Gooding, David: 1 - General Overview

I was saying that it is very kind and generous of you to invite me along and to give me six whole sessions, uh, to lead your thoughts on the Epistle to the Romans. Of course, it is obvious that in six sessions we shall not be able even to begin to discuss the manifold detail of this glorious epistle. Uh, we shall be obliged to select, somewhat arbitrarily, certain of its major themes, and with an added generosity, you've allowed me to do the choosing of what those major themes shall be. So then tonight, I wish to start by what the Americans would call an overview of this epistle, and the way I opt is this, is to begin somewhere near the beginning, to select one of the major themes, to follow that major theme through until it reaches its natural climax, and then to start on the, uh, second theme of the book. So without further ado, let's take our Bibles in hand and turn to the Epistle to the Romans and chapter one, Wherein Paul tells us at the very beginning exactly what his theme is going to be. He tells us he is going to write about the gospel, separated as he is unto the gospel of God. And then, in his famous words, verse sixteen of this same chapter one, he says, I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. He is not ashamed of this gospel, for it actually works. It does manage to save people, and for that reason he is not ashamed of it. It is the power of God unto salvation. And if we inquire what is the secret of this gospel, why is it that it manages actually to work and save people, then Paul immediately gives us the answer to the question in verse seventeen. For therein is revealed a righteousness of God by faith unto faith, as it is written, that the righteous shall live by faith. And therein lies its secret, says Paul, you see. All those philosophies, all those gospels, if they can rightly be called so, that make man's salvation depend on his own effort, and fall down. Salvation by works does not work. And what makes Paul so bold about this gospel is that it does work because it is founded on this altogether different principle. It is a gospel that shows us how to be right with God, not upon the basis of our strivings, but on the basis of faith. But with that, I want to stop this, uh, eloquent apostle in his tracks, you'll see, and say, but half a moment, Master Paul, if you would not mind. You are telling us so boldly that you're not ashamed of this gospel because it is the power of God unto salvation, and it works because it is founded on the principle of faith. Ah, but wait a minute, would you not tell us, uh, the prior question, Paul, why do we need salvation? Why do we need your gospel, dear good man Dorsey? Oh. If you ask Paul, why, why do I need to be saved? Then Paul will give a number of answers in the course of the ensuing chapters. But pray let us now notice the first of the reasons that he lists, why we men and women need to be saved. And the answer is to be found in verse eighteen as he continues his introduction. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness. There stands number one reason why men and women need to be saved. Granted that for many years now it has not necessarily been a very and highly popular, uh, thing to preach upon. It isn't, as they say, user friendly to gather a whole congregation of people, uh, together and then tell them to their face that they are in danger of the wrath of God. Isn't a way to get the congregation to come back again, so they say. But tonight we are concerned with what Paul actually says. Not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, because it is the power of God to unto salvation, and we need to be saved. Number one reason, because we stand under the wrath of God. Notice with me now, if you will please, how having broached that topic of the wrath of God, how Paul continues it in the chapters that follow. Verse eighteen of chapter one, the verb is in the present tense, the wrath of God is revealed. It is already being revealed. And when we come to study the detail tomorrow, if God will, we shall see the evidence that Paul gives, eh, of the fact that that wrath is being revealed. It is not only being revealed presently, but it will be revealed in a day to come, says chapter two and verse five— verse four and five. Despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance, but after thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up for thyself wrath in the day of wrath, and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Very solemn words with which to begin a letter to your friends, for that was what Paul was doing, was he not? Not only is the wrath of God being revealed from time to time in God's providential government of the universe, but there is coming the great day of his wrath, when God will summon mankind before him and, as the verse puts it, uh, subject them to his righteous judgment. And then verse eight reminds us of something exceedingly solemn again. The penalties that will be pronounced on those that fail to pass his scrutiny. But unto them that are factious and obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness, shall be wrath and indignation. And that is how the scriptures would give us to believe eternally. Paul is not yet finished with the topic, even with that. Let us notice, for instance, in, uh, uh, chapter, uh, three, uh, chapter three, verse five, Raising here a question with which doubtless he was faced in many a synagogue and in many a marketplace as he preached and allowed his audience to come back at him with all kinds of objections and questions. Here he quotes as a somebody saying, but if our unrighteousness commendeth the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who visiteth with wrath? God forbid. So that Paul raises the whole question whether it is right of God, whether it is fair of God to exercise wrath against weak and feeble humankind. There are questions that still rise in our minds when we hear the topic raised, are they not? What is an almighty God doing? Getting wroth with us, little bits of clay that appear on this planet such a, for such a very short time in all our frailty, and then are gone. And the wicked and ungodly say, why doesn't he take one of his own size and get wroth with them? Why with us? There are questions that we must leave for the moment, for tomorrow, and press on with our topic, which is to gather the, um, the, this theme that is running through, as you'll see. It occurs again in chapter four, where Paul is in process of discu- of discussing upon what terms our believers, not only justified, but if you please, promised worldwide inheritance? And if somebody says, ah, well now, yes, that becomes possible if, um, we sinners really put our backs into it and make up our minds to keep God's law, then perhaps we could persuade God to be less wrathful. In fact, we might even prevail upon him to give us this glorious inheritance that scripture from time to time promises. But that's a false hope, says Paul. Verse fourteen of chapter four: For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise is made of none effect. For the law worketh wrath. But where there is no law, neither is there transgression. Faced with the fact that as sin- sinners, sinful human beings, we stand under the wrath of God. The law, Paul points out, cannot help us. The law merely increases the wrath, as its effect is to show that we come short. That fact that God's holy law in the end does but demonstrate that we are sinners, and therefore aggravates the divine displeasure against us, is a lesson so important and so fundamental and so easily overlooked. That God spent centuries, um, demonstrating it. Let's go back to chapter three, shall we, in verse nineteen. Now we know that what things soever the law says, it speaks to them that are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God. Because by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for through the law cometh the knowledge of sin. The law then cannot help us to escape God's rule. Indeed, God has given his law in some sense, not that we should be saved by it, but to bring us to stand in thought and imagination before his judgment bar already, and face the fact that there's nothing we can say for ourselves. We have come short in the past. We have sinned. We still do come short of the glory of God. The law then. But of course, again, as we shall study when we come to this passage tomorrow, there is a way of salvation. And the second half of chapter three and the whole of chapter 4 are geared and designed to tell us this joyful and glorious news. God has devised a way of saving us. What from, you say? Why, saving us from the guilt of our sin, and therefore from that wrath. That salvation, of course, is through Jesus Christ, and through what is here described as his propitiation, his appeasement of God's wrath. Of that more anon in another session. Let's come now to the wonderful, joyful, glorious, positive statement, radiant with hope and glory, chapter five and verses eight and nine. God commendeth his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through him. There is our theme, arbitrarily selected maybe, but there is our theme coming now to its natural climax, having shown us that all mankind stands under the wrath of God, and having announced to us and described to us the wonderful salvation there is in Christ. Here comes this heart-bursting, glorious statement, positive with assurance. Every believer shall be saved from the wrath of God through him. We notice the tense of the verb. It is not that up to the moment we have been saved, but watch out how you behave, lest, uh, you fall from that grace and incur God's wrath at the end. The verb is future. Much more shall we be saved from the wrath of God through him. You'll see, if we have been justified, and we are certain of that, then says this climax of the Holy Spirit's argument. If you have been justified, you sure about that? You, you, you've been justified by faith, yeah? Well, you can be much more sure of the next bit. You shall be saved from the wrath of God through him. While we're at it, therefore, we could afford just a second or two to sit back in our seats, take a deep breath and sigh of relief, and say it was- isn't going to be so gloomy as I thought when he began and all that, and then, uh, enjoy this climax. Why shouldn't we? For it talks of our final salvation in utterly certain terms. And then it hints to the wonderful glory that lies ahead. Look at chapter five and verse two. Not only have we had access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, but we are to rejoice in the certain expectation and hope of the glory of God. That'll warm your heart, surely. It's not merely that we have at last somehow, by some miracle of God's grace and condescension, escaped his wrath and come creeping in like some nervous worm into the celestial palace, in case anybody notices that we're there, do they? No, no, not only saved from wrath, that we may be confident even now, one day we shall attain the very glory of God. If you ask me at this moment, what is the glory of God, I shall reply very briefly. It's that we w- of which we come short now, do you see? Chapter three says we all have sinned, and we still do come short of the glory of God, all the standard of his perfection. One day we shall attain it. No wonder Paul was not ashamed of this gospel. One other point of this great climax, shall we not notice as we go by? You will see, here comes for the first time in this epistle a magnificently spelt out description of the love of God. Oh, why not? I know it's Friday night, but then Friday night when we're all feeling weary, why shouldn't we indulge ourselves a little bit, and sit back and for a moment revel in the magnificent wonders of the love of God? You'll see it says here that the love of God, verse five— uh hope put us not to shame because the love of God, meaning not our love for God, poor as that often is, but God's love for us. That love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. I like the metaphor. The Holy Spirit is a divine person, but on times the New Testament uses the a metaphor as though he were some liquid. And it says here that the Holy Spirit gets the love of God, and he pours it out in our hearts, like a man might take a tumbler of water and pour it out on the ground. And you know what water does if you've watched it, don't you? It goes here and then appears to stop and suddenly go whoop like that, and it's gone somewhere else. And here again, it's found a cranny, and before you know where you are, when you spilt the milk on the floor, it's covered the whole kitchen floor, hasn't it, water? So does the Holy Spirit delight to take the love of God and pour it out in our cold, frozen, twisted, doubting, cynical, unbelieving hearts. All of their fears and doubts and neuroses, and it begins to pour out the love of God in those selfsame hearts, little by little, as over the years it fills the nooks and the crannies. And gives us confidence that we are accepted with God. Why shouldn't we enjoy it unashamedly and unabashedly? Enjoy, sit back and enjoy the love of God for us who were miserable sinners that once stood under his wrath. But I must resist a common temptation to preach, and, uh, do say I must be more sober. If you ask Paul why we need to be saved, certainly the first answer will be because of the wrath of God. That's why you need to be saved first. But then he has a second reason, of course. And he begins to develop that reason in chapter five and verse twelve. And on it I have put, on that little sheet of paper you have been given, the general title of the wreckage of Adam's sin. By one man's disobedience, sin entered into the world, and death by sin. And so also death passed upon all men, because all have sinned. The wreckage caused by Adam's sin. Now that's another reason, isn't it? Linked, of course, with the first, but not exactly the same thing as the first, as we shall presently see. First, we stood under the wrath of God and need to be saved from that. And then, of course, we need to be saved from the wreckage of Adam's sin, don't we? For God could have, uh, forgiven us so that we were sure that we no longer stood under his wrath and left us wrecks, couldn't he? And invented some place in his universe for old time wrecks, you know. Hm. Not so God. God has an answer too, to the wreckage of Adam's sin, and we sorely need to be saved from that. Adam's sin has involved the human race in a number of serious burdensome, wearisome, cruel tyrannies, bondages, slaveries. Look at chapter five, verse twenty one, and catch out that little phrase that as sin reigned in death. Oh, what a fascist dictator sin is, isn't it? What? Why isn't there ever one woman at least, one man who manages to rise up and put his fist in the face of sin and say, I'm not going to yield, and I won't. Why isn't there one day in seven, one day a year, one year, one day in ten years, or some of you one day in eighty years, and you didn't sin? All for the wreckage, oh Adam sin. The tyranny of sin upon all his successors. And not only that, but the tyranny of death. Look at verse seventeen. For if by the trespass of the one death reigned like some great Indian juggernaut. You may try to resist its rolling on, but you'll find it. Death, the irresistible tyrant. It will deal with us one of these days, won't it? Unless the Lord come. The wreckage of Adam's sin will say we better hurry up and polish our shoes then, and, and uh, uh, uh, and comb our hair and pull our spiritual socks up and uh, start keeping God's holy law. Well, you could have a go if you like, but you mustn't suppose that's going to break the tyranny of sin or death either. In fact, not to put too fine a point on it, God's holy law itself becomes a tyrant. You'll say, chapter seven and verse one talks about the law of marriage. Now, I take back all my words. There's no tyranny there, is there? So I am told. I haven't any firsthand knowledge, but, uh, so I am told. But, uh, uh, Paul is just making a point, you say, that, uh, the law of marriage has dominion. You can't or you shouldn't get out of it. So long as the other partner lives. That's how it was with God's law. Well, so you try to keep God's law earnestly and genuinely, and you manage to keep, uh, three percent of it, perhaps one year, and you say next year, which I shall improve perhaps to four and a half percent, and have hopes eventually. By the time you get fifty six, you're saying, well, you haven't even got halfway, and some days it's going like going backwards. You say, well, get fed up with this law a bit, you know. I think I'll ditch that and go into... You'll do what, says the law? Pardon me? You propose to ditch me? Oh no, you don't. You can't just walk out of the law like that. Anymore, of course, you could the law of England if you are given to stealing and you couldn't help yourself, and for the hundredth time you were out on bail and you stole, you see, motor car or something, and you say, I'm just getting fed up with trying to keep the law. I can't keep it, so I think I'll ditch it. No, you won't. If ever we're going to be set free from the law, it will require the most drastic method, which is the death of God's own son. But more of that and on. The three great tyrannies of sin and death and the law. That, uh, push us ever further into the mud. When we come to chapter, uh, 7, you'll see the depth of the anguish that it caused Paul and has caused many more people in the course of their lives. Oh, wretched man that I am. I don't want to do the horrible, nasty things. I despise myself for doing them. Why do I do them? It is a tyranny, isn't it? Oh, thank God. God has taken notice of the fact that we need salvation not only from his roar. We need salvation from the wreckage of Adam's sin. And in chapter eight, Paul pushes his message home, doesn't he? The wreckage. He says, you see, that creation herself was subject to futility, to vanity, frustration, always being thwarted. Even we who have the first fruits of the spirit grown within ourselves, be it with arthritis or heart attacks or whatever it is. Then all these pressures and stresses of living in a society marred by sin. We groan within ourselves. Living in a creation, a creation that's blighted. The wreckage. Ah, but here comes the glorious gospel. God has a salvation from that very wreckage. And for time's sake, just let's concentrate on the great climax here in chapter eight. Not only shall we one day be delivered from death, the very Holy Spirit already within us will transform our mortal bodies. The blessed Lord Jesus will come. We wait for him from heaven to redeem us and to save our very bodies, and we're going to have bodies like unto the Lord Jesus. And important as that is, more important are the people that will go inside the bodies. And chapter eight, as it comes to its climax of God's salvation from a wreckage of sin, talks about our one day being conformed to the very image of God's own son. And then, as the excitement mounts, not only us, little us, but creation herself shall be delivered from her bondage to corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. Salvation from the wreckage. And while we allow ourselves in passing to enjoy the prospect, shall we notice another interesting thing? As Paul comes to this climax, once more he cannot forbear celebrating the love of God and the love of Christ. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And nobody really minds, do you think, Paul repeating himself like that? That's how he finished the first climax, wasn't he? What a, with a tremendous, uh, statement of the love of God, poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. And now, as he comes to this next major climax of his work, deliverance from the wreckage of sin, his heart bursts open with a flood of joy and gratitude and glory at the wonder of the love of God and the love of Christ. Not all the vast powers of the universe, nor all the disorderly intelligences and powers of the angelic and the demonic world. Not even death itself, that dark funeral undertaker shall be able to separate us from the love of God. Already we have a something that is rising out of the ruins and is going to last. It's good, isn't it? Of course it is. Uh, but now let's pause. It's about time we had a pause, isn't it? And uh, look at the little sum. Just to fix it in our minds, we'll say that there are these, uh, two reasons why we need to be saved. Oh. I'll get the acetate straight if I can. If I can't get my doctrine straight. Is that right? No, is that right? Yes. It's a bit that way. Well, tell me good. You'll say, yes. But to come back to the point at hand, two reasons why we need to be saved. The wrath of God on the one side and the wreckage of Adam's sin on the other. It is of tremendous practical importance that we shall see those two reasons. It is important for us who try to explain the gospel to other people. It is important to those who have a pastoral care for people. It, of course, basically important for us all because we need salvation to make sure we've got it the right way round. It is nowadays, when I, well, let me start earlier than that, the the the beginning of this century, just after Victoria, the Queen, died and so on, uh, uh, when I was around, uh, do say the preachers mostly concentrated on this, and in some quarters of the earth and some provinces of the land, you'll see they did it to abundance. Uh, preaching the, uh, wrath of God solemnly and earnestly, and made people quake in their shoes, you'll see, and as, uh, scripture has it, to flee for refuge. You'll see. In more recent times, that has become perhaps a little old fashioned, and people are heard nowadays more commonly preaching this second reason, and that is understandable, isn't it? Because so many people's lives are wrecked anyway, and because they realize it, they don't mind it being pointed out. The marriage has gone on the rocks. Teenagers and others involved in drugs, and businessmen caught out in shady deeds. And the tensions have rise. And people's lives, yes, they'll admit in the end, so many of them damaged great. And it makes a very proper and right, doesn't it, entry to, and what a glory and privilege it is to be able to come alongside people and tell them that there is a savior from the wreckage of sin. And of course, there's nothing wrong if you, if you're dealing in a personal way with people or preaching the gospel to begin with this reason rather than this reason. Like our blessed Lord, in his conversations with individuals, he normally began at the place where they were already at. But in our modern day, we shall need to have care over this, because if we concentrate altogether on this second reason for salvation and forget this first one, then little by little, the second reason, if we're not careful, will get out of focus. And then instead of helping people to come to the glorious assurance and experience of salvation and of the love of God, we shall leave people still uncertain. Why do we need to preach both? And when it comes to our doctrine, why do we need to put this matter of the wrath of God first, rather than the wreckage of sin first? Let me, if I may, use a simple, uh, well-worn analogy. Here, if you can imagine him, is a young gentleman, and he has this most beautiful Jaguar E-Type, or its modern equivalent. It is a magnificent machine, you'll see. Ultra modern in its shape. Mm. But, to tell the truth, he's a bit of a stupid young gentleman, like some are, not many, but some, yes. And, uh, he takes no real care of it, you know, he's doing seventy miles an hour along the motorway and decides to put it in reverse just to see what happens, you'll say. He doesn't pump the tires up and put oil in the where it should go in, wherever that is in the car, you'll say. And aha, and keep the tires pumped up. And one night, having had enough drink to make him a confident, he smashes the thing into a concrete block and just about shatters it to pieces. And, uh, managing to get out more or less unscathed, his head clears in the cool night out, you see, and he stands in the middle of this wreck and begins to see what a fool he has been to wreck a beautiful modern Jaguar E-Type or whatever. While he is trying to digest the reality that he's made a wreck of the thing, another thought suddenly strikes him. The Jaguar doesn't belong to him anyway. He was lent it by a senior friend. Now what? Well, uh, the answer comes immediately. The first answer is keep clear of that friend for as long as you possibly can. Hush it up, don't let the press report it, and keep it from the friend that he's made a horrible mess of his jet. And then, where can he find a a good mechanic who's good at mending broken cars, you see. How can we get it to him and persuade him to take the job on and to restore the Jaguar? Until, well, even if he can't get it a hundred percent better, uh, you know, rebuild enough so that when he met the, um, owner of the thing, he'd say, you know what, the other month I had a little spill in this and damaged the mudguard a bit, but I, I, I, I, I, I, you know, I know it's not perfect, but um, I've done my best to put it right, and the owner will say, well, yes, it isn't like it should be, but nevertheless, you've done your best, I'll check. We'll forgive. Yeah. You know, a lot of folks think of Jesus Christ like that. They wake up, realize they have um, wrecked their life. They wake up because conscience tells themselves that there is a God. They didn't make themselves. One day they shall have to stand before God. And the next reaction is, well, let's put that off as long as we can. Oh. And what about this Jesus Christ? We've heard that he's good at, uh, patching up, uh, broken lives. Uh, I wonder whether Jesus Christ could do anything about patching up my life. And their idea is this, that he's like the heaven in the camp. That now, little by little, if they cooperate with him, they can mend their lives and put them right till, well, by the time they pass from this world and have to stand before God, well, yes, they won't be perfect, but, um, more or less near enough, you know, well, at least seventy five percent. And God will say, well, I've been watching you, didn't know I was watching, did you? But you've done jolly well to put it right, you know, I don't quite succeed it, but you'll do. But all the while, while they're trying to put it right, by the help of Jesus Christ indeed, they're never in their hearts certain that God will accept, that they've done enough to put it right. And therefore the question of whether they will or will not ultimately be accepted in the heavenly garage has to remain uncertain. Oh, what a tragedy that version of the gospel is. It isn't the gospel. How much better to face the gospel as Paul enunciates it, and before we start putting the wreckage right, let's face this matter of the wrath of the car owners. And the gospel is this, you don't have to wait to put the wreckage right. In God's great and almost incredible mercy, you can come as you are. You can bid God come and stand beside you as you stand amidst the wreckage of life. God will never say it doesn't matter. But God will point you to a Christ. And the first thing he did for you was not to try and put the wreckage right. He suffered for you. The wrath against of God against what you've done. And Markazi offered himself as the great propitiatory sacrifice to bear the wrath of God in your face. You can be accepted here, now, at once, standing amidst the wreck, and be forgiven, and justified, and at peace with God. Oh, what a gospel is that? And then you will perceive, of course, that Gu- Christ will go on to put the wreckage right. But now it's not a question you must put it right and wait to know whether you will ever be accepted by God. That you could know that you are accepted by God, forgiven. All that's God's gospel. Not this mean little construction of the human mind that says we're all on probation as to whether God will eventually accept us or not, and we mustn't, uh, uh, be sure. No, because Christ has suffered for us, we may be forgiven. We can be assured that we shall be saved from the wrath of God through him. And at peace with God, go about the long, long process of putting the wreckage. Good, we better move on, heavenly, as briefly as we may. Just to finish our little survey of, um, this e- e- epistle, so to say. We come to section three of the letter. It comprises chapters eight, uh, nine, ten, and eleven, m and it is not difficult to see what the major theme of those chapters is. They are about the fact that Paul bur- was burdened with a heart breaking with sorrow because the great majority of his fellow nationals, the Jews, having heard the gospel, were persisting in their rejection of it. And the burden weighed heavily on Paul's heart. How wouldn't it? They were his own loved ones, his own loved nationals. And it can be a bitter thing, can it not, to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ and come to the conclusion in your heart, yes, this is true. If you have loved ones and relatives and fellow nationals whom you love and they reject you, then the gospel must teach you that to reject the gospel is eternal disaster. It's a very painful thing to believe, isn't it? How could you believe it without sorrow or pardon? The invocations for unconverted loved ones of the very gospel that brings us peace. But of course, there were deeper reasons why Paul must face this problem here and his statement of the gospel. What are those deeper reasons? Well, we can imagine two of them, couldn't we? At the beginning of the, the epistle, Paul tells us that the Christian gospel is about Jesus Christ, who was born of the seed of David, according to the verse. This gospel is witnessed to by the Old Testament law and prophets. That's a very important feature of our Christian gospel. Our Christian gospel is not a philosophy. Anybody who know, given a sufficient sense, of course, uh, uh, can invent a philosophy. Some men have managed to do, all the, the Platos and the Aristophanes of this world, and two others. The Christian gospel isn't a philosophy. In that sense, you couldn't invent it. It is a culmination of a great, long, laborious process in history that began with a man called Abraham and proceeded down the centuries as God revealed himself to Abraham and his successors and made promise after promise after promise, reaching David and the successive kings, adding thereto the promises of the prophets. The gospel claims that Jesus Christ is the culmination of that great, long Old Testament, uh, period of preparation, and that you can tell he is the Messiah because he fulfills the promises made in the prophets. Indeed, it is the claim that the, uh, nation of Israel among the nations was specially chosen that he should witness in the first place to the one true God against all forms of idolatrous interpretations of the universe. And secondly, that Israel should stand as a pointer pointing to the coming promised one, God's great Messiah, his suffering servant, the redeemer and savior of the world. That is the Christian gospel. The embarrassing thing is that when the Lord Jesus came and claimed to be that Messiah and suffering servant and redeemer, the great majority of Israel rejected him and said he wasn't the Messiah. Now, that's easy enough for you to sit there and say, is that so, and go home to your sausages or whatever you had tonight for supper. Suppose you had been poor in the prison at Caesar's Yard, and Felix and Drusilla, having nothing better to do, uh, uh, decided, um, uh, you know, willing and invited you out for dinner or two in the, in the text. Made a change from Felix coming down to the dungeon, didn't it? Well, first he made Paul a good dinner or so. And, um, and, and after the main dish, as the sweets were put on, they met Paul now. This, uh, this, um, this, uh, whatever this is that you believe, Paul. Tell me a bit about that. Uh, uh, you say, don't you, that, uh, this, this Jesus, was his name? This Jesus, um, um, you know, there were a lot of prophecies about him, Paul, in, uh, in your holy book. Yeah, that's right, uh, that is right, uh, yeah. Ah. Yeah, that's a very interesting thing, that is true. All right, you can show me any of those prophecies and tell me which one it is. Well, there's this one, uh, you'll see, Gama, there's this one in, uh, um, uh, uh, Isaiah fifty three. Tell me, says Felix, uh, Paul Walshet, are there many rabbis in Israel that think like you do? I mean, if I took this, this, this prophet Isaiah, you say, it sounds what you say sounds good, but if I took eh the prophet to the rabbis in Jerusalem, would they agree with your interpretation of it? Well, well, not exactly, uh, so no, your highness, no, they wouldn't, no, no. Not more, not many of them. Well, how many? I mean, how many of the rabbis agree with you, Paul, that you've got the right interpretation and Jesus does fulfill the prophecy? Uh, how many rabbis? Uh. Well, how many? Well, there, there's uh, Nicodemus. Yes. He was quite a good theologian, wasn't he? Yes. Uh, anybody else? Well... Well, no. Well, there was um, Joseph of Arimathea. Well, he wasn't a rabbi, actually, he was a member of the Sanhedrin. Yes. Uh, how many more? Well, quite a number of priests, uh, governor. Yes, but rabbis. Well, actually, uh, not many. Well, what would you say? I mean, uh, uh, a majority is against you, big majorities, or ninety percent perhaps? Well, I'm afraid so. Well, who are these people that agree with you? Well, it's Peter. Well, who is he? Well, he was a fisherman, you know. Oh, I said yes, yes, yes. Well, have some more olives, and yes. Is the coffee to your taste? Um, I, I thought we'd have to listen to a little music tonight, Paul. What would you have said if you had been talking to me? Yeah. You don't have an answer. Your gospel isn't going to sound very credible, is it? There's another thing you could think about too. I kind of listed it for you on that, uh, sheet that you have. So let's just see there. Second reason why we had to be saved is the wreckage of Adam's sin. Because Adam was the God's first creature, human creature, wasn't he? He failed and sinned and dragged down creation with him. All right. Now we come to Israel. And who were they? Well, they were the special nation, uh, chosen by God, beginning with Abraham, you see. Part of the early stage of God's great redemption for the world. That's why Abraham was called out, that in him and his seed all the nations of the world should be blessed. They were a great big move towards world redemption and the eventual coming in of the Messiah. But come now, the one thing for man, God's great creation, man to sin and break down, but the story is that God has a redemption, and God started to prepare for it with Abraham and company in Israel. Has the redemption bit broken down as well? The creations were broke, were broken down and need salvation, that is credible. But if the great first part of the process of redemption also comes out, we would have any faith in the gospel as being God's answer to the wreckage of sin. And if we're honest to our history and honest to the realities of life, we shall begin to perceive that these three chapters that deal with that question are not some irrelevant parentheses. They are so important to the statement of the Christian gospel that if they can't give an adequate answer to the problems that Israel's defection raises, then our gospel is no longer credible. It will be good for us if we can, in the brief time available tomorrow, to get a renewed grasp on the answer. We notice, however, you can't depress Paul too long at a time, you'll see, and when he comes to the final chapter in this group, he once more bursting full of praise and worship to God, announcing that in God's tremendous strategies, one day all Israel shall be saved. When is that? Why, when the Lord Jesus comes. Marvelous, isn't it? Look how that's repeating itself. The first section ended up with, um, uh, the promise of glory here, the hope of the glory of God, and this second one is ending up, ended up with the promise of the glory of God described in greater detail. And this one here, a tremendous problem of Israel, but in the end God's wisdom shall prevail. And God is not going to write off history as a failure. God is going to win. And all Israel shall be saved. And so at the end there is a great doxology of the, uh, wisdom of God. It was the love of God here, then the love of God here in this first occasion, third occasion is the, um, wisdom of God. We come to the final section, and what is that about? Well, that can be briefly dealt with because the final section is what they call the practical things. All Paul's epistles are like that. The, uh, doctrine, they say, comes first. And when you've had the doctrine, then come the practical things, you know, be kind to your mother and your dad, and, uh, treat the servants well, and that kind of thing, you see. And depending on your temperament, uh, you love the one and, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, hate the one and cleave to the other, or you cleave to the one and hate the other, you know. When I first went to live in that next to paradise where I now live, you'll see, and attended the study groups of my fellow believers, they happened to be going through Romans, and we managed to, uh, guide the ship of state through, uh, the doctrinal passages. At last we came to chapter twelve, and the first night those chapters were discussed, the united opinion of all and sundry, to my amazement, was now we're really getting at it, you'll see. Practical Christianity, that's the thing. They were very godly folks, I must say. I have to confess in my heart of hearts, you know, I prefer the doctrine thing, you see. I'm an armchair theorist, and, uh, I like the doctrine bits. Uh, when it comes down to the practical things, you know, well, as necessary, of course, I say, uh, we take them as read, so to speak. Everybody knows what they mean and should do them, and that's it. But Paul, he's got a, a whole lot of chapters here, five of them indeed, and they are practical, and they're going to tell us about the practical, uh, effects of the gospel. Just one or two things to be observed, and then, uh, we'll let you go home. You see, they are practical, there's no denying it, they are practical. But look at that for a moment. One getting straighter and stra- straighter and straighter as the days go by to him. There are some of the details of chapters twelve to sixteen, the final quarter of the book. Arbitrary selected, as arbitrary as you like, and put against some details from the first quarter of the book. Ponder them. We are to present our bodies a living sacrifice, says the practical section as it begins. I remember what chapter one said. How when got men didn't like to retain God in their knowledge, one of the early results was their dishonoring of their bodies. The result of man's rebellion against God was eventually a depraved mind. God's judgment in giving people over to a depraved mind. These chapters at the end are certainly practical, but what they're doing is showing us in what practical ways salvation cures the trouble. This is salvation here working out. The motivation behind behind man's original defection was this: knowing God, they didn't like to retain God in their knowledge, neither were thankful. Gross ingratitude. Refusal of that feeling of dependence and always having to be grateful to God, and a determination to be independent and not necessarily have to be grateful to anything or anybody. The great motivation behind Christian practical, practical behavior is that profound gratitude to God that wells up in the heart of every believer who has experienced salvation by the sacrifice of God's Son. And so it goes on. These worshipped and served the creature rather than the creator. We are to offer ourselves a living sacrifice, which is our spiritual or logical or rational service. The world is, the word is the same as this word here. And similarly, topics repeat themselves. God's wrath here, God's wrath at the hand of the magistrate here. God's final wrath, God's present temporal wrath. The question of strength of faith and what we're to do with those that been weak in faith. The question of God's judgment, the different aspects of the death of Christ. He died for us while we were yet sinners, says the first part of the book. And the last part of the book reminds us that he died for us with a determination that he should be Lord of our lives. It doesn't intend that we go on sinning. And here the question, the great Jew and Gentile question that will surface again at the end of this last bit. That's enough for now, isn't it? What do I call your attention to that for? To show the significance and the way that the last section is related to what has gone before. Not just a few practical pieces of advice tacked on to the end, but a very serious description of how the gospel of God works itself out to undo the damage of man's rebellion and sin, even now here on earth, while we are on our way to glory. And now you'll be very patient. As we go. Just look at that once more, shall we? We shall be considering a massive detail, and tomorrow you will need to bring a sizable packet of aspirins with you because by the end of the day your head will be sore and weak, you'll see. Bring a cushion if you ca- can, you'll see. And as I was in the the last church I was in, they bought their Coca-Cola and drank it halfway through the the the the session, you'll see, to survive. That was why his tactics, you'll see. But, um, aha, uh, now as we go home, let's forget the details, shall we? And think of these wonderful climaxes. The ways of God with men. Oh, my dear brethren, what shall it be when at last we get home to heaven and see the final climax of God's word, of God's work, of his gospel. Over man's foolish independence and sin, over the sorry wreckage, over the heartbreak of Israel's defection, over the pains and weariness of our mortal bodies and the frustration of human relationship. Oh, what shall it be when the Lord comes and we see the final climax of his word of grace? Then I tell you, we shall sing. Oh, how we shall sing. And here on earth, we may begin to learn the lines of the music that sings to the love of God against the wrath of God, the triumph of his love, the love of God triumphing over the wreckage of sin, the wisdom of God triumphing over the waywardness, uh, and defection of his people Israel. And finally, that old cause of so much of our misery that started his fell work in the Garden of Eden, tempting our foremother Eve, to whom was promised the glorious promise that one day shall be put into effect. The day is at hand, our salvation is nearer than when we believed, and God will one day fulfill that majestic promise. Satan's head shall be bruised beneath beneath your your feet feet, one one day day, soon. soon.