20240901 Romans 2:17-24 - The Masters of Masquerading
The Book of Romans • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Welcome to Vertical Church
Acts 2:42 (LSB)
And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.
As a local church we seek to uphold the values of the NT church as seen in Acts 2:42 -
We are Trinitarian - while God is one in essence, He is three in person: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit
We believe in the sovereignty of God - sovereign over all creation, sovereign over the affairs of men, sovereign over salvation
We believe in the authority of the Bible - Scripture alone is the Word of God
We are Biblical in our theology - we are a bible teaching church
We believe that the Church is not a building or a denomination but a people - those who are truly in Christ and embrace the truths that were embraced and confessed by the New Testament Church, the apostolic church.
We are evangelical - we believe that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
We are a Vertical Church - we believe that all true worship and living is Vertical, God directed and for the glory of God alone.
Scripture Alone, Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Christ Alone, For the glory of God alone - join us on Sundays
Call to Worship - Psalm 8
For the choir director. According to the Gittith. A Psalm of David. 1 O Yahweh, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who displays Your splendor above the heavens! 2 From the mouth of infants and nursing babies You have established strength Because of Your adversaries, To make the enemy and the revengeful cease. 3 When I see Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have established; 4 What is man that You remember him, And the son of man that You care for him? 5 Yet You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You crown him with glory and majesty! 6 You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, 7 All sheep and oxen, And also the animals of the field, 8 The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas. 9 O Yahweh, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth!
Scripture reading - Matthew 5:17-22
17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18 “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 “Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 21 “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not murder’ and ‘Whoever murders shall be guilty before the court.’ 22 “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ shall be guilty before the Sanhedrin; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.
The Masters of Masquerading Romans 2:17-24
Introduction:
In my first year of bible college I was asked by Dave McKenna to suggest a name for a masquerade party. The name I chose was “Come as you aren’t” party.
The dictionary says this about the word masquerade:
1) A costume party at which masks are worn; a masked ball.
and 2) A costume for such a party or ball.
But listen to definition 3) A disguise or false outward show; a pretense. Such s “a masquerade of humility."
Instead of humility, this morning’s masquerade involves not just a false outward show but a masquerade of righteousness, a false righteousness that gave a false sense of salvation and more important, caused God’s name to ridiculed and mocked.
Listen to our passage:
17 But if you bear the name “Jew” and rely upon the Law and boast in God, 18 and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, 19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, 21 you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? 22 You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the Law, through your transgression of the Law, do you dishonor God? 24 For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” just as it is written.
Paul is writing to the church in Rome. The church is made up of Jews and Greeks.
He has told them that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God for salvation, for the Jew and the Greek
In Romans 2:9-10 he tells them that both the Jew and the Greek, all of mankind, are under the condemnation of God
And that there is the offer of peace with God to both the Jew and the Greek because …
He states in 2:11, there is no partiality with God
But no partiality does not mean no differences
And in Romans 2:17-24 Paul speaks only to the Jews in the church at Rome and he deals once again with the necessity of the gospel.
He has dealt with their hypocrisy in the first part of chapter 2.
Now Paul tells them what harsh truth. He points out the depth of their personal deception and the damage of their personal testimony
(1) The depth of their personal deception (2:17-20)
17 But if you bear the name “Jew” and rely upon the Law and boast in God, 18 and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, 19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth,
The nation of Israel was the only nation to whom God had given his covenant promises and his inspired word. And they were to share God’s glory with the world.
They bore the name “Jew” - they were the chosen of God
They relied upon the Law - the Law was more than 10 commandments. The law was 365 thous shalt and 253 thou shalt not’s More important, in a pagan world of uncertainty, the Law revealed what made God happy and what made God angry. There was no uncertainty. The Law was revealed and the Law was written .
boast in God - God had promised to go with them, fight for them - they could boast in God
know His will - God had revealed his desires for them as a nation and as individuals
approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law - every aspect of life: worship, personal holiness, how to conduct business, how to settle disputes, what to eat, where to live -
a guide to the blind - they were to be a light to the world, a light to the Gentiles, a guide to the spiritually blind, a light to those in darkness
a corrector of the foolish - those who were spiritually empty
a teacher of the immature - those who were spiritually immature and needed to correct their behavior
they possessed the Word of God - the embodiment of knowledge and truth
With all this you would think that they would be men and women of impeccable spirituality and immense godliness.
But while they owned a Bible, the Bible did not own them
They had in their possession the living and active Word of God, but it did not possess them
The outward form was there, but that form was an empty shell, and once God bored through that shell and examined the heart beneath the external form, there was no internal reality.
That is the judgment that Paul is giving to Israel, but it also has application to us.
(2) The damage of their personal testimony (2:21-24)
21 you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? 22 You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the Law, through your transgression of the Law, do you dishonor God? 24 For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” just as it is written.
17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18 “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 “Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 21 “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not murder’ and ‘Whoever murders shall be guilty before the court.’ 22 “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ shall be guilty before the Sanhedrin; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.
The Sermon on the Mount is one of the most misunderstood messages that Jesus ever gave. One group says it is God’s plan of salvation, that if we ever hope to go to Heaven, we must obey these rules. This sermon, however, does not tell us how to be saved, it tells saved people how to live.
You have heard it said
The implications of this passage:
1. The way we live and the way we treat people causes them to blaspheme God
2. Our behavior is our testimony and our pride keeps us from honestly evaluating our sinfulness and hypocrisy
How we treat people - I have gone to restaurants and felt sad at the way the server was treated by those who claim to be followers of Christ
I have had lunch with pastors who’s talk about other people would rival the town gossip
3. We preach salvation by grace alone through faith alone but we create a culture of external righteousness
We act like we never fail, never fall, never sin. We create a church culture of external righteousness.We claim to be more righteous than we are but are prayers lack power because we do not truly come to God in fallen humility.
We have created a culture where people have to pretend to be more righteous than they actually are. The result is that we create church cultures that talk the talk but do not walk the walk.
And the world watches and sees the masquerade.
And Paul’s condemnation is that not only does the world call us hypocrites, they blaspheme the name of God by mocking His power to truly save people who live genuine godly lives
Is 52, Ez 36 -
May we do more than own a Bible. May we seek to live with genuine humility, genuine remorse over our sin, and genuine repentance. May we seek to be genuine concerning our true spiritual condition and not create a culture that pretends to be righteous but lacks true spiritual power
May we not be Masters of Masquerading
Now the companionship of the man of sorrows, and the power of the King of Glory, rest upon you all. Amen.
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was being betrayed took bread, 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes.
