it, what do you see? That sometimes the king of the tribe of Judah is good and then sometimes he's bad. What about the king of the tribe of Israel? Bad? He did not what that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, right? He did bad, he did bad, he did bad. I mean, every once in a while, one out of 50 is good. It's like, wow, what happened there, right? I mean, every leader of the tribe of Israel was bad, okay? But you know, why was it that the Jews were special to God in the Old Testament, the tribe of Judah? Not even the tribe of Israel was special, the tribe of Judah, because the tribe of Judah was doing what was right. They were following God's law. People got saved and they were obeying what the Bible says. If you are saved and obeying what God says today, you are God's chosen people, my friend. And in the Old Testament, you were allowed to join that tribe and link up to them, okay? You come from a different background, you could migrate and join up with the tribe of Judah that were trying to serve God, okay? It's similar to how someone would leave a false church and come to a good church and serve God, okay? But if you're saved, no matter your skin color, no matter your background, you are God's chosen people, believers on Jesus Christ, okay? Notice what it says in verse 29. But he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God. It says you're a Jew which is one inwardly, not the outward, okay? Go to Matthew 23, we'll close up. Now, look, this sermon is a little bit different in today's world because although Judaism is still a religion and they're still trusting in the law, I mean, by no means at all are they living a godly life in Israel, or does anybody think they're living a godly life? I mean, it's a very, very wicked country, okay? It's one of the sodomite capitals of the world, Tel Aviv, okay? It's in competition with San Francisco, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for being like the sodomite capital of the world. It's like a competition between these places, okay? By no means is it a godly place over there in the world, but a more accurate application could be somebody who's raised in an independent fundamental Baptist church, a church like ours, but is not saved and trusting in the law. And what would take place if you have a child that's raised in this church and they grow up, but they do not get saved? Inevitably, they'll probably look down on other people outside of this church and think they're better, when in reality, someone else who gets saved, they could judge them who's not even saved or who's obeying God's law better than them, okay? Now, make sure with your children, and my children are not old enough right now, but make sure when your children get older that you get them saved, okay? And I'm not at that point yet, but I've talked to many people that have gotten kids saved, and you know what, as a parent, give them the gospel day after day after day, okay? Once they're old enough to comprehend right and wrong, you need to start giving them the gospel, okay? Because many people get raised in Baptist churches and they come down to the altar call and they pray a prayer, and then what's crazy about it is, you know, you can tell that they're not saved. They say things that are not the gospel, and if you try to get those people saved, people get mad at you from that church. You know, I've been at churches before, and you know, I worked, you know, as much as we don't believe in bus routes to pick up kids, we don't believe in kids coming here without their parents. I don't believe in that. It's a dangerous atmosphere. There's many reasons why, but I worked at churches that did that, and I helped them with that. We'd pick up kids and things like that, and these kids would, I remember one time distinctly, you know, there was junior church for the kids, and this was before I started preaching there every week, but the pastor was kind of letting me get some opportunities to, you know, serve there and things like that, and he said, what I want you to do is after the sermon, you know, when they have their altar call for the kids, I want you to try to give the gospel to those kids afterwards, okay? And so it was me in a room and this other woman in a room, and she was talking to the girls, and I was talking to the boys, okay? And so I had two boys come in that were like nine or 10 years old, and I spent like 15 minutes, 20 minutes, and they didn't get it, okay? They didn't know much about the Bible, and it just went over their heads, and they were acting rowdy and not paying attention and everything, and like the woman who was there though, she'd spend like two minutes. She'd pray with one person, send in the next person, pray with another person, send in the next person. So like 20 minutes later, she had eight salvations, okay? I had none, and so the pastor comes like, hey, how did it go? I was like, and she's like, oh, I got eight salvations. It was great. They all believed, and I was like, yeah, I didn't get any. I was like, you know, they didn't understand it. It's like, you know, that's the reality in Baptist churches. Kids are coming to altars, and they don't understand the gospel, and they pray a prayer, and what's sad about it is years later when it's obvious they don't believe, people get mad if you try to give them the gospel. Oh, no, they already prayed that prayer when they were six years old. It's like, man, you know what? If you catch my son one day that I think he's saved, he gets baptized at this church, and then a year later, it's like, man, he's mixed up on the gospel. I wanna know about that. I'm not gonna trust in the fact that he prayed a prayer when he's believing the wrong thing. It's like, make sure they get saved, okay? Matthew 23, let's close up here in verse 23. Matthew 23, verse 23. And so when we're talking about resting in the law, in Romans 2 specifically, we're talking about hypocritical Jews that are trusting in work salvation, and they look down on others, and it's still true with people that say they're Jews today. They look down on people that are non-Jews. They think they walk on water. They think they're better than other people. They're very arrogant. They think they're better, okay? Now, I don't think we're better than them. I think we're equal. There's no respect of persons with God, okay? It doesn't matter if you're black, white, whatever color, you're all made and created by God, okay? The Jews are not better than us. They're not worse than us either, okay? Now, they need to get saved and believe the gospel, but they're not worse because they were, you know, because of their skin color or their ethnicity, okay? Matthew 23, verse 23, "'Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, "'for you pay tithe of mint in anise and cummen, "'and have omitted the weightier matters of the law. "'Judgment, mercy, and faith, these ought need to have done "'and not to leave the other undone.'" And so Jesus says about the Pharisees and scribes that they're hypocrites. What is a hypocrite? Someone who says and doesn't do. Someone who says and he doesn't do. When you preach like I preach, people will often accuse you of being a Pharisee, right? Who's heard that before? I mean, you're preaching hard on things. You're a Pharisee. Now, wait a minute. The definition of a Pharisee is a hypocrite, someone who does, who says and does not, okay? Do I preach against watching television? Yes, I do. I don't watch television. I'm not a hypocrite, okay? You can preach on something if you're not guilty of it, okay? Do I preach against listening to rock music? Yes, I do. I don't listen to rock music. I'm not a Pharisee because the Pharisees were saying things but not doing them, okay? That's the problem with the Pharisees. What they were saying was not necessarily bad. There's nothing wrong with saying it's wrong to listen to this type of music because a lot of music's garbage. Most music's garbage. Most music's of the world, okay? So yeah, there's nothing wrong with saying this is wrong but there's something wrong if you say, hey, this is wrong. You know, it's wrong to look at this and yet you're committing adultery. Yeah, there's a problem there, okay? Where you look down on someone and yet you're guilty of those same exact things. That's the problem with the Pharisees. See, what Jesus says is this at the end of this verse. These ought ye to have done and not to leave the other undone. What Jesus is saying is, you know what? It's a good thing, those things that you're doing but the problem is the things you're not doing. Yes, it's good that the Pharisees were tithing on mint and anise and cummin', right? Yes, it's good you paid your 10% like you're supposed to but what God says more important than your firstfruits offering is this. The weightier matters of the law are judgment, mercy and faith. More important to God is are you merciful? More important to God is proper judgment and faith. So look, according to the Bible, there are things more important than the fact that your hair doesn't touch your ears, okay? It's called not being a jerk. That's what he's basically saying. Hey, more important Mr. Pharisee than all the rules you're following, don't be a jerk. Don't be an arrogant, obnoxious person. That's more important, okay? And one problem that can happen in churches, like our church, okay, is this because the Bible says you're supposed to grow in grace and knowledge. Those two things. And unfortunately, many people grow in knowledge before they grow in grace, okay? It's like they learn about the post-trib rapture and how to disprove the pre-trib rapture 25 different ways to Sunday. But that doesn't mean that they're not a jerk though, right? I mean, you know what's more important? You know, I'd rather hang out with someone who believes in a pre-trib rapture that's not an obnoxious, arrogant jerk, okay? And you know what, that's what God's basically saying. You know, basically grow in grace. And the problem with the Pharisees is they were hypocrites, rude and obnoxious, okay? And so look, if you're saved here today, hey, it's great that you're not resting in the law. You're not trusting that. But don't use the things you know to look down on other people. Let's close in word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and just getting to see the scripture and see your word here in Romans chapter two and help anyone who might be here and not understand the gospel, God, that we cannot trust in the law or rest in the law for our salvation. We will end up in hell if we do that, God. It's not our works that save us. Help us to rely on you alone, but also in our lives, God. Help us not to look down on others who maybe don't know as much or maybe they haven't grown as much or whatever, God. Help us not to use our Christianity as a way to beat people over the head and talk down on them, God. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.