054: John Launchbury – Sin and the Poverty of Law

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Welcome to the good Christian
talks podcast.

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I’m Levi and I’m Chris.
Thank you so much for joining us

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this week on this podcast.
We select one taco week to help

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each one of us get the Bible in
our daily news feed.

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We post at the start of each
week for you to listen.

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With a short intro before hand
to kind of set the stage for the

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talk.
You’re about to hear and now

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let’s hear more about this
week’s talk.

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This class is by a brother John
launch Brewery.

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He presented it in 2011 at the
Minooka Bible School.

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The title of this class is to
sin and the poverty of Law and

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really enjoyed this class.
John does kind of give a warning

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right at the beginning that he’s
going to say things kind of an

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extreme fashion.
He himself is still, you know

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working on this topic.
You know studying it out.

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So he appreciate actually all
through the class.

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He says, you know at risk of
sounding extreme and then and

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then goes on to say the
statement but I I do even though

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I always enjoy a class like this
gave me something to think about

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even though I may not agree
initially or even eventually

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with what the speaker is saying
I did I still found a lot to

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benefit in from this class.
He particularly, you know, he

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goes into the detail of why why
it is that at law cannot bring

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us to Salvation and really the
purpose of it.

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But then still how we so often
slip back into it.

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He makes the statement that if
Chris delphine’s wanted to find

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a community most like them.
We probably need to look at the

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Pharisees which was pretty
damning for us if an interesting

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thought but then he also said
and this is this is I think my

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favorite quote Jesus says follow
me and we say to him no Lord,

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give us some rules to follow
that’s really fast.

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That’s going to be sticking with
me and actually reminded me so

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much of how a story that Bob
Lloyd used to tell that I’ve

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used in my own talks as well
that he tells I’m going to go

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ahead and tell it he tells the
story of the driver and there’s

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a very rich man.
He’s hiring a driver to a

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chauffeur to drive him around
and he has for interviews and he

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the first driver he tries out
that he comes up to a cliff and

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ask the driver took Park as
close to the cliff.

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If as he safely can and the
driver parked so close to the

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cliff and then barely is able to
step out and walk around the car

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and he’s gives the same question
to the second driver the second

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driver parks with the wheels
right on the cliff and S2 U, no

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crawl over the steering wheel
and exit on the passenger side

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and third driver Parks the car
half off the half off the cliff

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and barely balances it and
creeps all the way out and then

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the fourth driver Parks the car
on the complete other side of

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the road.
And says that’s the safest

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place, you know that as close as
we can while being maximum safe

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and I love that story.
It really fits into the same

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attitude that brother launched
very is trying to is sharing in

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this class that that really our
motivation when it comes to sin

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is to should should never be to
look for rules or lines to know

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exactly where and how far we can
go what we can and can’t do but

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to always be thinking of what is
the most that we can do to

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please the Lord. the most that
we can do to avoid sin, you

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know, what what what in our life
can we do to be constantly

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pushing, you know for constantly
pushing towards towards doing

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good and loving and not just
tolerating a certain amount of

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sin, which is essentially what
laws do so it really excellent

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class it and I that story kept
ringing through but but but but

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again for the lunch break was
really into a lot of detail of

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this uses a large breadth of
passages and this class was

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suggested to me and I’ve only
listened to this first class

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actually And decided it was good
enough to put on the put on the

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podcast even though there is
still a whole series after this.

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I thought this class was just a
really excellent study into into

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law in the and the poverty of
since.

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Oh, here it is how good morning
everyone it’s a it’s good to be

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here.
This is a series.

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I’ve been working on for many
years of people often ask, you

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know, how long have you been
working on a particular topic

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and in some sense the Answer is
always all my life and but this

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one particularly the last five
and also the last 10 years.

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I’ve been working on it and it’s
only now just distilling.

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So I really appreciate the
opportunity to share it with you

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here at Manuka Manuka.
I always think of as my home

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Bible School.
You guys know me so, you know, I

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can say outrageous things as I’m
sort of trying out ideas and

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you’ll just sit.
Steps that yeah, that’s John and

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you know won’t have you think
badly of me?

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So think of this set this is the
first time I’ve given these

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classes as something of an
experiment you guys are guinea

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pigs, welcome to the laboratory
and I will I’m sure overstate

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things I’ll miss Express things.
But as I say, you know me, you

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know, you know my heart, you
know my spirit, please please

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listen accordingly.
The issue that I want to address

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in these five classes is how
does the process of Salvation

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actually work in us what goes on
with the process of salvation?

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And I think the Insight
certainly as I was working on

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the series that led to my book
is that it’s not about

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transactions that take place but
it’s about transformation.

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It’s not about some some
contract that has happened, but

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it’s about real change.
It’s about transformation.

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And of course the the whole
title about the transformed

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mind, you will recognize
immediately.

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Its that verse we are Unquote in
in Romans.

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Don’t be conformed any longer to
the pattern of this world, but

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be transformed by the renewing
of your mind.

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We have to see the world
differently from the way before

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we before we came to Christ.
Today what we’re going to do is

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some dismantling we’re going to
do some dismantling.

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The title is a little grandiose
sin and the poverty of Law and

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what we’re going to actually
address is the uselessness of

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rules.
The uselessness of uselessness

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of rules as a mechanism to
overcome sin.

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Now, you might see that as a
moment that I’ve just overstated

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something as I warned you.
Earlier, but let me stick with

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that.
I’m going to argue from

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scripture the rules and a
religion based on sets of rules

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is actually counterproductive to
the Salvation.

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I’d like to you to have the
following image in your mind

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actually the following pair of
images in your mind in one of

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them.
You have a vicious dog that is

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chained up.
Okay, go near it and it savagely

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comes at you and then the chain
holds it back.

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And then the other you have a
dog who has a warm and friendly

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spirit.
You see religion that is

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oriented around rules doesn’t do
anything about what goes on

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inside the dog.
It just limits what the dog can

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do it limits the damage the dog
can do it’s the chain.

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You still have the viciousness
inside.

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Whereas what?
We’re actually called to is the

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transformation to change what
we’re like on the inside.

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Like the following phrase unless
there’s real change.

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It’s all just paperwork.
Unless there’s real change.

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It’s all just paperwork.
So we’re going to explore this

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whole idea of the uselessness of
rule as a mechanism to overcome

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sin if we talk about and think
about religion.

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What is someone’s religion.
My religion is this my religion

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is that I don’t eat pork because
of my religion.

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I do eat something.
Because of my religion I go to

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church on Sundays because of my
religion because of my religion.

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I wear certain clothes or
certain patterns of clothes at

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certain times or I don’t wear
certain clothes at certain times

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because of my religion because
of my religion I mix with some

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people because of my religion.
I don’t mix with others because

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of my religion I make sure I
read my Bible every day because

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of my Religion, I pray three
times a day because of my

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religion.
I pray before meals.

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None of these are bad or wrong,
but it’s important to realize

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that this is actually not the
essence of what the religion

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that we’re called to is about
turn with me if you would to

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Colossians chapter 2 Can you
spend quite a lot of time with

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Paul one way or another but
we’ll start here in Colossians

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2.
They were really struggling with

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this question in the first
century at leisure’s.

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He says in verse 16.
Do not let anyone judge you by

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what you eat or drink?
all with regard to a religious

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Festival all with re are all the
new moon celebration or a

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Sabbath day.
Don’t let anyone judge you by

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what you eat drink or with
regard to a religious Festival.

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I don’t know like Sunday
morning.

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Verse 17.
These are a shadow of the things

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that were to come.
The reality.

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However is found in Christ in
particular what he was

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addressing at this time were the
religious festivals associated

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with the keeping of the law of
Moses the particular

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manifestations of the law of
Moses, which were an echo a

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shadow of the reality that was
there in Christ.

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First 20 since you died with
Christ to the basic principles

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of this world, why is though you
still belong to it?

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Do you submit to its rules don’t
handle don’t taste don’t touch

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all of those religious rules
that they had again through

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their background and growing up
through Judaism.

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Why do you submit to these he
says?

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These are all this as restaurant
E2 these are all destined to

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perish with use because they’re
based on human commands and

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teachings.
And here’s I think the key verse

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of this whole section such
regulations indeed have an

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appearance of wisdom with their
self-imposed worship their false

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humility and their harsh
treatment of the body, but they

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lack any value in restraining
sensual Indulgence these outward

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regulations.
Is outward rules they look very

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religious.
The manifestation of your

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religion somebody looks at you
and thinks that person is very

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religious.
But he says these things even

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when their rigorous things the
the harsh treatment of the body,

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I wonder whether that’s a
reference to extensive fasting

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or something like that.
These things that were based on

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rules and regulations.
He says they look they look like

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they’re really religious.
You look at someone and you

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think man, I wish I was as
religious as that person.

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But he says they’d like the
chain on the dog.

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They actually lack any value in
restraining sensual Indulgence.

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They don’t get to the real
problem that salvation is all

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about.
So as I said, we’re going to

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continue to explore this from a
number of Dimensions when I was

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when I was young I stressed over
questions like well, here’s a

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specific one.
I used to stress over as a

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teenager.
How far can you go with sex

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before marriage before it’s
wrong?

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I mean, where’s the line, you
know you can go this far and no

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further and you know, I
struggled with that.

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What where’s the right teaching
here to exactly understand what

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I was allowed to do and what I
wasn’t allowed to do.

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Or I hear people ask is gambling
a sin.

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What if it’s just four quarters,
is it still a sin and if it’s

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just four quarters?
Or is it wrong not to dress up

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for Sunday meeting?
Did you see the kinds of

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questions that that we ask
ourselves either as young people

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or even as not so young people?
We have all of these kinds of

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questions which are important
questions.

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We want to understand aspects
about our our connection with

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God our connection with each
other and how do we go about

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answering these questions?
Well in my experience, we do the

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following we look at various
passages.

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We pull all the various passages
that are relevant where God has

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said one thing and then in
another circumstance, he said

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something additional to that in
another situation something

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additional we way up.
All of these commands and

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instructions and we try and sort
of figure out what’s the rule

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for this situation?
And we do it because we

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genuinely think that this is
what God is wanting us to do and

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we have phrases like we come to
God the way he wants us to come

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to him.
Not the way we want to come to

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him things like that.
At the risk of overstating

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things again brothers and
sisters.

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This is dangerous.
I think this is a dangerous way

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to go about looking at our
Behavior.

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It’s exactly what the Pharisees
did.

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Where they took the law that was
there in the law of Moses and

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00:15:45,000 –> 00:15:47,200
they were trying to work out
exactly.

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How far can you walk on a
Sabbath day?

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And so they would look at
examples and they would end up

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saying you can walk this far and
no further exactly.

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How much should you wash your
hands before a meal and they

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would identify what the right
amount that you have to wash

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00:16:09,900 –> 00:16:15,500
your hands at least this much
before a meal and they we’re

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often down on the Pharisees and
I’d like us just to take a

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moment to lift them up to
recognize.

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The Deep spirit that was there
in many of them.

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They came as a community of
people who were set apart that

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that’s how they viewed
themselves.

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They hated the way that the
religion had become a political

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thing in their in their Nation
Under the time between the the

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gospel between the Testaments.
They hated the way that

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everything had become political
that the party of the Sadducees

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00:16:51,800 –> 00:16:55,300
and the hype priest was just
this political appointee and

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00:16:55,300 –> 00:16:58,400
whoever happened to be wealthy
and all of these kinds of things

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00:16:58,400 –> 00:17:02,100
going on and they said that’s
not how God wants us to do our

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00:17:02,100 –> 00:17:06,599
religion and we what we need to
get back and actually commit Our

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00:17:06,599 –> 00:17:11,500
Lives to following God.
So their intent was was

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wonderful.
It was marvelous.

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And indeed when you look at the
new at the the early church,

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many of the early church who
came aboard in those early days

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00:17:23,599 –> 00:17:27,599
were from the Pharisees where
they recognize that there was

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something just remarkable about
this man Jesus Christ.

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They wanted to follow him.
So so even though scripture and

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00:17:36,700 –> 00:17:40,500
and we will see failures in the
Pharisees.

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Let’s not consider them to be a
totally black people in terms of

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everything that they were doing
was wrong.

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They were motivated by the right
thing.

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They fell into a wrong way of
thinking about the nature of

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righteousness.
The reason this is relevant

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rather than sisters.
I risk overstating something

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again is that if you look in all
of scripture to find the

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community of people that are
most like christadelphians.

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It would be the Pharisees.
And so we have to learn their

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00:18:17,300 –> 00:18:21,100
lessons.
We have to take the condemnation

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00:18:21,100 –> 00:18:26,100
that Jesus offers to them and
look at what parts of our Lives

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00:18:26,100 –> 00:18:30,700
we have to have different.
So that we don’t fall into the

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00:18:30,700 –> 00:18:35,800
same ultimate destructive
patterns that they fell into.

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Let’s look at an example when
Jesus actually came across them.

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This is in Matthew 12.
I was reminded of Mark saying

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follow your notes Mark and I’m a
little bit like that myself

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00:18:51,200 –> 00:18:53,400
here.
So this is just stepping back a

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00:18:53,408 –> 00:19:01,900
little bit Matthew chapter. 12
Jesus is in the Jesus is hungry

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with his disciples and they find
themselves in the grain fields.

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And it says his disciples were
hungry and began to pick some

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ears of corn and eat them and
this is on the Sabbath.

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When the Pharisees saw this they
said to him look your disciples

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are doing what is unlawful on
the Sabbath.

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It may have been kind of like a
genuine question though.

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Jesus seems to suggest it was
much more of a condemnation that

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00:19:35,600 –> 00:19:38,400
they were the giving a
condemnation that although

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00:19:38,400 –> 00:19:41,100
they’re breaking the law.
They’re doing what was unlawful

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00:19:41,200 –> 00:19:45,200
on the Sabbath.
And what’s Jesus answer?

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00:19:46,500 –> 00:19:51,400
If Jesus believed in the legal
approach to righteous in the

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00:19:51,400 –> 00:19:56,300
sets of rules and regulations,
he might say something like

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00:19:56,400 –> 00:20:00,000
well, if you look back at Exodus
when it was set up they were

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00:20:00,000 –> 00:20:04,300
these circumstances in which
somebody was able to as it were

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00:20:04,300 –> 00:20:08,400
violate the Sabbath and in these
other so he doesn’t do that.

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00:20:08,600 –> 00:20:13,200
He does something much more
profound if you noticed he says

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00:20:13,400 –> 00:20:15,500
verse 3, haven’t you read?
What David?

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00:20:15,700 –> 00:20:19,000
Did when he and his companions
were hungry he entered the house

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00:20:19,000 –> 00:20:23,000
of God and he and his companions
ate the consecrated bread, which

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00:20:23,000 –> 00:20:26,700
was not lawful for them to do
but only for the priests.

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00:20:28,000 –> 00:20:32,100
Jesus responds to them saying
your disciples are breaking the

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00:20:32,100 –> 00:20:38,200
Sabbath is he says David also
broke the law of consecrated

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00:20:38,200 –> 00:20:40,500
bread.
Now, I’ve heard christadelphians

292
00:20:40,500 –> 00:20:45,600
speakers try to argue that David
wasn’t actually breaking the law

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00:20:45,600 –> 00:20:49,100
because he was in some sense
King and priest as a forerunner

294
00:20:49,100 –> 00:20:53,400
of Christ who was King and
priest Jesus tells us that David

295
00:20:53,400 –> 00:20:56,600
was breaking the law.
He said it was not lawful for

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00:20:56,600 –> 00:21:03,700
him to do.
The David broke the law. by

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00:21:03,700 –> 00:21:10,600
going into the showbread and
Jesus is saying haven’t hasn’t

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00:21:10,600 –> 00:21:14,000
that actually had an impact on
the way that you think about

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00:21:14,000 –> 00:21:18,100
law.
That David could go in and

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00:21:18,100 –> 00:21:22,400
violate this law of God to do
with the Holy place of the

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00:21:22,400 –> 00:21:27,000
Tabernacle.
And yet still have the approval

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00:21:27,000 –> 00:21:34,800
of God.
Well, that’s five.

303
00:21:34,800 –> 00:21:37,900
Haven’t you read in the law on
the Sabbath the priests in the

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00:21:37,900 –> 00:21:42,400
temple desecrate the day and yet
our innocent do no work says the

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00:21:42,400 –> 00:21:46,400
Sabbath.
And yet the priests on that day

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00:21:46,500 –> 00:21:52,000
had to do work.
There wasn’t a special exception

307
00:21:52,000 –> 00:21:56,400
built into the the law of the
Sabbath and it’s wrong thinking

308
00:21:56,400 –> 00:22:01,300
to go and try and find a legal
loophole which allows the the

309
00:22:01,300 –> 00:22:05,800
priest to do that.
What Jesus is trying to do in

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00:22:05,800 –> 00:22:12,000
this discussion is strike at the
very way we think about law the

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00:22:12,000 –> 00:22:14,300
very intent that God had from
it.

312
00:22:14,500 –> 00:22:18,800
It’s not about breaking law.
You broke the law your do for

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00:22:18,800 –> 00:22:33,300
punishment. he says if you had
known what these words mean,

314
00:22:33,900 –> 00:22:39,100
this is verse 7 I desire Mercy
not sacrifice.

315
00:22:40,100 –> 00:22:42,300
You would not have condemned the
innocent.

316
00:22:43,500 –> 00:22:47,400
For the son of man is Lord of
the Sabbath.

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00:22:49,100 –> 00:22:54,900
Hmm in another place.
He says the Sabbath was made for

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00:22:54,900 –> 00:22:58,200
man.
Not man for the Sabbath.

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00:23:00,000 –> 00:23:04,800
That is he saying when the law
of the Sabbath was established

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00:23:05,300 –> 00:23:08,200
it was established to accomplish
a purpose.

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00:23:10,300 –> 00:23:15,200
To help in the Salvation to help
in the support of human being

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00:23:15,300 –> 00:23:21,800
don’t spend every day of your
life fixated on this world take

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00:23:21,800 –> 00:23:26,000
a day where you just come away
from it and you just completely

324
00:23:26,000 –> 00:23:29,400
focus on the things about God
that that was the law of the

325
00:23:29,400 –> 00:23:34,600
Sabbath and it wasn’t about if
you break this you will get

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00:23:34,600 –> 00:23:39,400
punished now you might have
object to some of the things in

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00:23:39,400 –> 00:23:41,200
the wilderness.
We could talk about those

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00:23:41,200 –> 00:23:46,000
details later.
The point is it’s about stirring

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00:23:46,000 –> 00:23:50,500
them onto to be able to have
that space to have that time

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00:23:50,800 –> 00:23:52,900
where they can truly connect
with God.

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00:23:53,000 –> 00:23:56,500
They can truly worship.
Jesus recognized that the design

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00:23:56,500 –> 00:24:02,100
of the law of the Sabbath was in
order to promote spirituality in

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00:24:02,100 –> 00:24:06,800
people.
And that he and his disciples

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00:24:07,200 –> 00:24:12,500
taking grain in the grain field
because they were hungry was in

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00:24:12,500 –> 00:24:16,300
no sense violating the intent of
that law.

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00:24:16,400 –> 00:24:18,700
The reason why God put that in
place.

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00:24:19,900 –> 00:24:22,800
Even though they were
technically in violation.

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00:24:23,700 –> 00:24:28,000
They were not violating the
intent of what God had put it

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00:24:28,000 –> 00:24:32,100
there and I think that that’s
that’s really important.

340
00:24:32,300 –> 00:24:36,600
There was a deeper purpose to
the rules and that deeper

341
00:24:36,600 –> 00:24:40,100
purpose is what the rule was
supposed to be about and where

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00:24:40,100 –> 00:24:44,200
the rule ends up conflicting
with its deeper purpose.

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00:24:44,400 –> 00:24:50,100
Then the rule goes it’s the
purpose that God always cares

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00:24:50,100 –> 00:24:54,800
about and this is the point of
this quotation here from Hosea

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00:24:54,800 –> 00:24:58,700
where Jesus said if you had
known what these words mean I

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00:24:58,700 –> 00:25:05,700
desire Mercy not sacrifice.
You would not have condemned the

347
00:25:05,700 –> 00:25:08,900
Innocence.
Oh, the law required sacrifice

348
00:25:09,500 –> 00:25:13,400
abundant sacrifice.
And if you didn’t bring that

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00:25:13,400 –> 00:25:16,200
sacrifice, technically you were
in violation of the law.

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00:25:17,100 –> 00:25:21,500
But the sacrifice was there in
order to accomplish a purpose

351
00:25:21,700 –> 00:25:26,200
and accomplishing that purpose
was about something like Mercy.

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00:25:27,100 –> 00:25:31,700
There’s this verse Hosea 6:6 I
desire Mercy not sacrifice is

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00:25:31,700 –> 00:25:36,100
quoted by Jesus more than any
The verse in the Old Testament.

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00:25:36,800 –> 00:25:40,400
He quotes it directly twice.
He alludes to it once it’s an

355
00:25:40,400 –> 00:25:47,700
important verse for him.
I desire the intent of what the

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00:25:47,700 –> 00:25:53,000
law is therefore not the actual
regulations and rules of the

357
00:25:53,000 –> 00:25:57,000
law.
I heard a while ago about a

358
00:25:57,000 –> 00:26:02,300
seminary that was teaching
teaching the people in the

359
00:26:02,300 –> 00:26:07,000
Seminary the parable of the Good
Samaritan and having them sort

360
00:26:07,000 –> 00:26:13,300
of really explored in detail.
And what they did was they set

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00:26:13,300 –> 00:26:17,800
up as it was part of the in this
course, what they would have is

362
00:26:18,300 –> 00:26:21,400
the professor would set it up so
that at the end of the course

363
00:26:21,600 –> 00:26:24,400
the students had to give a
detailed disk.

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00:26:25,000 –> 00:26:28,100
On the parable of the Good
Samaritan and there would be the

365
00:26:28,100 –> 00:26:30,700
professor there and there would
be some other professors who

366
00:26:30,700 –> 00:26:34,500
they don’t normally interact
with and some peers as their

367
00:26:34,600 –> 00:26:38,800
judgment as the panel who were
assessing the story so they

368
00:26:38,800 –> 00:26:42,400
would spend time preparing this
and then at a designated time,

369
00:26:42,400 –> 00:26:46,000
they would come and they would
present their view of the Good

370
00:26:46,000 –> 00:26:49,300
Samaritan what they had learned
and what they had researched and

371
00:26:49,300 –> 00:26:56,800
so on what they didn’t know.
Was that for each of them on the

372
00:26:56,800 –> 00:27:00,800
way to the presentation the
professor would have arranged

373
00:27:00,800 –> 00:27:07,400
for somebody in great need to be
there on the road on the pathway

374
00:27:07,400 –> 00:27:10,300
and the person would walk past
them.

375
00:27:10,300 –> 00:27:15,600
And actually the question was
are you more worried about

376
00:27:15,600 –> 00:27:20,100
getting to the time of the
presentation and presenting

377
00:27:20,100 –> 00:27:22,900
everything that you have learned
about the parable of the Good

378
00:27:22,900 –> 00:27:26,400
Samaritan?
Or saying this person who is in

379
00:27:26,400 –> 00:27:31,000
need and doing something about
the person who is in need and of

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00:27:31,000 –> 00:27:34,000
course the professor made it
really challenging in emphasize

381
00:27:34,200 –> 00:27:37,400
how vitally important it was
that they were there on time and

382
00:27:37,400 –> 00:27:40,400
how they would fail the class if
they weren’t there on time and

383
00:27:40,400 –> 00:27:45,200
all of these kinds of things.
It’s very interesting, isn’t it?

384
00:27:46,500 –> 00:27:49,800
It’s sobering I would have
failed and I know that.

385
00:27:52,400 –> 00:27:58,400
And we do that to each other
with our rules and regulations.

386
00:28:00,400 –> 00:28:04,400
Where it’s more important to get
to meeting on time.

387
00:28:05,700 –> 00:28:11,100
Than it is to find somebody and
help them and you know,

388
00:28:11,100 –> 00:28:16,400
especially as a speaker the idea
of as I’m on my way to an

389
00:28:16,400 –> 00:28:19,000
appointment, you know, when I’m
supposed to speak if there’s

390
00:28:19,000 –> 00:28:22,200
somebody there who suddenly
needs help man.

391
00:28:22,200 –> 00:28:27,100
That is so hard to actually say,
you know, what, of course they

392
00:28:27,100 –> 00:28:30,300
will understand.
Of course, I will understand.

393
00:28:30,300 –> 00:28:34,700
Here’s somebody who needs help.
something else will happen and

394
00:28:34,700 –> 00:28:39,200
yet we have our own sets of
rules and regulations that I

395
00:28:39,200 –> 00:28:47,600
think end up interfering with
with with our true exercise of

396
00:28:47,600 –> 00:28:56,900
our faith Matthew 5 and verse 20
this is the this is the thing

397
00:28:56,900 –> 00:29:03,600
that our Lord is telling us.
For a tell you christadelphians

398
00:29:04,300 –> 00:29:05,500
you go.
He doesn’t actually say

399
00:29:05,500 –> 00:29:08,600
christadelphians, but he tells
his disciples I tell you

400
00:29:08,700 –> 00:29:13,600
disciples those of you who want
to be my disciples Matthew 5:20.

401
00:29:13,800 –> 00:29:17,300
I tell you that unless your
righteousness surpasses that of

402
00:29:17,300 –> 00:29:19,300
the Pharisees and the teachers
of the law.

403
00:29:21,300 –> 00:29:23,400
You’ll certainly not enter the
kingdom of heaven.

404
00:29:27,400 –> 00:29:32,400
If our righteousness is based on
a manifestation of rules and

405
00:29:32,400 –> 00:29:35,400
regulations and our
understanding about what you’re

406
00:29:35,400 –> 00:29:37,500
supposed to do in this situation
and what you’re supposed to do

407
00:29:37,500 –> 00:29:40,600
in that situation.
Then that is only what the

408
00:29:40,600 –> 00:29:47,400
Pharisees had.
And we haven’t actually seen the

409
00:29:47,400 –> 00:29:50,400
kind of righteousness that
allows us to step into the

410
00:29:50,408 –> 00:29:55,800
kingdom of heaven.
I’m going to emphasize this

411
00:29:55,800 –> 00:30:02,200
point even more Matthew 23.
This is a big deal for Jesus.

412
00:30:03,200 –> 00:30:05,900
Okay, let’s not let’s not think
that it’s the sort of thing that

413
00:30:05,900 –> 00:30:08,700
just happens one occasion or
another occasion.

414
00:30:08,900 –> 00:30:11,600
It is the fundamental
conversation.

415
00:30:11,600 –> 00:30:14,500
He has with the with the
Pharisees.

416
00:30:15,200 –> 00:30:19,100
He says it again and again and
again in this way and that way

417
00:30:19,100 –> 00:30:26,400
in 10 different ways and here in
Matthew 23 We this is the whoa

418
00:30:26,400 –> 00:30:29,000
chapter woe to you teachers of
the law and Pharisees

419
00:30:29,000 –> 00:30:34,600
hypocrites.
I think it’s interesting when we

420
00:30:34,600 –> 00:30:39,300
read this to read it.
First of all, maybe as a woe to

421
00:30:39,300 –> 00:30:43,100
you as a sort of, you know,
shake them up with condemnation,

422
00:30:43,700 –> 00:30:46,900
but it’s also interesting to
read it with sadness.

423
00:30:48,600 –> 00:30:53,900
Like he’s weeping.
I’m so desperately.

424
00:30:53,900 –> 00:30:57,500
Sorry for you teachers of the
law and Pharisees and hypocrites

425
00:30:57,500 –> 00:31:00,800
because you’re missing it all
the time.

426
00:31:01,500 –> 00:31:05,400
I think it’s fascinating to read
it in both those voices.

427
00:31:05,700 –> 00:31:09,800
Look at verse 16 woe to you
blind guides.

428
00:31:09,800 –> 00:31:13,300
You say if anyone swears by the
temple, it means nothing but if

429
00:31:13,300 –> 00:31:17,700
anyone swears by the gold on the
temple, he’s Bound by his oath

430
00:31:18,500 –> 00:31:22,600
that’s ridiculous.
He says, how could you possibly

431
00:31:22,600 –> 00:31:26,000
make a distinction like that?
It’s the temple that made the

432
00:31:26,008 –> 00:31:30,300
gold sacred.
I mean, even if you are doing

433
00:31:30,300 –> 00:31:33,600
this thing with oath, Which is a
bad idea in the first place as

434
00:31:33,600 –> 00:31:37,600
he says elsewhere at least be
consistent with it.

435
00:31:43,700 –> 00:31:45,400
At the risk of being
controversial.

436
00:31:45,500 –> 00:31:50,000
I’m going to give an example
from many many years ago, 20 30

437
00:31:50,000 –> 00:31:55,900
years ago in Scotland the
sisters in a particular closure

438
00:31:56,500 –> 00:32:00,500
over in Scotland had wondered
they had Sunday morning meeting

439
00:32:00,500 –> 00:32:03,400
and then at six o’clock they had
evening lecture and they

440
00:32:03,400 –> 00:32:08,400
wondered whether they ought to
wear head coverings for the

441
00:32:08,400 –> 00:32:10,200
evening lecture.
It had been their practice.

442
00:32:10,200 –> 00:32:13,400
They wear head coverings for the
evening lecture, and they

443
00:32:13,600 –> 00:32:16,400
Wondering should we wear head
coverings for the evening

444
00:32:16,400 –> 00:32:20,300
lecture?
And so the ABS met together to

445
00:32:20,300 –> 00:32:23,400
discuss the matter and they
weighed up the pros and the cons

446
00:32:23,400 –> 00:32:27,300
and thought about the scripture
and in this particular case,

447
00:32:27,300 –> 00:32:32,600
they concluded that no it’s it’s
it’s not necessary for the

448
00:32:32,600 –> 00:32:35,700
Sisters to to wear head
coverings for the Sunday evening

449
00:32:35,700 –> 00:32:41,400
lecture.
Afterwards the sisters got

450
00:32:41,400 –> 00:32:45,100
together.
And they ended up saying, you

451
00:32:45,100 –> 00:32:48,600
know, we actually think that we
should.

452
00:32:51,200 –> 00:32:53,300
And so they decided to wear head
coverings.

453
00:32:55,300 –> 00:32:57,000
I just think about this for the
minute.

454
00:32:58,400 –> 00:33:02,000
The traditional view of head
coverings is that they are a

455
00:33:02,000 –> 00:33:07,800
sign of submission of authority
from the woman to the man.

456
00:33:11,800 –> 00:33:16,400
And so what we have here is a
situation where the sisters say.

457
00:33:16,800 –> 00:33:21,600
No, I am going to assert that.
You actually don’t have

458
00:33:21,600 –> 00:33:25,100
authority over me by wearing
this thing, which says you have

459
00:33:25,100 –> 00:33:33,200
authority over me.
If anyone swears by the temple,

460
00:33:33,200 –> 00:33:36,400
it means nothing but if anyone
swears by the gold of the

461
00:33:36,400 –> 00:33:43,900
temple, he’s Bound by his oath.
And I don’t mean to be hard on

462
00:33:43,900 –> 00:33:46,500
us as a community.
But do you see how easy it is

463
00:33:46,700 –> 00:33:52,600
for us to fall into this to look
at the externalities and not

464
00:33:52,600 –> 00:33:55,800
actually think about what’s
going on inside of us.

465
00:33:58,600 –> 00:34:01,100
For the Pharisees this is rules
gone.

466
00:34:01,100 –> 00:34:03,200
Wild.
It had lost all meaning.

467
00:34:03,200 –> 00:34:08,600
It had lost all purpose verse 23
woe to you teachers of the law

468
00:34:08,600 –> 00:34:12,500
and Pharisees you Hypocrites.
You give a tenth of your spices

469
00:34:12,699 –> 00:34:17,500
mint dill and cumin but you’ve
neglected the more important

470
00:34:17,500 –> 00:34:21,300
matters of the law Justice mercy
and faithfulness.

471
00:34:22,000 –> 00:34:25,199
I know about the law of tithing
and I’ve got some peppercorns

472
00:34:25,199 –> 00:34:30,900
here so nine for me and For God
and nine for me and one for God

473
00:34:31,300 –> 00:34:38,699
and and this is religion.
When you have things like Mercy.

474
00:34:40,400 –> 00:34:48,699
and fairness and enduring
faithfulness that go neglected

475
00:34:48,699 –> 00:34:55,199
because how do you measure that?
See we tend to We tend to focus

476
00:34:55,199 –> 00:34:59,100
on the things that can be
measured that can be seen that

477
00:34:59,100 –> 00:35:03,700
that are external and yet Jesus
if he says anything.

478
00:35:05,600 –> 00:35:08,700
It’s about not responding to the
external.

479
00:35:10,200 –> 00:35:16,800
But having the change that
happens with in verse 25 woe to

480
00:35:16,800 –> 00:35:19,300
you teachers of the law and
Pharisees and hypocrites you

481
00:35:19,300 –> 00:35:24,500
clean the outside of the cup and
dish you dress up with your suit

482
00:35:24,500 –> 00:35:26,200
and tie when you come to
meeting.

483
00:35:27,500 –> 00:35:33,300
But inside they are full of
greed and self-indulgence. blind

484
00:35:33,300 –> 00:35:38,500
Pharisee first clean the inside
of the cup and dish And then the

485
00:35:38,500 –> 00:35:42,200
outside also will be clean.
And again, I’m not saying that

486
00:35:42,200 –> 00:35:45,100
it’s a bad idea to wear a suit
and tie to meeting.

487
00:35:46,600 –> 00:35:51,000
That may be a perfectly good
manifestation of the

488
00:35:51,000 –> 00:35:56,900
relationship you have with God.
But when we make those kinds of

489
00:35:56,900 –> 00:36:00,600
things the important kinds of
things then we’re worried about

490
00:36:00,600 –> 00:36:03,800
the outside of the cup and we’re
not worried about the

491
00:36:03,800 –> 00:36:07,800
transformation of the inside the
cleansing of the inside the

492
00:36:07,800 –> 00:36:12,400
change that happens on the
inside going back to Paul in

493
00:36:12,400 –> 00:36:15,800
Galatians 3.
He makes a case very strongly.

494
00:36:15,800 –> 00:36:18,900
I realize the time is just
zipping away from me here

495
00:36:19,100 –> 00:36:28,300
Galatians chapter 3 verse 10 Who
rely on observing the law are

496
00:36:28,300 –> 00:36:37,000
under a curse?
If you think that it’s through

497
00:36:37,400 –> 00:36:42,100
observing rules.
That you will get into the

498
00:36:42,100 –> 00:36:47,400
kingdom then you are wrong
because you are under a curse.

499
00:36:53,800 –> 00:37:00,800
Romans chapter 3 first 20
therefore no one will be

500
00:37:00,800 –> 00:37:04,900
declared righteous in God’s
sight by observing the law.

501
00:37:07,200 –> 00:37:09,700
I mean these are powerful
verses.

502
00:37:12,800 –> 00:37:18,200
Have every regulation written
down do every one of them.

503
00:37:19,200 –> 00:37:25,100
And Paul here in Romans 3 verse
20 says that is not sufficient

504
00:37:25,300 –> 00:37:28,900
to have you declared righteous
in God’s eyes.

505
00:37:30,000 –> 00:37:32,900
Just keeping all those rules
will not do it.

506
00:37:36,300 –> 00:37:40,200
Therefore no one will be
declared righteous in his sight

507
00:37:40,500 –> 00:37:45,900
by observing.
The law rules cannot save they

508
00:37:45,900 –> 00:37:49,600
cannot rescue us.
So what is the purpose of them?

509
00:37:49,800 –> 00:37:55,000
Why are there any rules at all?
Why does God ever give ruled and

510
00:37:55,000 –> 00:38:01,500
and he has given rules I think
the second part of this verse is

511
00:38:01,500 –> 00:38:05,700
very insightful.
It said Paul says through the

512
00:38:05,700 –> 00:38:14,300
law we become conscious of sin.
It shows us something about Sin

513
00:38:14,400 –> 00:38:16,600
now.
We often think of breaking the

514
00:38:16,600 –> 00:38:19,800
rules is the same as Sin that is
sin is breaking God’s

515
00:38:19,800 –> 00:38:21,700
Commandments.
I don’t believe that that’s the

516
00:38:21,700 –> 00:38:29,200
case.
I do think however that what the

517
00:38:29,200 –> 00:38:32,700
rules do is they show us
something about the nature of

518
00:38:32,700 –> 00:38:36,800
sin.
They helped shine a spotlight on

519
00:38:36,800 –> 00:38:40,000
sin.
In fact Paul says in Romans 7.

520
00:38:40,000 –> 00:38:44,500
I’ll just read it to you in
verse 7 third what shall we say?

521
00:38:44,500 –> 00:38:46,900
Then is the law sin.
Certainly not indeed.

522
00:38:46,900 –> 00:38:50,100
I would not have known what sin
was except through the law.

523
00:38:50,200 –> 00:38:53,100
I wouldn’t have known what
coveting really was if the Lord

524
00:38:53,100 –> 00:38:58,000
said do not covet.
But then he says as soon as

525
00:38:58,000 –> 00:39:02,600
there was a law.
Thus in seizing the opportunity

526
00:39:02,600 –> 00:39:06,400
afforded by the Commandment
produced in me every kind of

527
00:39:06,400 –> 00:39:10,300
covetous desire.
What happens is when we get a

528
00:39:10,308 –> 00:39:15,900
law when we get a rule that God
gives us that allows us to see

529
00:39:15,900 –> 00:39:20,200
something about what our heart
is actually like something about

530
00:39:20,200 –> 00:39:32,700
what’s going on inside of us.
the ACT I mean, so So as I say

531
00:39:32,800 –> 00:39:38,600
we often make this the mistake
that sin is breaking God’s

532
00:39:38,600 –> 00:39:44,900
Commandments and I think rather
that breaking Commandments shows

533
00:39:44,900 –> 00:39:48,100
us about Sin that is inside of
us.

534
00:39:48,600 –> 00:39:52,900
So what is it?
If sin isn’t just breaking the

535
00:39:52,900 –> 00:39:55,000
rules breaking the Commandments,
what is it?

536
00:39:59,400 –> 00:40:02,100
It’s one of the teens came up
with a great definition, which

537
00:40:02,100 –> 00:40:07,800
I’m going to adopt sin is
hurting ourselves or hurting

538
00:40:07,800 –> 00:40:15,100
others.
I think that’s Exquisite I had

539
00:40:15,100 –> 00:40:20,600
sin is destructiveness.
But I love I love that sin is

540
00:40:20,600 –> 00:40:24,800
about hurting other people or
about hurting ourselves.

541
00:40:28,000 –> 00:40:32,100
Sin is actually estrangement
from God and it’s estrangement

542
00:40:32,100 –> 00:40:35,400
from one another and we will see
through the course of these

543
00:40:35,400 –> 00:40:39,800
talks more about that connection
sin is anti-love.

544
00:40:41,400 –> 00:40:47,400
Sin is anti Oneness.
It is selfishness and what we

545
00:40:47,400 –> 00:40:53,200
see here in Romans is until we
have law where ignorance of sin.

546
00:40:54,700 –> 00:40:58,800
Law is a spotlight which shows
us sin.

547
00:40:59,000 –> 00:41:02,100
I think this gives us insight
into Genesis.

548
00:41:02,100 –> 00:41:06,000
What was going on there seems to
me that what we’re being told in

549
00:41:06,000 –> 00:41:10,200
Genesis is that Adam and Eve
were spiritually naked?

550
00:41:12,600 –> 00:41:16,800
And yet we’re unashamed because
they didn’t they didn’t know

551
00:41:17,600 –> 00:41:22,400
they didn’t get that they were
spiritually naked and it seems

552
00:41:22,400 –> 00:41:26,100
to me that that taking of the
fruit that act of transgression

553
00:41:26,500 –> 00:41:30,400
was not the thing that is
strange them from God, but it

554
00:41:30,400 –> 00:41:35,000
was a symptom that they were
already estranged from God.

555
00:41:36,800 –> 00:41:40,100
Because if they were not
estranged from God they wouldn’t

556
00:41:40,100 –> 00:41:46,100
have taken it.
But it’s a manifestation that

557
00:41:46,100 –> 00:41:54,000
there was already something off.
A man doesn’t go out and commit

558
00:41:54,000 –> 00:41:57,300
adultery and so become estranged
from his wife.

559
00:41:59,300 –> 00:42:03,300
Man goes out and commits
adultery as a manifestation that

560
00:42:03,300 –> 00:42:06,500
he is already estranged from his
wife.

561
00:42:06,900 –> 00:42:10,900
Do you see the point that I’m
trying to make law shows us

562
00:42:10,900 –> 00:42:15,500
symptoms of sin.
It shows us manifestations.

563
00:42:15,700 –> 00:42:20,900
It is not the sin itself.
And when we equate sin with

564
00:42:20,900 –> 00:42:26,600
breaking law, we forget that sin
is about what’s going on inside

565
00:42:26,600 –> 00:42:29,700
of us.
It’s about this anti It’s about

566
00:42:29,700 –> 00:42:34,700
the separation between us and
God so rules can show us

567
00:42:34,700 –> 00:42:38,000
failure.
They don’t define success.

568
00:42:39,800 –> 00:42:44,500
And the problem is that laws are
things that can be measured

569
00:42:45,100 –> 00:42:50,000
externally and so we love them.
It’s sort of like like weight

570
00:42:50,000 –> 00:42:53,400
losing weight.
I’m losing weight.

571
00:42:53,500 –> 00:42:55,800
I measure myself every day and
I’m losing weight.

572
00:42:55,800 –> 00:42:59,400
And yeah, I’m making progress in
getting more and more healthy,

573
00:42:59,600 –> 00:43:03,400
but somehow I seem to be losing
muscle not fat.

574
00:43:05,300 –> 00:43:09,800
You know the problem and yet
you’re still tied into this idea

575
00:43:09,800 –> 00:43:15,600
that you want to lose weight.
Even though the evidence is that

576
00:43:15,600 –> 00:43:19,600
weight is a rotten measure of
Health mean it’s a component of

577
00:43:19,600 –> 00:43:23,300
the measure, but it’s not the
measure itself.

578
00:43:25,300 –> 00:43:29,800
Getting less and less healthy
because there’s a bad balance

579
00:43:29,800 –> 00:43:35,100
now between muscle and fat or
between water and other things

580
00:43:35,100 –> 00:43:39,300
going on in the body.
The other reason we like laws is

581
00:43:39,300 –> 00:43:44,700
because through laws we get to
control other people we get to

582
00:43:44,700 –> 00:43:49,100
Define standards of
righteousness for other people.

583
00:43:50,900 –> 00:43:55,500
And I think actually this is the
essence of law if you think

584
00:43:55,500 –> 00:43:59,600
about when somebody is saying
but we have to have rules.

585
00:44:01,900 –> 00:44:05,300
It’s not about we have to have
rules because otherwise I might

586
00:44:05,300 –> 00:44:08,200
do something that is not
helpful.

587
00:44:09,700 –> 00:44:12,600
It’s about we have to have rules
so that I can know when other

588
00:44:12,600 –> 00:44:17,800
people are crossing the line.
By having measurements, you can

589
00:44:17,800 –> 00:44:23,500
control other people and this is
the essence of Law and Paul says

590
00:44:23,500 –> 00:44:25,900
something a little bit like this
in Galatians 3.

591
00:44:27,400 –> 00:44:30,600
And this is I think a
classically misunderstood verse

592
00:44:30,900 –> 00:44:35,100
in our community Galatians
chapter 3.

593
00:44:40,000 –> 00:44:44,600
Verse 23 before this Faith came
we were held prisoners by the

594
00:44:44,600 –> 00:44:47,600
law locked up until Faith should
be revealed.

595
00:44:48,200 –> 00:44:53,400
So the law was put in charge to
lead us to Christ as the NIV so

596
00:44:53,400 –> 00:44:55,900
that we are that we might be
justified by faith.

597
00:44:56,100 –> 00:44:59,700
Now that faith has come we are
no longer under the supervision

598
00:45:00,000 –> 00:45:03,000
of the law the King James I
think has the law was a

599
00:45:03,000 –> 00:45:05,500
Schoolmaster to bring us to
Christ.

600
00:45:05,700 –> 00:45:09,600
The Greek has a word from which
we get pedagogue.

601
00:45:10,000 –> 00:45:14,100
I’m because in English pedagogue
means teacher we think of the

602
00:45:14,300 –> 00:45:16,600
law was a teacher to bring us to
Christ.

603
00:45:16,600 –> 00:45:20,700
But actually if you look in the
old literature as to how that

604
00:45:20,700 –> 00:45:23,600
word was used.
What was the pedagogue the

605
00:45:23,600 –> 00:45:28,000
pedagogue was not actually the
teacher in the school.

606
00:45:28,800 –> 00:45:32,700
The pedagogue was the slave who
would take a young man by the

607
00:45:32,700 –> 00:45:35,500
hand and make sure he got to
school.

608
00:45:38,700 –> 00:45:41,100
I like the translation truant
officer.

609
00:45:42,800 –> 00:45:47,200
The law was the truant officer
to bring us to Christ.

610
00:45:49,800 –> 00:45:52,600
I think that really captures the
purpose of law.

611
00:45:52,700 –> 00:45:59,600
It stops US straying too far.
It acts as that boundary that

612
00:45:59,600 –> 00:46:02,000
says Ah, no where it was
straying.

613
00:46:06,200 –> 00:46:08,100
And now that faith is come verse
25.

614
00:46:08,100 –> 00:46:11,500
We are no longer under the
supervision of the law.

615
00:46:12,200 –> 00:46:22,000
Look at chapter 44 and verse 19
Can the context of Galatians is

616
00:46:22,000 –> 00:46:23,400
hair?
This is the struggle of the

617
00:46:23,400 –> 00:46:26,600
first century.
Ecclesia is where you have the

618
00:46:26,900 –> 00:46:31,900
legal pressure follow this set
of rules coming from the X

619
00:46:31,900 –> 00:46:37,000
Pharisee judaising influence and
you have Paul and others saying

620
00:46:37,000 –> 00:46:39,600
know the transformation is to be
inside of you.

621
00:46:39,700 –> 00:46:42,700
It’s not this yoke of slavery of
here are the rules and

622
00:46:42,700 –> 00:46:44,600
regulations that you’re supposed
to follow.

623
00:46:46,300 –> 00:46:50,500
My dear children, he says verse
19 of chapter 4 for whom I am

624
00:46:50,500 –> 00:46:56,200
again in the Pains of childbirth
until Christ is formed in you.

625
00:46:59,300 –> 00:47:04,800
It is really clear that Jesus
did not measure his day-by-day

626
00:47:04,800 –> 00:47:08,000
relationship with his father by
a set of rules.

627
00:47:10,100 –> 00:47:13,700
And Paul is asking for that same
thing to happen in us.

628
00:47:13,700 –> 00:47:18,600
He wants Echoes of Christ to be
created inside each one of us.

629
00:47:20,100 –> 00:47:27,400
So that we are christ-like.
Jesus says follow me.

630
00:47:29,300 –> 00:47:33,300
We say no Lord.
Give us some rules to follow

631
00:47:33,300 –> 00:47:40,800
instead.
I want to have a sense that I

632
00:47:40,800 –> 00:47:45,800
have earned the right to be in
the Kingdom that I am worthy.

633
00:47:48,800 –> 00:47:51,000
That’s not Christ being formed
within us.

634
00:47:55,200 –> 00:48:05,500
Look at Romans 8.
Just dipping into little bits

635
00:48:05,500 –> 00:48:17,400
here. first five and we’ll spend
quite a bit of time and Romans 8

636
00:48:17,400 –> 00:48:22,000
one way or another through these
classes those who live according

637
00:48:22,000 –> 00:48:25,300
to the sinful nature.
The flesh has their mind set on

638
00:48:25,300 –> 00:48:28,300
what that nature desires, but
those who live in accordance

639
00:48:28,300 –> 00:48:32,600
with the spirit have their minds
set on what the spirit desires

640
00:48:33,900 –> 00:48:39,200
if if in your spirit you are
connected with God if you are

641
00:48:39,200 –> 00:48:43,600
aware of that seed of God that
is growing within you that that

642
00:48:43,600 –> 00:48:45,900
for me.
Shouldn’t of Christ within you.

643
00:48:47,400 –> 00:48:51,500
If that’s your Touchstone as to
what gets manifest in your life.

644
00:48:55,200 –> 00:48:58,900
Then your minds are set on what
the spirit desires.

645
00:49:00,600 –> 00:49:05,300
As opposed to the Mind Set On
what the flesh desires says it

646
00:49:05,400 –> 00:49:10,600
verse 9 you are not controlled
by the flesh by the sinful

647
00:49:10,600 –> 00:49:16,500
nature, but by the spirit if the
spirit of God lives in you, and

648
00:49:16,500 –> 00:49:19,500
if anyone does not have the
spirit of Christ.

649
00:49:20,800 –> 00:49:26,600
He does not belong to Christ.
Don’t don’t write these office

650
00:49:26,600 –> 00:49:34,500
first century words.
This is powerful stuff an echo

651
00:49:34,500 –> 00:49:40,400
of Christ is growing as a seed
within you if you let it if you

652
00:49:40,400 –> 00:49:45,400
permit it to if you let that be
the thing, which guides then you

653
00:49:45,400 –> 00:49:50,400
can say, I am Christ’s.
But if instead you are the

654
00:49:50,400 –> 00:49:54,400
vicious dog with a chain around
your neck, you can’t say that

655
00:49:54,400 –> 00:49:57,900
your Christ’s.
It’s not guiding that’s not

656
00:49:57,900 –> 00:50:03,400
changing Who You Are.
And this isn’t just New

657
00:50:03,400 –> 00:50:07,000
Testament.
It’s there in the Old Testament

658
00:50:07,000 –> 00:50:11,300
as well.
We could look at Psalm 51 we

659
00:50:11,300 –> 00:50:16,300
often have in the past about the
the if you wanted sacrifices and

660
00:50:16,300 –> 00:50:19,400
so on our bring them, but what
you want is a broken Spirit or

661
00:50:19,400 –> 00:50:22,600
Jeremiah 31 talking about the
New Covenant.

662
00:50:22,600 –> 00:50:25,800
I’ll take my law and write it in
their hearts and their minds it

663
00:50:25,800 –> 00:50:28,700
will be it will just be welling
up from inside.

664
00:50:28,700 –> 00:50:31,300
It won’t be this externally
imposed thing.

665
00:50:31,600 –> 00:50:34,000
But I’d like us to go to Isaiah
28.

666
00:50:34,000 –> 00:50:43,800
I like this one, Isaiah 28.
This is this is legalism.

667
00:50:46,300 –> 00:50:50,400
First nine, who is he trying to
teach to whom is he explaining

668
00:50:50,400 –> 00:50:54,500
his message to Children weaned
from their milk to those just

669
00:50:54,500 –> 00:50:58,400
taken from the breasts are you
so young in Christ that it has

670
00:50:58,400 –> 00:51:04,600
to be like this for it is do and
do do and do rule on rule rule

671
00:51:04,600 –> 00:51:07,000
on rule a little here a little
there.

672
00:51:07,700 –> 00:51:12,200
Are you so young in Christ that
you need the external restraint

673
00:51:12,200 –> 00:51:19,500
like this?
Very well then with falling lips

674
00:51:19,500 –> 00:51:22,200
and strange tongues.
God will speak to this people to

675
00:51:22,200 –> 00:51:25,700
whom he said this is the resting
place let the weary rest and

676
00:51:25,700 –> 00:51:28,000
this is the place of repose, but
they wouldn’t listen.

677
00:51:29,400 –> 00:51:34,800
So then the word of the Lord to
them will become do and do do

678
00:51:34,800 –> 00:51:37,800
and do rule on rule on roll a
little here a little there.

679
00:51:37,900 –> 00:51:40,100
And actually the Hebrew here is
interesting.

680
00:51:41,100 –> 00:51:43,600
The Hebrew is Sadler Salve Salve
losev.

681
00:51:43,600 –> 00:51:47,600
Kavlock of Cavill.
Yada-yada-yada blahblahblah.

682
00:51:48,100 –> 00:51:52,100
That’s what the law becomes if
it doesn’t actually make a

683
00:51:52,107 –> 00:51:55,200
change.
It’s just the blah blah blah

684
00:51:55,200 –> 00:51:59,700
blah going on.
That’s not real change.

685
00:51:59,700 –> 00:52:05,600
It’s all just paperwork.
Yeah, but you say you have to

686
00:52:05,600 –> 00:52:10,900
draw a line somewhere.
No.

687
00:52:12,700 –> 00:52:17,300
Just because I have black over
here and white over here and

688
00:52:17,300 –> 00:52:21,900
every shade of gray in between
where would you draw a line to

689
00:52:21,900 –> 00:52:23,500
say?
This is black and this is not

690
00:52:23,500 –> 00:52:28,800
black.
The idea of a line is a

691
00:52:28,808 –> 00:52:32,800
philosophical idea.
It comes from Cartesian

692
00:52:32,800 –> 00:52:38,800
thinking.
It’s not a Biblical idea. and

693
00:52:38,800 –> 00:52:41,800
just because there is no one
place that you can draw a line

694
00:52:41,800 –> 00:52:44,200
doesn’t mean we have any
difficulty in distinguishing

695
00:52:44,200 –> 00:52:48,300
black from white but we
recognize that there is a whole

696
00:52:48,300 –> 00:52:54,700
Spectrum in between and where I
find myself on that spectrum and

697
00:52:54,700 –> 00:52:58,800
where you find yourself on that
spectrum is at the end of the

698
00:52:58,800 –> 00:53:02,200
day an issue between you and
God.

699
00:53:03,400 –> 00:53:08,000
In I’d like us to take our final
reading from Romans 14.

700
00:53:08,400 –> 00:53:12,700
But while you’re turning that
up, you might notice that in

701
00:53:12,700 –> 00:53:17,500
James James says anyone who
knows the good he ought to do

702
00:53:17,500 –> 00:53:24,200
and doesn’t do it sins.
What kind of rule is that?

703
00:53:25,700 –> 00:53:29,800
That’s about if you see an
opportunity for healing if you

704
00:53:29,800 –> 00:53:33,900
see an opportunity for healing
and you choose not to take it

705
00:53:33,900 –> 00:53:39,500
that is a manifestation of sin
within you you haven’t broken

706
00:53:39,500 –> 00:53:42,000
any rule.
There’s nothing that you’ve done

707
00:53:42,000 –> 00:53:44,800
wrong.
It has shown you something about

708
00:53:44,800 –> 00:53:49,700
what’s inside chapter 14 of
Romans verse one except him

709
00:53:49,700 –> 00:53:53,300
whose faith is weak without
passing judgment on disputable

710
00:53:53,300 –> 00:53:55,400
matters one fat man’s Faith
allows.

711
00:53:55,500 –> 00:53:59,400
Him to eat everything but
another man’s Faith allows him

712
00:53:59,400 –> 00:54:03,200
to only eat whose faith is weak
eat only vegetables the man who

713
00:54:03,200 –> 00:54:06,200
eats everything must not look
down on him who does not and the

714
00:54:06,200 –> 00:54:09,100
man who does not eat everything
must not condemn the man who

715
00:54:09,100 –> 00:54:13,000
does for God has accepted him,
who are you to judge?

716
00:54:13,000 –> 00:54:15,800
Someone else’s servant to his
own Master.

717
00:54:15,800 –> 00:54:20,100
He stands or Falls and he will
stand for the Lord is able to

718
00:54:20,100 –> 00:54:25,100
make him stand.
The idea here is allow one.

719
00:54:25,500 –> 00:54:31,100
Other allow one another to be at
a different place in the way.

720
00:54:31,100 –> 00:54:34,600
They are in their relationship
and their understanding of God

721
00:54:34,600 –> 00:54:40,600
and their connection with God.
So new it’s not the dog fence or

722
00:54:40,600 –> 00:54:44,800
the chain.
It’s the Gentle Spirit in the

723
00:54:44,808 –> 00:54:47,300
dog.
There is no fence because

724
00:54:47,300 –> 00:54:50,800
there’s no need for one when
we’re transformed Within.

725
00:54:58,800 –> 00:55:01,600
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726
00:55:02,000 –> 00:55:04,400
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727
00:55:04,400 –> 00:55:07,400
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729
00:55:10,600 –> 00:55:12,900
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730
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731
00:55:15,900 –> 00:55:18,900
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736
00:55:33,800 –> 00:55:37,000
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00:55:40,300 –> 00:55:42,700
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739
00:55:43,700 –> 00:55:46,500
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740
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