(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Alright, we're here in Romans chapter 3, and the first sermon was pretty deep, so this sermon is not going to be as complicated, it's not going to be quite as deep here. But the name of the sermon is, We Establish the Law. We Establish the Law. Now notice what it says in Romans 3 verse 18, just to get the context, where it says in Romans 3 verse 18, there is no fear of God before their eyes. Now as we talked about last week, that's the conclusion of a section where he's referring to reprobates, how they have no fear of God. Obviously an unsaved person can fear God like Cornelius did. But then in verse 19 it transitions to basically just everyday unsaved people. It says in verse 19, Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. And God's law shows us that we're all guilty. Every single one of us needs a Savior, okay? And then verse 20, Therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. So verse 20 shows us that by the law, by our works, no one's going to be justified. No one's going to go to heaven because they lived a good enough life. Why? Because the law is only going to condemn you. Because we've broken God's law. We're not going to be declared innocent because we've broken his rules, okay? None of us are perfect. So that's what we see here. Now go to Romans 3-8 real quickly. Romans 3-8. Because at a church like ours, we preach and explain that salvation is a free gift, very loudly, not in a confusing way. We make it very clear there are no works to do with salvation. And you don't have to do works to prove your salvation. You don't have to change anything. You don't have to be sorry for your sins. You don't have to change anything. You just believe, okay? And someone can be a drug dealer and stay a drug dealer their entire life. And they will go to heaven if they believed on Jesus Christ. That's what the Bible teaches. Now when we say these things, though, a lot of churches would accuse us of making void the law. You're giving people license to sin. You're going out and telling people to do whatever they want. I mean, if they hear your message, they're going to become drug dealers and get prostitutes and become fornicators and be drunks and everything. They accuse us of basically making all of God's law pointless and useless. Is that not true? People would accuse our church because we preach salvation is free. In verse 8, here's an example. Romans 3-8, and not rather as we be slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say, let us do evil that good may come whose damnation is just. What they said in Paul's days about his preaching, they slanderously reported, you're saying, let us live a bad life. Let us do evil and the result of that is good is going to come. Now when did Paul ever say anything like that? When did he ever say that if you sin, then good things are going to come? I mean, that's like the opposite of karma is what Paul taught. That's what they're saying. The opposite of reaping what you sow is what... That's not what Paul taught at all. Paul did not teach that if you do evil, good is going to come in your life. When did he ever report that? But people slanderously reported that and some even affirm that he said that. Then the last verse in verse 31, Romans 3 verse 31. Do we then make void the law through faith? He's saying by preaching, salvation is a free gift. Do we make the law void and useless and pointless? No, he says this, yet God forbid, yea, we establish the law. See, the same churches that preach salvation is free are the same churches that preach hard against sin. They go hand in hand. They accuse us of not preaching hard against sin because we preach salvation is free. They accuse us of saying, go out and do whatever you want because all you have to do is believe. But in reality, our church preaches very hard against sin. The same churches that preach salvation is free are the same churches that establish the law. But you know what's interesting here in Romans 3 is that by preaching the way that we do, we do not just establish the law by preaching salvation is by grace through faith. We actually establish a lot of things that are found in this section of scripture that other churches do not establish. Notice what it says in Romans 3 verse 21. Romans 3 verse 21. The first thing we establish that a lot of churches don't is we establish the length of the plan of salvation or the length of the gospel. You say, what do you mean by that? What I mean is this, the length of salvation, I'm saying we show that salvation is eternity past and eternity future the same way. The length of this gospel is forever in both directions. It has never changed. It has always been by grace through faith and we establish that. Whereas a lot of churches preach salvation is by works in the Old Testament. But the length of the gospel message is eternity past to eternity future. It will never change. It has always been this way. Notice what it says in Romans 3 verse 21. But now the righteousness of God without the laws manifested being witnessed by the law and the prophets. And it says this message of salvation by grace through faith, it was witnessed by the law and the prophets. What is the law and the prophets? Well notice, go to Acts chapter 10 real quickly. Acts 10 verse 43. Acts 10 verse 43. You see in the Old Testament, they actually were proclaiming salvation by grace through faith. And we can see that in the Old Testament and there were signs and pictures of Jesus Christ. Notice what it says in Acts 10 verse 43. Acts 10 verse 43. To him give all the prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. Notice how it says to him give all the prophets witness. Did you know that every single prophet in the Old Testament, they preach and proclaim that salvation was by grace through faith? To him give all the prophets witness. Every single one. Throughout the Bible, every single one of them preached salvation was by grace through faith. To him give all the prophets witness. Go to Galatians 3. Galatians chapter 3. He said, Brother Stuckey, I thought they got saved by killing animals. No they didn't. They got saved by grace through faith. It's funny because I remember when I first got saved and you know you have a lot of questions about the Bible and the question pops up or you hear like, well how do people get saved in the Old Testament? Because you don't really think about that the moment you get saved, okay? And that question popped up and I remember asking you know my pastors at the time, you know I had two pastors there, Baptist pastors, and they're like that's a complicated topic. You know it's not really clear in the Bible. It's like, well I don't know what Bible they're reading, but the Bible is very clear that to him give all the prophets witness, okay? Notice what it says in Galatians 3 verse 21, is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. If there was a law given, if there was a way to get to heaven by our works, that's how salvation would have always been. But here's the thing, everybody sinned. You can't get to heaven by your works and if you could, Jesus would have never died on the cross. There'd be no purpose for him to die if we get to heaven by our works. That's why it says in verse 22, but the scripture hath concluded all under sin that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we're kept under the law, shut up onto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. It's revealed in a very public and known way, but it has always been by grace through faith. The gospel has always been the same. The length of salvation, the length of the gospel is eternity past to eternity future. That's what the Bible teaches. Go back to Romans 3. Romans 3, Romans chapter 3, I mean, think about this. Why is it that people cannot work their way to heaven today? Because they're guilty. Because they've sinned. I mean, if you could live a perfect life, then you wouldn't need a savior. But the reason why we need a savior is because we've broken God's law, we're not perfect. Did you know that people in the Old Testament sinned? I don't know if you're aware of that because, you know, when the Bible says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, did you realize that also applies to people that died before Jesus Christ, that lived before Jesus Christ? Did you know they also sinned and the result of sinning is you come short of the glory of God. If they could sin and not come short of the glory of God 3000 years ago, then that would mean we could sin and not come short of the glory of God. But since we have all sinned, we come short of the glory of God, and the length of this gospel message is eternity past to eternity future. And by preaching salvation is by grace through faith, we establish that. I mean, by preaching how free salvation is and what salvation means today, that already teaches you what it was in the Old Testament. Because we explained very clearly you can't work your way to heaven. And that shows you, man, nobody was ever able to work their way to heaven. Notice what it says in Romans 3-22. Number one, we establish the length of salvation. Number two, we establish the lifeblood, that life is in the blood. Romans 3 verse 22, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ onto all and upon all them that believe for there is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, notice, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness, that he might be just in the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Notice in verse 25, it's very clear it's faith in his blood. Life comes from the blood of Jesus Christ. It's not just that Jesus died for you. Look, if Jesus Christ had just, when Satan tempted him, right, he said jump off this cliff basically. What if Jesus had just jumped off the cliff and died? Could we be saved? No, because it's through faith in his blood. He had to die a blood shedding death. He could not have just jumped off a cliff or just whatever way or died of old age. No, he had to die a blood shedding death. That's what the Bible teaches. And this is throughout the Bible, it teaches that. It always talks about the blood, the blood, the blood. Look, there's a reason why in our hymnal, it always talks about the blood, right? There's power in the blood, nothing but the blood, when I see the blood. Look, if there was not a reason for the blood, this would be a very morbid and weird book, right? I mean, if all these songs are singing about the blood of Jesus and it didn't mean anything, then that's like Satan worshiping stuff. If you're going to like, you know, talk about how great blood is and sacrifices, if the blood didn't mean anything, but the blood does mean something because he had to die a blood shedding death. Turn your Bible to Hebrews 10, Hebrews 10 verse 1, Hebrews chapter 10 verse 1. It says for the law, having a shadow of good things to come and not the very image of the things, Hebrews 10 verse 1, can never with those sacrifices with which they offered year by year continually make the comers there unto perfect. And so they made these sacrifices that did not save them, okay? Verse 2, for then they have not ceased to be offered because the worshipers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices, there is remembrance again made of sins every year, for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. In those Old Testament sacrifices, they sacrificed animals. And it talks about the blood of those animals which were a shadow or a picture of the blood of the lamb who came and died and paid for our sins. Go to 1 Peter 1, 1 Peter 1. Look, those sacrifices in the Old Testament were meant to be a picture of Jesus Christ, okay? And it was a blood-shedding death, and then afterwards, they would burn the bodies. There was a burnt offering the Bible speaks about, which also is a picture of how Jesus was in hell for us, okay? Notice what it says in 1 Peter 1 verse 18, 1 Peter 1 verse 18. For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you. So look, the Bible is very clear, the blood of Jesus Christ is what saves, okay? Now in today's world, there are teachers that teach the blood of Christ means nothing. Go back to Romans 3, Romans 3. A great example of this is a guy by the name of John MacArthur. John MacArthur, he's one of the most famous Calvinist preachers there is out there. And what he teaches and what he has always taught is that the blood means nothing, that the only thing that means anything is the death of Christ. Now he tries to act like that's not what he's teaching, but that is what he has always taught and that is what he teaches today. He will say, well, the blood is just kind of the means by how he died, and he tries to word it in a way so it's not obvious. But what he's saying is that Jesus could have died anyway, and it would have been fine. No, it wouldn't have, because throughout the Bible, it talks about blood being significant. And so life is in the blood. Jesus had to die a blood shedding death, and that's why throughout the entire Bible, we see that. Look, if he did not have to die that way, he wouldn't have died that way. Nobody wants to be crucified and to be beaten and tortured. But that is the means of our salvation, a blood shedding death. So number one, we establish the length of the gospel or the length of salvation. Number two, we establish the lifeblood. Number three, we establish lowliness or humbleness. We establish lowliness when we explain salvation as a free gift. Romans 3 verse 27, where is boasting then? It is excluded. What is boasting? Boasting or bragging or being prideful is what it's referring to, and it is excluded. Because when it comes to salvation, the first step of salvation is to humble yourself. Getting saved is a humbling experience. Nobody is going to get saved unless they first humble themselves. A great example is Nebuchadnezzar in the Bible. You've got a man who's very arrogant, a man who looks at the empire that he controls, and he thinks that he built it with his own hands. He thinks it's his intellect and his power. And anything you have in life, God gave that to you. And Nebuchadnezzar doesn't realize that. And so to get saved, he had to become very lowly and very humble and be like an animal for years and years before he was willing to accept the gospel. And for people to get saved, they must become humble. They must become lowly. Go to Romans 2, Romans 2, Romans chapter 2. Look, this is why rich people are not very likely to get saved. It's easier for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into heaven. Isn't that what the Bible says? And look, when we go soul winning, we've seen that in action. Go soul winning in the rich neighborhoods, and then you go soul winning for hours, and you didn't get anybody saved. But go soul winning in the poor areas, and you get a lot of people saved. You say, why? Because rich people tend to be arrogant. Rich people tend to be conceited. Rich people tend to not care about the things of God. I mean, they say, I'm rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, the Bible says. Rich people feel like they have everything life has to offer, and unfortunately, it makes them arrogant, and they're not willing to humble themselves and believe on Jesus. Romans 2 verse 17, behold thou art called a Jew and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God. And so here in Romans 2, it's referring to people that are called Jews. They physically have this lineage, but spiritually, they don't believe on Jesus. They don't believe in the true God. And they make us their boast of God. They think they deserve to go to heaven. Verse 23, thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonors thou God. They make their boast of the law. They say, look at the law. I'm not like this publican. I'm a Pharisee. I give tithes of everything. Look at how good I am. I am not as other men are. They make their boast of the law. They say, look at how great we are. And you know what? When you have arrogant people, they end up in hell. You see that with the story of the publican and the Pharisee, because they might be following the law better than you and I, but they're still guilty. And unless they're willing to humble themselves and realize that, they're going to end up in hell. Go back to Romans 3, Romans 3. This is why when you have the story of the rich man, you know, rich young ruler with Jesus, Jesus tells them, you know, basically sell everything you have, because you have an arrogant man who is not humble to admit that he deserves hell. And so Jesus tries to humble him and he's never willing to be humble. Look, when we go soul winning and you go to Romans 20 or Revelation, not Romans 21, a good night, Revelation 21 eight, you show them Romans three and Romans six 23, Romans three 10, Romans three 23. You show them Revelation 21 eight and you show all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone. And somebody says, well, you know, I think I'm good enough to go to heaven. You know, I don't think I deserve hell. That person never gets saved. I mean, if they are not willing to admit they deserve hell, you're wasting your time spending 20 more minutes. If they're not willing to admit they need a savior, you know what, they're not going to cry out for salvation. They're not going to believe on Jesus for salvation. Their first step when we explain the gospel is just showing that we're guilty and we deserve hell. That should be pretty basic if you're not an arrogant person, because it wasn't too hard for me to realize when I saw what the Bible said, yeah, you know what? I'm not good enough. I don't claim to be such a great person that deserves to go to heaven. But when we talk to people and they are trusting in their works and they are not willing to humble themselves and they think they deserve to go to heaven, because trusting in your works is just arrogance. I mean, when you talk to someone and they think they're good enough to go to heaven, isn't it pretty arrogant to say I'm such a good person that I know God will judge me as innocent? It's like it's an arrogant thing. And before people can get saved, they must humble themselves and just admit they need a savior. Now, look, for a lot of people, that's not too hard. You show them a few verses. They say they believe the Bible. They see Revelation 21 8. They realize I've lied before, so according to the Bible, I'm guilty, and then, hey, go on with the gospel presentation. But if they're not willing to admit they need a savior, they're not going to get saved because the first step is just simply not being arrogant. Being humble. Okay. Romans 3, verse 27. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. But by what law? Of works? Nay, but by the law of faith. See, by preaching salvation is by grace through faith and it's a free gift. Your arrogance, your works, your boasting is excluded. Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. See, it's by grace through faith and that prevents us from being able to boast about how we deserve to go to heaven. In fact, go to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians 2. Let me turn there myself. Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. Here's the thing. If God made salvation by our works, then everybody in heaven would be able to boast about how they deserve to go to heaven because they could say, I was good enough that I met that standard. But you know, the reality is everybody in heaven would admit I was not good enough. I did not meet the standard of perfection and I needed a savior and I also needed somebody to preach the gospel to me because if you can get saved on your own, guess what? You could boast and be arrogant as well, but nobody gets saved on their own. They hear the gospel from somebody. They have somebody who died for them and they have somebody who presents the gospel to them. Why is it like that? It prevents us from boasting. Notice what it says in Ephesians 2 verse 8. For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. If it was by works, we could boast and brag and say we deserve to go to heaven. Okay, go back to Romans 3. Romans 3. I mean it kind of makes you wonder about some of these Baptist pastors that will say, man, I was a bad sinner. I was such a terrible person, but you know, I gave it all to God. I quit drinking. I quit smoking. I gave my life to God. I was the worst sinner, but man, bless God, I repented of all my sin and gave my life to Him. Man, you're boasting. I thought with salvation boasting was excluded. Now I don't know why you would glory in your shame. I mean, and here's the thing in this room, there's lots of people, hey, if you used to be a drug addict, praise God, you're serving God now, don't brag about being a drug addict. Why would you brag about sins you committed? I'm not going to brag. I'm not going to go down a list and say, let me show you all the sins I did. Like it's a competition or something. Like who did the worst sin? Why did this? Why robbed a bank? Why killed somebody? Why did, I mean, what in the world? Why would you brag about that? And with salvation, bragging is excluded. Boasting is excluded. And when we preach like we do, we establish that, that boasting is excluded. Notice what it says in Romans three, verse 29. Number one, we establish the length of the plan of salvation, the length of the gospel. Number two, we establish the lifeblood. Number three, we establish lowliness. Number four, we establish the location of salvation, the location of salvation. This salvation that we preach and teach, is it just for us in a Christian nation? What does it say in Romans three, verse 29? Is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also. Did you know that the God we worship is the same God that is in Japan and China and India and whatever country, Muslim country, Catholic country, Buddhist country, they can believe in a different God. It doesn't change the fact the God of their country is the God, the living God that we worship. It is the same God throughout the entire world. Now this is something we understand in today's world with everything being interconnected. But you know, throughout the Bible, you're seeing that every nation kind of has their own God. And when you go to war, the view is, well, if we have the stronger God, we win that battle. And it's like a belief that there's all these different gods, there's gods for various locations. No, the same God of China is the same God is here. The same God of Japan is the same God is here. It's the same God throughout the entire world, whether or not they reject that God or not. And so salvation is not different here than in a communist country like China. Salvation is not different here than in a Muslim country like Iraq. Salvation is not different here than in, you know, whatever the religion of North Korea is worshiping, you know, their leader, okay? It's the same salvation for them as it is for us. So the location of salvation is the same everywhere. And we establish that here. Notice what it says in verse 30, seeing it as one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith and uncircumcision through faith. So whether you're Jew or Gentile, Greek or wherever you're from, it is the same God that justifies it. Now notice what it says in verse 31. So number one, we establish the length of salvation. Number two, we establish the lifeblood. Number three, we establish the lowliness. Number four, we establish the location of salvation. And number five, we establish the law at Verity Baptist Church. Notice what it says in verse 31. Do we then make void the law through faith? And what it's saying here in verse 31, Paul is addressing this question because people accuse us of that, and they accused him as well, that when you're preaching salvation is by grace through faith, you are giving people a license to sin. Is that not what they say? You are giving people a license to sin, okay? Look, whether people have a license or don't have a license, this isn't like a driver's license where you're legally allowed to drive. People sin whether or not you tell them it's okay or not. They're already going to sin. But you know what? We don't make it easier for people to sin. I mean, by establishing salvation is by grace through faith, they say, well, you're saying they can go out and be drug dealers and everything like this. My first question would be this, is everybody just going to become a drug dealer if they found out, oh, salvation's a free gift? I mean, only if you're a bad person are you going to do that, right? When I found out salvation was a free gift, my first thought was not, oh, man, this is awesome. Now I can get drunk. This is awesome. Now I can go be a drug dealer. This is awesome. I can go and just commit every sin. No, because the normal person has a conscience, and there's sins they don't want to commit as it is anyway. And when you find out salvation is by grace through faith, even more so, you want to try to live a godly life. It does not give you this license to sin where you just want to go out and do all these wicked things. No, I mean, a normal person doesn't do those things anyway, becoming a wicked person, okay? But actually the same church that preaches salvation is by grace through faith, they also establish the law. How do you do that? Oh, by preaching a sermon series about your eyes and your hands and your feet and saying you need to get rid of all that sin from your life. See, other churches aren't going to preach sermons like that. You say, why? Because it's a little bit too intense. We establish the law at Verity Baptist Church. Turn your Bible to Matthew chapter five. Matthew five. Matthew five. Matthew chapter five. And you say, well, how exactly do you do this, Brother Stuckey? Well, even when we preach the gospel, did you know we establish the law? Because look, when you're explaining eternal security, let me give you a tip to how to make it make sense to an unsafe person, because quite honestly, eternal security sounds crazy to an unsafe person. I mean, if you walked up to someone and said, you know what, you can get saved and do whatever you want and go to heaven, that's going to sound crazy to the average person unless you actually explain what that means. Because what we explain to people is that, yes, salvation is just by believing. But if you live a bad life here on earth, God will judge you just like a father would judge their child. When I explain the gospel, I explain how here on earth you will be judged for your sins if you live a bad life. It has nothing to do with getting to heaven. But if you live a bad life, yeah, you're welcome to do it and go to heaven, but you'll pay for it here. You know what we're doing? We're establishing the law. We're making eternal security make sense. Right. I mean, look, it's true that a safe person could go out and murder someone and still go to heaven. Yes, that's true. But you know, if you don't explain that when you're preaching the gospel, it's going to make it a little bit harder for someone to believe in eternal security. Once they understand, oh, we pay for it here as a safe person, just like a father disciplines their child, make sense with people. It makes perfect sense. Okay. And so even when we're preaching the gospel, we establish the law. We tell them, yeah, you can go out and do whatever you want and you'll go to heaven, but be prepared to pay for it here. Okay. Now, before a person gets saved, they think they can do all that stuff. And they have a Santa Claus as a God, and they'll never be judged. We're actually establishing the law for them now by saying, hey, you will be judged for that if you commit those sins here. Notice what it says in Matthew five verse 17, Matthew five verse 17. I mean, keep in mind that Jesus Christ is the same one who said whosoever believeth, right? He's the one who preached salvation by grace through faith. And in Matthew five verse 17, this is what he says, think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. When Jesus Christ came here, he preached salvation was a free gift. But did you know he did not destroy the law? He did not make void the law. He actually established the law. Verse 18, for verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled. He says until heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle, nothing from God's word is going to pass away till all be fulfilled. Now when does heaven and earth pass? Revelation chapter 21, after the millennial reign of Christ. You say why? Because during the millennial reign of Christ in Revelation 20, guess what? It's going to be the laws and rules of the Bible. Not a single law is going to pass till all be fulfilled, okay? Until heaven and earth pass, which is Revelation 21, after the millennial reign of Christ. Now here's the thing. When Jesus Christ rose again from the dead, some of the law was fulfilled at that moment. Why? Because some of the laws were meant to be a picture and shadow of things to come. We don't sacrifice animals anymore. Why? That was fulfilled when Jesus rose again. We don't follow the Sabbath day anymore. You say why? Because that was a picture of Jesus Christ. There were certain things that were a picture of Jesus Christ, the cleanliness laws. Those were things that were a picture of Jesus Christ. Those were fulfilled. But did you realize this? That when Jesus rose again, that did not fulfill the fact that thou shalt not kill is still what God says. The laws, the moral law of the Bible did not change when Jesus rose again. And look, until heaven and earth pass, nothing's going to be taken away until all be fulfilled. You say why will be taken away after heaven and earth pass? Well because we're not going to be sinners, right? I mean once everything's done, once the battle of Armageddon, the millennial reign, the battle of Gog and Magog and everybody's in heaven, we have our glorified bodies. So guess what? We're not going to be murdering people in heaven. Guess what? We're not going to be stealing in heaven. But guess what? We still have a sinful flesh now. Whether you're saved or unsaved, you can still do those things. And so guess what? This law is still in place today. But until heaven and earth pass in Revelation 21, it is still going to be in place because it's still valid and necessary. Because when after the thousand years, the devil's going to be let loose and on earth there will be unsaved people. We'll talk about that during the Revelation series, but the devil's going to round up all these people that hate God. And so God's laws are going to be in place when he's ruling and reigning because they are still necessary. It will be fulfilled. It will be intact during the millennial reign. So in Matthew 5, till heaven and earth pass, when does that happen? Revelation chapter 21. Well, notice what it says in verse 27. Verse 27, you say, brother Stuckey, why is this important? Because people teach that when Jesus Christ was here, he just preached none of the law mattered. That anything goes is what they say Jesus Christ preached. Well, what does it say in verse 27? Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. Now here's the thing. Was it wrong to lust after a woman in the Old Testament? Yes it was. But you know what Jesus is doing here? He's making sin exceeding sinful. He is driving home the point that even just looking on a woman to lust after her, you've committed adultery in the heart. Does it sound like adultery is no longer wrong? Because this is what they accused Jesus of. Jesus came here, he caught a woman in adultery, and he said, no big deal because anything goes now that I'm here. No, he said even looking at a woman to lust after her is adultery. He didn't make void the law by preaching salvation by grace through faith. He established the law. He made it even stronger. He made sin exceeding sinful. Go to Leviticus chapter 20. Now we're going to look at some things in Leviticus 20, which is most people's favorite chapter. The average person out there is like, man, I love John 3.16 and Leviticus chapter 20. But I want to give you a couple of disclaimers about this because I'm going to show you there's a few laws where God gave the death penalty, actually many laws, many things, many sins have the death penalty attached, and we establish those things. But I want to give you a couple of disclaimers. Number one, just as Jesus did not kill the woman that was caught in adultery, even though he established the law and preached against it, he did not take the law into his own hands. We do not take the law into our own hands either. This is not something that we're going to do. Another thing to understand is this, that you cannot make it retroactive. You cannot go in the past if a new law is established that if you commit this, you'll be put to death and then someone's judged for something they did 25 years ago. That doesn't make sense. If a new law came into our country, they couldn't kill someone from 30 years ago. It'd be if you commit this sin, then you get the death penalty for committing this sin. So it's not going to be retroactive. So here's what I'm saying. We don't go and take the law in our own hands. We don't establish this ourselves because God gave us a government and it is up to our government to make the decisions on what they make the penalties for various crimes. But let me show you Leviticus chapter 20 verse 10. And the man that comitteth adultery with another man's wife, even he that comitteth adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. Now, in verse number 10, notice both the man and the woman are put to death. It's interesting in societies because they always want to just put the woman to death. I mean, they came to Jesus Christ. I mean, she was caught in the very act. Well, give us the guy too. I mean, she's caught in the very act. Show us the man that's guilty of this. And in countries that are male dominated, they'll often kill the women, but nothing happens to the guy. Now we establish the law around here. This applies to both men and women, and the Bible says there's a death penalty for adultery. Now here's the thing about this. That's not the law of our country. And look, there's many people in here, and if you committed this sin 10 years ago, it's all under the blood. The past is the past. It has nothing to do with today. That's not what we're saying. But here's what we are saying, that during the millennial reign of Christ, when Christ is ruling and reigning, it's going to be his laws. And everything that he preached and taught in all of the law is going to be intact, except what he fulfilled when he rose again, and the moral law did not change. And so according to the Bible, you have the death penalty for adultery, okay? Notice what it says in verse number 11. Verse number 11. Verse number 11. And the man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness. Both of them shall be surely put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. And so in verse 11, we see the death penalty if you sleep with your father's wife. Now that's obviously a pretty bad sin, okay? Now let me say this, obviously it would be possible to sleep with your father's wife, meaning your mom, but I don't think that's normally how it's going to apply. I think in general it's talking about if your father gets remarried. Because otherwise it would probably just say, hey, if you sleep with your mom, you're put to death, okay? But it says if you sleep with your father's wife, so look, if your father remarries or your mom dies or he marries another woman and you were to sleep with your father's wife, according to the Bible, that's a pretty wicked sin. And you say, why is that even in the law? Why does it even need to be there? Well, there's multiple examples in the Bible where this actually took place. I mean, don't we remember Reuben, who slept with his father's concubine? And look, in the Bible, concubine and wafer are used interchangeably many times, because a concubine is a type of wife, okay? So guess what the law should be for that situation? Well, I mean the death penalty, right? Sleeping with your father's wife, okay? Go to 1 Corinthians 5. Let me give you an example of this. In 1 Corinthians 5, now you preach like this, and it's funny, they accuse us of not establishing the law. And then when you preach like this, you're just hateful. That's so wicked. How could you ever say that? That's so evil. But let me show you how this applies to a church in 1 Corinthians 5, when somebody is guilty of this wicked crime, okay? 1 Corinthians 5, verse 1, it is reported commonly that there's fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. The type of fornication this man is committing is he's sleeping with his father's wife, okay? That's pretty bad. For one, assuming his father is still alive, although the law would still be intact whether or not his father is alive or not, is the fact that that's not just fornication, that's actually adultery as well. So it's fornication in the fact that he's not married, but it's also adultery in the fact that she is married. That's pretty bad, okay? And he's sleeping with his father's wife, and what Paul said is this, it's reported commonly, meaning outside of the church, people are aware of this. Outside of the church, people are talking about this. And look, when it comes to with discipline in church and people being kicked out of church, a good rule of thumb is, is it's so bad that people outside of the church are talking about. People are now aware of it at other churches and other locations, and it brings a shame to the name of the church. That's something that needs to be dealt with then. If it's something that can be handled in-house and it can be corrected, hey, absolutely we'll correct it in-house. Look, there have been many times I've had meetings about various things that have taken place. It gets handled, no big deal. But when it spreads outside of the church and other people are aware of it and other churches talk about it and it makes us look bad, you know what, it's reported commonly, then it needs to either be dealt with exactly like it said or the person's removed from church. That's what the Bible teaches. First Corinthians chapter five, it's reported commonly, the Bible says. Verse two, and ye are puffed up and have not rather mourned that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. He's saying you as a church, you're not sad about it or mourning about it. You're saying it's no big deal. We're so loving as a church, man, fornicators, sodomites, pedophiles, come on in. We're so loving. We accept everybody, right? We're just so loving and they're puffed up as if they're more godly by allowing the sin to take place. Now look, we understand everybody's a sinner, but when it's commonly reported and it's a really bad sin, it has to be dealt with. This is what the Bible teaches. And it says in verse two that they are puffed up, they're arrogant about it. Verse three, for I verily as absent in body but present in spirit have judged already as though I were present concerning him that hath so done this deed. Now let me explain to you verse three for a second because the Bible speaks about church discipline multiple different times, and it's not always the same situation. Some people have this idea, well, if you kick somebody out, you have to always have a meeting first and bring one to two witnesses and then bring it before the church. Well, explain to me how in verse three Paul, who is absent, he's not even there, he says, you know what? Here's the judgment. I don't even need to hear both sides. Kick him out of church. That's what he says. He says, I am absent and I have judged already. How could he judge if he didn't know what happened? Because it was commonly reported? Because when you have five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 20, 30 witnesses, guess what? They're not all lying, right? I mean, when you have this many witnesses that this is taking place and everyone's like, hey, Paul, it's not just a rumor. We know it. I mean, he's sleeping with his father's wife and everybody's reporting it and he says, you know what? I've heard from everybody. Outside of our church, people are talking about it. Guess what? It's a known established fact. He says, I don't even need to have a meeting. I have judged already. You say, why is this important? I remember at Verity Baptist Church, there was somebody who got kicked out of church and this was someone who was at church who caused so many problems and then all of a sudden when they got kicked out, they said, you know what? They tried to criticize Pastor Jimenez and say, well, we had to have a meeting between one or two people and then bring it before the church and have like this courtroom situation where I say my side and he says his side and we verify the evidence. Where's that in the Bible? Paul says, I have judged already when I was absent. How was he able to do that? Because it was commonly reported. Let me tell you something. When there is a godly church or godly pastor who kicks someone out and he says, you know what? All this stuff happened. They're kicked out of church. I will trust the pastor who's godly and trust he made the right decision. You say why? Because you don't always want to air out all this dirty laundry to everybody. My personal standpoint is this, that if we have to remove someone from church, I want them to have a free chance to start somewhere else and serve God. But it can come to the point where you know what? Too much stuff has happened here. We gave you chances. You didn't listen. I've judged already. Nothing's changing. We've established what the Bible says. You're guilty. And you know what? You can serve God somewhere else and we won't go and tell everybody about it. Because I'm trying to be long suffering, give people a chance, right? But then when you do this, people could also accuse you of being weak or whatever. And that's what they accuse Paul of. They accuse you of being weak and then also being harsh. But he says, you know what? I've judged already. He's like, I didn't have to be present. I don't have to be there to see with my own eyes the adultery happening, right? I mean, do you have to have someone have a video camera and a video evidence of him cheating with his father's wife? No, it's known by everybody. Everybody knows it. And he says, you know what? I have judged already. But here's what you have to realize with the church of Corinth, that even though he judges already and this guy's kicked out of church, did you know that that same person ended up getting accepted back to church? You say, why? This person got right with God. And he is accepted back in the book of 2 Corinthians. And you know what? It's all forgotten. Did you notice how they didn't stone him to death? Do they know he's guilty? Absolutely. They have the evidence this man is guilty. It's well known he's sleeping with his father's wife, but they do not kill him, even though that's what God's law says. You say, why? Because we live under a government and we don't make those choices. So absolutely, we preach hard about what the law should be. But we also realize that nobody, no government is perfectly following what the laws of the Bible say. And that will never take place until the millennial reign of Christ. Go back to Leviticus chapter 20. Leviticus chapter 20. So look, we say these things and we preach these things, and the news would accuse us of trying to rile up and cause these fights. It's like, no, I mean, I'm pretty sure in the same sermons we also say, you know what? I mean, I'm the same person who preaches and people are offended about this, but I think we ought to abide by what the government says about what we're supposed to wear on our faces. You say, why? Because that's the law of the land. And I'll be honest with you. I find it interesting. I've noticed many of these hardcore pro-liberty people on Facebook that are supposedly like-minded have deleted me as a friend on Facebook. And I'm sure that's the reason why. Because of the fact I believe in not being rebellious against your government as long as they don't tell you to sin. Now, look, I don't always agree with everything that the government's going to say, and nobody does. But you know what? The Bible says you're supposed to obey authority unless they ask you to sin. Okay? Just as I expect my son to obey me, even if he doesn't agree with what I say, we're supposed to obey the authorities in our lives. Good luck surviving on a job if you don't obey your boss. Your boss tells you to do something and you don't listen. You're getting fired in a week. And that's why at a young age, we teach our kids, hey, obey the authority. And look, if we don't teach people to obey the authorities in their lives, the God-given authorities, you know what's going to happen? There's a good chance they won't obey this authority either, right? That is why I believe we should obey authority. Why? Because it runs this way in everywhere in your lives. I mean, if I stand up here and say that wives are supposed to obey their husbands, even if they don't agree, then the same thing applies for another authority. Obey your boss, even if you don't agree. Obey your parents, even if you don't agree. Obey the government, if you don't agree, as long as they don't ask you to sin, okay? That's what the Bible teaches. But you know, we don't take the law into our own hands. You say, why? Because it's the government's decision what they do. Notice what it says in Leviticus chapter 20, verse 12. Leviticus chapter 20, verse 12. Man, this is the sort of sermon that's going to offend everybody, right? I mean, the unsaved people are going to say, man, you're just making void the law. Just go out and do whatever you want. And then some will say, well, you're being wicked and evil. And then other people that are saved are just like, how dare you say we have to obey the government and all this stuff? Well, you know, if you're going to upset one person, just upset everybody, everybody in one sermon, right? Just get everybody from this to this to this to this. This is what the Bible says. We're showing you what the Bible says. Leviticus chapter 20, verse 12. And if a man lie with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall be surely, shall surely be put to death. They have wrought confusion. Their blood shall be upon them. And so the Bible says, if you sleep with your daughter-in-law, then you have the death penalty. Look, these are weird sins. It's like sleeping with your daughter-in-law. It's like, why would you even think about doing that? I mean, can you imagine your son marry somebody and then you sleep with your son's wife? Like, you know, like what in the world? I mean, these are weird sins, okay, that are being committed. And the Bible says, you know what, God does not come soft on crime. He says, this is the death penalty. It's weird. And here's the thing, when you allow any sins and don't punish them, things are going to get worse and worse and worse. Bad people will say, man, if I can get away with this, I'll try this. If I can get away with this, I'll try this. If I can get away with this, I might as well do this. And it gets worse and worse and worse and worse in a society. See, preaching hard against sin, that actually cleans things up. When you come hard on crime, it cleans things up. Do you realize that people that commit murder would be less likely to do it if they realized they got the death penalty for doing it? Right? I mean, if pedophiles realized they would be put to death rather than being moved to another parish, moved to another Catholic church to molest other kids, if they realized they got the death penalty when people found out, you know what would happen? They'd stop doing it. Why? Because they'd be punished for it. I mean, did you realize in the millennial reign of Christ, it's going to be a wonderful place to live? You say, but all the laws are so strict. And guess what? People aren't going to be doing those things as much. You're not even going to have to be afraid. I mean, the Bible says in the millennial reign of Christ that you're going to beat your swords and what, plowshares and your pruning hooks? I mean, it basically talks about you get rid of your weapons. Why would you get rid of your weapons? They're not needed. They're not needed during the millennial reign of Christ. You say, why? Because God's going to deal with the problems, right? That's what the Bible teaches. Now look at Leviticus chapter 20, and look, these are all bad sins. And in general, people at least kind of agree with this, like, yes, it's super weird to sleep with your father's wife. It's super weird to sleep with your daughter-in-law. And look, obviously the other is going to be true. If a woman slept with her son-in-law, it's the same thing as a guy sleeping with his daughter-in-law, stuff like that. And let me just say this, that some of these things seem really bizarre. But I know somebody in West Virginia that this was a true case with them, where this girl was dating a guy and, you know, the guy slept with her mom and they ended up getting married later. It's just like, what in the world? You say, why does God have these laws here? Because these things actually happen in real life. I mean, it's bizarre. You got the Mormons, the ones that still believe in polygamy, because they thought it was an everlasting covenant. And you got these Mormons, the fundamentalist Latter-day Saints, and they're married to a woman and her daughter. They're married to lots of people in the same family. It's like, man, they married the mom, all five daughters, all the cousins. It's like, what in the world? It's like, God has these laws. You know why? Because people actually commit these things. It's bizarre. It's wicked. But you know what? There is the death penalty, the Bible says. Leviticus chapter 20 verse 13, if a man also lie with mankind as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. And so the Bible says, you know what? There is the death penalty for sodomy, for homosexuality, for a man with a man or a woman with a woman. Now, once again, we're not going out and trying to put these things into action, because as I've already preached, that is the government's decision what they do. We go out and get people saved. That's what we teach. But you know what? There are things that deserve the death penalty, and this is God's law. And all these things are going to be in the law until all be fulfilled. And look, until heaven and earth pass, which is Revelation chapter 21, should these things still be the law today? Absolutely. And in the millennial reign of Christ, these will be the law. Turn to Matthew 5, Matthew 5, Matthew chapter 5. You say, I don't know, Brother Stuckey, it seems so harsh. Yeah, but here's the thing. When you make sin exceeding sinful, it causes people not to commit these crimes. Now, some of the things we mentioned here are things you'd expect a reprobate to do. But you know, people can not be reprobates and still commit adultery. People can be saved. You say, how do you know that? Well, David in the Bible. Right? David committed adultery. And so people can commit these wicked sins. And you know what? You have to preach it. Why? Because it's in the Bible for a reason, because otherwise people will commit these things. Matthew chapter 5 verse 19, Matthew 5 verse 19, whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. And you know what the Bible says here in Matthew chapter 5 verse 19 is that basically when somebody breaks even the least of the commandments, even the smallest commandment in the Bible and tells other people, it's okay, you're welcome to do it. That person, if he's saved, he's going to be the least in the kingdom of heaven. You know, it's funny because here in the Philippines, I've heard of many Baptist pastors where it's openly known they committed adultery on their spouse. And it's not something where it's like, oh, you know, that's just a rumor. No, no, no, no. It's established. Okay. It's commonly reported that they committed adultery. And with some of them, it's like, oh, it's commonly reported they've committed adultery many times. Oh, but they're called of God. So they're still the pastor because they were called of God. They got that special calling. So no matter what they do, they're still qualified. Well, according to the Bible, they deserve the death penalty. God's law didn't change. Now, obviously, we don't establish that here on I mean, we don't put that into force because that's the government's choice. But it's like these wicked sins and there are Baptist pastors that are saying, hey, it's no big deal. Yeah, it's wrong. But everybody's told a lie before. It's like, yeah, but not everyone's committed adultery. And it's like, look, not everybody is a pastor in a position where, yeah, because here's the thing. If you commit adultery, you'd get kicked out of church for that. Does that mean that person can't come back? No, they can come back if they get it right. But how would you still be qualified to be the pastor if you've committed a sin like adultery and it's known? No, you're kicked out. You're done. You're removed. Can you still serve God? Yeah. You know what? That's what happened after he committed adultery. And people say, well, David was still the king. Yeah, but he wasn't a pastor. Do you understand the difference? Yeah, he was still the king and he was still able to serve God. But guess what? He wasn't a pastor because if a pastor commits those sins, he is no longer a pastor. He's done. But he was called of God. Hey, it may be that God wanted that person to be a pastor, but once they commit those sins, they're done. You can disqualify yourself according to the Bible. And you've got Baptist pastors that are basically committing these sins and they don't preach hard against anything. I mean, isn't that true with most of the churches you came from? Did they establish the law at your churches? Did they preach hard against sin? And look, you know, we preached in Leviticus 20 about these really wicked sins that I hope nobody's guilty of. But you know what? We're also going to preach a sermon series on getting rid of the small sins of your life like lusting after women, sins of the eyes and things like that. You say, why? We established the law at Verity Baptist Church. And the average Baptist Church, they make salvation confusing and they don't establish the law. You say, well, how does this work? Why is it that the same churches that teach you have to live a good life to go to heaven, why wouldn't they be preaching really hard against sin? Well, let me explain it to you like this. You know, the Mormons will always say, be therefore perfect as your father, which is in heaven is perfect. It's like, well, you got to be perfect. Okay, that's what they say. Now perfect in the Bible means complete as it is anyway. But they say, be therefore perfect. And they preach a very hardcore work salvation. They don't deny that. See, with Baptist churches, they teach a work salvation, but they pretend to preach salvation by grace through faith. The Mormons preach a work salvation and they admit they preach a work salvation, right? Because here's the thing. In the Bible, it says salvation by grace through faith, not of works. In the Book of Mormon, I think it's second Nephi 25, three or 25, 23 or something. It says grace, comma, after all that you can do, they define the grace of God as doing as much as you can do, and God will cover the rest. I think it's second Nephi 25, three or second Nephi 25, 23. I could be wrong on that, but, you know, look it up, grace, comma, after all that you can do. So they redefine grace as works in the Book of Mormon. Now here's the thing. Mormons claim they believe the King James Bible, but they believe the Book of Mormon is above the Bible if there's a contradiction. So they don't really believe the Bible. But here's the thing about this. They teach you got to live a good life and be therefore perfect and everything like that. And look, I had a very good friend of mine who was a Mormon in college. And I'll tell you what, the same church that teaches you got to be therefore perfect, they just don't consider anything a sin. They don't consider it wrong to listen to rock music. They don't consider it wrong to watch worldly and wicked movies. And you say, why? Because when you have a ridiculous standard that you got to be perfect to go to heaven, do you know what you do? Instead of raising your standard, you just bring down what's a sin and nothing's a sin anymore. That's the reality. And the same people that teach work salvation, they don't live a holier life. Now look about, we are all sinners and we all deserve hell and we are all guilty. But you know, the truth is that at this church, we live godlier lives than the people teaching work salvation in general. Now I understand a large church, there's exceptions, we understand that. But in general, we live godlier lives, okay, because we established the law around here. What they do is this. They know they can't live a perfect life. They just change everything and say it's not a sin. They can watch whatever and look at whatever and listen to whatever. And there's a song that blasphemes God's name, and they will listen to it and say it's no big deal. And you're like, man, I wouldn't listen to that. Or I would at least feel guilty about listening to that. What do they do? They just say it's not a sin. So the same churches that teach work salvation, they are also the same churches that lessen what sin actually is. You say why? They want to justify themselves. But a church that actually truly preaches salvation by grace through faith, it is the same church that establishes the law. And I'm not just saying our church. You will find this with any church that preaches salvation by grace through faith that actually teaches salvation is a free gift that does not mix in works at all. By and large, you're going to find that same church also preaches hard against sin. Why? Because the same church that preaches hard against sin is the same ones that establish the law. Let's close in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here in your house here today and getting to see your word and help us to understand this as a church. Why we run church the way we do and preach the sermons we preach, even if people might get offended from time to time and things like that. And help us always to be a church that zealously goes soul winning, zealously preaches salvation by grace through faith and never makes it in the gray area or confusing and also zealously establishes the law and preaches all of the Bible and establishes the things that you have in your word that we should God help us to understand these things in Jesus name. Amen.