WEBVTT 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:05.920 Some people would say it's only, some people would say that's too many, but I've only had 00:00:05.920 --> 00:00:08.200 two traffic tickets. 00:00:09.440 --> 00:00:16.680 The second one came, I was headed up to Clemson, South Carolina of all places, and I got caught 00:00:16.680 --> 00:00:21.440 for going 59 into 45 outside of Abbeville, South Carolina. 00:00:21.640 --> 00:00:26.100 Pretty convinced I'm the only person that was on that road that day, so I was getting 00:00:26.100 --> 00:00:26.900 the ticket, right? 00:00:27.260 --> 00:00:29.260 They weren't letting me slide on that one. 00:00:29.420 --> 00:00:35.660 But the first ticket that I got, I was working at a sporting goods store in North Augusta 00:00:35.660 --> 00:00:39.680 and we had to park toward the backside, a back end of the parking lot. 00:00:39.980 --> 00:00:43.680 And we shared a parking lot with the Kmart that was there. 00:00:44.260 --> 00:00:51.140 And so where I was parked, I could see the front of my little 1992 Mitsubishi Mighty Max. 00:00:51.260 --> 00:00:52.600 It was the truck that I had. 00:00:53.060 --> 00:00:59.060 And so I came towards the front of it and I got in and I began to drive back to my house. 00:00:59.060 --> 00:01:01.020 I hit Bergen Road. 00:01:01.020 --> 00:01:05.060 I'm at least two miles away from the entrance of our neighborhood. 00:01:05.300 --> 00:01:11.960 And in my rear view mirror, I see the lights no one wants to see. 00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:15.740 I see the blue lights flashing. 00:01:16.460 --> 00:01:19.640 I glance down, I'm going 45 miles an hour. 00:01:20.240 --> 00:01:28.560 I remembered back to the stop sign that was previously there and I remember coming to a full stop as I got there. 00:01:28.560 --> 00:01:36.220 I realized that there's even these curves that you've got to go through on this road and I didn't go too fast because it had been raining out. 00:01:36.920 --> 00:01:41.200 And so I was clueless as to the reason why and I pulled over. 00:01:41.820 --> 00:01:47.220 And the police officer came around and he said, do you know that you have a broken taillight? 00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:49.900 And I said, no, sir, I didn't know that. 00:01:49.940 --> 00:01:51.880 I didn't know that I had a broken taillight. 00:01:52.480 --> 00:01:58.400 And here he is looking at this 17, 18 year old and he said, how can you not know that? 00:01:58.920 --> 00:02:00.280 I said, sir, I have no clue. 00:02:00.760 --> 00:02:03.700 But I did not know that I had a broken taillight. 00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:05.980 And so I told him where I had been that night. 00:02:06.060 --> 00:02:07.380 I told him where I was headed. 00:02:07.500 --> 00:02:08.240 I had been at work. 00:02:08.320 --> 00:02:09.280 I'm headed home. 00:02:09.400 --> 00:02:10.620 I live with my parents. 00:02:10.720 --> 00:02:11.900 This is where I'm at. 00:02:11.960 --> 00:02:16.400 And pleaded with him to show grace and kindness and mercy. 00:02:16.960 --> 00:02:17.940 And he didn't. 00:02:18.420 --> 00:02:19.560 And he wrote me a ticket. 00:02:20.680 --> 00:02:22.940 I went home and told my dad what had happened. 00:02:22.940 --> 00:02:25.940 And we hopped in his truck and we went back to the parking lot. 00:02:26.060 --> 00:02:33.900 And sure enough, in the parking space where I'd parked, someone had bumped into the back of my truck and broken the taillight. 00:02:34.480 --> 00:02:35.480 Here's the deal. 00:02:36.160 --> 00:02:37.580 I had good reason. 00:02:38.480 --> 00:02:40.060 It wasn't my fault. 00:02:40.940 --> 00:02:46.260 But in the reality was, in that moment, I had broken the law. 00:02:47.140 --> 00:02:50.920 Even though that I thought, even though that I didn't know, 00:02:51.600 --> 00:02:56.360 even though I could list all of the reasons why I shouldn't have gotten the ticket. 00:02:56.560 --> 00:02:59.240 Now, I should have gotten the ticket for going 59 into 45. 00:02:59.400 --> 00:03:01.160 There was no excuse for that. 00:03:01.820 --> 00:03:03.820 But I shouldn't have gotten it. 00:03:04.520 --> 00:03:10.580 I had broken the law because the law says you can't operate a car with the back taillight broken. 00:03:10.780 --> 00:03:12.360 So I deserve the ticket. 00:03:13.260 --> 00:03:17.440 You see, getting a driver's license gave me freedom. 00:03:18.480 --> 00:03:20.600 It gave me freedom to drive. 00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:22.740 It gave me freedom to go. 00:03:22.740 --> 00:03:32.320 It gave me freedom to do anything that I wanted to do under the authority of the law. 00:03:33.140 --> 00:03:41.100 As we've been talking about understanding the law, understanding our freedom, understanding the grace that we have in Christ, 00:03:41.380 --> 00:03:48.380 we have to be careful that we don't come to a mindset as Christians that we can do whatever we want to. 00:03:49.180 --> 00:03:52.620 And so today, what we want to look at is the answer to this question. 00:03:53.180 --> 00:04:01.320 That as Christians, as believers, as followers of Christ, what is my relationship to God's law? 00:04:01.900 --> 00:04:03.860 What is my relationship? 00:04:04.160 --> 00:04:07.520 What is your relationship to God's law? 00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:10.920 If I'm free, then what do I do with the rules? 00:04:12.040 --> 00:04:19.320 If it's about faith to be saved and faith to grow, which is what I've preached, which is what God's word says, 00:04:19.720 --> 00:04:21.240 then what do I do with the standard? 00:04:21.940 --> 00:04:24.820 What do I do with God's law in my life? 00:04:25.400 --> 00:04:31.540 And I think this is a hard one for us as we practically play this out in our life on a day-to-day basis. 00:04:31.900 --> 00:04:40.320 If I am forgiven for sin's past, if I am forgiven for sin's present, 00:04:41.280 --> 00:04:45.460 and if in only a way that our powerful God works, 00:04:45.800 --> 00:04:49.760 if I am already standing in complete forgiveness, 00:04:50.180 --> 00:04:57.460 even in future sins, then what is my relationship with God's law? 00:04:58.120 --> 00:04:59.780 That's something we have to wrestle with. 00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:04.920 That's something that you and I have to begin to understand and come to grips with. 00:05:05.140 --> 00:05:07.120 It's yes, we have been forgiven. 00:05:07.480 --> 00:05:09.360 Yes, we have been forgiven fully. 00:05:09.700 --> 00:05:12.600 Yes, nothing can separate us from the love of the Father. 00:05:12.940 --> 00:05:14.540 Yes, we cannot earn it. 00:05:14.860 --> 00:05:18.440 Yes, in our own ability, we even can't grow in it. 00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:20.540 It all happens through faith. 00:05:20.820 --> 00:05:25.420 Then what is my relationship to God's law? 00:05:26.320 --> 00:05:29.480 Well, Paul's going to write about this starting in Galatians chapter 3. 00:05:29.560 --> 00:05:30.020 Let's start reading. 00:05:30.100 --> 00:05:31.960 We're going to read verses 15 through 25. 00:05:34.720 --> 00:05:35.740 He says this, 00:05:36.480 --> 00:06:02.420 Notice this in verse 17. 00:06:02.420 --> 00:06:03.540 This is going to be important for us. 00:06:04.140 --> 00:06:05.180 This is what I mean. 00:06:05.880 --> 00:06:10.260 The law, which came 430 years afterwards, 00:06:11.200 --> 00:06:16.060 does not annul the covenant previously ratified by God 00:06:16.060 --> 00:06:18.840 so as to make the promise void. 00:06:19.500 --> 00:06:21.720 For if the inheritance comes by law, 00:06:21.900 --> 00:06:23.780 it no longer comes by promise, 00:06:23.960 --> 00:06:26.980 but God gave it to Abraham by a promise. 00:06:27.740 --> 00:06:28.940 Why then the law? 00:06:29.560 --> 00:06:32.300 It was added because of transgressions 00:06:32.300 --> 00:06:35.500 until the offspring should come to whom the promise 00:06:35.500 --> 00:06:36.500 had been made, 00:06:36.500 --> 00:06:40.600 and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. 00:06:41.320 --> 00:06:44.100 Now, the intermediary implies more than one, 00:06:44.340 --> 00:06:45.480 but God is one. 00:06:45.960 --> 00:06:49.100 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? 00:06:49.620 --> 00:06:50.660 Certainly not. 00:06:51.120 --> 00:06:54.360 For if a law had been given that could give life, 00:06:54.520 --> 00:06:57.080 then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 00:06:57.460 --> 00:07:05.940 But scripture imprisoned everything under sin so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:10.740 Now, before faith came, we were held captive under the law, 00:07:11.100 --> 00:07:14.520 imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 00:07:14.780 --> 00:07:24.040 So then the law was our guardian until Christ came in order that we might be justified by faith. 00:07:24.420 --> 00:07:30.600 So now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. 00:07:31.640 --> 00:07:35.020 And so Paul recaps, and then he moves forward. 00:07:35.660 --> 00:07:40.440 He recaps about us understanding our relationship to the law. 00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:49.260 And he goes into understanding for explaining to us the reminder of how the promise and the law go together. 00:07:49.420 --> 00:07:53.020 And he puts in here in verse 17 what we pointed out, 00:07:53.140 --> 00:07:57.460 that the promise came 430 years before the law. 00:07:57.960 --> 00:08:03.460 And so it's important for us to know that in the timeline of how God sets things into motion 00:08:03.460 --> 00:08:06.520 is that the promise precedes the law. 00:08:06.960 --> 00:08:11.000 What Paul does here in verse 15 is he gives an illustration of a will. 00:08:11.340 --> 00:08:14.160 And I want you to think of a will in terms of a covenant. 00:08:14.360 --> 00:08:18.340 And what he says is when a will or a covenant is made, 00:08:18.660 --> 00:08:24.600 external circumstances do not change what was made in the promise of the will. 00:08:25.080 --> 00:08:28.880 So once the legal document, once the covenant has been made, 00:08:29.100 --> 00:08:32.940 once it has been set, once it has been legally binding, 00:08:32.940 --> 00:08:40.000 then the outside circumstances that may affect everything else do not affect what is there. 00:08:40.680 --> 00:08:44.940 And so he says this is the context in which the promise was given. 00:08:45.560 --> 00:08:49.680 And so all of the things that have happened on the outside of the promise, 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:55.400 all of the other things that have taken place doesn't change the truth, 00:08:55.660 --> 00:08:59.880 doesn't change the hope, doesn't change the joy of the promise. 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:03.760 And so I want to remind ourselves this morning of the promise. 00:09:04.300 --> 00:09:07.420 I'm going to read in Genesis 15, starting in verse 1. 00:09:08.600 --> 00:09:13.120 God's interaction with Abram, who will become Abraham, says this, 00:09:13.180 --> 00:09:17.340 after these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. 00:09:17.980 --> 00:09:19.800 Fear not, Abram, I am your shield. 00:09:20.280 --> 00:09:22.100 Your reward shall be very great. 00:09:22.640 --> 00:09:26.460 But Abram said, O Lord God, what will you give me? 00:09:26.660 --> 00:09:28.600 For I continue childless. 00:09:28.680 --> 00:09:32.740 God's told him that he's going to have a child, going to have a son. 00:09:32.740 --> 00:09:37.100 And the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus. 00:09:37.740 --> 00:09:45.000 And Abram said, Behold, you have given me no offspring, and the member of my household will be my heir. 00:09:45.140 --> 00:09:47.720 This isn't what God had told him. 00:09:48.780 --> 00:09:53.260 And he's coming to God with questions, with concern, with faith. 00:09:54.080 --> 00:09:56.420 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him. 00:09:56.800 --> 00:09:58.520 This man shall not be your heir. 00:09:58.640 --> 00:10:01.300 Your very own son shall be your heir. 00:10:01.500 --> 00:10:06.640 And he brought him outside and said, Look toward heaven, and number the stars. 00:10:07.060 --> 00:10:12.880 If you were able to number them, then he said to him, So shall your offspring be. 00:10:13.480 --> 00:10:20.000 And he, Abram, Abraham, believed the Lord, and it was counted to him as righteousness. 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:25.240 So God comes to him, Abraham comes to him, and says, Look, I don't have a son. 00:10:25.880 --> 00:10:27.380 My heir will be my servant. 00:10:27.960 --> 00:10:34.380 You told me that this promise is based in and is rooted in the fact that I will have an heir. 00:10:35.040 --> 00:10:45.000 And God takes him outside, shows him all the stars in the sky, and says, From you, this will be your lineage. 00:10:45.680 --> 00:10:55.720 And so what we see is that from the line of Abram that there will be a Savior, and from Abram's line will come the Savior of the world. 00:10:56.440 --> 00:11:06.080 And so for this now to not happen, for the Savior to not come from Abram, would mean that God would have to change his mind. 00:11:06.500 --> 00:11:14.140 That God would have to move away from what he promised, and that's not what God does. 00:11:14.140 --> 00:11:18.040 So promise and law become mutually exclusive. 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:22.580 So God's going to do something amazing in Genesis 15. 00:11:23.500 --> 00:11:28.020 Abraham, later on in Genesis 15, will ask this question to God. 00:11:28.840 --> 00:11:30.020 How do I know? 00:11:30.980 --> 00:11:34.980 How do I know that I will obtain this covenant? 00:11:35.680 --> 00:11:40.460 How do I know, God, that you will see this through? 00:11:40.820 --> 00:11:44.200 How do I know that this will not be broken? 00:11:45.260 --> 00:11:46.260 And God answers him. 00:11:47.420 --> 00:11:48.660 Genesis 15, verse 9. 00:11:49.540 --> 00:11:58.860 God said to him, Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtle dove, and a young pigeon. 00:11:59.320 --> 00:12:01.880 In verse 10, he brought him all these. 00:12:02.380 --> 00:12:09.740 Abram cut them in half and laid each half over against the other, but he did not cut the birds in half. 00:12:09.740 --> 00:12:12.100 So God tells him, Go bring me these animals. 00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:20.660 Abraham does it, and then Abraham immediately knows what God is doing, and Abraham jumps into action. 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:25.820 What Abraham does is he takes all of these animals, and he cuts them in half. 00:12:26.420 --> 00:12:29.560 And he creates before him a path. 00:12:29.820 --> 00:12:35.920 So you have half and half and half and half, and there's a path that goes through the middle of them. 00:12:35.920 --> 00:12:43.500 And what Abraham is doing is he is establishing in his culture what was done to establish a covenant. 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:52.560 And when two individuals established a covenant between each other, they would get these animals, they would cut them in half, they would make a path. 00:12:53.120 --> 00:13:02.500 And then in a ceremony, the two individuals in the covenant would both walk through the path, symbolizing what they are agreeing to. 00:13:02.500 --> 00:13:11.480 And that if they break the covenant, then what should happen to them is what happens to these animals. 00:13:12.040 --> 00:13:14.860 So Abraham does what he's supposed to do. 00:13:15.580 --> 00:13:16.960 Abraham gets the animals. 00:13:17.160 --> 00:13:18.060 He cuts them in half. 00:13:18.200 --> 00:13:19.120 He lays them out. 00:13:19.320 --> 00:13:20.900 He makes them into a path. 00:13:20.900 --> 00:13:28.360 But then the Bible tells us that Abraham fell into a deep sleep. 00:13:29.320 --> 00:13:30.420 Does all the work. 00:13:31.340 --> 00:13:32.400 Lays everything out. 00:13:33.260 --> 00:13:34.720 And then he falls asleep. 00:13:35.660 --> 00:13:37.280 And then verse 17 says, 00:13:37.280 --> 00:13:51.860 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed through these pieces. 00:13:52.620 --> 00:13:56.940 In the covenant, Abraham never walked the path. 00:13:58.840 --> 00:14:04.220 And the promise that was made was not made through the ability of Abraham. 00:14:04.880 --> 00:14:10.500 The only one who passes through the covenant is God. 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:18.000 In that moment, God says the fulfillment is not going to rest in you and in who you are. 00:14:18.300 --> 00:14:24.180 The fulfillment of the covenant is going to rest in me, in me alone. 00:14:24.780 --> 00:14:31.280 And so, yes, what we're going to see in our relationship with the law is God commands us how to live. 00:14:31.280 --> 00:14:39.540 But he does not do so in an order that we might gain acceptance by him because he does the work. 00:14:39.840 --> 00:14:41.360 He makes the covenant. 00:14:41.700 --> 00:14:43.560 It is rested in him. 00:14:44.500 --> 00:14:45.740 So it brings us back. 00:14:46.680 --> 00:14:50.840 What is then our relationship with the law? 00:14:51.620 --> 00:15:03.220 Paul tells us in verse 19, he says at first before Christ, it's very important that we know that the law was added or given because of transgressions. 00:15:03.640 --> 00:15:05.700 The law was given because why? 00:15:05.880 --> 00:15:07.920 People were breaking the law. 00:15:08.320 --> 00:15:11.880 If people weren't breaking the law, no law would need to be given. 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:15.740 But the law was given because people broke the law. 00:15:15.740 --> 00:15:24.380 And so before Christ, what the law is used for is to show you and I that, in fact, we are law breakers. 00:15:24.640 --> 00:15:29.280 And not that we just fall short, but that we shatter it. 00:15:29.860 --> 00:15:39.620 Not that we just barely miss, but in every single aspect of it that we absolutely destroy it. 00:15:39.960 --> 00:15:48.740 Because the truth is, no matter what we try to justify, 56 in the 55 is one mile over. 00:15:49.460 --> 00:15:50.920 It's breaking the standard. 00:15:52.280 --> 00:15:58.180 It's the same as we go into and as we shatter the law. 00:15:58.740 --> 00:16:06.980 But what we do is we have the tendency to see ourselves better than what we've been seeing before. 00:16:07.580 --> 00:16:10.120 Better than what we truly are within it. 00:16:10.120 --> 00:16:15.900 And so the law at the heart points out to the brokenness that is in our life. 00:16:16.340 --> 00:16:19.920 What I'd like to do this morning is take some of the commandments 00:16:19.920 --> 00:16:26.080 and begin to do an exercise where we align ourselves with them. 00:16:26.500 --> 00:16:31.400 To show how the law will show us the brokenness that is there. 00:16:31.780 --> 00:16:35.940 To show the brokenness of what we can no longer fulfill. 00:16:36.200 --> 00:16:39.080 And I want to do it by looking at the last six commandments. 00:16:39.740 --> 00:16:45.900 Now remember in this that Christ tells us that it's our actions, it's our words, it's our thoughts, it's our deeds. 00:16:45.900 --> 00:16:49.980 It's all piled up into one, that determinant. 00:16:50.680 --> 00:17:00.740 And what we'll see in our hearts, what we'll see in our lives, that short of Christ, every single one, at our core are lawbreakers. 00:17:01.500 --> 00:17:04.740 So God establishes the law, honor your father and mother. 00:17:05.640 --> 00:17:06.740 Honor your father and mother. 00:17:07.120 --> 00:17:11.380 And we think that we work, we think that we pursue, we think that we try to achieve that. 00:17:11.380 --> 00:17:17.360 But at the heart of the law that he gives, it's not just about mothers and fathers, it's about respect for authority. 00:17:18.200 --> 00:17:21.420 The authority that God's placed into our lives. 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:23.740 So now let's begin to run through that. 00:17:24.340 --> 00:17:28.040 The great relationship we have with our parent, but what about the authorities in our lives? 00:17:28.520 --> 00:17:31.660 What about the immediate authorities of our boss at work? 00:17:31.760 --> 00:17:33.980 What about the authorities of our government? 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:36.780 What about the authorities that are surrounded by us? 00:17:36.780 --> 00:17:45.500 How many times in our life have we had an authority figure in our life and our thought process doesn't honor them? 00:17:46.200 --> 00:17:49.220 Our conversations with others disrespect them. 00:17:49.700 --> 00:17:51.920 And we begin to see the shattering of this. 00:17:52.580 --> 00:17:55.620 The next one that we move to is do not murder. 00:17:56.360 --> 00:17:59.460 And so for us in here, for the most part, we can say, well, good. 00:18:00.140 --> 00:18:00.320 Right? 00:18:00.360 --> 00:18:01.840 That's not something that I've done. 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:03.660 It's not something that I've been a part of. 00:18:03.740 --> 00:18:08.620 But there's a phrase that is brought into Scripture that theologians talk about, which is murder of the heart. 00:18:09.160 --> 00:18:21.560 And it's not that physically we've taken the life of someone, but it's in our thoughts and in our emotions where we wish evil on others in the intentions and in the things we do. 00:18:22.260 --> 00:18:24.680 And so we use slander through the words. 00:18:25.480 --> 00:18:27.640 We think evil about them when they've done. 00:18:28.100 --> 00:18:36.160 And even as they've done things to us, we don't trust that God will do what God needs to do. 00:18:36.560 --> 00:18:37.920 And instead, we act out. 00:18:38.460 --> 00:18:45.020 So do not murder is not just about taking life, but it's about the slander of life. 00:18:46.220 --> 00:18:49.500 Do not commit adultery is what we begin to see. 00:18:50.260 --> 00:18:53.780 And we think about adultery, I think about my relationship with my wife. 00:18:53.960 --> 00:19:05.100 I want to stand here before you today, and I will testify in this place that I have never been in a relationship outside of the relationship of me with my wife. 00:19:05.540 --> 00:19:13.680 Since the day that I met her on December 15, 2002, have not pursued after another. 00:19:14.920 --> 00:19:16.700 But does it mean that I haven't broken this? 00:19:17.700 --> 00:19:21.540 Because it's not just in the actions, but it's in the thoughts. 00:19:22.340 --> 00:19:23.420 It's in the look. 00:19:24.380 --> 00:19:28.560 It's where our mind begins to go in the moment. 00:19:29.280 --> 00:19:32.020 And what we see is the lust of the heart. 00:19:32.880 --> 00:19:33.760 Do not steal. 00:19:34.520 --> 00:19:36.340 You're like, great, that's an easy one, right? 00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:39.760 I don't take what's mine. 00:19:40.300 --> 00:19:45.400 But the question of stealing, of the heart of this, is acting integrity in all things. 00:19:45.600 --> 00:19:46.900 So let me ask you this question. 00:19:47.000 --> 00:19:50.380 With everybody in here being honest, you don't have to answer this out loud. 00:19:50.900 --> 00:19:52.460 Have you ever looked at your watch? 00:19:52.580 --> 00:19:56.780 You get off at 530 and at 525, you realize no one will care. 00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:00.660 And we slide out the door, right? 00:20:01.420 --> 00:20:04.640 The action of integrity, do not steal. 00:20:05.400 --> 00:20:07.180 Do not bear false witness. 00:20:08.040 --> 00:20:12.080 We all say we want to stand in truth, which is what this is. 00:20:12.240 --> 00:20:15.980 That as people of truth, we should be known as people of truth. 00:20:16.480 --> 00:20:20.780 So in all that we do, we constantly proclaim the truth about all things. 00:20:20.780 --> 00:20:30.440 But, have you ever embellished anything, anything, to make yourself seem better than you really are? 00:20:32.800 --> 00:20:35.960 We see violation after violation. 00:20:37.260 --> 00:20:40.260 Do not covet, the Bible tells us. 00:20:41.260 --> 00:20:42.740 Dealing with the heart of satisfaction. 00:20:44.060 --> 00:20:45.160 Let me ask you this this morning. 00:20:46.200 --> 00:20:57.520 Has someone that you know ever received something, a raise, a promotion, credit, praise? 00:20:58.340 --> 00:21:05.160 And in that, you thought you were more deserving than they were. 00:21:05.900 --> 00:21:09.880 And in your heart, became dissatisfied with where you are. 00:21:11.060 --> 00:21:19.100 You see, what the law should show us is apart from Christ, you and I, just looking at 6, 00:21:19.760 --> 00:21:23.520 not dealing with idolatry, not dealing with the Sabbath, 00:21:24.440 --> 00:21:27.840 not even having the time to go with the Lord's name, 00:21:28.600 --> 00:21:34.700 but you and I, at our best, are disrespectful people with murderous hearts 00:21:34.700 --> 00:21:41.580 who lust and desire to take what is not ours while we deny truth and are dissatisfied with what God's given us. 00:21:42.500 --> 00:21:44.380 That's what the law shows me about me. 00:21:45.480 --> 00:21:49.940 That's what the law points me to what I'm capable of. 00:21:50.080 --> 00:21:53.840 And it shows me my desperate need for Christ. 00:21:56.420 --> 00:21:58.320 Because I'm not guilty that I've broken all. 00:21:59.480 --> 00:22:04.140 I'm guilty even when I've broken one. 00:22:05.300 --> 00:22:06.760 But we're in Christ now. 00:22:07.340 --> 00:22:09.640 Paul says that the law was given for transgressors. 00:22:10.060 --> 00:22:12.080 But we're in Christ now. 00:22:12.300 --> 00:22:14.820 So what does the law grant us as believers? 00:22:15.120 --> 00:22:17.560 The law moves us to something. 00:22:18.060 --> 00:22:25.380 The law is going to position our hearts in a way that is going to bring glory and honor and praise to God. 00:22:25.380 --> 00:22:30.700 And it is this, it is moving from the have-to to moving to the want-to. 00:22:31.240 --> 00:22:34.220 It's going to be the establishment of what's there. 00:22:34.820 --> 00:22:40.040 I think of this when I think about being a parent and establishing the rules that we have. 00:22:41.080 --> 00:22:48.300 Just this past week, we had to have a family meeting where we sat down and explained some things and dynamics with our kids 00:22:48.300 --> 00:22:54.060 of rules that we have put in place in our house that they're struggling with a little bit. 00:22:54.520 --> 00:22:56.460 They're having a hard time. 00:22:56.840 --> 00:23:01.960 They're having a hard time not only following, but they're having a hard time understanding. 00:23:02.460 --> 00:23:06.840 And the question, a legitimate question was asked of us, was asked this. 00:23:07.160 --> 00:23:10.140 Why do we have to follow this way? 00:23:10.920 --> 00:23:13.220 And the answer that we gave was this. 00:23:13.680 --> 00:23:16.340 Because one day, we won't be here. 00:23:17.060 --> 00:23:19.640 One day, we won't be here to force. 00:23:20.200 --> 00:23:23.140 One day, we won't be here to push in the direction. 00:23:23.140 --> 00:23:31.220 And what we long for and what we desire in your life is the internal posture to you no longer have to, 00:23:31.460 --> 00:23:40.160 but you want to because it's been ingrained in you of who you are and what we've called you to do. 00:23:40.580 --> 00:23:47.800 So they no longer do this because they're going to be caught. 00:23:47.800 --> 00:23:53.280 But they do this because it's who they are in their person. 00:23:53.460 --> 00:23:56.000 It's no longer because they have to. 00:23:56.260 --> 00:23:58.060 It's because they want to. 00:23:58.260 --> 00:24:06.860 When we look at the standard of what God's law is establishing for us, we look at there and we see the good that comes from the glory of that. 00:24:06.860 --> 00:24:12.160 We see the benefit of the life of the believer when he falls in line with respect. 00:24:12.700 --> 00:24:18.380 We see the beauty in the life of a believer when she no longer covets what her neighbor has. 00:24:18.520 --> 00:24:31.060 We see the beauty in the life of a believer where he does not struggle with lust but pursues his wife or pursues his singleness under the reign of the glory of God. 00:24:31.180 --> 00:24:40.580 We see all of these things in the beauty of it and what becomes beautiful is when we do it, not because we have to, but when we do it, because we want to. 00:24:43.740 --> 00:24:45.000 Because we want to. 00:24:46.400 --> 00:24:48.320 Because we want God to be glorified. 00:24:49.460 --> 00:24:50.700 We've got our favor. 00:24:51.700 --> 00:24:53.100 We've got our standing. 00:24:54.200 --> 00:24:55.440 We've been forgiven. 00:24:56.440 --> 00:24:59.900 But it's about more than us. 00:25:01.180 --> 00:25:02.580 It's about his glory. 00:25:03.520 --> 00:25:04.840 It's about his rule. 00:25:05.800 --> 00:25:06.980 It's about his reign. 00:25:07.940 --> 00:25:14.880 And what we begin to see in this is obedience begins to grow in the heart of the believer. 00:25:16.140 --> 00:25:19.960 Obedience, the more we walk with God, is what is seen. 00:25:20.400 --> 00:25:25.220 Obedience is what is known no longer because we have to, but because we want to. 00:25:25.480 --> 00:25:30.680 And so what comes from that is obedience grows from joy, not fear. 00:25:31.180 --> 00:25:35.820 I'm obedient to the Lord, not because I'm afraid that he's going to punish me. 00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:43.740 I'm obedient to the Lord because of the joy that's in my life, because of the fulfillment of the relationship of what's there, 00:25:43.980 --> 00:25:53.120 that I see the beauty of God of what happens every single time when the gospel invades every aspect of my life, 00:25:53.120 --> 00:25:59.440 that when I'm satisfied where I am, where I wish best for others who even wish to harm me, 00:25:59.580 --> 00:26:05.040 when I glorify his name, and when it comes from my lips, it's from a heart of praise, 00:26:05.140 --> 00:26:09.100 when I take the time to rest and rest in a relationship with him, 00:26:09.220 --> 00:26:12.080 where I'm fully submitted and diving into his word, 00:26:12.260 --> 00:26:15.520 where I no longer have to take what doesn't belong to me, 00:26:15.520 --> 00:26:20.580 because I understand that everything, everything belongs to the Lord. 00:26:21.740 --> 00:26:23.220 Everything belongs to him. 00:26:24.400 --> 00:26:32.140 That I see the understanding of the joy that wells up inside of me when I'm obedient, 00:26:32.420 --> 00:26:35.280 and so I'm obedient because it glorifies God. 00:26:35.280 --> 00:26:40.320 I'm no longer obedient because I feel like he's going to punish me if I don't. 00:26:41.440 --> 00:26:46.200 And so obedience grows from the heart of joy, but also this church. 00:26:47.220 --> 00:26:50.420 Obedience grows from full gospel application. 00:26:51.320 --> 00:26:53.780 We started this series, and we're going to continue on, 00:26:54.260 --> 00:26:58.860 with the understanding that it's not just the lost people of the world who need the gospel. 00:27:01.020 --> 00:27:03.360 It's the saved people of the world who need the gospel. 00:27:04.180 --> 00:27:14.860 And what we do is we take the gospel, and we apply it to every circumstance of our life. 00:27:17.200 --> 00:27:24.080 Married couples in here, what does your marriage look like when you apply the gospel to it? 00:27:25.640 --> 00:27:34.300 Now the standard for your relationship is unconditional forgiveness. 00:27:36.060 --> 00:27:47.280 Unconditional love is serving, is sacrificing, is desiring to see your spouse grow, 00:27:47.960 --> 00:27:50.220 is desiring the best for them. 00:27:50.540 --> 00:27:51.460 Gospel application. 00:27:52.260 --> 00:27:55.520 What does gospel application look like in your job? 00:27:56.680 --> 00:27:58.640 You're no longer the person that shows up late. 00:27:59.240 --> 00:28:01.100 You're no longer the person that skips out. 00:28:01.500 --> 00:28:03.540 You're no longer the person that has to be managed. 00:28:03.880 --> 00:28:04.100 Why? 00:28:04.300 --> 00:28:06.460 Because of the respect for the authority that is there, 00:28:07.300 --> 00:28:09.280 and who you've positioned yourself under. 00:28:10.020 --> 00:28:16.660 And the display of who you are represents the greater, the higher authority of who's above you. 00:28:16.860 --> 00:28:20.720 And so the reason of why does so-and-so act this way at work, 00:28:20.920 --> 00:28:24.920 and the truth of the matter is because the transformed life of Jesus Christ, 00:28:25.180 --> 00:28:28.100 where it has been applied there in the gospel. 00:28:28.940 --> 00:28:34.120 How does the gospel apply to your home, to your neighbors, 00:28:34.840 --> 00:28:38.960 to both the people that you like and the people that you don't? 00:28:40.180 --> 00:28:44.040 To the people who like you, and to the people who don't like you. 00:28:44.820 --> 00:28:50.240 That we see that God gives us all the different people in where they are, 00:28:50.440 --> 00:28:56.720 and in a hope that we can help grow them and share the gospel with them. 00:28:56.720 --> 00:29:01.960 So the people that we avoid, we tend to turn ourselves to. 00:29:02.800 --> 00:29:08.540 Because we apply the gospel to every aspect of our life. 00:29:09.060 --> 00:29:13.440 No longer because we feel like we have to, but because we want to. 00:29:14.360 --> 00:29:20.820 Because of what is inside of us, if it truly is, is what's inside, 00:29:20.820 --> 00:29:23.200 is what is being shown to them. 00:29:24.260 --> 00:29:27.900 That when the gospel is applied to my life, 00:29:29.040 --> 00:29:33.200 what I find of what comes from me is honor, 00:29:34.500 --> 00:29:35.580 is love, 00:29:37.300 --> 00:29:38.880 is commitment of purity, 00:29:40.060 --> 00:29:41.420 is satisfaction, 00:29:42.220 --> 00:29:43.940 is truth, 00:29:44.880 --> 00:29:48.100 because of the joy that is found in Christ, 00:29:48.740 --> 00:29:49.480 in Christ alone. 00:29:50.320 --> 00:29:51.040 Would you pray with me? 00:29:58.640 --> 00:29:59.600 Lord, thank you. 00:30:03.060 --> 00:30:04.680 Lord, that in our life, 00:30:05.380 --> 00:30:09.220 you grant us grace. 00:30:10.460 --> 00:30:12.120 Would you give us freedom? 00:30:13.260 --> 00:30:14.460 Would you give us hope? 00:30:15.400 --> 00:30:16.640 Would you give us joy? 00:30:17.820 --> 00:30:19.400 Lord, all of this comes, 00:30:19.820 --> 00:30:21.560 because of a covenant, 00:30:22.240 --> 00:30:24.600 a promise that you made, 00:30:25.220 --> 00:30:26.380 that you fulfill, 00:30:27.180 --> 00:30:28.520 that you see through, 00:30:29.340 --> 00:30:31.180 that doesn't rest in who we are, 00:30:31.840 --> 00:30:34.080 but who rests in who you are. 00:30:34.880 --> 00:30:36.240 It's founded in you. 00:30:37.520 --> 00:30:40.140 It was not you and Abraham who passed through, 00:30:40.220 --> 00:30:40.840 but it was you. 00:30:42.140 --> 00:30:44.300 Lord, and in you we place our faith. 00:30:45.500 --> 00:30:46.840 Lord, now as believers, 00:30:46.840 --> 00:30:50.920 what we do is our response, 00:30:51.920 --> 00:30:52.820 our worship, 00:30:53.820 --> 00:30:55.260 our crushing of our idols, 00:30:56.260 --> 00:30:58.680 the desire of a satisfaction of our hearts, 00:30:59.360 --> 00:31:02.480 the fight against lust and the fight for purity, 00:31:03.280 --> 00:31:05.780 or to be content and to be satisfied, 00:31:05.780 --> 00:31:07.380 to show respect, 00:31:07.540 --> 00:31:08.820 to show honor, 00:31:09.280 --> 00:31:09.900 comes, 00:31:10.400 --> 00:31:12.260 not because we have to please you, 00:31:13.140 --> 00:31:15.100 but comes from who we are 00:31:15.100 --> 00:31:16.900 in our understanding 00:31:16.900 --> 00:31:19.280 of what you've done for us 00:31:19.280 --> 00:31:21.120 and who we are now 00:31:21.120 --> 00:31:22.980 in Christ. 00:31:32.900 --> 00:31:33.960 Lord, this morning, 00:31:34.120 --> 00:31:36.080 for those of us who are followers of Jesus, 00:31:36.740 --> 00:31:39.440 I pray that right now 00:31:39.440 --> 00:31:43.260 we could begin to look at those aspects. 00:31:45.400 --> 00:31:48.540 Lord, and we could see where your kindness, 00:31:49.580 --> 00:31:50.360 your love, 00:31:51.040 --> 00:31:53.120 brings us not to a place of shame, 00:31:53.820 --> 00:31:55.700 but brings us to a place of repentance, 00:31:56.620 --> 00:31:58.240 where we can repent 00:31:58.240 --> 00:32:01.120 for what we've been forgiven for. 00:32:01.800 --> 00:32:04.240 We can understand that we've been set free 00:32:04.240 --> 00:32:05.800 by the blood of the Lamb. 00:32:07.100 --> 00:32:08.820 We can walk in hope 00:32:08.820 --> 00:32:09.880 and newness of life. 00:32:12.620 --> 00:32:13.860 With every head bowed 00:32:13.860 --> 00:32:14.840 and every eye closed, 00:32:15.820 --> 00:32:18.440 if there's anyone in here today 00:32:18.440 --> 00:32:22.060 who thinks that you've established 00:32:22.060 --> 00:32:23.520 your own resume, 00:32:24.180 --> 00:32:26.100 your own spiritual standing 00:32:26.100 --> 00:32:27.720 because of what you've done, 00:32:30.120 --> 00:32:32.200 Lord, may the reminder of your law 00:32:32.200 --> 00:32:34.340 bring us 00:32:34.340 --> 00:32:36.140 to the understanding 00:32:36.140 --> 00:32:38.340 that we are a broken, 00:32:39.560 --> 00:32:41.260 sinful people. 00:32:42.380 --> 00:32:43.740 And the only way 00:32:43.740 --> 00:32:45.460 that we can be made new, 00:32:46.100 --> 00:32:47.300 the only way 00:32:47.300 --> 00:32:48.520 that we can be right, 00:32:49.200 --> 00:32:50.260 the only way 00:32:50.260 --> 00:32:51.380 that we can be forgiven 00:32:51.380 --> 00:32:52.960 is not through anything 00:32:52.960 --> 00:32:54.620 that we try to do 00:32:54.620 --> 00:32:56.320 in and of ourselves, 00:32:56.520 --> 00:32:57.640 but it is found 00:32:57.640 --> 00:32:58.640 in the belief 00:32:58.640 --> 00:32:59.520 and faith 00:32:59.520 --> 00:33:00.740 of Jesus Christ, 00:33:01.740 --> 00:33:02.420 of Him 00:33:02.420 --> 00:33:03.260 as our Lord 00:33:03.260 --> 00:33:03.860 and Savior. 00:33:07.240 --> 00:33:07.620 And so, Lord, 00:33:07.660 --> 00:33:08.140 I pray 00:33:08.140 --> 00:33:09.060 as we go into a time 00:33:09.060 --> 00:33:09.740 of response 00:33:09.740 --> 00:33:11.220 that you'll draw hearts 00:33:11.220 --> 00:33:11.880 to yourself, 00:33:12.100 --> 00:33:13.540 that you will be glorified, 00:33:13.880 --> 00:33:13.980 Lord, 00:33:14.020 --> 00:33:14.860 and we will praise you 00:33:14.860 --> 00:33:16.180 for all you are 00:33:16.180 --> 00:33:17.980 and for all you've done, 00:33:18.120 --> 00:33:19.040 or not because 00:33:19.040 --> 00:33:20.140 we have to, 00:33:21.140 --> 00:33:22.260 not because we're afraid 00:33:22.260 --> 00:33:23.040 not to, 00:33:23.880 --> 00:33:25.800 because we get to, 00:33:26.780 --> 00:33:27.800 because we're so 00:33:27.800 --> 00:33:30.020 filled with joy. 00:33:30.020 --> 00:33:33.960 Jesus, 00:33:34.000 --> 00:33:34.600 we thank you. 00:33:35.200 --> 00:33:36.040 We love you. 00:33:36.760 --> 00:33:37.460 It's in your name we pray. 00:33:37.720 --> 00:33:38.000 Amen.