Jim Styles – God’s Wonderful Plan Of Redemption – Class 4 – The Power of Faith

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Good morning, everyone.
All right, the power of faith,

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working through love.
It’s fun to end up a study on

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God’s plan of redemption with
this subject because this is

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really the aim of the whole
subject.

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This is not a first principle
that is supposed to be just an

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academic one where you study the
Bible and Bible market and write

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in all your notes and walk away
and wow, I understand the

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atonement.
This is really a subject that is

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supposed to really, of all the
first principles, this is the

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one that is supposed to really
change the way that we live.

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This was the mechanism that God
chose when you go back and look

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at it.
This was His mechanism that He

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chose and His wisdom to find the
best way to take erring human

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people and turn their lives
around so that they would choose

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to do His will and not our own.
This was His choice by His

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design.
And when the creator of all

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mankind, the one who has been
with us from the beginning and

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understood all the mistakes that
we make and knows our nature,

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when He designs the plan this
way, you know, it’s got to be

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good.
And so this is really as far as

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like the studies that we do in
our life.

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I found this to be one of the
most effective things for

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changing the way that I live,
looking at the power of faith in

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action.
So you start looking at, if

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faith is so powerful, what
happened with the law?

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It’s always good to look at that
for a minute at least, so that

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you can contrast the difference
between following work of law

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versus living by faith in Jesus
Christ.

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So what went wrong with the law
and the warning about this?

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The reason you want to look at
it today is because anytime a

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religious community has been
around for a while, or anytime

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you can go back into your family
and say, well, yeah, my dad was

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a Christadelphian and my grandpa
was a Christadelphian.

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Or anytime you can come to an
area where Christadelphians and

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maybe in Victoria, I don’t know
how.

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How long have the
Christadelphians been in

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Victoria?
Anybody know 1888?

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So you know, you’re looking at
what, 130 years or so?

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So you know, people who the
Christian community has been

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here for a long time.
And anytime that happens in an

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ecclesia, in an ecclesial area
where your family’s been in the

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truth for a long time, the
ecclesia’s been in existence for

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a long time.
For some reason, over time, and

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also as a function of size, our
community tends to develop into

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more of a ritualistic community
the longer we’ve been in

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existence and also the bigger we
become.

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And if you think about that,
there’s really two functions.

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I just watch this happen in
terms of size of our meetings.

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You travel around the world and
you look at what’s happened in

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that area and you go back and
you say, all right, the ecclesia

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has been in existence for a long
time.

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Or other times it’s because it
grew really fast and became

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huge.
And while things have changed

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and so size and time seem to
have a big impact on how we

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function as a group.
And our natural tendency over

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time and over growth and size is
that we will do what the Jews

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did and we will develop Judaism.
That is the natural tendency of

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the human spirit is to as, as
size increases and as time goes

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on, we develop a Judaistic
approach.

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And we don’t want to do that in
our community.

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You know, we don’t want to lapse
into that.

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It’s almost by default, it seems
to happen the bigger we get and

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the longer we’ve been around.
You go back and look at what

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went wrong with the law and you
can see like in in the case of

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Amos, where Amos would sort of
like tell us specifically what

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was going on amongst the Jews
that were following the law.

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They had their law for years
now.

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The size of the community was
huge, but it just became a bunch

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of rituals, procedures that they
went through.

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So that one generation
understands it.

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Their children grow up and they
see us going through the

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procedures and then their
children grow up and see them

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going through the procedures.
And over time what happens is

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the procedures become more
important than what they were

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supposed to teach.
And you can see this so clearly

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with the Jews.
So God would say it in Amos 5

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and verse 21.
I hate, I despise your feast

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days.
You’re not doing them the way

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you were supposed to.
And I do not savor your sacred

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assemblies.
Though you offer me burnt

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offerings and Your grain
offerings, I will not accept

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them, nor will I regard your
fattened peace offerings.

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Take away from me the noise of
your song, for I will not hear

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the melody of your string
instruments.

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But let justice roll down like
water, and righteousness like a

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mighty stream.
Did you offer me sacrifices and

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offerings in the wilderness?
40 years.

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So House of Israel you also
carried sucketh your king, and

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Chillon your idols, and the star
of your gods, which you made for

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yourselves.
Therefore I will send you into

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captivity beyond Damascus, says
the Lord, whose name is the God

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of hosts.
See, this is what happened to

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this community, size and time.
It has now affected them, and

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they’d lost track of justice and
mercy and kindness.

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Instead, what they did is
emphasize the sacred days, the

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offerings, and so on, and lost
track of what it was supposed to

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mean.
See what happens There was there

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was really nothing wrong with
the law itself.

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That’s why Paul would say that
the law was just and holy and

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good in Romans 7.
There’s nothing wrong with the

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law.
The problem when the apostle

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Paul goes after the law, he’s
always dealing with it from the

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perspective of how the Jews were
doing it, not so much the actual

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intent that God had of giving
them the law.

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The problem is that people tend
to take laws and turn them into

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ritualistic systems and think
that the system itself will save

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them and misunderstand that all
of those procedural things that

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they go through, we’re supposed
to help them understand justice

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and mercy and truth and faith.
That’s what it was supposed to

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do.
And instead, they lost track of

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that and just emphasized the
rituals then, as Paul would say

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in in his letter to the Hebrews,
that the rituals don’t affect

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your conscience, not necessarily
now they might to some, but to a

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large part of the group over
time, the rituals don’t affect

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their conscience.
And what we want to be careful

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of this morning is that when we
come to break bread Sunday

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morning after Sunday morning,
some of you have done it for 10

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years, 20 years, 40 years.
Some people here may have done

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it for 50 years.
You come and you take bread and

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wine.
What can happen over time and

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over the size of a community as
it grows, is that we can turn

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the rituals of our community
into just that, a bunch of

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rituals that have lost their
meaning.

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We can take a case of where a
young person decides and chooses

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to be baptized and we get all
excited on the day of their

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baptism and they go down into
the waters of baptism and they

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come out of those waters washed
pure.

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And then we sort of lose track
of them as to like, well, now

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they’re safe, right?
And we lose track of the fact

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that, wow, that’s just the
beginning of the of the war

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against sin.
And now every day becomes a war

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against sin.
And it isn’t just the act of the

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baptism.
It’s important that as that is,

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it’s, it’s a whole life.
Then it’s going to flow after

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that.
Or we can take the bread and the

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wine this morning, brethren and
sisters, and we could come here

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and we can do it as a
ritualistic procedure, take the

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bread and the wine like the Jews
did in their sacrifices.

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And just feel like, oh, I feel
better now.

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I took the bread and the wine.
I’m right with God and God’s

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forgiven me all my sins and go
away.

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And this afternoon we can go do
things which are totally ungodly

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and we don’t want to become a
Christadelphian like that.

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And that’s the warning that that
we have with the way the Jews

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used the law.
So what can happen then over

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time is that when you’re going
through ritualistic procedures

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and have your laws, you can
develop an attitude of thinking

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that I can earn my salvation.
God wants me to do these things.

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He wants me to get baptized.
He wants me to take the bread

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and the wine.
He wants me to do the Bible

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rings, Robert Roberts plan and
we can check them all off.

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He wants me to attend Bible
class during the week.

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He wants me to do all these
things.

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And we make our list of all the
things and we think that’s what

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God wants, and we lose track of
the fact that, wait a minute

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though, that isn’t what God
wants.

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What He wants is for those
things to then influence our

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life to where we learn to live
like Him and do His will and not

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our own.
That’s the goal that we’re after

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over here.
Not all the procedures.

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The procedures are designed by
God to help us get to that end

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point.
And we don’t want to become a

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group that emphasizes the
procedures and loses track of

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the end result of where we’re
actually headed.

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You see that a lot of times in
laws, what they can do is they

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just become unintended limits.
We can just set up thinking,

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well, I did my 3 Bible readings,
we checked them off, I’m done

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for the day.
And we decide that’s it for me

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because that’s all that’s really
required.

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And then we lose track of
personal study, individual

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research that we do, you know,
and, and, and studies that we do

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it in our that we should be
doing in our Bible and trying to

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understand so that the laws and
the rituals end up becoming

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limits.
They weren’t intended that way,

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but that’s what happens to a
group of people overtime.

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The laws just become limits.
I did what it was required,

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right?
And I didn’t do anything else.

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And sometimes when you hear
those laws, our minds are so

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good at trying to find ways
around them.

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And that’s, this is what we’ll
do.

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We’ll find a way around the law.
And I’ve watched this in school

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and teaching high school for 36
years.

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I watched announcements being
made over the PA system and the,

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the principal would assign a new
rule for the school.

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And I just watched the kids as
they heard the new rule.

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And a bunch of them would be
sitting there thinking, oh, I

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know how we can get around that.
And that was that was what

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happened when the, when on the
very moment that the rule was

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announced, their brains were
thinking about how we’re going

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to get around that one now.
And this is the way we are as a

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group.
This is what we come from.

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And God’s tried to change that
in us.

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He’s just, he’s trying to change
that concept.

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He doesn’t want those things to
become limits.

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He wants them to become
springboards so that we will

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live for him every day. 24/7 365
You look at how Jesus and

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looking at what happened with
the law.

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I find this one fun to look at
because it helps us realize how

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Christ viewed the law.
And you know here they are

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complaining about him going
through the green fields and he

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says to them at that point, have
you not read in Matthew 12 at

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verse 3 what David did when he
was hungry?

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He and those who were with him,
how he entered the House of God.

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He ate the showbread which was
not lawful for him to eat nor

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those who were with him, but
only for the priest.

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David broke the law.
This is what you know, and this

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is Christ’s use of the law.
This is what we guess maybe in

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the Old Testament.
It’s so fun to watch our New

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Testament expositors because
they help us understand what the

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Old Testament was supposed to
mean.

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Or he says in verse 5, have you
not read in the law that on the

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Sabbath the priest and the
temple profaned the Sabbath?

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They broke the Sabbath rules on
the Sabbath.

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Those priests did, and yet
they’re blameless.

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How does it hold them
accountable for breaking that

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law?
Here they went, and they broke

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one of the ritual procedures, as
David did in this case of eating

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the showbread, and yet they were
held blameless.

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Yet I say to you that in this
place there is one greater than

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the temple.
But if you had known what this

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00:11:17,880 –> 00:11:22,480
means, I desire mercy and not
sacrifice, you would not have

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00:11:22,480 –> 00:11:25,880
condemned the guiltless.
Now you see what Christ is

223
00:11:25,880 –> 00:11:28,480
getting at There is the fact
that when there were rules under

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00:11:28,480 –> 00:11:31,760
the law, there were times when
there were conflicting rules.

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00:11:32,080 –> 00:11:35,680
And what our brains tend to do
when we have conflicting rules

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00:11:35,680 –> 00:11:40,600
and procedures is we tend to
hold up the one that fits what

227
00:11:40,600 –> 00:11:42,920
we’re trying to accomplish at
the time.

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00:11:43,480 –> 00:11:46,800
And sometimes what we do then is
we mistreat our brethren and

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00:11:46,800 –> 00:11:51,240
sisters because we hold up some
rule that we have and fail to

230
00:11:51,240 –> 00:11:56,800
realize that really the highest
rule was to love God and to love

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00:11:56,920 –> 00:12:00,800
our neighbor as ourselves.
That was the highest on those

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00:12:00,800 –> 00:12:02,880
two.
The whole law hangs.

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00:12:03,320 –> 00:12:07,320
So when it came time to making a
decision between what do we do?

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00:12:07,320 –> 00:12:11,120
Follow the rule about about the
showbread, the rule that we

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00:12:11,120 –> 00:12:14,960
have, or when you love your
neighbor as yourself and people

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are starving.
What’s more important that we

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00:12:17,200 –> 00:12:20,120
feed starving people or we
follow this rule about the

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00:12:20,120 –> 00:12:21,680
showbread?
Let’s see.

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00:12:21,680 –> 00:12:24,840
This is what happens when, when
you start looking at the rules,

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00:12:25,040 –> 00:12:29,440
you have to rank the rules and
find out which ones are more

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00:12:29,440 –> 00:12:31,680
important.
And what Christ says at the end

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00:12:31,680 –> 00:12:34,880
there is that if you understood
that, then when you went with

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00:12:34,880 –> 00:12:38,560
your animal and you brought your
animal to the high priest and

244
00:12:38,560 –> 00:12:40,960
you went through this
ritualistic procedure of laying

245
00:12:40,960 –> 00:12:43,840
your hands on the animal and
killing the animal and offering

246
00:12:43,840 –> 00:12:47,960
it up, you would have realized
that when you go through that

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00:12:47,960 –> 00:12:53,160
procedure and you’re asking for
God to extend mercy to you for

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00:12:53,160 –> 00:12:57,120
your mistakes, you should have
walked out of that temple after

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00:12:57,120 –> 00:13:01,520
that sacrifice, realizing that
the goal of that was to teach me

250
00:13:01,520 –> 00:13:06,480
to extend mercy to other people.
He desires mercy and not

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00:13:06,480 –> 00:13:09,280
sacrifice.
And unfortunately, our natural

252
00:13:09,280 –> 00:13:14,080
tendency is to emphasize the
procedures and miss the point.

253
00:13:14,680 –> 00:13:16,720
It’s sad, but this, this is
human nature.

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00:13:16,720 –> 00:13:18,720
This is what we’re dealing with.
And we at least have to

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00:13:18,720 –> 00:13:20,880
understand that that that’s
where we’re coming from.

256
00:13:21,360 –> 00:13:24,480
And you can see that in Christ’s
use of the Sabbath law here with

257
00:13:24,480 –> 00:13:27,160
the priests and also going
through and, and David with the

258
00:13:27,160 –> 00:13:29,280
showbread.
So here the, you know, don’t

259
00:13:29,280 –> 00:13:32,160
bother these disciples for going
through and, and getting some

260
00:13:32,160 –> 00:13:35,360
grain on the Sabbath.
So he says to them in Matthew

261
00:13:35,360 –> 00:13:39,680
23, this is Jesus at the end in
Matthew 23 becomes very hard on

262
00:13:39,680 –> 00:13:41,080
them.
Woe to you scribes and

263
00:13:41,080 –> 00:13:46,160
Pharisees, hypocrites in verse
23, or you pay tithe of mint and

264
00:13:46,160 –> 00:13:50,200
anise and cumin and have
neglected the weightier matters

265
00:13:50,280 –> 00:13:52,520
of the law.
Well, you see what they did.

266
00:13:52,520 –> 00:13:55,800
They took the rules of the law,
took the ones that they found

267
00:13:55,800 –> 00:13:58,800
were like easy for them to do
and actually brought them

268
00:13:58,800 –> 00:14:01,160
something in.
And they emphasized those little

269
00:14:01,160 –> 00:14:03,320
tiny things and put them way up
high.

270
00:14:03,680 –> 00:14:06,360
And then they took the stuff
that was hard to do and they put

271
00:14:06,360 –> 00:14:08,040
it way down there and said,
well, that stuff doesn’t really

272
00:14:08,040 –> 00:14:10,280
matter, does it?
The ones that were tough to do

273
00:14:10,280 –> 00:14:11,800
and the ones that would cost
them something.

274
00:14:12,200 –> 00:14:16,080
You neglected justice and mercy
and faith.

275
00:14:16,720 –> 00:14:18,320
You missed those things in the
law.

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00:14:19,000 –> 00:14:21,240
Did you ever notice in the law
as you’re reading through it,

277
00:14:21,240 –> 00:14:24,000
how it doesn’t really say much
about faith, does it?

278
00:14:24,640 –> 00:14:26,560
As you’re reading through the
law, you ever noticed that about

279
00:14:26,560 –> 00:14:28,800
reading the laws?
It says, you know, you do this,

280
00:14:28,800 –> 00:14:32,400
you do this, you do this, you
does them, she’ll live by them,

281
00:14:32,400 –> 00:14:34,840
as Paul would say.
You know, you do this, you do

282
00:14:34,840 –> 00:14:36,440
this.
And then what if somebody breaks

283
00:14:36,440 –> 00:14:38,840
a law?
If you break a law, you deserve

284
00:14:38,840 –> 00:14:41,720
this.
But where’s mercy?

285
00:14:42,160 –> 00:14:46,440
Where’s faith?
See, what God was expecting is

286
00:14:46,440 –> 00:14:51,280
that when you live under law and
you realize how often you fail

287
00:14:51,560 –> 00:14:56,480
and how much you need mercy, he
expected that we would do the

288
00:14:56,480 –> 00:14:59,880
same thing to other people.
So when the law said, when you

289
00:14:59,880 –> 00:15:03,600
break this rule, that here is
what you deserve, and somebody

290
00:15:03,600 –> 00:15:06,920
comes to us and said, I’m sorry,
I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t

291
00:15:06,920 –> 00:15:08,400
have done that.
That what?

292
00:15:08,400 –> 00:15:11,200
If you were in their shoes, what
would you be hoping for?

293
00:15:11,800 –> 00:15:14,320
You’d be hoping that someone
would extend mercy.

294
00:15:14,320 –> 00:15:16,760
That’s what you’d hope.
And then therefore, we should

295
00:15:16,760 –> 00:15:18,840
have done the same thing with
those people.

296
00:15:19,240 –> 00:15:21,440
See, This is why when they
brought the woman to Jesus who

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00:15:21,440 –> 00:15:24,720
was caught in adultery, legally
by law, she’s caught in

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00:15:24,720 –> 00:15:26,560
adultery.
All those people are there.

299
00:15:26,760 –> 00:15:30,160
If Christ was just following the
legality of the law, he should

300
00:15:30,160 –> 00:15:32,760
have supported those who picked
up stones and threw a matter.

301
00:15:33,400 –> 00:15:35,560
That’s what the law said.
You deserve to die.

302
00:15:36,240 –> 00:15:39,560
But where was mercy?
Where’s the mercy for those

303
00:15:39,560 –> 00:15:41,760
people?
He understood that there was

304
00:15:41,760 –> 00:15:44,640
mercy involved.
And Bible characters following

305
00:15:44,640 –> 00:15:47,880
the law realized that, that
there was plenty of room for

306
00:15:47,880 –> 00:15:50,640
mercy because they understood
that’s what they had hoped for

307
00:15:50,640 –> 00:15:52,960
themselves.
This is what it was supposed to

308
00:15:52,960 –> 00:15:54,680
do.
This is why Joseph, you know,

309
00:15:54,680 –> 00:15:57,520
when he takes Mary on and then
takes her as a spouse, he’s a

310
00:15:57,520 –> 00:16:00,840
just and a good man.
He doesn’t put her away and have

311
00:16:00,840 –> 00:16:04,520
her stone when she’s pregnant.
He doesn’t do that because he

312
00:16:04,520 –> 00:16:08,240
understood the concept of mercy.
And we don’t want to be one of

313
00:16:08,240 –> 00:16:12,120
those law people that just reads
the rules and follows the rules

314
00:16:12,440 –> 00:16:15,680
and misunderstands the fact
that, wow, we were supposed to

315
00:16:15,680 –> 00:16:18,560
learn justice and mercy as you
were going through that.

316
00:16:18,960 –> 00:16:21,600
And don’t just rank the laws
that are easy for ourselves to

317
00:16:21,600 –> 00:16:23,840
follow.
So you watch what the Jews did

318
00:16:23,840 –> 00:16:25,880
with the laws.
They ended up turning it into a

319
00:16:25,880 –> 00:16:29,120
system whereby they could follow
these procedures and end up

320
00:16:29,120 –> 00:16:30,880
feeling in the end, oh, I’m
pretty good.

321
00:16:31,200 –> 00:16:33,960
I followed, you know, 9 out of
10 that I was aiming for today.

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00:16:33,960 –> 00:16:36,640
And that’s pretty good.
And and that what they would do

323
00:16:36,640 –> 00:16:38,400
then is feel that, wow, before
God.

324
00:16:38,400 –> 00:16:42,000
You see, I did a pretty good day
today and I’m, I’m doing better,

325
00:16:42,000 –> 00:16:43,520
aren’t we?
My life and the truth is

326
00:16:43,520 –> 00:16:46,000
progressing.
See, I’m doing better as time

327
00:16:46,000 –> 00:16:47,920
goes on.
And then we would think that we

328
00:16:47,920 –> 00:16:50,960
could present our life to God
and let wow, I’ve really done

329
00:16:50,960 –> 00:16:54,080
something that I sort of deserve
eternal life.

330
00:16:54,080 –> 00:16:56,960
See, I’ve earned it now.
I’ve followed it by law.

331
00:16:56,960 –> 00:17:01,040
And, and, and Paul is so hard on
that, that philosophy of life.

332
00:17:01,040 –> 00:17:03,240
And he just, there’s, there’s no
way you can do that.

333
00:17:03,680 –> 00:17:06,520
And he acknowledges that.
Look at hit the Jews in Romans

334
00:17:06,520 –> 00:17:10,079
10, after going through his
exposition of salvation by faith

335
00:17:10,440 –> 00:17:13,839
and pointing out to them in
Chapter 9 about God’s election

336
00:17:14,079 –> 00:17:18,920
that it was God’s choice as to
who he picks out of all the 7

337
00:17:18,920 –> 00:17:22,480
billion people on this planet.
And God picked Israel for a

338
00:17:22,480 –> 00:17:27,280
while now he’s picked Gentiles.
He can pick who he wants to save

339
00:17:27,599 –> 00:17:29,000
and out of the different
communities.

340
00:17:29,000 –> 00:17:32,160
That’s God’s right at his
prerogative because He is the

341
00:17:32,160 –> 00:17:35,880
Potter and we are the clay.
But he goes on to show them in

342
00:17:35,880 –> 00:17:41,000
Romans 10 that the Jews and all
of their energy and all of their

343
00:17:41,040 –> 00:17:44,760
effort and all of their
sincerity because they were

344
00:17:44,760 –> 00:17:47,200
sincere, many of them.
And Paul knew this because

345
00:17:47,200 –> 00:17:50,200
that’s the way he had been.
But in all of that they were

346
00:17:50,200 –> 00:17:54,720
ignorant, ignorant of the key
concept of God’s righteousness.

347
00:17:55,000 –> 00:17:57,960
So he said in Romans 10 that
verse one, brethren, my heart’s

348
00:17:57,960 –> 00:18:01,160
desire and prayer to God for
Israel is that they may be

349
00:18:01,160 –> 00:18:03,200
saved.
He wants them saved.

350
00:18:03,200 –> 00:18:06,120
He doesn’t want them cut off and
branches broken off at this

351
00:18:06,160 –> 00:18:08,040
point.
For I bear them witness that

352
00:18:08,040 –> 00:18:11,040
they have a zeal for God.
They’re really into their

353
00:18:11,040 –> 00:18:13,960
religion, but not according to
knowledge.

354
00:18:14,560 –> 00:18:18,600
For they, being ignorant of
God’s righteousness and seeking

355
00:18:18,600 –> 00:18:22,040
to establish their own
righteousness, have not

356
00:18:22,040 –> 00:18:24,320
submitted to the righteousness
of God.

357
00:18:24,800 –> 00:18:28,360
They didn’t understand a
righteousness that is imputed by

358
00:18:28,360 –> 00:18:29,960
faith.
Never.

359
00:18:30,080 –> 00:18:32,960
That just never came into their
way of old thinking at all

360
00:18:33,120 –> 00:18:35,640
because they were going through
all the procedures.

361
00:18:36,120 –> 00:18:39,840
He says in verse four that
Christ is the end of the law for

362
00:18:39,840 –> 00:18:41,920
righteousness to everyone who
believes.

363
00:18:42,200 –> 00:18:44,200
See that word end?
There isn’t end.

364
00:18:44,200 –> 00:18:47,160
It’s not termination like, it’s
like that’s the goal.

365
00:18:47,520 –> 00:18:51,680
Christ was the aim of the law
for everyone who believes.

366
00:18:51,680 –> 00:18:53,520
That’s what you should have been
seeing.

367
00:18:53,520 –> 00:18:56,560
So that when you offered your
animal sacrifice or all the

368
00:18:56,560 –> 00:18:59,920
procedural things that you went
through, you would see in going

369
00:18:59,920 –> 00:19:02,800
through those procedures.
The idea that I’m, I can never

370
00:19:02,800 –> 00:19:05,040
earn my way.
I can never keep all this.

371
00:19:05,240 –> 00:19:08,840
I’m a Sinner, I need help.
I must depend on the Messiah

372
00:19:08,840 –> 00:19:11,760
who’s coming and I’ll have faith
in him and I’ll look up to him

373
00:19:11,760 –> 00:19:15,200
in faith and really want his
life and God will forgive me

374
00:19:15,200 –> 00:19:17,360
because I will die to sin with
him.

375
00:19:17,680 –> 00:19:19,640
And that’s what the goal of the
law was.

376
00:19:19,640 –> 00:19:22,920
That’s what he was after.
For in Hebrews 10, Paul says

377
00:19:22,920 –> 00:19:26,120
that the law was just a shadow
of the good things to come and

378
00:19:26,120 –> 00:19:28,920
not the very image.
It wasn’t the image.

379
00:19:28,960 –> 00:19:32,360
It was just trying to show them
in two-dimensional shadows.

380
00:19:32,760 –> 00:19:35,800
They they could build a
three-dimensional picture of

381
00:19:35,800 –> 00:19:38,440
salvation by faith in Jesus
Christ.

382
00:19:38,680 –> 00:19:41,840
That was the goal of the law.
That was its aim and not the

383
00:19:41,840 –> 00:19:45,000
very image of those things.
And it can never, with these

384
00:19:45,000 –> 00:19:50,000
same sacrifices which they offer
continually, year by year, make

385
00:19:50,000 –> 00:19:53,120
those who approach perfect.
It never could.

386
00:19:53,240 –> 00:19:55,800
It was never intended to make
them perfect.

387
00:19:56,120 –> 00:19:58,640
Never intended.
That’s not what God had in mind

388
00:19:58,920 –> 00:20:01,360
for then would they not have
ceased to be offered?

389
00:20:01,360 –> 00:20:04,480
If that were the case, if it
really had worked that way, then

390
00:20:04,480 –> 00:20:06,640
it would have been a point at
which you could cease offering

391
00:20:06,640 –> 00:20:09,080
those sacrifices.
For the worshippers, once

392
00:20:09,080 –> 00:20:13,320
purified, would have had no more
consciousness of sins.

393
00:20:13,480 –> 00:20:15,640
If that’s really what was going
on in the law.

394
00:20:15,680 –> 00:20:18,800
You offered your sacrifice and
now there’s atonement made for

395
00:20:18,800 –> 00:20:21,520
you, and you’re clean and all of
this, then you’d have no more

396
00:20:21,520 –> 00:20:24,440
consciousness of sins.
Why, on the Day of Atonement

397
00:20:24,440 –> 00:20:26,440
were they all brought up again
Every year?

398
00:20:26,720 –> 00:20:28,840
And then the next year they were
all brought up again.

399
00:20:28,840 –> 00:20:31,680
And year after year, under the
Law, all the sins of the people

400
00:20:31,680 –> 00:20:34,920
were put on the goat, on the
live goat in this case, and they

401
00:20:34,960 –> 00:20:37,640
led away.
Why did they keep reminding you

402
00:20:37,640 –> 00:20:40,760
about all these sins?
Because there never was a

403
00:20:40,760 –> 00:20:44,000
forgiveness and a cleansing of
the conscience of those sins

404
00:20:44,000 –> 00:20:48,120
under the law.
By law, it was only designed by

405
00:20:48,120 –> 00:20:52,200
faith, so that if people looked
through that law and saw Jesus

406
00:20:52,200 –> 00:20:55,480
Christ and realize that through
their commitment of dying with

407
00:20:55,480 –> 00:20:58,920
the animal to sin, that you join
Christ and you’re found in him.

408
00:20:59,240 –> 00:21:02,600
To those people, they were
forgiven in the forbearance of

409
00:21:02,600 –> 00:21:07,360
God, but not by going through a
ritualistic procedure of law as

410
00:21:07,360 –> 00:21:09,760
in Paul.
He got that really well in those

411
00:21:09,760 –> 00:21:12,200
sacrifices.
He says in verse 3, there’s a

412
00:21:12,200 –> 00:21:16,720
reminder of sins every year
because on the Day of Atonement

413
00:21:16,720 –> 00:21:20,160
they were all brought up again.
So he says it was not possible

414
00:21:20,160 –> 00:21:22,760
that the blood of bulls and
goats could take away sins.

415
00:21:23,040 –> 00:21:26,320
They never were supposed to.
They were supposed to be a

416
00:21:26,320 –> 00:21:29,200
shadow to teach us about the
reality.

417
00:21:29,800 –> 00:21:32,360
So in Galatians 2, when he’s
dealing with this, and really

418
00:21:32,360 –> 00:21:35,400
Galatians is fun to look at
because you get like a condensed

419
00:21:35,400 –> 00:21:37,680
version of Romans in a really
short form.

420
00:21:38,000 –> 00:21:40,440
So if you don’t have time to go
through Romans someday, you just

421
00:21:40,440 –> 00:21:43,840
go to Galatians and you can get
it in six chapters instead of 12

422
00:21:43,840 –> 00:21:46,520
or so.
So he says in Galatians 2, that

423
00:21:46,520 –> 00:21:50,960
we who are Jews by nature and
not sinners of the Gentiles in

424
00:21:50,960 –> 00:21:55,760
verse 15, knowing that a man is
not justified by works of the

425
00:21:55,760 –> 00:21:58,960
law, but by faith in Jesus
Christ.

426
00:21:59,280 –> 00:22:03,240
Even we have believed in Christ
Jesus that we might be justified

427
00:22:03,240 –> 00:22:06,800
by faith in Christ and not by
works of the law.

428
00:22:07,200 –> 00:22:12,200
For by works of the law, no
flesh will be justified.

429
00:22:12,280 –> 00:22:16,760
Nobody, not even Jesus Christ.
And some of us here would think

430
00:22:16,760 –> 00:22:19,080
that we, we grew up thinking
that, oh, Christ earned his

431
00:22:19,080 –> 00:22:21,480
salvation.
He kept the law perfectly.

432
00:22:21,480 –> 00:22:23,640
He was perfectly obedient to his
God.

433
00:22:24,080 –> 00:22:25,720
And in the end, what did that
law do?

434
00:22:25,880 –> 00:22:30,280
They cursed him.
Because by works of the law, no

435
00:22:30,280 –> 00:22:32,680
flesh was ever designed to be
justified.

436
00:22:32,680 –> 00:22:34,520
That’s not what God had
intended.

437
00:22:34,840 –> 00:22:38,360
The, the plan all along was to
be saved by faith.

438
00:22:38,840 –> 00:22:41,360
Saved by faith.
That was God’s plan and it was

439
00:22:41,360 –> 00:22:42,880
there from the beginning to the
end.

440
00:22:43,360 –> 00:22:46,360
So Paul would say it in verse 19
that I, through the law, died to

441
00:22:46,360 –> 00:22:47,880
the law, that I might live to
God.

442
00:22:48,080 –> 00:22:51,520
I’ve been crucified with Christ.
It’s no longer I who live, but

443
00:22:51,520 –> 00:22:54,760
Christ who lives in me.
See, this is how he understood

444
00:22:54,760 –> 00:22:57,320
the idea that you die with
Christ, with the animal.

445
00:22:57,320 –> 00:23:00,080
Paul got it in the end, and he
saw it in the animal, in the

446
00:23:00,080 –> 00:23:02,280
sacrifice, in baptism in Romans
6.

447
00:23:02,520 –> 00:23:05,640
And he sees it as the prospect
that every day we pick up our

448
00:23:05,640 –> 00:23:10,600
cross daily, and we follow him.
I’ve been crucified with Christ.

449
00:23:10,720 –> 00:23:14,080
No longer I who live, but Christ
who lives in me and the life

450
00:23:14,080 –> 00:23:17,600
which I now live in the flesh.
I live by faith in the Son of

451
00:23:17,600 –> 00:23:20,480
God who loved me and gave
himself for me.

452
00:23:21,000 –> 00:23:23,200
I do not set aside the grace of
God.

453
00:23:23,200 –> 00:23:25,720
No way.
Or if righteousness comes

454
00:23:25,720 –> 00:23:28,360
through the law, then Christ
died in vain.

455
00:23:28,720 –> 00:23:31,760
He died so that we could be
saved by faith.

456
00:23:32,520 –> 00:23:35,160
Or as Paul goes on in chapter 3
when he’s talking about that

457
00:23:35,160 –> 00:23:38,240
chapter of faith and what God
had accomplished by faith that

458
00:23:38,240 –> 00:23:41,360
the law could never do.
He mentions that as many in

459
00:23:41,360 –> 00:23:45,040
verse 10, as many as are of the
works of the law are under a

460
00:23:45,040 –> 00:23:48,760
curse, for it is written.
Cursed is everyone who does not

461
00:23:48,760 –> 00:23:51,680
continue in all things which are
written in the book of the law

462
00:23:51,680 –> 00:23:54,240
to do them.
You make one mistake under the

463
00:23:54,240 –> 00:23:57,160
law.
The law curses you and all the

464
00:23:57,160 –> 00:24:00,040
curses of the law come upon you
for your one mistake.

465
00:24:00,320 –> 00:24:02,840
See how God set that up?
We would look at that and say,

466
00:24:02,840 –> 00:24:05,440
well, that’s not fair.
How can all that come on you for

467
00:24:05,440 –> 00:24:08,200
one thing?
But he wanted people to realize

468
00:24:08,200 –> 00:24:11,320
that this isn’t what saves you.
All this law is going to do is

469
00:24:11,320 –> 00:24:15,000
curse you, and you better look
at something beyond this law.

470
00:24:15,040 –> 00:24:17,760
You better see beyond the
shadows if you’re ever going to

471
00:24:17,760 –> 00:24:22,400
be saved so that in verse 11,
but that no one is justified by

472
00:24:22,400 –> 00:24:24,800
the law.
No one in the sight of God is

473
00:24:24,800 –> 00:24:28,480
evident for the just shall live
by faith.

474
00:24:28,760 –> 00:24:30,600
See Paul quotes that three
times.

475
00:24:30,600 –> 00:24:33,640
He quotes it in Galatians.
He quotes it in Romans and he

476
00:24:33,640 –> 00:24:35,640
quotes it in Hebrews.
If you’re ever wondering whether

477
00:24:35,640 –> 00:24:38,160
Paul wrote Hebrews that’s that’s
one of those little side issues

478
00:24:38,160 –> 00:24:39,880
that just shows you this is
Paul.

479
00:24:39,880 –> 00:24:43,360
You can see his writings all
over that book because he used

480
00:24:43,360 –> 00:24:46,280
that passage to show them that
this is what God had intended

481
00:24:46,360 –> 00:24:49,440
all along, that you get
out-of-the-box, you don’t go by

482
00:24:49,440 –> 00:24:51,840
law, you don’t just think I’m
going to stay in Jerusalem.

483
00:24:52,000 –> 00:24:55,240
You leave, you give up, you
follow what God says in faith,

484
00:24:55,480 –> 00:24:58,680
and He will grant you life.
And they had witnessed that.

485
00:24:58,680 –> 00:25:01,880
The Jewish community all knew
that in the days of Jeremiah and

486
00:25:01,880 –> 00:25:04,720
Habakkuk.
And now Jesus Christ comes along

487
00:25:04,720 –> 00:25:07,680
and he fulfills that.
And it’s it’s fullness that

488
00:25:07,680 –> 00:25:11,280
God’s just one, as he quotes it
in Hebrews 10, that his just one

489
00:25:11,280 –> 00:25:14,760
will live by faith.
So that’s the point.

490
00:25:15,040 –> 00:25:17,680
Yet the law is not a faith.
He says you, when you follow

491
00:25:17,680 –> 00:25:20,360
laws, you’re not following
faith, you’re just doing them.

492
00:25:20,360 –> 00:25:23,160
You’re going through the motions
so many times you do them and I

493
00:25:23,160 –> 00:25:25,800
do them, but you’re really not
living by faith.

494
00:25:26,200 –> 00:25:29,600
So the law cursed everyone and
the law never could grant

495
00:25:29,600 –> 00:25:33,560
eternal life to anyone.
It was not designed to do that.

496
00:25:33,840 –> 00:25:37,080
The law came after the promises.
It came after the oath.

497
00:25:37,360 –> 00:25:41,200
It was never designed to, to,
for anybody to earn their

498
00:25:41,200 –> 00:25:43,680
salvation.
So the law itself was really

499
00:25:43,680 –> 00:25:45,920
extremely limited.
If you ever look into it, you’ll

500
00:25:45,920 –> 00:25:48,560
see that as you’re going through
the procedures of the law, if

501
00:25:48,560 –> 00:25:50,720
you ever thought the law was
going to save you, we’re in real

502
00:25:50,720 –> 00:25:53,000
trouble.
Because even in Leviticus and

503
00:25:53,000 –> 00:25:55,960
dealing with the sin offering
and then the guilt offering, he

504
00:25:55,960 –> 00:25:59,240
talks in verse 1 of chapter 4 of
Leviticus, the Lord spoke to

505
00:25:59,240 –> 00:26:02,760
Moses saying speak to the
children of Israel saying if a

506
00:26:02,840 –> 00:26:08,400
person sins unintentionally, Oh,
you see that word there

507
00:26:08,880 –> 00:26:11,840
unintentionally against any of
the commandments of the Lord and

508
00:26:11,840 –> 00:26:14,560
anything which ought not to be
done and does one of them.

509
00:26:14,920 –> 00:26:18,360
If the anointed priest sins
bringing guilt on the people,

510
00:26:18,360 –> 00:26:21,680
then let him offer to the Lord
for his sin which he has sinned

511
00:26:21,920 –> 00:26:24,600
a young bull without blemish as
a sin offering.

512
00:26:25,040 –> 00:26:30,040
So under the law, the legalistic
system of law, this only covered

513
00:26:30,040 –> 00:26:33,160
sins that you did by mistake
unintentionally.

514
00:26:33,360 –> 00:26:36,480
What about adultery?
What about murder?

515
00:26:36,600 –> 00:26:40,040
What about premeditated things
that we thought about and then

516
00:26:40,040 –> 00:26:42,440
that that they were never even
covered under the law?

517
00:26:42,440 –> 00:26:44,560
You know, on the Day of
Atonement, you could pile them

518
00:26:44,560 –> 00:26:46,920
all up there, but none of these
animals sacrifices.

519
00:26:47,080 –> 00:26:48,720
That’s why David realized right
away.

520
00:26:48,720 –> 00:26:51,120
He said, for what I’ve done, He
said, I realized there’s no

521
00:26:51,120 –> 00:26:53,640
sacrifice he could offer for
that under the law.

522
00:26:53,880 –> 00:26:56,680
There was no forgiveness for
that by by law.

523
00:26:56,960 –> 00:27:00,720
But what God was trying to teach
them is that something better is

524
00:27:00,720 –> 00:27:02,320
coming.
There are going to be better

525
00:27:02,320 –> 00:27:04,480
things.
This is why when Peter went out

526
00:27:04,480 –> 00:27:07,080
preaching and Paul when they
would talk to the Jews and they

527
00:27:07,080 –> 00:27:09,520
would explain to them like in
Acts 13.

528
00:27:09,520 –> 00:27:12,880
Therefore in verse 38, let it be
known to you brethren, that

529
00:27:12,880 –> 00:27:17,360
through this man is preached to
you the forgiveness of sins and

530
00:27:17,360 –> 00:27:22,960
by him everyone who believes is
justified from all things from

531
00:27:22,960 –> 00:27:26,320
which you could not be justified
by the law of Moses.

532
00:27:26,760 –> 00:27:28,760
This is this is
all-encompassing.

533
00:27:28,760 –> 00:27:33,640
He forgives all our sins, and
the law was never designed to do

534
00:27:33,640 –> 00:27:37,360
that because God inherently put
in the law all kinds of

535
00:27:37,360 –> 00:27:41,400
weaknesses so that nobody should
have walked away thinking that

536
00:27:41,400 –> 00:27:44,880
they would be saved by law.
So instead you have the power of

537
00:27:44,880 –> 00:27:47,200
faith in Jesus Christ of what it
can do for us.

538
00:27:47,200 –> 00:27:51,040
It can change your life and God
can righteously forgive your

539
00:27:51,040 –> 00:27:53,920
sins.
So Paul says in Romans 3 after

540
00:27:53,920 –> 00:27:57,480
going through all of those cases
of the the Gentiles in chapter 1

541
00:27:57,480 –> 00:28:00,520
and their failure to attain to
the righteousness of God and

542
00:28:00,520 –> 00:28:03,880
then the Jews and their failure
in chapter 2 to attain to the

543
00:28:03,880 –> 00:28:07,200
righteousness of God, He says
there that that by none of them

544
00:28:07,200 –> 00:28:09,280
were able to make it.
No, not one.

545
00:28:09,880 –> 00:28:13,960
But we know He says in verse 19
of chapter 3 that whatever the

546
00:28:13,960 –> 00:28:17,960
law says, it says to those who
are under the law that every

547
00:28:17,960 –> 00:28:20,840
mouth may be stopped.
This is what the law was

548
00:28:20,840 –> 00:28:24,680
supposed to do.
Every mouth may be stopped and

549
00:28:24,720 –> 00:28:27,120
all the world may become guilty
before God.

550
00:28:27,480 –> 00:28:31,400
The law was never supposed to
help you become like a better

551
00:28:31,400 –> 00:28:34,440
person who can go to God and
say, look at how good I am and

552
00:28:34,440 –> 00:28:37,400
now you can save me.
It was never designed that way.

553
00:28:37,640 –> 00:28:43,240
God designed the law so that sin
would become exceedingly sinful

554
00:28:43,440 –> 00:28:46,760
and that everyone would
recognize what a failure we are.

555
00:28:47,040 –> 00:28:50,400
And we would all then turn to
God and, and, and appeal to Him

556
00:28:50,400 –> 00:28:54,280
and his kindness and His mercy
by the faith of Jesus Christ

557
00:28:54,680 –> 00:28:56,920
that he would turn us into a
different person.

558
00:28:57,040 –> 00:29:00,400
He would help us overcome our
weaknesses and he would forgive

559
00:29:00,400 –> 00:29:03,560
us of our mistakes.
So Paul would say, therefore, by

560
00:29:03,560 –> 00:29:05,360
deeds of the law, here we go
again.

561
00:29:05,360 –> 00:29:08,680
No flesh will be justified in
his sight.

562
00:29:08,960 –> 00:29:11,960
He kept trying to get that
across to those Judaizers.

563
00:29:12,320 –> 00:29:14,840
For by the law is the knowledge
of sin.

564
00:29:14,840 –> 00:29:18,560
That’s what it was supposed to
do, make sin become exceedingly

565
00:29:18,560 –> 00:29:21,200
sinful.
But now he says the

566
00:29:21,200 –> 00:29:25,040
righteousness of God apart from
the law is revealed.

567
00:29:25,040 –> 00:29:28,400
Oh, this is different.
This is now a righteousness of

568
00:29:28,400 –> 00:29:31,880
God that isn’t by law.
Oh no, This one is being

569
00:29:31,880 –> 00:29:34,600
witnessed by the law, so that
the law was always telling you

570
00:29:34,600 –> 00:29:36,800
about it.
The law witnessed to it and so

571
00:29:36,800 –> 00:29:39,920
did the prophets, even the
righteousness of God through

572
00:29:39,920 –> 00:29:44,320
faith in Jesus Christ to all and
on all who believe, for there is

573
00:29:44,320 –> 00:29:46,600
no difference.
This is now something that you

574
00:29:46,600 –> 00:29:51,120
can go broad right across the
spectrum of mankind to everyone

575
00:29:51,120 –> 00:29:55,160
who believes, everyone who
believes, not just the Jews, for

576
00:29:55,160 –> 00:29:58,000
all have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God.

577
00:29:58,440 –> 00:30:03,080
So being justified then freely
by His grace through the

578
00:30:03,080 –> 00:30:07,200
redemption that is in Christ
Jesus, all recognize that you

579
00:30:07,200 –> 00:30:10,400
can’t ever do anything to earn
this salvation.

580
00:30:10,480 –> 00:30:13,880
This is a gift, He calls it.
It is the gift of God.

581
00:30:14,200 –> 00:30:18,920
God loves you as a Father.
He’s chosen you and He offers

582
00:30:18,920 –> 00:30:22,120
you a gift.
This is coming from him down,

583
00:30:22,320 –> 00:30:24,520
not something that we earn from
the bottom up.

584
00:30:24,880 –> 00:30:28,800
It’s a gift that he gives us by
his grace through the redemption

585
00:30:28,800 –> 00:30:31,760
that’s in Christ Jesus to whom
God set forward as a

586
00:30:31,760 –> 00:30:34,120
propitiation.
You, you look up that word and I

587
00:30:34,120 –> 00:30:36,720
know it has connections to the
in the Old Testament in the

588
00:30:36,720 –> 00:30:40,400
Septuagint to the mercy seat,
but to the to the Gentile

589
00:30:40,400 –> 00:30:44,320
community, what they used that
word for in their community was

590
00:30:44,320 –> 00:30:47,000
that it was a gift that
generates peace.

591
00:30:47,320 –> 00:30:49,800
It was an an offering you’d make
to somebody and you give them a

592
00:30:49,800 –> 00:30:51,920
gift so we can have peace
between the two of us.

593
00:30:52,160 –> 00:30:54,040
And this is coming from God
down.

594
00:30:54,040 –> 00:30:57,720
This is what He did, He, and
it’s by His blood, through faith

595
00:30:58,120 –> 00:31:01,040
to demonstrate His
righteousness, because in His

596
00:31:01,040 –> 00:31:04,040
forbearance God had passed over
the sins that were previously

597
00:31:04,040 –> 00:31:06,200
committed.
He had passed over them,

598
00:31:06,200 –> 00:31:09,840
realizing that He could forgive
them through the faith that they

599
00:31:09,840 –> 00:31:14,280
had in Jesus Christ, not by law,
but through faith in Christ, and

600
00:31:14,280 –> 00:31:18,000
to demonstrate at the present
time His righteousness that He

601
00:31:18,000 –> 00:31:23,120
might be just and the justifier
of the one who has the faith of

602
00:31:23,240 –> 00:31:25,440
Jesus.
This is what God can do.

603
00:31:25,600 –> 00:31:29,200
When you have the faith of
Jesus, trusting and believing in

604
00:31:29,200 –> 00:31:33,080
God and everything that He does
in our lives, everything that He

605
00:31:33,080 –> 00:31:37,480
does in our lives, then God can
look at us and He can forgive us

606
00:31:37,480 –> 00:31:40,000
because we hate sin like He
hates it.

607
00:31:40,360 –> 00:31:43,720
We’ve joined his family and
joined his team, and so he

608
00:31:43,720 –> 00:31:46,680
forgives us by his kindness and
His grace.

609
00:31:46,880 –> 00:31:49,160
What a gift.
So where’s boasting them?

610
00:31:49,160 –> 00:31:51,040
Who’s going to get up in front
of God and say, well, look at

611
00:31:51,040 –> 00:31:53,360
what I’ve done, You know, look
at how good I am living now.

612
00:31:53,840 –> 00:31:56,560
It’s excluded.
And by what law of works?

613
00:31:56,600 –> 00:32:00,600
No, but by the law of faith.
People who live by faith realize

614
00:32:00,600 –> 00:32:03,320
that there’s no way they could
ever go to God and say, look at

615
00:32:03,320 –> 00:32:06,480
how good I am now.
And therefore we conclude, and

616
00:32:06,480 –> 00:32:11,320
he says it again, that a man is
justified by faith apart from

617
00:32:11,320 –> 00:32:14,520
the deeds of the law.
So you could go back like in

618
00:32:14,520 –> 00:32:16,800
Romans 4, he’ll go back and look
at Abraham, and that’s what he

619
00:32:16,800 –> 00:32:18,160
does.
He goes back and says, here’s

620
00:32:18,160 –> 00:32:20,400
how it started.
Here’s what God did with Abraham

621
00:32:20,400 –> 00:32:22,760
when he chose a family.
He chose one man and then use

622
00:32:22,760 –> 00:32:25,720
that man to develop a nation.
All right, And what was God

623
00:32:25,720 –> 00:32:28,520
doing?
He was trying to build on a man

624
00:32:28,520 –> 00:32:30,840
who had the faith of Jesus
Christ.

625
00:32:31,200 –> 00:32:34,800
And so Abraham believed, he
believed he had the faith.

626
00:32:34,800 –> 00:32:36,240
So that’s all that word believed
is.

627
00:32:36,240 –> 00:32:38,400
It’s the, it’s like the verb of
faith.

628
00:32:38,800 –> 00:32:40,560
And it’s the same really in the
Greek.

629
00:32:40,560 –> 00:32:41,960
It’s just the verb version of
it.

630
00:32:42,120 –> 00:32:45,840
So Abraham had the faith.
He believed in the Lord and God

631
00:32:45,840 –> 00:32:48,160
told him that one who will come
from your own body will be your

632
00:32:48,160 –> 00:32:49,360
heir.
He believed that.

633
00:32:49,360 –> 00:32:54,040
He believed God would do what
was impossible for him to do.

634
00:32:54,400 –> 00:32:57,520
This is where faith leads US,
brothers and sisters, to believe

635
00:32:57,520 –> 00:33:00,480
in the impossible, that God’s
going to do something and change

636
00:33:00,480 –> 00:33:02,360
our lives in a way that we could
never do.

637
00:33:02,600 –> 00:33:06,120
So count the stars and so will
your descendants be yes, yes, no

638
00:33:06,200 –> 00:33:08,960
descendant at this point, nobody
in this case.

639
00:33:08,960 –> 00:33:12,240
And and he believed he said, oh
God, you’re going to do this and

640
00:33:12,240 –> 00:33:14,480
constantly believe.
Even when he was going to

641
00:33:14,480 –> 00:33:18,120
OfferUp Isaac, his son, he still
believed that God was going to

642
00:33:18,120 –> 00:33:20,360
make his descendants as the
stars of heaven.

643
00:33:20,560 –> 00:33:23,560
He was convinced.
Paul says in Romans, in Hebrews

644
00:33:23,560 –> 00:33:26,960
11, In his own mind, over those
three days of walking up there,

645
00:33:26,960 –> 00:33:30,080
he was convinced about
resurrection from the dead.

646
00:33:30,360 –> 00:33:33,440
He knew God would have to
resurrect Isaac if Abraham had

647
00:33:33,440 –> 00:33:36,160
actually killed him.
And God’s teaching him about how

648
00:33:36,160 –> 00:33:39,920
he’s going to save the race.
God is going to have his son die

649
00:33:39,920 –> 00:33:41,960
and he is going to resurrect his
son.

650
00:33:42,160 –> 00:33:44,480
And people learn that from the
experience of Abraham.

651
00:33:44,720 –> 00:33:48,160
And so Abraham believed the Lord
and he counted it to him for

652
00:33:48,160 –> 00:33:50,240
righteousness.
This was the really the

653
00:33:50,240 –> 00:33:52,480
beginning of the Jewish story
here.

654
00:33:52,640 –> 00:33:55,880
And what does it start on a man
who believes God and

655
00:33:55,880 –> 00:34:00,320
righteousness is imputed to him.
And Paul says, I remember, was

656
00:34:00,320 –> 00:34:04,240
he circumcised yet or wasn’t he?
Oh no, he wasn’t circumcised.

657
00:34:04,800 –> 00:34:06,640
Don’t ever think circumcision is
important.

658
00:34:07,040 –> 00:34:10,639
Abraham was counted righteous
before God, before he was ever

659
00:34:10,639 –> 00:34:13,800
circumcised.
So as Paul says in Romans 4 then

660
00:34:13,800 –> 00:34:16,360
that he believed in hope against
all hope.

661
00:34:16,440 –> 00:34:18,960
Abraham believed in hope.
And that’s just what we’re being

662
00:34:18,960 –> 00:34:20,280
asked to do.
Now.

663
00:34:20,280 –> 00:34:22,440
When you look at somebody asked
me yesterday, how in the world

664
00:34:22,440 –> 00:34:24,560
did things go wrong?
How come in our community we

665
00:34:24,560 –> 00:34:27,000
have so much trouble
understanding the truth of what

666
00:34:27,000 –> 00:34:30,040
God has done in his son?
And I really believe that if you

667
00:34:30,040 –> 00:34:32,760
go back and look at what happens
in our community is that it’s

668
00:34:32,760 –> 00:34:35,440
pretty simple.
It’s not that we build the false

669
00:34:35,440 –> 00:34:38,840
teachings from the Bible, we
build them from Christianity.

670
00:34:39,280 –> 00:34:42,800
When you look at our problems we
have in the atonement, they

671
00:34:42,800 –> 00:34:46,360
always come from the fact that
somebody is taking their

672
00:34:46,360 –> 00:34:50,040
religion from what they have
heard in Christianity Today.

673
00:34:50,040 –> 00:34:53,679
This is generally what occurs.
So when you look at and you go

674
00:34:53,679 –> 00:34:55,960
to the churches today and you
listen to like what they would

675
00:34:55,960 –> 00:34:58,720
say about Jesus on the cross.
So you go back and look at the

676
00:34:58,720 –> 00:35:00,600
people who are alive at Christ
time.

677
00:35:01,200 –> 00:35:04,800
What the people did, what the
Jews did is they thought he was

678
00:35:04,800 –> 00:35:08,320
a blasphemer.
They thought he deserved death.

679
00:35:08,640 –> 00:35:11,320
They thought he should be
punished and have a violent

680
00:35:11,320 –> 00:35:13,240
death.
And you hear all these kind of

681
00:35:13,240 –> 00:35:16,120
concepts coming up about how
they felt he should be treated.

682
00:35:16,440 –> 00:35:20,760
So they judged Christ as a
criminal who deserves to die a

683
00:35:20,760 –> 00:35:23,800
judicial violent death.
This is what they thought.

684
00:35:23,800 –> 00:35:26,240
This is the Jewish community at
this time.

685
00:35:26,560 –> 00:35:29,080
So they punished Jesus with
crucifixion.

686
00:35:29,360 –> 00:35:31,960
They thought that they were
treating him as God would have

687
00:35:31,960 –> 00:35:34,680
punished a terrible Sinner.
They thought they were doing

688
00:35:34,680 –> 00:35:37,400
God’s work at this point.
And what happened then is that

689
00:35:37,400 –> 00:35:41,960
Christianity has built their
whole philosophy of substitution

690
00:35:42,160 –> 00:35:46,360
from the viewpoint of the people
who crucified Jesus Christ.

691
00:35:46,760 –> 00:35:49,160
That’s sad.
That’s really sad.

692
00:35:49,200 –> 00:35:52,080
You’re going to take your
religion from the people who

693
00:35:52,080 –> 00:35:55,600
killed Messiah and look at what
God was doing and think that’s

694
00:35:55,600 –> 00:35:58,440
what he intended.
Oh no, that isn’t what God was

695
00:35:58,440 –> 00:36:00,440
doing at all.
So they, they built their

696
00:36:00,440 –> 00:36:03,280
viewpoint thinking that God put
Jesus through the punishment

697
00:36:03,280 –> 00:36:06,000
that sinners deserve so that
sinners won’t have to be

698
00:36:06,000 –> 00:36:08,320
punished.
There’s our substitute right

699
00:36:08,320 –> 00:36:10,280
there.
And they present Jesus as an

700
00:36:10,280 –> 00:36:14,360
innocent victim who died only
for us in obedience to God.

701
00:36:14,360 –> 00:36:17,120
That’s how they see it.
You know, he should have never

702
00:36:17,120 –> 00:36:19,960
had to go through this and he
was just doing it for us and he

703
00:36:19,960 –> 00:36:23,240
was totally innocent.
And this is how they see Christ

704
00:36:23,240 –> 00:36:24,880
today.
You know, and look at as of the

705
00:36:24,880 –> 00:36:27,160
people there were were
crucifying him as a criminal.

706
00:36:27,560 –> 00:36:30,360
But when you look at it from the
perspective of Abraham and

707
00:36:30,360 –> 00:36:34,320
Isaac, of God in Christ going up
together, and you see what God

708
00:36:34,320 –> 00:36:38,040
was really doing is that what
happens is that, you know, God

709
00:36:38,040 –> 00:36:40,960
in Christ, they look on the
cross as the complete

710
00:36:41,200 –> 00:36:44,240
destruction of sin that he put
to death.

711
00:36:44,240 –> 00:36:47,680
Him who had the power of death,
that is the devil, as Paul would

712
00:36:47,680 –> 00:36:50,040
say it.
God and Christ were committed to

713
00:36:50,040 –> 00:36:53,000
showing the world that sin must
die.

714
00:36:53,320 –> 00:36:56,280
This is what they were doing.
And they finished the moral

715
00:36:56,280 –> 00:36:58,840
battle of sin that Jesus was
fighting every day.

716
00:36:58,840 –> 00:37:02,000
He’d started at his baptism when
he went down into the waters of

717
00:37:02,000 –> 00:37:05,160
baptism and told John that we’ve
got to do this to fulfill all

718
00:37:05,160 –> 00:37:08,040
righteousness.
And so they did this by killing

719
00:37:08,040 –> 00:37:11,360
the cause of sin, the devil and
the body of Jesus, and they

720
00:37:11,360 –> 00:37:13,400
judge the devil and human
nature.

721
00:37:13,400 –> 00:37:15,120
That’s what God and Christ were
doing.

722
00:37:15,320 –> 00:37:17,240
They condemned it to death and
killed it.

723
00:37:17,640 –> 00:37:21,000
This was God’s declaration of
righteousness and it showed us

724
00:37:21,000 –> 00:37:23,400
how to live.
This is what God was after.

725
00:37:23,400 –> 00:37:26,000
This was the real meaning of the
cross.

726
00:37:26,200 –> 00:37:29,120
This is what animal sacrifice
was supposed to do.

727
00:37:29,240 –> 00:37:31,800
This is what the serpent on the
pole in the wilderness was

728
00:37:31,800 –> 00:37:35,200
supposed to teach people so that
Christ would say, and I, if I am

729
00:37:35,200 –> 00:37:39,240
lifted up, will draw all men to
myself if they had understood

730
00:37:39,240 –> 00:37:42,360
where it was heading.
So what’s happened then is that

731
00:37:42,400 –> 00:37:45,800
the Christadelphians have for
years we have held on to this

732
00:37:45,800 –> 00:37:49,160
idea and it’s a critical,
fundamental one, that Christ was

733
00:37:49,160 –> 00:37:51,640
our representative.
He is not our substitute.

734
00:37:52,000 –> 00:37:54,160
And for the younger ones, if
you’re wondering like, why do we

735
00:37:54,160 –> 00:37:55,800
do this?
Why do we emphasize it?

736
00:37:56,000 –> 00:37:58,080
This is what makes the
difference in your life.

737
00:37:58,080 –> 00:38:01,120
This is what changes how you
live when you see Him as your

738
00:38:01,120 –> 00:38:04,960
representative, that He went
through this for us on our

739
00:38:04,960 –> 00:38:08,560
behalf as an example that we
would follow in His steps.

740
00:38:09,120 –> 00:38:11,240
Those who believe in
substitution, they see that

741
00:38:11,280 –> 00:38:13,520
Jesus died in my place is my
substitute.

742
00:38:13,520 –> 00:38:16,600
That’s what they would teach,
that he took my place and He

743
00:38:16,600 –> 00:38:18,080
suffered the punishment I
deserve.

744
00:38:18,160 –> 00:38:19,800
I should have been up there on
that cross.

745
00:38:19,960 –> 00:38:21,960
That should have been me up
there, and I should have had

746
00:38:21,960 –> 00:38:24,960
that violent death.
And now because Christ has done

747
00:38:24,960 –> 00:38:27,400
that, they say what a wonderful
act of love.

748
00:38:27,640 –> 00:38:30,880
Now I can escape the punishment
that I deserve because all my

749
00:38:30,880 –> 00:38:34,000
sins, the past, the present, and
the future, they’ve all been

750
00:38:34,000 –> 00:38:37,720
born away by Jesus Christ.
That’s our churches, brother and

751
00:38:37,720 –> 00:38:38,840
sisters.
That’s not us.

752
00:38:39,520 –> 00:38:41,680
You know, if that kind of stuff
is in the back of our head

753
00:38:41,680 –> 00:38:44,480
somewhere, thinking that this is
part of the truth, we’ve got to

754
00:38:44,480 –> 00:38:47,440
squeeze it out.
This is what causes our problem

755
00:38:47,440 –> 00:38:51,240
of understanding the atonement.
We’ve got some of these ideas

756
00:38:51,240 –> 00:38:54,440
stuck in the corners of our
brains and we try to somehow fit

757
00:38:54,440 –> 00:38:57,680
them into our understanding of
the atonement, and they’re not

758
00:38:57,680 –> 00:39:00,040
right.
They’re not biblical at all.

759
00:39:00,040 –> 00:39:02,640
You look at the words that are
used there, substitute

760
00:39:02,640 –> 00:39:05,120
punishment.
You deserve, you know, and you

761
00:39:05,120 –> 00:39:07,680
can escape punishment.
I mean, this is not biblical

762
00:39:07,680 –> 00:39:11,040
terminology at all.
But instead what you find then

763
00:39:11,040 –> 00:39:15,720
the truth is that Jesus Christ
died to redeem himself first as

764
00:39:15,720 –> 00:39:17,360
our representative, as one of
us.

765
00:39:17,360 –> 00:39:21,440
He was one of our race.
He took on the nature of this,

766
00:39:21,440 –> 00:39:25,520
the children of Adam, and Jesus
wasn’t suffering anybody’s

767
00:39:25,520 –> 00:39:26,640
punishment.
Oh no.

768
00:39:26,640 –> 00:39:28,520
Where do you ever find that in
the Bible?

769
00:39:28,520 –> 00:39:31,240
Where does it say that our
punishment was put on Him?

770
00:39:31,840 –> 00:39:34,160
He was.
We willingly died to show us

771
00:39:34,160 –> 00:39:38,600
that sin must be conquered.
This was a positive teaching

772
00:39:38,800 –> 00:39:41,440
enforcement.
This was not about punishment.

773
00:39:41,640 –> 00:39:44,440
God wasn’t trying to kick people
over the head all the time and

774
00:39:44,440 –> 00:39:47,640
how He wants to punish them.
He was trying to teach us what

775
00:39:47,640 –> 00:39:51,400
we must do to be saved.
What do we do to be saved?

776
00:39:51,560 –> 00:39:55,720
We join with Christ and His
death to sin and we live a life

777
00:39:55,720 –> 00:39:57,680
like Him.
This is what God’s been trying

778
00:39:57,680 –> 00:40:02,160
to teach people for years, that
sin has to be fought, Amalek’s

779
00:40:02,160 –> 00:40:05,120
got to be destroyed.
God will continue the war with

780
00:40:05,120 –> 00:40:07,040
Amalek from generation to
generation.

781
00:40:07,320 –> 00:40:09,960
And this is what he was trying
to illustrate all the way

782
00:40:09,960 –> 00:40:12,760
through the Bible.
And when you see it that way, as

783
00:40:12,760 –> 00:40:15,280
Christ was showing us, how do we
get back to the Father?

784
00:40:15,360 –> 00:40:18,480
We’ve all fallen from God, How
do we get back?

785
00:40:18,720 –> 00:40:21,600
And John 12, he says on my, I’m
on my way back to the Father,

786
00:40:21,600 –> 00:40:24,200
that’s where I’m going.
And he knew that the cross was

787
00:40:24,200 –> 00:40:27,160
the only way to get there.
And so he says, look at that’s

788
00:40:27,160 –> 00:40:29,920
how I’m getting there and that’s
the way all of you will get

789
00:40:29,920 –> 00:40:32,400
there too.
Take up your cross daily and

790
00:40:32,400 –> 00:40:35,000
follow me.
So therefore, what ends up

791
00:40:35,000 –> 00:40:37,640
happening is we don’t escape
punishment.

792
00:40:37,640 –> 00:40:40,560
That isn’t what happens.
Instead, what we do now is we

793
00:40:40,560 –> 00:40:44,520
follow Christ’s example and we
put sin to death.

794
00:40:44,520 –> 00:40:47,800
We work on the devil and us our
evil desires and we live for

795
00:40:47,800 –> 00:40:50,840
God.
We conform our will to God’s

796
00:40:50,840 –> 00:40:54,600
will because God will forgive
our sins, because we agree with

797
00:40:54,600 –> 00:40:56,640
Christ’s life and we try to
follow him.

798
00:40:56,880 –> 00:41:00,920
This now gives God a righteous
basis to forgive us.

799
00:41:01,200 –> 00:41:03,280
Substitution, doesn’t you know
how?

800
00:41:03,360 –> 00:41:07,120
How in the world can a righteous
God forgive me of all my

801
00:41:07,120 –> 00:41:09,880
mistakes because somebody else
got punished for them?

802
00:41:10,120 –> 00:41:12,440
Where’s the righteousness of God
in that?

803
00:41:13,000 –> 00:41:16,440
But when God turns us into
someone who really hates sin,

804
00:41:16,440 –> 00:41:19,800
like he hates sin, and you’ve
joined him in the war against

805
00:41:19,800 –> 00:41:23,040
Analect and you’ve joined his
side and you want to fight it

806
00:41:23,040 –> 00:41:25,880
even though we fail, that’s what
you really want.

807
00:41:26,160 –> 00:41:29,320
Then he can look at that person
and see in that person, wow,

808
00:41:29,320 –> 00:41:30,560
that’s that’s what I’m all
about.

809
00:41:30,760 –> 00:41:32,360
This is how my family members
live.

810
00:41:32,360 –> 00:41:35,520
This is how angels Live Today
and say, hey, come on into my

811
00:41:35,520 –> 00:41:38,840
family and I’ll forgive you of
your mistakes because He can

812
00:41:38,840 –> 00:41:42,080
righteously forgive us now for
what Christ has done.

813
00:41:42,200 –> 00:41:46,200
When we identify with Jesus
Christ and are found in him.

814
00:41:46,560 –> 00:41:49,280
So faith sees Jesus Christ as
our representative.

815
00:41:49,720 –> 00:41:53,440
So what God’s redemptive plan
dealt with in Jesus Christ and

816
00:41:53,440 –> 00:41:57,080
in us, when you look at the
whole process is he dealt with

817
00:41:57,080 –> 00:42:01,080
the mistakes that we make our
personal sins so that now he has

818
00:42:01,160 –> 00:42:03,400
a righteous way to forgive our
sins.

819
00:42:03,680 –> 00:42:07,200
And he did it by taking us
through the life of Jesus Christ

820
00:42:07,440 –> 00:42:11,200
of a man who fought this nature.
They he fought the devil that

821
00:42:11,200 –> 00:42:13,600
was in him.
Those evil desires, what Paul

822
00:42:13,600 –> 00:42:17,600
called those deceitful lusts, He
fought them and fought them and

823
00:42:17,600 –> 00:42:20,360
hated them and, and it despise
those things.

824
00:42:20,480 –> 00:42:24,200
And when God motivates us to do
that too, because we joined with

825
00:42:24,200 –> 00:42:28,400
Christ in a death like his,
that’s the basis upon which he

826
00:42:28,400 –> 00:42:30,240
forgives our sins.
You don’t want to ever leave

827
00:42:30,240 –> 00:42:32,200
that out.
So you’ll find in the New

828
00:42:32,200 –> 00:42:34,960
Testament, if you look at how
the New Testament writers use

829
00:42:34,960 –> 00:42:38,000
the crucifixion of Christ or the
circumcision, that they, they,

830
00:42:38,080 –> 00:42:40,920
they understood that all these
things were pointing at the same

831
00:42:40,920 –> 00:42:43,320
direction.
For example, when the apostle

832
00:42:43,320 –> 00:42:46,000
Paul writes to the Romans in
chapter 8 and verses one to

833
00:42:46,000 –> 00:42:50,080
four, look at how he uses this
passage and this this concept

834
00:42:50,080 –> 00:42:54,880
about God killing sin in the
Lord Jesus Christ in order to

835
00:42:54,880 –> 00:42:57,120
motivate us to change how we
live.

836
00:42:57,880 –> 00:43:02,480
He says there is therefore now
no condemnation to those who are

837
00:43:02,480 –> 00:43:05,800
in Christ Jesus.
Those who are in Christ Jesus,

838
00:43:05,800 –> 00:43:08,640
he explains, are those who do
not walk according to the flesh,

839
00:43:08,640 –> 00:43:12,400
but according to the Spirit.
This really isn’t just about our

840
00:43:12,400 –> 00:43:15,040
baptism.
This is about actually walking

841
00:43:15,080 –> 00:43:19,280
in Christ Jesus, for the law of
the Spirit of life in Christ

842
00:43:19,280 –> 00:43:22,400
Jesus has made me free from the
law of sin and death.

843
00:43:22,920 –> 00:43:25,880
For what the law could not do,
and that it was weak through the

844
00:43:25,880 –> 00:43:30,480
flesh, God did by sending His
own Son in the likeness of

845
00:43:30,480 –> 00:43:35,920
sinful flesh, and on account of
sin, He condemned sin in the

846
00:43:35,920 –> 00:43:38,760
flesh.
Now look at what Paul says here.

847
00:43:38,760 –> 00:43:43,560
He did it so that the righteous
requirement of the law might be

848
00:43:43,560 –> 00:43:48,280
fulfilled in US who do not walk
according to the flesh, but

849
00:43:48,280 –> 00:43:51,200
according to the Spirit.
You see how they link the

850
00:43:51,200 –> 00:43:54,560
crucifixion of Christ, the
condemnation of sin, with the

851
00:43:54,560 –> 00:43:57,040
fact that now we will change how
we live.

852
00:43:57,360 –> 00:44:01,640
That the righteous requirement
of the law, the law had required

853
00:44:01,640 –> 00:44:06,280
us to learn to love God and to
love our neighbor as ourselves,

854
00:44:06,640 –> 00:44:10,800
and now we can actually do that.
That might be fulfilled in us

855
00:44:11,080 –> 00:44:14,920
because we don’t walk according
to the flesh, but according to

856
00:44:14,920 –> 00:44:17,680
the Spirit.
Or as Paul would write to the

857
00:44:17,680 –> 00:44:22,320
Corinthians in 2nd Corinthians 5
at verse 17 and explain that

858
00:44:22,320 –> 00:44:26,560
therefore, if anyone is in
Christ, he is a new creation.

859
00:44:26,920 –> 00:44:30,120
We’re a new creature.
God is recreating us after the

860
00:44:30,120 –> 00:44:33,120
image of Christ.
The old things have passed away

861
00:44:33,120 –> 00:44:35,200
and behold, all things have
become new.

862
00:44:35,800 –> 00:44:40,040
Now all things are of God, who
has reconciled us to Himself

863
00:44:40,040 –> 00:44:43,800
through Jesus Christ, and has
given us the ministry of

864
00:44:43,800 –> 00:44:48,160
reconciliation.
That is, God was in Christ

865
00:44:48,240 –> 00:44:51,600
reconciling the world to
Himself, not imputing their

866
00:44:51,600 –> 00:44:55,560
trespasses to them, and has
committed to us the word of

867
00:44:55,560 –> 00:44:59,200
reconciliation.
Now then, we are ambassadors for

868
00:44:59,200 –> 00:45:01,880
Christ, as though God were
pleading through us.

869
00:45:02,120 –> 00:45:06,080
We implore you on Christ’s
behalf, be reconciled to God,

870
00:45:06,680 –> 00:45:12,480
for He made Him who knew no sin
to be sin for us, that we might

871
00:45:12,480 –> 00:45:15,440
become the righteousness of God
in him.

872
00:45:16,040 –> 00:45:18,280
And you can see how Paul uses
this to show that.

873
00:45:18,280 –> 00:45:22,560
Look at how God was in Christ
reconciling the world so that he

874
00:45:22,560 –> 00:45:26,000
wouldn’t have to impute our
trespasses to us and that the

875
00:45:26,000 –> 00:45:29,640
goal of this is that we would
change how we live so that we

876
00:45:29,640 –> 00:45:33,120
might become the righteousness
of God in him.

877
00:45:34,360 –> 00:45:36,120
He’s find us in the Old
Testament as well.

878
00:45:36,120 –> 00:45:39,440
When you look at how Isaiah uses
this in it and a chapter that we

879
00:45:39,480 –> 00:45:42,840
read a lot at the at the
memorial service Speaking of the

880
00:45:42,840 –> 00:45:47,040
Lord Jesus Christ and Isaiah 53
at verse three that he is

881
00:45:47,040 –> 00:45:51,080
despised and rejected by men.
A man of sorrows and acquainted

882
00:45:51,080 –> 00:45:54,360
with grief and we hid as it were
our faces from him.

883
00:45:54,760 –> 00:45:57,240
He was despised and we did not
esteem him.

884
00:45:57,800 –> 00:46:01,520
Surely He has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows, that we

885
00:46:01,520 –> 00:46:04,560
esteemed him stricken, smitten
by God, and afflicted.

886
00:46:05,120 –> 00:46:08,720
But he was wounded for our
transgressions, He was bruised

887
00:46:08,720 –> 00:46:12,600
for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace

888
00:46:12,600 –> 00:46:16,280
was upon him, and by His stripes
we are healed.

889
00:46:16,960 –> 00:46:18,920
All we, like sheep, have gone
astray.

890
00:46:18,920 –> 00:46:22,800
We have turned everyone to his
own way, and the Lord has laid

891
00:46:22,800 –> 00:46:27,560
on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and He was

892
00:46:27,560 –> 00:46:29,840
afflicted, yet He opened not his
mouth.

893
00:46:30,560 –> 00:46:33,400
He was led as a lamb to the
slaughter and as a sheep before

894
00:46:33,400 –> 00:46:35,840
it.
Shearers is silent, so he opened

895
00:46:35,840 –> 00:46:39,040
not his mouth.
And he did all of that, brothers

896
00:46:39,040 –> 00:46:43,800
and sisters, for us, for our
transgressions bruised, for our

897
00:46:43,800 –> 00:46:47,800
iniquities, so that the
chastisement of our peace.

898
00:46:48,200 –> 00:46:51,120
See, this was the word that’s
even used there in the Hebrew.

899
00:46:51,120 –> 00:46:54,080
For chastisement is a word
that’s used for instruction.

900
00:46:54,440 –> 00:46:58,520
This is a teaching mechanism to
teach us how to live so that we

901
00:46:58,520 –> 00:47:02,960
can have peace with God, and by
His stripes we are healed.

902
00:47:04,080 –> 00:47:07,760
Or the apostle Paul in referring
to this in Hebrews chapter 2 in

903
00:47:07,760 –> 00:47:10,920
verses 14 to 18.
This one’s out of the RSV.

904
00:47:10,920 –> 00:47:13,680
He said that since therefore the
children share in flesh and

905
00:47:13,680 –> 00:47:18,880
blood, he himself likewise
partook of the same nature, that

906
00:47:18,880 –> 00:47:21,800
through death he might destroy
him who has the power of death,

907
00:47:21,840 –> 00:47:26,000
that is the devil.
So he did that in himself, so

908
00:47:26,000 –> 00:47:29,080
that in verse 15 he could
deliver all those who through

909
00:47:29,080 –> 00:47:31,960
fear of death were subject to
lifelong bondage.

910
00:47:32,720 –> 00:47:36,000
And for surely it is not with
angels that he’s concerned, but

911
00:47:36,000 –> 00:47:39,720
with the descendants of Abraham.
Therefore he had to be made like

912
00:47:39,720 –> 00:47:43,120
his brethren in every respect,
so that he might become a

913
00:47:43,120 –> 00:47:47,160
merciful and faithful high
priest in the service of God, to

914
00:47:47,160 –> 00:47:49,720
make expiation for the sins of
the people.

915
00:47:50,240 –> 00:47:53,960
For because he himself has
suffered and been tempted, he is

916
00:47:53,960 –> 00:47:56,240
able to help those who are
tempted.

917
00:47:57,520 –> 00:48:01,880
Or as Paul goes on to explain it
in Hebrew seven, that Jesus is

918
00:48:01,880 –> 00:48:05,680
so much, He is such a better
covenant, a surety of a better

919
00:48:05,680 –> 00:48:09,160
covenant for us, but he can do
so much more for us than the law

920
00:48:09,160 –> 00:48:12,760
could ever do.
So he says in verse 22, by so

921
00:48:12,760 –> 00:48:16,600
much more, Jesus has become a
surety of a better covenant.

922
00:48:17,120 –> 00:48:20,080
Also, there were many priests
because they were prevented by

923
00:48:20,080 –> 00:48:23,240
death from continuing.
But he, because he continues

924
00:48:23,240 –> 00:48:26,080
forever, has an unchangeable
priesthood.

925
00:48:26,400 –> 00:48:30,800
Therefore, he is able to save
those to the uttermost, to those

926
00:48:30,800 –> 00:48:34,800
who come to God through him.
Since he is always alive, he

927
00:48:34,800 –> 00:48:38,040
lives always to make
intercession for them.

928
00:48:38,560 –> 00:48:42,200
For such a High Priest was
fitting for us, who is holy,

929
00:48:42,400 –> 00:48:46,760
harmless, undefiled, separate
from sinners, and has become

930
00:48:46,760 –> 00:48:50,960
higher than the heavens, who
does not need daily as those

931
00:48:50,960 –> 00:48:54,040
high priests to OfferUp
sacrifices, first for his own

932
00:48:54,040 –> 00:48:58,400
sins and then for the peoples.
For he did this once for all

933
00:48:58,560 –> 00:49:02,600
when he offered up himself.
See, as Paul points out, Christ

934
00:49:02,600 –> 00:49:05,000
doesn’t need to go back and do
this again and again.

935
00:49:05,320 –> 00:49:10,680
He offered for himself and for
us in one sacrifice that was

936
00:49:10,680 –> 00:49:14,240
good for all.
The real work of condemning sin.

937
00:49:14,520 –> 00:49:19,000
And now his condemnation of sin
is available to all those who

938
00:49:19,000 –> 00:49:22,600
are in Him.
See, our world today, when you

939
00:49:22,600 –> 00:49:25,760
look at the the reason this is
so hard and difficult for us to

940
00:49:25,760 –> 00:49:29,000
understand is that this world
today runs on the carrot and

941
00:49:29,000 –> 00:49:32,440
stick motivation.
It starts out in our educational

942
00:49:32,440 –> 00:49:34,800
systems.
A lot of times as parents, we do

943
00:49:34,800 –> 00:49:38,120
this in raising our children.
We use this approach to motivate

944
00:49:38,120 –> 00:49:41,840
people and really it’s based on
works and everybody is really

945
00:49:41,840 –> 00:49:43,920
comfortable with it because this
is what we’re used to.

946
00:49:44,160 –> 00:49:47,400
We start out telling people that
if you do good, we will give you

947
00:49:47,400 –> 00:49:50,560
this, and if you don’t do good,
we will punish you.

948
00:49:50,800 –> 00:49:53,320
And that’s basically what you’ve
grown up with from a young

949
00:49:53,320 –> 00:49:56,800
child, both in your family and
also in your educational system

950
00:49:57,120 –> 00:49:59,960
and even in our world today and
in our careers, in our job

951
00:49:59,960 –> 00:50:01,600
market.
This is what they use to

952
00:50:01,600 –> 00:50:05,000
motivate people.
But God really uses a different

953
00:50:05,000 –> 00:50:07,960
strategy.
What He does is he gives us

954
00:50:07,960 –> 00:50:12,720
grace as a gift of love, and
then He asks us to respond to

955
00:50:12,720 –> 00:50:15,720
His kindness.
That’s a different strategy than

956
00:50:15,720 –> 00:50:18,720
the people of this world.
God’s doing this for a reason

957
00:50:18,720 –> 00:50:22,600
because He’s going to give out
eternal life to us and in the

958
00:50:22,600 –> 00:50:24,440
end, He’s never going to take it
back.

959
00:50:24,800 –> 00:50:28,920
So he has to find out whether or
not we really want to live as

960
00:50:28,920 –> 00:50:32,680
members of His family.
So he basically invites us in by

961
00:50:32,680 –> 00:50:37,640
grace, and then he waits to see
how we will respond as far as

962
00:50:37,680 –> 00:50:39,960
our life right now and living in
His family.

963
00:50:40,520 –> 00:50:43,240
So Paul would say in Ephesians 2
at verse 4.

964
00:50:43,640 –> 00:50:47,760
But God who is rich in mercy,
because of his great love with

965
00:50:47,760 –> 00:50:52,280
which He loved us even when we
were dead in trespasses, made us

966
00:50:52,320 –> 00:50:57,520
alive together with Christ.
By grace you have been saved and

967
00:50:57,520 –> 00:51:01,360
raised us up together and made
us sit together in the heavenly

968
00:51:01,360 –> 00:51:06,520
places in Christ Jesus, that in
the ages to come He might show

969
00:51:06,520 –> 00:51:10,960
the exceeding riches of his
grace and His kindness towards

970
00:51:10,960 –> 00:51:15,000
us in Christ Jesus.
See, God has done this for us

971
00:51:15,000 –> 00:51:17,800
now.
He has made us alive together

972
00:51:17,800 –> 00:51:21,000
with Christ.
By grace we have been saved.

973
00:51:21,240 –> 00:51:23,440
It’s something which we
currently have now.

974
00:51:23,800 –> 00:51:27,280
And He gives us this gift of
grace just as an act of

975
00:51:27,280 –> 00:51:31,120
kindness, and he’s waiting to
see how are we going to respond.

976
00:51:31,720 –> 00:51:35,760
So that in Ephesians chapter 2
and verse 8, Paul would say, for

977
00:51:35,760 –> 00:51:39,640
grace, by grace you have been
saved through faith and not of

978
00:51:39,640 –> 00:51:43,040
yourselves.
It is the gift of God and not of

979
00:51:43,040 –> 00:51:47,680
works, lest anyone should boast.
For we are his workmanship,

980
00:51:47,680 –> 00:51:52,120
created in Christ Jesus for good
works, which God prepared

981
00:51:52,120 –> 00:51:54,680
beforehand that we should walk
in them.

982
00:51:55,360 –> 00:51:57,680
See, this is God’s mechanism of
saving us.

983
00:51:57,840 –> 00:52:01,080
He wants to make sure that none
of us ever think we deserved it

984
00:52:01,120 –> 00:52:05,040
or we earned it.
So He gives us salvation and

985
00:52:05,040 –> 00:52:09,960
redemption by his grace.
It’s his gift lest anyone should

986
00:52:09,960 –> 00:52:12,480
boast.
And what he’s hoping in verse 10

987
00:52:12,480 –> 00:52:14,480
there is that we are his
workmanship.

988
00:52:14,720 –> 00:52:18,760
We’ve been created in Christ
Jesus for good works, and he’s

989
00:52:18,760 –> 00:52:22,520
hoping that we will respond to
his love and His kindness by

990
00:52:22,520 –> 00:52:26,480
walking in them.
So don’t ever turn back to being

991
00:52:26,480 –> 00:52:29,440
justified by law.
Don’t ever go back to thinking

992
00:52:29,440 –> 00:52:32,720
that we’re somehow going to earn
our salvation in Christ Jesus.

993
00:52:32,720 –> 00:52:35,480
It isn’t going to happen.
Brothers and sisters, God never

994
00:52:35,480 –> 00:52:39,640
intended us to weigh up the sins
that we commit versus the good

995
00:52:39,640 –> 00:52:42,720
things that we do and see
whether the good outweighs the

996
00:52:42,720 –> 00:52:45,480
bad.
That isn’t how God saves his

997
00:52:45,480 –> 00:52:48,000
family members.
So as Paul would write to the

998
00:52:48,000 –> 00:52:52,520
Galatians in chapter 5 at verse
one, stand fast therefore, and

999
00:52:52,520 –> 00:52:55,800
the liberty by which Christ has
made us free, and do not be

1000
00:52:55,800 –> 00:52:57,960
entangled again with a yoke of
bondage.

1001
00:52:58,480 –> 00:53:02,160
Indeed, I, Paul, say to you that
if you become circumcised,

1002
00:53:02,360 –> 00:53:06,240
Christ will profit you nothing.
And I testify again to every man

1003
00:53:06,240 –> 00:53:09,440
who becomes circumcised that he
has a debtor to keep the whole

1004
00:53:09,440 –> 00:53:12,000
law.
You have become estranged from

1005
00:53:12,000 –> 00:53:15,120
Christ, you who attempt to be
justified by law.

1006
00:53:15,360 –> 00:53:19,280
You have fallen from grace.
Because as Paul’s made it very

1007
00:53:19,280 –> 00:53:23,480
clear in chapter 3 that by works
of law no flesh will be

1008
00:53:23,480 –> 00:53:26,360
justified.
We will never be able to show

1009
00:53:26,360 –> 00:53:30,280
God how good we are or explain
to Him why we are worth saving.

1010
00:53:30,520 –> 00:53:35,200
It’s all on the basis of God’s
gift, His kindness, and His

1011
00:53:35,200 –> 00:53:38,880
ability to bring us into His
family because He has elected

1012
00:53:38,880 –> 00:53:40,960
us.
What a wonderful privilege that

1013
00:53:40,960 –> 00:53:43,520
we have.
So how do we know if we are

1014
00:53:43,520 –> 00:53:46,880
living by law or by faith?
Which one do we live by?

1015
00:53:47,400 –> 00:53:50,120
Well, you can look at your own
life and figure out do you

1016
00:53:50,120 –> 00:53:51,960
depend on the rituals to save
you?

1017
00:53:52,320 –> 00:53:54,720
Is that what we’re doing?
Are we going through ritualistic

1018
00:53:54,720 –> 00:53:57,720
procedures and thinking that
somehow if we get better and

1019
00:53:57,720 –> 00:54:00,240
better at them that then we are
worth saving?

1020
00:54:00,920 –> 00:54:02,800
Do we serve one another through
love?

1021
00:54:02,920 –> 00:54:06,040
Is love what motivates us?
Is that what our approach to our

1022
00:54:06,040 –> 00:54:10,360
families and our ecclesia?
Is the love of God really in our

1023
00:54:10,360 –> 00:54:14,440
hearts and minds so that we want
to extend this to other people?

1024
00:54:15,000 –> 00:54:17,960
Do we judge ourselves or do we
judge each other?

1025
00:54:17,960 –> 00:54:21,480
Where do we spend most of our
time judging, looking at others

1026
00:54:21,480 –> 00:54:25,240
and making judgments about them?
Or are we judging ourselves and

1027
00:54:25,240 –> 00:54:28,880
trying to work on ourselves to
live more and more like Christ

1028
00:54:28,880 –> 00:54:31,360
Jesus?
And do we stress a ritual more

1029
00:54:31,360 –> 00:54:33,280
than the principles it’s
supposed to teach?

1030
00:54:33,720 –> 00:54:36,520
That’s really easy to do.
You can, we can go around and,

1031
00:54:36,520 –> 00:54:39,080
and really we can elevate
rituals.

1032
00:54:39,080 –> 00:54:42,240
We can impress everyone with why
they’re important and we can

1033
00:54:42,240 –> 00:54:45,120
stress them and stress them to
the point that we totally

1034
00:54:45,120 –> 00:54:48,640
misunderstand what that ritual
was supposed to teach.

1035
00:54:48,880 –> 00:54:51,840
We don’t want to become like the
Jews and do that today, brothers

1036
00:54:51,840 –> 00:54:53,920
and sisters.
And when we do our Bible

1037
00:54:53,920 –> 00:54:56,520
readings at home, are we doing
our Bible readings just so we

1038
00:54:56,520 –> 00:54:59,600
can check them off a list?
You know, are we reading them so

1039
00:54:59,600 –> 00:55:02,640
that we can look for principles,
look for ideas that are there?

1040
00:55:02,880 –> 00:55:07,080
What is God trying to say to us
today about how we can change,

1041
00:55:07,360 –> 00:55:10,720
how we can find answers to
questions that we have about how

1042
00:55:10,720 –> 00:55:13,960
to live in Christ Jesus?
The Bible reading should be

1043
00:55:13,960 –> 00:55:17,000
something which really change
our lives and give us the

1044
00:55:17,000 –> 00:55:19,720
answers that we need.
When we talk to God in prayer

1045
00:55:20,320 –> 00:55:23,680
and when we go to meeting, do we
go to meeting because we have to

1046
00:55:23,680 –> 00:55:27,560
go or because we want to go?
These are just some of the

1047
00:55:27,560 –> 00:55:30,040
things that you can look through
in your own life, brothers and

1048
00:55:30,040 –> 00:55:33,960
sisters, to try to figure out,
are you living by law or are we

1049
00:55:33,960 –> 00:55:37,440
living by faith?
When we live by faith, we want

1050
00:55:37,440 –> 00:55:39,720
to go to meeting.
We want to hear what God has to

1051
00:55:39,720 –> 00:55:43,640
say, and we want to have
opportunities to serve one

1052
00:55:43,640 –> 00:55:46,000
another in love.
That’s where we do it.

1053
00:55:46,400 –> 00:55:48,800
See, faith has so much more
important.

1054
00:55:49,080 –> 00:55:51,760
Faith has so much more power
than law will ever have.

1055
00:55:52,320 –> 00:55:54,800
It has the power to change how
we live.

1056
00:55:55,440 –> 00:55:58,840
In Hebrews 11 and verse one,
Paul said that faith is the

1057
00:55:58,840 –> 00:56:02,000
substance of things hoped for.
It’s the evidence or the

1058
00:56:02,000 –> 00:56:06,320
conviction of things not seen.
For by it the elders obtained a

1059
00:56:06,320 –> 00:56:09,440
good testimony.
But then in verse 6, he goes on

1060
00:56:09,440 –> 00:56:11,160
to it.
But without faith it is

1061
00:56:11,160 –> 00:56:15,400
impossible to please him, for he
who comes to God must believe

1062
00:56:15,400 –> 00:56:19,440
that He is, and that He is a
rewarder of those who diligently

1063
00:56:19,440 –> 00:56:22,000
seek Him.
And so in Hebrews 11, what

1064
00:56:22,000 –> 00:56:25,360
you’ll see is a whole list of
people the apostle Paul lines up

1065
00:56:25,360 –> 00:56:28,840
for us.
People who lived by faith and

1066
00:56:28,840 –> 00:56:32,200
God did in their lives by faith
what they would never have

1067
00:56:32,200 –> 00:56:35,640
accomplished by works of law.
And then he goes on to show in

1068
00:56:35,640 –> 00:56:39,440
Hebrews 11 that these people,
they didn’t just do some act of

1069
00:56:39,440 –> 00:56:42,520
faith and then they later on,
they sort of like slacked off.

1070
00:56:42,800 –> 00:56:46,760
These people continued their
faith until they died.

1071
00:56:47,040 –> 00:56:50,840
It was consistent to the end.
This was the endurance that Paul

1072
00:56:50,840 –> 00:56:53,600
would talk about it in Hebrews
10 when he’s trying to stress to

1073
00:56:53,600 –> 00:56:56,200
these Jews that they had need of
endurance.

1074
00:56:57,360 –> 00:56:59,120
The apostle Paul and when he
when he writes to the

1075
00:56:59,120 –> 00:57:02,480
Philippians and just in in
closing today, you know, he he

1076
00:57:02,480 –> 00:57:06,680
reminds us about the the power
of the righteousness of God that

1077
00:57:06,680 –> 00:57:09,880
is by faith as opposed to
following things by law.

1078
00:57:10,360 –> 00:57:13,680
And he he mentions like in his
own life how this changed the

1079
00:57:13,680 –> 00:57:16,800
way he lives and all the things
that he lists in Philippians

1080
00:57:16,800 –> 00:57:19,360
chapter 3 at the beginning of
the chapter, all things that

1081
00:57:19,360 –> 00:57:22,960
Paul could have take pride in.
He said all those things in

1082
00:57:22,960 –> 00:57:26,240
verse 7 that were gain to me.
These I’ve counted loss for

1083
00:57:26,240 –> 00:57:29,400
Christ.
Yet indeed I also count all

1084
00:57:29,400 –> 00:57:33,280
things loss for the excellence
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus

1085
00:57:33,280 –> 00:57:36,960
my Lord, for whom I have
suffered the loss of all things,

1086
00:57:36,960 –> 00:57:40,200
and count them as rubbish.
That I may, that I may gain

1087
00:57:40,200 –> 00:57:44,840
Christ and be found in him, not
having my own righteousness

1088
00:57:44,840 –> 00:57:48,440
which is from the law, but that
which is through faith in

1089
00:57:48,440 –> 00:57:52,280
Christ, the righteousness which
is from God by faith.

1090
00:57:52,840 –> 00:57:56,680
See, this is the righteousness
that believes that God will do

1091
00:57:56,680 –> 00:58:01,080
in us the impossible, and change
our lives into the image of

1092
00:58:01,120 –> 00:58:05,000
Jesus Christ.
So Paul says that I may know him

1093
00:58:05,320 –> 00:58:08,760
and the power of his
resurrection and the fellowship

1094
00:58:08,800 –> 00:58:13,320
of his sufferings being
conformed to his death, that if

1095
00:58:13,320 –> 00:58:16,560
by any means I may attain to the
resurrection from the dead.

1096
00:58:16,560 –> 00:58:19,200
And the word he uses there in
the Greek is a special word for

1097
00:58:19,200 –> 00:58:21,880
out resurrection.
He he intends to be resurrected

1098
00:58:21,880 –> 00:58:25,240
for to immortality, not just to
be raised from the dead, but

1099
00:58:25,240 –> 00:58:29,480
raised and given immortality.
But see how he can form, how he

1100
00:58:29,880 –> 00:58:35,200
links this new life that he has
to the idea that he knows Christ

1101
00:58:35,200 –> 00:58:38,320
in verse 10, the power of his
resurrection.

1102
00:58:38,320 –> 00:58:42,720
Because we now walk after the
resurrected man and that God

1103
00:58:42,720 –> 00:58:46,560
will resurrect his children and
the fellowship of his

1104
00:58:46,560 –> 00:58:49,040
sufferings.
He understands that we will also

1105
00:58:49,040 –> 00:58:52,240
share the sufferings of Christ.
That God is putting us through

1106
00:58:52,240 –> 00:58:55,280
the same chastening and
discipline program that He did

1107
00:58:55,280 –> 00:58:58,760
his own Son, so that we will
learn obedience by the things

1108
00:58:58,760 –> 00:59:02,720
that we suffer and being
conformed to his death, His

1109
00:59:02,720 –> 00:59:06,600
death to sin.
That’s Paul’s goal, to be with

1110
00:59:06,600 –> 00:59:10,280
Christ and to share with him, to
be crucified with Christ and

1111
00:59:10,280 –> 00:59:14,640
join him in his death to sin.
See, Paul had experienced the

1112
00:59:14,640 –> 00:59:17,360
power of faith.
And this is the faith that

1113
00:59:17,360 –> 00:59:21,640
motivated him to join Jesus
Christ and to give his life to

1114
00:59:21,640 –> 00:59:24,800
Christ for the rest of his life.
So as we leave leave this

1115
00:59:24,800 –> 00:59:27,800
weekend, let’s give thanks to
God for his kindness, his gift

1116
00:59:27,800 –> 00:59:31,080
of kindness, that it was all
about God, who as a loving

1117
00:59:31,080 –> 00:59:33,840
Father wants us to join his
family.

1118
00:59:34,080 –> 00:59:37,560
And he’s gone through all this
effort to change our lives and

1119
00:59:37,560 –> 00:59:41,120
redeem us from sin.
So let’s respond to God’s gift

1120
00:59:41,120 –> 00:59:44,040
by walking with Him.
He wants a response from us.

1121
00:59:44,040 –> 00:59:46,680
This is how he does it.
He gives us his gift.

1122
00:59:46,720 –> 00:59:48,760
And then he says, please
respond.

1123
00:59:48,760 –> 00:59:51,600
Please do something different
and walk with me.

1124
00:59:51,600 –> 00:59:54,840
That’s what he’s after.
Let’s serve in the ecclesia, in

1125
00:59:54,840 –> 00:59:56,880
our in our family, serve in
love.

1126
00:59:56,880 –> 01:00:01,440
This is the aim of the law that
the that the just requirement of

1127
01:00:01,440 –> 01:00:05,120
the law might be fulfilled in US
who walk according to the

1128
01:00:05,120 –> 01:00:07,960
Spirit.
And so we treat people with love

1129
01:00:08,040 –> 01:00:11,760
and kindness and mercy.
And let’s read our Bibles daily

1130
01:00:11,760 –> 01:00:14,400
so that we can join Christ in
his victory over sin.

1131
01:00:14,400 –> 01:00:15,720
This is how we find out about
it.

1132
01:00:15,720 –> 01:00:17,160
This is how we get reminded
about it.

1133
01:00:17,360 –> 01:00:20,640
We talk to God in prayer and we
listen to Him in our Bible

1134
01:00:20,640 –> 01:00:22,760
readings.
And attend meetings so that we

1135
01:00:22,760 –> 01:00:24,720
can help each other.
You can’t do this.

1136
01:00:24,720 –> 01:00:28,120
You can’t live this life when
you stay away from everybody.

1137
01:00:28,120 –> 01:00:31,960
It’s not a life of isolation.
This is a life where we serve

1138
01:00:31,960 –> 01:00:35,760
one another and love.
We practice to join the angels

1139
01:00:35,880 –> 01:00:39,200
who serve in God’s family and
work together every day.

1140
01:00:39,400 –> 01:00:42,680
We have to be coming here to in
order to fulfill this and be

1141
01:00:42,680 –> 01:00:45,480
involved with people.
And let’s witness to our friends

1142
01:00:45,480 –> 01:00:48,760
about God’s power to change our
lives and what God has done for

1143
01:00:48,760 –> 01:00:50,680
us.
We’re, we’re not becoming better

1144
01:00:50,680 –> 01:00:53,880
people because of my efforts.
Let’s remind them when they talk

1145
01:00:53,880 –> 01:00:56,360
to us about our kids and about
our family and about things that

1146
01:00:56,360 –> 01:01:00,320
we do, that it’s all about what
God has done in our life because

1147
01:01:00,320 –> 01:01:03,040
he wants us to make a choice.
He wants us to choose.

1148
01:01:03,040 –> 01:01:05,200
Are we going to go after the
will of the flesh and just

1149
01:01:05,200 –> 01:01:07,600
satisfy our desires and have
some fun for a while?

1150
01:01:07,840 –> 01:01:09,880
Or are we going to live as God’s
children?

1151
01:01:09,880 –> 01:01:13,200
That’s what he’s after.
And Christ has invited us to

1152
01:01:13,200 –> 01:01:16,480
join his family forever.
Brothers and sisters and young

1153
01:01:16,480 –> 01:01:20,120
people, don’t miss out and
thanks be to God for His

1154
01:01:20,120 –> 01:01:21,400
indescribable gift.