Ezekiel Part 24

We will pray and then we'll get back into our study Lord Jesus again as we open up your word and we consider what you have revealed

we ask Help us Lord through the Holy Spirit to rightly understand your word so that we may not believe

erring Doctrine and and hold the promises that you haven't made but instead that we would believe rightly and

know you truly through your word.

And that through the power of the Holy Spirit that you would grant us Daily the the power to mortify our sinful flesh and that

you would also deliver us from Satan and his dominion.

We ask in Jesus name.

Amen we've been working our way through the book of Ezekiel slowly working our way through it and

Last week we were in chapter 19 and I'm gonna back up just a little bit and those of you online.

Just so you know, we've we've changed up The camera that we're using and if you

look at there's a there's a camera view that you can also see the room you can See Kongsvinger that our big

fellowship hall and then you can also see me on the top.

It's a split screen.

We're using a 360 camera.

So, you know to kind of make it so that you have a little bit of an idea of what's going on a little bit.

Better in and you can see what's happening.

But all that being said coming back to Let's see here.

We were in 19.

So I want to I Might just back up and sorry weren't 20 and continue

like back up and then go forward.

Yeah so we can maintain the context in the seventh year of the fifth month on the tenth day of the month certain of the elders of

Israel came to inquire of Yahweh and sat before me the word of Yahweh came to me son of man speak to

the elders of Israel.

Say to them thus says the Lord God.

Is it to inquire of me that you come as I live declares the Lord Yahweh?

I will not be inquired of by you.

Will you judge them son of man?

Will you judge them let them know the abominations of their fathers and say to them thus says the Lord Yahweh.

On the day when I chose Israel I swore to the offspring of the house of Jacob making myself known to

them in the land of Egypt.

I swore to them saying I am Yahweh your God on.

That day I swore to them that I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out For them a

land flowing with milk and honey.

The most glorious of all lands and I said to them cast away the detestable things from your eyes.

That your things your eyes feast on.

Every one of you and do not defile yourselves with the idols in Egypt.

I am Yahweh your God.

But they rebelled against me and they were not willing to listen to me.

None of them cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on.

Nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.

A little bit of a note here.

This is this is one of those passages where those who try to say?

Oh, well, the Bible has errors in it.

And so they'll say something like well Moses didn't and it didn't have to cast away his idols.

He didn't even he wouldn't even participate in it.

And what about Joshua Joshua and and and Moses?

They you know, they they didn't have to detect to do this.

So here's an error in God's Word, so we can't trust it.

Okay, you'll know that God oftentimes will speak in hyperbole and He'll speak in

such a way that he's talking about the collective group themselves.

And although there might be an exception here Moses clearly was an exception.

You know, he was their leader and Joshua was his secretary.

So it's not like God has erred in this regard.

So keep this in mind.

There's always people out there.

They're trying to tear down Our ability to trust in the scriptures.

I Would I recommend there's a wonderful book called the encyclopedia of Bible difficulties by Gleason

Archer.

It's an older book and you may not be able to find it in print readily, but if

you can get a copy of it that it's wonderful and.

And then there's there's also a book called alleged discrepancies of the Bible, which is a

classic.

It is in the public domain and it's easy to find and in the past There have been people who've kind of dedicated

part of their scholarship to dealing with those Scoffers out there who try to attack

the the veracity of scripture.

And so those are classic works on the subject and well worth having in your library is

in your Christian library in case you ever run into some Yehu who thinks that he Can overturn scripture by his

cleverness?

Okay, so keep that in mind.

So that I said I would pour out my wrath upon them and I would spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt but I

acted for the sake of My name that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived

and whose side I made myself Known to them and bringing them out of the land of Egypt.

Now I'm gonna spend a little bit of time talking about this part.

You'll note that one of the things I think we have to do sometimes we need to see what God is saying here

specifically to the children of Israel in exile and Consider God's great judgment

against them and why he judged them and why he did the things that he did.

So no God said I acted for the sake of my name that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations

among whom they lived.

So here we are as Christians.

We you'll that we do not live in a Christian nation.

You sit there and go you're saying the United States is not a Christian nation.

No, there are no Christian nations on planet Earth.

In fact that that animal doesn't exist.

And I would note that during the medieval age, you know.

That would be the closest thing you can kind of point to but there wasn't a particular Government that was Christian government because we know

the history of Europe.

You got a bunch of you got a bunch of heathens and pagans and and sinners doing all kinds of crazy

Nonsensical things that crazy that pagans do right?

So on this planet the kingdom of God does not exist on this planet in a tangible

way.

It is an article of faith.

And so today you you may have gotten glimpses of the kingdom of God during the divine service.

But we can't point to it specifically because again at the end of the day.

There may be tears among the wheat so we have to we have to always have to believe that we believe in the church

by faith and.

So that being the case there is no government on planet Earth.

That is a Christian government and Christian nationalists are dead wrong and their desire to somehow

turn the United States and turn It into a Christian nation.

I assure you that they will turn it into, you know, a tyrannical state that will be.

Well guilty of the same crimes and worse crimes as the Nazis.

But that's a whole other story the all of that being said here.

You're going to note then that in the world that we live in.

They do pay attention to what happens among Christians and

Not in a good way.

So for instance y 'all remember during the kovat era.

Is that the way to talk about it now?

I mean, are we far enough away that we call it the kovat era?

You know when Kenneth Copeland got up and rebuked kovat 19 19 I

blow the wind of God and all this kind of stuff, right?

What was the result?

How did the world react to that?

Like he was a moron.

Right like he was a look and the reason why they acted like he was a moron cuz he's a moron.

Okay, the the world was not wrong.

And so there were memes made of His kovat

19 rebuking performance and the world looks at this and they scoff at God.

Then it was during the kovat era also when all of the prophets the so -called prophets of God

Who do they prophesied was going to win the 2020 election?

Donald Trump.

Did Donald Trump win the election?

No, okay.

I would note he is still not the one occupying the Oval Office.

And and there's another election coming up and I can't wait to hear all the new prophecies about this but you're gonna note

within the charismatic church, they've got a big problem and I'm gonna say something that

is going to sound Really harsh and I stand by what I'm about to say and here's what

I'm about to say.

They care nothing about God's holy name nothing.

If they cared about God's holy name, they would reign in all of these false prophets.

And do something short of stoning them do whatever it takes to shut them up.

Because God's holy name is profaned by every one of their false prophecies.

It's it's just and they think if they really legitimately cared about God's holy name.

They wouldn't dare to utter words that they were speaking obviously from their heart.

The reason why we play prophecy bingo is to legitimately set up

a Scenario whereby people recognize these are completely empty words if

They care nothing about God's holy name and continue to profane it so awfully we're

going to mock them the way Elijah mocked the prophets of all because they

legitimately don't censure themselves at all and God's name is

mocked among Non -christians as a result of the wingnut

wackerdoodle false words that these people are saying.

Do you think that there's anybody among in the pagan world having heard Chuck Pierce give a prophecy

said?

Oh, these are words from God.

He's a true prophet and fall down and worship Yahweh as a result of it.

No, everybody who watches him goes.

What did he even say?

Right, right that was in our last prophecy bingo, so you'll note that God

legitimately is jealous for his name and he Legitimately has revealed that

he cares that the pagan worlds Had that that his his his name is

profaned in the sight of the nations because of the wickedness that these people were doing and note that this

comes right on the heels of Jeremiah's times.

Jeremiah is still alive at this point.

But winding up his ministry and when we worked our way through the book of Jeremiah there in

Jeremiah's day.

There were the equivalent of YouTube prophets in his day who were offering up all of these

rainbow butterfly gummy bears and blue sky prophecies to everybody regardless of

whether or not they were a penitent sinner who Believed in Yahweh or not and they were just telling people what they wanted to hear

and on top of it they had taken rank idolatry and woven that into some kind of a

syncretistic religion and.

And and they were prophesying from within inside of something like that.

And as a result of it God's name was being profaned and God here is saying that.

That and so you'll note that the reason why God has saved us.

I know this is gonna sound a little odd, but it's true.

The reason why God has saved us is because of his holy name.

He keeps his promises.

He didn't save us because we're so special.

That's in fact, there are biblical texts that say that okay I didn't say save you because you were the

greatest among the nations or things like this.

I saved you for the sake of my holy name.

And so Note then God says I acted talking about the excess.

I acted for the sake of my name that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived and Whose side I made

myself known to them and bringing them out of the land of Egypt.

So I led them out of the land of Egypt and I brought them into the wilderness.

I Gave them my statutes and I made known to them my rules.

By which if a person does them he shall live and I shall note here He

if a person does them he shall continue to live by them.

That's even how the Hebrew works and how the Greek works and this is translated into Greek.

Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between me and them that they might know that I am

Yahweh who sanctifies them.

So the Sabbath itself was the sign of the Mosaic Covenant and God explains

why?

So that it was a sign that they may know that I am Yahweh who does what who sanctifies them?

What did the children of Israel do on the Sabbaths or what were they supposed to do meet together in

their?

Synagogues to hear the Word of God.

But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness.

They did not walk in my statutes but rejected my rules by which if a person does them He

shall live and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned.

Is anything different today?

It's like God's name is greatly profaned by all of this crazy stuff going on in the name of Christ

today.

Yeah.

So then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness to make a full end of them.

But I acted for the sake of my name that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations.

If you read this account, okay.

When you read the account God has left out the Moses bits.

Okay, the Moses bits were like Moses like no Lord, you know, don't.

Don't destroy everybody because then the nation's would say that you only brought them out of slavery to

kill them in the wilderness.

And so you'll note God left leaves the Moses bits out and they says but I acted for the sake of my name.

Indeed he did we know this from the narrative that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations and whose side I Had brought them

out.

Moreover I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land that I had given them a

land flowing with milk and honey the most glorious of all the lands because they rejected my rules and did not walk in my

statutes and Profaned my Sabbath's for their heart went after their idols.

So this gives us a little this is gives us a little bit of commentary on the Exodus.

That's not available in the Exodus account.

And this is a commentary from God's perspective.

From God's point of view and so you can add this then to you know as you're reading through the Exodus God's

saying listen.

Here's why I did what I did.

Okay, I did it for this specific reason for the sake of my holy name and the people

they did not.

They did not obey my commandments.

They did not walk in my rules.

They Continue to go after their idols.

Do you wonder why?

Why it was such a short amount of time.

After the children of Israel got into the promised land when they forsook God and

then went after idols.

Why was it such a brief amount of time?

They were barely there.

Okay the generation that that Were fathers at the time that they went in as soon as that

generation died the generation coming up under them.

They they they went whole hog after ball and all the other all these other false guys.

Why would why what did it happen so quickly?

Because they brought that idolatry into the promised land with them.

They brought it with them and So these people there were enough of them

that were giving lip service to Yahweh who were still secretly worshiping the gods of Egypt.

Kind of a problem, right.

Nevertheless God says my I spared them.

I did not destroy them nor or make a full end of them in the wilderness and I said to their

children in the wilderness.

Do not walk.

Again, walk here.

Okay Halakh in Hebrew is not talking about taking a stroll down the street.

This is how you conduct your life and you know that this word shows up in the Greek form in the New Testament when Paul Says

walk, you know walk in the spirit do these things walk.

This is how you conduct your life.

Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers nor keep their rules nor defile yourselves with their idols.

I am Yahweh your God walk in my statutes be care careful to obey my rules.

Keep my Sabbaths holy that they may be assigned between me and you and that you may know that I am

Yahweh your God.

But the children rebelled against me.

They did not walk in my statutes and were not careful to obey my rules.

By which if a person does them he shall live.

They profane my Sabbaths.

So then I said I will pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the wilderness.

But I withheld my hand and acted for the sake of my name that it should not be profaned in the sight of the

nations.

God didn't destroy them.

So his name wouldn't be profaned so.

Could you imagine how history would have been written had God actually, you know Brought these people to the miserable end that they deserved

in the wilderness.

Oh, yeah.

I remember that account.

Oh, yeah that Yahweh.

He's a terrible deity, right?

He destroyed all of them, right?

Right.

Yeah.

But I withheld my hand.

I acted for my name's sake that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations and whose Side I had brought them out moreover

I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them

Through the countries because they had not obeyed my rules.

But had rejected my statutes and profaned my Sabbaths and their eyes were set on their father's

idols.

Moreover, I gave them statutes that were not good and rule and

rules by which they could not have life.

And I gave and I defiled them through their very gifts in their offering up of all their

firstborn that I might Devastate them.

I did it that they might know that I am Yahweh therefore son of man.

Speak to the house of Israel.

Say to them thus says The Lord Yahweh, so you're gonna note here.

They've come to inquire of God.

God saying here I'm not gonna let you inquire of me and here he's going all the way back

and basically saying You people are just like your father's and your father's

father's and your father's father's father's.

Going all the way back and you nothing has changed.

All right, and the reason why you're in Babylon right now is because of

your stiff -neck Refusal to put away your false idols and your false gods and

walk according to my statutes.

That's the reason why you're here.

So don't we're not going to inquire you.

I'm not gonna let you inquire of me until we get this through your head.

The reason why you're in the miserable awful situation that you're in is because of your impenitent Rank

sin and you're just like all of your father's before you.

Okay, so before God's gonna allow himself to be inquired of he's going to call this is a

call to repentance.

Let me tell you what's really going on here.

All right.

Therefore son of man speak to the house of Israel say to them thus says the Lord Yahweh in this also your

father's blasphemy Blasphemed me by dealing treacherously with me for when I had

brought them into the land that I swore to give them.

Then whenever they saw any high hill or any leafy tree.

There they offered their sacrifices and there they presented the provocation of

their offering.

There they set up their pleasing aromas and there they poured out their drink offerings.

I said to them What is the high place to which you go?

Is it?

So it's named is called Bama to this day.

Bama means high place right now.

I don't think that's what Alabama means, but that's.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Therefore say to the house of Israel thus says the Lord Yahweh.

Will you defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers and go whoring after their detestable things?

When you present your gifts and offer up your children and fire and defile yourselves with all of your idols to this

day.

And Shall I be inquired of by you?

Oh house of Israel as I live declares the Lord Yahweh.

I will not be inquired of by you.

What is in your mind?

Shall never happen.

The thought let us be like the nations like the tribes of the countries and worship

wood and stone.

Yes, Marilyn.

Okay.

Yeah.

Okay, let's take a look at the look at the the Note here in the Lutheran study Bible.

I think it'll help.

The Lutheran study Bible says the laws God gave that man shall live.

Can also become a fragrance from death from death to death when executing judgment on willful hardened

sinners.

He sends them a strong delusion so that they fall into perverting wholesome Ordinances and making them an

excuse for committing the most detestable of crimes.

Not even to his law has God assigned the honor that it should merit eternal life.

He clearly says here.

So the idea here, let me go back and read the passage.

Okay.

So I swore to them in the wilderness that would scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the countries.

Because they had not obeyed my rules.

But had rejected my statutes and profaned my Sabbath's and their eyes were set on their

father's idols.

Moreover, I gave them statutes that were not good and rules by which they could not have life

now.

What God is basically saying here is that?

That the law can't save you.

That's really what he's getting at.

He gave them laws, but that wasn't for the purpose that they would save a person.

But they instead that they would live by them.

That's a different thing altogether.

And so What he's basically saying the rules by which they could not have life.

He's not talking about life like day -to -day life.

He's talking about eternal life.

And so I defiled them through their very gifts and here's the interesting thing about God's law.

God's law always accuses God's law is right.

It's holy.

It's just we are not.

So God gave us a law and the law says thou shalt not and then fill in the blank, you know.

You should not covet you shall not steal.

You should not commit adultery.

You shall not murder you should not do these things right and here's the thing God's holy law comes

to us and Do we have eternal life by keeping them.

Do we keep them?

No, in fact consider how how the the Apostles spoke at

the first Church Council, which is the it's called the Council of Jerusalem.

It's in Acts 15.

Listen to how this plays out because I think this will help you get a little bit of an understanding of that text.

Some men came down from Judea and they were teaching the brothers unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses.

You cannot be saved.

So here we got the Judaizers, right?

Really?

You can't a guy can't be saved unless he's circumcised.

Wow.

And so after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and boy This is like

such a stronger word in the Greek They these guys were like right in their face they this

was in your face practically shouting match kind of dissension and Debate with them.

Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the Apostles and the elders about The question so

being sent on their way by the church they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria describing in

detail the conversion of the Gentiles and Brought great joy to all the brothers when they came to Jerusalem.

They were welcomed by the church and the Apostles and the elders and they declared all that God had done with them but

some believers who belong to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said it is Necessary to circumcise them

and to order them to keep the law of Moses so the

Apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter and After there had been much debate

Peter stood up and said to them brothers.

You know that in the early days God made a choice among you that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word

of the gospel and believe and God who knows the heart bore witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he

did to us and he made no Distinction between us and them having cleansed their hearts by faith

now.

Therefore why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our

fathers?

Nor we have been able to bear.

You see you kind of see it, okay Peter talking about God's commandments.

It's a yoke.

It's a burden.

They couldn't bear it.

His father's couldn't bear it and so although God's words are holy his commandments and statutes are

true and walking By them is true life.

We can't and so God's law doesn't give us eternal life.

Right.

Have any of you ever tried to change like a bad habit that you have I

Just kind of work this out here.

You've decided you're going to fix something in your life, okay, you maybe you're not getting up early enough, you know.

You're you're starting your day off wrong or whatever you do, whatever your whatever your particular thing that you need to fix.

Have you all ever noticed that?

When you apply yourself to changing your behavior You legitimately

are exhausted.

Okay it you don't feel at rest.

Until you have a cheat day.

Okay.

Yeah, if you've ever been on a diet, you know what I'm talking about.

I've been on a few myself.

Okay, and as you can see, none of them have worked.

Okay, but when I go on a diet what happens?

Okay, is that you know, there I am.

I'm on the treadmill.

I'm lifting weights.

I'm working out.

I'm feeling great I'm eating right, but oh my goodness.

You go a week two three into this thing and you're sitting there thing I

want pizza okay, and and I

really want a big slice of cake, you know and and and and here's the deal

so you give Yourself a cheat day and on your cheat day.

You could just go Okay.

Think about this.

Okay.

It's work and effort to

mortify your sinful flesh y 'all I Don't have the

strength to do it in ourself.

This is why we need the Holy Spirit.

This is what the Holy Spirit does it produces the fruit of the Spirit in us and he gives us the strength because on our

Own strength left to our own devices.

I'm going back to pizza.

I I'm I'm gonna eat an entire Cartridge entire bag, you know a whole

thing of Oreo cookies and a whole pint of ice cream and I'm gonna feel

Great about it, right?

Well only for a few minutes because then my stomach gets really upset.

Okay.

All right, and now I've been granted the blessing of lactose intolerance.

Ah.

You know, okay, but but you got what I'm saying here.

So you'll note that they're from the point of view of keeping the commandments it's not

easy it's legitimately not easy and because we have a sinful nature we can't do it and.

So from our perspective we oftentimes get annoyed by God.

Listen, one of the things that you can notice and I'm gonna I hope I don't step on too many toes in

saying this.

The area that we live in right here.

There are a lot of liberal churches up here.

Okay, more so than in other places that I've lived and that being the case I

would note here that makes perfect sense if we were to like get in in in

the TARDIS and come back here.

Okay, a hundred and fifty years ago.

Would any of the churches that are that are that were founded a hundred and thirty one hundred and fifty a hundred years ago?

Would any of them be liberal by today's standards?

No, they wouldn't.

What would they be?

Legalistic okay, they would be legalistic and and I I have noticed.

That where you have one generation that is steeped in legalism.

Their children and their grandchildren are gonna run the opposite direction.

They'll stay in the church.

But they're gonna they're gonna run that church in the opposite direction and basically say all these rules and regulations.

They got to go and it just becomes a free -for -all.

Okay, liberalism is the counter reaction to legalism.

It legitimately is and here's the thing part of the reason why liberalism hat has such a convincing

argument is because so many people are legitimately abused and mistreated by

legalism and.

That what where you have the proper distinction of law and gospel you don't have the seedbed that for liberalism.

It's hard for it to grow when you have the proper distinction.

And so we recognize God's law convicts us of our sin.

That's his primary purpose and we strive through the power of the Holy Spirit to keep his commandments and at the same time

daily come.

You know daily come to the Lord and say forgive us our trespasses.

Whereas legalism the insipid nasty bit about it is this is the delusion that you're somehow pulling it

off.

You know, I you know, I'm I'm more worthy than you are because man I I haven't sinned in the last.

You know 48 days, you know, when was the last time you said I bet was yesterday, huh?

You know, you know,

yeah.

Oh Yeah.

Yeah.

Ten people there were 200 people at Kongsvinger and only ten

commune a year.

Because they consider themselves worthy.

Holy smokes.

That's horrifying right

and Right, we're you're looking at communion wrong when you do that because

the words given and shed for the forgiveness of sins.

That's a promise and we receive an absolution, you know, like a tangible tasty

Absolution, although it tastes weird.

But but but the idea then is is that the one who is worthy is not one who is

sinless.

The one who is worthy is the one who recognizes properly what they're receiving in the Lord's Supper.

Yeah.

Yes.

You know you bring up a good point.

You know, isn't it prideful for those ten people who to have declared themselves worthy of the receive the Lord's Supper while the other

190 didn't.

They were Right.

Yeah, I know you're right.

You know.

The thing is is that you know.

Are you a sinner and you in?

Recognize your sin and believe what Christ said that this is his body of blood given the shed for the forgiveness of your sins.

You're receiving the Lord's Supper worthily then because you're recognizing the body and blood of Christ.

So there is a sense in which the scripture talks about taking the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner.

But it's not because I've got my act together.

It's because Christ is offering me forgiveness there and I believe his words.

Right totally different altogether, so I I would note here that we at Kongsvinger we have a

bunch of worthy people.

You know in the biblical sense, but not because you guys are self -righteous.

Yeah, Hannah

yeah, so.

That's a good question because they see it.

They see what we they would see what we're doing is like legalism or ritualism that's how they would

interpret it and.

But they don't believe that they're receiving anything in the Lord's Supper.

So yeah, it's it is interesting.

So ironically those churches that do not believe Christ's words.

This is my body.

This is my blood.

They fit the definition of what what Paul says those who take the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner

and so what's.

What's always fascinating is when you point that out to them biblically, you know.

The the gyrations that they go through to try to make it so that that's not the case.

And they would look at us and say it's like why are you guys doing this every week, you know.

That doesn't make any sense.

You know that and so there.

Yeah, they're their view really.

The lens that they've put over the scriptures that keep them from seeing what the text says.

Causes them to wrongly accuse us of a form of legalism when in fact they are really the ones

who are engaging in it.

It's it that's the way deception works by the way, which is terrifying if you consider it.

Is that it blinds you in such a way that you become guilty of the thing that

you're condemning other people of doing and.

That that is that is a scary thing legitimately scary.

Sin blinds you in that way and so this is why we We stick to the text and we

stick to the text and we stick to the text and we have to keep digging in the text.

And and and and you know kind of work that out.

I will say this though is that I have noticed over the last decade a very

interesting phenomenon within Evangelicalism and the phenomenon is this

so when I was growing up evangelical churches would spend a Noticeable amount of time

whenever Lord's Supper would come up explaining how.

It's not what the Bible says it is.

It was like there was like these that was a weird thing.

It was like the priest sermon before the Lord's Supper when they would have it maybe three to three or four times a year

there was a like an Obligatory five -minute sermon about how I know the text says

this is my body.

But it doesn't mean that and I know it says this is my blood.

But it doesn't mean that and I know it says it's for the forgiveness of sins.

But it doesn't mean that it's all simple simple simple simple simple.

But what I've noticed is over the past decade that mandatory pre -sermon before the Lord's Supper when

churches have it has disappeared and as a result of it a

Natural result of it is that when I ask Average evangelicals now and I have

conversations with them regularly.

What did they believe that the Lord what they receive in the Lord's Supper?

Let's say oh, it's the body and blood of Christ.

And I said, where do you go to church and they would say, you know, you know big box make a church over here.

It's like how did you figure out that?

It's the body and blood of Christ.

I said, what's the Bible says that and It's like, huh?

So what's happened is with the the disappearance of the of the like the

scoffers pre -sermon.

People just are naturally believing that they're receiving the body and blood of Christ and in growing numbers.

And it's it's kind of fascinating because it's really kind of like the the Southern Baptist

reformed Baptist churches that kind of keep that pre -sermon going and when they hear

Evangelicals saying yeah, we're receiving the body and blood of Christ and there and this stuff that's showing up on YouTube in like

charismatic churches.

They are losing their minds and I'm sitting there going.

I know why that's happening, you know, but that that's a whole other story.

Yeah.

Yeah, so anyway, where were we.

Yeah, yeah.

Okay, so you're referring to.

Not that he was advocating for circumcision.

But he was acting in a way contrary to the gospel when the circumcised guys show up the text you're referring to

is in Galatians.

It starts in Galatians 1 so Paul in this section of Galatians

1 he points out that the gospel that he received he preached.

He didn't receive it from man who received it from Christ.

And then and then he talks about how he had after he was converted after three years.

I wanted to Jerusalem to visit Cephas or remain with him for 15 days.

I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord's brother.

And then in chapter 2 You get this wonderful thing where the first Pope gets rebuked

publicly by by Paul.

When Cephas came so he and when Cephas came from Antioch I opposed him to his face

because he stood condemned for before certain men came from James.

He was eating with the Gentiles.

Okay, let's talk about this for a second.

What does that mean?

He was having sausage bacon and He was you know.

He was enjoying a little bit of lobster and shrimp and he was eating whatever was put before him.

He was actually eating with the Gentiles.

But when they came the people from James came he drew back and he separated himself.

Fearing the circumcision party again.

That's not a party you want to go to and the rest of the Jews acted Hypocritically along with him

so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.

So he it wasn't that he was endorsing them, but by his drawing back.

He was acting acting hypocritically when they weren't there.

He acted one way when they were there.

He was acting a whole other way.

Yeah, oh.

So this would have taken place before.

Yeah, so.

Yeah.

Yep, so that I love this part wouldn't.

What then when I Peter's Paul when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel and there it is.

Their actions were contrary to the gospel.

Keep that in mind.

There are these things that are actions that you can take that are contrary to the gospel, right?

I said to see if it's before them all if you though a Jew live like a Gentile and not like a Jew.

How can you force Gentiles to live like Jews?

Rebuked and then it goes on we ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners.

Yet we know if a person that person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ.

So we have believed in in Christ Jesus in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law

because by works of the law.

No one will be justified.

So, you know, you'll you see the you see the full extent of the rebuke there, but that so it wasn't because he was endorsing

circumcision it was because he was acting in a way contrary to the gospel because he didn't want to have

the Got the fellows from James from the circumcision party get all up in his face up in his grill.

Yeah

I don't know that that's that is a that is a debated topic and

It's it you have two James's to pick from or this is a third James all together.

Yeah, thanks James for the question.

So the answer is is that that's a debated question and I don't have a definitive answer to it

now.

What was I gonna say here?

Hey, I got a thing about this.

I Can't remember.

Oh, that's annoys me.

I had it right there and then it's it's it's gone alas, okay so

all of this being said then.

Well now I remember what I was gonna say have you guys seen the controversy regarding the Super Bowl commercial

called he gets us.

Okay, have you watched the commercial?

Does it leave you with an icky feeling.

Okay.

Yes.

Right, what's the underlying error of This group that's putting

these commercials out what's their underlying error?

Yes, there it is, it's works righteousness if You think about it

what they say?

These commercials I saw that commercial went.

What?

Okay, you know, it's like what is this?

Okay, so you have a pro -life Advocate washing the feet

of Abortionist and so it's like what's going on here?

Okay this because you got a note here that that what's not Being called

for is true repentance of sin and faith in Christ.

But instead a push for Christians to live a specific way.

That is that is has a form of legalism to I always remind you need to remind you guys.

Liberalism is as legalistic as Lutheran pietism.

It's just a different set of rules.

It's a completely different set of rules.

So if you don't believe me.

Just break some of the rules that liberals are really all about right now.

I mean, have you noticed all the coffee shops that talk about how they have coffee sources that are from sustainable

this and sustainable that right.

When we when I travel to Europe, okay.

One of the big coffee houses in the UK is called Costa and they always make a big deal.

You know, this was sourced for you know.

We from some small villagers and stuff and done in a sustainable way and all this kind of stuff.

There's a reason for that because in the liberal woke mindset.

Colonialism is like the big sin that the West committed against the third world nations.

And so they're undoing colonialism.

So if you really want to send a liberal into conniption fits.

Then go out and buy C &H pure cane sugar.

Now, you're not allowed to do that up here for different reasons.

There's a different legalism there, okay.

Yeah, because I understand the American Crystal thing.

But when we were attending Faith Lutheran in Greenfield, Indiana.

All right I had taken a photo of our coffee table that I was kind of you know.

Making fun of the fact that we have a coffee shop at our church.

It's just a table with two big coffee pots and and the different supplies that we had for filling our coffee.

Oh powdered creamer and there on there was C &H pure cane sugar.

Holy smokes.

I posted that on Twitter and my account melted down.

How dare you have your church purchase that oppressive

colonialistic, you know, you know patriarchal.

You know sugar it's like.

What what?

You know, they they like legitimately lost it.

Because of we were breaking one of the rules and that was I we had a product in our church.

That apparently was part of oppressive colonialism.

Okay, totally different set of rules.

So the the the he gets us ads.

Ask yourself the question.

What is their?

Rules because in their rules, we don't need to tell people about Jesus.

We just need to wash their feet.

Okay, we don't need to call them to repentance and trust in Christ with the forgiveness of their sins.

We just need to wash their feet and we didn't even have more people that washed other people's feet like Jesus did.

Okay, but I would note this who did Jesus wash the feet of?

His disciples.

Okay, did Jesus wash the feet of the Sanhedrin or the high priest or

the people who crucified him?

No.

Right and when and when Peter was getting his feet washed by Jesus.

Jesus brings this the scrub bucket up and peers all.

You'll never wash my feet right and Jesus says if I don't wash your feet.

Then you have no part in this in me at all.

Then don't wash just my feet wash all of it, right?

So that you'll note they can completely ignore all the details of this.

So I would know whatever this group is or somewhere in the left spectrum and they're you know in the in the woke thing but they're

there it's a legalistic thing that they're applying here and then Christianity is reduced to actions

and Reactions as interpreted through their understanding of how love works and

and there's no call for repentance.

There's no trust and faith in Christ.

There's no forgiveness of sins there.

It's just all behavior.

Yeah.

Yeah, did you hear that Dan McClellan the guy we critiqued?

He's a Mormon.

That's crazy.

Anyway,

right, right.

What's the Marilyn by the way for those of you online.

She said there's gonna be a lot of people with really clean feet in hell, right?

Exactly.

So anyway, that's that's enough for a legalism today.

And that's all the answer to your question, by the way.

That's that's why God talked about his law in that way in that section of Ezekiel.

So All right, Lord willing.

We will see you all next time.