Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #14812 - The Law is Very Good - Galatians 3:24 & Romans 7:7-12

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#14812 - The Law is Very Good - Galatians 3:24 & Romans 7:7-12 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
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Taylor, recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co.
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To learn more about the many resources available through
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Abounding Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services,
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visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free
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Calvary Church app. Now.
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Here's Pastor Ed to take us into our study.
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Amen. Take your Bibles and let's open
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to them to a few places. First of all, Romans Chapter 7,
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Romans Chapter 7, Joshua chapter 8, and eventually Galatians
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chapter 3. That will be the order.
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Romans Chapter 7. Actually, I think Joshua 8 is
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first, then Romans 7, then we'll get to, but I don't know one way
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or the other. We'll get them, find all three
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of them, and I've entitled our Bible study today.
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The law is very good. The law is very good.
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Now we asked and answered the question last time.
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What is the purpose of the law? It's a good question to ask, and
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the answer is equally important. The grace of God does not mean
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that the law was bad. No, not at all.
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The grace of God is wonderful and glorious, and we're enjoying
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it. But the law is wonderful, good,
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and glorious, and we enjoy it as well.
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Now, many will put the discussion of the law and grace
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into the category of an either or, but the Bible doesn't do
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that. The Bible puts the discussion of
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law and grace not either or but both.
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Both are very important. Yes, the new covenant replaces
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the old covenant. Yes, the old covenant is very
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important for why God gave it. Jot it down in Deuteronomy
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chapter 4 and verse 8. It says what great nation is
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there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in
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all this law which I set before you this day.
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Psalm 119, verse 172 says My tongue shall speak of your word,
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for all your commandments are righteousness.
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We will learn today that the law is holy and the commandment
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holy, just and good. Which leads us to a question.
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Some of you may even already be asking this, and the question
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would be something like, wait a minute, Pastor Ed, are you
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telling me that I must keep the law in order to be saved?
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And the answer to that would be no, It's the exact opposite of
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what I'm teaching. And it would be the exact
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opposite of what Paul is teaching the churches in the
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Galatian region. Now, I realize if you just
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dropped into the church today or last week and you're brand new,
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you have to understand something about our church.
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We study through the Bible verse by verse.
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So for 11 weeks already 11 studies.
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We have studied the book of Galatians from verse 1 all the
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way to where we are right now in chapter 3.
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There's a lot of foundational work that we have developed that
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would do you would do well to go back and listen to, as we have
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learned from Paul, the significance of the law and also
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the significance of grace. Paul is teaching the exact
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opposite. There was a group of legalistic
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men that came into the churches in Galatia and disrupted their
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simple faith. Now you'll never meet those men,
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but there are always people that would love to disrupt your
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simple faith, just a simple relationship with God.
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I love God, He loves me. I read my Bible, I pray everyday
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and I live a life abiding in Christ.
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There are always those that would say that's not enough,
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that's not enough, that's not enough.
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And for this group, they came and not only said it's not
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enough, they added and said, hey, if you want to enjoy God,
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you need to get circumcised. And he's like, whoa, whoa, whoa,
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whoa, hold on a second. Not only do you need to be
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circumcised men, but you men and women need to complete the
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entire law in order to be a Christian and a follower of
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Christ. And the whole book of Galatians
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is dismantling that false teaching.
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It was there then, and it's here among us now.
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He not only dismantles this false teaching, but he asserts
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the fundamental truth of the grace of God.
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And what is that? That the death and resurrection
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of Jesus Christ is sufficient to forgive you of all of your sins
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and save you completely. And by faith you can enjoy God.
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Simple gospel. Simple gospel.
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Now Romans Chapter 7. Let's look today and see at
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least four things God does when He uses the tool of His law.
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Why did God give us the law? What are four ways God uses it
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or four ways the law is used in our lives?
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Four reasons why God gave it to us.
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When you get to Romans Chapter 7, pick up with me in verse 7
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there as Paul is writing to a different group of believers,
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and he says this. What shall we say then?
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Is the law sin? Certainly not.
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On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through
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the law, for I would not have known covetousness unless the
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law had said you shall not covet.
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So if you're taking notes, here's point #1 why the law?
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Why did God give us the law #1 The law defines for us what sin
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is. The law defines for us what sin
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is. That's very important to learn
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because a pastor doesn't define what sin is.
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A church doesn't define what sin is.
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A denomination doesn't define what sin is.
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A council doesn't define what sin is.
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The Bible does. God, through His Law, reveals
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God's righteous requirement for all of creation, and He tells us
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what sin is. Paul says that he wouldn't even
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know what sin was except for the Law because God uses the law to
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reveal to us. We're using the same
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illustration through the whole study in Galatians.
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I'm going to keep using it because I want to improve your
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driving habits. But you got to remember,
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remember this. The law defines for you what is
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the right way. So you're driving to church this
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morning and you see that white sign with black letters.
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You know what I'm talking about, The one that says speed limit,
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and it has a big number there. That is the law.
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And the law defines for you not only what the speed limit is,
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but when compared with your speedometer, whether you're
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keeping it or not, it shows you, no, you could not pay attention
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to those signs and it would make you a deeper Sinner.
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But you pay attention to them and you can see that sign just
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by itself. It doesn't jump in front of you,
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It doesn't flash in front of you.
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It's just sitting over there to the right with a number on it
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defining for you. The law defines what sin is.
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So when you see the number, it not only tells you what's
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expected, but when compared with your behavior, with your
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speedometer, you now see whether you're sinning or not.
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It's the same with the law. The law tells you do not steal.
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That's what the Bible Bible says do not steal.
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When you compare what the Bible says with your behavior, you'll
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be able to tell whether you're sinning or not.
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So, for example, if you steal, you can see from God's Word that
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stealing is a sin. And that's what the law does.
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It reveals to us. It defines for us God's holy and
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righteous standard. Now let's go to Joshua chapter
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8, Joshua chapter 8, and read a very important passage, Joshua
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chapter 8. When you get there, go to verse
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30. This is after the children of
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Israel have entered into the promised land.
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This is after they've experienced miraculous victory
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in Jericho. And it's also after the
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disastrous failure and loss of life at the city of AI.
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And the people are discouraged. Joshua, the leaders discouraged.
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And notice what he does. He decides to bring the nation
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back to God's word when great failure takes place.
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We're not, he's not looking for blame and he's not looking to
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point the finger. He says, I know what we need, we
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need to come back to your word. So the first thing he does in
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verses 30 and 31 is he re establishes worship, and he
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builds an altar and gives a sacrifice.
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In verse 32 it says, And there at that altar, in the presence
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of the children of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of
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the law of Moses, which he had written.
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Then all Israel with the elders and officers and judges stood on
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either side of the ark before the priests, the Levites, who
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bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, the stranger as well
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he was born among them. Half of them were in front of
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Mount Gerizim and the other half were in front of Mount Ebal, as
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Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded that they should
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bless the people of Israel. Verse 34.
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Afterward he read all the words of the law, and this is the
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phrase I wanted to draw out. It's in other places, like
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Deuteronomy, but here in this time, in Joshua, it says the
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blessings and the cursings. According to all that is written
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in the book of the Law, there isn't a word of all that Moses
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had commanded, which Joshua did not read before the congregation
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of Israel. With the women, the little ones,
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the strangers who were living among them, it was clear to the
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nation of Israel that the law dictated the pathway of
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blessings and the pathway of cursings.
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Today we would use the language, the pathway of blessings and the
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pathway of consequences. There are very natural blessings
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that come with obedience, and there are also very natural
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consequences that come with disobedience.
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How do we know that the law? The law tells us the pathway of
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blessing. I will run the course of your
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commandments we read in the Psalm today.
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I will run in the way of your commandments.
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The path of blessing, the path of cursing or consequence is to
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go against what God has dictated.
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And that's what God's law does. It defines for us what sin is.
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Sin is the number one cause of death, pain, suffering, and
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sorrow. It creeps into houses, into
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cubicles, and into the lives of those who choose to yield to
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temptation and remember this. It's already been stated, but
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let me state it with emphasis. Who defines what sin is?
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God does. God defines what sin is.
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Society cannot define what sin is.
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We live in an age that was predicted and prophesied that
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good would be called evil and evil would be called good.
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That's our world today. The laws of the land do not
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dictate what truly is right or wrong.
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Because the laws of the land, I don't know if you noticed
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lately, they change. They change with whoever,
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whatever administration's there, whoever has been voted in
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charge, they change. It reminded me of a question
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that I always would train pastors to stop answering the
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wrong way. It's a familiar question.
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Some of you may have even asked it yourself.
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And it's simple. It's like there's somebody will
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come and say, pastor, is it OK to smoke pot?
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Now, the marijuana for those of you that don't want pot, well,
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how do you smoke a pot? Marijuana.
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All right, Is it OK to smoke marijuana?
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The quick answer that pastors would often give would be this
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years ago. No, it's against the law.
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Guess what? It's not against the law
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anymore. So that's an invalid answer
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because it's really not a biblical answer, although it's
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accurate. Like anything against the law.
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You, you know what? Like we're going to follow the
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laws of the land until the laws of the land contradict God's
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law. Then we always follow God's law.
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So that that makes sense. We're going to follow the laws
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of the land, but the laws of the land are not always indicative
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of the morality of God. Does that make sense?
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You guys with me? Yes.
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OK. I just want to make sure because
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if you lean on culture, culture changes its mind.
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Not only not only can you smoke pot now, but now you can engage
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in in all the mushrooms that are available, which is really
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weird, but the psychedelic drugs because you have to understand
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something. And I know this might be new for
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you, but the government thrives when people are not alert.
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Those in charge thrive when people aren't alert.
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And so let's go back to that question and let's say, OK,
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pastor, I'm asking you right now, is it OK to smoke pot?
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No. Well, why?
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I'm glad you asked. It's always a good follow up
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question. I would take you to a passage in
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the Bible where it says do not be drunk with wine, which is an
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excess, but be filled with the Holy Spirit, to which, you know,
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I could already hear the answer coming back, but that's wine,
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pastor, that's wine. All right, all right, you're
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right. The precept.
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Whenever you're reading the Bible, you remember this.
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I'm teaching you something really important on how to
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handle the Bible. Whenever you're reading the
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Bible, you're always looking for two things.
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The precept, which is the actual teaching, the passage itself,
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the interpretation of the passage.
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The interpretation of the passage I just quoted to you
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from Ephesians. You are right.
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The precept is directly to what was popular in the 1st century,
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the drunkenness that came through the alcohol of wine.
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You're right. And so the the the teaching
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today would be the same. Don't be under, don't be drunk
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with alcohol, very true, but instead be filled with the Holy
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Spirit. That's the precept.
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But the second thing you want to look for once you get the
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interpretation of a passage is not just the precept, but the
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principle, because there's a principle behind passages.
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The principle in this passage actually focuses not on wine,
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but on the word drunk. The word drunk in the Greek has
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the idea of being under the control of and in opposition to
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or in comparison to being filled with, being controlled by the
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Holy Spirit. Here's the principle.
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Do not take any substance that will remove the Holy Spirit's
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control in your life. That's the principle.
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So now with that principle, can we apply that to smoking pot?
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Yes. Do not ingest anything, do not
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smoke anything, do not take anything, do not snort anything.
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You can name it that will remove you believer from being filled
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and empowered and controlled by the Holy Spirit.
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That's the definition of God. Not an ever changing government
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that actually will make laws that will benefit the government
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by making money on getting people drunk, high and
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hallucinating. God defines sin.
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Pastors, as I mentioned, do not. We do not, I do not.
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I am not the final authority on defining sin.
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Our church and the leadership of this church is not the defining
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order and authority of sin. The family of churches that
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we're a part of any kind of leadership council, they, that
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is not the definition of sin. Only God defines us, defines for
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us what sin is, and he does that through his Word.
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Through his word, the law defines for us what sin is.
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And that's why a culture that rejects God's word is a culture
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that allows sin to take root. Filled with sinful people,
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politicians have a tendency to cave into public pressure.
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High paid lobbyists, people clamor for looseness and they
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vote for people that will prove things that will validate their
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own sinful behaviors. That's why sin takes root in a
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culture like ours, But not just a culture like ours.
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Sin has taken root that the Bible says that the whole world
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is under the sway of the wicked. 1 So in a world that's under the
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sway of the wicked one, we want our lives to be under the sway
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of the Holy One. We want to walk in holiness and
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righteousness, and that's why I'm so thankful for God's Word.
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It tells me what I need to know. It's an interesting season in my
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own ministry because I've seen these all these invitations come
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to teach at men's conferences, which brings back a memory in my
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life, a very important memory as a new believer.
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My life was so broken. I did not know what a man look
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like. I didn't know what a godly man.
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I didn't know what it meant to be a man.
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I didn't know what it meant to be a dad or a husband or an
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employer or employee. Every facet of my life was
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broken because most of my life was lived under the influence.
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And that's how I dealt with all my problems.
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I just drank. I just drank.
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I just drank. And that created more problems.
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And it was when I began to open the Bible and the Bible would
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say to me, Ed, this is not for you.
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And you know how you get overwhelmed?
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You might be, I might be sharing my story.
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And that's your story. You got all these things.
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I just don't know what to do. I don't know where I didn't have
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a good example. And I just don't know.
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I don't know how to do this. I don't know how to do this.
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I don't know. It's like, OK, it's OK.
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Don't don't take on that pressure.
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It's it's OK. God will work on one thing at a
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time in your life. But I do know this as you open
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up the word and you see it, you restart reading it with eyes of
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God, you go, OK, the Bible says, don't lie.
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And you start to obey that it makes you a better man when you
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read don't lie and you go, OK, that's God's will for me.
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I'm not going to lie. I'm going to tell the truth.
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It makes you a better woman. It God begins to change you
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through his word as you're learning.
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So OK, don't be drunk, OK? I won't be drunk anymore.
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Not just because the Bible says and I'm making some decision,
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but that it doesn't, it doesn't go along with my new
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relationship with God. It's not the way He wants me to
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live my life. Now.
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I know you've had people tell you that.
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I know you've had family tell you that.
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I recently had a brother call me and said we need an
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intervention. I know there's always so many
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messages, but God says that says this is not good for you
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daughter. This is not good for you, son.
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And as you receive it, you become a better man and a better
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woman. The Bible tells me what sexual
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sin is so I can avoid it. The Bible tells me what societal
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sins are so I can avoid them. He tells me what my personal
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sins are and I can avoid them and I can confess them.
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Some of you today, even in the moment of this Bible study, you
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need to OfferUp to God what you've been wrestling with, what
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you've been struggling with. It wasn't too long ago I taught
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a Bible study on and one of the points that I made is you don't
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have to struggle. You can confess.
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You can walk in the newness of life.
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But what we do is we begin to excuse things, and we begin to
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rename things, and we begin to show, well, no, no, that's not
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me, that's not me, that's not me, that's not sin, that's not
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bad, that's not that bad. And before you know it, we avoid
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God's Word altogether. Which brings us to point #2
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point #1 is that the law defines for us what sin is.
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But notice at the end of verse 7, Paul said this.
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I would not have known covetousness unless the law had
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said you shall not covet. So this is point #2 the law
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reveals that we're sinners. That's what the law does.
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The law, when we're reading the Bible, it reflects back to us
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our behavior, and we go, oh, I'm not supposed to lie, but I am
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lying. Therefore I've transgressed
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God's perfect law and it reveals to us the areas of our lives.
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This is why the Bible can become very offensive and very hard to
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read for those living in sin. It's a hard book to read.
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There is a tendence there. There is a tendency to avoid
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God's loving Word to us when it disagrees with our lifestyle,
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when it disagrees with our preferences, when it disagrees
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with the way we want to live our lives.
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That's the whole point. It's like God saying to us
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today, You've lived your whole life one way.
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When will you come to me and live the right way?
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To which I know there's some listening and go.
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But wait a minute, pastor. Are you calling me a Sinner?
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Yes, but it's more than that. It's more than that.
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I don't do so from a place of judgement or condemnation.
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I do so from a place of equality.
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I'm not merely calling you a Sinner.
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I'm letting the Bible declare all of us sinners.
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The Bible actually says such. We have all sinned and fallen
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short of the glory of God. You don't need to hear a
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rehearsal of my life, but I could give it to you.
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I could give it to you recent sins.
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I could give to you issues that I wrestle, that I grew up with,
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that I've laid on the altar and somehow show up in my garage.
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Like where did this come from? I laid that on the altar a long
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time ago. I know where it came from, the
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flesh. We'll learn that later on in
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Galatians. We'll learn the value of walking
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in the Spirit and the lack of value of walking in the flesh.
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We'll get there soon enough. But the Bible declares all of us
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sinners, you and me, and because we like to hide our sin, and we
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like to pretend and we like to excuse and we like to blame, we
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like to explain things away. We stay away from God's Word,
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but it doesn't change its damage.
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The wages of sin is still death. I don't care what you call it.
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You want to call it a mistake? Great.
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You want to reflect upon. But I tried my best, OK.
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I mean, today even some of you going to put Ed.
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I'm a you're calling me a Sinner.
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Yeah, But I'm a good person. I believe you.
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I believe you when you say that. I believe that when you assess
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your life, we could see many behaviors in your life that are
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good and moral and wonderful. And we need you.
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We want you to be good. We need more good people in
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culture. However, when it comes to your
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relationship with God, listen, God does not require good.
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God requires perfection, which makes grace all the more
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beautiful because you know as well as I do I'm not perfect.
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You're not perfect. I will never measure up to God's
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righteous standard in my own efforts.
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That's impossible, however, because of what Jesus Christ has
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done for you and me. God so loved you, and God so
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loved me. God so loved us that He sent His
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only begotten Son, that whosoever would believe in him
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would not perish but have everlasting life.
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That is amazing. What God, what we were unable to
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do in our own, God did for us. So that when you place your
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faith in Jesus, when you place your faith in Jesus, His
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perfection is your perfection. His righteousness reflects over
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your unrighteousness. The righteous wrath, the wrath
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of God has been satisfied by the righteous sacrifice of Jesus.
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That's the deepness of the theology of grace and law, that
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it's important that you realize the price that was paid on
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behalf of Jesus so that now by faith in Christ, you keep the
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law because he kept the law. And that's why when you sin,
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you're uncomfortable, believer. Believers get uncomfortable with
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sin because God lives in you and says we don't do that anymore.
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What do you mean? We?
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Yeah, I'm God. I live in you.
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And we don't do that anymore. That's not your nature.
25:14
That's the old you. You're a new person in Christ.
25:18
And so we don't steal and we don't lie and we don't take
25:22
advantage of women or men. We don't.
25:25
We're trustworthy. Now God inside of you brings
25:29
about that weight of conviction, not condemnation.
25:33
It's not God's heart to beat you up and to destroy you, but
25:36
rather it's God's heart for to bring conviction.
25:39
So we will flee from the sinful behavior that brings so much
25:43
pain. Now before we move to the next
25:46
point, I want to draw out what Paul dealt with very quickly
25:51
here. Do you notice at the end of
25:52
verse 7, he says, I wouldn't have known covetousness unless
25:56
the Bible taught me you shall not covet.
25:59
Now we don't. I don't.
26:00
I don't meet a lot of people coming up after a service,
26:03
emailing me or even calling the radio that confessed the sin of
26:06
covetousness. They don't go around.
26:08
I'm so coveting. I'm so coveting.
26:09
But there's a lot of coveters in this room right now.
26:13
This is a big deal. These things that are hidden and
26:17
under the surface that don't necessarily come out.
26:20
Some sins are very readily evident to others.
26:22
Covetousness isn't always evident, but it does deep, deep
26:27
internal damage. Let me define for you the sin.
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Covetousness is to desire what belongs to another, or to wish
26:36
earnestly for something. Now it's ugly sister or ugly
26:42
cousin or ugly brother is jealousy jealousy.
26:46
So you got jealousy and covetousness.
26:49
Jealousy usually moves in the realm of oh, I wish I had what
26:54
you had. I wish I had you got a new car
26:56
new. I wish I had it.
26:58
But covetousness is this I wish I had it instead of you.
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It's personal. And sometimes covetousness will
27:08
even lead to taking what belongs to someone else.
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It leads to other sins. It's a serious sin that needs to
27:16
be confessed and needs to be faced.
27:18
Paul says, I didn't even know how covetous I was until the
27:21
Bible told me you shall not covet.
27:25
This is the attitude that's developed through advertising
27:27
today to disrupt your peace. And hey, you need this and you
27:32
need this. You won't be full until you get
27:34
this. You need this advertising for
27:36
sure. But covetous covers more than
27:38
just things. It also develops, and primarily
27:43
develops in the realm of relationships.
27:46
This is the essence of these fictional romance novels and
27:50
movies, stirring up a discontent soap operas.
27:55
But even more than that, social media develops in us a
28:00
covetousness that almost always starts with jealousy and
28:05
covetousness. Listen is the enemy of
28:08
contentment. So that lack of contentment you
28:12
may be dealing with today, I want you to actually seriously
28:16
pray and ask God what you're so covetous about What?
28:18
What do you think you're missing that God has been faithful to
28:22
you. It's very important that we pay
28:25
attention to this. You know, I think on a simple,
28:27
it'll give you a simple illustration.
28:29
You know, you wake up 1 morning, got a day off.
28:32
You do your DeVos, take care of everything, get ready for the
28:34
day, go down to the kitchen, pour yourself a bowl of of stale
28:38
Cheerios and the milk that's one day before expiring.
28:42
You got them all stirred up. You're there, put your sugar on
28:44
it and you've already done everything.
28:46
So you pull out your phone and you start to look at your feed
28:49
on Instagram or TikTok. And there he is, your best
28:53
friend at that new restaurant with the best breakfast in town.
28:58
And you're mad. A minute ago, you didn't mind
29:01
your stale Cheerios, but now you're upset.
29:03
Look at what I got compared to what he got.
29:06
And I don't have, I don't even have money to go there.
29:08
And how can he do that? And that's not.
29:10
And before you know it, you're all jacked up.
29:12
And you were just fine with your stale Cheerios moments ago.
29:17
Because what happened, it stirred up in us a
29:19
discontentment. Not only that, we actually want
29:23
what someone else has. And if you keep running with it,
29:25
just like, you know what? He should eat my Cheerios.
29:28
I'm going to leave him at his doorstep and I'm going to
29:31
breakfast again. It doesn't typically get lived
29:34
out that way, but that's the way sin is.
29:37
It doesn't get lived out that way, but it stirs up in US.
29:40
It may happen so much you don't even realize it.
29:42
The Bible says here's the truth. You ready?
29:45
The truth is this godliness with contentment is great game.
29:51
Not that dude's breakfast. You don't need that person's
29:54
breakfast. It's OK to eat your Cheerios.
29:57
It's fine, it's nourishment for your body, taking kids fine,
30:01
because godliness, you already did your DeVos contentment with
30:05
your cereal. Great game.
30:08
And there's spiritual growth that happens right there in your
30:10
kitchen. Or not.
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I wouldn't even known. Covetousness.
30:15
Now this sounds familiar, doesn't it?
30:17
In relationship to others? Because in Exodus chapter 20,
30:22
what does the Bible say? Thou shalt not covet your
30:28
neighbor's stuff, including his wife.
30:32
Don't look at your neighbor and want his stuff so that you might
30:36
take his stuff, including his wife.
30:39
That's the word of the Lord, Paul says.
30:42
I didn't know what an issue this was in my life until the Bible
30:45
told me not to do it. And then like, oh, that is
30:48
something I need to deal with. That is something I cannot live
30:51
with, that is leading me in a path that is not righteous
30:55
before God #3 Notice with me verse 8, Romans 7.
30:59
But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me
31:04
all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law, sin.
31:10
See, apart from the law, sin was dead.
31:13
Same illustration, speed limit sign.
31:15
If there were no speed limit sign, you would never know what
31:19
the speed limit is. So you can drive however fast
31:21
you want. That's what he's saying.
31:23
Without the law, you don't know that you're breaking the law.
31:26
Without the law you wouldn't know.
31:28
Without the law, you wouldn't know what sin is.
31:31
And then he says in verse 9, I was alive once without the law,
31:35
but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.
31:39
Now this is interesting, and let me give you .3 as we walk
31:42
through these verses #3 is the law shows us how deceitful sin
31:47
is. First of all, the law shows us
31:51
what sin is. Second of all, the law shows us
31:54
that we're sinners. Thirdly, the law shows us how
31:57
deceitful sin is. This is amazing.
32:01
The very thing that Paul thought was giving him life was actually
32:05
bringing in him death. The law brought out and produced
32:10
so many sinful desires. He thought he was living in
32:13
reality, but in fact he was dying.
32:16
That's deceit. That's what sin does.
32:18
Sin promises you so much, but then kills you.
32:23
Sin promises you the world, and then when you go after it, you
32:26
find out that it's not the world.
32:27
That's death. That's not life.
32:30
Ruined relationships, a ruined peace, heavy conscience.
32:37
I mean the consequences of sin. Go on and on and on and on and
32:40
on and on and on. Promises much, delivers little.
32:47
Before I knew the law, I lived, and you lived free from an
32:52
accusing conscience. So.
32:55
So again, back to my conversion story.
32:57
Marie and I were lost raising a little family.
33:01
Don't even own a Bible. I don't.
33:03
We don't have a Bible in the house.
33:05
We didn't read the Bible, didn't care about the Bible, didn't
33:07
have a Bible in the house. So we lived in a sense of false
33:11
peace. We just lived our life however
33:13
we wanted to and no connection to God whatsoever.
33:16
I mean, it's not like we were anti God, but we weren't pro God
33:19
either. And so here we are, got no Bible
33:22
and I'm doing good. How you doing that?
33:24
I'm doing great. How you doing that?
33:25
I'm doing great, I'm doing great, I'm doing great.
33:27
I start to read the Bible. Oh, I'm not doing so great.
33:31
And then definition started coming and why I wasn't doing so
33:36
great. God began to say, you read that
33:39
in the Bible, Ed? Yes, that's you.
33:41
Oh, man, you see that guy in the Bible, Ed Yeah.
33:45
That he's messed up. No, no, no, you're messed up,
33:49
man. And all of a sudden now I'm
33:52
live, I'm faced with temptations and freedom.
33:57
Temptations and freedom. And you know what's easier to
34:00
do? Temptation.
34:02
That's much easier. Just avoid it, explain it, not
34:05
pay attention to it. Blame the Bible, blame the
34:08
church, blame the pastor, blame grandma, blame everybody.
34:12
Or I can obey God. And so I hear what you say, God,
34:16
that is me. But I also see what you did with
34:20
that brother. I don't have a conscience that
34:22
was accusing me because I didn't know the Bible.
34:25
But now that I know the Bible, God is showing me where peace
34:28
comes from, and peace comes from abiding relationship with Him.
34:32
Peace comes when I trust Him, Peace comes.
34:35
You see the law. It gives me enough to show me my
34:38
need, but it doesn't have any power.
34:41
So I'm reading the Bible, and as I'm reading it, it's the Bible's
34:45
not jumping on and living my life for me.
34:47
It's just showing me. It's revealing to me.
34:50
For example, when you get up in the morning and you see yourself
34:53
in the mirror and you're shocked at what you see, the mirror's
34:58
not going to put your makeup on. The mirror's not going to comb
35:00
your hair. The mirror's not going to put a
35:02
hat on your head. The mirror just shows you,
35:05
you've got to do something about it.
35:07
There's that cooperation between God and his revelation and you
35:12
walking in the spirit. And so before the law came, Paul
35:16
says, I didn't know, but now that I know it's awakened and,
35:20
and basically he's saying this, I didn't know I was a Sinner.
35:23
And I really, when I started reading the Bible, I didn't know
35:26
how bad of a Sinner I really was.
35:28
And it wakened all of these things.
35:30
Now where I have to, I have to now make choices again.
35:36
Driving. You have no speed limit sign.
35:38
If there were no speed limit signs, then you can drive
35:41
however you want. You can drive however you want.
35:44
There's no dictation of how fast.
35:46
It's the Autobahn down Parker Road that you can go as far as
35:49
fast as you want. Up and down Quincy Buckley, you
35:52
can go as fast as you want. But when you see the sign, it
35:57
awakens in you. And the question that it awakens
36:01
is, am I? You know when when you see the
36:03
sign, you're actually not so concerned about the sign.
36:06
You're not even caring about the sign.
36:07
You know what you're caring about.
36:08
Is there a police officer around here?
36:11
Because if I don't see a police officer, I'll take my chances.
36:15
I've been driving this fast all the way here.
36:17
I can keep driving. But you saw the law.
36:19
It awakened in you a temptation or a choice to obey.
36:23
Blessings or cursings are consequences.
36:27
That's what Paul's saying. The more you see the law, the
36:30
more sin is revealed and the more you see the law, the more
36:34
power of God is revealed in your life.
36:36
And he didn't know it. He says, hey, look, verse 11 or
36:39
excuse me, verse 10, the commandment that I thought was
36:42
going to save me, which was able to, which was to bring life.
36:45
That's what he thought I found to bring death for sin.
36:48
Taking occasion by the commandment deceived me, and by
36:51
it, it killed me. Let me speak to the thing about
36:54
speeding again. You don't need a sign to tell
37:00
you that kids play in your neighborhood.
37:03
Your kids play in your neighborhood.
37:05
That internal knowledge, you don't need a sign to tell you.
37:08
Just go slow. Why?
37:10
Because now as a believer, you care more about others than you
37:13
care about yourself. That's why.
37:16
Yeah. You you just think that way.
37:18
You don't need. Well, what what is it now?
37:20
What is it now? What is it now?
37:21
You live such a life where you go.
37:23
It doesn't. I'm.
37:24
I'm. I'm fine.
37:24
I'm not in a hurry. I respect every like.
37:27
I'm fine. I don't need that.
37:30
But if the sign does pop up and you look inside, it's not going
37:33
to accuse me because I already know.
37:35
My heart is my desire and my heart, my actions are to do
37:39
what's required of me. Why?
37:40
Because of love, not obligation. That's grace when you begin to
37:45
live out of love and not obligation.
37:47
It's amazing what will come from your life.
37:49
It's amazing the forgiveness that will flow.
37:52
It's amazing where you will just learn love covers what a
37:56
multitude of sins and you begin to relate to each other in the
38:01
agape love of God. Which brings us to our final
38:04
point before we leave. Go back to Galatians.
38:07
Well, first before Galatians, sorry, verse 12.
38:10
Therefore the law is holy. This is Romans 7.
38:13
Commandment is holy, just, and good.
38:16
Which to which we say, well, wait a minute, We've heard a lot
38:19
of heaviness when it comes to the law.
38:20
How is it good? Come back to Galatians now.
38:24
It is good because the law ultimately #4 points you to
38:29
Messiah. The law reveals that you need a
38:33
savior. It opens our eyes to the
38:38
significance of the finished work of Jesus Christ on the
38:42
cross and there it is. We'd studied last time in
38:45
Galatians chapter 3. We learned really as we were
38:51
studying it. We learned how if you look in
38:54
chapter 3 verse 19, what purpose does the law serve?
38:58
It was added because of transgressions till the seed.
39:01
Who's that Jesus the Messiah should come, whom the promise
39:05
was made, pointed through angels hand and mediator.
39:08
Mediator doesn't mediate for one, but God is 1.
39:11
Is a law then against the promises of God?
39:13
Certainly not, for if there been a law that could give in life,
39:17
then righteousness would have come by the law.
39:19
But the Scriptures confined all under sin, that the promise by
39:23
faith in Jesus might be given to all those who believe.
39:29
So that's basically a summary of what we just studied, the whole
39:31
purpose of the law. Verse 23.
39:34
But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law,
39:38
kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed.
39:41
Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we
39:46
might be justified by faith. And after faith has come, we
39:49
don't need the tutor anymore. The law served the purpose.
39:54
It kept us and schooled us and pointed us in the right
39:57
direction. But once the child grows up, you
40:01
don't need the law anymore. It's like God saying, I've shown
40:05
you your need and I've given you the remedy.
40:09
Now it's your choice. I've shown you and I've given to
40:13
you and therefore the law is holy and the commandment is
40:17
holy, just and good. Paul says the law brought about
40:21
in me death. I can't do what God asked me to
40:24
do. I can't be perfect in my life,
40:27
only a change of heart. That's what Jesus would say to a
40:30
man by the name of Nicodemus. He says unless you're born
40:34
again, you won't see the Kingdom of heaven.
40:37
And you hear a statement like that today and you're like,
40:40
maybe you think like Nicodemus does.
40:42
What do you mean born again? Do I have to crawl up into my
40:44
mother's womb again and come right back out?
40:46
I'm a grown man. And Jesus said, no, no, no, it's
40:50
not about physical death a birth.
40:52
It's about spiritual birth. Physical birth is done in the
40:56
physical. Your mom gave birth to you.
41:00
However, spiritual birth happens from God alone.
41:06
He alone can change your life, not by following an external
41:10
code of rules and regulations, but by a surrendered life to
41:15
Christ. So when you're confronted with
41:17
the law that's just holy and good, and you learn what it
41:21
reveals, you run to the cross and you accept this forgiveness,
41:27
and you live your life in the power of the Holy Spirit.
41:30
Amen. Lord, thank you for your Word
41:32
today and the significance of these underlying theological
41:36
truths that are so important, so vital.
41:42
What do we do with the whole Bible?
41:44
What do we do with the sacrificial system?
41:47
What do we do in relationship to grace and law?
41:52
And you help us understand how powerful the law is as it points
41:56
us to Christ. And so I pray God, even some
42:00
right now, and I mean, as you guys are praying, I just some of
42:02
you, you know, just OfferUp that besetting sin, OfferUp that
42:08
resistance to the Bible. Just just admit it to God.
42:11
Just say, you know, God, you know, I was angry all week and
42:14
I've been angry my whole life. And, and you promise that I
42:17
don't have to live this way, but I still do.
42:19
And you could just have that ongoing conversation you're
42:23
reading and it's a covetousness. And you're like, Lord, that's
42:26
me, I'm coveting. I'm not content.
42:31
That man described my life. How did he know?
42:35
And you come to find out that the man on the pulpit doesn't
42:38
know, but God does, that you entered into a room that's
42:42
filled with the spiritual realm. And God knows everyone in here.
42:47
And I would say for those of you here listening to me, if today
42:51
is the day you need to choose to follow Christ, to be born again,
42:56
I want you to do that. I invite you.
43:00
I, I can't leave without asking you to repent of your sin and to
43:09
receive the forgiveness that's available to you through Jesus.
43:14
And so if that's you, we're going to give you a public
43:16
opportunity to publicly follow Christ.
43:19
Just stand to your feet. I'd like to pray with you.
43:21
And a pastor or a leader will come up alongside of you and be
43:24
there to help follow up and come alongside of you in your life.
43:28
If today you would say pastor, I want, I want my sins forgiven,
43:33
then just stand to your feet. And we want to pray for you.
43:36
The newness of life, the change of life, this high and holy
43:42
moment for those of us that are safe.
43:44
Keep praying as God moves on the room, stirring up faith,
43:52
bringing about conviction to pretty powerful emotion.
43:58
But God has a plan for your life and a purpose that you haven't
44:02
been agreeing with, you haven't been participating with.
44:09
It could be because you didn't have a dad in the house as we
44:13
talk on this Father's Day, that you just didn't have the kind of
44:16
guidance and direction that others have had.
44:19
But but God loves you and here you are.
44:24
He's ready to rescue a perfect Father in heaven.
44:27
Anyone here? Maybe downstairs as well?
44:30
We may don't see you, but that's OK.
44:32
Or watching online, listening on the radio.
44:37
It's a very high and holy moment to be born again, to come to
44:42
terms. It's like you doing what God's
44:44
done, coming to terms with reality and then going forth to
44:48
change it. It's so good.
44:51
The Bible says that if you confess with your mouth the Lord
44:54
Jesus and you believe in your heart that God raised him from
44:56
the dead, you'll be saved. So let me help you with that.
44:59
That confession is is prayer. It's like talking to God.
45:04
And you can repeat after me whether you're standing or not.
45:08
And you can ask God to forgive you right now.
45:09
You could say, God forgive me of my sins.
45:13
I choose to follow you today. I choose to turn from my sinful
45:18
past. I want what that pastor talked
45:23
about. I want Jesus, what you talked
45:26
about. New life.
45:28
Help me to turn away from my sinful past and to turn my life
45:33
towards You and Father. I know anyone anywhere that
45:38
would cry out to you. Your word promises you won't
45:41
cast them away. Your word promises that you
45:44
receive them. Your word promises that you'll
45:46
change them from the inside out. So I pray over those that might,
45:50
that today, in this moment, have repented and received you pour
46:00
out your spirit on our church. Lord, we, we need that deep
46:03
cleansing, that deep work that only you can do.
46:07
We need help with those besetting sins.
46:09
We need help with those things that we may have gotten used to.
46:12
I think of covetousness and just talking about it reveals so much
46:18
and we don't want it in our lives.
46:21
We want to be satisfied with you.
46:23
We desire contentment. We desire godliness, Lord, great
46:28
gain to live where we are. Lord, to trust you with our
46:32
lives. So bless your church today and
46:34
bless those that would turn to you by faith in Jesus name,
46:38
Amen. We pray that you've been
46:41
encouraged by this Bible study delivered live from the
46:43
sanctuary of Calvary Church for prayer.
46:46
Call us at 87730 grace that's 877-304-7223.
46:55
To listen to this message in its integrity or to join us for our
46:58
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47:04
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47:07
Be blessed as you worship Jesus this week.