Welcome back to Barnet Bible Church. Join us this week as Pastor Hopkins continues his sermon series through the Book of Romans. Good afternoon again. In a few minutes we're going to be picking up with our exposition of the book of Romans in chapter 10. First, a few things.

When is Jesus coming back? I remember growing up and having all of these... I mean, It was just over and over again. You had these guys predicting the return of Christ, and when he was coming back, and what it was going to look like, and all of these things. And of course, they would set dates, and the dates would fall.

And then they would be discredited. And the churches had all these people in them coming to hear about the end times. They would destroy those churches basically. They would just whittle them down to nothing. But Jesus did tell us when He's going to return.

He told us in the book of Matthew, he said the Son of Man comes at a time when you think not. So our job is to be ready. Our job is to be prepared for the return of Christ. And then this past week I was thinking about Job, Job chapter 1. You can turn there with me and look, I'll just read the first couple of verses of Job chapter 1, the first five verses.

Just think about these things for just a moment. What he's saying here, there was a man in the land of us, his name was Job. The man was perfect and upright. He feared God and eschewed evil as he turned away from evil. And they were born unto him seven sons and three daughters, had a big family.

His substance was also was seven thousand sheep and three thousand camels and five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred chiasses and a very great household, so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the East. And his sons went and feasted in their houses every one his day, and sent and called for their sisters to come and eat and drink with them. And so it was, while the days of their feasting were gone about, the Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, maybe one of my sons is sinned, and maybe even cursed God in their heart. And it says, Thus did Job continually.

Job's family was experiencing great prosperity. His substance was such that he was the greatest of all the men of the East. His sons went and feasted in their houses every one in his day. And when their feasting was going on, Job sent and sanctified his sons, rising up early in the morning and offering burnt offerings or sacrifices for them, thinking maybe my sons have sinned. Maybe there's sin going on in my household.

Maybe even secret sin, heart sin, he talks about. And Job did this continually. Matthew Henry says his spiritual oversight and intercession for his family were regular and not occasional. Job's wealth and many family blessings didn't blind him to the possibility of his children falling into sin. Job didn't assume their innocence.

He proactively interceded for them and he did so in the days of their feasting. And I think Job did this, one of the reasons he did this is because he knew full well the temptations that come with doing well, with prosperity. Job sent and sanctified them. Apparently he sent for his sons, maybe to encourage them to examine themselves, to keep themselves in self-examination, maybe to examine their walk before the Lord, or maybe to pray over them that they would be set apart unto God. It says Job offered burnt offerings for them, thinking, well, maybe One of them has sinned.

Even if they haven't openly sinned in some way, maybe committed a grievous sin of the heart, burnt offerings point to Christ's substitutionary sacrifice. He desired, above all things, that his children be covered by the blood sacrifice of Christ. And so he's interceding for them in prayer. Fathers, so I would just direct this to fathers, are you concerned for the things that Job was concerned about? Are you concerned about sin and the lives of your family members?

Are you offering up prayers for their sanctification and holiness at whatever age? Are you praying that they would be set apart unto God? Is it your heart's desire, oh God, that my family would just be set apart for you to serve you? Is that your heart, the heart of Job, the richest man in the East? Are you pouring out your hearts before God for your children?

Proverbs 423 tells us to keep our heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life or the springs of life. We need to be praying for our sons and daughters, for our children. We need to be interceding for them in prayer and we need to be doing it continually. That's the message of Job 1, 1-5. And last, I was thinking about this also this week.

If an intruder were to enter my house, what would I do? Well, I'd force him out. If an intruder were to enter into your house, what would you do? You would do everything to get the intruder out of your house. Figuratively speaking, we have intruders who are continually attempting to enter our homes.

This is one of the easiest ways for the intruder to get in right here, to intrude daily. We have to remember that the devil walks about as a roaring lion seeking to devour us and to devour our families, to devour the souls of our family members. Again, we need to be guardians of our homes and yet also guarding our own hearts, the wellsprings of our lives, evicting intruders that would harm our families. Okay, so that's for fathers and mothers and for all of us guarding our hearts. But this is something that every one of us, maybe not in that situation where you're concerned about those who are in your family, a father or a mother, but there's another kind of intruder.

There's another kind of intruder. There is an intruder that continually attempts to intrude on our time alone with God. Is that intruder in your house, in your life? Many times they are subtle thieves. They tiptoe in.

They're clever. They use something that appears to be good. Well, this is a good thing. There are many good things. Well he's a good thief.

He tips toes in and he steals the most important time of your day, your time alone with God. What things are intruding into your time alone with God? If you were just honest with yourself today, what things are intruding into my time alone with God? Making money? We all have to make money.

Work? We all have to work. Taking care of my family, we all have to take care of our families. And we all have exactly 24 hours in our day. No one is given more time and no one is given less time.

But what things are intruding into your time alone with God. What things are intruding into your time in the word. Will you put them out. Will you evict them. Will you put them out.

Or will you spread a table for them. Romans chapter 10. Let's stand for the reading of the Word of the Lord. Romans chapter 10 verses 12 through 14. Let's do 12 through 13.

Romans chapter 10 verses 12 and 13. Let's read together The word of the Lord for there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek for the same Lord Overall is rich unto all that call upon him for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Let's pray. Father, high above all, thank you for your word. Your word is truth.

Oh God, once again we praise and thank you, God, for who you are and for all you've done for us and the person and the work of your son and once again we ask that the Spirit might be given in power to illuminate the text before us oh God and that your people might be given eyes to see and ears to hear and hearts to understand these wonderful words of life for we ask it in Jesus name amen let's be seated The message will be rather short today. A few pages. What is the message here? There is no difference between the Jew and the Greek. Your version may say there is no distinction between the Jew and the Greek.

The apostle Paul says there is no difference between the Jew, that's the ethnic Jew, and the Greek or the Gentile. For the same Lord who is overall is rich unto all who call upon Him. There is no difference or distinction between the Jew and the Gentile. How? Not with regards to our standing before God in our sins, neither in the method of our salvation from sin.

There's no difference. There is no difference. All enter the world in the same way, in a state and a condition of fallenness. All enter the world in the same ruined condition and fallen state. And all who are delivered from that state and condition are delivered in the same way.

There's not one way of salvation for the Jew and another way of salvation for the Gentile. The Scripture says, for all have sinned, that's Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And brothers and sisters, all who are justified are justified by God's grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. There is only one way. We all come into the world in the same boat.

We all come into the world maybe in different shoes, But with the same mud on our shoes We all come into the world in that fallen Estate and those who are saved are all saved in the same way by the grace of God through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus through faith in his blood. The Jew has no priority in the words of Martin Lloyd-Jones and the Gentile has no disadvantage. All stand naked before the cross." Charles Hodge, they are all alike sinners and to be judged by the same principles and if saved are to be saved in precisely the same way. There is no difference between the Jew and the Greek for the same Lord who is overall is rich unto all who call upon him who call upon his name For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved amen Amen, so what's going on here? Why is he going here?

Where has he been going through the book of Romans this letter to the believers at Rome, where he continually addresses the Gentiles and the Jews and the Jews and the Gentiles and the Greeks and the Jews and the Hebrews and the Israelites and the Jews. He's just on and on. What is going on here? In the mind of the Jews, the playing field was not level. That's what we've seen thus far.

In the mind of the Jews, the playing field was not level. That's what we've seen thus far. In the mind of the Jews the playing field was not level. In the thinking of the Jew the system of salvation was rigged in his favor. I'm a Jew, you're a Gentile, you know, the deck is stacked in my favor.

Paul corrects that notion and he's been doing it since chapter 1. Remember chapter 1? How many can remember chapter 1 two years ago? Okay, I think two years ago. Chapter one, he proves that the Gentiles are all sinners.

Remember? We won't go through all of it again, but he proves the Gentiles are all sinners and liable to the wrath of God and standing in the need of the righteousness of God provided in Christ. In chapter 2, what? He turns his attention to the Jews and he shows that the same that is true of the Gentiles is true of the Jews. And then in chapter 3, the conclusion, both Jew and Gentile are under sin.

The whole of humanity has failed to keep the demands of the law for a perfect righteousness, whether Jew or Gentile. There is none righteous, not even one. We're all rowing with the same oars, Different shoes, same mud, as I said before. Whether Jew or Greek, every mouth is stopped, and all the world become guilty before God. There is no difference.

There is no distinction between the Jew and the Gentiles. For the Jews this truth was unbearable. It was dismantling of their understanding of themselves, what they had come to believe concerning themselves and their special status before God with regards to salvation. It was pride-stripping. MacArthur comments here, nothing could have been more devastating to the Jews than to be reminded that God makes no distinction between them, between the Jew and the Greek, that the same Lord is Lord over all and abounding in riches for all who call upon him.

Those whose greatest pride was in the belief that they were superior to all other peoples could not tolerate that humbling truth." Close quote, MacArthur. Haldane, a hundred years earlier. So far from the Gentiles being excluded from mercy altogether, there is not in this respect the smallest difference between them and the Jews. Paul is saying there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek when it comes to their guilt before God under the law. There's no difference when it comes to our guilt before God under the law and there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek when it comes to the means by which we are saved.

No difference. For the same Lord, Paul says, is Lord over all and rich in mercy unto all who call upon him and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved all whosoever. Martin Lloyd-Jones says Paul gives three reasons why there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles regarding salvation. One, they're under the same Lord. God is the Lord of all, not just the Jews.

Two, they're all equally sinners under the wrath of God, as Paul has previously proven. Three, the Gospel is universal. The Gospel is universal for both Jews and Gentiles, even as the prophets foretold. Paul says again, whosoever, whosoever, this is good news for the Gentiles and it's good news for the Jews. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved and that whosoever includes you and that whosoever includes me.

Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved that's the promise of God this is the promise of God no matter your background no matter your ethnicity no matter your religious heritage, no matter your lineage, no matter your works, your merit, your depth of sin, or frequency of past failure, whoever calls in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. Amen. Whosoever calls in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. Amen. Whosoever calls in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved.

It's so simple as I said last week a five-year-old can understand it. But you might say well what exactly does it mean and How does one call in the name of the Lord? I guess there's confusion, right, in the world. Because people call in the name of Jesus every day who are not saved. In a way, they call upon Him, right?

People call out on his name when they're in situations of distress. People who are not believers, who have not put their trust in the person and the work of Christ, have no concept or understanding of their sin or their guilt before God. But they call out on the name of Jesus when something bad happens. So that happens, right? There are people who call on Jesus' name every day who want to be saved from circumstances but who have no interest in being saved from their sins.

They want to be saved from their circumstances, but they have no interest in being saved from their sins. Is that what the apostles talking about? You know, a lot of preachers today, especially in the Charismatic Movement, they encourage their listeners to call in the name of Jesus when they're experiencing financial hardship or relation issues or health issues It seems like it's all they talk about Jesus is there for you He's there to help you and your financial needs and your trials and your troubles and he is there for the believer and we call on him and everyone in this congregation is called upon him again and again in our times of need. But that's not what the Apostles talking about here. The preachers who present Calling on the name of the Lord without ever any mention of sin or the eternal consequence of sin They're not talking about what Paul is talking about To them salvation is all about being delivered from the trials of life, but never the wrath to come And there is wrath coming for the unbeliever and those who are outside of Christ.

There is wrath coming. It's always about the temporal condition of the body, but never the eternal state of the soul. Have you seen that? And so they preach to Jesus who came to make your life better on earth but can't get you to heaven. Paul said this is a faithful saying worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, followed by these words, of whom I'm the worst of them all, of whom I am chief, of whom I am chief.

Paul saw himself as the worst of all sinners on earth and assures us by his testimony that this is exactly the kind of people Jesus came into the world to save. But for many regrettably Jesus is just a temporal Savior for men and women to call upon to get out of a fix. I was watching a video recently that was recorded on a security camera at a, I think it was in Chicago, on a security camera inside of a small storefront where they sold iPhones and tablets and things. And I don't remember if it was a police video or how it was released, but it was released at some point. And a man comes through the door of this little phone store and he's wielding a gun and he goes up and you can see he goes to the end, there's audio going, you can hear it.

And he goes up and he flashes his gun and does this, and the owner of the store runs out the store. This guy pulls out a bag, and he starts putting in phones and tablets and all this stuff. And so he's filled with all this stuff and everything, and he's just got a smile on his face he's really doing well the owner of the store has gone and everything and he grabs his bag his tote bag and puts his gun in his little hoodie and and then starts for the back door he's to the back door and it's bolted from the outside And you can just see he's like, what? I mean, he had his whole thing. And then he turns around and he starts coming back.

It's just a small thing. You can see with this one camera, everything's going on. And he starts for the front door. And then he goes and he looks out to make sure that it was there. And he goes, and it's locked from the outside.

And he's trapped inside of the store. And then you hear over the intercom of the video security system there, the camera system you hear him say these words dear Jesus help me Jesus Jesus help me Lord Jesus help me he keeps saying it over and over again Jesus he's calling on the name of the Lord all the way up until the time that the police came through the front door and took him out. That's not what God's talking about. That's not what Paul's talking about. He's not what he's talking about.

The late RC Sproul commenting on this passage says Paul quote is not saying that anyone who calls for Jesus in a moment of trial will be saved. It's not what he's saying. The Lord warns us that when he appears and God's wrath is manifest against the unrepentant that they will be screaming for the mountains to fall upon them and for the hills to cover them. People will say in that moment, Jesus help me, save me, but it will be too late. Paul's statement applies to those who call upon the name of the Lord in the terms he has just used.

A true call issues from the heart. We talked about it last week. It's from the heart. It is an authentic reaching for the Savior. Anyone who calls in this way truly will not be denied.

Close quote. To call on the name of the Lord is to reach out by faith and take hold of Jesus. And all he's done. A person who is mute can do it. Just like a person who has a voice.

Calling on the name of the Lord is not a ritual. It is not a formula. It is not a set of empty words that have repeated guarantee entrance into the presence of God. It is a calling on Jesus that issues from the core of one's being and reaches out for him with the childlike trust with a heart that is broken over sin and a trusting in the mercies of God provided in Christ Because it is written He who calls on the name of the Lord believes all that God has said concerning his son and what he came to do And all that God has said concerning Himself and His sin in great need. He who calls on the name of the Lord reaches out for Jesus as his only hope, taking hold of Him as his Savior from sin and its penalty and power and acknowledging Him as Lord.

Let not conscience make you linger nor a fitness fondly dream all the fitness he requires is to feel your need of him. This he gives you, this he gives you, this he gives you, tis the Spirit's rising beam. Amen. Let's pray. Father, Jesus died for our sins and rose again the third day.

We believe the gospel. We thank you God for bringing your people to a place of sensitivity for sin, to the place where when we open your Word, you're pointing out our sin and we're under conviction for it and we turn from it and by your grace reach out for Christ and lay hold upon him. Trusting in Him and what He has done alone is our only hope. And the saving grace of God shown us through the death, burial, and resurrection of Your Son and the life of Your Son. Lord, we believe from the core of our being and embrace Christ and trust Him alone and what He alone has done to save us and to make us accepted in Your sight.

Oh Lord, if there are any Lord who have never come under the conviction of sin, who don't really see the sin in their lives, even when it's pointed out to them. Lord, You would just give a tenderness, God, to Your Word, and a tenderness, O God, to the sin that is in their life. And that you would give, O God, the grace of repentance to turn their back on sin to you God with faith in Christ, trusting in your mercies, O God, that you forgive all those who come to you for your Son. O Lord, I pray this would be the day of salvation for someone. This would be the day when they would call in the name of the Lord, reach out for Jesus by faith and be saved, trusting in him alone and his righteousness, not their own.

I pray that would be the case today, Lord. And I pray, Lord, as we go to the Lord's table and approach that table set apart from all others, that none would approach the table, oh Lord, who is a mocker, that none would so mock you, Lord, as to not be serious about these things I pray Lord as we approach that table or we will remember Jesus died for our sins and rose again, that our hearts would be filled with joy knowing that it is finished, it is accomplished on our behalf. And that we would discern the body and the blood of the Lord that spiritually resting in him and what Christ has done by faith. Help us Lord now as we prepare to share in that time of self-examination, engage in that time of self-examination before we eat of that bread and drink of that cup showing Christ's death for us till His return. Amen.