Scripture Has Ultimate Authority

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So praise God a huge moment now the parallel passage to this just so you know You might want to mark it down a good place to go is mark chapter 7 mark chapter 7

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Matthew 15 This little section here. You'll see the parallel passages mark uses some different terminology

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He would refer to Moses says but in this text here the emphasis is on God same thing

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God said through Moses But the point is this is God's Word that their tradition is nullifying now.

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Here's the thing I want you to follow me for a second. Please everybody follow me here now There is a temptation that I've had to deal with and coming to this passage not to turn this little section into a six -month study

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So you're welcome Now I'm gonna try to avoid that. Okay however I just want to say that it's a responsibility of a pastor to Equip his people to teach his people to give them the full counsel of God to make you ready with the

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Word of God So given this amazing little section of scripture here that says so much that impacts so much of our lives

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Today I do want to do some things that will speak at a high level in terms of sending you off into the world

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Shooting you like arrows into the world with something that's substantial That's meaningful so that you can actually engage the world and be light in darkness and hard places

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So I do want to make sure that in the moments today where I deal with some sort of higher level thinking stuff in terms

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Of philosophy we talk about epistemology that you don't get lost in that now I'm laying down this as an encouragement and a word to say embrace this because it's vital if I say a word like epistemology

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If I say something like rationalism or if I talk about empiricism you might hear those words and say

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I could care less What does that have to do with the price of tea in China?

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I don't even understand what that means I don't have those conversations with my neighbor, but believe me it matters It does impact you

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I believe that Christianity can be defended at the Sunday school level and at the highest academic level this stuff is important if you hear the word epistemology and empiricism and rationalism and Pragmatism and you think it doesn't affect you

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Well, then I dare you to say it doesn't affect you when you talk to the Mormon neighbor living next door to you

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Who says that they believe Joseph Smith's a prophet of God because they prayed about it and had a what?

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burning in their bosom So you say how do you know that? Joseph Smith's a prophet of God and then he was met by the angel

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Moroni that he got the golden plates How do you know and they say because I prayed about it and had a burning in my bosom.

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That's an epistemological claim That's a question of how do you know? Something to be true.

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He talked to the unbeliever the average unbeliever today and you say how do you know that that's true?

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And they'll say well based upon the fossil record what I can observe what I see in the fossil record.

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I'm an empiricist It has to be testable Observable, that's how I know it to be true or you talk to the person that says

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Christianity doesn't seem rational to me It seems illogical. It doesn't make any sense because their standard is

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Rationalism. So when we hear a terminology like epistemology and we shut down immediately Believe me, that's something that's ultimately we ought not to do as Christians We don't ought to have a love for God with our minds and a concern for the lost at whatever level they're at So with that we come to this text here is what takes place.

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Jesus now has just accomplished this amazing display of Yahweh among us

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God himself among us who talked about the last week John the Baptist is killed Jesus goes to a desolate place to be in isolation with the father the crowds followed

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Jesus on Foot a long distance. They disrupted his fellowship with God They broke up his meeting with the father and he had compassion for them.

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He wasn't annoyed by them He didn't snub him and try to push him away. He just receives people who come to him and He pours into their lives.

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He heals the sick He does all these amazing miraculous things that shows that he can care for their most fundamental needs

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It says in the Bible that God heals all our diseases and that's of course at a very very deep level

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God forgives us our sin He covers the main thing the main broken part of us and Jesus displays his

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Yahweh among us. He can handle their diseases He handles their fundamental disease of sin and separation from God then

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Jesus, of course Does the amazing? Amazing miracle of feeding almost 20 ,000 people with five loaves and two fish

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Only Yahweh provides for his people like that. He caused them to sit down and he blesses them and cares for their needs

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He multiplies fish. What does it take to build a fish? ask

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Kyle Ask super smart Kyle. He's here somewhere, right? Yeah. There you go. Super smart call ask him.

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He's a scientist He knows this field He'll tell you about what it takes to get that DNA and the proteins and all those molecules working together to build

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Specific structures and if any one thing is off it doesn't build There's a blueprint for building you for building fish for building plants there's a specific blueprint one thing is off and the whole thing collapses and Jesus the creator of all things

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Sits in front of his people the provider of their needs the bread of life among them

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Satisfies their needs Disciples say send him away. Jesus says make him sit down Right get him get him out of here.

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Jesus says you sit down and rest I'll take care of your needs and Jesus multiplies. He just starts creating new fish

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He just creates new fish and new bread and he says at the end of it They're satisfied and then

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Jesus of course goes away to a desolate place the disciples leave on the ship and then the storm rages

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Jesus now is Yahweh on full display God in flesh

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Tabernacled among us and he walks on the water in this raging sea Peter sees him and says if it's you let me come out to see you and Jesus Response to a desire to trust him is what no no, no

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No, he says why he says come come on out Peter comes out in the water He gets his eyes onto the circumstances and off of Jesus starts to sink

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Jesus rescues him and then they say this is the Son of God now here we are

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Jesus now is Confronted by the Pharisees and the scribes the religious leaders of Jesus day that he confronts not long after this in Matthew 23

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He says woe to you. Woe to you. Woe to you. He confronts them

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Jesus comes against the religious establishment of his day and he says to them that they put burdens upon people that they don't even do

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He tells them they're leading people into a ditch they're blind guides and in this moment They see

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Jesus and in this day the disciples of a rabbi People saw the rabbi is responsible for the actions and theology of the disciples

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So whatever the disciples did they said well, that's the fault of the rabbi there. They're instructed from the rabbi

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So Jesus is the rabbi. Here's the disciples doing what not? washing and actually eating

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With unwashed hands now, this is important. If you look not far behind this this is really important to grab hold of in the

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Sermon on the Mount people often interpret Jesus as violating the law of God Distorting or changing disrupting the law of God in creating some new law

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I would suggest that that interpretation violates what Jesus says explicitly in Matthew 5 9 a 17 through 19

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Jesus says this listen He says do not begin to think may namaste a do not think that I have come to abrogate

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To undo to tear down the law or the prophets. I have not come to destroy them but to Fulfill them and he says this if anybody in God's kingdom teaches somebody to violate even the least of these commandments of what?

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the law of God He says you'll be called least in the kingdom of God. It's a Jesus then goes on to actually disrupt their

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Misinterpretation of the law of God and One example is really important here. We're talking about the

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Word of God versus tradition. This is essential for Jesus and the Apostles the Scriptures One example in the

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Old Testament. God says you shall not commit adultery You shall not commit adultery

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Now we're not to think because Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount When he says you've heard that it was said you should not commit adultery

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But I say to you if you look with lust in your heart, then you've committed adultery We're not to think that in the

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Old Testament God was perfectly fine with lust in the hearts of his people just as long as they didn't act it out

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No, Jesus corrects their mishandling of the Word of God They were teaching.

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Hey, you can get divorce Right. There was a school of Shammai and Hillel two rabbis.

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One was more liberal one was more conservative One said you can only get divorced based upon biblical law and principles.

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That's what the law of God says because of sin Divorce is allowable.

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That's from the scriptures because of people's fallen nature divorce is a thing God hates divorce, but it happens if there are specific rigid reasons to get a divorce

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That was one interpretation in Jesus day There was another school of thought the Hillelite law and that was this you can get divorced for any cause

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As long as you give a certificate of divorce, you don't like the way your wife cooks You don't like the way that your husband your wife smells

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I don't know that whatever the reason was as long as you gave a certificate of divorce They would say for any cause

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Jesus speaks into that culture and he says you should not commit adultery. I Say to you that if you even look at lust in your heart

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Adultery, they were thinking I could just give a certificate of divorce Right. I just I'll just give the writ of divorce the decree and then

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I'm good to go Jesus says if you even start with the lust in your heart you guilty of it. So Jesus disrupts their mishandling of the

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Word of God and He rests on the Word of God in This case you've got the

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Scribes and the Pharisees coming and challenging Jesus Because the disciples are not following this custom this tradition that they had set up now this importance

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It wasn't in the law of God It's not there.

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It wasn't in the law of God. You see the Jews knew what the Word of God was They had the Old Testament canon, by the way, the same

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Identical canon that you have today as Protestants. They had the exact same canon

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So for example at this time in the first century the Jews of that day had the the

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Word of God Your Old Testament canon they had it laid up in the Jewish temple.

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They had it laid up in the Jewish temple This is the Word of God. They knew what it was

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Jesus and the Apostles quoted Copiously from the Old Testament revelation to the degree that Jesus and the

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Apostles quoted from every single book of the Old Testament canon except one book Esther very small book

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But every book from the Old Testament is touched in the New Testament. They knew what the

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Word of God was. However however The Scribes and the

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Pharisees and the religious establishment of the day also had something called

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Halakha Halakha later turned into what we know as the Mishnah and that was essentially seen as Sacred tradition.

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So consider the moment now. You've got Jesus. They know the Word of God They know their

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Old Testament canon It's laid up in the temple the same one you have today without the apocrypha by the way in the temple

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Yes, that was a jab at Rome. You're welcome So They knew what it was and yet you had

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Halakha, it was a tradition of the elders now you got to get this. It wasn't simply that they said

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These are some good guidelines They thought that this tradition they raised up. They thought it was divine

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Tradition, you've got the Word of God here Supreme authority they would have bent to it

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They would have kissed it in synagogue, but they also had this tradition over here running alongside the Bible Halakha It was essentially divinely inspired.

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They thought rules from God Interpretations of how to live the law of God out in wisdom. It wasn't in the law of God you see the

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Old Testament did listen closely it did require washing as a as a part of a holiness code as a symbol

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During certain rituals you can see that in Exodus 30 verse 18 Deuteronomy 21 verse 6

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So yes, there was washing required during certain rituals as part of God's holiness code how he required people to worship him

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That's true, but there wasn't this now. We have a conflict where you've got religious people coming to Jesus and they're saying hey

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We've got this standard over here and your disciples aren't following it. They're in sin

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We've got the standard of piety of how you supposed to do things and and they're not following it now watch

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Jesus is God in the flesh You've got the Word of God over here and a man -made tradition over here and here's how the conflict runs

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When Jesus was approached by Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem who asked why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders?

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So they don't wash their hands when they eat Listen to his response He answered them there's a number of ways he could have answered

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Why do you break God's commandment because of your tradition right to the heart?

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No question what the standard is there's no dispute and debate

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There's nothing external. There's not some other standard that Jesus stands on over here to actually argue against their tradition

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They had propped up as sacred tradition. Essentially. You must follow this Jesus goes right to the jugular

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He says why do you break God's commandment because of your tradition and he gives them an example of a tradition that they had

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That violated God's standards. Here it is What's Jesus principle? What does he stand on as a foundational?

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He says this God said honor your father and your mother and Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death.

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Jesus takes two laws of God I would love to unpack those part of what I wanted to do was just go back to the

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Old Testament and Unpack all those I thought this is easy enough to understand Jesus takes two principles from Scripture two laws of God He says here's what

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God says. That's his standard But you say whoever tells his father or mother whatever benefit you might have received for me as a gift committed to the temple

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He does not have to honor his father in This way you've nullified you have voided the

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Word of God. So what was the law? Well the law of God Contrary to how we run things today required

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Families children to care for their elderly parents to care for the needs of their parents

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People ask the question today how as a as a society in a culture How do we solve the problem of the poor?

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Let me tell you how you don't solve the problem of the poor in society and culture. You don't rob Individual citizens of their property and their money to pay for somebody else.

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You don't take money through coercion From people to pay for people who are hurting

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If we're gonna care for the needs of the poor in our culture and society We have to do it in the way that actually loves our neighbors all of our neighbors

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And that means that we do it with a heart that is giving we do it by the way through the church

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We do it individually. We don't do it through coercion Caveat here. This is why it is imperative for us to actually give in local bodies as a church

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When the church stops giving we can't actually create the kind of social programs that we need to care for the needs of the poor

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So when we stop being faithful in the offering as a church We can't actually care for the needs of the poor and when the church stopped caring for the needs of the poor

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Who steps in as mother? the state So that was just a side issue

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But vitally important to get when we stop giving as a church the state steps in and says

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I'll take the role of the church I'll do it. But watch in God's law. They have a way to care for the needs of the poor

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They have a way to care for the needs of elderly aging parents And God said you must do this honor your father and your mother you have to care for those needs

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These people had set up a tradition that said this listen closely I've already made an oath

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You see Oh, no, Jesus. You don't understand. This is super spiritual It's very pious You have to understand

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God says you shall not lie and what I did Jesus Please understand is

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I made an oath to God and this is my this is my pious oath to God My oath was this yeah

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God commands me to make sure that I have all this stuff for my parents and I utilize it for their benefit and I honor My father my mother but Jesus you must understand

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I've made an oath to God that I've committed all my belongings to God So you see

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I have a hard time With the rest of your law God because I've already committed my stuff to the Lord which means

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I'm honoring God even above my parents Oh the piety Right, it's so pious and so so God honoring so righteous, right that I've I've now taken this stuff that belongs

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Maybe did my parents. I mean God who's more important who's more important you are my parents Right, so I I dedicated my stuff

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God to you. And so mom and dad. I'm sorry stuff's dedicated to the Lord and to his temple and So Jesus sees right through that Ridiculous perverse way of thinking and he says no

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No, you have voided God's Word for the sake of your tradition You've created a tradition that says that you can actually commit your stuff that God says is committed to this person

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You can commit it over here. And therefore you have no obligation God says you're violating God's command to honor your father and your mother

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Because of your tradition you've voided God's Word God says this and you say that So what was the standard for Jesus?

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It was the Word of God now catch this. This is vitally important to get he could have because he's the

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Lord of glory He could have because he's Yahweh He could have appealed to his own authority which he does at times

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Appeal to his own authority and just say the word But in this case when he's dealing as a man as a rabbi with their tradition, what does he teach us?

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What's the supreme revelation that we stand on is it confessions

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No, is it traditions? No, is it a teaching of your pastor?

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No It's the Word of the Living God that's supreme over all matters

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If you want to know something is true You looked at God's Word if there are conflicting voices in the world

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It's the Word of God that sets up the standard not the other voice no matter what style of costume and clothing

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It's wearing what kind of silly hats no matter what kind of respect or accolades it might have behind it

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It's the Word of God that is always Supreme and when the Messiah is confronted with a tradition that violates

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God's law the Messiah stands on God's Word And he says this watch simple as this people say how do you resolve the conflict of all the competing religious voices?

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How do you solve the conflict of all the spiritually conflicting things Jesus settles it like this ready?

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God says you say God says

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You say you make void God's voice because of your word and your tradition

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You're wrong, and he doesn't just say they're wrong He says that God rightly prophesied about you

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And what does God say about a person that looks like they are honoring God with their lips?

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But their hearts are far from him. He says this in Isaiah Jesus says hypocrite Pretender hoopa

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Crete. It's an actor We Talked about it before in the

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Greek world of the plays hoopa Crete was an actor. It was obvious They were acting on stage.

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It wasn't the makeup and all the special effects I mean I went to Broadway when

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I was in high school on a I was a thespian thespian and Loved we went on trips to New York.

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I went to Broadway and Just passionate about that kind of stuff and we went to plays where you know

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Les Mis and guys and dolls and you know the special effects And it's just I couldn't believe what

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I was seeing on stage in front of me, and that was 20 years ago, right? It was just amazing what you could do, but in this day.

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There is no there's no microphones. There's no sound system, right? You work really hard at creating this this this

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Catharsis this feeling of like this is real. It's really happening It's especially difficult when the people coming up on stage the actors the hoop

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I Crete days are wearing these obvious masks It's obvious and act.

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It's obviously an actor. It's just a it's just a mask on your face. Not really that person

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It's obvious that you're not the person you're pretending to be everything happening right downstage is acting.

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It's all pretend and Jesus says to them Because their tradition violating

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God's Word he says hoop. I Crete You actor

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You pretender you're faking he says Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said this people honors me with their lips

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But their heart is far from me. They worship me in vain teaching as doctrines human commands

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Watch what he says you're honoring God with all your piety You're on a honoring

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God with all your religious speaking you're honoring God with all this tradition that seems so seeped in Jesus So seeped in God and religious language all that honoring with your heart far from God watch is vain

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Worship, you're not even worshiping God Why do it

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Why do I pretend to be Christian why pretend to worship God why act this out?

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There's no use Jesus takes everybody's legs off every man -made religious system has got nothing

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Nothing with Jesus. He says this I don't want it. I Don't want it.

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Don't do it. Don't pretend You on the street corner the one who's praying

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So that people see you pray You got your reward.

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I hope you enjoyed your reward You who's giving so that other people know that you're giving?

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I hope that you enjoyed your reward because God's not rewarding you Those of you who are fasting and doing these religious things in front of people so that people see you and give you praise

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Enjoy your praise because you get none from God So Jesus takes away every reason a person who's a hypocrite would ever want to follow him and here in Jesus says

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Your laws you've set up Honor God with your lips think about it. Think about how religious that sounds and righteous

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God have dedicated all my stuff to you Mom and dad can't have it because it belongs to you God You're more important to me than they are and God says you violated

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God's law You honor me with your lips your tradition has honored me with your lips, but your heart is far from me

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That's false worship now think about this if Our confession is right

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If it's true Westminster and London Baptist What is man's primary purpose?

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to glorify God to enjoy him forever if if the central reason that God creates his image bearers in the world is

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So that they bring glory to God and they enjoy him forever Then this cuts the heart of our very existence

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God says this This is vain worship what you were made for.

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It's vanity. It's not real. It's worthless When what when it contradicts my word and That's the heart of this whole section here

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But I want to next week speak about the consequences a little more But I want to get you to the heart of all of this

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It's not the one spot that Jesus uses this as a standard It is the standard from Scripture and it applies to every area of life quickly

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You're in Matthew 15 moved to Matthew chapter 7 verse 24 Matthew 7 verse 24

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Famous scene from the Lord Jesus is powerful It's so powerful and there's no way to exhaust it in one sermon,

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I can't I wish I could I can't do it But there's so much in many ways this actually applies

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Jesus says therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock the rain fell

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The rivers rose and the winds blew and pounded that house yet.

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It didn't collapse Because his foundation was on the rock But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn't act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand

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The rain fell the rivers rose the winds blew and pounded that house and it collapsed

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It collapsed with a great crash When Jesus had finished saying these things the crowds were astonished at his teaching because here it is

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He was teaching them like one who had authority and not like their scribes

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Here's the point Jesus says after Indicting false teachers and false prophets right before this

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He says Hearing these words and acting on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock when you had to build in this

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Day, you couldn't do it willy -nilly Cavalier you had to be cautious you had to think you had to invest yourself

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You know, you might come during a certain time of year where you look at a place and you're like, this is an amazing plane

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Everything's flat and smooth. It looks really good Right, there's it just looks like a perfect place to build and you don't contemplate you don't invest and you just decide

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I want a house plop it up. And so you throw the house up you erect it get it going and there it is

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Everyone who lives there knows the area it's flat because at a certain time of year the rain and the floods

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Sweep through that area. You didn't think about it. You didn't invest also If you wanted to have a house that stood through the storm, you couldn't just plop it down You had to be contemplative you had to actually dig deep

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Deep You couldn't just make a quick decision. You had to think Contemplate dig deep build upon something that was sturdy get down to the rock

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So your house stood and Jesus says all of life boils down to this You're either gonna be a wise one or a fool

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You're either gonna build your house on the rock or sand you're either gonna weather the storm and make it through because you're on the rock or You're gonna end in desolation.

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Jesus says all of life comes down to that. You're gonna hear the word You're gonna act on them and be a person who's wise on a rock

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Are you gonna be a fool who ends in desolation? Which one are you? Side note here vitally important to get in a room like this

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Do you notice what Jesus says everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them? There's an element to this that has

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Everything to do with this room right now Because guess what you're under the hearing of his word right now and So in this room, there are there are two kinds of people according to Jesus right now in this very room

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There are those who are wise and there are those who are fools. That's for this room in This room right now.

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There are wise ones and there are fools Which one are you? Are you the one that builds your life on the rock or either one that builds it on the sand

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Jesus says building your life on the rock is Building them upon him upon his word

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But you note What happened as soon as Jesus speaks this way? He speaks in a way that I can't and you can't if I came in this room right now think about the audacity the audacity of Jesus here if it weren't true if I came in this room right now

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And I said everybody brothers and sisters your whole life boils down to this you're either gonna build your life upon me and my word and Be a wise person or you're all gonna be a bunch of fools

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You build your life upon Jeff Durbin You better have me out of here on rails

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Quickly because that is audacity it is pompous. It is haughty and arrogant and wrong

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I don't have that authority. The only authority I have as a pastor is Derivative authority based upon scripture and the scriptures are above me

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Who can speak like this but Yahweh and the amazing thing is is they caught it, right?

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He speaks and they go my goodness. He speaks like one having what? Authority and not like the scribes because of course in this day

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You've got people that know the Word of God. They know that's the supreme authority But they've also got people who are these little under authorities that have their own

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Authority and they would appeal to authority based upon rabbi So -and -so rabbi so -and -so and then this tradition over here says this so if they wanted to bolster their teaching and argument what they do

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They said well because rabbi so -and -so says Because because this teaching over here says because this says notice what

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Jesus does He cuts it all out and he says this two kinds of people two kinds of foundations two destinations

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And he says and here's the central aspect of it me I Am and they caught it

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Instantly, it didn't sound like anybody else Jesus appeals to himself as the ultimate authority as the final resting place of all disputes of all question of all wisdom and that by the way is what

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Paul says in Colossians 2 in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge it's in Jesus and This is a powerful thing, you know many of you guys know

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That I spent my life in martial arts and That was my my passion my whole life

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I grew up in Holland started in judo and then moved to Japan and I did two different martial arts systems in Japan was beat up really well in Japan and got back to the

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States and ended up by God's grace getting one of the best coaches on the planet and I Competed for a long time and I earned certificates and and my degrees in the martial arts and it works like that in martial arts

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By the way, you gotta be really cautious If you're ever thinking about joining a martial arts school, you can't just go to any school and say let's sign up Why because you need to know if this person has?

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Authority to be teaching what they're teaching you can't just walk into a martial arts school and say

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I'm gonna sign up and just learn some great stuff because the truth is It's a good chance you won't in martial arts.

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It really matters who your master is who your rabbi is I remember that Goodness gracious, maybe close to 20 years ago

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I owned my own martial arts school had like 300 families a very successful martial arts program

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We had high quality stuff. My students were going to national tournaments and winning first place we brought 20 students once to Minnesota and And they all won first place at the national championships all my students so we were known for super high quality martial arts and one day

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This family had signed up and they spent some time at our school and he comes me

33:58

I have an important proposition for you sensei and he said so I want to talk to you about I said, okay

34:04

And so I sat down with him. He said so here's what I'd like to do. I'd like to pay you I'd like to pay you to purchase your name to open a karate school

34:14

I like to buy Jeff Durbin's name to put in front of karate for my karate school

34:20

Now the unusual thing was he was offering me tens of thousands of dollars right there to cut me a check for my name

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To put at the front of his karate school because at the time that really it meant something I'd worked hard for that and it really did it meant something at the time.

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So he was gonna pay me for it And he says So I'd like to do this really really soon. And so my question to him was this

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I said you want to buy my name? And put it on your school. I said I wasn't aware that you were a martial artist

34:48

And he said oh, I'm not I was teaching his son at the time who was like 12 and I said well

34:53

Who's gonna who's gonna teach at the school? And he said well, we'll find an instructor instructor

34:58

I said, what are you planning on? What are you planning on doing this? He said He said at two weeks we already have a lease signed

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So he wanted to give me money to purchase my name why so he could say when people walked in he could say on the

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Authority of Jeff Durbin and his system and style we are teaching and in the martial arts

35:20

It works like that. It really does if you were to ask me Jeff. How do I know what you're doing is legit?

35:25

I would say come over here and look at my certificates. This is my grandmaster. This is my instructor You know that I know what

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I'm doing because of my masters because they say Now it works that way in the world, right?

35:40

People often do that even in academia they'll say well because this scholar says and then this scholar says

35:45

Because this scientist says and this scientist says that's how the world works. We appeal based upon authority over here but Jesus Completely violates what is common to humans in that he doesn't appeal to anybody

36:02

But his own authority and they caught it instantly Now what's amazing about the

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Word of God throughout the Bible you see this standard and operation the word Listen the authority of God is never it never needs to be defended in Scripture It's just stated when

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God tells somebody to do something It's based upon his own supreme authority

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He's the ultimate Jesus says the same when the Apostles are bringing something to the people of God.

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Listen closely They are arguing Assuming God is the ultimate and they stand on his word as a supreme authority

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And they don't try to argue from some other point to get to that. They stand on this the authority of God himself

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Jesus said in John 17 17 thy word is truth

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John 17 17, you'll never forget it now John 17 17 17 17

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Got it 17 17 thy word is truth and the word in the

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Greek there that Jesus appeals to Was the word for the plumb line for the standard?

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Now this is really important to get we today can get apps on Our phone that we can take with us anywhere and these apps have these levelers on them where you can hold them up To something to see if it's right if it's true, you can hold it this way.

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Is it right? Is it true? It becomes the standard where you know if something is Actually, right.

37:46

Is it actually a 90 degree angle? Is it straight? Is it perfectly straight? Well in the ancient times they had plumb lines they had things they would use to dangle down and hold to see if something was actually right and true and We still do use these today in some context where there's more rudimentary tools

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I know people that build homes in Admissions in Mexico still sometimes use the plumb line as the standard

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I've heard people doing that sort of a thing and that plumb line hangs down and that becomes the standard

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It's the right angle and if you're building something and you're trying to hold it up to see is it straight?

38:27

Is it right you hold it up to the standard the standard operates as the ultimate in that case if your wall is off You don't go.

38:36

Hmm Well, let's bend the standard Right.

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Let's make let's make it look like it's right. So here's the standard. This is supposed to match it

38:46

We never bend it to see if it'll work. We say it's not right. How do I know because the standard says

38:53

This is right. This is true. You bend this To it to make sure that it's right with it.

39:03

I Have a great story I am gonna tell it Candy my wife she has

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She's well -known she has notoriety in my home Notoriety we all know this about candy when putting something up on the wall could be a picture or you're putting up Curtains or something candy will always look at it and say it's crooked

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Without fail it's always crooked always crooked no matter what anybody does.

39:35

It's always crooked So we've always told candy we think you're a little cockeyed Something's wrong because what

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I will do is I will take The leveler and I will always make sure before she comes to see it that I've got the leveler working

39:52

And so it's perfectly according to science Right and true.

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This is the standard not your eyes This and I'll hold it up and I'll check it 20 times and without fail.

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I'll go All right, go ahead and look at it and she'll walk up to it and I know it before it comes out of her mouth

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She'll say it's crooked Every time and one time she asked me to do this amazing task of putting this entire

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Bible verse Out on the wall near the ceiling It was a long verse and it was be still and know that I'm God's good thing to wake up to in the morning

40:29

And to see as a family built be still and know that I'm God and this was like Individual letters I had to get up there and I went up there and it took me about four or five hours

40:38

Because I knew she's coming and She's gonna say it's crooked no matter what and so I got up there and every single one.

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I'm like level level Level level level level level and what do you think she said when she came out and saw it?

40:58

It's crooked She's like you messed it up, babe, you messed it up and there's no going back

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It's still there by the way in my house, but you can't see it because it's covered in paint You'd never know it's there all my hard work four hours of my life.

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I'll never ever get back But here's what happened The way sometimes the shadows would come into the house along the edge of the thing

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It would sometimes maybe look a little off But I knew according to science it was right and when candy would come or we'd have guests come into the house

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Every time she did the house tour she'd walk people in this our living room, and it's our happy family over here here's my son sleeps or we sleep over there and over there is the verse that my husband messed up on the wall and No matter what the house tour always had somewhere in it, and there's the verse my husband destroyed on the wall

41:49

And it's amazing because even when I went up to it And I showed right right right right true true true.

41:57

She's like it's crooked And every time somebody would come into the house. She would wield her influence

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She would be like you see that on the wall It's crooked right and everybody would look at it and be like I actually say it's crooked

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Right and they would be like under pressure Yeah, I guess it does a little look a little crooked

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But I knew that according to science It wasn't crooked. It's the point of letting you guys into my home for a moment

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Was to teach you about the standard We might have different interpretations of something we might see it a certain way our

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Experiences might have actually put us into a place where we accept certain things or don't accept other things

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But the point is is that what operates as the standard according to Jesus is John 17 17 thy word is

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Truth you want to know if something is true you want to know if it's right Then you go to the standard and you gather around that standard and you take what you say and what you do and you see if it matches the

43:03

Standard itself. It's not your experiences It's not our preferences

43:10

It's not what we're comfortable with. It's what does the Word of God say?

43:17

It's interesting people have often used against the Christian faith That Christians don't agree on everything and so therefore it can't be true

43:26

But of course that goes for anything in a fallen world of fallible people. There's disagreements widespread that argument doesn't work

43:35

For example in the scientific community. Is there a consensus on everything? Absolutely, not

43:42

No consensus. How about in Roman Catholicism? They often like to pretend as a part of their apologetic that they are the one true church from the very beginning

43:52

Absolutely, not true. The church knew nothing about a Pope over this entire communion for the first few centuries of the church

44:00

They did not see the mass in that way. They didn't view justification or the authority of God in that way

44:06

But they often pretend as part of their apologetic that they're this one church monolithic the true church

44:12

And do you know how many schisms there are and disagreements within the

44:17

Roman Communion Popes disagreeing with Popes Roman Catholics today disagreeing as to whether or not the man today who occupies that seed is actually a

44:27

Pope and Here's the difference if you were to take 20

44:34

Christians and put them into 20 rooms each with the same

44:39

Bible 20 Christians into 20 rooms each with the same Bible and they come out with different interpretations

44:49

Where's the variable brothers and sisters in the Bible or in the Christians in the

44:56

Christians? So as my friend Douglas Wilson says that is a fantastic argument differing opinions amongst

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Christians it's a fantastic argument against trusting people and Not against trusting the

45:12

Bible So what do we do? We get around the Word of God as the standard.

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That's the resting place now What do we see in the Bible in terms of how people approach this in the scriptures?

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I want to give you some stuff to hang on to to show you this as the consistent theme and then we're going to end for today go to your

45:30

Bible to Acts 17 10 Acts 17 10 Look at this example of the

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Bible actually giving praise to this practice the

45:43

Apostles Jesus says the Word of God Contradicts your tradition.

45:48

You're voiding God's Word through your tradition in the book of Acts 17 verse 10

45:55

As soon as it was night the brothers and sisters sent Paul and Silas away to Berea Upon arrival they went into the synagogue of the

46:02

Jews the people here were of more noble Character than those in Thessalonica Since they received the word with eagerness and examined the scriptures daily

46:14

To see if these things were so note the

46:20

Bible God's Word Gives a compliment to these

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Christians in Berea. What's it say? They were more noble Minded than the believers in Thessalonica because when they received these things, what did they do?

46:35

They received it with eagerness and they examined the scriptures Daily to see if what they were being told was the truth

46:46

That's the Berean Christians the ones who actually are noble -minded that are eager to hear the

46:52

Word of God But when they receive it, they examine the claim to see if it matches up with what

46:58

God says And what's God saying? Don't do that respect the authority of Paul.

47:05

He's an apostle for crying out loud Right the Apostle Paul comes in I would venture to guess that if the

47:11

Apostle Paul walked through those doors right now, we would all be freaking out And if he came up here to teach we might actually be taking some of our guards down why it's

47:21

Paul the Apostle But what these Berean Christians did is they said that's fantastic.

47:28

Let me see if that's true If it matches up with the standard of what is actually true another example from the

47:35

Old Testament is the standard Deuteronomy chapter 13 verses 1 through 4 What does it say about how you know if someone's a false prophet?

47:44

Now this is vitally important to get as well when you minister to those who were in the cults whether it's the Watchtower Whether it's those

47:52

Jehovah's Witnesses or whether it's Mormons Latter -day Saints Rosicrucians whether it's dealing with David Koresh and Waco whether it's dealing with Christian science whether it's dealing with any cult

48:05

Deuteronomy 13 1 through 4 God says to his people this if a prophet comes

48:11

Even if he has signs and wonders it looks like legitimate ministry. It looks like it's from God.

48:18

It looks true They seem so right. It seems like the hand of God is with this man or this woman

48:26

God says this if they lead you after other gods if They lead you after other gods

48:37

That's how you know Well, what do you mean lead me after another God?

48:42

How would I know? Here's what God has done. He's revealed himself and condescended to his people.

48:49

He's spoken to them He's told them who he is and God says this I've revealed myself to you

48:56

If someone comes even if it looks legitimate, but they lead you after a different God other than what

49:02

I've revealed to you That's how you know It's a false prophet Another example of that standard being used in the

49:08

Old Testament is Isaiah 8 verse 20 It says this to the law and to the testimony

49:15

If they do not speak according to this word it is because they have no light in them

49:21

No light God's Word is the standard and I'll give you the supreme example from the

49:26

Apostle Paul in the New Testament I want you to see it with your own eyes go to act.

49:31

Sorry 1st Corinthians Chapter 4 verse 6 and as you get there,

49:37

I want to remind you of one of the pillars of the Reformation. What was it? sola

49:45

Scriptura and what's that mean? The scriptures alone are the only infallible without error rule of faith for the church

49:57

The scriptures now that watch the Reformers never said that Confessions aren't helpful that creeds aren't helpful

50:04

They just said that the only infallible without error guide for the church is

50:10

God's supreme word And that's it So sola scriptura was being heralded by these

50:17

Christians against Rome in that day. It wasn't just about Rome, but that was their central enemy at the time

50:27

I want you to see the same thing being taught by Paul in the first century 1st

50:34

Corinthians 4 I'll start in verse 3 No, sorry verse 5

50:43

So don't judge anything prematurely before the Lord comes who will both bring to light what is hidden in darkness and Reveal the intentions of the hearts and then praise will come to each one from God Now brothers and sisters.

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I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit

51:05

So that you might may learn from us the meaning of the saying nothing

51:12

Do -not -go -beyond that which is written Now you'll notice in some of your Bibles depending on the kind of translation

51:19

It is you may not have the words the meaning of the saying do not go beyond what is written

51:27

Now the way that it's constructed in the Greek It's constructed with an article that says that it was pointing to a saying which means this

51:38

The Apostle Paul says here in this text that there was a tradition a saying a

51:45

Creed in the first century that was going about among the church

51:50

What was the saying? Don't go beyond that which is written

51:56

Don't go beyond that which is written. It was an early first century

52:01

Christian creed that sounds an awful lot lot like what? sola

52:09

Scriptura the saying do not go beyond that which is written is identical essentially to what the

52:16

Reformers were saying sola Scriptura do not go beyond what is written there.

52:23

It is taught in first Corinthians chapter 4 verse 6

52:29

I'm going to end today And we're going to hook up to this next week in terms of applying it now

52:35

What's it mean to me here and now in my family and my personal relationships? And how do

52:40

I go into conflict with the world? I want you to hear something that's vitally important for us to get yes

52:46

The Reformation still matters Yes, Rome still perverts the gospel. Yes, they still need

52:52

Christ Rome teaches in the Catechism of the

52:57

Catholic Church They teach that the gospel was handed down in two ways one

53:05

Orally via tradition and in writing so what they said was listen closely there are two divine sacred deposits one was the

53:18

Word of God and the other is sacred tradition two deposits the

53:25

Word of God sacred tradition sound familiar Sound awfully similar to the conflict that was happening between Jesus and the tradition of his day in Matthew 15 and Mark 7 but Rome says that there's apostolic succession

53:43

We have the Word of God, which is God's Holy Word, but we also have apostolic succession and we have the

53:51

Gospel God's Word committed orally via tradition and in writing

53:58

Continued an apostolic succession the Catechism says this in order that the full and living gospel might always be preserved in the church

54:05

The apostles left bishops as their successors. They gave them their own position of teaching authority

54:11

Indeed the apostolic preaching which is expressed in a special way in the inspired books was to be preserved

54:18

In a continuous line of succession to the end of time The living this living transmission accomplished in the

54:26

Holy Spirit Is called tradition since it is distinct from sacred scripture though closely connected to it

54:34

Though through tradition the church in her doctrine life and worship

54:40

Perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that she herself is all that she believes

54:49

Next here's what they also say sacred tradition and Sacred scripture then are bound closely together and Communicate one with the other for both of them flowing out of the same divine

55:06

Wellspring come together in some fashion to form one thing and move towards the same goal.

55:12

Do you catch that? Do you hear that? What they say they just identified their sacred tradition the teachings of their apostles their

55:22

Prophets their teachers they said that it comes from the same what divine wellspring.

55:28

What's that mean? That means that they are equating their Tradition in Roman Catholicism with the very words of sacred scripture

55:37

It's the same The same now watch here's the problem you can't have two ultimates working together

55:49

When you have the Word of God and another ultimate that other ultimate will end up eating up the

55:56

Word of God Some of you guys came To Christ out of the Latter -day

56:01

Saints You know what I'm talking about Your life was disrupted by the teachings of a false teacher a false prophet

56:10

And what did you have sitting in your home the whole time? You had the Word of God on your shelf you had the

56:17

Word of God oftentimes Connected to the Book of Mormon the Pearl of Great Price and Doctrines and Covenants.

56:23

You had the Word of God in your possession People ask the question someone asked it to me on Thursday at the

56:29

Mormon temple They said how come Mormons can't see the truth when they've got the

56:34

Word of God right there in their home and the answer is

56:40

Because anywhere the Word of God says something that contradicts the words of this tradition over here It's the Word of God that gets tossed out

56:47

Not the other way around you see that's what sacred tradition does that's what a divine deposit does it does what it did in Matthew 15 and Mark 7 to the

56:57

Jews in Jesus day it Takes the Word of God it makes it void because it becomes the ultimate you cannot have two

57:06

Ultimates running alongside one another One is going to end up eating the other one up.

57:12

Jesus says it like this you can't serve two masters You can't do it now whether it's

57:20

Mormonism Where you've got the Book of Mormon the teachings of the Apostles and prophets of Mormonism or whether it's

57:27

Charles Taze Russell and Judge Rutherford or whether it is Roman Catholicism It is all the same problem.

57:34

God says he has the authority. This is the ultimate This is the standard. This is the truth your teaching your claim your tradition must

57:46

Be tested by this Not the Word of God the other way around Now listen closely to this it gets worse

57:55

It gets worse The magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the

58:03

Word of God whether it is in written form or in the form of tradition Has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the church alone

58:12

Its authority in this matter is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ This means that the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter the bishop of Rome Did you catch that?

58:24

It's crazy You got God's Word Sacred tradition

58:29

Roman Catholic tradition ready, so you get these two ultimates now, but guess what now a third?

58:36

What's the third? The third is this well who tells me what the right? Interpretation of the

58:41

Bible and the tradition is and the answer to that is the teaching magisterium of the church Which Pope do

58:47

I listen to? Popes from the 6th century 8th century 12th century could they contradict one another and the answer from Rome is this the church

58:56

Has the divine authority and responsibility ready to interpret the

59:01

Word of God and sacred tradition For you with authority now, who's the ultimate authority?

59:08

It ain't the Bible. It ain't tradition It's now the teaching magisterium of the church and whatever they say

59:16

You can't have more than one ultimate authority you can't serve two masters

59:22

It's the problem of every cult every tradition that contradicts God's Word If they say they're the ultimate they end up eating up the

59:29

Word of God Now this is the last thing for today something for you to think of I wanted to have it on record today

59:35

So you guys can go back and listen to it? We went to the Word of God giving you some examples from from Jesus From history

59:45

But here's a couple just quotes for you guys in terms of how the early church operate what they think

59:51

Well, the truth is is early Christianity has moments being really really solid and some moments read origin.

59:59

Whoo where stuff's getting a little crazy and Every time they moved away from the Word of God they started to miss

01:00:06

But we also have moments in the history of the fathers of some amazing things

01:00:14

In the contract and the conflict with Arianism Gregory of Nicaea makes that point explicit in his letter to Eustacius this is from master seminary the

01:00:27

Arians claim that their tradition or custom did not allow for the Trinitarian position You catch that?

01:00:33

Arius of Alexandria the bishop who's teaching Arianism Jesus is like a second

01:00:38

God not the Trinity. How are they arguing? They were arguing for the sake of tradition.

01:00:44

They said well some of these guys over here have said this and Gregory responded with the following What then is our reply we do not think that it is right to make their prevailing custom the law and rule of sound doctrine their law and Rule of sound doctrine for if custom is to avail for proof of soundness.

01:01:06

We too surely may advance our prevailing custom So what's he saying if you want to do custom or tradition versus tradition?

01:01:14

Yeah you're gonna find heretics that agree with you and you're gonna pull out that tradition and we're gonna pull from our tradition over here and We'll have a battling dueling of customs

01:01:23

And here's what Gregory says Surely may advance our prevailing custom and if they reject this we are surely not bound to follow theirs

01:01:33

Let's here it is. Let the inspired Scripture then be our umpire and the vote of truth will surely be given to those whose dogmas are

01:01:43

Afound to agree with the divine words That's what he says Irenaeus of Lions 202 ad

01:01:53

We have learned from none others the plan of our salvation than from those through whom the gospel has come down to us

01:02:00

Which they did at one time proclaim in public and at a later period by the will of God handed down to us in the scriptures to be the ground and pillar of our faith

01:02:15

Tertullian of Carthage 160 to 235 Defending the truth of the

01:02:20

Trinity against the heretic Praxeus It will be our your duty. However to adduce your proofs out of the scriptures as Plainly as we do when we prove that he has made his word a son to himself all the scriptures that has the clear existence of a distinction in the persons of the

01:02:38

Trinity and indeed furnish us with our rule of faith We could go on with Hippolytus Dionysius of Alexandria Athanasius of Alexandria Cyril of Jerusalem John Chrysostom Augustine of Hippo we can go on and on where this

01:02:55

Christians early on when they were in conflict when they were put in a fight They went to the

01:03:00

Word of God as the rule of faith, which by the way is which makes those creeds so delicious It's what makes them so good when the creeds

01:03:11

Formulated from Scripture match the Word of God. That's why the Christians said here it is

01:03:18

Uphold it confess it herald it why because it comes from the scriptures not from tradition

01:03:25

Not from our customs not from our preferences They said it's because it's the Word of God that speaks to these things

01:03:32

Every time in history you put Christians in a fight and they come around the Word of God. They get it, right?

01:03:39

They get it, right. How do you know they get it, right? Because you have this the

01:03:46

Word of God to measure it Practical implication, what's it mean? it's no secret that we believe at Apologia Church that Jesus is going to win the world and Sanctify us individually and as a church as churches.

01:03:59

We're gonna grow closer and closer together in communion closer and closer together in Doctrine why because we're shaped around the

01:04:08

Word of God. I Do believe that we'll get closer and closer

01:04:23

To the truth together as the body of Christ universally So what's our duty? Our duty is to surround the

01:04:30

Word of God Our duty is to bend our traditions and our customs even our acts of piety

01:04:36

So the Word of God is the standard you see I'm so optimistic That I believe that one day

01:04:45

Postmillennialism be the predominant view of the church again Yay, I'm so optimistic that I believe that one day there'll be no more

01:04:52

Presbyterians Just kidding You know,

01:04:58

I love you guys No, but the truth is I do believe based on what the Word of God says about conflict with one another that even in our disagreements

01:05:07

Say with my heroes that are Presbyterian or or whatever. It looks like as the Word of God Becomes more and more the standard for us in all of our life and living and practice all of our

01:05:19

Non -essential disagreements are not going to be the kinds of things that destroy us

01:05:26

Why because God's Word is the standard? Not our preferences not what we feel.

01:05:32

It's God's Word. It changes us. It shapes us. What's our duty? Then our duty is as the people of God is to allow

01:05:39

Whatever our customs are and traditions are to let those things be submissive to the Word of the

01:05:44

Living God Our duty is to surround the Word of God whether we are reformed

01:05:50

Anglicans whether we are Presbyterians or reformed Baptist to get around the Word of God and say what does it say and to love one another in the process and to be changed and shaped by it?

01:06:02

Our duty is as Christians is not to allow our traditions and preferences and customs to be something to destroy one another and Contradict the

01:06:13

Word of God great example. I got to share it with you because it's a powerful testimony Because you might say well, how does this apply to us?

01:06:21

today Does it really impact us today? Yeah, because you can have traditions and standards of piety and customs

01:06:28

Maybe you don't think like you have to wash your hands before meals as an act of like piety But it goes other ways

01:06:34

You might have house rules today That contradict the Word of God Right, there's a difference between the law of God and a law in the house, right?

01:06:45

You can have laws in the house that are not laws of God, but they're just ways you order your house But it's possible your law of God.

01:06:50

Sorry your law in the house does violate God's law So what do you do get rid of it? You might have like a

01:06:57

Circle of people you fellowship with right you all kind of look the same you all kind of have the same

01:07:03

Practices and customs and maybe you didn't think you were violating God's law or making void God's law but it's possible you have a tradition and a custom that you have together in your little community that Does actually violate

01:07:16

God's law when you employ it. So what do you do with it? Get rid of it, right? Don't worship

01:07:22

God in vain. Check this out. We get interesting emails at apologia all the time

01:07:30

And this one got sent to me this week And I just thought I had to share it with you because it does go Quite well if we're talking about Hey guys, honest question for apologia.

01:07:41

I Love what you preach. I've watched the debates of the Mormons the abortion discussions, etc.

01:07:47

Very well done Honestly, it's all perfectly said 100 % biblical

01:07:53

That's what makes this question. So huge for me I've never seen anything like it.

01:07:59

Please allow me to ask you in the most love and respect. I hope you don't ignore me We haven't

01:08:05

I Hope you don't ignore me. I don't mean to be offensive at all How can you be like I said so theologically sound yet look just like the world in?

01:08:16

Fact more so than even some of the world Because some places won't let you work with tattoos showing piercings and most of the public doesn't look like that, etc

01:08:26

I mean my nursing program wouldn't accept that kind of look yet. We are called to the highest calling as Christians We are

01:08:33

Christ's representatives His letter when Jesus or angels were described in the Bible.

01:08:38

I know physical experience appearances deemed not spiritual in America today They were always in white clothing

01:08:45

Not emo punk dark or anything like that Those styles are from Satan it goes on but here's the point

01:08:59

I wanted to read that because you might say well, that's a maybe that's a bigger issue Big ticket item with Rome.

01:09:05

Maybe that's like a big church related item. No. No. No, no, it hits us all where it counts

01:09:12

Here's a person that says your theology is sound. I love your witnessing to Mormon You're reaching Mormons of the gospel.

01:09:17

You're saving babies. Praise God for that. Hey, I don't like your pants. I Really got to ask you this question, right?

01:09:26

I mean everything you do is so theologically sound I love your evangelism. You're changing the world with the gospel, but you know what?

01:09:32

I don't like I don't like your punk look Right. I mean all the angels are wearing white

01:09:38

Are we supposed to wear white? Do you see the point this does hit us because we start watch getting all these traditions and embracing these customs and we make that The form of godliness that's godliness when you look like this when you dress like that I'll tell you what

01:09:55

There are some places in Papua New Guinea if you show up in a shirt and a tie and a suit

01:10:02

You might get killed Right because different cultures and customs respond differently to those things there have been people who even attacked us as a church

01:10:13

Continue to attack us as a church. Why because they have a perceived Idea of what we look like we should turn the camera around Someday to let everyone know what we actually look like right people say man is a solid church, but Jeff Durbin Can't put my finger on him right looks like a hipster.

01:10:34

I guess it now I emo like the neck the next the next the next hit piece is gonna say

01:10:40

Jeff Durbin emo pastor of Apologia Church Right, but here's the point it does affect us today, and what we ought to do is this repent

01:10:52

Repent somebody's faithfulness is not based upon their Correspondence or conformity to your customs and traditions that you've set up as a standard alongside the

01:11:03

Bible it counts So how do we respond to this today well?

01:11:10

Ask yourself the question that they ought to have asked here when Jesus took down their tradition Do you have any customs or traditions?

01:11:18

that Actually contradict God's law Have you set up standards in your own personal life as a believer for other people in the church

01:11:27

So for example watch if you see other believers in church not doing something that you do in your home or in your circle or When you see believers in church doing something that you happen to disagree with Do you do you respond?

01:11:50

Sort of like in violence Do you respond in hatred and judgment have you taken a divine tradition of your own and Actually voided

01:12:00

God's Word do you take your customs and traditions, and do you use those like a sword against other

01:12:06

Christians? Because that would be something you had to repent of That's something you have to confess

01:12:12

It's nothing wrong with having house rules and personal preferences, but the moment you start using those

01:12:18

To take the heads off of other Christians you're in sin, and you honor God with your lips