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David Platt Messages - Tremble at God's Word · GodLife On Demand

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: You're listening to David Platt Messages, a weekly podcast with sermons and messages from pastor, author, and teacher David Platt.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_02: So, alright, if you got your Bible, let's turn.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_02: We're gonna get to Romans in a minute, but we're gonna start in Nehemiah.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_02: So feel free to use table of contents if you need to.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Nehemiah chapter 8.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I want to show you before we get to Romans an unforgettable encounter with the Word of God.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_02: So if I was giving this message a title, it would be Tremble at God's Word.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_02: Which we've already heard from Isaiah 66, tremble at God's Word.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_02: So I want you to watch this.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_02: Nehemiah 8, verse 1.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_02: Just imagine being a part of this worship service, okay?
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_02: Put yourself in the story.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_02: So Nehemiah chapter 8, verse 1, and I'll have it up here on the screen as well.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_02: So all the people came together in the square before the water gate, and they told Ezra, the teacher of the law, to bring out the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_02: So they tell the leader of this service, who's Ezra, they said, Bring out the book.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_02: We want the book.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_02: So on the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_02: Now watch this.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_02: He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the water gate, in the presence of the men, women, and others who could understand.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_02: And all the people listened attentively to the book of the law.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_02: So did you catch that?
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_02: From early morning till midday.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_02: Probably six or eight hours.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_02: All he did was read it.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_02: Like no sermon with stories or illustrations.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_02: He just read the book.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_02: And all the people listened attentively to it for hours.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_02: And not just listening to it.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_02: Watch this.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_02: Verse 4.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_02: Says, Ezra the teacher of the law stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_02: Beside him on his right stood a bunch of guys who don't know how to pronounce their name.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_02: On his left stood a bunch of other people that are similar.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_02: Verse 5.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_02: Watch this.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_02: Ezra opened the book.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_02: All the people could see him because he was standing above them.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_02: And as he opened it, the people all stood up.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_02: Ezra praised the Lord, the great God, and all the people lifted their hands and responded, Amen, Amen.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_02: Exclamation points.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_02: Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_02: Can you imagine that?
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: All he did was he opened the book.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: He doesn't say anything.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: He just opens it.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_02: And immediately everybody rises to their feet.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_02: And they all start lifting their hands and shouting, Amen, Amen.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_02: Bowing down, worshiping the Lord with their faces to the ground, just because the book was opened.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_02: And talk about fear and reverence and trembling at the word of God.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_02: Now, here's the deal.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_02: Fast forward 2,500 or so years to the church today.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_02: And just think about this with me.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_02: What do we usually associate these kinds of actions with in worship today?
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_02: Standing, raising hands, shouting out.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_02: This is what we do in musical worship, right?
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_02: We're really extreme, maybe we fall on our faces.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_02: Which, to be clear, is biblically right to do in musical worship.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_02: So you turn over to Nehemiah chapter 12, you see the people doing this and a whole lot more in musical worship.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_02: So it's not that that's bad, but I can't help but to wonder what it would look like if all it took was God's word, his voice, to cause that kind of scene among us?
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_02: What if all it took was just hearing the word of God to cause all of us to rise to our feet?
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_02: What if just hearing God's word caused all of us to throw our hands in the air and shout, Amen, amen?
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_02: What if just hearing God's word brought us physically to our knees or bowing down with our faces on the ground?
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_02: And this is not an isolated event in Scripture.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_02: Look at Ezra chapter 9.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_02: God's people hear his word, listen to what happens.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_02: Everyone who, notice the word, trembled at the words of the God of Israel, gathered around me because of this unfaithfulness in the exile.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_02: I sat there appalled until the evening sacrifice.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_02: Then at the evening sacrifice I arose from my self-abasement with my tunic and cloak torn.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_02: I fell on my knees with my hands spread out to the Lord my God, and I prayed.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_02: They are trembling at God's word, because when they see it, when they hear it, they see their sin, and they're falling on their faces in repentance.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_02: So if this is how people in the Bible respond to God's word, then why is this posture so rare in our worship?
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_02: Like, why why is that not normal?
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_02: Why does that feel extreme?
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  SPEAKER_02: Why why if that was happening, we were like, whoa, that was that was really a moment.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_02: Is it because we have less sin than they did?
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_02: Or is it become because we have grown complacent with coming to worship gatherings primarily as events to watch instead of a God to encounter?
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_02: Why is that posture not normal?
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_02: Where are the men who are falling flat on their face before God in repentance?
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_02: Where are the men who are showing that true masculinity is not found when you bow up your shoulders, but when you fall face flat to the ground?
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_02: Where are the women who do not care how others view them because they're so captivated by their view of him?
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_02: And I know some people might think, well, I I don't know, I don't know, I don't know what people would think about me.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_02: Like I don't want them to think I'm like think I'm spiritual, super spiritual, or this or that.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_02: And I would just ask, why are you even thinking about what others think about you?
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_02: You're in the presence of God, you're hearing the voice of God, self-gone, dead to self.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_02: You're just overwhelmed by God, you're not even thinking about what others think at that point.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_02: Besides, this is what God desires, is pleased with.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_02: We've read it, Isaiah chapter 66.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_02: These are the ones I look on with favor.
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  SPEAKER_02: That should cause all of us to perk up.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, where is the favor of God?
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_02: On those who are humble and contrite in spirit and who tremble at my word.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_02: There's that's where the favor of God rests.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_02: And don't miss it.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_02: It's not just about fearing God at His Word, it's also about feasting on God in His Word.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_02: So you read the rest of Nehemiah chapter 8, and people, so they're weeping in conviction over their sin, and then that leads them to celebrate God's grace.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_02: Look at this, look at down at Nehemiah chapter 8, verse 12.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_02: Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food, and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that have been made known to them.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, when you bow on your face in awe of God and his word, and you understand what he's saying, it leads to celebration with great joy.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_02: I love the way Jeremiah puts this.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_02: Jeremiah 15, 16.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_02: He says, When your words came, I ate them.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_02: They were my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you're listening to the words of the Lord God Almighty, the God who spoke a word, and the universe came into being?
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_02: And that is who you're listening to in that moment, the voice that thunders over the waters?
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_02: When those words come, you eat them up as your joy and your heart's delight.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_02: So what would it look like even today?
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_02: In this room across all these churches gathered in this moment, to just let God's word ignite our affections and bring us to our feet and cause us to shout and yell out, amen, amen, hands in the air, falling on our faces to the ground.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: What if all it took was God's word to incite worship like that?
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: So, with that set up now, I invite you to turn with me over to Romans chapter 1.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_02: And if you don't have a Bible, I would encourage you to find somebody that you can look on with them.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_02: And while you're turning, can I just point out that in Nehemiah, they didn't have the whole of scripture that we have.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_02: And we have all the more reason to respond like this.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_02: They just had the law.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_02: We've got the whole book with the gospel, and even better, we know all about Jesus, the word made flesh, and he's actually in our hearts.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_02: So for the next few minutes, I just want to invite us in this room and other rooms, collectively across the southeast, to let God's word lead us to worship just his voice.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_02: Straight his voice.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_02: And for you, right where you're sitting right now, to feel the freedom to worship however his spirit leads you in response to his word.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_02: Whether that's standing your seat, staying in your seat, standing to the floor, standing in your chair, I don't know, and just in awe.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_02: Whether that's shouting or raising your hands, maybe at your seat or moving out from your seat and bowing down with your face to the ground.
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  SPEAKER_01: Just Holy Spirit of God, lead us to worship you through your word.
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  SPEAKER_01: However you desire.
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  SPEAKER_01: And this long line of your people who have trembled at it.
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  SPEAKER_01: Make us that kind of people.
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  SPEAKER_01: So Romans chapter one.
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  SPEAKER_01: The word of God.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_02: Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_02: The gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets and his holy scriptures regarding his son, who, as to his human nature, was a descendant of David, and who, through the Spirit of Holiness, was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_02: Through him and for his name's sake, we receive grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_02: And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_02: To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints, grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_02: First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_02: God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of His Son, is my witness.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_02: How constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_02: And I pray that now, at last, by God's will, the baby may be open for me to come to you.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_02: I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_02: That is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_02: I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I've planned many times to come to you, but prevented from doing so until now, in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I've had among the other Gentiles.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_02: For I'm obligated, both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_02: That is why I'm so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_02: I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_02: For in the gospel, a righteousness from God has been revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_02: Just it is written, the righteous will live by faith.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_02: The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth of God by their wickedness.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_02: And so what we've known about, God is plain to them because God has made it plain to them.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_02: For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, his eternal power, divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from what is made, so that men are without excuse.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_02: For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_02: But their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_02: Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_02: God, therefore, God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts, the sexual impurity, for the degrading of their bodies of one another.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_02: They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and they worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator who is forever praised.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_02: Amen.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_02: Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts that ought not to be done.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_02: Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_02: In the same way, men abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_02: Men committed indecent acts with other men and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_02: Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind that ought not to be done.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_02: They've become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_02: They're full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_02: They're gossips, slanderers, god haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_02: They invent ways of doing evil.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_02: They disobey their parents, they're senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_02: Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things, but also approve of those who practice them.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_02: You therefore have no excuse, you who pass judgment on them.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_02: For whatever point you judge the other, you're condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_02: Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_02: So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you'll escape God's judgment?
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_02: Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_02: But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you're storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_02: God will give to each person according to what he has done.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_02: To those who by persistence in doing good, see glory, honor, and immortality, he will give eternal life.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_02: But for those who are self-seeking, who will direct reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_02: There will be trouble and distress for everyone who does evil, first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_02: But glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good, first for the Jew, then for the Gentile, for God does not show favoritism.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_02: All who sin apart from the law will be judged apart from will be judged apart from the law.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_02: All who sin under the law will be judged under the law.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_02: For it's not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it's those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_02: Indeed, when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_02: As they show that the requirements of the law are written in their hearts, their conscience is also a bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now defending them.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_02: This will take place on the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_02: Now, you, if you call yourself a Jew, if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God, if you know his will and approve of what is superior, because you've been instructed by the law, if you're convinced you're a guide for the blind, a light for those in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_02: You then who teach others, do not teach yourself.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_02: You preach against stealing, do not steal.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_02: You say that people should not commit adultery.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_02: Do you commit adultery?
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_02: You abhor idols, do you rob temples?
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_02: You brag about the law.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_02: Do you dishonor God by breaking the law?
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_02: As it's written, God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_02: Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you become as though you had not been circumcised.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_02: If those who are not circumcised physically keep the law's requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised?
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_02: The one who's not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you, who, even though you have the written code and circumcision are a lawbreaker.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_02: A man is not a Jew if he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_02: No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly, and circumcision is circumcision of the heart by the Spirit, not by the written code.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_02: Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_02: What vantage then is there in being of Jew, or what value is there in circumcision?
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_02: Much in every way.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_02: First of all, they've been entrusted with the very words of God.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_02: But what if some do not have faith?
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_02: Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness?
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_02: Not at all.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_02: As it's written, let God be true and every man a liar.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_02: So you may as it's written, so you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_02: But if our unrighteousness brings out God's righteousness more clearly, what shall we say then?
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_02: That God is unjust and bringing his wrath on us?
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_02: I'm using a human argument.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_02: Certainly not.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_02: If that was so, how could God judge the world?
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_02: But someone might argue, if my falsehood enhances God's truthfulness and see and increases his glory, then why are why not why are we still condemned as sinners?
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_02: Why not say, as we are being slanderously reported, saying, let's do evil that good may result?
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_02: Their condemnation is deserved.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_02: What should we conclude then?
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_02: Are we any better?
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_02: Not at all.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_02: We've already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_02: As it's written, there is no one righteous, not even one, no one who understands, no one who seeks God.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_02: All have turned away, they have together become worthless.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_02: There is no one who does good, not even one.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_02: Their throats are open graves, their tongues fractures the seat, the poison of vipers is on their lips, their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness, their feet are swift to shed blood, ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_02: There is no fear of God before their eyes.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_02: Then we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth is silenced.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_02: The whole world is held held accountable to God, and no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_02: Rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_02: But now a righteousness from God apart from the law has been made known, to which the law and the prophets testify, and this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_02: There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_02: God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_02: He did this to demonstrate his justice because in his forbearance he left the sins committed beforehand unpunished.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_02: He did it to demonstrate his justice in the present time so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_02: Where then is boasting?
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_02: It's excluded.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_02: On what principle?
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_02: That of observing the law?
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_02: No, but on that of faith.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_02: For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_02: Is God the God of Jews only?
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_02: Is he not the God of Gentiles too?
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, of Gentiles too, since there's only one God who will judge the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_02: Do we then nullify the law by this faith?
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_02: Not at all.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_02: Rather, we uphold the law.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_02: What then should we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter?
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_02: If in fact Abraham had said to boast boast about, if in fact Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about, but not before God, what does the scripture say?
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_02: Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_02: Now, when a man works, his wages are not credited him as a gift, but as an obligation.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_02: However, to the man who doesn't work, but who trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_02: David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_02: Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_02: Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_02: So is this blessedness only for the circumcised or also for the uncircumcised?
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_02: We've been saying that Abraham's faith was credited as righteousness.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_02: Under what circumstances was it credited?
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_02: Was it after he was circumcised or before?
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_02: It was not after, but before.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_02: And he received the sign of circumcision that sealed the righteousness that I had by faith while he was still uncircumcised.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_02: So then he's the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that the righteousness might be credited to them, and he's the father of the circumcised, who not only are circumcised, but who walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_02: It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be the heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_02: For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_02: The promise is worthless.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: Law brings wrath.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_02: And where there is no law, there is no transgression.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_02: But, so here's the picture: faith in Jesus.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I just lost my place.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_02: Well, just tell me what the next words are.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_02: Therefore, the promise comes by faith.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_02: So it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring, not only to those who are law, but to those of the faith of Abraham.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_02: He's the father of us all, as it's written, I've made you a father of many nations.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_02: He is our father in the sight of God in whom he believed, the God who gives life to the dead, who calls things that are not as though they were.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_02: Against all hope, Abraham and hope believed and became the father of many nations.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_02: Just as been said to him, so shall your offspring be.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_02: Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead, since he was about a hundred years old, and that Sarah's womb was also dead.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_02: But he was strengthened in his faith and he gave glory to God, being fully persuaded God had power to do what he had promised.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_02: This is why it was credited to him as righteousness.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_02: And the words it was credited to him were not written for him only, they were also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_02: For us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, he was delivered over to death for our sins, and he was raised to life for our justification.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_02: Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we've gained access by grace into this, by faith, and to this grace in which we now stand.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_02: Not only so, but we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, not only so we rejoice in our suffering, because we know that suffering produces perseverance and perseverance character and character hope.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_02: And hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_02: You see, at just the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_02: Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_02: God demonstrates his love for us in this.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_02: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_02: Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more will we be saved from God's wrath through him?
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_02: For if in our sin, uh not only is this so we rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom we have now received reconciliation.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_02: Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and this way death came to all men because all sin, for before the law was given, sin was in the world, but death is but sin is not taken into account where there is no law.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_02: Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over the do not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was the power of the cu uh over the one to come.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_02: But the gift is not like the trespass.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_02: For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace, and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflowed to the many?
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_02: Again, the gift is not like the trespass.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_02: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_02: The gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_02: For if by the trespass of the one man death reigned through that one man, how much more were those who received God's abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_02: Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_02: For just as through the disobedience of the one man, the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man, the many will be made righteous.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_02: The law was added, so the trespass might increase, but where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that just as sin reigned in death, grace might reign through life to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_02: What shall we say then?
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_02: Should we go on sinning so that grace may increase?
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_02: By no means.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_02: We died to sin.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_02: How can we live in it any longer?
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_02: Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ?
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_02: Jesus were baptized into his death.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_02: We were therefore bare with him through baptism in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead, we too may live a new life.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_02: If we've been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_02: For we know that our old self is crucified with him, that the body of sin will be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin, because anyone who's died has been freed from sin.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_02: Now, if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him, because we know since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_02: Death no longer has mastery over him.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_02: The death he died, he died to sin once for all.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_02: The life he lives, he lives to God.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_02: So, in the same way, count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_02: Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal bodies so that you obey its evil desires.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_02: And do not offer the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who've been brought from death to life.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_02: Offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness, for sin shall not be your master.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_02: You are not under law, but under grace.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_02: What then?
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_02: Shall we sin because we're not under law?
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_02: But under grace?
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_02: No, don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you're slaves to the one whom you obey, whether you're slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_02: But thanks be to God, that though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_02: You have been set free from sin and you've become a slave to righteousness.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_02: I put this in human terms because you're weak in your natural selves.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_02: Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness, leading to holiness.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_02: When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_02: What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you're now ashamed of?
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_02: Those things result in death.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_02: But now that you've been set free from sin, become slaves to righteousness, the benefit you reap leads to holiness.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_02: And the result is eternal life.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_02: The wages of sin is death.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_02: The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_02: Do you not know, brothers, from speaking to men who know the law, the law has authority over man only as long as he lives?
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_02: For example, by law, a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_02: But if her husband dies, she's released from the law of marriage.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_02: So, if she marries another man while her husband's still alive, she's called an adulteress.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_02: But if her husband dies, she's released from the law as not an adulteress, even though she marries another man.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_02: So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ in order that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit to God.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_02: For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law are work within our members, so we bore fruit for death.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_02: But now that we've been set free from sin and become slaves of righteousness, the benefit of you replace the whole.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_02: No.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_02: But now, by dying to what's bound us, we have been released from the law, so we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_02: What shall we say then?
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_02: Is the law sin?
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_02: Certainly not.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_02: Indeed, I wouldn't have known what sin was except through the law.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_02: For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, do not covet.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_02: But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_02: For apart from law, sin is dead.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_02: Once I was alive apart from law.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_02: When the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_02: I found that the very commandment was intended to bring life, actually brought death.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_02: For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_02: So the law is holy.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_02: The commandment is holy, righteous, and good.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_02: Did that which is good then become death to me?
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_02: By no means.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_02: But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment, sin might become utterly sinful.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_02: We know the law is spiritual.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_02: I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_02: I do not understand what I do.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_02: For what I want to do, I don't do.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_02: What I hate, I do.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_02: And if I do what I don't want to do, I agree the law is good.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_02: As it is, it's no longer I who do it, but it's sin living in me.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_02: I know that nothing look good lives in me.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_02: That is in my sinful nature.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_02: For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_02: For what I do is not the good I want to do, no, the evil I do want to not want to do, I keep on doing.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_02: And if I do what I do not want to do, it's no longer I who do it, but it's sin living in me that does it.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_02: So I find this law at work.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_02: When I want to do good, evil's right there with me.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_02: For in my inner being I delight in God's law, but I see another law at work within the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law at work within my members.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_02: What a wretched man I am.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_02: Who will rescue me from this body of death?
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_02: So then I myself, in my mind, am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature of a slave to the law of sin.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_02: Therefore, there is now no condemnation for all who are in Christ Jesus.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_02: Because through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit of life has set me free from the law of sin and death.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_02: For what the law was powerless to do and that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_02: So he condemned sin and sinful man in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature, but according to the spirit.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_02: Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_02: Those who live according to the spirit have their mind set on what the spirit desires.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_02: The mind of sinful man is death.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_02: The mind controlled by the spirit is life and peace.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_02: The sinful mind is hostile to God.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_02: It doesn't submit to God's law, nor can it do so.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_02: Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_02: You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature, but by the spirit, if the spirit of God lives in you.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_02: And if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, he doesn't belong to Christ.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_02: But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, and your spirit is alive because of righteousness.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_02: And if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_02: Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation, but it is not to the sinful nature to live according to it, for if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_02: But if by the spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_02: Because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_02: You did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_02: You received the spirit of sonship.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_02: And by him we cry, Abba, Father, the Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_02: And if we're children, we are heirs.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_02: Heirs with God, co-heirs with Christ.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_02: If indeed we may share in his sufferings, in order that one day we are going to share in his glory.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_02: I consider our sufferings, present sufferings do not compare with the glory that will be revealed in us.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_02: The creation waits an eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_02: For the creation itself was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, and hope that the creation will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_02: We know the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_02: Not only so, we ourselves are at the first fruits of the Spirit, we groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_02: For in this hope we were saved.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_02: But hope that's seen is no hope at all.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_02: Who hopes for what he already has?
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_02: But if we hope for we don't yet have, we wait for it patiently.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_02: In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_02: We don't know what to pray for sometimes.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_02: The Spirit intercedes for us with groans that words can't even express.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_02: And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accord with God's will.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_02: And we know that in all things, in all things, in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_02: For those God foreknew, he predestined to be conformed the likeness of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_02: And those he predestined, he also called.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_02: Those he called, he also justified, and those he justified, he also glorified.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_02: What then shall we say in response to this?
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_02: If God is for us, who can be against us?
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_02: He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all?
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_02: How will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_02: Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_02: Christ Jesus, who died more than that, has raised to life, is at the right hand of God, interceding for us right now.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_02: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_02: Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_02: As it's written, for your sake we face death all day long.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_02: We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_02: No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_02: For I am convinced, neither death nor life, neither angels, nor demons, neither the present, nor the future, nor any powers, neither height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_02: Love your word.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_02: God forgive us.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_02: Forgive us for creating all picture where Bible reading feels obligatory.
• 36:15
  SPEAKER_02: Something we run to do to hear from you.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_01: And you were ways to lead us to our faces.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_01: Throw our hands in the air.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_01: God open our eyes to our sins.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_01: We can read your word.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_01: Pray even right now for the spirit of repentance.
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_01: Humility, contrition, repentance.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_01: God forgive us for becoming so complacent and comfortable with lack of awe and reverence for your words.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_01: Can I just say this?
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_01: I just want to make sure, just in case, just in case you are in any way tempted to be impressed or to think, wow, that was I just I just want to remind you, we we live in a world where in places like Pakistan and Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, children and teenagers memorize the entire Quran.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_01: Whole thing.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_01: Some of them don't even speak Arabic.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_01: They memorize the whole thing in Arabic.
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_01: They're like memorizing New Testament in Greek.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_02: So the only reason why this kind of moment or that might in any way feel impressive is because we've lowered the bar so much.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_02: This this should be, it should be normal.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_02: Like we we the first words out of his mouth in the whole book of Psalms are blessed, happy is the man, the woman who meditates on my word day and night.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_02: This is this isn't like feel guilty because you're not.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_02: This is like, do you want to be happy?
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_02: Do you want to be happy?
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_02: Because you're not gonna find it in the millions of messages this world has given you.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_02: You're gonna find it in this word.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_02: Listen to me, and you'll live, you'll live.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, and and I I've prayed for for some today, for some, I've prayed that this will be the moment when you just are awakened to actual Christianity out of cultural Christianity.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_02: And meaning, and we just heard it, Romans 1 through 8, not based on what you do, just trust in Jesus to reconcile you to love relationship with God that does not feel like obligation and routine and mundane activity and just kind of tack on to your life.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_02: That's not biblical Christianity, it's love relationship with God.
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_02: And some of you, if you're being honest, have never experienced love relationship with God.
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_02: And today, in his word, he's inviting you not to do some work, figure it out, but trust in Jesus as your righteousness to reconcile you, to love relationship with God.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_02: Say, I want you, I want to hear you, I want to know you, I want to walk with you, I want to live in love relationship with you.
• 40:31
  SPEAKER_02: And then for others, I I prayed that God would just call you, call you back to love relationships, like intimacy with Him in a way that will lead you to meditate on and memorize His word, like hide it in your mind and your heart more than anything else in this world.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_02: And one other thing, some of you might be thinking, Well, I I mean, I know I can't memorize very good, and that for almost all of you is a lie straight from hell.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_02: So don't believe it.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_02: Say, how do you know?
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_02: Well, what if I offered you between now and this time tomorrow a thousand dollars for every single verse you could memorize?
• 41:22
  SPEAKER_02: I think you'd you'd figure it out.
• 41:26
  SPEAKER_02: Jesus wept, boom.
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_02: You'd figure it out.
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_02: The question is not whether you can memorize, the question is what's more important to you?
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_02: Money or the word of God?
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_02: What's more important to you?
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_02: A million things in this world or this word?
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_02: That that's the question you gotta ask.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_00: We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of David Platt Messages.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_00: For more resources from David Platt, we invite you to visit radical.net.