Participants: C. A. Murray (Host), Kenny Shelton & John Lomacang
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY016028A
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00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Removing pain 00:23 Lord, let my words 00:29 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:39 Mending broken people 00:45 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people. 01:06 Hello, and welcome to 3ABN Today, 01:10 Present Truth. 01:11 This is a special edition of 3ABN Today program, 01:15 where we discuss the things of God, 01:18 the work of God, 01:20 the law of God, the rule of God, 01:22 the word of God in this present age, 01:26 and we have instituted this series of programs 01:29 to sort of just come back to the roots, 01:33 the center of our faith, those things that we hold dear 01:36 that we preach and teach as pastors here. 01:38 I've got Pastor John Lomacang, 01:39 Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church. 01:41 I've got Pastor Kenny Shelton, Behold the Lamb Ministries. 01:44 As pastors, every now and again in your preaching, 01:47 you always go back to the basics. 01:48 You want to take your people back 01:50 to the basic beliefs of the church, 01:52 and it's part of the-- 01:54 I don't want to say the liturgical year 01:56 but, every few months you want to come back to, 01:58 who we are and what we are and why we, 02:00 we believe what we believe. 02:03 And so this program seeks to do in an international way, 02:06 what we all do in our pulpits for our churches 02:09 and that's every now and again, 02:11 we need to re-plow that ground where we started, how we began. 02:14 So we're gonna, it's going to be a doctrinally based program 02:19 that looks at our foundations, our roots. 02:21 Today, gentlemen, 02:22 we are gonna be talking about the law of God. 02:24 And something you all know well. 02:29 You know, I'm thinking 02:30 when we talk about the law of God. 02:33 When someone talks about the law, 02:34 I always ask, well, what law you're talking about? 02:38 Because there are two separate bodies of law, 02:41 and a lot of people mistakenly just lump it all together 02:46 and say it all stopped at the cross. 02:48 Well, something did end at the cross, 02:49 and something is eternal and forever 02:52 and I know we will-- 02:53 we will dive into that tonight. 02:54 What I like about these programs, 02:56 critically working with these two gentlemen, 02:57 who are students of the word. 02:59 We don't get together in a smoke filled room 03:00 and compare notes. 03:05 We put out the topic. 03:06 We each study on our own and since we're studying truth, 03:10 truths tends to bring it together Pastor John, you know, 03:13 and we always tend to end up on the same page 03:16 because we are animated by the same spirit. 03:19 We're studying the same truth and the Bible is one. 03:22 You know, it's not, 03:24 there's not a whole bunch of Bible, 03:25 it's just one word. 03:26 And when you study the word in truth and humility, 03:29 you come to the same conclusion. 03:30 So I never worry about, 03:32 I wonder if Pastor Kenny gonna say someone I don't like, 03:33 I wonder if Pastor John will say someone I don't agree with. 03:35 We inevitably and invariably disagree, 03:38 because we study in truth and the word is truth. 03:40 I mean we agree, we agree. 03:42 Did I say disagree? You said disagree. 03:43 I mean agree. 03:45 O, Lord I mean agree. I understand. 03:47 I mean it's hard to miss anything 03:48 with these large ears. 03:50 You know, I think whenever you get together 03:52 and ask for the Holy Spirit to guide us. 03:53 The Holy Spirit is the most reliable G.P.S. 03:55 God's positioning system. Amen. 03:57 And the point of the matter, 03:58 it doesn't matter where we start in our journey. 04:00 It's going to lead us all to the same destination. 04:02 And that's to make sure 04:04 that what we speak is from God's word 04:05 and it's the truth of God's word. 04:06 So that's why we-- 04:08 we study independently, 04:10 we start from different destinations 04:12 by God's leading, 04:13 He leads us to the same conclusion. 04:15 And, you know, when you speak about truth, 04:16 you can't help but come to the same conclusion. 04:19 Because truth is truth no matter how you put it, 04:21 if I put the address of 3ABN in a G.P.S. 04:24 and you put the address, and I put the address, 04:27 doesn't matter if we put the same address, 04:28 we land up at the same place. 04:30 If we pray for the same God enlighten our eyes 04:33 and teaches through the same word. 04:35 We're gonna come up with the same conclusion. 04:37 Well said. 04:38 It's just when we decide to turn off the G.P.S. 04:40 and meander in the maze of mediocrity that we find out 04:44 we're at a place that God would not have let us. 04:47 Now, what's happening in the Christian world today 04:48 is people have as you said lumped things together. 04:51 They've lumped the directions of the Ten Commandments 04:54 with the directions of the ceremonial law. 04:55 Precisely. 04:57 And they've thrown out the baby in the bathwater. 04:59 And now, you have many Christians out there 05:00 that are saying, we're free 05:02 and they're driving around without a G.P.S. 05:04 and that's why they are where they are today. 05:05 Yes. 05:07 So God's positioning system, God's system of promises, 05:10 God's system of morality 05:12 and that reveals His character has never been abrogated, 05:15 never been abolished, never been nailed to the cross. 05:17 I thought about it this morning, I said, you know, 05:19 if the law could have been nailed to the cross, 05:21 why would Jesus have been nailed to the cross. 05:23 Get rid of the law, 05:24 so you don't have to get rid of me. 05:26 See but to show how-- 05:27 show how enduring and perfect and-- 05:32 are necessary to get rid of the law of God is, 05:35 Jesus had to come, 05:36 because God could not get rid of His law. 05:39 That's right. 05:40 He says, so, he came to live in harmony with it, 05:43 to die as a result of its transgression 05:46 and to give us another opportunity 05:47 to have eternal life. 05:49 Well said. 05:50 We're gonna talk about the nature of it, 05:51 the nature of the law where I begin this morning. 05:54 You know, let's begin with the word of prayer. 05:56 I think the nature of the law, 05:57 and the nature of man really is the issue here. 05:59 And let's just begin with the word of prayer. 06:00 Yes. 06:02 Loving Father in heaven, we're gonna open Your word 06:04 and we pray that those who are watching 06:05 and listening to the program open their hearts. 06:07 Amen. 06:08 Father, You desire so much for us to understand truth 06:10 but it is not in our, 06:12 it is not in our just putting forth of the scriptures 06:14 but it is in the fertile soil. 06:16 The condition of the soil, there are stony hearers today, 06:19 there are thorny hearers, there are wayside hearers. 06:23 We don't want the enemy to come and snatch up what is sown. 06:26 We want people to have deep roots in Your word. 06:28 So today, as we study this all important topic, 06:32 your law. 06:33 We pray that people will listen 06:35 as the Spirit of God impresses their hearts, 06:37 in Jesus' name... 06:38 Amen. 06:40 Amen. Amen. 06:41 And I like where you started Pastor John, 06:43 and I just want to reemphasize that when we talk about law, 06:47 we will identify what law we're talking about. 06:49 Because in Exodus Chapter 25, the Ten Commandments 06:52 was put in the ark under the mercy seat. 06:55 That's right. It's okay. In Deuteronomy. 07:00 It's just terrible thing, Deuteronomy 31, 07:03 the Law of Moses, 07:04 that that law of contained in ordinances 07:07 was placed in the side of the ark 07:10 in the separate compartment. 07:11 So there are two bodies of work, 07:13 one written with the finger of God 07:15 as eternal as God is Himself. 07:17 And since the law is a transfigure 07:19 of God's character, 07:20 God Himself would have to alter a change. 07:22 That's right. For the law to change. 07:23 Of course, the Lord says, 07:25 "I am the Lord God, I change not." 07:28 So that's eternal. 07:29 I was talking with a fellow one time, 07:31 we were talking about the law, law, law, 07:33 and the pastor and I said, you know, and I, you know, 07:38 when you're young, sometimes you're kid of foolish. 07:41 And I wouldn't do this now, but I did do it then. 07:42 I said, "You know, your wife is pretty good looking, 07:46 and I really like to date her." 07:49 And she caught it right away, he got upset, and I said, 07:53 "You know, you, your wife is..." 07:54 I said, she's pretty hot, 07:56 and I said, I like to date her." 07:59 And he's like, "What?" 08:00 I said, "Well, man, there's no law." 08:02 There's no seventh commandment, 08:03 so what's the problem, you know... 08:05 What's the problem, there is no law. 08:06 The laws are invalid, so what's the problem? 08:08 You don't have problem with that, do you? 08:10 And then we kind of went into the little thing, 08:12 and I was trying to get him to understand 08:14 that the Ten Commandments are not pick and choose. 08:17 They're not ten suggestions. 08:18 No, they're not, thank you, very much. 08:20 Nor multiple choice. 08:21 Yeah, they are eternal as the God who gave them, 08:23 so when you talk about something being about us, 08:26 and nailed to the cross, you need to define that 08:28 because the Ten Commandments are as eternal as they are 08:31 as they represent the God who gave them. 08:33 Amen, amen. 08:34 Well, Kenny, you've been quiet. 08:35 Well, no, I'm just, I'm digging in, 08:38 I'm locking into all these good thoughts, 08:40 but the thing that really caught me while ago was, 08:43 I think that 3ABN 08:46 is the only Christian television network in the world 08:49 to where you can get different speakers up 08:53 as the bottom-line most generally, 08:55 we end up in the same place. 08:58 People who call many times they're astounded, 09:01 because they're saying, "Now, wait a minute. 09:03 We watch a lot of others Christian thing, 09:05 and this one will say this, 09:07 this one will say this on the subject 09:09 and they all have different things to say 09:10 and they end up in different places." 09:12 But this station 3ABN, 09:15 they pretty much end up in the same place, 09:18 even though they've never met, they've never studied together, 09:22 but somehow they just open the book 09:24 and every one of you speakers. 09:25 I've heard they say, "And your speakers pretty much 09:27 come to the same conclusions." 09:29 At least we should because it's a Bible. 09:31 And so they marvel at that, 09:33 and they're looking for that unity of spirit 09:35 and the Holy Spirit leading and guiding force 09:37 to come up in this unity of belief. 09:40 Excellent, excellent. 09:41 John, I'm gonna give you little chance 09:43 to roll a little bit 09:44 then we'll feed off you from the next little bit. 09:45 But give us of what that which you have man. 09:47 Okay, well, let's first of all 09:49 let's start with a single word nature. 09:52 We'll start with the nature of the law. 09:55 Let's go to Psalm 19:7, 8, the nature of the law. 09:59 And it will describe exactly in these texts 10:02 what law is talking about. 10:03 It's not talking about anything arbitrary, 10:05 what's wonderful about the Bible, 10:07 it not only describes what it's talking about. 10:09 But it makes it very clear 10:11 as to the foundation on which it stands. 10:13 See, it's amazing and you have to forgive me, 10:14 because that's my first set of text too. 10:16 Psalm 19, you know, I said okay, 10:18 sooner or later one of us is going to jump on Psalm 19. 10:21 That we're perfect just keeps coming out, doesn't it, 10:23 there's something about perfect. 10:24 It does. It does. I mean, you can't hide it. 10:26 That's right. Okay. I'll read it for you pastor. 10:28 "The law of the Lord is perfect, 10:29 converting the soul, 10:31 the testimony of the Lord is sure, 10:33 making wise the simple. 10:35 The statutes of the Lord are right, 10:37 rejoicing the heart." 10:38 And verse in the next. 10:39 "The commandment of the Lord is pure, 10:41 enlightening the eyes." 10:42 Do you want nine also? 10:44 Oh, no, just right to this. Okay. 10:45 Now here is the key, the law of the Lord is-- 10:47 let's say it together, is perfect. 10:48 Is perfect. 10:49 It is not the... 10:51 It is not the imperfection of the law that's the problem. 10:53 Why would you have to get rid of something that's perfect? 10:56 Can you imagine somebody say, 10:57 this is a perfect masterpiece, throw it out. 11:00 Yeah. 11:01 That's a perfect transcript of God's character, 11:03 get rid of it. 11:05 God couldn't make anything more perfect, 11:06 we don't need it, we want imperfect things. 11:09 That the perfection of the law is not the issue, 11:11 it's not the nature of the law but the nature of man. 11:14 So let's look at the other side of that Jeremiah 17:9. 11:17 Let's look at the other side of that 11:19 and then I'm gonna give you one more text 11:20 to merge them together. 11:22 Jeremiah 17:9. 11:23 So if the law of the Lord is perfect. 11:27 If the commandment of the Lord is pure, 11:29 then there's nothing wrong, it's perfectly pure, 11:32 it's perfectly pure. 11:34 How many people would say, man, that gold is perfectly pure, 11:37 let's throw it out. 11:39 Yeah, and I don't know if you're going to get there 11:40 but you have to forgive me. 11:42 But, but, but, Paul says in Book of Romans 14. 11:46 We're going there. 11:47 You going there? Okay. We're going there. 11:49 So we are on the same page. 11:50 There you go. Yeah, we're going. 11:52 When he said prefect though, then it go on to say, 11:54 it converts-- 11:56 The soul. The soul needs to be converted. 11:59 We as the people need to be converted. 12:00 This is where we can start, 12:02 this is something that's concrete 12:03 that we can stand on because it's a perfect 12:06 and what he said is the teachings. 12:08 Is the illustrations, is the life of Christ. 12:11 So I like that, 12:12 that's a good foundation which to stand. 12:13 That's right, when in other words, 12:15 I like the way you say 12:16 that when you stand on God's law, 12:18 when you follow these principles, 12:20 you cannot help but to live a converted life. 12:22 Amen. Amen. 12:24 And the Spirit of God comes in 12:25 and lives that life out through us. 12:26 I want to make that clear because I was saying last night 12:28 and you mention the Bible study. 12:30 Yes, we need the power and presence of the Holy Spirit 12:34 to live in harmony with God's law. 12:36 We can't just pick one and say today, 12:37 "I want to do the seventh today, 12:38 tomorrow I'm doing fifth, 12:40 the fruit of the Spirit comes in. 12:43 The power of the Spirit is manifested, 12:44 so we live in harmony. 12:46 I can do all things through Christ 12:47 who strengthens me. 12:49 But now, we look at the nature of the law 12:50 and now let's look at the nature of man. 12:52 Anybody had Jeremiah 17:9, you want to read that Pastor Kenny. 12:54 Sure. 12:55 It says, "The heart is deceitful above all things 13:00 and desperately wicked, who can know it?" 13:03 Now we got a perfect law, 13:06 a perfectly pure law and messed up children. 13:11 How many children do you know 13:13 want to do what their parents tell them to do. 13:15 I mean... 13:16 Not naturally. Okay, you have children. 13:19 How many parents can say to their children, 13:22 here's what I want you to do and the children say, 13:24 "Yes, mom. 13:25 Yes, dad, I'll never stray away from the course 13:27 that you've established." 13:29 The issue is a perfect Heavenly Father, 13:31 with a perfect law have imperfect sinful children 13:36 whose hearts are not just deceitful above all things 13:39 but the hearts are desperately wicked. 13:42 So here, you have a perfect law and a wicked man. 13:44 What's the problem? 13:46 Somebody is gonna say, "I don't like that." 13:48 When you tell somebody to do right 13:49 and they're wicked, desperately wicked. 13:51 They gonna find something wrong with what you told them to do. 13:54 Precisely. So they could go against it. 13:55 And Paul makes that very, very clear. 13:57 He said, there're couple more things they want 13:59 and then I'm gonna through back to you guys. 14:01 Romans 7:12, 14, let's look at that. 14:04 Roman 7:12, 14 when we get to verse 14, 14:07 we will see that Paul pulls the two together. 14:10 He's gonna reiterate now in the New Testament, 14:12 because a lot of people say, 14:14 "Well, that was the Old Testament." 14:16 I just started with Psalms and Jeremiah, they say, 14:17 but that's the Old Testament. 14:19 Now we are going to the New Testament. 14:21 Something's holy and good, amen. 14:22 Okay, okay, now if you got Romans 7:12. 14:24 Sure. Okay. Go for it, Pastor Kenny. 14:27 Okay, the Bible says, I like this, the Bible says, 14:31 "Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, 14:34 just and good." 14:36 Okay, so once again, now this is New Testament. 14:38 The law is what? It's holy. 14:40 The commandment is what? 14:42 Holy. Holy. 14:43 And just and good. 14:44 So here it is, perfect, pure, holy, just good. 14:49 Why would you want to get rid of that. 14:50 You wouldn't because, when you say, 14:52 the word like you're holy, you tell you're holy, 14:54 to me that reminds me of God is holy. 14:57 He is a holy, so he is holy as God is holy. 15:01 His character, it's just a beautiful thing. 15:03 And the tension is John says in John 8:7, the carnal mind. 15:08 Ah, now, we're going-- 15:09 We're going there-- 15:10 This is hot. 15:12 Romans 8:7. 15:15 We're going, see. 15:17 We're unfolding it-- It's all right. 15:20 Now verse 14 of Romans Chapter 7, Pastor C.A. 15:23 So right now before you read that, 15:25 that the law is perfect, pure, holy, just good. 15:30 Why do you want to get rid of that? 15:33 But the sinful desperately wicked heart 15:37 looks at something that's pure, holy, just good and says, 15:41 "I don't want to live in harmony with it. 15:43 There you go. That's the problem. 15:44 Every one of those words in is dealing with spiritual. 15:47 Thank you. What is the law? 15:48 Yeah. Okay. 15:50 Now let's add another one to it, verse 14. 15:51 Here we go, "For we know that the law is spiritual: 15:55 but I am carnal sold under sin." 16:01 Okay. So let's stop there. Have mercy. 16:02 Now listen, we're gonna add another component to law. 16:04 The laws is holy. Come on. 16:06 Is the law of the Lord is perfect. 16:09 It is pure, it is holy, 16:11 it is just, it is good, it is spiritual. 16:13 Correct. 16:15 Perfect, pure, holy, just good, spiritual. 16:19 Why would we get rid of that? Why throw it out? 16:21 I'm with you. See where I'm going. 16:23 But what's the problem with the man? 16:25 His heart is deceived above all things 16:26 and desperately wicked. 16:28 He is carnal. He is sold under sin. 16:31 One more thing now, Romans 8:7. 16:35 Pastor Murray, this is where you were going, 16:36 so I'm gonna give you the right to say that one. 16:38 Okay. 16:39 "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: 16:44 for it is not subject to the law of God, 16:45 neither indeed can be." 16:48 So right away Paul hits the nail on the head. 16:52 Nothing wrong with the law, 16:53 but I want to admit the carnal mind, 16:58 that mind that is deceitful above all things 17:01 and desperately wicked. 17:03 The mind that he said is sold under sin. 17:06 He said, "His enmity," you know what that means? 17:09 There's a disparity between... 17:11 There's a tension between the mind that's imperfect. 17:15 And the law of God that is perfect. 17:16 Right. 17:17 And so he says, 17:19 "I know the carnal mind is enmity against God." 17:22 And then he says, 17:24 "It is not subject to the law of God 17:27 neither indeed can be." 17:29 In other words, no matter what you tell me, 17:31 I'm gonna always find fault with something that's perfect. 17:34 You're right, John, I'm thinking of Psalms 119: 172 17:39 right where the Bible says, 17:40 "All your commandments are righteousness." 17:44 So how can a carnal mind 17:47 flow in the direction of righteousness, 17:49 they're antithetical. 17:51 So you're very, very correct in saying that 17:55 without a conversion experience, 17:57 the law of God not only makes no sense, 17:59 you can't see, you can't hear and understand it, 18:01 you certainly cannot do it. 18:02 Right. So what's the convenient thing? 18:04 Kind of do away with it. You get rid of it. 18:06 You get rid of it, but to get rid of, 18:08 to get rid of the law, 18:09 you'd almost have to get rid of the God who gave it. 18:11 You can't have one without the other, 18:14 because the law is, is... 18:16 It's the second clearest explanation of who God is, 18:18 the first of course is Jesus. 18:20 That's what the Book of Hebrews tells us. 18:21 But the second clearest is the law, 18:24 so you cannot get away from the law. 18:27 I like the way you said that 18:28 Jesus is the expressed image of the father. 18:31 He came to show us, God with us. 18:33 And then secondly as you said the law. 18:36 A transcript of God's character, 18:37 Pastor Kenny, what do you have for us? 18:39 Well, I was just thinking 18:40 what you've been talking about here is, 18:42 we talked about the spiritualness of the law, 18:44 and reason the world can't understand it 18:47 and they don't want to see it. 18:48 You've been bringing that up perfectly. 18:50 It's because, it is in 1 Corinthians, 18:51 spiritual things are spiritually discerned. 18:55 So you can't understand 18:56 the spirituality of the law of God. 18:59 If you're not spiritual, 19:00 if you haven't made a commitment to Jesus Christ. 19:02 And I always feel, find this. 19:04 If I'm studying the Word of God, 19:05 and I want to find out what truth is. 19:07 We know line upon line, precept, 19:09 but I have to come as a learner. 19:13 There's a lot of people who come, 19:14 they want to tell you how things are, 19:16 and you know, where this is what. 19:17 I always say... 19:19 I'm a learner in the school of Christ 19:20 and I will always be leaner through the ceaseless ages 19:22 by the grace of God. 19:24 Thus we come with open minds open hearts, 19:26 lay everything on the table and say, 19:27 "God, what do you say in Your word?" 19:29 What does the Bible say? 19:30 Well, had been brought out rather clear here how holy, 19:33 just and good, and spiritual the law is, 19:35 and in order to comprehend that, 19:37 we must have the Holy Spirit 19:39 and we must be spiritual minded, 19:41 and then it begins to make sense. 19:42 Majority of the world are not spiritual minded. 19:44 So that's why they reject it, that's why you throw it out. 19:46 That's why they make excuses for their lifestyle. 19:49 Yeah. 19:50 There is another little wrinkle that we're gonna-- 19:53 we just talk we're gonna bring up in a subsequent show 19:56 that kind of flows out of this, 19:58 why people are so anxious to jettison the law. 20:02 Because they're substance aimed, 20:03 they want to do or better still don't want to do. 20:07 But we're talking about 1 John 3:4, 20:10 "He that committed sin does also transgress a law, 20:13 for sin is the transgression of the law." 20:17 By the law is the knowledge of sin. 20:19 So, if you do away with the law, 20:21 you have no more a definition for what sin is. 20:24 So that's like, it's like isn't a days of the judges, 20:26 everybody does what, what's right in his own mind, 20:28 because you don't have any standard to go by. 20:31 So the law has to be perpetual, 20:33 because every generation needs to know 20:36 what the definition of sin is. 20:37 I need to know what the speed limit is. 20:39 You need know what the speed limit is, 20:41 so that we can judge ourselves 20:43 by that sign that says 70 miles an hour and no faster." 20:46 You know, so I'm trying to go back to the Greek, 20:51 but it's, He that committed sin does all trust. 20:54 It's hamartia, missing the mark is anomia 20:57 from which we get anarchy. 21:00 This wildness you know, hamartia is, is anomia. 21:04 If you miss the mark, you're just, 21:06 you are lawless, you know. 21:08 And so, you need the law to define sin. 21:10 I need to know what sin is. 21:12 Because my conscience has been seared, 21:15 I'm not converted. 21:16 I cannot trust my own judgment on some of these things. 21:18 I need to go to the word and find out, 21:20 is this thought in my mind of God or is it not of God. 21:25 And the law tells me that 21:26 so the law is not just a bunch of dos and don'ts, 21:29 it keeps me on the right path. 21:31 And shows me what God wants for my life. 21:33 And you know the way the Bible defines 21:34 that I'm glad you went to the Greek application 21:36 because it defined sin 21:38 in a number of ways in the Greek. 21:39 Because you know we generally say sin a sin, 21:41 but the Greek really brings it up 21:43 because one definition of sin is 21:45 we aim at the mark and we miss it. 21:48 We fall short of the glory of God. 21:50 That's the hamartia. 21:51 That the hamartia, but the other one is 21:53 we don't even aim at it. 21:54 Yeah. Yeah. 21:56 No, no target. We don't even want to aim it. 21:58 No, you won't aim it. That's the sinful man. 22:00 He's not subject to the law of God, 22:02 neither can he be. 22:03 That's the sin that reigns and he doesn't even aim at it. 22:06 He finds it irrelevant even to aim at. 22:09 And so, when we talk about this topic here, 22:10 it's really important that we're not talking about, 22:13 we're not talking about unconverted people 22:14 that have an issue with the law. 22:16 Because the law of God means nothing 22:17 to an unconverted person. 22:19 Really, what we're talking about here 22:20 are Christians that have heard about God's law, 22:23 and for some reason they've been taught 22:24 that is irrelevant. 22:25 So this topic right now, 22:27 I'm gonna go to the unconverted man side now. 22:30 Because what I've talked about thus far 22:32 is really in context with the converted person, 22:34 the person that says, "I'm a follower of Jesus." 22:37 So if you are a follower of Jesus, 22:39 and the law is, the law is pure and holy, 22:42 and just, and good, and spiritual. 22:45 And what's wrong with it? 22:46 In fact, nothing's wrong with it. 22:48 The issue is our hearts. 22:49 You know our hearts are deceitful above all things 22:51 and desperately wicked. 22:52 We have to pray for a heart transplant. 22:55 Yes. A renewing of our mind. 22:57 But look at Paul talked about this in Romans Chapter 7. 22:59 Romans Chapter 7 is a powerful book. 23:01 Yes, it is. 23:03 In Romans Chapter 7, Paul talks about 23:05 who he was before he was converted. 23:08 Yes. 23:09 What happened when he was converted? 23:11 And we're gonna look at that, Romans 7:7. 23:14 All right, Romans 7:7. 23:16 Well, to give it, to give a context. 23:19 We need to go ahead, and start with Romans 7:5. 23:23 Okay. 23:25 "For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions 23:30 which were aroused by the law were at work in our members 23:35 to bear fruit to death. 23:37 But now we have been delivered from the law," 23:40 Let me tell you what that means? 23:41 That's not delivered from the obligation 23:43 but delivers from its condemnation. 23:45 Thank you very much. The curse. 23:46 The curse of it, exactly. 23:48 Because once you live out of harmony with it. 23:49 Once you violate a law. 23:51 Let me give an example: 23:53 You cannot drive 100 miles an hour 23:54 in the 35 mile an hour speed limit zone. 23:56 And not expect something gonna happen tragically. 23:59 But once all of a sudden they post that speed limit, 24:02 you can't say, "I didn't see it." 24:05 Matter of fact, I'll tell the story in a moment, 24:07 but let's keep going, I don't want to divert. 24:08 But, pastor, I want you to go back 24:10 and just hit that point one more time, 24:11 because that is the crux of so many arguments, 24:14 that mistakenly assess 24:16 what our relationship to the law is now. 24:18 Okay. 24:19 The answer, well, not the answer 24:21 but one of the things that gives your light 24:23 is right across the page in Romans 8:1. 24:26 "There is therefore now no condemnation 24:29 to those who are in Christ Jesus, 24:31 who do not walk according to the flesh, 24:33 but according to the Spirit." 24:34 So plug that back into that-- 24:36 Okay, here we go. You just read. 24:37 So when we read verse 6, and it says, 24:39 "For we have been delivered from the law, 24:41 having died to what we were held by 24:44 so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit 24:46 not in the oldness of the letter." 24:48 What in fact was being said is, you see this letter 24:51 and you can't do anything about it 24:52 because you have no spiritual power 24:55 to do anything with it. 24:56 And so you see this requirement 24:59 but because you are in the flesh, 25:00 it is a law of death to you, it just condemns you, 25:04 because you have no power to live in harmony with it. 25:07 But when you are born again, the Spirit comes in. 25:09 Now, the power is made available, 25:11 so that this law that seems to be against you 25:14 now all of the sudden you're in harmony with it. 25:15 Precisely. 25:17 So all of the sudden this, 25:18 you can't find anything that matches 25:19 but all of the sudden the Spirit comes in and says, 25:21 "Okay, good there you are, now you're in harmony with it." 25:24 I thought it was just going to condemn me 25:25 but now I'm in harmony with it, 25:27 because the Spirit comes in and connects us together. 25:29 That's why the very next verse is there. 25:32 If it was only verse 6, we can conclude anything 25:34 but look at verse 7. 25:35 "What shall we say then? Is the law sin." 25:38 What's the answer? Certainly not. 25:41 On the contrary, 25:42 I would not have known sin except through the law, 25:46 for I would not have known covetousness 25:48 unless the law had said, "You shall not cut it." 25:51 That's the Tenth Commandment. 25:53 But sin, here it is, he's going back to the issue, 25:56 "But sin taking opportunity 25:58 by the commandment produced in me 26:01 all manner of evil desire 26:04 for apart from the law sin was dead." 26:07 And I got it, this is powerful, 26:09 until I saw a speed limit that says I was speeding, 26:12 I wasn't speeding. 26:13 I wasn't speeding, right. Exactly. 26:14 Yeah, yeah. 26:16 Once I saw that sign that I was speeding 26:19 I'm now I'm dead. 26:21 He caught me. Okay. You're guilty. 26:24 I see a police coming after me. 26:25 Yeah, I'm dead. I'm dead. 26:27 Yeah, I'm busted. Yeah, I'm caught. 26:29 If I go 65 mile an hour speed zone, 26:31 that all of the sudden dropped to 35. 26:33 That's where the police hangs out right there. 26:35 Once we see that, ah, I'm caught 26:38 and that's what he meant in verse 8, 26:40 "But sin taking opportunity by the commandment 26:43 produced to me all manner of evil as I." 26:45 I want to speed for apart from the speed limit 26:48 I'm all right. 26:50 But once it shows up, I'm dead, I'm caught. 26:53 Now this is verse 9. 26:55 "I was alive once without the law." 26:57 I was having a good old time on the autobahn in Germany 27:00 going at 125 miles an hour, 27:02 but I come back to America with the same car. 27:04 Right. You have to cut it down. And I can't speed. 27:06 'Cause I'm in a different place, the law is there. 27:08 He said so, verse 9. 27:10 "I was alive once without the law." 27:12 But when the commandment came, police was hanging out, 27:16 sin arrived and I died. 27:18 I couldn't speed any more. 27:19 And the commandment which was, 27:21 and the commandment which was to bring life, 27:23 I found to bring death. 27:25 I used to say, I was a law abiding citizen 27:26 but when I went to Germany, 27:28 I was so glad they had no speed limits 27:29 on the autobahn. 27:31 Now, I come back to America. 27:32 I really don't like the law anymore. 27:33 Right. That's right. 27:35 I'd rather live in a lawless society 27:36 on a speedway where I could speed without any restraints. 27:38 But then he jumps back in, "For sin--" 27:41 Verse 11, "Taking occasion by the commandment, 27:44 deceived me, and by it killed me." 27:47 Therefore, the law is holy, and the commandment holy, 27:52 and just, and good. 27:54 I got to confess, 27:56 I'm in trouble and Pastor Kenny, now I want-- 27:59 Now Paul is talking about. 28:00 He says, "If you're partying, 28:02 you're gambling, you're pool hustling." 28:04 I just described my former life. 28:06 If you're party gambler pool hustler. 28:08 If you're drinking, if you carousing, 28:09 if you're going to bed 28:11 with people that don't even belong to you. 28:13 If you steal the stuff, you feel good, 28:17 three thieves, robbers, fornicators, 28:20 adulterers they all feel good. 28:22 But all of a sudden, somebody pulls them over and says, 28:26 we got a description of the last bank robbery 28:28 and it's you. 28:29 He says not me. 28:31 We got the fingerprints and it's yours. 28:32 Oh, it is. 28:34 All the sudden the law now 28:35 that you have been running away from ignoring 28:37 caught you and you're dead. 28:38 You could do one of two things. 28:40 Now, a person who is not guilty 28:44 does not ask for mercy. 28:47 Right. Yeah. 28:48 A person who is not guilty asks for justice. 28:50 Asks for justice, yeah. 28:52 But a person who is guilty asks for mercy. 28:55 See that's why the Bible says, "The Lord, God merciful, 29:00 the long suffering because we're all guilty." 29:03 We got to come to that conclusion, we're guilty. 29:05 Lord, you're just, we're guilty. 29:06 Yeah. Absolutely. 29:07 But for people to say, "I demand justice," 29:10 means you're not guilty. 29:11 Yeah. 29:12 We demand, we beg for God's mercy. 29:15 We're guilty. We're guilty. 29:16 All have sinned and what? Come short of glory of God. 29:19 Which is why, the just shall live by faith. 29:23 And we are recipients of his grace. 29:27 If we were not guilty, we don't need grace. 29:30 I'm not guilty of anything, I don't need grace, I'm fine. 29:34 But once you become-- 29:35 once you butt up against that law, 29:37 and realize that that you can't do that, 29:41 I need grace. 29:43 Right. I'm gonna fall, I am undone. 29:45 I'm gonna need your grace, I'm trying 29:47 but first of all my efforts are insufficient, and second, 29:51 I'm always going to fail, and I need, I need your grace. 29:54 And of course, Hebrews tells 29:56 that God has made provision for that if we sin. 29:59 Come on. 30:00 You've got to advocate with the Father. 30:02 You know, so, so it's been taken care of. 30:03 Your mess has already been cleaned up. 30:06 There's a maid there waiting to mop up that stuff, 30:08 you know. 30:10 If you sin, you got to advocate with the Father. 30:11 So it all points back to the fact 30:14 that the law is still in vogue. 30:15 It is still in force. 30:17 It's not gone anywhere, 30:19 and we still are called to obey. 30:22 You know, faith, faith grace, grace. 30:24 Praise the Lord. Yes. 30:26 But, obey, obey, obey. 30:27 Well, Bible does say 30:29 by, by grace are you saved through faith. 30:31 So we're not advocating, or keep the law, 30:33 work your way into heaven, you've got-- 30:35 The law it's what he said while ago. 30:37 The law simply points out what sin is. 30:40 I wouldn't have known what sin is, 30:42 if the law had not said this is the wrong thing to do. 30:45 So, it reminds me of a-- 30:47 You were talking about being stopped by the policemen. 30:50 We're coming home late. 30:51 It's not been but couple months ago. 30:53 Real late pastor, you know, 30:54 I do some of my best sleeping while I'm driving. 30:57 Can somebody pray for me? 31:00 Think about it, I told somebody, 31:01 they say, "You look all sleepy," 31:03 I said, "I don't take a drive, pray for me." 31:05 Anyway we were coming home late, 31:07 we'd been speaking somewhere. 31:08 Yeah, it was, it was like, late to me 31:10 was like 11 o'clock as we'd been on Sabbath 31:12 all day long speaking all day and driving back from Missouri. 31:15 And we were down in Vienna 31:16 and I was coming on the hard road there and 45. 31:21 And I didn't even realize, I mean, 31:22 I'm just going along and I'm driving fine, 31:24 I thought but my foot got a little bit heavy. 31:27 And so I was probably going 75, and it's 55, 31:30 there on 45 there, 31:31 and I started turn right into our driveway 31:34 about 1,500 feet we live off of the road. 31:36 I started to turn right, and when I turned right, 31:38 I looked in my rear view 31:40 and I see all these lights going 31:41 and those lights have been following me for a long time, 31:44 I didn't know 'cause I was asleep. 31:45 You know, and so I thought 31:47 we're right in the pool right here 31:48 is just a one lane road, 31:50 I'll just go and pull to the house 31:51 'cause it's just 1500 feet I pull there. 31:53 And so, I went ahead and pulled in, 31:55 it was dark in there and the police got out he said, 31:57 "You know, you're going like 75. 32:00 I said, "You know, I really don't know 32:01 what speed I was going because I was, I was asleep." 32:06 I said, I was asleep. 32:07 You know, they hear all kind of stories. 32:08 I said, I was at sleep. He said, "Yeah, you sleep." 32:10 "When I put my lights on, 32:12 I expect you to stop right there, 32:15 you don't take me down some dark road back into." 32:17 I said, "Well, I live right here." 32:19 He said, "Doesn't matter where you live here or not, 32:20 I'll turn the lights on." 32:22 I said, "I didn't see the lights" 32:23 number one. 32:24 And then he said, "Where you been?" 32:26 I said, "Well, we've been doing some speaking 32:28 and be honest with you 32:29 I really, I actually fell asleep, 32:31 I did not know, you turned them on." 32:33 So he looked at me, so I guess I was asking, 32:35 can I say I broke the law. 32:36 I was guilty of sin. 32:38 He had every right to ticket me, 32:40 and he was so aggravated 32:41 because, I didn't stop to begin with, 32:44 that he let me know, you don't do that, 32:46 you're going to get a ticket, 32:48 and so I just told him the truth of what happened. 32:50 Give me your license, and he went back to his car. 32:53 Pretty soon he come back and I said, 32:55 "Lord, You help me, I really was, 32:56 I shouldn't have been asleep, I need some grace." 32:59 You know I'm thinking about that grace, 33:00 I'm guilty of sin. 33:02 I should be punished, I should get a ticket. 33:04 But you know what? 33:05 He came back, this is interesting, 33:07 he came, it's like, like 11, 11:30 at night. 33:09 Dark as it could be out there is no night light 33:10 or anything in the house and now I'm gonna turn on. 33:13 He handed my license back to me, 33:14 he looked at me, and he said, "You know what? 33:16 I have the tendency to believe that you were really tired 33:20 and worn out and you fell asleep 33:21 and you did not know it." 33:24 I said, he said, "Here have a good night. 33:27 Try to stay awake." 33:29 And I looked at myself, thank you Lord, 33:32 I looked at him and I said, "Thank you, sir." 33:34 To me that was extended grace, I did not deserve, 33:37 it's long story but you still see 33:38 this is the way it works in our life, 33:40 guilty of sin, under the condemnation of the law, 33:42 because I broke it. 33:44 But he extended unmerited favor, grace. 33:48 Why would someone come back 33:49 after they just choose you, good. 33:51 Right. 33:52 And then say, I tend to believe you 33:54 that you really were asleep. 33:56 And I thought how do you come across that 33:57 when walking back to his car to write the ticket. 33:59 Yeah. Only the spirit of God. 34:01 You know, what amazes me? 34:02 And that's dynamic I've had a number of those incidents 34:04 seems to be very candid about it. 34:06 I've gone through Indiana 34:08 and, but, I didn't claim sleeping, 34:10 I just said to the police officer, 34:13 I said honestly. 34:14 He said, "Did you know how fast you were going? 34:17 I said, "I think so." 34:19 He said, "Could you tell me why? 34:20 I said, "I was looking down on my G.P.S." 34:23 And he said, "You know he could give me a ticket." 34:26 He said, I'll tell you what, 34:28 "Could you just keep it down and just call it a evening." 34:31 I said, "Officer, I really appreciate it very much." 34:34 Because he could give me a ticket. 34:36 We'll try these stories, I've got. 34:37 Let me have a quick one. 34:39 I was heading to prayer meeting on Wednesday night, 34:41 on the cross on an expressway in Queens 34:44 trying to get to Manhattan. 34:45 And as the Lord liveth, and as I so liveth, 34:48 I was flying, New York City cop, he stops me. 34:51 Oh, boy. 34:52 And he says, "Where you going, man? 34:55 I said, "I'm going to church." "You going to church?" 34:59 I said, "Yeah, I really am, I'm going to prayer meeting." 35:01 And he said, "Give me your license." 35:03 So I have a number of policemen in my congregation 35:06 and they gave me what's called a P B A clergy card, 35:10 and they said, "Whenever you get stop, 35:12 pull that out with your license." 35:13 So I pull them both out together. 35:14 He said, "What's that?" I said, "That's my P.B.A card." 35:16 That means that you make a contribution 35:17 to the retirement fund. 35:19 And it just clergy on the card. 35:21 He says, "You really minister?" "Yes, sir I' am." 35:24 He said, "You believe in God?" I said, "Yes sir, I do." 35:26 He said, "Slow down, 35:27 or you're gonna meet your boss." 35:30 You know, it's New York city cop, 35:32 he said, slow down, or you're gonna meet your boss. 35:34 There may been some truth in that, that's right. 35:35 I made my way on to church. 35:37 You know, so we praise the Lord. 35:38 Praise the Lord. That's grace. 35:40 But, it's an explanation 35:42 of what we're talking about here, 35:43 you get something you don't need 35:44 because you broke the law because the law is there. 35:47 You know, I was looking at James 35:48 and you know, we've turned the corner 35:50 on our last several minutes. 35:52 But James calls it the law of liberty. 35:54 Amen. 35:56 Before we sat down here, we all got powdered up. 35:58 And we didn't take time to really look in the mirror. 36:01 We sat down, but Tammy came and put the powder on, 36:03 we assume-- 36:05 Assumed. That she did a good job. 36:06 You know, we assume that she did a good job. 36:08 And we put ourselves in her hand, you know. 36:12 James uses that explanation, 36:13 he says, "It's like a person looking in a mirror. 36:16 And you see that you're not together. 36:19 And you go away, and you totally forget 36:21 what you just saw. 36:23 You don't make any, any, any changes 36:25 but he calls it the law of liberty. 36:27 What we forget is God did not give us these, these rules, 36:32 these guidelines to stunt our growth 36:35 or to curb our fun or to hurt us any way. 36:38 But we understand that by doing these things, 36:41 our lives are better, our lives are sweeter. 36:43 We are more in harmony with the God 36:45 who gave them to us 36:47 and they are not grievous we are told. 36:50 They're not, they're not hard, if you're in Christ Jesus. 36:53 Amen. That's right. 36:55 If you're not there impossible. Yes. 36:57 But if you're in, in Christ Jesus, 36:59 it's like we're all married. 37:00 If your wife says, "Honey, give me a drink of water." 37:03 Yeah. Yeah. That's legalism. 37:06 "I don't want to get you a drink, 37:07 you making me work." 37:08 You know, I love you, I told you, I love you, 37:10 so get your own water you know. 37:12 But if you love me, you will keep my commandments. 37:16 And what's interesting about that text. 37:18 It's followed by and I will pray the Father-- 37:21 And he would send in-- 37:22 And he would send in another comforter. 37:23 Conditional... 37:25 Yes, so that commandment keeping is conditional 37:28 to the reception of the Holy Spirit. 37:30 And of course, it is the Holy Spirit 37:32 that helps you with your commandment keeping, 37:33 they are intertwined and interconnected 37:36 and you cannot separate them. 37:38 How can you do away 37:39 with something that's gonna be the perfect law of liberty. 37:42 Pastor John probably going to go there, 37:44 but the perfect law of liberties 37:45 will be used in the judgment. 37:47 So how can you do away with that 37:49 which is going to be used in the judgment of all mankind. 37:51 Ecclesiastes Chapter 12:13. 37:53 You know, that's the whole duty of man 37:55 right there in James 2:10 through 12. 37:59 It's called the perfect law of liberty, 38:01 which you've been bringing out here. 38:03 That will be used in the judgment 38:04 so if it's done away, you can't-- 38:06 not important. 38:07 Yeah, what's the rule by what you tell me I'm guilty. 38:09 Yeah. Come on. If you got no law. 38:10 In fact, let's go and read it as Pastor Kenny referred to it. 38:13 James 2:10 to 12. That's the good ones. 38:16 "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, 38:18 and yet offend or stumble at one point, 38:21 he is guilty of all. 38:22 For he who said, Do not commit adultery, 38:24 also said, Do not murder. 38:26 Now if you do not commit adultery, 38:28 but you do murder, 38:29 you have become a transgressor of the law. 38:32 So speak, and so do, 38:34 as those who will be judged by the law of liberty." 38:39 Love it. 38:40 James 1:25, 38:42 "But he who looks it's the perfect law of liberty 38:47 and continues in it is not a forgetful hearer 38:51 but a doer of the word and this one will be blessed 38:55 in what he does." 38:56 And so you cannot, you cannot. 38:59 You cannot ignore God's law. 39:01 I want one of you to turn to Psalm 1 very quickly. 39:04 And while you're turning them, 39:05 I'm gonna talk about Romans 7 very, very carefully here. 39:07 When we come down to the crux of the issue, 39:11 we're saying to Christians and by the way, 39:12 if you're not a Christian, you need the grace of God 39:14 to bring you into a relationship with Him. 39:16 This does not apply to you, but in fact, 39:19 you know what's amazing about and the Bible says this, 39:21 "You are, you are living in sin." 39:24 So to say that, to say that a sinful person 39:27 who does not have the power of the Spirit of God 39:29 in his life, or her life, 39:31 should keep the commandments of God, 39:32 were putting on you more than you can bear. 39:35 You cannot honor God's commandments 39:36 because you don't have the power to do it. 39:38 And even those of us, 39:39 who come into a relationship with Jesus 39:41 need the power of the Spirit of God every day, 39:44 to live in harmony with God's law, for it's God, 39:46 it is God who works in us both 39:48 to will and to do of His good pleasure. 39:50 He who has begun a good work in us 39:51 will complete it, 39:53 Philippians 1 and Philippians Chapter 2, 39:54 but Romans, I want to look at Romans 7 very quickly, 39:58 and then I'm gonna turn to Psalms 1 39:59 because Psalms 1, I'm gonna show you the blessing 40:02 of living in harmony with God's love. 40:04 But Roman 7:15 to 17 40:06 shows Paul now in the converted matter. 40:11 He is now, his eyes has been opened. 40:12 He has given his life, Jesus is now living in him. 40:15 And Paul says "Here is the issue". 40:19 Verse 15, here is the issue. 40:22 Roman 7:15, "For what I am doing, 40:26 I do not understand. 40:29 For what I will to do that I do not practice 40:33 but what I hate that I do. 40:37 If then I do what I will not to do. 40:42 I agree with the law that it is good." 40:45 Did you get that? Yes. Good. 40:46 "But now it is no longer I who do it." 40:50 Correct. "But sin that dwells in me." 40:52 Now, in all of his quandary 40:54 he says "This is what I want do, 40:56 but this is what I'm doing." 40:57 This is what I don't want do, 40:59 but this is what I end up doing. 41:01 This is what I hate, this is what I love to do. 41:03 I can do it what I love to do, 41:05 because sin is in control." 41:06 So until we die to sin, we die in sin. 41:11 So, this whole idea that-- 41:12 if you live in sin, 41:13 you will fulfill the things of sin. 41:15 But if you now walk in the spirit, 41:17 the spirit now gives you a power to accomplish 41:19 what the natural man can never do. 41:21 But Paul says, and I want to add to this 41:24 before we go to Psalms 1, 41:25 Psalms 1 is gonna be our caps on text. 41:27 Okay. 41:29 But Hebrews 10:16. 41:30 Now let me tell you, this is why Paul has his issue. 41:33 Now, we don't walk around today, 41:34 Pastor Kenny, Pastor C.A. 41:36 We don't walk around with big two tables of stone. 41:39 We don't pull out the Ten Commandments 41:40 and say clunk, clunk. 41:42 One to four, five to ten, right? 41:45 We don't do that. So where are they located? 41:48 In our hearts, in our minds. Okay. 41:50 Hebrews 10:16. Okay. I knew you're going. 41:53 I know you're going. Where are they? 41:55 Yeah. Why do we have these conflicts? 41:58 Why is Paul even caught in the conflicts 42:00 unless there is something that's always present with him. 42:03 That's making him think about what he just did. 42:06 Yes. You want to read that one? 42:08 Hebrews 10:16, as Pastor Kenny turns it. 42:10 We're gonna see the reason why many Christians, 42:13 the reason why the battle continues 42:15 even after we're born again 42:16 is because, the Lord did something. 42:18 He says, "You could run away from the mountain 42:21 where I gave the commandments, 42:23 but you can't run away from your--" 42:25 Read it. I'm not gonna stop there. 42:27 And that's, that's were it started, 42:29 you're talking about the law was given on the mount 42:31 and written on tables, 42:33 but to me that was never God's plan for Him 42:35 to stay outside of man. 42:36 They'll do us no good outside they must come in 42:39 this covenant knows that verse that you wanted was it? 42:42 Hebrews 10:16 42:43 "This is the covenant that I will make with them 42:46 after those days, saith the Lord, 42:48 I will put my laws into their hearts, 42:51 and into their minds and I will write them..." 42:54 Into their minds I will write. Yes. 42:56 Isn't that beautiful? So what he put it? 42:58 Yeah, he's put in-- 43:00 Here and here. And here. 43:01 So when you have a, When you go, 43:03 when you say, ah, man, I should, shall I do that? 43:06 Come on now. 43:08 Oh, man, what I just do? What did David say? 43:11 Thy word have by "Hid in my heart," 43:13 he knew that, he knew this 43:15 that I might not sin against thee. 43:18 This is a crucial, crucial point. 43:20 Because folks that were under the new covenant, 43:22 under the new covenant and of course 43:24 any time, I go to Hebrews 10, 43:25 my mind goes back to Jeremiah 30:1. 43:27 You know, which prefigures that afterwards I'm gonna, 43:31 I wanted a new covenant 43:32 and then Hebrews kind of tells you what that is, 43:34 is not a changing of the old. 43:36 It's taken the old awful stone and put it in your stony heart 43:40 and softening your heart. 43:41 So that the contractual obligations of the covenant 43:45 have not changed. 43:46 It's just that you don't have to read it and say, 43:48 "Okay, this is what I have to do, now it's inside." 43:50 You do it automatically 43:52 as a consequence of an abiding relationship with Jesus Christ. 43:56 When Christ comes into your life, 43:58 those commandments are not grievous, 44:00 they're not hard, 44:01 there's something you want to do 44:03 because you want to please the God who gave them. 44:04 People say though don't they pastor 44:05 that this is the covenant of the New Testament. 44:08 It's a better covenant. 44:09 I say praise God in this sense, it is better 44:12 because it's ratified by the Blood of Jesus Christ. 44:14 That's the only different 44:16 rather than the blood of bulls and goats 44:18 which was sufficient. 44:19 Yeah. In the day before Christ. 44:21 By faith, you believe in that, sufficient covered your sins, 44:24 praise God, but it's beautiful when you think about it. 44:27 Nothing is different. 44:29 When people talk about the covenants new and old, 44:31 basically, because they really don't know 44:33 what they're talking about, may I just be bold. 44:35 If they did all you have to do 44:37 is look at what the old one said 44:39 and it really was not the first covenant. 44:41 Abraham had covenant, you know Moses had covenant. 44:43 But we're talking about how God was talking 44:44 so we go right down we look, 44:46 and we say just what you were saying everything. 44:48 Oh, it's identical but one is ratified 44:51 by the blood of Jesus. 44:52 That means everlasting, it means it's unchangeable, 44:54 it's there. 44:56 And that's why the Book of Hebrews was written, 44:58 it was written to Hebrew Christians, 44:59 so we're thinking, you know what, 45:01 maybe I got to go back into the system, 45:03 I'm kind of used to it, you know, 45:04 first of all the Jewish religion 45:07 at least was recognized by the Romans. 45:09 But this new Christianity thing is, is kind of a mess, 45:12 we're getting killed and slaughtered. 45:14 Maybe I need to slide on back into what I'm comfortable with 45:17 and Paul said, no, no, no, no, no 45:19 Jesus is the real deal. 45:22 Thank you. That's right. 45:23 A beside there is no other, so that this new covenant is, 45:27 is you have bulls and goats. 45:29 And he says it, "Really bulls and goats could never do--" 45:32 you know it's not, that's not, 45:33 the blood of bull could never wash away sin. 45:36 It was done in faith, that one day Christ would come, 45:39 and in His power, 45:40 truly cleanse you from your sin. 45:41 So you don't want to slide back because, if you slide back 45:44 there is no propitiation for your sin. 45:46 You got to stay right where you are. 45:47 And still faith do it. 45:49 Let me inject a scripture into that 45:50 what we've talked about here, 45:52 so that those who are watching the program 45:53 can understand what we're saying. 45:54 Hebrews 9:12, Hebrews 9:12. 45:57 I got my finger on it, right. 45:59 Oh, man alive, see. 46:01 Hebrew 9, okay, let's go Hebrew 9:9, 46:05 and I got to get to this Romans very quickly, 46:08 speaking about the law. 46:09 "It was, it was symbolic for the present time 46:12 both gifts and sacrifices offered 46:15 which cannot make him who perform the service perfect 46:18 in regard to the conscience." 46:19 In other words, no matter how much blood he shed, 46:21 he knows he still messed up. 46:22 Can't do it, right. 46:24 "Concerned only with foods and drinks various washings 46:26 and fleshy ordinance imposed 46:29 until the time of refreshing or reformation." 46:32 But verse 11, "But Christ came, 46:35 as high priest of the good things to come. 46:37 But a greater and more perfect tabernacle, 46:40 not made with hands, that is not of this creation." 46:43 Verse 12, 46:44 "Not with the blood of goats and calves, 46:46 but with his own blood 46:47 he entered the most holy place once for all 46:50 having obtained eternal redemption." 46:52 And I like verse 13, 14. 46:53 "For if the blood of bulls and goats, 46:55 and the ashes of a heifer 46:57 sprinkling the unclean sanctifies 47:00 for the purring of the flesh, 47:01 how much more shall the blood of Christ 47:05 who through the eternal spirit, 47:06 offered himself without spot to God 47:09 purge your conscience from dead works 47:12 to serve the living God." 47:14 And then it says in verse 15, "And for this reason 47:18 he is the mediator of the new covenant." 47:21 Which is, "I will put my law in your minds 47:23 and write them on your heart." 47:25 Precisely. Did he get rid of it? 47:26 No, no, no. 47:27 He's the mediator of it, he says, 47:29 "Now, let me give you a new covenant." 47:30 I'm gonna tell you, I'm the one mediating that one. 47:32 If it's done away with, what is he mediating? 47:34 Exactly, so now go to Paul, real quickly Romans 7, 47:37 let's wrap this up. 47:38 Romans 7, we got to get this in here. 47:40 Praise God for this topic. 47:41 You know, we never thought 47:43 we could cover so many scriptures 47:44 in such short period of time. 47:46 Let me stop talking and read Romans verse 22:23. 47:49 Now, under this new covenant, this mediator now 47:52 that's done with the blood of bulls and goats, 47:54 and calves and heifers, 47:55 but his own blood, perfect blood, 47:57 perfect sacrifice, he was crucified, risen again, 48:00 he's alive, he's the mediator now of a better covenant, 48:05 which is now putting the law in my mind, into my heart. 48:07 But now Paul's, so where is the law? 48:09 In my mind and in my what? Heart. 48:11 Okay, now look at Paul, Romans 7:22, 48:13 pastor why don't you read that for us? 48:14 All right, here we go. 48:16 Romans 7:22, 48:17 "For I delight in the Law of God 48:19 according to the inward man. 48:21 Verse 23. 48:23 "But I see another law in my members, 48:26 warring against the law of my mind, 48:28 and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin 48:31 which is in my members." 48:33 Exactly, so where is this war, 48:35 the law in his members was the law of sin and death, 48:39 is warning against the law of his mind. 48:41 Why the law of his mind? 48:42 Because that's where the Lord put it under the new covenant 48:44 in your mind, in your heart. 48:46 He said, "I delight in the law of God 48:49 according to the inward man." 48:50 I have no issues with it. 48:52 But when I look inside, I see another law. 48:56 The law of sin and death that's the nature. 48:58 That's the carnal Adam nature. 49:00 So here's the beauty of Christianity, 49:01 this is beautiful. 49:03 We're born again, we're born now 49:05 into the nature of the second Adam. 49:07 But we still have the flesh of the first Adam. 49:10 This is powerful, we've got the nature, 49:13 the pardoning grace of Jesus forgave our sins. 49:16 Each day we are being sanctified, 49:18 but there's one thing that's still hanging on, 49:21 the flesh of Adam. 49:23 We have to deal with this flesh of Adam 49:24 till we have the perfect body 49:26 that will be given at the coming of Jesus. 49:27 So the beauty of the Christian life 49:29 is in the imperfection of our flesh. 49:32 We can live in perfection to God's law. 49:35 By the spirit that abides within us. 49:37 Isn't that, isn't that divinity 49:39 and humanity blended together-- 49:41 Now, you've got to Romans 8. Okay. 49:43 Now you got, now this is where Romans 8 comes in. 49:46 Romans 7:27, 49:47 read the last verse in Romans 7, 49:49 and then read Romans 8:1... 49:50 I know where you're going. Okay. 49:51 "So then, with my mind-- 49:54 The context-- 49:55 Paul says, "I messed up, but I need some hope." 49:58 Last verse Romans 7, first verse Romans 8. 50:00 "So then with my mind I myself serve the law of God, 50:05 but with the flesh," the law of sin, and that see, 50:08 if it was just written on tables of stone. 50:11 I could put the tables of stone down 50:12 and I'm done with this, I'm done with it. 50:15 But, but the war is not there anymore, it's in here. 50:17 No matter where I go, it's there. 50:19 Yeah, I can't get over from myself 50:20 because it's in there. 50:21 So I know, I know, I've read the Bible, 50:24 the Holy Spirit is convicting me of my sins. 50:26 I know and there's a battle. 50:29 What do I do? Well, free your self. 50:32 Amen. Finish verse 7, the last verse. 50:35 Romans 7, the last verse. Let me put my glasses on. 50:37 Hurry up. Free yourself. 50:39 "So then with my mind I serve myself the law of God. 50:42 But with the flesh the law of sin." 50:45 Okay. Thank God for Romans 8:1. 50:46 Amen. Yeah. 50:48 "There is therefore now no condemnation 50:52 to those who are in Christ Jesus, 50:57 who walk not according to the flesh, 50:59 but according to the Spirit." 51:01 And in verse 2 it's a powerful one, 51:02 can you read verse 2 quickly. 51:04 Now this law that was messing Paul up, 51:06 this law that was in him, this law of sin. 51:09 Look what the Lord did now, 51:10 when the Spirit of God comes in, 51:11 for the law of the spirit of life in Christ 51:15 Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and dead. 51:19 Now this law of sin, it's not the commandments, 51:21 it's the nature of humanity. 51:23 It's the thing that Adam was bound by, 51:26 and as an Adam all die even so in Christ, 51:28 all shall be made alive. 51:29 So Pastor Kenny, Pastor C.A., 51:31 and those of you watching the program. 51:32 We've got the problem. 51:34 Our natural flesh is gonna mess us up every day. 51:36 But if we submit to the law of the spirit of life, 51:39 we could live in harmony with the law of God. 51:41 And Paul will say and then we can say like Paul did, 51:44 "I delight according to the law of God." 51:46 Amen, amen. So praise God. 51:47 "If you love Me, keep My commandments." 51:49 We can only do that by God's will. 51:50 Flesh has to die. 51:52 Flesh has to die to live in the Spirit of God. 51:54 John, you are so right. 51:55 And you know it occurs to me that 51:57 if one has not fostered a relationship with Jesus. 52:01 If you're not in Christ, 52:02 we just put you under a heavy burden. 52:04 Yeah, we've given you a task 52:06 that is impossible for you to do. 52:08 So if, if you haven't developed a relationship with Christ, 52:11 the first thing you need to do is get Jesus. 52:13 Amen. 52:14 And once you get Jesus, then we're speaking to you 52:17 because the Bible says, "When you are in Christ, 52:20 there is no condemnation." 52:21 "And if you're outside of Christ." 52:23 Yes. Condemnation. 52:25 So and not only is there condemnation is that, 52:27 the more you try, it's like though, 52:28 the further I try, the behind I get. 52:30 You can't, can't, cannot do it. 52:32 So we've got a newsbreak coming up, 52:35 then we're gonna come back with little closing thought, 52:36 kind of put a little bow on this. 52:38 This has been a very, very good and interesting discussion. 52:40 Amen. |
Revised 2016-05-26