The Oracles of God

And as we follow Jesus together, we become convinced that there's no one so good, they don't need God's grace,

and no one so bad that they can't have it.

Which is why we come back week after week to hear what God has to say to us in his word.

This morning we're continuing our series in the book of Romans.

And you'll remember that the book of Romans is a letter written by the Apostle Paul in the 50s AD.

And it's called Romans for a very simple reason, which is that Paul writes it to the churches that are in the city of Rome.

It is a letter that is about the gospel.

It's about the good news of Jesus' death and resurrection.

And Paul's hope in writing this letter, as we saw back in chapter 1, is that these churches would be established in the gospel.

There will be many applications as we go throughout this letter.

And Paul is especially focused with the mission and the unity of the church.

And as I've told you many times now, we will have all kinds of little spokes, right?

We're going to go on little adventures.

One of them is this morning.

And we will constantly return back to the hub of the gospel.

We are in the section of chapters 1 through 3, which are making one very simple argument.

And that argument is summed up later in this chapter when Paul says,

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

So Paul's making one big point.

He's saying everyone's a sinner.

Everyone deserves God's judgment.

Chapter 1, Gentiles, or we might say non-religious people, deserve God's judgment.

Chapter 2, Jews, or we might say today, religious people deserve God's judgment.

Chapter 3, which we begin this morning, Paul's going to bring his argument to a full conclusion.

If you've been with us, you know that Paul is coming at this idea from all different angles.

He's trying to get it from every possible side, answering all sorts of objections.

So two weeks ago, we said, look, the law, having access to the scriptures, is not going to save you.

Last week, we said having circumcision is not going to save you.

This week, Paul's going to respond to the new objection that's come from the last two weeks.

If those things can't save you, what is the point?

If being in church, if baptism, if scripture is not going to save me, why am I here?

What are we doing?

It's with that question, we turn now to Romans chapter 3, starting at verse 1.

Romans 3 · chapter mention

I invite you to turn with me.

You can turn in your worship guide.

You can turn in your Bible.

You can turn on your phone.

No matter where you turn, remember that this is God's word.

And Proverbs chapter 30, verse 5 tells us,

Proverbs 30:5

Every word of God is true.

He is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

And so that's why we read now Romans chapter 3, starting at verse 1.

Romans 3 · chapter mention

Then what advantage has the Jew?

Or what is the value of circumcision?

Much in every way.

To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.

I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.

Our Father in heaven, we do thank you and praise you again this morning

that you haven't abandoned us and left us to figure out life on our own.

But instead, you've spoken to us and you've spoken clearly in your word.

And so we ask that you would do that again this morning.

You would do what you've promised to do in Isaiah 55,

that your word will not return void to you,

but it will accomplish great things in the lives of your people.

And so we ask that you would do that.

You would use these words in Romans chapter 3

Romans 3 · chapter mention

to accomplish great things in our lives.

Most of all, we ask that you would show us Jesus,

that we would see his beauty and his glory and his power and his authority,

his mercy and his grace and his love more than ever before.

And we ask these things in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Many of you know that I was ordained as a pastor in May of 2018.

And to become a pastor in our denomination,

this Presbyterian denomination,

you have to be examined by the regional church.

And so for us, that means you're examined by the churches

in Montana and Colorado and Wyoming.

And one of the tests that you have to take as you're being examined

is a Bible knowledge test.

And they're asking this question,

does this person know enough about the scriptures

to be trusted to be a pastor?

And when you take that exam,

there are some harder questions

that are meant to sort of push you to the limits of your knowledge.

And there are also some easier questions.

There are some softball questions.

And the softball questions are meant to, you know,

help you get some points on your exam

and not feel completely defeated.

One of my friends, who's a pastor here in town in Colorado Springs,

got ordained at the very same time that I did,

the exact same meeting of our presbytery.

And he, in his exam,

he missed this question that I'm about to tell you.

It was not a hard question.

It was a softball question.

Okay, so here it is.

In the book of Daniel, chapter three,

King Nebuchadnezzar takes the prophet Daniel

and he throws Daniel into a fiery furnace.

And when he throws Daniel into a fiery furnace,

he throws three other men in with him.

What are the names of those men?

And how you respond to that question

reveals something about where or how

or whether you grew up in the church.

If you did not grow up in the church,

you might be thinking right now,

wow, that's a really weird question.

And why do I care what the names of the three men were

who were thrown into the fiery furnace with Daniel?

Of what use is that to anyone?

If you did grow up in the church,

the answer is what?

Yeah, everyone knows that, right?

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

And so the committee examining my friend was shocked.

How in the world could this man make it

through his preparations as a pastor,

get to his exam and not know about Shadrach, Meshach,

and Abednego?

And so he said this to them.

I never watched Veggie Tales

or did Bible stories in Sunday school

because I didn't know Christians as a kid.

My friend didn't grow up in the church.

He didn't become a Christian until he was in college.

He didn't grow up going to Sunday school

learning about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Had he read that story?

Yes.

Did he pay attention to those names?

Not at all.

Right?

Were they critical to him?

He didn't realize that.

He didn't realize he was supposed to know that.

I tell you that story because the initial point

of this passage from Paul is this.

One of the privileges of growing up in the church

is knowing the word of God.

One of the privileges of growing up in the church

is knowing the word of God.

Remember last week we talked about the fact that

signs, religious signs, religious symbols,

religious activity will not save us.

Those things are not our hope.

And so after hearing that, you might be thinking,

that's great.

Okay, Matthew.

Then why are we here?

If religious signs and symbols and activities

don't get us to where we need to go,

what are we doing?

You can imagine the Jews reading the end of chapter two

and they're thinking, okay, Paul, what's the point?

If circumcision doesn't save, why are we doing it?

If the law doesn't save, why are we reading it?

You might think, okay, Matthew, you told me last week

going to church isn't going to save me.

Great.

I'll go to a coffee shop on Sunday morning.

I didn't realize I didn't need to be here.

I'm so glad that's over with.

You told me reading the law would not change my heart.

That's great.

I don't need to read my Bible anymore.

It's a work of the Spirit, so I can just move on.

I suddenly have more time in my schedule.

The Jews reading this would be asking this,

did God make a mistake by introducing circumcision?

Has God changed in some way?

We thought this was really important.

It was so important, in fact,

that God almost killed Abraham at one point

for failing to circumcise one of his kids.

And now you're saying it doesn't matter?

What are we supposed to do with that?

And so that's the question that's being raised here in verse one.

Then what advantage has the Jew

or what is the value of circumcision?

You just told us religious signs and symbols and activity don't save.

So what's their point?

And Paul tells them immediately,

he has a first answer in verse two.

Much in every way,

to begin with,

the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.

And when he says the oracles of God here,

Paul is referring to the Old Testament.

What was the benefit of being a Jew?

Easy.

You had access to the Bible.

You knew things that no other nation knew.

You will reveal things about God

that the Canaanites were not given.

You had insider information.

One of the privileges

of growing up in the church

is knowing the word of God.

Yeah, it doesn't save.

And

it's one of,

Paul even seems to suggest here,

might be for the Jews

the greatest blessing that they have.

And so I'm just gonna pause for a minute

and say a few things.

First,

kids,

do not take for granted

the blessing it is

that your parents bring you here every Sunday.

parents,

do not miss

what a huge deal

it is

to teach your kids

the oracles of God.

Don't forget

how important it is.

it doesn't matter

if your children

are admitted

into Harvard

if they do not know

the word

of God.

It doesn't matter

if your kids

have wild

professional success

if they do not

know

the gospel.

I'm not saying

those things

don't matter.

I'm not saying

they're not important.

I'm not saying

they're bad goals.

What I am saying

is this.

They are not

as important

as knowing

the very

words

of God.

What advantage

has the Jew?

Much

in every

way.

church

what we do

in Sunday school

and nursery

and youth group

really

matters.

We are

giving our

children

one

of the

greatest

blessings.

I've said

this before

and I'll say

it again.

My parents

like all

parents

were flawed

and imperfect.

And my parents

also got two

really basic

really fundamental

things right.

They stayed

married

and they took

us to church

every single

Sunday.

And in the

midst of

imperfection

and mistakes

and failures

as all

parents do

those things

matter

tremendously.

Now I've

been focusing

on kids

for the last

couple

minutes.

Of course

what Paul

is saying

here is

true

of all

of us.

What we

do here

together

every Sunday,

what we do

throughout the

week in our

small groups,

in our

Bible studies,

those

things

really

matter.

don't

underestimate

the power

of being

exposed to

the preaching

of God's

word week

after week

after week.

Don't miss

what a great

privilege it is

to be told

about the

gospel year

after year

after year.

It might

be more

important

than anything

else.

One

pastor says

this,

there is

no higher

privilege

that can

come to

any human

being

than to be

spoken to

directly

by God.

And that's

what Paul

is saying

here.

What advantage

was it for

you to be

a Jew?

Of so

much

advantage.

You

had

what many

other nations,

what no

other nation

had,

the very

words

of God.

God.

Now if

you're a

devil's

advocate,

you might

be asking,

why?

Why is it

so important

to have the

very words

of God?

Why does

it matter

that your

friend did

not know

about Shadrach,

Meshach,

and Abednego?

That doesn't

seem like a

helpful piece

of information

that I need

to spend

years of

time in

God's

word to

know.

No,

either one,

I don't

need to

know that,

or I

can know

that in

a minute,

right?

Maybe your

friend just

needed an

extra

flashcard,

right?

It's not

that he

missed out

on something

by not

being part

of God's

people.

No,

he missed

out on

some

random,

unhelpful,

unuseful

trivia.

Of course,

I tell you,

I told you

that story.

It's just

an example,

right?

A funny

example of

things that

we take for

granted that

we know if

we grew up in

the church,

but are not

actually obvious.

Actually,

you're going to

be okay if

you don't know

about Shadrach,

Meshach,

and Abednego.

You might not

be okay,

though,

if you don't

know about

some other

things.

There are

many advantages

to God's

word.

Scott already

read some of

them this morning

for us from

Psalm chapter

Psalms 1 · chapter mention

1.

What does it

tell us?

God's word

brings great

flourishing.

The person

who steeps

himself in

that is the

person who

has great

life.

And so what

did the Jews

have?

They had this

manual for

life that no

one else had

access to.

God's promises.

Even more

than that,

they had

God's promises.

What is the

Old Testament

filled with

if not the

promises of

God?

They knew

things like

this.

Genesis

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12.

In you,

all the

nations of

the earth

will be

blessed.

Christ.

They knew

that God

was at

work in

the world

in a

special way.

They knew

this from

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 31 · chapter mention

chapter 31.

This is the

covenant that I

will make

with the

house of

Israel.

I will put

my law

within them

and I will

write it on

their hearts

and I will

be their

God and

they shall

be my

people.

The Jews

had the

promise of

God's

presence.

They knew

that whatever

was happening

in that

moment was

not the

end of

the story.

They knew

this promise

from Ezekiel

Ezekiel 36 · chapter mention

chapter 36.

And I

will give

you a new

heart and

a new

spirit I

will put

within you.

And I

will remove

the heart

of stone

from your

flesh and

give you

a heart

of flesh.

The Jews

had the

very promises

of God.

You'll see

this on page

seven of

your worship

guide.

The greatest

thing of

all was

the fact

that through

these oracles

of God

the Jews

were given

a hope.

The hope

of the

coming

of the

Messiah.

The other

nations had

no hope

at all

but Israel

had a

hope.

There was

a great

deliverer to

come.

It was a

light in

the darkness.

They alone

had it.

What a

privilege.

church.

They didn't

just have

the promises

of God.

They had

something even

more important

than that.

The Old

Testament

revealed to

God's people

two things.

It showed

them their

great need

for the

gospel.

It revealed

to them

that they

were without

hope except

for a

savior.

showed

them their

need.

And it

also told

them that

there was

a solution.

It told

them their

need in

places like

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2.

For my

people have

committed

two evils.

They have

forsaken

me, the

fountain of

living waters.

broken

and they've

hewed out

cisterns for

themselves,

broken

cisterns that

can hold

no water.

The Old

Testament said,

look, you

are looking

for life

in all

the wrong

places.

Humanity

is lost.

It cannot

save

itself.

And they

knew there

was hope

from places

like this.

Isaiah

Isaiah 43 · chapter mention

chapter 43.

But now

thus says

the Lord,

he who

created

you,

fear not,

for I

have

redeemed

you.

I have

called you

by name.

You are

mine.

Then new

promises like

the one in

Isaiah 53.

All we

like sheep

have gone

astray.

we have

turned

everyone

to his

own way

and the

Lord has

laid on

him

the

iniquity

of us

all.

What

advantage

has the

Jew?

Much in

every way.

the Jews

were entrusted

with the

oracles

of God.

They knew

what no one

else knew.

They knew

that mankind

was lost

without hope

by themselves.

And they also

knew that

there was a

great hope.

they knew

something that

mattered

more

than anything

else.

Why are the

oracles so

good?

The oracles

of God

are so good

because they

reveal what

the point

of Romans

is.

Remember I

tell you

every single

week at the

very beginning

Romans is

about the

gospel.

It is

about the

good news

of Jesus'

death and

resurrection.

Why was it

so good

to be a

Jew?

Why is it

so great

to grow up

in the

church?

Because Paul

is not

telling you

here anything

you don't

already

know.

You

already

have the

very

words

of God.

Paul's

saying yes

scripture

does not

save.

Having the

law doesn't

get you off

the hook

but it

does point

you to the

one who

does save.

And that

is of

great

value.

This chapter

in Romans

Romans 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3

in just a few

weeks he'll

go on to

say this.

for all

have sinned

and fall

short of

the glory

of God

and are

justified

by his

grace

as a

gift

through the

redemption

that is in

Christ

Jesus.

I've told you

before and I'll

tell you again

that the book

of Romans is

often called

the fifth

gospel

because whatever

Paul teaches

Jesus taught

first.

The same

thing is true

this week.

John chapter

John 5 · chapter mention

5 Jesus is

rebuking religious

leaders and he

says this

if you

believed

Moses

and it's one

of the

authors of

the Old

Testament

you would

believe me

for he

wrote

of me.

In other

words Jesus is

saying look the

Old Testament was

about me

but if you

do not

believe his

writings how

will you

believe my

words.

Of course

even more

famous is

Luke chapter

Luke 24 · chapter mention

24.

Jesus is on

the road after

his resurrection

he's explaining

the Old

Testament to

some men who

are with him

and it says

this beginning

with Moses

and all the

prophets he

interpreted to

them in all

the scriptures

the things

concerning

himself.

Why is it

such a blessing

and a privilege

to have the

oracles of

God?

Because

they show

us

Jesus.

They show

us our

need

for his

grace

and his

mercy

and they

show us

him giving

us

that very

same

grace

and

mercy.

It's

good

because

it

gives

light

in the

dark.

Some of

you if you

were here

during our

series on

1st and

2nd Peter

many years

ago now

heard me

tell you

many times

about

Corrie

Ten Boom

who is a

Dutch

watchmaker

in the

Netherlands

in World

War II

and she

was famous

for hiding

Jews

who were

trying to

escape the

Nazi regime.

She was

eventually

caught for

her work

and she

spent most

of 1944

in a

Nazi

concentration

camp.

One thing

she did

though when

she was in

this

concentration

camp is

she was

able to

sneak in

a copy

of the

Bible

and she

and a

group of

women

would read

it together

whenever they

had a

free moment.

They would

read it in

the morning

and they

would read

it at

night.

And she

tells the

story,

this is on

the back

of your

worship

guide,

from

morning

until

lights

out,

whenever

we were

not in

ranks for

roll call,

our

Bible

was the

center

of an

ever

widening

circle

of help

and hope.

Like

wafts

clustered

around a

blazing

fire,

we gathered

about it

holding our

hearts to

its warmth

and light.

The

blacker the

night around

us grew,

the brighter

and truer

and more

beautiful

burned the

word of

God.

That's the

name of the

concentration

camp they

were in.

It took

place on

two separate

levels,

mutually

impossible.

On

one,

the

observable

external

life grew

every day

more

horrible.

The

other,

the life

we lived

with God

grew daily

better,

truth upon

truth,

glory upon

glory.

Christian,

the blacker

the night

around us

grows,

the brighter

and truer

and more

beautiful

burns the

word of

God.

Now,

I had to

shorten this

quote so it

would fit,

but she

tells us what

they were

reading were

the great

promises of

Romans chapter

eight.

The promise

that nothing

can separate

us from the

love of

God.

the promise

that we

are more

than

conquerors

through

him

who

loved

us.

Then what

advantage has

the Jew

or what

is the

value

of

circumcision

much

in

every

way?

to begin

with,

the Jews

were

entrusted

with the

oracles

of God.

Let's

pray.

Our

Father in

heaven,

we do

praise you

and we

thank you

for the

great

privilege

of your

word.

We thank

you that

it's

living,

that you

brought

dead

things

to life

when you

speak.

You

brought

creation

out of

nothing

by your

words.

We ask

that you

would remind

us of

that and

do it

again this

morning,

that your

word would

be at

work

powerfully

in our

hearts,

in our

minds,

in our

lives,

that you

would bring

new life

to us.

We ask

these things

in the mighty

name of

Jesus Christ.

Amen.

I invite

you to stand

for our

closing hymn.