Aaron McKee – The Relenting and Unrelenting God – Class 5 – Exhortation – Resolving The Paradox (Psa. 85 & Rom. 10-11)

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So we’re waiting for the words
of exhortation from Brother

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Aaron finishing up the the
weekend study.

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His exhort is titled Resolving
the Paradox.

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Well, brothers and sisters, we
come to the end of our, of our

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time together and I have to say
on behalf of Rose and I and our

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two little girls, just what a
special weekend this has been

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for us with a six month old.
We don’t get out much.

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So it’s great to see you all.
And a few people have brought up

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us relocating and I, I, I’d say
you’ve almost convinced me.

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Have you ever wondered what it
would have been to have walked

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with Christ?
I’m sure in many ways we have

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all asked ourselves that
question.

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You know, I personally think to
what it would have been to have

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just heard him to glimpse the
intricacies of his mind.

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So I’m burden myself freely and
and know that that he could see

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me for for who I am the disciple
John did walk with him and many

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years from those days and later
life is looking to the world

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around him that the impact those
years had worked with his Lord

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had worked in the world.
He writes his gospel, a

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testament to the Christ he knew
and and as he wrote well in his

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mind’s eyebrow and sisters.
Maybe he thought back to the

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days of his youth, or he walked
with his Lord on the shores of

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Galilee and he would have heard
those ministrations by the sea,

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the life changing effects it had
on all around him.

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In thinking to his youth, maybe
he thought moments where the

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impossible happened, that the
blind seas, the lepers heal, the

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lame leaves.
Maybe he thought to personal

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things, moments he shared with
his Lord, moments of joy,

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moments of hardship, moments of
doubt, Moments he could feel the

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gaze of Christ piercing his
heart, know his struggles and

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know he was the disciple loved
of Christ.

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But of all the things one could
say, of all the places one could

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start in describing that man of
whom all the books in the world,

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John says, could not contain the
things he did, what is the one

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thing he writes?
Bron Sisters, how does he begin?

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Where does he start?
He says in the beginning was the

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Word.
It was made flesh, it dwelt

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among man, and we have seen his
glory as the glory of God, full

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of grace and truth.
This morning, brothers and

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sisters, we will consider this
man John New, a man of grace and

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truth and justice and mercy and
goodness and severity, A man who

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embodied the glory of God’s
character and fullness.

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We’ll consider what these things
meant to Christ, how he lived

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them, the salvation secured
because he lived them.

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And we will end our thoughts and
a vision of hope, confidence,

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peace and assurance because our
God is the relenting and

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unrelenting God.
But but we’ll start our thoughts

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this morning, but first
reflecting what John means when

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he says a man of grace and
truth.

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And we don’t have to look far to
see what he drives out here,

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Brun sisters.
In fact, he’s very direct.

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You see, he relates this phrase
to Moses, doesn’t he?

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We see this in verse 17.
He says to Moses came law to

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Christ, grace and truth.
And on the surface, Brun

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sisters, that almost reads as a
contrast, doesn’t it Contrast as

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if he’s saying Moses and the
law.

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They had none of these things
and suddenly they’ve come in

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Christ.
Contrast where he saying, you

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know, the law was false in
Christ’s truth as reflected this

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weekend.
Bron sisters that can’t be

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farther from truth.
How many in the record of

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Scripture witnessed these
qualities of God?

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Sure, they might have been hard
to see, but how many saw them

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and said, as David did in second
Samuel, made the God of grace

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and truth be with you or sang of
them in the Psalms?

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You are a God of grace and
truth.

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Are all your ways our mercy and
truth?

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Many in our Bibles perceived
these traits in their God.

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Many hoped in the things
considered this weekend.

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So what John isn’t saying here,
brothers and sisters, is the law

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was absent of these and suddenly
they’ve appeared in Christ.

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He’s saying Christ is the
essence of what they only

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glimpse, the sum of everything
discussed this week, and he’s

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connecting what Moses saw on
Sinai to what he’s witnessing in

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reality.
And how many other writers speak

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the same brothers, sisters,
Hebrews reads long ago at times

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away as God spoke by prophets.
But in these last days he gave

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his Son the air of all things,
the radiance of God’s glory.

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We think to Paul, who said God
let light shine from darkness,

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has shown in our hearts the
light of the knowledge of the

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glory of God in the face of
Christ.

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Like John, they’re paralleling
the imagery of Sinai.

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The light Moses saw behind rock
he can only glimpse.

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They see face to face a glory
written on stone.

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They see in the life of Christ.
And like Sinai brothers, sisters

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without glory, it’s revealed not
in axe and whirlwind and storms

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and fire, but character.
So will the glory of Christ be

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revealed in character.
The miracle of Christ from the

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sisters was never in his wonders
and acts.

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How often did He call us to see
beyond these things?

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A wicked and perverse generation
seeks a sign.

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He says it was His ways, his
love and compassion to those

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hurt, his silence in the face of
accusers, his care for the lost

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in searching, his conviction to
truth.

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What showed the power of God
more than anything Christ did

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than his character in the
presence of man.

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Like Moses, brothers and
sisters, who drew near to the

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ways of God, so will we draw
near this morning to the ways of

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Christ and glimpse once more the
perfection of God’s character.

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And we’ll start our thoughts by
reflecting what grace and truth

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meant to Christ.
And it’s starting that question.

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Brun, sisters, I suppose there’s
many things that our brains

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might start thinking of.
You know, we might start

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thinking of his feeding of
multitudes where, though

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exhausted, he cares for them as
lost sheep or or in his touching

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of the leper he he risked
defilement or in eating with

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sinners he he risked social
scorn.

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Maybe we think to his words to
Jerusalem how I would have

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brought you under my wings, or
his greetings to Judas and hours

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of betrayal or or in his dining
with Pharisees who who consider

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themselves as enemies.
You might think to accounts like

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Luke 19 or in calling Zacchaeus
the the crowds grumbled because

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he went to the House of a Sinner
or or Luke 7, the crowds

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grumbled because the unclean
woman touched him or the

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disciples grumbled because he
spoke with the Samaritan and all

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this one sisters.
If indeed you think of that

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would lead us to a very simple,
very, very powerful

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understanding and that’s the and
grace that self sacrificed and

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grace that offers what he knew
would be refused and grace that

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shocked because it was
unmerited.

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Every act of Christ’s
compassion.

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Mirrors what grace means to God.
But that’s only half of what

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John saw and that’s curious.
Isn’t everyone’s just because

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because you know that that’s
almost the easy point to make.

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Many of us associate the
ministry of Christ as one

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dedicated dedicated to grace.
Again, we think to the spirit of

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the dove that descends on him in
in his baptism, but he also came

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in truth.
I come to bring the sword.

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He says in Matthew 10.
Truth is central to the things

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Christ spoke on.
You know, think about it for a

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moment, brother and sisters.
Well, let’s turn our thoughts

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there.
We see this perhaps glaringly in

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the Sermon on the Mount.
He opens with these wonderful

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words of grace, doesn’t he
follows in statements of truth.

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He says, I come to bring the
law, but he doesn’t stop at

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that.
Brother and sisters, what does

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he say?
He says you’ve heard it said you

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will not murder.
I say if anybody’s angry, you’ve

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become liable.
The judgement, you’ve heard it

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said don’t commit adultery.
I say if you look, you commit

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sin.
You’ve heard it said love your

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neighbor.
I say love your enemies and pray

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for those persecuting you.
In these words, brung sisters,

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we are reminded that Christ’s
grace never nullified truth far

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beyond it.
He amplifies it, He takes it,

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and he pushes it towards
practice.

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Excuse me beyond practice
towards the intention of our

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hearts.
Come with me to Matthew 12.

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Let’s look deeper at what truth
means to Christ.

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You see there’s two cases where
Christ, he’s challenged on his

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definitions of truth and and
he’s going to respond in the

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same way.
And in this specific case, the

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Pharisees come to him.
They, they see him in the

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disciples eating in the fields
on Sabbath.

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They, they challenge him for
doing so in verse 2.

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And how does Christ respond?
We see him in verse 7.

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If you had known what this
meant, he says, I desire mercy

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and not sacrifice, you would not
have condemned what Christ has

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done.
Brothers sisters, in quoting

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Hosea is revealing insight into
what truth means to him, what

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the law always meant to
prophets, what it always meant

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to God, and that’s that it must
always be practiced in the

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fullness of God’s character.
You see what Christ is not

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saying to your brothers,
sisters, is is the Sabbath means

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nothing to me.
So do whatever you want with

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mercy or or you can forget the
law because grace is more

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important.
Christ is actually not breaking

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the law in this moment.
Brothers, sisters, what he’s

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saying is that the Sabbath
without mercy is dead, that

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obedience to God’s Word removed
from God’s heart means nothing.

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We see this in Amos 4.
Brun sisters, here in Amos we we

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get a glimpse of Israel
struggling in a very specific

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issue.
Don’t, don’t we?

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This is an issue of empty truth.
What do we see in verse one?

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God says you’ve neglected acts
of justice and grace.

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You’ve neglected the qualities
of my character.

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And why does he condemn them?
We see it in verse 4.

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Yet you still come to Bethel and
Gilgal and transgress.

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You multiply transgressions you,
you bring your sacrifices every

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morning, three days a week.
You offer leavened bread.

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You give free will offer, and
you publish them for so you love

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to do.
I hate them because it’s not in

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my character.
That’s what Christ drives out

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here, brothers and sisters,
Truth not as this hollow

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observance, but something that
works a deeper connection in us.

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For this reason, brothers and
sisters, Christ will say, unless

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you achieve A righteousness
greater than Pharisees, you will

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by no means enter the Kingdom of
heaven.

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Their righteousness died at the
external, their truth influenced

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actions died and intentions.
For that reason though, though

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these are the the people who are
the pinnacle of those who follow

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law, Christ says in Matthew 13,
You have none, for you tithe and

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mint and fast.
You neglect kindness, mercy, and

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justice.
The weight of the law, he says,

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the weight of the Lobron
sisters, is the weight of God’s

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character.
In that condemnation is the

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understanding.
One could never practice the

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law, Christ says, unless you did
it in mercy, love, and grace.

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In these condemnations is the
understanding that the the truth

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is never technical correctness
or doctrine alone, but through

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its practice, bringing man’s
heart in alignment with God’s

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character.
Scripture is full of people who

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could keep external truths, full
of people who could follow rules

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and rituals and moral codes and
appearances.

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We see it in the hollow
offerings of Cain to the rush

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sacrifice of Saul to the empty
observance of Israel’s priest to

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the rich young ruler and the
elites of Christ, A all external

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righteous internal tombs,
outward truth keepers, inwardly

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lawless people of external
priesthoods, but hearts that

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walk by Samaritans, giving
shallow observance rather than

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living truths, intent.
The Apostle Paul understood this

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intimately.
Brun Sisters, who is Saul of

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Tarsus?
He followed the laws of God to

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AT but fell far from what truth
meant to God.

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What does he write to the
Corinthians?

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How does he counsel them in
these things?

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He says if you know truth or
prophecy, but speak not in love,

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00:14:22,920 –> 00:14:27,600
it’s empty.
It’s a clanging gong.

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00:14:27,600 –> 00:14:36,160
It it it’s worthless, you know,
You know, sometimes I think we

220
00:14:36,160 –> 00:14:41,360
can struggle in that brothers
and sisters, as a community,

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00:14:41,360 –> 00:14:45,120
we’re oriented as as very truth
oriented people predispose to

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00:14:45,120 –> 00:14:47,160
seek it and all things and don’t
get me wrong.

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00:14:47,160 –> 00:14:50,960
But sisters, this is wonderful
and pleasing and rare and good

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00:14:50,960 –> 00:14:54,080
in the sight of our God, but not
when it leads us down roads.

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00:14:54,200 –> 00:15:02,880
We’re in pursuit of that truth.
We neglect the character of love

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00:15:03,040 –> 00:15:06,360
that makes truth come alive.
The lesson for us in Christ

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00:15:06,360 –> 00:15:12,160
example is to reflect on how we
measure righteousness, to push

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00:15:12,160 –> 00:15:15,160
beyond exterior thinking and
external works and understand it

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00:15:15,160 –> 00:15:17,600
means little if I can bring
myself to meeting but I’m not

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00:15:17,600 –> 00:15:23,480
working something new in myself.
It means little if I enforce

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00:15:23,480 –> 00:15:26,560
truth but in a matter offensive
to God that drives people away.

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The lesson for us is that in our
ecclesias policies and practices

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00:15:30,320 –> 00:15:35,320
they should be guided by
scriptures heart and not just

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00:15:35,320 –> 00:15:38,840
its letter and how we love one
another.

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How we love our God with all our
heart, strength, soul and mind.

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These are guiding principles and
how we exercise truth and these

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00:15:45,080 –> 00:15:52,040
are safeguards against
weaponizing rules.

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But as with grace, there is much
we could say of truth.

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00:16:04,890 –> 00:16:07,410
Brunch sisters.
We can note that at times Christ

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00:16:07,410 –> 00:16:10,210
rebukes harshly.
You know not what spirit you’re

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00:16:10,210 –> 00:16:10,690
of.
Peter.

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00:16:10,690 –> 00:16:16,360
Get get behind me Satan.
We can reflect that that grace

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00:16:16,360 –> 00:16:19,000
did not stop Christ from saying
the hard things.

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00:16:19,000 –> 00:16:21,480
Bron Sisters, sometimes that
must be true of us.

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00:16:21,480 –> 00:16:28,440
Truth means speaking what people
need not want to hear.

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00:16:31,560 –> 00:16:35,920
We can note that truth means
reflecting the faithfulness of

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00:16:35,920 –> 00:16:38,000
God.
As as God was unrelenting in his

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00:16:38,000 –> 00:16:41,880
covenants to man, so Christ is
unrelenting in integrity to God.

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Not my will, he says, but yours
for this ’cause I was born, he

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00:16:44,880 –> 00:16:48,880
says, to Pilate, to bear witness
unto truth, even to my death.

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00:16:49,040 –> 00:16:54,640
So we we must be unrelenting in
our faithfulness, brothers and

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00:16:54,640 –> 00:17:02,200
sisters.
But as we’ve noted this weekend,

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these were qualities never in
silos.

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They could never be separated.
And the same is true of Christ.

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Both work together purposely.
We see it in the Sermon on the

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00:17:12,440 –> 00:17:14,920
Mount, whereupon opening with
those blessings He convicted in

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00:17:14,920 –> 00:17:20,319
truth, We see it in eating with
sinners grace He calls them to

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00:17:20,319 –> 00:17:24,079
repent truth.
We see it in John 5 healing the

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00:17:24,079 –> 00:17:25,680
man by the pool.
He says take up your bed and

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00:17:25,680 –> 00:17:26,319
walk.
Grace.

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00:17:26,359 –> 00:17:28,480
He later says go and sin no more
truth.

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00:17:28,480 –> 00:17:30,160
We see it in speaking to the
Samaritan woman.

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00:17:30,240 –> 00:17:32,120
Grace.
He says 1 is not your husband

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00:17:32,240 –> 00:17:33,360
truth.
We see it in the rich young

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00:17:33,360 –> 00:17:35,000
ruler says looking to him in
love.

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00:17:35,200 –> 00:17:38,360
Grace he says sell all you have
truth.

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00:17:42,320 –> 00:17:46,000
Grace was never absent of
responsibility in Christ.

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00:17:46,000 –> 00:17:54,120
Brothers and sisters, like his
father, he welcomes in grace so

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00:17:54,120 –> 00:18:06,710
he could shape with truth.
We could reflect that like his

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00:18:06,710 –> 00:18:12,240
Father, these qualities were
relational and there was never a

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00:18:12,240 –> 00:18:15,560
moment when our Lord spoke to an
individual and he did not speak

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00:18:15,560 –> 00:18:18,800
to their needs intimately.
And at times those needs

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00:18:18,920 –> 00:18:21,920
required something different
were for safety or or when

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00:18:21,920 –> 00:18:24,120
justice was at stake.
Truth leads.

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00:18:25,920 –> 00:18:27,360
We see it in the whips in the
temple.

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00:18:27,360 –> 00:18:29,240
We hear it in in the rebukes to
Peter.

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00:18:29,280 –> 00:18:31,560
But even in those moments,
brains, sisters, even in his

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00:18:31,560 –> 00:18:35,080
harshest of words, his curse on
Jerusalem, his condemnation on

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00:18:35,080 –> 00:18:42,680
Pharisees, well in his curses he
wept and in condemnations he

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00:18:42,680 –> 00:18:44,400
said, how I would have cared for
you.

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00:18:44,400 –> 00:18:47,400
And nowhere do we see this
dynamic better by the sisters

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00:18:47,480 –> 00:18:49,640
than in the words of Mark 3
verse 5 where it says, looking

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00:18:49,640 –> 00:19:00,920
to the Pharisees in anger, He
grieved for the hardness of

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00:19:00,920 –> 00:19:03,560
their hearts.
Christ’s truth was never absent

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00:19:03,560 –> 00:19:07,440
of grace, Brun sisters.
It was always working to restore

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00:19:07,560 –> 00:19:10,760
the individual he spoke to.
And perhaps nowhere do we get a

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00:19:10,960 –> 00:19:14,400
a sense of the fullness, just
the the depths that these traits

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00:19:14,400 –> 00:19:18,240
possessed Christ as a man than
in the record of John 8.

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00:19:23,810 –> 00:19:29,130
In this chapter.
We have a number of characters

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00:19:29,130 –> 00:19:30,690
considered this weekend.
Brun sisters.

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00:19:32,840 –> 00:19:35,680
A spectrum of characters
struggling and perception.

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00:19:35,680 –> 00:19:40,960
In this passage we have we have
scribes and Pharisees who lived

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00:19:40,960 –> 00:19:44,600
by truth but neglected grace,
who come to him in anger.

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00:19:44,600 –> 00:19:48,040
They seek to use the law of God
for the intent of taking his

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00:19:48,040 –> 00:19:53,600
life.
In this crowd we have a woman,

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00:19:55,920 –> 00:19:59,160
one whose actions imply she she
presumed on the grace of God,

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00:19:59,160 –> 00:20:01,520
but but to whom the truth of God
meant little.

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00:20:01,520 –> 00:20:04,400
In the midst of these we have
Christ’s Brun sisters.

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00:20:04,600 –> 00:20:06,600
And what does he do if something
curious happens to the crowd?

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00:20:06,680 –> 00:20:09,480
They come to him for judgement,
to condemn this woman, a moment

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00:20:09,480 –> 00:20:12,120
of justice to to be enforced
from the law of God.

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00:20:12,240 –> 00:20:21,720
And how does Christ respond?
He draws with his finger.

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00:20:24,400 –> 00:20:25,880
On the stone floors of the
temple.

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00:20:25,880 –> 00:20:27,360
Very curious thing, isn’t it,
Bron Sisters?

305
00:20:27,360 –> 00:20:29,600
Very interesting.
John doesn’t know what he’s

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00:20:29,760 –> 00:20:32,200
writing.
He simply reflects the action.

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00:20:32,200 –> 00:20:34,720
And I think there’s many things
we can say about this account,

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00:20:34,720 –> 00:20:36,840
Bron Sisters.
It’s one of the many mysteries

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00:20:36,840 –> 00:20:38,400
of the gospel, what Christ
wrote.

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00:20:38,480 –> 00:20:48,380
What I suggest Christ is doing
is he’s reflecting on the

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00:20:48,380 –> 00:20:54,280
character of his father.
A moment in Exodus where 30 in

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00:20:54,280 –> 00:20:58,360
chapter 31, verse 18, where the
finger of God wrote a law on

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00:20:58,360 –> 00:21:01,680
tablets of stone to Moses.
And in the essence of how the

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00:21:01,680 –> 00:21:06,600
Spirit of God was delivered to
Mambran sisters and how the

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00:21:06,600 –> 00:21:09,240
character of God has revealed
itself throughout Scripture and

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00:21:09,240 –> 00:21:12,120
how every moment of God’s
justice delivered from the days

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00:21:12,120 –> 00:21:14,480
of creation to the closing words
of Scripture.

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00:21:14,480 –> 00:21:16,400
How he’s committed to working
with you.

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00:21:16,480 –> 00:21:22,320
An image of how our King will
judge in days to come.

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00:21:22,440 –> 00:21:23,920
How does he speak?
What does he say?

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00:21:23,920 –> 00:21:35,000
He says in grace, woman, your
sins are forgiven and truth go

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00:21:35,000 –> 00:21:41,880
and sin no more.
Christ was a man who harmonized

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00:21:41,880 –> 00:21:47,320
the qualities of God.
He was a man who who did not

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00:21:47,320 –> 00:21:52,200
dilute justice to be gracious
nor suppress grace to be true.

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00:21:52,200 –> 00:21:55,000
He lives both fully.
We see it we’re through tears.

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00:21:55,000 –> 00:21:59,040
He gives judgement to Jerusalem
like his Father.

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00:21:59,040 –> 00:22:01,880
Mercy is never far from justice.
We see it in the gospel he

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00:22:01,880 –> 00:22:03,360
taught us as reading from
Isaiah.

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00:22:03,360 –> 00:22:06,200
He says, I bring justice and
freedom and liberty to the

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00:22:06,200 –> 00:22:08,920
captive today.
This is fulfilled in your sight.

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00:22:09,000 –> 00:22:11,840
And we can note run, sisters,
that he characterized his word

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00:22:11,840 –> 00:22:18,040
of gospel truth brought to this
world as one that manifests in

333
00:22:18,040 –> 00:22:20,600
acts of hope and grace and
restoration.

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00:22:20,680 –> 00:22:22,840
We could save in the way he
works with people.

335
00:22:24,720 –> 00:22:26,760
As in wisdom.
He gave grace to the humble,

336
00:22:28,080 –> 00:22:31,600
restoring Zacchaeus, building
Peter, pardoning this woman in

337
00:22:31,600 –> 00:22:34,560
adultery, and his shrewdness
confronting the proud and heart

338
00:22:34,560 –> 00:22:37,840
and hearts of Pharisees.
His grace softened hearts and

339
00:22:37,840 –> 00:22:41,360
his truth challenged pride and a
life lived this way.

340
00:22:41,360 –> 00:22:49,600
Brothers, Sisters.
Leads only to one end, and John

341
00:22:49,600 –> 00:22:57,080
witnessed it on the cross.
Because in one powerful moment,

342
00:22:59,040 –> 00:23:03,640
in one singular instance, we
have the sum of everything

343
00:23:03,760 –> 00:23:06,960
discussed this weekend.
It is the clearest expression of

344
00:23:06,960 –> 00:23:10,040
the character of God that has
ever been revealed to man.

345
00:23:10,040 –> 00:23:13,640
It is the physical revelation of
what God tried to show Moses in

346
00:23:13,640 –> 00:23:15,640
his name thousands of year
before.

347
00:23:15,720 –> 00:23:18,280
Because as John would have
looked, and he sees this man

348
00:23:18,280 –> 00:23:24,080
breaking his body for others, an
image of God relenting so

349
00:23:24,080 –> 00:23:27,440
powerful it made him marvel in a
God merciful and gracious, and

350
00:23:27,440 –> 00:23:29,640
abounding in love to the
thousandth, that that He could

351
00:23:29,640 –> 00:23:31,280
give us His Son while we were
yet sinners.

352
00:23:31,360 –> 00:23:35,120
Well, in his blood, brothers and
sisters, is the unrelenting God.

353
00:23:38,080 –> 00:23:41,120
Romans 3 verse 25 says that
Christ, to whom God put forward

354
00:23:41,120 –> 00:23:44,640
as the propitiation by His
blood, did so that He might be

355
00:23:44,640 –> 00:23:49,680
just.
And the justifier of them who

356
00:23:49,680 –> 00:23:53,480
have faith in this moment is the
ultimate expression of the

357
00:23:53,480 –> 00:23:56,120
character of God.
It is the resolution to our

358
00:23:56,120 –> 00:24:00,920
paradox.
Resolve not in compromise, not

359
00:24:00,920 –> 00:24:05,320
not in conflict, not in
concession, but by harmony in

360
00:24:05,320 –> 00:24:11,000
Christ in this moment.
Run, sisters, His ultimate act

361
00:24:11,000 –> 00:24:17,200
of justice meets His greatest
act of love in this moment.

362
00:24:17,200 –> 00:24:21,040
Justice opens the door for grace
for all who have faith in this

363
00:24:21,040 –> 00:24:22,800
moment.
Justice allows this thief on the

364
00:24:22,800 –> 00:24:26,400
cross to seize grace in his
final breaths and partake in its

365
00:24:26,400 –> 00:24:30,800
internal inheritance in mercy
and truth, reads Proverbs 16.

366
00:24:35,800 –> 00:24:39,040
Atonement is provided for
iniquity.

367
00:24:39,400 –> 00:24:45,080
In those words, brothers and
sisters, is the understanding

368
00:24:45,080 –> 00:24:47,440
that has underpinned everything
this weekend.

369
00:24:47,440 –> 00:24:51,280
In those words is the powerful,
simple message that God is

370
00:24:51,280 –> 00:24:53,440
shouting to us from the pages of
Scripture.

371
00:24:53,440 –> 00:24:56,920
And that’s simply that both the
qualities of the character of

372
00:24:56,920 –> 00:25:03,760
God are fully dedicated to our
salvation.

373
00:25:03,840 –> 00:25:06,080
And because of this, brothers,
sisters, above all things, above

374
00:25:06,080 –> 00:25:09,160
anything else we take away from
this weekend, these are things

375
00:25:09,160 –> 00:25:14,040
we hope in.
These are qualities where in

376
00:25:14,040 –> 00:25:17,040
moments of failure we hope in
mercy and truth.

377
00:25:19,760 –> 00:25:22,160
These are qualities when when
life challenges you with the

378
00:25:22,160 –> 00:25:24,040
taunt that are many faced
throughout Scripture.

379
00:25:24,040 –> 00:25:26,160
Where now is your God, the taunt
given Christ?

380
00:25:26,160 –> 00:25:29,600
Where is his God?
He trusted him.

381
00:25:29,600 –> 00:25:35,400
Let let him deliver when hard
days come and life breaks you

382
00:25:35,400 –> 00:25:38,920
down, brothers and sisters, and
you can’t understand how you can

383
00:25:38,920 –> 00:25:41,760
possibly stand up and keep
walking in the example of

384
00:25:41,760 –> 00:25:43,320
Christ.
No, brothers and sisters, when

385
00:25:43,320 –> 00:25:46,240
that happens and and your only
hope is to look to the character

386
00:25:46,240 –> 00:25:48,800
of of God, as many faithful
before have done.

387
00:25:48,960 –> 00:25:56,280
Know that you can look to him in
confidence, confidence and

388
00:25:56,280 –> 00:25:58,360
unspeakable joy.
Confidence because this

389
00:25:58,360 –> 00:26:04,120
character is pledged to you,
pledge to the fulfillment of his

390
00:26:04,120 –> 00:26:06,520
promise and he will never swear
from them.

391
00:26:06,520 –> 00:26:08,960
And when we come to understand
that, brothers, sisters, then

392
00:26:08,960 –> 00:26:14,600
then we might start to speak
like Paul, who would say, if we

393
00:26:14,600 –> 00:26:17,960
are faithless Timothy, he
remains faithful for he cannot

394
00:26:17,960 –> 00:26:19,960
deny himself.
When we understand that, we, we,

395
00:26:19,960 –> 00:26:24,600
we come to think like Micah.
Who would hope in hopeless

396
00:26:24,600 –> 00:26:26,720
times, Yet he could still write
in certainty.

397
00:26:26,840 –> 00:26:31,640
You, Lord, will perform truth to
Jacob and mercy to Abraham,

398
00:26:31,640 –> 00:26:34,560
because you swore to our fathers
from days of old.

399
00:26:34,560 –> 00:26:41,440
Brothers and sisters, we look to
that day when truth and mercy

400
00:26:41,440 –> 00:26:45,960
will be performed in this earth
as waters cover the sea.

401
00:26:45,960 –> 00:26:48,920
A day Amos saw, when when
justice rolls down like waters

402
00:26:48,920 –> 00:26:53,080
from the mountain.
A day Isaiah writes of when his

403
00:26:53,080 –> 00:26:56,400
Lord in mercy established his
throne and truth sits upon it,

404
00:26:56,400 –> 00:26:58,960
judging, seeking justice and
hastening righteousness.

405
00:26:58,960 –> 00:27:01,360
A day David sings of in Psalm
89.

406
00:27:01,360 –> 00:27:04,320
Justice and judgement or the
habitations of your throne.

407
00:27:04,480 –> 00:27:10,880
Mercy and truth go before your
face.

408
00:27:18,690 –> 00:27:26,000
Let’s end in picture of this
king of all the earth, who will

409
00:27:26,000 –> 00:27:29,800
sit on the throne of David, who
will wipe away all false notions

410
00:27:29,800 –> 00:27:33,440
of justice and an empty acts of
grace, and reveal the glory of

411
00:27:33,440 –> 00:27:36,000
God.
As the waters cover the sea and

412
00:27:36,000 –> 00:27:39,280
brothers and sisters.
John will see him one last time

413
00:27:39,280 –> 00:27:45,440
in his life, and he sees him in
Revelation 5.

414
00:27:50,120 –> 00:27:58,440
I John heard an Angel speak.
Who is worthy to open the

415
00:27:58,440 –> 00:27:59,800
scroll?
Who is worthy to have

416
00:27:59,800 –> 00:28:03,320
accomplished the the restoration
of all things promised from the

417
00:28:03,320 –> 00:28:04,760
beginning?
And in response to that

418
00:28:04,760 –> 00:28:08,040
question, brothers and sisters,
there was silence.

419
00:28:11,520 –> 00:28:16,120
For in all the earth, in all the
records of this book, and in the

420
00:28:16,120 –> 00:28:20,520
ages of history, no one lived
the character of God to

421
00:28:20,520 –> 00:28:22,280
perfection.
No one was worthy.

422
00:28:22,280 –> 00:28:24,360
And what does John do?
He wept.

423
00:28:31,240 –> 00:28:40,480
Then suddenly a voice spoke.
John, weep not, for the Lion of

424
00:28:40,480 –> 00:28:42,880
Judah has overcome.
And, and it says he looks

425
00:28:42,880 –> 00:28:45,000
suddenly, you know, you can
imagine, his heart begins to

426
00:28:45,000 –> 00:28:46,720
pump.
He looks up to the one who

427
00:28:46,720 –> 00:28:48,920
overcome, the Conqueror of all
things.

428
00:28:48,920 –> 00:28:50,680
He looks above the Saints, all
the faithful.

429
00:28:50,720 –> 00:28:52,000
He sees to the top of the
throne.

430
00:28:52,000 –> 00:28:54,640
He sees the Lion of Judah.
And what does he see, brothers

431
00:28:54,640 –> 00:29:01,720
and sisters?
A lamb with its throat cut, a

432
00:29:01,720 –> 00:29:05,760
symbol of justice and mercy.
It is the life of his Lord, what

433
00:29:05,760 –> 00:29:08,800
he witnessed all those years
before, the one who lived unto

434
00:29:08,800 –> 00:29:11,360
death, the fullness of God’s
character.

435
00:29:11,480 –> 00:29:20,610
We close, brothers and sisters,
in the words of Psalm 85.

436
00:29:20,810 –> 00:29:23,490
Will you draw out your anger
forever, Lord?

437
00:29:26,320 –> 00:29:28,480
Will you not restore us again?
Brunch, sisters.

438
00:29:28,480 –> 00:29:31,840
That is the cry of all the
faithful who have ever lived to

439
00:29:31,840 –> 00:29:35,880
have wrestled and failed in this
tension of God’s character all

440
00:29:35,880 –> 00:29:39,560
the way from the days of Adam.
And this is the moment our Lord

441
00:29:39,560 –> 00:29:42,840
answers.
Mercy and truth meet together.

442
00:29:45,120 –> 00:29:48,320
Righteousness and peace have
kissed in the form of my son.

443
00:29:48,480 –> 00:29:51,480
Yes, he says, I will deliver
what is good.

444
00:29:51,640 –> 00:29:57,160
A lion will come to this world,
brothers and sisters, to subject

445
00:29:57,160 –> 00:30:00,040
all things, but like the
whirlwind and the fire, it will

446
00:30:00,040 –> 00:30:02,160
be guided by the small voice of
God.

447
00:30:05,280 –> 00:30:11,120
A lion will roar from Zion in
truth to bring a law, to bring

448
00:30:11,120 –> 00:30:15,000
structure to a structureless
world, so that as a lamb tears

449
00:30:15,000 –> 00:30:20,720
will be wiped from the eyes of
the suffering, and death and

450
00:30:20,720 –> 00:30:27,800
pain and sorrow will be no more.
Surely, says the Lord, I come

451
00:30:27,800 –> 00:30:28,280
quickly.