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Voddie Baucham - Zeal without Knowledge · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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  Speaker 1: Well, as we examine Romans chapters nine through eleven, we
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  Speaker 1: come to this middle chapter here in Romans chapter ten.
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  Speaker 1: Now there is a link in direct connection in that
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  Speaker 1: last paragraph in chapter nine and this first paragraph in
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  Speaker 1: chapter ten. And as we looked on last week at
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  Speaker 1: the gospel and the essence of the Gospel, on this
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  Speaker 1: week we examine how the Gospel really affects our view
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  Speaker 1: of the lost because Paul goes back to this refrain
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  Speaker 1: about Israel, but he changes his tune a bit here.
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  Speaker 1: Now he is talking about his desire that Israel might
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  Speaker 1: be saved. And so Paul is not just giving here
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  Speaker 1: a matter of fact presentation of Israel's condition. But here
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  Speaker 1: in this first paragraph in chapter ten, we see Paul's
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  Speaker 1: disposition toward and feeling about Israel's situation. Paul makes known
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  Speaker 1: to us his desire for them that they might be saved.
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  Speaker 1: So join me here in Romans chapter ten, let's examine
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  Speaker 1: these first four verses, look at the Gospel and our
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  Speaker 1: view of the lost brothers. My heart's desire and prayer
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  Speaker 1: to God for them is that they may be saved.
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  Speaker 1: For I bear them witness that they have a zeal
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  Speaker 1: for God. But not according to knowledge. For being ignorant
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  Speaker 1: of the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own,
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  Speaker 1: they did not submit to God's righteousness. For Christ is
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  Speaker 1: the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
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  Speaker 1: You'll notice there, and if you did a diagram of
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  Speaker 1: this text, you'd find this main phrase or clause and
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  Speaker 1: then clarifyers one by one by one. Let's look at
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  Speaker 1: it again. That way shall we my heart's desire and
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  Speaker 1: prayer to God for them, as that they may be said.
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  Speaker 1: There's his statement. Four. Why is that my desire? Because
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  Speaker 1: I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God,
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  Speaker 1: but not according to knowledge? Really, what do you mean
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  Speaker 1: by that? Four? Being ignorant of the righteousness of God
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  Speaker 1: and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit
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  Speaker 1: to God's righteousness? Really, how was them seeking righteousness not
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  Speaker 1: submitting to God's righteousness? Four? Christ is the end of
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  Speaker 1: the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. And he
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  Speaker 1: just told us in the previous paragraph, which was all
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  Speaker 1: about the gospel, how it is that we need to
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  Speaker 1: view Christ in relation to sin and righteousness. So in
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  Speaker 1: that last phrase he gets right back to where we
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  Speaker 1: ended in last week's paragraph. So this statement here joins
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  Speaker 1: last week's paragraph and what comes, But it also gives
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  Speaker 1: us insight into how Paul feels about it. And so
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  Speaker 1: we see there, for example, in that first verse, that
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  Speaker 1: Paul has a desire and is seeking the salvation of others.
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  Speaker 1: He desires the salvation of others, wants the salvation of others,
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  Speaker 1: seeks the salvation of others, praise for the salvation of others,
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  Speaker 1: works toward the salvation of others. Listen at it, brothers.
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  Speaker 1: My heart's desire and prayer to God for them is
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  Speaker 1: that they may be saved. That's what I want. That's
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  Speaker 1: what I pray for. That's what I am asking God for,
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  Speaker 1: that they may be saved. This is what the gospel does.
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  Speaker 1: If you understand the gospel, it transforms your view and
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  Speaker 1: your understanding of people's condition. And it ought to bring
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  Speaker 1: about a passionate desire in you for their salvation, not
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  Speaker 1: an arrogant condescension toward those who are not saved, but
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  Speaker 1: recognizing who you were and what Christ has done, it
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  Speaker 1: ought to bring about a passionate desire for their salvation.
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  Speaker 1: Now here's what we see in this first part. Paul
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  Speaker 1: loves his kinsmen. According to the flesh, and that's okay.
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  Speaker 1: Paul loves his kinsmen according to the flesh, and that's okay.
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  Speaker 1: I see all people the same. No you don't. That's
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  Speaker 1: a lie. There are people for whom you have greater affinity,
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  Speaker 1: and that's okay. God has made you part of a
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  Speaker 1: people group. I would hope that you'd have an affinity
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  Speaker 1: for that people group to whom you belong. That's okay.
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  Speaker 1: Paul belongs to a people group. He has an affinity
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  Speaker 1: for that people group. He is part of that people group. Now,
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  Speaker 1: is his understanding of himself as a Christian more important
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  Speaker 1: than that? Yes, it most assuredly is. But he cannot
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  Speaker 1: and will not forget where he came from, and he
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  Speaker 1: has a passionate desire for those people to be saved. Now,
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  Speaker 1: sometimes it's not where we came from. Sometimes it's other
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  Speaker 1: affinities that God creates within us individuals, and there's nothing
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  Speaker 1: wrong with that. God uses that. There are some people
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  Speaker 1: who have planted their entire lives ministering to certain people
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  Speaker 1: groups because of something that God did uniquely in them
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  Speaker 1: to create a yearning and a passionate desire for the
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  Speaker 1: salvation of those people. Now, here's the irony. Paul has
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  Speaker 1: a passionate yearning and desire for the salvation of the Jews.
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  Speaker 1: But he's the apostle to the Gentiles. Why because that
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  Speaker 1: passionate desire and yearning must not be allowed to override
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  Speaker 1: the mission of God. It must not. But the passion
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  Speaker 1: is there. We see, however, that even though he's the
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  Speaker 1: apostle to the gentiles, what do we see in Acts
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  Speaker 1: chapter seventeen, in Acts chapter eighteen, what do we see
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  Speaker 1: as the pattern for his ministry? First thing he did,
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  Speaker 1: I'm Paul. I'm the apostle to the Gentiles. I'm here
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  Speaker 1: at Athens to preach to the Gentiles, and I'm going
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  Speaker 1: to preach to the Gentiles every day in the marketplace.
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  Speaker 1: But on the Sabbath, I'm going to the synagogue to
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  Speaker 1: reason with the Jews. Why God has called me to
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  Speaker 1: the gentiles. But I love the Jews, and I just
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  Speaker 1: can't give up on them because I love Him. And
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  Speaker 1: so wherever he went weekly he goes to the synagogue,
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  Speaker 1: and then day by day in the marketplace, he doesn't
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  Speaker 1: forget those people to whom he is linked uniquely, and
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  Speaker 1: yet that unique link does not override the call and
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  Speaker 1: mission of God in his life. This is important, folks,
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  Speaker 1: This is important. There are some of you who are
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  Speaker 1: part of a group of individuals. God took you out
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  Speaker 1: of that group and he saved you. That group may
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  Speaker 1: be an ethnic group, or an interest group or whatever,
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  Speaker 1: and you've got a passion for that group. That's okay,
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  Speaker 1: there is nothing wrong with that. That is natural and
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  Speaker 1: that is normal. In fact, the way God usually works
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  Speaker 1: in ministering and reaching a group is that someone in
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  Speaker 1: a group comes to faith in Christ, and then God
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  Speaker 1: uses those natural relational connections in order to bring others
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  Speaker 1: to Christ through that one. There's nothing wrong with that.
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  Speaker 1: That's what God uses. So don't think that it's somehow
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  Speaker 1: superior that if God saves you and you're part of
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  Speaker 1: a circle or sphere of influence, that somehow you have
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  Speaker 1: to immediately forsake that circle or sphere of influence and
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  Speaker 1: go off to where you have nothing but holy righteous
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  Speaker 1: Christian homeschool friends. I can't say amen. You ought to
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  Speaker 1: say ouch, okay. Our lives are broader than that, more
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  Speaker 1: significant than that. Listen to what Calvin says about this.
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  Speaker 1: Their salvation was an object of concern to him before
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  Speaker 1: the Lord, and such a feeling arises only from genuine love.
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  Speaker 1: When you love someone, you desire for them to be saved. Now,
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  Speaker 1: this is what's ironic. People will say to us, You
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  Speaker 1: Christians really don't love us because you want us changed.
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  Speaker 1: Isn't that what they say? You Christians don't love because
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  Speaker 1: if you loved us, you would just accept us the
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  Speaker 1: way we are. Isn't that what we hear? That's not
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  Speaker 1: gospel thinking. The Gospel won't allow you to think like that.
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  Speaker 1: When you understand or remember what it was like to
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  Speaker 1: be lost, it is the exact opposite of love for
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  Speaker 1: you not to take the gospel back to those who
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  Speaker 1: are where you were. If I understand that I used
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  Speaker 1: to live like you, I used to be one of you.
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  Speaker 1: I used to think like you, But now God has
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  Speaker 1: saved me. And when I was in your shoes, I
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  Speaker 1: was on my way to hell and an eternity without God.
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  Speaker 1: In spite of what Rob Belle says. But when we
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  Speaker 1: understand that, it is love that makes us look back
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  Speaker 1: and say, I am not satisfied with you staying where
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  Speaker 1: you are because I love you, I come from you.
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  Speaker 1: Do we not feel this way toward our families? It
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  Speaker 1: worries me that some of us become callous toward our families.
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  Speaker 1: We no longer have a passionate desire for the salvation
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  Speaker 1: of our kindred according to the flesh, and we sort
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  Speaker 1: of wipe our hands of our family members. I'm moving
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  Speaker 1: on because I'm a Christian Now, I'm not part of
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  Speaker 1: that world anymore. No, you're not. But do you remember it?
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  Speaker 1: And if you remember it, can you honestly say to
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  Speaker 1: me that you are satisfied leaving people in that world
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  Speaker 1: without at least falling on your face and begging God
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  Speaker 1: to save them out of the same place that he
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  Speaker 1: saves you from. Do you remember what it was like
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  Speaker 1: to be lost? Now, this doesn't mean that you continue
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  Speaker 1: to wallow in the lifestyle that you used to wallow in,
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  Speaker 1: because Paul doesn't. Paul also hates sin and desires to
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  Speaker 1: see righteousness. He hates sin and desires to see righteousness.
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  Speaker 1: It's not satisfied with sin. He thinks about sin the
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  Speaker 1: way God thinks about sin. Listen to this and two
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  Speaker 1: Peter two eight. As that righteous man lived among them
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  Speaker 1: day after day there in Sodomon Gomorah, he was tormented,
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  Speaker 1: excuse me, lived among the day by day he was
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  Speaker 1: tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he
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  Speaker 1: saw and heard. He was tormenting his righteous soul over
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  Speaker 1: their lawless deeds which he saw and heard. When Paul
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  Speaker 1: goes to Athens. What happens when he comes to Athens.
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  Speaker 1: His Paul was waiting for them in Athens. His spirit
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  Speaker 1: was provoked within him as he saw the city full
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  Speaker 1: of idols. His spirit was provoked within him. Why because
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  Speaker 1: of the idolatry? Because he loves God and loves righteousness
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  Speaker 1: and hates sin. Changes the way you view people. It
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  Speaker 1: changes what you desire for people. You go from merely
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  Speaker 1: desiring for them to be happy. Parents. Can we talk
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  Speaker 1: for a moment? Parents, It goes from merely desiring that
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  Speaker 1: our children be happy to desiring that our children be holy.
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  Speaker 1: It goes from merely desiring that our children not sin
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  Speaker 1: so much to desiring that they be utterly transformed. When
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  Speaker 1: our desires for our children's holiness, we cannot tolerate on
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  Speaker 1: righteousness or participate in the deeds of darkness, and sometimes
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  Speaker 1: there are difficult decisions that have to be made. Paul
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  Speaker 1: also loves Christ and desires to seize kingdom expand that's
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  Speaker 1: the big thing here. It changes. Not only is my
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  Speaker 1: lens changed, because I look at where I was and
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  Speaker 1: where God saved me from and desire that those who
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  Speaker 1: are where I was would experience salvation as I did.
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  Speaker 1: But now I've gone from darkness into His marvelous light.
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  Speaker 1: I've gone from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom
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  Speaker 1: of light. I belong to the kingdom of God and
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  Speaker 1: of Christ, who will be the victor over all of history.
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  Speaker 1: And my desire is that his kingdom advance. That's my desire.
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  Speaker 1: That's what I want. I want righteousness to reign. I
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  Speaker 1: want sinners to bow the need of Christ. That's my
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  Speaker 1: desire more than anything else. And sinners continue to look
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  Speaker 1: at us and say, no, no, no. If you really
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  Speaker 1: loved us, it would be okay that we are enemies
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  Speaker 1: of God. It would be okay that our lifestyles are
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  Speaker 1: vile before a holy and righteous God. But because you
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  Speaker 1: don't embrace our vileness and our sinfulness, you must not
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  Speaker 1: be a real Christian, to which we usually respond, We're sorry,
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  Speaker 1: we'll do better. Wrong answer. That's the wrong answer. We
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  Speaker 1: desire to see righteousness reign, and it changes the way
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  Speaker 1: with you people. There's another issue here though, and this
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  Speaker 1: is the interesting issue. Oftentimes when people read Romans chapter
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  Speaker 1: nine and Romans chapter nine, you see all of this
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  Speaker 1: talk about election, not just Romans chapter nine, really throughout
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  Speaker 1: rome As we see all this talk about election and
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  Speaker 1: the question that you always hear when people find out
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  Speaker 1: that you hold to the doctrines of grace, when people
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  Speaker 1: find out that you're one of those dreaded sea words galvinist.
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  Speaker 1: When people find that out, usually one of the first
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  Speaker 1: things that happens is that there's some discussion about evangelism
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  Speaker 1: and they say, oh, well, you're one of those people
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  Speaker 1: who believes in the sovereign election of God. Therefore you
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  Speaker 1: don't have a passion for evangelism and for lost sinners
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  Speaker 1: to be saved. Newsflash, you read Romans chapter nine, Paul
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  Speaker 1: believes wholeheartedly in election. Over in chapter eleven he's going
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  Speaker 1: to talk specifically about Israel and election there. But here
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  Speaker 1: in chapter ten he says, my heart's desire and my
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  Speaker 1: prayer for them is that they might be saved. What's
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  Speaker 1: the difference between that and believing that God is sovereign
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  Speaker 1: over my healing and praying that God would heal me,
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  Speaker 1: or that God is sovereign over my finances and praying
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  Speaker 1: that God will provide, or believing that God is sovereign
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  Speaker 1: over the weather and praying that Louisiana gets hit with
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  Speaker 1: the next one and not us. Nothing against them. God
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  Speaker 1: is sovereign, and yet we pray. We only have a
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  Speaker 1: problem with this when we don't understand prayer, when we
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  Speaker 1: think that, basically, this is what prayer is. The sovereign
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  Speaker 1: Lord of the universe is looking down upon us, waiting
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  Speaker 1: for permission and instruction. That's the way most people think
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  Speaker 1: about prayer. The sovereign God of the universe is looking
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  Speaker 1: down on us, waiting for permission and instruction, and so
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  Speaker 1: when we pray, we give him permission and we give
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  Speaker 1: him instruction. Now, that's not what prayer is. We've talked
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  Speaker 1: about the illustration before of the boat being moored to
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  Speaker 1: a dock. Prayer is like a boat being moored to
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  Speaker 1: the dock. News flash, you're the boat, not the doc. Amen,
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  Speaker 1: You're the boat, not the doc. So it's not as
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  Speaker 1: though you're the doc and God is moored to you
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  Speaker 1: and you pull on the line to bring God closer
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  Speaker 1: to what it is that you desire. No, no, no, no, no,
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  Speaker 1: God is the doc you're more to him. Prayer is
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  Speaker 1: you pulling on the line, drawing your heart closer to his.
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  Speaker 1: Believe it in an election must not lead to heart
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  Speaker 1: heeartedness towards those who are lost. In fact, a proper
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  Speaker 1: understanding of the doctrine of election ought to make your
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  Speaker 1: heart softer toward those who are lost, because you recognize
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  Speaker 1: that you did nothing to save yourself. It ought to
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  Speaker 1: humble you, not make you arrogant and hard hearted. Believing
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  Speaker 1: in election doesn't eliminate prayer for the lost. It actually
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  Speaker 1: assures the effectiveness of our prayers for the lost. Amen.
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  Speaker 1: Because I believe in election, I'm not praying to a
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  Speaker 1: God who says to me, I know that you're praying
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  Speaker 1: that I will save that person, but really I can't
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  Speaker 1: do anything about it. I mean, think about that for
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  Speaker 1: a moment. For people who say they don't believe in
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  Speaker 1: election but pray for God to save people, what are
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  Speaker 1: you praying for God to do? You're praying for God
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  Speaker 1: to do what you believe God cannot or does not do. Amen, God,
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  Speaker 1: would did you save my cousin? Nah? I really can't
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  Speaker 1: because I'm a gentleman and I would never force myself
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  Speaker 1: on anyone. Therefore, I can't really respond to that prayer,
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  Speaker 1: because for me to respond to that prayer would actually
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  Speaker 1: be for me to take prerogative as God and do
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  Speaker 1: what I desire to do. In the salvation of a soul,
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  Speaker 1: how do you pray for someone to be saved if
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  Speaker 1: you don't believe in election? How do you pray for
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  Speaker 1: someone to be saved if you believe that ultimately man
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  Speaker 1: is the one who makes that final decision? How do
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  Speaker 1: you do that? How do you do that? God? I
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  Speaker 1: know he's sovereign, but would you just do as much
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  Speaker 1: as you possibly can without bumping up against his sovereignty? No, God,
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  Speaker 1: would you snatch him up by the nap of his
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  Speaker 1: neck and him into the kingdom? I believe you can't.
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  Speaker 1: Would you please? Would you please? But here's the twist
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  Speaker 1: in this text. The reason the Gospel transforms the way
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  Speaker 1: we view people is because of this. Paul is not
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  Speaker 1: praying for the salvation of sinners who are what we
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  Speaker 1: would call sinners in the classical sense. Paul's actually praying
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  Speaker 1: for the salvation of people that we would elect as
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  Speaker 1: deacons or appoint as elders. Amen. Let me say that again.
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  Speaker 1: God is actually praying for the salvation of people that
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  Speaker 1: for most of us, we would appoint them as deacons
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  Speaker 1: or as elders because of their lifestyle, and how much
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  Speaker 1: better their lifestyle would be than anyone else we know,
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  Speaker 1: and we would not dare pray for their salvation. Look
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  Speaker 1: at what he says verse two. God, I want you
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  Speaker 1: to save these people. And here's why I want you
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  Speaker 1: to save these people, because they are zealous for you.
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  Speaker 1: Can you stop there for a moment, God, Would you
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  Speaker 1: please save these people? What makes you think they need salvation?
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  Speaker 1: They're zealous for you. They read the Bible regularly, They
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  Speaker 1: memorize the Bible unlike anyone else in our day. They
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  Speaker 1: live their lives in accordance with the strict code, and
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  Speaker 1: their morality puts almost everyone else around them to shame.
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  Speaker 1: Would you save them? Please? They go to church without fail,
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  Speaker 1: every time the doors are open. Would you please save them?
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  Speaker 1: They pray long, eloquent prayers, shedding tears. Would you please
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  Speaker 1: save them? They would cross an ocean in order to
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  Speaker 1: share your truth with one sinner. Would you please save them?
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  Speaker 1: They tithe off of their spices, giving a portion of
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  Speaker 1: their mint and their cuman would you please save them.
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  Speaker 1: That didn't even sound right, does it, But that's precisely
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  Speaker 1: what the apostle is saying. For I bear them witness
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  Speaker 1: that they have a zeal for God, but not according
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  Speaker 1: to knowledge. There's zealous for a God whom they do
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  Speaker 1: not know. Listen to this, Paul zeal. Paul understands this
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  Speaker 1: because he used to be there. Galatians chapter one, verses
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  Speaker 1: thirteen to fourteen. For you have heard of my former
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  Speaker 1: life in Judaism, how I persecuted the Church of God
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  Speaker 1: violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing
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  Speaker 1: in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people.
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  Speaker 1: So extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.
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  Speaker 1: I was zealous for God. Paul was willing to murder
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  Speaker 1: for God. When he says he persecuted the church, that's
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  Speaker 1: what he's referring to. You remember when Stephen was stoned,
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  Speaker 1: Paul was there, head of that group. That's how zealous
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  Speaker 1: he was for God. He was so committed to God
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  Speaker 1: that he was willing to kill these heretics known as Christians.
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  Speaker 1: That's zeal again. Philippians three, verses three through six, For
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  Speaker 1: we are the circumcision, who worshiped by the Spirit of
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  Speaker 1: God and glory in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence
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  Speaker 1: in the flesh, though I myself have reason for confidence
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  Speaker 1: in the flesh. Also, if anyone else thinks he has
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  Speaker 1: reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more circumcised
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, as to
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: the law of Pharisee, as to Zeal, a persecutor of
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: the Church, as to righteousness under the law blameless, and
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: I needed to be saved. Acts Chapter twenty two, verses
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: three through five. I am a Jew born in Tarsus
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: and Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: the feet of Gamaliel, according to the strict manner of
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, as
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: all of you are this day, I persecuted this way
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: to death, that's the Church. I persecuted Christians to death,
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: binding and delivering to prison, and both men and women,
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: as the high Priest and the whole counsel of elders
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: can bear me witness. And yet I needed to be saved.
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: See the Gospel changes your focus. If you don't understand
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: the gospel, all you want is for people to be zealous,
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: and that's enough for you. If you don't understand the gospel,
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: all you want is for people to be committed, and
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: that will suffice for you. But when you understand the gospel,
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: you see that zeal in and of itself is not
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: enough to be saved. That zeal in and of itself
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: is completely and utterly insufficient. Before a holy and righteous
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: God changes the way you think, changes what breaks your heart.
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: Your heart is not just broken over people who don't conform.
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: Your heart is broken over those who do not know God.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: Turn with me to the left. Let's look at a
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: passage we've looked at a number of times in Matthew
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: chapter seven. Look at this in light of Paul's words.
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: Jesus says, not everyone who says to me, Lord Lord,
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but the one who
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: does the will of my Father, who is in heaven.
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: On that day, many will say to me, Lord Lord,
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: did we not prophesy in your name? These are preachers
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: works in your name. And then I will declare to
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: them I never knew you depart from me, you worker
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: of lawlessness. That's zeal without knowledge. Again, for most of us,
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: we look at the zeal and it's enough for us.
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: We don't press further beyond the zeal to see if
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: a person has a proper understanding of the Gospel. What
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: does that zeal look like today? Well, that zeal may
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: look like church attendance, people who go to church regularly,
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: because that's what God requires, and that's the way you
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: please God. Is this to say that we shouldn't go
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: to church. Absolutely not, we should, but it can be
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: zeal without knowledge. And you know who you are. All
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: of us have seen it, have we not? Perhaps we've
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: even walked in it. We even hear this sometimes from people,
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: don't we. You talk to them and share the Gospel
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: with them, and their response is, yes, I do need
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: to get back into church. Yes, I do need to
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: start going to church again. Zeal without knowledge in our day,
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: it also often looks like social justice. By the way,
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: social justice is a new catchphrase. What it is is
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: new speak to borrow a phrase from or well. Social
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: justice is a euphemism for cultural Marxism. Let me say
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: that again. Social justice is a euphemism for cultural Marxism,
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: and there are many today. I find myself on college
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: campuses talking to young Christians all over the place. Young
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: Christians today, almost with one voice, are crying out for
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: the same thing. I'm just looking for a church that's
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: making an impact in the community. What do they mean
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: by that? They mean a church that looks like the
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: Red Cross and Goodwill and the food pantry all rolled
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: up into one. Because that's real Christianity, zeal without knowledge
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: or special issues. You have a run across one of
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: these Christians. God has put on their heart this particular
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: area of ministry, and God bless them. God bless them
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: that God has given them a passion for red handed,
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: left handed you know, red handed left handed, third generation,
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: you know, Irish immigrant whatever. I mean, it's so specific,
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: that unbelievable how specific it is. And this is their
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: particular calling. And you go, wow, that's great that God
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: has given you that particular and specific calling and that
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: you're really passionate about that calling. But here's what I
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: want to ask you. Do you really think that you
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: need to judge the sincerity of every other believer by
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: whether or not they share your very particular and specific passion,
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: because I'm probably thinking, you know, there might be a
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: couple of other things, one or two that people could
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: be passionate about and still be okay, Amen, I'm just
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: thinking that maybe, because the Body of Christ is so diverse,
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: we all might not have to be passionate about the
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: same things, and we might still be able to love
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: each other and be brothers and sisters in Christ. These
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: are examples today of our zeal without knowledge. Another example
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: of our zeal without knowledge is the legalism of our day.
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: There are so many of us who are in danger
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: of this. We desire to have families that are well ordered.
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: We desire to raise children who will live for Christ.
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: And we will follow any formula that promises that to us,
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: not because it's biblical or right or Gospel centered, but
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: because it promises the outcome that we desire, and we
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: will follow it to the letter, believing that this system
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: will give us the desired outcome. And we raise children
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: in zeal without knowledge who have been pointed again and
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: again and again to a list of things that will
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: make them acceptable. And the result of that, by the way,
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: is look at the next phrase verse three. For being
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking to establish
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: their own. They did not submit to God's righteousness. There's
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: the heart of legalism. Ignorant about the righteousness of God.
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: Here's why there's zeal will zeal without knowledge. They had
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: a zeal for God and a desire to please God,
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: and a desire to be right with God. But they
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: did not understand what the righteousness of God even was.
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: So they were pursuing righteousness by their own definition and
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: not by God's definition, and as a result, they were
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: completely outside of the kingdom. Why is this a problem?
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: Number one, It's a problem because of original sin. And
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: there is no law that you can keep that will
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: take away your original sin. It ignores original sin. So
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: I can do all of the good things that I
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: desire to do, but they will never ever take away
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: my original sin. Listen to this, Go back just a
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: couple of months here in Romans chapter three, Turn there
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: with me, will you? Beginning of verse ten, No one
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: or none is righteous, no not one, No one understands,
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: no one seeks for God. All have turned aside together.
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: They have become worthless. No one does good, not even one.
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: Their throat is an open grave. They use their tongues
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips.
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: are swift as shed blood, and their paths are ruin
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: There is no fear of God before their eyes. Paul
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: is not talking about a special class of sinners here.
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: He's talking about every man who is outside of Christ.
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: You can't get there from here. You also have sinful motives.
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: Now only you have original saying. You've got sinful motives.
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: So you're trying to be right with God. But you're
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: not even motivated from a righteous place to be right
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: with God. You ought to be right with God for
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: self preservation. You want to be right with God so
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: that people will admire you. You want to be right
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: with God so that things will go well with you.
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: That is the wrong motivation. Isaiah, chapter sixty four and
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: verse six. We have all become like one who is unclean,
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: and all our righteous deeds are like polluted garments. We
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: all fade like a leief, and our iniquities, like the wind,
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: take us away. Your righteousness before God is like a
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: polluted garment. The literal phrase here is much more graphic.
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: Your righteousness is like a minstrel rag before God is
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: what the text literally says. That's what your best day
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: looks like in God's sight. And so there is original sin.
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: There are also sinful motives, and then not to mention
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: our sinful actions. Ealatians Chapter three and verse ten. For
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: all who rely on works of the law are under
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: a curse. For it is written, curse be everyone who
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: does not abide by all things written in the Book
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: of the Law and do them. You want the law,
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: you can have it, but you got to take it
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: all James two and verse sin. For whoever keeps the
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: whole law but fails in one point has become accountable
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: for all of it. You cannot keep part of the law.
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: You must keep all of the law. You must keep
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: it perfectly. You cannot do that, first of all because
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: of your original sin. Secondly, because of your sinful motives.
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: You are a sinner. Therefore, no matter what method you
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: have adopted in order to try to make yourself righteous
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: before God, you are wrong. But finally, this is what's worse.
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: Your attempt to be righteous before God by your own
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: works is actually blasphemy against the shed blood and broken
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: body of Jesus Christ. Yeah, God, you might have needed
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: to send Jesus to die for those other people, not me.
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: I'm better than they are. In fact, I'm as good
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: as Christ is Verse four. Why is this a problem
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: for Christ? Is the end of the law for righteousness?
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: To everyone who believes. I'm praying for them, God that
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: they would be saved, the most outwardly righteous people on
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: the planet. I'm praying that they would be saved. Not
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: the man who's out there hitting old ladies in the
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: head and taking their purses. He needs to be saved.
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: But in this text, he's talking about the most outwardly
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: righteous people on the planet, and I'm praying, he says,
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: I'm praying to you God that they might be saved.
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: I used to be one of them, and I needed
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: to be saved. In fact, I was exemplary among the
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: most exemplary people on the planet, and yet I needed
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: to be saved. Why because my zeal was not according
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: to knowledge? Why because I was seeking after a righteousness
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: by pursuing a law that you gave not to make
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: me righteous, but to show me that I wasn't. Why
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: because that law was designed to point me toward the
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: only one who is righteous and the only one who
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: can be all righteousness, who is Christ. So I needed
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: to be saved as much as the guy who hit
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: the old lady in the head and took her purse,
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: maybe even more so, because at least with him, if
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: you ask him, he'll say he's a sinner. But with me,
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: I thought you owed me something because I kept the law.
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: I thought you owed me something because I was born
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: to the right family, I was raised according to the
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: right program. I was educated and discipled by the right teacher,
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: and I served you in the right ministries. And yet
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: I needed to be saved. Why because I was trusting
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: in something of than Christ to make me right with you.
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: That's the answer. Christ is the end of the law
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: for righteousness. In other words, Christ comes and he fulfills
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: the law and is the righteous one. But Christ is
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: also the one to whom the law points. So that
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: I will know that I need this righteous one to
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: become my righteousness. I needed him who knew no sin,
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: to become sin from me that I might become the
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: righteousness of God in him. Listen to this in Galatians
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: three again. Now, before faith came we were held captive
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: under the law, imprisoned until the coming Faith would be revealed.
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: So then the law was our guardian until Christ came
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: in order that we might be justified by faith. But
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: now that faith has come, we are no longer under
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: a guardian. For in Christ Jesus, you are all sons
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: of God through faith. Listen the verse four again, for
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: Christ is the end of the law. For righteousness to
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: everyone who believes, it's by faith. So now instead of
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: just looking to people who are outwardly and obviously unrighteous
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: and saying they need to be saved because of the
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: bad stuff that they do, when you understand the Gospel,
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: you understand that even people who are outwardly righteous need
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: to be saved because Christ is the only answer and
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: our only hope. He's it. Well, Am I saying that
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: their behavior doesn't need to be changed. Absolutely not. I'm
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: saying that the behavior can't be changed appropriately. Apart from
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: Christ is him who works in us, both to will
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: and to work for His good pleasure. It is only
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: when Christ's righteousness has been imputed to me that I
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: am able to live in any kind of genuine righteousness.
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: It is only because of who Christ is in me
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: that I am able to approach God and be seen
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: as righteousness in Christ. It is only because of who
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: Christ is in me that my heart has been changed.
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: My heart of stone has been taken out, our heart
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: of flesh has been given to me, and I now
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: actually have desires that are in accordance with God's desires
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: and not just my own. Christ changes my motives, and
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: without my motives being right, my actions can never be.
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: Christ changes my character, and without my character being right,
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: my actions can never be. Christ changes my relationship to
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: an orientation toward God, and without that being right, my
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: actions can never be You know what we usually do.
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: We look at the outward righteous Jew. And I'm speaking
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: figuratively here when I say the outwardly righteous Jew. We
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: look at that one who lives by all the right
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: rules and regulations. You know what happens for most of us.
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: We never even think about sharing the Gospel with him.
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: You know why man looks on the outward appearance. God
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: looks at the heart. How many of your family members
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: for whom you are praying diligently that they would be
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: saved are actually members in good standing of a church?
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: I know I have several bombard heaven for them because
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: they are as lost as lost can be. Some of
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: them officers in the church, and they're absolutely lost. Anybody
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: got family members in a cult. You have Mormon family members,
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: Joe's Witness family members. Outwardly, they just got it together
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: quote unquote outwardly, they just do all that stuff that
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: we want people to do. We want people to be
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: good and wholesome. And there they are living this good
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: and wholesome outward life. Do you know what some Christians do?
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: They won't share the Gospel with those people. Why because
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: they really don't need it, because they're already good. God
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: help us. The Gospel is not here to make us good.
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: It's here to make us righteous. We sang it earlier today.
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: But this needs to be the cry of our hearts.
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: Not the labor of my hands can fulfill thy law's demands.
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: Could my zeal no respite? No could my tears forever
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: flow all for sin? Could not atone? Thou must save
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: and thou alone. Do you believe that? Now? Let me
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: tell you this gets dangerous. I don't worry about the
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: kid growing up in one of our homes who has
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: us pulling out our hair on a regular basis and
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: praying that they survive to adulthood and don't act like
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: you don't have those kids in your house. That's not
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: the kid I'm worried about, you know, the kid I
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: worry about in this type of environment. I worry about
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: the kid that's not a problem, who's outwardly compliant. I
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: worry about the kid who's quote not strong willed unquote
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: By the way, that kid doesn't exist. They may appear
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: not to be strong willed, but most of those kids
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: whom we say are not strong willed have just found
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: another way to be manipulative and get their way. But
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: that's the kid I worry about. I worry about the
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: kid about whom we say, oh, there were no problem
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: at all. Here's why that kid who's got you pulling
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: out your hair. You go before God on a regular
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: basis begging God to save them. God. This kid needs you.
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: Would you save this child. I don't know what to
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: do with this child. Nothing seems to be working with
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: this child. I'm at the end of my rope with
• 48:40
  Speaker 1: this child. Would you save this child? Day after day
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: after day, week after week, month after month, year after year,
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: All the while there's another lost child on the way
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: to Hell, who's going under the radar screen in your house,
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: and you're not pouring out your soul to God because
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: outwardly they don't give you a problem. That's the one
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: you worry about. Here's what else I worry about. I
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: worry about my tendency as a father to have this
• 49:22
  Speaker 1: desire to say to the other kids, look at this one,
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: because you know what you just did. This kid has
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: not come to faith in Christ. This kid is not Christ.
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: But this kid is what you ought to look to. No, no, no,
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: there's only ever been one kid that we ought to
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: tell our kids to look to. And he's the kid
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: who grew up to die on a he'll called Calvary.
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: His name is Jesus Christ. He is the example. He
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: is the model, not an outwardly compliant child that just
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: doesn't give us trouble. Because remember Paul is saying, they
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: are the most outwardly compliant people on planet Earth, and
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: I beg you to save them. They are the most
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: outwardly obedient people in the world, and I beg you
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: to save them. They are not like these gentiles who
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: live these slovenly lives and pursue the worship of idols,
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: and yet I beg you to save them. The Gospel
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: changes your perspective because it helps you to understand truly
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: what it means to be lost. And only then do
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: you understand truly what it means to be saved. I
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: wonder if I'm speaking to someone today who would be
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: characterized this way. Outwardly, you look at your own life
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: and you're better than most people, and you think God
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: owes you something for it. Outwardly, you look at your
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: life and you say, I'm not a robber, I'm not
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: a murderer, I'm not an adulterer. And outwardly you say
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: I'm a good man, I'm a good woman. I'm a
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: good husband, I'm a good father, I'm a good wife,
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: I'm a good mother, I'm a good brother, I'm a
• 52:12
  Speaker 1: good sister, I'm a good son, I'm a good daughter.
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: And that ought to be enough. But the fact of
• 52:19
  Speaker 1: the matter is, you have a zeal without knowledge. You
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: don't know God, and in your soul you know I'm right,
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: and you don't understand the righteousness of God. And so
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: you have set out on a path to establish your
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: own righteousness. And it has been enough to satisfy everybody
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: you know, but it will never be enough to satisfy God,
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: because you are trusting in yourself, and you are not
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: trusting in Christ, and you are lost and in desperate
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: need of being saved, and you are in great peril
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: and jeopardy of spending an eternity being rewarded for your
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: outward righteousness with eternal separation from Almighty God in a
• 53:15
  Speaker 1: place called hell. If that is you today repent, turn
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: from your trust in yourself, and turn in utter dependence
• 53:32
  Speaker 1: upon Christ. Mom Dad, May I plead with you for
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: a moment. Would you please, please please remember that your
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: children need the Gospel, that they need to be changed
• 53:52
  Speaker 1: from the inside out, not just from the outside in.
• 53:58
  Speaker 1: Mom Dad, would you please remember that you need to
• 54:02
  Speaker 1: plead with God for the salvation of the soul of
• 54:05
  Speaker 1: your easiest child as much as you do for the
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: salvation of the soul of your most difficult one. Please
• 54:15
  Speaker 1: fight the urge to be lulled to sleep by compliance,
• 54:24
  Speaker 1: and instead passionately fall on your face before a holy
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: and sovereign God and beg Him for the salvation of
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: the soul, even of the most outwardly righteous person you know.
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: Because Christ is known to you and cherished as our
• 54:53
  Speaker 1: only hope,