Jeff Durbin: The Abiding Relevance Of God's Law

Apologia Studios

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

01:29

If you want to open your Bibles to Romans chapter three,

01:36

Romans chapter three, inspired letter from the apostle Paul explaining the gospel from bottom to top, systematically, the good news.

01:48

Romans chapter three, continuing our series on core doctrine.

01:59

We're gonna start in verse 19. Romans 3, 19, hear now the word of the living and the true

02:09

God. Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may be held accountable to God.

02:24

For by works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

02:32

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

02:47

For there is no distinction for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom

03:01

God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith.

03:06

This was to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance, he had passed over former sins.

03:13

It was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

03:23

Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded by what kind of law? By a law of works?

03:30

No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.

03:39

Or is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not the God of the Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.

03:54

Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means.

04:02

On the contrary, we establish the law. Thus far as the reading of God's holy and inspired word, let's praise

04:09

God's people. God, we recognize that in our hands right now is your divine revelation.

04:21

It's your speech. You've condescended, God. You've spoken. You speak through all of creation and you've spoken especially in your son, father.

04:32

Lord, we hold in our hands, Lord, your divine speech, your revelation.

04:39

This is you speaking. We recognize, God, the gift that this is. So we pray,

04:44

God, please move mightily in this church and in this room today. Through your word and spirit, speak.

04:54

Lord, renew our minds. Heal us of what's broken. Speak to the hearts of your people,

04:59

Lord, in the way that only you can. Minister to your saints. Heal, bless, grow us, encourage us, challenge us.

05:08

We pray, God, that you would speak mightily by your spirit today. Help us to understand the goodness and abiding validity of your law.

05:17

And Lord, let that be light to the world in so many ways coming through this church body.

05:24

We pray that you would allow your people to forget the preacher, that they would remember what they've learned from you.

05:29

We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. So we're in our core doctrine series right now.

05:37

And again, we built a foundation talking about first God, then we talked about who is

05:43

Jesus and is Jesus truly the Messiah? Then we talked about the gospel of the kingdom and in the heart of the gospel, justification by faith alone in Christ alone, apart from any works.

05:55

And what's interesting is that as we move beyond that, we have to ask the next question because it is the very question that the apostle

06:03

Paul answers as he vigorously and rigorously defends justification through faith alone in Christ alone, apart from works of law.

06:14

He just said here in a number of ways that the law can justify nobody.

06:20

What does the law do? It exposes our sin. What's God gonna do with the law? He's gonna shut the mouth of the entire world through what?

06:29

His law. That law of God will be used on the day of judgment to expose the sinfulness of fallen humanity.

06:38

That law of God is abiding, it is relevant. And as a matter of fact, I would just do this at the beginning to whet your appetites.

06:45

If we take the modern perspective, not historic perspective, but the modern perspective regarding the law of God, that it is somehow irrelevant or defunct to the modern

06:56

Christian today under new covenants, then we have no means by which to preach the gospel. And what

07:02

I mean by that is the gospel is good news to what kind of people? Righteous people or sinful people?

07:10

It is good news to sinful people, why? Because it is good news when we hear about our plight that we are separated from a holy

07:19

God, that we have violated his law and his standards, that we have, according to Paul here, fallen short of the glory of God.

07:26

We've missed the mark. It is good news to learn that God's character is holy, righteous, and good.

07:33

His standards are high and holy and righteous and just. We have violated them and it is good news to learn that though we deserve punishment for the violation of God's law,

07:44

God in the person of Jesus Christ condescends, takes on human flesh to live the obedient law -keeping life in perfection that none of us ever have.

07:56

And that he actually dies to take the penalty of the law, which is death in the place of his people.

08:03

And then he conquers that death, our greatest enemy, by rising from the dead. And that he is ascended and seated on his throne, interceding for the people he atones for.

08:14

It is a once -for -all sacrifice and it is only good news to fallen people who understand that they have violated

08:23

God's law and his standards. If the law of God is irrelevant and defunct in the new covenant, then there's nothing to impress upon the lost in terms of their need for Jesus.

08:36

The law of God is so useful to expose our fallenness and to actually demonstrate the character and holiness of God.

08:45

So that's the beginning of this discussion. And Paul, as we learn from Pastor James, on numerous occasions defends that salvation, justification, reconciliation and peace with God is only a gift of God through God's grace and mercy found in Jesus Christ.

09:05

It cannot be found in you. The law of God can never be used to justify you and I. We have already violated it.

09:12

We violate it today. We fall short of God's glory even as his saints, amen? The law of God can never be used to establish a righteous position before a holy

09:22

God because he is holy, holy, holy. And we are the rebels.

09:28

We are outside of Christ, the haters of God, the enemies of God. And that law of God, if it is put in front of us, it shows our own failures and our own rebellion.

09:40

The law of God will never be used to justify a single person. There is only one, only one person in the history of humanity that has kept the law of God perfectly, and that is

09:52

God himself in the person of Jesus Christ. So you need a foreign righteousness to stand before a holy

09:58

God. You need to be hiding in Jesus and in his perfection and law keeping.

10:04

You need his death on your behalf. And that is only through faith in Jesus. The law has nothing to do with our right standing before God.

10:13

We should flee from the idea of God judging us according to our works. In James Epistle, James chapter two, it's a separate discussion from the apostle

10:23

Paul here in James 2 .10. He says, whoever shall keep the whole law, you keep it all, which is an impossibility and stumble in one point,

10:34

James says. You're guilty of all of it. The law is a unit.

10:40

It's a complete thing. If you kept the entire thing your entire life in the last five minutes of your life, had a lustful thought, a hateful murderous thought, you are a guilty person before God.

10:52

He is far too holy to have that kind of sin in his presence. And that's why you need Jesus. That's why you and I need the gift of eternal life.

10:59

And the apostle Paul here in Romans chapter three explains the law can be used to justify nobody.

11:05

So what has God done? He's given us Jesus and this gift of grace and salvation and peace with God.

11:12

How does he do so? He gives us Christ. He puts them up as a propitiation, a diversion of wrath in our place, a full satisfaction of the wrath of God in our place so that God can remain just because he's not ignoring my sinful rebellious life.

11:30

He's actually addressing my sinful rebellious life because he's given it to Jesus. And he is the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus because in Jesus, I have a perfect substitute, a representative who has a perfect life and he takes my death and that is only through faith.

11:48

And then Paul lands on some of the most beautiful words I love in Romans chapter three.

11:54

He says, verse 28, listen closely. We hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

12:11

Hold on to this. Don't ever lose it. When somebody says, where does the Bible teach justification by faith apart from works?

12:18

I would say in a number of places, but how about a single statement from Paul? We maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

12:30

And so he makes a distinction. Faith over here by itself apart from the works of the law and cannot justify you.

12:36

You are declared righteous before a holy God through faith and through faith alone apart from the works of the law, which leads the apostle

12:45

Paul to inevitably have to, have to address the issue.

12:51

Okay, if the law can't justify us, if it exposes our sinfulness, if our condition, our plight is so broken that God had to provide

13:01

Jesus as a propitiation for me, then what does the law have to do with me now? What do I have to do with it?

13:08

You know, many evangelicals today, I'm sure you've talked to them, maybe you are one of them, have thought that because we are justified by faith alone in Christ alone to the glory of God alone, that that means somehow that the law of God is now irrelevant to me.

13:23

It's not necessary for me to pour over the scriptures and meditate upon God's law and be like that tree planted by rivers of water.

13:32

It's not necessary for me to do that because I'm saved, baby. I know Jesus. I'm righteous in Jesus.

13:39

Nothing matters anymore. That law of God isn't relevant to me anymore as a Christian. I'm in the new covenant.

13:44

Many Christians, professing Christians today believe that. They do, you've heard it.

13:50

I'm saved. The law of God's irrelevant. As a matter of fact, there's entire theologies today popular in some circles.

13:58

That teach that we don't need to reflect on those laws any longer. They're not relevant to the Christian or to the world anymore.

14:06

Theology is like new covenant theology, a popular view today where they'll say, no, you don't need to even look at those anymore.

14:12

As a matter of fact, I was sitting down many, many years ago with probably one of the leading teachers of new covenant theology in his living room.

14:22

And he was aware of my ministry to the local Latter -day Saints.

14:28

And one of the things he said to me was he said, well, Jeff, I love your ministry to the Mormons. He said, what's some of the ways that you engage with them to start a conversation?

14:36

And so I said, well, I wanna talk about God. I wanna talk about the gospel and really focus on the core issues. And I'm gonna talk about how we know that Joseph Smith and Brigham Young and Joseph Fielding Smith and Orson Pratt and Orson Hyde and all the rest of them are false prophets and apostles because God says in Deuteronomy 13 and Deuteronomy 18, and I gave the list of verses.

14:58

And he said, Jeff, I really personally wouldn't go to those verses, which was surprising to me.

15:03

He's a good man. He loves Jesus and he's a good pastor. And so I said, well, why wouldn't you go to those verses?

15:09

He said, well, because we're in the new covenant now and those verses are really irrelevant to us now. I wouldn't go to those tests of a prophet from Deuteronomy because those words are no longer relevant under the new covenants.

15:22

It's a different way of unhitching from the Old Testament than someone like Andy Stanley would teach today.

15:29

But many Christians would treat the Old Testament and the law of God in that way. Those standards of justice were maybe good for their time, for the body politic of Israel, but they're no longer relevant for us today.

15:41

Those judicial standards, those standards for the preservation of life and property and those laws, they're not relevant today under the new covenant.

15:49

Many believe that. Paul addresses this in the first century when he just gave this passionate and powerful defense of faith alone, apart from the works of the law, justifying

16:05

God's people, he lands on the discussion. He says, verse 31, do we then overthrow the law by this faith?

16:17

I mean, doesn't that make sense to us? Paul, you just told us that this is gift, not wage.

16:26

It's not earned. It's all of grace. As a matter of fact, you know that I love this.

16:32

He stutters in the text as a gift by his grace, as a gift gift.

16:39

That's what kind of redemption this is. It's a gift gift. He just told me that it's a gift gift, that it's all through faith, that law can justify nobody.

16:48

And now what are you saying? You're saying that we, because of this gift, because we are justified, that now we don't overthrow it, that we actually uphold the law of God?

17:02

Paul addresses immediately, immediately, the issue of the law of God. And what law is he talking about?

17:11

The well -known law, the law that they had and they understood. He's not talking about simply ceremonial works of the law here.

17:19

Some people have tried to say that. Oh, that's ceremonial works of the law. We're not justified by those. I'm sorry,

17:26

God is not gonna shut the mouth of the pagan world because they didn't obey God's ceremonial laws.

17:34

That's incoherent. It's the law of God. It is this entire package of justice and righteousness and holiness and morality.

17:45

And Paul says it's gonna shut the world up. And so this law that's gonna shut the world up that can't justify you because we're saved is the very law that we uphold.

17:56

We do not overthrow it. I couldn't be clearer. How can we get this so wrong in our day?

18:05

It's not because of the text. It's not that the text is muddy or unclear in some way.

18:11

I mean, what does Paul say here when he asks the question to who he knows is asking the question?

18:17

Do we then, because it's all of faith and apart from works, overthrow the law by this faith?

18:25

And what's he say? By no means. There's actually an exclamation point, which

18:33

I know is irrelevant, Pastor James. There's no exclamation points in the Greek. I was just seeing if he was listening.

18:39

I was pointing out something that's really irrelevant in the Greek. But at least in the English Standard Version, there's an exclamation point because it is that strong a force of language.

18:50

By no means. How dare we? How dare we profess the faith of the apostles in the

18:57

New Testament, say that we believe in this new covenant, that we are justified by faith. How dare we then say, in opposition to the

19:05

Apostle Paul, that the law of God now is overthrown and now irrelevant. Paul says, by no means.

19:13

Actually, we uphold the law. Which law? The same law that can't justify you.

19:21

Couldn't be clearer in my mind. But what is the Christian view of the law?

19:28

We will die on this hill. We will die on this hill.

19:35

The law will justify nobody. It is faith alone in Jesus Christ. It is all a gift because of God's love and his mercy.

19:41

It is all to his glory. If you try to add even one work of the law to your right standing with God, you are lost.

19:49

You have abandoned grace, Galatians chapter five. You choose law or grace, wage or gift.

19:58

It is through faith alone. But at the same time, we wanna be faithful to the words of God and obedient to God.

20:07

And let's just say, if you read your Bible cover to cover, you will not see the disparaging comments regarding the law of God and his standards of justice that you will have coming out of the mouths of professing

20:17

Christians today. God speaks highly of his law, but what is the Christian view of the law? Because we're saved through faith alone in Christ alone.

20:26

What is the Christian view of the law? We know that it can't justify us.

20:33

Romans chapter three, Romans chapter four and five, the book of Galatians. We know that we can't fulfill it.

20:41

And that's why we need Christ. We've all fallen short of the glory of God. The law will justify nobody.

20:47

We know about the law from scripture that the natural man or fallen humanity is hostile to God's law.

20:56

They're not able, Paul says in the same text, they're not able to submit to the law of God.

21:03

They're not even able to do it. They're not capable of doing it because they are hostile to God. They are the natural man. We know that the law of God exposes our sin.

21:14

Amen? That's one of the reasons we run from it, right? It's one of the reasons we avoid some of those chapters in the law of God because it's not comfortable to look into that text and see it staring right back at you.

21:30

It exposes who we are, exposes our failure as fathers and sons, husbands, wives, mothers, daughters, exposes who we really are.

21:38

The law shows it to us. My good friend, you know, I always bring this up in this point, my good friend

21:43

Ray Comfort is the master at this. When he's on the boardwalk or on the beach and he says to somebody, let me ask if you're a good person, have you ever loyed?

21:53

And the person says, yes, I've told a lie. And he says, what?

21:58

He says, what do you call someone that has told a lie? And he says, well, I'm a liar. Right, have you ever stolen anything irrespective of its value?

22:07

And most people say, yeah, at some point in my life I've taken something that didn't belong to me. What do you call someone that steals something?

22:13

A thief. Have you ever looked at a woman with lust? He says, and then he explains what

22:19

Jesus says, that if you look at a woman with lust in your heart, you've committed it already. You're an adulterer at heart. So he says on three points right now, you're a lying, thieving, adulterer.

22:28

How are you gonna do before the throne of God? The law does that. It exposes my need for Jesus.

22:34

Highlight again, if we abandon the law, we have no message to preach to a dying world.

22:42

If we lose the law, we lose the power to expose our rebellion and our need to flee to that cross.

22:51

And so that's what the law does. It exposes our sin. What else about the law? We know that God will use it to judge the world.

22:58

When people stand on that final day before the judgment seat of God, it will be

23:05

God's own righteous standards and holiness on display. It will be his law.

23:12

People will be cast into outer darkness. They will be separated from God for all eternity.

23:17

For what? For their violation of God's holy law and standards.

23:24

That's what the law does. There's just some ways that we look at the law of God. Now, where does that lead many

23:34

Christians, many modern Christians to speak about God's law? Because admittedly, what did we just hear about the law?

23:43

It shows you God's character. It shows you how bad you are. It shows you how lost you are. It shows you your need for Jesus.

23:49

It exposes the darkness that we hide in our hearts and our minds. It shows us and reminds us of our rebellion.

23:57

And so because of that, and we recognize the scripture does speak about the law of God as a curse upon a fallen people.

24:05

It has that kind of relationship. If you are hostile and rebellious to God, that law will not save you and you can't accomplish it.

24:12

It is like a curse. Scripture does speak about it in that category like that. It tends to lead

24:18

Christians, professing Christians today, to speak about the law of God like it is somehow bad or oppressive.

24:29

I have to tell you, it's difficult for me at times as a

24:34

Christian, but as a minister of the gospel, to oftentimes hear Christian leaders speak so poorly about the law of God in the public square.

24:44

Or Christian leaders speak about the law of God in ways as though they were somehow embarrassed by God's standards.

24:52

One of the worst things to do is apologize for something God has said. Brothers and sisters, let me just go on the record here.

25:00

Please let us never be found to be apologizing for anything out of the mouth of God.

25:08

He's the standard of righteousness and wisdom. And we have no right as mere creatures to judge

25:16

God's own words. And we will see even today, pastors and leaders speaking in the public square about God's own standards or his standards of justice in the

25:25

Old Testament in ways that are disparaging, like somehow saying, isn't it great now in the new covenant we're outside of that old, terrible, difficult, oppressive law of God.

25:37

You'll have at times even people mocking the idea of God's standards of victim rights in the

25:44

Old Testament. How do you righteously punish a sin that is also a crime?

25:50

And you'll oftentimes have professing Christians today speaking about, say, the death penalty for rape or enslaving and kidnapping or murder, saying, well, that's

26:00

Old Testament. Thank God we are no longer under that. As a matter of fact, you even have the modern

26:06

Pope, the modern Pope condemning the God of the

26:12

Bible, saying that the death penalty today is unjust.

26:20

That's the vicar of Christ on earth, right? That's the representative of Jesus on earth today, speaking about the

26:28

God of the Bible in a disparaging way, saying that God is unjust.

26:33

Because do you know who told us about the death penalty? God. How many times?

26:39

Over and over and over and over again. If you take the life of another human being, an image bearer of God, in an unjustified manner, if you take their life, you forfeit your right to live because that is something that cannot be repaid.

26:56

If somebody steals, that can be restored. It can be fixed, it can be repaid.

27:03

There are ways to reconcile with certain sins that are also crimes. But what you cannot reconcile or pay back is the taking of an image bearer's life.

27:13

And so God says his standard is life for life. And he also says in regards to that kind of penalty, your eye shall not pity.

27:27

And what's that mean? You are to be more concerned with justice for the victims than you are the emotionalism wrapped around taking the life of a person who's taken someone else's life.

27:42

And that's the way that God speaks. And oftentimes we complain about God's standards today, but the scriptures don't speak about God's law in the way that we often do today.

27:52

And let me give you some encouraging words here, okay? Encouraging word. The way that many Christians speak about the law of God today, in the modern era, in the

28:00

West that we live, very different, very, very different than how Christians have historically spoke about the law of God in the past.

28:08

Is it with perfection in the past? Was there ever a utopia of theology? No, but we can thank God for many of our

28:15

Christian ancestors who spoke so highly about the law of God and made sure that it was the light in their community, the standard of justice that they would hold to.

28:25

But Christians today will say things like, the law of God is bad, the law of God is oppressive, or they'll even go so far as to say things like, it's irrelevant and defunct.

28:35

I debated Andy Stanley years ago on the unbelievable radio broadcast.

28:40

We really were centering around what is the foundation of knowledge? How do we know anything at all? What's the standard that Christians should bring to the world around us?

28:49

Should we use shifting standards or neutral standards? How do we defend the Christian faith?

28:55

And so if you haven't seen that, I encourage you to go see it. I wish we had more time. But one of the things that was clear at that time was that Andy Stanley was promoting very heavily that we need to unhitch from the

29:07

Old Testament revelation. And he said a lot of things in that short period of time. But one of the things that he did say was that God was doing something new and that Old Testament law is no longer useful for us today as Christians or something that we bring to the world.

29:24

And he did say at one point that he was creating a slide for his sermon, but he decided not to actually put it on the slide because he knew that picture would be used forever against him.

29:34

But he went ahead and said it, and it was thou shalt not obey the 10 Commandments.

29:41

Really? Christians today not obeying the 10

29:47

Commandments? So we can have other gods before God? We can make things that look like God and worship them?

29:56

We can engage in theft and adultery and covetousness and murder? I mean, that's the kind of shameful thing that we'll hear coming out of the mouths of popular preachers today.

30:07

Things like, this is irrelevant. Thou shalt not obey the 10 Commandments. Also, the problem with how we see the law of God today is that it leads many professing

30:19

Christians to inconsistency and arbitrariness. Just sort of whatever they like.

30:25

It's a mixed bag. There's certain things I like from the law of God. I'll go over and pluck those out, but I wanna ignore the others.

30:33

So for example, oftentimes, Christians will say, well, I'm saved. The law justifies nobody.

30:38

I don't want that oppressive, irrelevant law anymore, but I sure do love the law against stealing.

30:44

Like if somebody's gonna break into my house at night, I love what God's law says about stealing. We'll keep the thou shalt not steal.

30:51

We like that one, right? Or there is even law of God standards in terms of if somebody does break into your house and is a mortal threat to you and your family, you are allowed to defend your family and your property and your life, and you are not guilty for taking the life of that person in a self -defense manner.

31:09

People will say, I love that. I love that standard. I can protect my home and my family against an invader.

31:16

I can protect my loved ones, and that is not, in fact, murder. It is self -defense.

31:21

That's a good law. Or people will say, I love the law regarding no lying because I want people who do business with me and contracts with me to keep their word.

31:33

So we'll keep that law. And then they'll say things like, you know, I really do love that law of God regarding no sex with animals.

31:42

We'll keep that, right? That's in there too. Or intimate relationships with very close family members.

31:49

We like that. That's God's standard. But, but, I don't really think that we need the property rights laws, the judicial standards, or the death penalty for rape or murder.

32:01

I'm pretty sure God's not concerned with that any longer under the new covenant. We'll talk about the law in that way.

32:08

Or somebody may say, we've already covered this briefly, but I'm gonna keep driving this home for us.

32:15

As members of this body, people will say, we don't need it. We don't need it.

32:21

We just need to preach the gospel. We don't need to talk about that law of God stuff.

32:27

It's irrelevant now in our new covenant. We just need as Christians to be about one thing.

32:35

And that is to preach the gospel, which I'm gonna say I'm all for preaching the gospel.

32:40

But how is the gospel meaningful without the law of God exposing our need for the cross?

32:49

How serious is God about the violation of his law? He killed his son to save us from the punishment.

33:01

That's how serious God is about the violation of his law. And if that cross and that death of Jesus is still relevant today, then

33:11

God's concern for his law is abiding and relevant today. If the cross is relevant today, the law of God is relevant today.

33:21

Make sense? Yes? Praise God. Now, people will even go so far as to say with the law of God today under the new covenant, we don't really need our government or nation to obey the law of God.

33:37

Now that might've sounded cute about 40 years ago. It might've sounded cute and sort of maybe in a kind of righteous way, maybe a little bit compromising, like we love

33:46

Jesus. This is our little thing. We're not necessarily saying that you need to obey King Jesus. We're not really saying that.

33:53

We don't really need our government to recognize the lordship and kingship of Jesus. We don't really need our government to recognize or uphold

34:01

God's law and standards. And I wanna ask the question, it might've been cute before, but how are we doing today?

34:08

How are we doing today? Isn't it amazing in the moment that we're in, this wild and crazy ride that we are all on right now, and it is wild and crazy.

34:21

Isn't it amazing that actually every fundamental issue of conflict is ultimately coming down to what we have said for many years.

34:33

Are you ready for the question? You already know it's coming. Three words, by what?

34:42

Standard. Susie knows it, okay. By what standard? By what standard?

34:50

You've got the opinions, the personal opinions of one candidate versus the personal opinions of another candidate.

34:58

But in reality, you're also talking about the personal opinions and arbitrary decisions of entire parties and entire communities.

35:06

And have you noticed that it's all shifting all the time? Have you noticed that the standards of even one candidate have changed from 2016?

35:14

As an example, as an example, one candidate, and this is, by the way, don't even dare call this a political sermon.

35:24

This is a sermon about morality. This is a sermon about the law of God and God's judicial standards.

35:30

This is a sermon about what's right in God's eyes. One candidate, Donald Trump, when he adopted the pro -life position, he actually ran a thread right through consistency.

35:45

And what did he say in a national interview in 2016? He adopted the position, okay, here's the position

35:51

I'm being told is right, human from fertilization, all human life is sacred, all human life is worthy of protection.

35:58

And so he said, okay, that's a human being from fertilization. All humans deserve to be equally protected. Great, national interview.

36:05

All right, if you're the pro -life guy, you're gonna become president. Does that mean that if a woman willfully takes life for a child, that she needs to be punished?

36:13

And what did he say in 2016? What did he say? He said there have to be some kind of punishment,

36:20

I guess, because it's murder, right? Isn't that our position? And after he finished that interview, what happened?

36:28

The pro -life establishment came in and smacked his hand and said, actually, that's not our position.

36:33

We don't want equal protection for the human being in the womb. We tell people that, but that's not our position. Please stop saying we want equal protection.

36:42

So then he shifts to a position where he's mostly pro -life, with maybe some exceptions, to where now he's actually publicly come out and said that we need to win the election so we can't win it on abortion.

36:56

We need to take a more centrist position. We need to have exceptions. And even in the last week, he shifted from, we need to have more time for abortion, to he started losing some of his base.

37:07

And what'd they say? Your position's becoming radical. And so he had to come back out and he had to fix his words and restore what he was saying.

37:15

Here's the problem. It's shifting sands. By what standard? Is it your personal opinion?

37:22

Is it the opinion of your current culture and the people around you? Give you another example in history.

37:28

You know this one very well. There was a time in this nation where we engaged in one of the most wicked enterprises that God hates.

37:42

We engaged as a nation in an enterprise of kidnapping and enslaving our black brothers and sisters.

37:50

And this was something that was a moral mess that our nation inherited. Many people in the

37:56

South and the North, there were actually at one point more abolitionist societies in the 1830s in the

38:02

South than there were in the North. That movement grew. Christians began to speak against it. But it was adopted by the culture.

38:09

It was allowed by law. Kidnapping and enslaving other image bearers of God, treating them as though they were less human or not quite the image of God.

38:20

And that was accepted. People said, well, that's fine so far as it goes. We can maintain this and keep it going.

38:27

And how did it end? It ended ultimately from the beginning from Christians speaking what to the culture?

38:36

What? Their own personal distaste of slavery, that they personally found it uncomfortable, that they had a particular community that didn't agree and they'd like to be heard, they'd like to have their day in court.

38:48

No, those abolitionist societies and those Christians that spoke out against the issue of slavery, my great, great, great grandfather was one of them.

38:58

He was a pastor over Congress. He was an abolitionist and he condemned the Pennsylvania legislature for the issue of slavery and demanded an immediate removal of this wickedness.

39:09

They used the law of God. Christians spoke to their culture and said, that's an image bearer of God.

39:18

That is my brother and my sister. They are made in God's image. And God says in his law that if you engage in man -stealing, kidnapping and enslaving, not only is it immoral and sinful, but God actually says you deserve capital punishment for it.

39:38

How serious is God about the issue of kidnapping and enslaving? He says you deserve capital punishment for engaging in it.

39:47

And so the question is, is if we base our standards in society on what is popular, then

39:56

Demas always wins. What is Demas?

40:02

It's in the word democracy, the people. And whatever the people think at that time will be the ethical standard of the day.

40:11

One day slavery will be righteous. The next day, maybe not. Maybe in some cultures it'll be right to round up and exterminate

40:21

Jewish people. And that's righteous because it's allowed by law. It's accepted by the community.

40:26

Maybe that will be the standard. If Demas rules, then the God Demas will always have shifting standards.

40:34

And so Dr. Greg Bonson, you'll notice in your soul food for today, Dr. Greg Bonson said this.

40:43

If we will not have inscripturated morality from God as our sociopolitical standard, we have no principle, no principle to protect us from those who wish to play

40:56

God. And brothers and sisters, aren't we seeing that today? What's your argument, by the way?

41:03

Think about it for a second, come with me now. What is your argument against the gender bending that's going on outside of us right now?

41:13

What's your argument against it? You could take one position or methodology.

41:19

You can say something like, well, hey, in human history, we've always seen these roles this way.

41:26

We've had a binary, we've had a male, we've had a female. We've always done it this way. History and tradition has always brought us this way.

41:33

And you can argue in that way. It seems the most natural. We see it globally. There's a binary, there's a father, there's a mother, and that's how we do this.

41:42

And so it's more human tradition and everyone sort of does this. To which the unbeliever today, the guy with a beard and a skirt says,

41:50

I don't like that tradition. It doesn't feel right to me. As a matter of fact,

41:56

I feel like a woman. And you can't take away what I feel like, you're taking away my truth.

42:04

And so I reject your story, I reject your tradition, and I say that you're wrong.

42:10

And what I'll do is I'll grow my community larger than your community that loves that tradition.

42:17

And our community will swallow up your community and will actually mandate a month where you will be required to celebrate all of my perverse choices.

42:28

As a matter of fact, if you speak against what I'm saying about my gender, I'll have you thrown behind bars, which is happening by the way.

42:40

You see, when that community grows large enough, if it is Demas, the people that determines what is right and holy and good, then

42:48

Demas always shifts changes and Demas will destroy you. So the question that Dr.

42:56

Bonson was trying to get at is Christians, brothers and sisters, if we will not use God's law and his word and standards in that sphere out there, we have nothing to fight back with.

43:08

You know my answer, and hopefully yours, my answer to the evil out there isn't supposed to be my opinion.

43:18

It's not supposed to be my feelings. It's not supposed to be my personal likes and dislikes.

43:24

My answer out there in the public square in every sphere, our answer should always be, thus saith the

43:32

Lord. The answer is God says. This is from the very mouth of God.

43:38

Why are we so afraid to say that today? God says, by what standard?

43:45

God says. How come it's only male and female? Why do we have to have the binary? Oh, that's because when the incarnate

43:52

God walked among us, he said, have you not read that from the beginning he made them male and female?

44:03

That's my answer. My answer is God has spoken. And by the way, here's the interesting thing about it.

44:09

Obviously, it's not just that God has spoken with his words.

44:16

God is also having it shouted from their genitals. You can laugh at that, it's true.

44:24

It's shouting. That story of creation is screaming at them, but we need the word of God to be brought to bear against the rebellious person.

44:36

They can't run from their gender. They can't run from what their body is shouting to them.

44:42

And so we need to bring the word of God to bear in every category of life. So the question is always, by what?

44:52

By what standard? How do you and I know with certainty?

45:00

How do you know? So let's challenge you with it, ready? Homosexuality, homosexual lust.

45:08

Right now, I throw that out at you, you're gonna see it out there all the time. I gotta tell you, just on a personal level, we just, of course, you know, our adoption was final.

45:18

All glory to God, praise God for that. So we wanted to have a little bit of a celebration to mark it, and so we went on a little quick trip that we had planned for when the adoption decree was over.

45:28

Just me and my new Durban 2 .0 family. Really, it is.

45:36

And it was amazing. So we were out and about, and on day two,

45:43

Candy and I, like, at the same time looked at each other and said, we're gonna have to sit

45:49

August down to talk to him. And she's like, yeah, we are. And the reason why is because we were being bombarded, bombarded with homosexual couples holding hands, walking around, kissing one another, all in front of my four -year -old.

46:14

And so now we're having to have serious conversations as parents, and of course, we've had to have these conversations before with our other kids, but it was so everywhere.

46:26

We thought we have to sit him down now to explain because he has to see this and think, that's strange.

46:32

That's not supposed to go together. It's everywhere. It's something we have to face.

46:40

And what is the standard that we'll use? How do you speak against it? What standard are you gonna use to speak against that evil?

46:49

What does the scripture say? By the way, look, scripture always has a balance. We can't fall off a cliff.

46:54

We are to love our enemies, amen? Love our enemies. And we treat the sinner in front of us, the lost person in front of us, like we are looking into our own eyes.

47:03

I am only in Christ because of God's grace and mercy and forgiveness because of work he did, amen?

47:08

You believe that, yes? So we look at the lost person with compassion and with mercy, recognizing that I'm looking into the eyes of my former self in many ways, and God has saved me, and so we're passionate about grace and love and mercy for the lost, but you heard the psalm that Tim read.

47:26

And what does that psalm say? That I look at those who violate your law with what?

47:32

Did you hear it? What was the word? Disgust. If you have the law of God, there are things in the world that are disgusting, amen?

47:45

They are disgusting, and they ought to disgust us, but they can only disgust us if we have a meaningful standard by which to measure something as foul or loathsome or abominable or as disgusting.

47:57

And so by what standard do you condemn those things? How do you respond to the evil out there?

48:02

By what standard? How do you navigate that as a mother or father?

48:08

How do you navigate that in the world and your business? By what standard? What do you use? So how does the

48:14

Bible speak about God's law? Paul says that because of faith in Jesus, we don't void the law, we don't abandon it.

48:26

By no means, actually, we uphold the law. But what does the Bible say about God's law? Run real quick to Deuteronomy chapter four with me.

48:36

Look at how one of the ways God speaks about the goodness of his law. You've heard this many times.

48:44

Hopefully you have it recorded in your own mind and heart. Where to go? And think about this in light of Christian leaders today apologizing for God's law, apologizing for God's standards of justice.

49:01

In Deuteronomy chapter four, verse five, the text says, see,

49:07

I have taught you statutes and rules as the Lord my God commanded me that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.

49:15

Keep them and do them for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who when they hear all these statutes will say, surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people for what great nation is there that has a

49:32

God so near to it as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call upon him and what great nation is there that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today.

49:45

And I ask you the question as you hear that, I ask you this question, does that sound like the law of God is bad or in some way oppressive to the people of God?

49:57

No, that actually sounds quite the opposite. That sounds like God is telling his people, here is this amazing gift that I am giving to you.

50:06

Look at this perfect law and these standards of justice. Look at this preservation of life.

50:12

Look at this goodness. Look at this liberty you will have now in the borders of Israel.

50:17

And now compare it to the pagan nations around you and their shifting standards and their oppressive and violent standards of justice.

50:27

Look at around there and now look at this just law. The law of God, God says here, was supposed to be something that was like light to the surrounding nations that they would see it and go, wow, what kind of God is that?

50:43

So near to his people and look at these standards and this justice that is so righteous and so good.

50:53

That's how God speaks about his law. It was seen, how? As a blessing, as good, as righteous.

51:01

If you would, let's go ahead and read through Psalm 119 together. Only one or two nerds laughed at that.

51:13

Psalm 119. Let's start where Tim brought us today into 137. 119, 137.

51:26

How does God's law? How does God's word speak about his law?

51:34

Let's see if it sounds like the modern evangelical today. Let's see if it sounds like those who want to unhitch from God's oppressive law.

51:44

Righteous are you, O Lord, and right are your rules. You have appointed your testimonies in righteousness and in all faithfulness.

51:55

My zeal consumes me because my foes forget your words. Your promise is well tried and your servant loves it.

52:02

I am small and despised, yet I do not forget your precepts. Your righteousness is righteous forever forever and your law is what?

52:16

True. Trouble and anguish have found me out, but your commandments are my delights.

52:25

Your testimonies are righteous forever. For how long? Forever. Give me understanding that I might live.

52:36

God, help me to understand this amazing law, your precepts, your standards. Give me understanding so that I might live.

52:43

With my whole heart, I cry, answer me, O Lord. I will keep your statutes.

52:49

I call to you, save me that I may observe your testimonies. I rise before dawn and cry for help,

52:56

I hope in your words. My eyes are awake before the watches of the night that I may meditate on your promise.

53:02

Hear my voice according to your steadfast love. O Lord, according to your justice, give me life.

53:10

Verse 152. Long have I known from your testimonies that you have founded them.

53:16

For how long? Forever. Look on my affliction and deliver me for I do not forget your law.

53:27

Verse 155. Salvation is far from the wicked for they do not seek your statutes.

53:35

Great is your mercy, O Lord. Give me life according to your rules. Many are my persecutors and my adversaries, but I do not swerve from your testimonies.

53:46

I look at the faithless with disgust because they do not keep your commands.

53:53

Consider how I love your precepts. Give me life according to your steadfast love.

53:59

Here it is. The sum of your word is truth and every one of your righteous rules endures.

54:08

What? Forever. That's how God's word speaks about God's law.

54:17

What did you learn so far? At least three points, right? Hopefully at least three points. One, the apostle

54:22

Paul says in explaining the gospel, it's apart from any work of law. It's through faith alone. It's because of Jesus. It's all a gift gift.

54:29

And actually because of that, we don't overthrow the law. We uphold the law.

54:35

Which one? The law that cannot justify you. The law that can't save you. The law that exposes your sin.

54:40

The law that you have fallen short of. But now in Christ, because we're justified, we actually uphold this law.

54:46

What else did we learn? We learned that God says in his word that the law that he gave to his people, Israel, was supposed to be a gift to his people.

54:56

It was supposed to be a gift that the world would look in it and say, that's incredible. That's just, that's amazing.

55:04

By the way, quick word here. Isn't it interesting? Don't you think? Isn't it interesting that this great experiment that we call

55:12

America, the United States of America, started because of the preaching of the

55:17

New England pulpits? This great experiment, the laws that we have, are a tradition that came to us because of a

55:24

Christian heritage, the Covenanters, the Huguenots, the New England pulpit preaching the gospel.

55:30

You know the story. England called the War for Independence, the Presbyterian Revolt. They knew exactly where this was coming from.

55:37

This was theologically driven. And the world is trying to get into America from that time till now going, gotta get there.

55:46

Gotta get to that place. Why? Because that's that place of freedom. That's that place where justice is supposed to be blinds.

55:57

And there's equal weights and measures. That's that place where my personal rights and property are protected, where I have freedom to speak and to worship

56:06

God. I have freedom from oppressive and tyrannical governments that must yield to someone above them.

56:12

By the way, that light, those precepts, and that light that's come from just this nation, it's a borrowed light.

56:21

It's a borrowed light. People still say, that's a place I wanna go because there's freedom and justice and righteousness.

56:28

And we know it's hanging by a thread right now. But all of that light is borrowed light from the law of God.

56:37

Those standards that draw people to this nation, or I should really say drew people to this nation, because again, hanging by a thread.

56:45

Those standards were light where the world looked in and goes, that's light. That's freedom.

56:52

I gotta get to that place. But it was borrowed light. It was the kind of thing God's talking about in Deuteronomy four, righteous and just statutes that are supposed to drop the jaw of the onlooker going, that's good.

57:07

And so the only good that you've seen in this nation in terms of righteous standards are borrowed from Moses.

57:15

So you're welcome secularists. But scripture says that the sum of your word is truth and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.

57:27

So again, Paul says, uphold the law. Deuteronomy four says it's righteous and good.

57:32

And you just heard from Psalm 119 and we could go on for a long time in this chapter. The law of God is good.

57:40

His testimonies endure forever. His law is true. His rules endure forever.

57:46

That's just a small cursory look at what scripture says about the law of God. But the scripture says that it is abiding.

57:54

The law of God is abiding. Now, quick thing, and I'll try to go fast through this. I'm not gonna be totally comprehensive on this.

58:06

Shh, Kimmy's always down here judging me on my, I'm almost done. We're halfway there.

58:15

We are, by the way, that was my introduction, guys. You guys good with that? I don't know why you're laughing.

58:21

No, I'm just joking, okay. Not really. In what way is

58:27

God's law good and a blessing? There's different categories of God's law.

58:32

We don't have time to go over all of them. Judicial, ceremonial, moral, those sorts of things. But in what way is

58:39

God's law a gift to the world? What kind of blessings? What kind of good? How about this one, no partiality?

58:47

No partiality. How about the idea that Lady Justice is blind? How about the idea that there's supposed to be an equal scale in her hands?

58:57

How about the idea that we're not supposed to regard the face of another? That idea of no partiality, don't show personal favoritism in matters of justice is not to regard your favorite face, but to make sure that there is justice, and only justice shall you do.

59:21

That command against partiality is repeated over and over in Scripture.

59:27

No partiality. In what other ways is God's law good and a blessing? Equal weights and measures.

59:35

Not one standard for one person and a different standard for another, but equal weights and measures.

59:42

We treat everybody the same. We treat everybody the same with the very same standards. That's a gift from God's law.

59:49

It's required of God's law. It's repeated over and over and over again. The idea in God's law that justice is supposed to be blind and not emotional, very important, critically important.

01:00:05

And people are being wounded by this very fall from God's law to this very day.

01:00:12

Tomorrow in the courts, people will be ravaged by this. Victims will be destroyed by this.

01:00:18

This one aspect, this one principle of the law of God preserves victims' rights and ensures that there is actual justice in our society.

01:00:30

And that is where God says to the judges, says to the people of God, He says to them, your eye shall not pity.

01:00:40

Shall not pity who? The criminal, the criminal. We shall not be emotionally wrapped up in the criminal by saying, oh,

01:00:51

I feel so bad for them. No, scripture says it's the victim and their rights that you uphold.

01:00:57

You don't pity the criminal. The criminal must face justice.

01:01:03

That standard of blind and not emotional justice. You have people today walking the streets of our community who have engaged in some of the most wicked and heinous crimes imaginable.

01:01:24

And because of a court system that does not have concern for the victim's rights or justice, they feel sorry for the criminal and they do not actually punish them in a way that establishes justice.

01:01:39

And because of that, those people get let out, their hearts haven't been changed and they go on to do what?

01:01:47

More crimes. They victimize more people because we have a justice system that is obsessed with emotionalism instead of justice, they pity.

01:02:00

And God's word says you shall not pity when it comes to the issue of justice.

01:02:07

You protect the citizens around you, your community, you protect your children, you protect the victims and you establish justice.

01:02:14

How about the goodness of God's law regarding the preservation of human life? In so many ways.

01:02:20

Of course, the law against murder, you should not murder, that's an obvious one. But another one that we often use because it's important is the law of God regarding putting a parapet around the roof of your house.

01:02:33

And people look at that today, the modern person looks at it today and goes, I don't know why I'm even reading this.

01:02:39

We're not hanging out on the rooftops of our houses right now. And so why would I be required to put a railing around the roof of my house?

01:02:47

And it's really a principle in the law of God that you shall love and respect other image bearers of God.

01:02:55

And they hung out on the rooftops to get cool at night. And so God said, you wanna preserve human life so make sure you protect people who are guests, loved ones and visitors on your property by making sure that you preserve human life.

01:03:11

Put a rail around the roof of your house so that no one hurts themselves or falls off. The principle of preservation of life is right there.

01:03:19

And so how would we apply that today? In a number of ways. On your property, you might have a deep well.

01:03:27

Make sure that deep well is covered or somebody is protected with a fence or guardrail around it. How about another way?

01:03:34

Swimming pools. What should the first thing be that we do as Christians if we get a home and God's blessed us and we're able to put that pool there that's gonna be like 120 degrees in the summertime, really, really satisfying.

01:03:48

What's the first thing we should do when we get that pool in the backyard according to the law of God as Christians? What's the very first thing we should do?

01:03:55

Make sure that it is what? Protected and fenced on what basis? The principle in the law of God is you preserve human life in every way you can.

01:04:07

You preserve human life. Of course, the law of God is good when it comes to victims' rights, property rights, justice in the courts, the assumption of innocence, the need for multiple lines of evidence and the protection of the accused.

01:04:26

You know it's one of my favorite ones, right? So what am I gonna tell you right now? Let's see if you guys listen a lot to this.

01:04:32

What is one of my favorite laws in God's law regarding the court system when it comes to the accused?

01:04:40

Anyone know? Raise your hand if you know and you gotta yell it out. Two, okay, two to three witnesses, that's good.

01:04:47

We said that already. Two to three witnesses is independent lines, but there's another law in God's law for the courts.

01:04:53

It's for the accused, right? Now, you've got witnesses, so you've got multiple witnesses like they brought against Jesus.

01:05:02

You got multiple witnesses. How does God's law protect the person who is accused? What's that, punishing what?

01:05:11

False witnesses. What does the law of God say? It is big time, it is dramatic, and boy, would it save our court system.

01:05:19

What if tomorrow this was the standard? I bet you the court system would be cleared out of a lot.

01:05:26

If the standard tomorrow changed to God's law, it would protect so many people.

01:05:32

The standard was this. If a witness comes forward to accuse somebody in court and then the witness is found to be lying, then the witness is gonna be punished with whatever punishment the accused was accused with.

01:05:52

Think about that. Wouldn't that change things a bit? If witnesses knew, they can't just walk into a court and make up a story and tell tales out of the schoolyard about somebody because they recognize if I'm lying about this guy and it's found out that I'm lying,

01:06:09

I will get immediately the punishment that he was gonna get for my lies. Now think about that in terms of even a murder trial.

01:06:19

A murder trial. You better be sure as a witness that you saw what you said you saw and that you know what you're saying is true because if you're lying through your teeth about that accused person and you're caught lying, what's the just penalty for murder?

01:06:38

Capital punishments. You would be putting your life on the line by lying because it's actually attempted murder.

01:06:45

If you are lying to get this person executed, you are trying to kill them. And God says justice means you get what you were trying to have them endure.

01:06:56

Isn't that a good standard? You guys agree with that? All your heads better be nodding.

01:07:02

I said don't disagree with what God says, okay. That's God's standard. I love that law. I wish that was a part of our system.

01:07:12

Or how about this? This will be controversial. I've done a sermon on it.

01:07:19

I know a lot of Christian pastors today have I think a very inconsistent perspective of this when it comes to God's law, when it comes to the protection of marriage.

01:07:30

Did you know that God's law actually has standards for marriage and the covenant of marriage in terms of how someone is seen as breaking it?

01:07:42

I know many pastors today I think wrongly interpret Jesus in terms of sexual immorality to mean that unless there is actual physical sexual morality you can't get divorced.

01:07:54

Nope, sorry. That's inconsistent. Proof of that is Paul says if you're abandoned by somebody in marriage, you're free.

01:08:01

That's not sexual immorality. So it shows there's inconsistency there. But the law of God actually has standards where if you are unfaithful in marriage it goes beyond simply sexual immorality.

01:08:14

Abandonment. If you abandon the marriage, law of God, you abandon the marriage, the person who's abandoned is free.

01:08:23

Or how about the law of God regarding actually fulfilling your marital vows as a husband to your wife if you do not provide for her and protect her if you abandon her in that way, that's also grounds, biblical grounds for divorce.

01:08:37

Or even physical abuse. Physical abuse according to the law of God was a way that somebody could actually freely exit the covenant because they were being abused.

01:08:49

And brothers and sisters, the law of God would heal so many people's lives. I feel truly, this has been painful to see at times, because of wrong views of the law of God, many women, good

01:09:02

Christian women in our nation, in our culture, have unfortunately endured such abuse because of pastors not understanding the law of God where the woman is literally being physically abused.

01:09:15

There's violence in the home. She's got broken bones, a black eye, a cracked cheekbone.

01:09:22

And the pastors say, has there been any sexual immorality? To which she says, no, just the broken arm.

01:09:34

And the pastors say, well, if there hasn't been any actual sexual immorality, then you need to remain married to this abuser.

01:09:44

To which I say, the law of God is good. Because the law of God actually says there are standards for marriage and there's a way to abandon the covenant in more ways than just sexual immorality.

01:09:57

The law of God is good. And so brothers and sisters, I have more to say.

01:10:05

I want to spend next week, part two, on the law of God, talking about three points.

01:10:15

And it'll be a shorter sermon. Three points. One, I want to talk about Jesus' view of the law.

01:10:25

Two, I want to talk about Paul's view of the law. And then the third point

01:10:31

I want to show us is this very important point. Are you ready for it? The New Testament assumes the abiding validity of the law of God.

01:10:43

It assumes the abiding validity of the law of God. And it even appeals to laws that most of us would think are completely irrelevant in a new covenant.

01:10:51

And it quotes them freely. It just assumes them. And so we're gonna do that next week and I'm gonna finish it with,

01:10:57

I'm just getting you ready for the sermon. And then I'm gonna finish it with something near to what we've already talked about, the gospel of the kingdom.

01:11:03

How the law of God, as a blessing to the world, was a constituent element of the promises of the kingdom of God.

01:11:10

God promised that while Christ was ruling and reigning, God's Torah, God's law, would go forth as a blessing to the world.

01:11:18

You guys ready for that next week? Yes? Bring your Bibles. Okay, resources. I'm gonna leave you today with resources because this is a vitally important subject.

01:11:25

And as a church, we need to know it. Some book recommendations. First, Buy This Standard by Dr.

01:11:34

Greg Bonson. Fantastic book, small book, not overwhelming. Buy This Standard.

01:11:40

Sell your shirt and your shoes and go buy that book. Another book you wanna get, if you wanna get to the sort of meaty, big discussion,

01:11:48

I'm sure Brad's read it probably 10 times, and that is Theonomy in Christian Ethics by Dr.

01:11:54

Greg Bonson. Theonomy in Christian Ethics by Dr. Greg Bonson. Two great books. And if you want to really dig deep into the law of God, say,

01:12:03

I wanna know it, I wanna understand it, I wanna actually do what the psalmist says, I wanna have understanding of it, then

01:12:09

I'll say what's a famous term, read Rush Duny. Right? Look at the

01:12:16

Rush Duny family over there going, yay, read Rush Duny. We have Rush Duny -ites among us.

01:12:23

So there's some book recommendations, and next week we're gonna get into the text again about Jesus, Paul, and how the

01:12:28

New Testament does this. Sound good? Any questions? Just kidding, we're not gonna do that right now.

01:12:34

Okay, let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for the gift of your word and your law. We pray that,

01:12:39

Lord, you would use this church to preach your gospel and tell people about the goodness of your law.