1 00:00:01,960 --> 00:00:06,360 So for most of my life, when it came to eating cake, there was 2 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:09,080 only one kind of cake that you actually ate, and that was white 3 00:00:09,080 --> 00:00:11,880 cake, vanilla cake. And if some, if I were to come 4 00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:14,960 to your house and you were to offer me chocolate cake, I would 5 00:00:14,960 --> 00:00:17,560 say no because I'm a Christian. And when I decided to give my 6 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:21,000 life to Jesus, I gave all satanic things up, including 7 00:00:21,240 --> 00:00:23,480 chocolate cake. How many of you guys, you're 8 00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:25,040 Satan followers and you like chocolate cake? 9 00:00:26,120 --> 00:00:27,480 OK, well, we're going to miss you. 10 00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:31,920 And that was just kind of how it was always been. 11 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:33,880 And, and I liked, I liked vanilla icing. 12 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:36,600 In fact, when I'd go to Dairy Queen, I'd be really sweet to 13 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:39,840 the people at Dairy Queen and I'd try to get them to take the 14 00:00:40,480 --> 00:00:44,600 icing off of their ice cream cakes and put it in the cookie 15 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:47,400 jar Blizzard, which is a cookie jar Blizzard. 16 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:50,080 It's not on the menu. You have to be a certain size 17 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:53,080 before they even make you aware of this special part. 18 00:00:53,480 --> 00:00:56,480 And you can get a cookie jar, which is chocolate chip cookie 19 00:00:56,480 --> 00:01:00,080 dough Blizzard and cookies and cream Blizzard. 20 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:02,440 And then you'd get the icing off the ice cream cake. 21 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:06,320 And it basically, you do this if you want your doctor to give you 22 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:09,320 cholesterol medication, this is this is how you get it. 23 00:01:09,320 --> 00:01:10,360 You're like, I've been doing this. 24 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:12,880 So you're going to have to do something because I'm not giving 25 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:14,320 this up. And there's kind of how I live 26 00:01:14,320 --> 00:01:16,440 my whole life. My mom has the world's best 27 00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:18,120 icing that she puts on her sugar cookies. 28 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:20,400 I kind of just live my whole life in this space. 29 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:24,560 But during COVID, a friend who was living in her house, he 30 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:26,000 wanted to go to his brother's wedding. 31 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:28,600 He wasn't allowed to go to the wedding because of all the COVID 32 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:30,360 stuff. So we were going to drive all 33 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:32,880 the way up to Chicago and kind of wave from outside the fence. 34 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:35,280 And so we drove up there to wave outside the fence. 35 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:38,960 And I've heard a lot of people talk about a restaurant called 36 00:01:38,960 --> 00:01:41,720 Portillo's. You guys know you've heard of 37 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:42,160 it. Yeah. 38 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:47,320 So one of you should start one here in town and or actually at 39 00:01:47,320 --> 00:01:48,840 any of our locations because I'll drive. 40 00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:52,800 I'd love to see that. So anyhow, we go through the 41 00:01:52,800 --> 00:01:54,720 drive through because you can't go into the restaurant. 42 00:01:55,120 --> 00:02:01,120 And I see on the menu that they have a shake with cake bites. 43 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:06,400 And I was like, I mean, I'll try it, you know, But I knew it was 44 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:08,360 chocolate cake. And I'm like, yeah, So we go 45 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:10,479 through Portillo's for the first time ever in my entire life. 46 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:14,120 And while I'm driving through Chicago traffic, I'm sipping on 47 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:15,880 this shake. And I'm like, that is, that is a 48 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:21,040 really tasty cake bite. And the guy in in the car said, 49 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:22,920 did you know that they make whole cakes? 50 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:28,400 So 15 minutes after I went to my first Portillo's restaurant, I 51 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:31,840 went to my second Portillo's restaurant of all time. 52 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:35,120 I was like, put it in the GPS. We're finding another one and I 53 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:37,120 bought a cake. It turned out to be a chocolate 54 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:43,640 cake and I got to be honest with you guys, I fell in love. 55 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:50,400 I have never liked a cake more than I like a Portillo's cake 56 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:51,800 and the fact that it is chocolate. 57 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:56,160 I still haven't gotten over it. And something that I knew that I 58 00:02:56,160 --> 00:03:00,000 hated my whole life, I ended up falling in love with. 59 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:04,440 We are in the middle of a sermon series called Decisions in the 60 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:06,480 Desert. Because every single one of you 61 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:08,320 are going to find yourself in the desert at some point in 62 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:10,120 time. And the decisions that you make 63 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:13,600 in the desert will define you. They will end up determining 64 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:16,800 your destiny. And for the next 4 weeks, it's 65 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:21,600 specifically the next, the next three weeks, we are going to be 66 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:25,600 exploring the parts of the Bible that you probably thought you 67 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:28,560 hated. The parts of the Bible you 68 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:32,600 actually wanted to skip over, but I think at the end of 69 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:35,280 especially the next three weeks, you're going to find out that 70 00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:38,520 you were about to fall in love with something you previously 71 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:40,040 thought. You hate it. 72 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:42,920 I think at the end of it, you're going to see yourself. 73 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:46,680 You're going to see God and you're going to see Jesus in a 74 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:50,200 whole new way. That's why I want to welcome 75 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:52,640 those of you joining at all of our different locations, those 76 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:55,400 of you who are part of the online family, and especially 77 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:58,840 those of you who are part of the crossing Inside celebrating 4 78 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:02,160 baptisms this past month. We love it. 79 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:06,280 We had an opportunity this week to hang out with some pastors 80 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:11,040 from the state of Iowa. And one of the pastors was 81 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:14,440 actually blown away by our inside ministry because he 82 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:18,320 actually spent three years in jail, got his heart completely 83 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:21,920 sold out for Jesus, went into full time ministry, went to 84 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:25,200 Bible college and has doubled the size of his church up in 85 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:28,120 Atlantic, Iowa. And he just loved the fact that 86 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:29,200 we're doing minister on the inside. 87 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:32,000 So if you're on the inside and you have a chance of getting out 88 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:34,240 one day, we know not all of you have that opportunity. 89 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:36,520 But for those of you who have a chance to get out and what you 90 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:39,840 know, God could do some pretty radical stuff through you on the 91 00:04:39,840 --> 00:04:41,040 outside. And those of you who are going 92 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:43,440 to be stuck in the inside for forever, we hate that for you, 93 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:46,680 but God and use you too. I also want to welcome those of 94 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:49,360 you joining us for the first time or the first time in a long 95 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:51,560 time. And I hope that before you 96 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:54,160 leave, you'll take advantage of either the QR code on the seat 97 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:57,560 in front of you, or you'll swing by the new here booth out in the 98 00:04:57,560 --> 00:04:58,960 lobby. Let's get into it. 99 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:05,520 God calls Moses up onto the mountain, and while he's there, 100 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:10,800 God reveals to him the law. The 1st 10 laws become 101 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:13,800 incredibly famous. We call them the 10 102 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:15,960 commandments. Here's what they are. 103 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:19,400 Exodus chapter 20. And God spoke all these words. 104 00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:22,720 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of 105 00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:25,680 the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods 106 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:27,880 before me. You shall not make for yourself 107 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:30,800 an image in the form of anything in heaven above, or on the earth 108 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:34,760 beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them 109 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:37,240 or worship them. For I the Lord your God and may 110 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:39,960 jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the 111 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:43,600 parents to the third and 4th generation of those who hate me, 112 00:05:43,840 --> 00:05:47,440 but showing love to 1000 generations of those who love Me 113 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:53,120 and keep My commandments. You shall not misuse the name of 114 00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:55,440 the Lord your God. For the Lord will not hold 115 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:58,720 anyone guiltless who misuses his name. 116 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:04,880 This is more than just a God fill in the blank or Oh my God, 117 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:08,880 this is more than that. In my house, since my family has 118 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:13,080 my DNA, we joke a lot and sometimes it's hard to know are 119 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:14,880 you messing with me or you telling the truth? 120 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:17,960 Dad, the toilet's broken. It's running, you know, and what 121 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:19,920 we used to, what we say in my house is before God. 122 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:22,600 Like you tell me the truth, hand to God. 123 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:24,160 That's taking the Lord's name in vain. 124 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:27,520 I'm now invoking God's name over a practical joke in my house. 125 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:28,880 My yes should be yes, my no should be no. 126 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:32,120 You guys know this stuff. Remember the Sabbath day by 127 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:35,400 keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do 128 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:37,400 all your work. But the 7th day is a Sabbath to 129 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:39,960 the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, 130 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:42,200 neither you nor your son or daughter, nor your male or 131 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:44,760 female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner 132 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:48,040 residing in your towns. For the 6th day is the is the 133 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:50,520 day the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and 134 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:53,160 all that is in them, but he rested on the 7th day. 135 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:56,720 Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. 136 00:06:57,280 --> 00:07:00,000 Honor your father and mother, so that you may live long in the 137 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:02,360 land that you like the Lord your God is giving you. 138 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:05,640 You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall 139 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:09,720 not steal, you shall not give false testimony against your 140 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:11,920 neighbor. You shall not covet your 141 00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:13,520 neighbor's house. You shall not covet your 142 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:18,120 neighbor's wife or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey 143 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:20,000 or anything that belongs to your neighbor. 144 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:22,160 And some of you are going, I'm glad he put that ox and donkey 145 00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:24,680 stuff in there because that's the only one I haven't messed 146 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:25,960 up. You're going. 147 00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:28,960 I mean, I've never once seen an Amish guy on an on a donkey and 148 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:30,920 said, man, I wish that donkey was mine. 149 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:34,040 Of all the 10 commandments, that's the one I'm the safest 150 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:36,320 on. I've never once, not once, ever 151 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:39,880 I've contemplated murdering somebody, but I've never once, 152 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:45,120 never once been like, man, if that donkey was mine, my, I've 153 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:47,880 just never had that. Well, it didn't stop there. 154 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:52,800 By the time God was done, he gave 613 laws. 155 00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:55,680 Some of these laws were about how to worship him. 156 00:07:56,280 --> 00:08:00,040 Some of them were about what to do when you had messed up and 157 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:02,840 how do you make things right? How do you provide restitution 158 00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:04,400 for the sins that you have committed? 159 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:06,640 Some were about how to behave morally. 160 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:09,360 Some were about what their calendar should look like. 161 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:14,360 Some of the laws were about what their diet should look like. 248 162 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:16,480 of these laws were positive laws. 163 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:20,760 You should do this, for instance, when you're raising 164 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:25,760 your kids, parents, you're like, listen, The Dirty laundry, you 165 00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:28,160 should put it in The Dirty laundry basket. 166 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:33,159 This is a positive law. Some of them were like honor 167 00:08:33,159 --> 00:08:36,280 your father and mother. You should do this. 168 00:08:36,799 --> 00:08:40,679 There were 365 of them that were negative laws. 169 00:08:41,039 --> 00:08:44,000 Don't do this parents. You guys get this. 170 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:46,080 Part of parenting is not just positive laws. 171 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:47,800 Part of parenting is negative laws. 172 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:54,600 Don't hit your brother right? Or stop hitting your brother. 173 00:08:55,160 --> 00:08:58,200 So when it comes to the to the Old Testament, some of them were 174 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:03,840 negative laws. Don't steal, don't lie, don't 175 00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:06,520 murder. What made the 10 commandments so 176 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:11,240 unique and so powerful is that almost every single duty and sin 177 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:14,520 known to man can be summed up in them. 178 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:19,080 However, God was doing so much more through the giving of the 179 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:21,640 Law. One of the primary purposes of 180 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:26,640 the law was for God to reveal to the people how holy He is. 181 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:32,080 Another word for holy is separate, completely different. 182 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:35,320 God is not just somebody that you can throw in the car and go 183 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:38,240 on a road trip with. He is perfect in every way. 184 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:39,640 His thoughts are not your thoughts. 185 00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:43,280 His purity is faultless and His Holiness. 186 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:47,080 He is so separate and different from you that being in His 187 00:09:47,080 --> 00:09:51,280 presence would destroy you, which we're going to unpack next 188 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:54,400 week. In other words, the law showed 189 00:09:54,400 --> 00:10:00,760 us how God behaved and how God expected His people to behave. 190 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:03,320 Holy. It's just another way of saying 191 00:10:03,320 --> 00:10:05,400 all together different. So when you were reading the 192 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:10,120 law, you were going, God is completely different than me. 193 00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:14,320 The second purpose of the law was to show people their 194 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:18,280 sinfulness. It was to reveal to you and me. 195 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:21,640 As you're going through the law, it doesn't take long before you 196 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:25,720 realize you can't keep the law. You can't do all the things that 197 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:29,320 you were supposed to do to be holy like God. 198 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:33,840 You are recognizing that it identifies sin at every turn in 199 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:36,120 your life. And before you start going, 200 00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:39,080 well, I'm doing a pretty good job of keeping this law and this 201 00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:42,120 law and this law. We realize James actually gives 202 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:44,400 us some insight into what happens in the law. 203 00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:49,960 James chapter 2, verse 10, For whoever keeps the whole law and 204 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:56,480 yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 205 00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:01,840 For he who said you shall not commit adultery also said you 206 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:05,440 shall not murder if you do not commit adultery, but you do 207 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:10,120 commit murder, you have become a law breaker. 208 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:13,000 So there might be part of you that's going, hey, I'm doing a 209 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:17,920 pretty good job. I'm not a cheater and you might 210 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:19,480 be going, hey, I'm doing a pretty good job. 211 00:11:19,680 --> 00:11:23,520 I'm not a murderer like some of you, many of you, hopefully most 212 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:27,760 of you have had 0 murders and you're going, I'm doing pretty 213 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:30,720 good. And some of you are going, you 214 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:33,360 know, when it comes to adultery, I've only got like, you know, 215 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:36,760 single digit adultery. I'm doing pretty good. 216 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:41,600 And what the law says, if the law is not asking are you an 217 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:45,680 adulterer or are you a murderer, it's asking, are you a law 218 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:49,720 breaker? You don't get to get puffed up 219 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:51,560 about the one area where you're doing right. 220 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:54,040 It's looking at at you holistically. 221 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:58,680 And when you were under the law, you became aware very quickly 222 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:04,480 that you were not worthy, that you are not holy. 223 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:07,800 The third thing that God does in the law, and you're not going to 224 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:15,000 like this, is he elevates the treatment of people to your 225 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:19,320 treatment of God. The 10 commandments are a 226 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:23,440 perfect example of this. The 1st 4 are about how you love 227 00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:26,920 God. The next 6 are about how you 228 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:31,080 love His people. The fourth major thing that God 229 00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:34,360 does through the giving of the law is that He creates for 230 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:38,360 Himself a people. The law became a constitution 231 00:12:38,640 --> 00:12:41,560 and a calendar. And if you have a constitution 232 00:12:41,800 --> 00:12:43,800 and a calendar, you create a culture. 233 00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:47,200 And when you create a culture, you create a people. 234 00:12:47,320 --> 00:12:50,360 Let me give you an example. Here in America, we have a 235 00:12:50,360 --> 00:12:53,640 constitution and we have a calendar that creates a culture 236 00:12:53,720 --> 00:12:55,960 that makes us different from other people. 237 00:12:56,120 --> 00:12:58,840 For instance, on July 4th, how many fireworks are they letting 238 00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:03,200 off in England? A 0 Because that is how many 239 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:06,040 wars that they have won against us suckas right? 240 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:08,760 We win. We have the same colors on our 241 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:11,680 flag, except our our colors don't run, we win. 242 00:13:12,080 --> 00:13:15,560 And so they have the same they have their own constitution and 243 00:13:15,560 --> 00:13:18,800 they have their own calendar and it separates us. 244 00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:23,000 And what they were doing is God was wanting people to recognize 245 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:26,360 that these people with their constitution, with their 246 00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:30,680 calendar, have their own culture, that they were his 247 00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:35,000 people, and that other people would see the interaction 248 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:38,080 between God and his people, and they would see something about 249 00:13:38,080 --> 00:13:41,200 God. This is in broad strokes, the 250 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:45,280 summary of the part of your Bible called the Old Testament 251 00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:51,280 or the Old Covenant or another word, the old agreement that God 252 00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:56,080 made with the nation of Israel. And whenever you're reading the 253 00:13:56,080 --> 00:14:00,040 Bible in the Old Testament, you are reading the story of God's 254 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:04,440 interaction with the nation of Israel, the Jews, the children 255 00:14:04,560 --> 00:14:07,720 of Abraham. And at the end of this covenant, 256 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:11,440 at the end of this Testament, God makes an agreement, a 257 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:14,560 promise to the people. And this is the promise. 258 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:22,840 Keep my commands, obey my commands, and I will bless you. 259 00:14:24,600 --> 00:14:28,600 Run from my commands, ignore my commands, rebelled from my 260 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:31,680 commands, and you will be punished. 261 00:14:32,640 --> 00:14:37,440 Then Jesus walks on to the scene and Jesus, guess what he does? 262 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:43,680 He goes up on a mountain and he gives a sermon and we call it 263 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:47,880 the Sermon on the Mount. You can read it in Matthew 264 00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:50,600 chapter 5-6 and seven. And as you're reading through 265 00:14:50,600 --> 00:14:55,760 it, he says things like this. You have heard it said, You have 266 00:14:55,760 --> 00:14:58,240 heard it said. Do you know where they heard it 267 00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:02,000 said in the Old Testament, the law? 268 00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:05,520 Except Jesus finished the you have heard it said with another 269 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:08,840 phrase. You have heard it said, but I 270 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:11,880 tell you, you've heard it said in the law. 271 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:15,320 But I tell you, and you know what? 272 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:18,720 We were all thinking the law was impossible to keep. 273 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:21,520 Jesus is going to be super awesome right here. 274 00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:24,680 He's going to make it so much easier on us. 275 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:29,160 But he doesn't. You're like, are you kidding me 276 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:30,720 Jesus? Let me explain. 277 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:35,640 Jesus says you have heard it said you shall not commit 278 00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:41,560 murder. But I tell you, if you have hate 279 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:47,080 in your heart, you're like what? Jesus, here I am with 0 murders 280 00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:51,400 on my record. He's like, OK, well, how much, 281 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:53,280 how many people do you hate in your heart? 282 00:15:53,920 --> 00:15:56,120 You're like Jesus, you know, I have a mother-in-law. 283 00:15:56,840 --> 00:16:00,080 How that is unfair. I texted her. 284 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:03,760 She was fine with it. McCombs just like Clayton. 285 00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:05,960 Give Judy a break. Judy will be fine. 286 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:11,600 Now he goes, all right, you've already said don't commit 287 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:14,960 adultery and you're going, I have committed 0 adulteries. 288 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:21,280 OK, well if you look at someone lustfully, you've committed 289 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:25,680 adultery in your heart. Like Jesus, I have lusted at 290 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:32,920 least twice this year. What are you doing now? 291 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:39,160 Jesus is raising the bar. Now, when you look at the law or 292 00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:42,640 when you look at the teachings of Jesus, but specifically when 293 00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:45,280 you're looking at the law, there were three options people had. 294 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:48,320 The first one is they could just say I'm rejecting it. 295 00:16:48,800 --> 00:16:50,160 I'm not going to do what you told me to do. 296 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:51,880 I don't care about it. I'm done with it. 297 00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:54,600 The second option is you could repent over it. 298 00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:58,080 The law would reveal to you that you are a sinful, fallen, jacked 299 00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:03,200 up, messed up person and you'd go, I need saved, I need helped, 300 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:06,839 I got, I need somebody outside of me to get me through. 301 00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:09,839 Or the third option you could do is you could become 302 00:17:09,839 --> 00:17:13,599 self-righteous through it. And here's how you became 303 00:17:13,599 --> 00:17:16,960 self-righteous. Instead of using God as your 304 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:20,880 standard for holiness, and instead of using God's Word as 305 00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:24,880 your standard for holiness, the law, you use the failures of 306 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:27,319 other people as your standard of holiness. 307 00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:30,760 That's what the Pharisees and the Sadducees did. 308 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:34,920 What they did is they looked at how other people were keeping 309 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:38,560 the law and made the decision about how holy they were by how 310 00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:42,960 everybody else was doing it. That's why Jesus, if you read in 311 00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:46,800 the Bible anytime Jesus is saying a pretty hard thing, he 312 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:50,120 is usually talking to the self-righteous people in the 313 00:17:50,120 --> 00:17:52,760 Bible. He looks at them and says you 314 00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:56,240 are a whitewashed tomb, which means you are really pretty on 315 00:17:56,240 --> 00:18:00,280 the outside, but you are dead on the inside. 316 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:02,880 You're impressed in everybody else. 317 00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:07,280 Everybody else thinks you are so much holier than everybody else, 318 00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:11,080 but on the inside you are rotten to the core. 319 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:13,200 Because they were self-righteous. 320 00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:15,360 They weren't using God as their standard. 321 00:18:15,360 --> 00:18:18,280 They were not using God's word as their standard. 322 00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:20,560 They were using the failures of other people. 323 00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:22,560 Have you ever done that? You don't have to raise your 324 00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:27,120 hand for this one, but you don't evaluate yourself on God or 325 00:18:27,120 --> 00:18:29,760 God's Word. You evaluate yourself on other 326 00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:32,400 people, which is how you come to the conclusion that you are a 327 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:36,200 good person because you can think of people that are worse 328 00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:39,000 than you. And so when you look at people 329 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:41,960 that are worse than you, you come to the conclusion that you 330 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:45,480 are pretty good. But losers are not supposed to 331 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:48,440 be your standard. Failures are not supposed to be 332 00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:51,320 your standard. If your standard is God and 333 00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:54,600 God's word, you would come to the conclusion that I'm a pretty 334 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:57,320 bad person. But if you look at the failures 335 00:18:57,320 --> 00:18:59,920 of other people, you will come to the conclusion that you're a 336 00:18:59,920 --> 00:19:03,600 pretty good person. And a pretty good person doesn't 337 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:06,000 need save. They just need some help now and 338 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:09,080 then. But a person who uses God in 339 00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:12,600 God's word as their standard, they recognize that they are in 340 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:16,360 desperate need of a Savior. Jesus goes a step further. 341 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:20,120 He articulates an overview of the Old Testament. 342 00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:22,200 You actually know the answer to this question. 343 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:24,760 Here's what happens in Matthew chapter 22. 344 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:29,760 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees and the Pharisees. 345 00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:32,240 Sadducees and Pharisees, these are the self-righteous people 346 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:35,520 got together. One of them, an expert in the 347 00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:38,320 law, tested him with this question. 348 00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:40,600 Can you imagine testing Jesus? I bet that was a riot. 349 00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:41,680 Let's see how it turned out for him. 350 00:19:42,120 --> 00:19:45,480 Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law? 351 00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:50,600 Fair question, Jesus replied. Love the Lord your God with all 352 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:53,160 your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. 353 00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:57,400 This is the first and greatest commandment. 354 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:02,120 Oh, what is he doing here? And the second is like it. 355 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:05,880 Love your neighbor as yourself. You see what Jesus is doing? 356 00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:09,680 Same thing God did. He's elevating your treatment of 357 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:12,520 God and your treatment of others into the same area. 358 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:15,720 How you love God will impact how you treat people. 359 00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:18,640 How you treat people will impact how you love God. 360 00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:21,880 And then he says this. All the law and the prophets 361 00:20:22,040 --> 00:20:25,840 hang on these two commandments. Jesus is saying take the entire 362 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:28,200 Old Testament. If you want to get a lens 363 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:31,600 through which to read the Old Testament, it's this love God 364 00:20:31,800 --> 00:20:36,040 and love people. If you want to understand the 365 00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:40,680 reason behind the Old Testament, law in the Old Testament and the 366 00:20:40,680 --> 00:20:44,240 Old Covenant, He takes our treatment of other people and he 367 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:48,200 relates it to God. In fact, one of the hallmarks of 368 00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:51,200 an early Christianity, you know, one of the things that early 369 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:54,720 Christians were known for is how many of them are Republicans? 370 00:20:57,360 --> 00:21:00,640 How many of them were Democrats? Nope, neither of those. 371 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:02,680 You know what early Christians were known for? 372 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:09,480 Enemy love. They took this so seriously that 373 00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:13,880 they were known for loving people that didn't treat them 374 00:21:13,880 --> 00:21:19,120 right, loving people that didn't treat them well, loving people 375 00:21:19,120 --> 00:21:24,120 who were their enemies. What else does Jesus do on this 376 00:21:24,120 --> 00:21:27,960 mount? He makes himself a people. 377 00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:31,800 He creates a culture. Look what it says in Matthew 378 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:36,000 chapter 5, verses 13 through 16. You are the salt of the earth. 379 00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:40,160 But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made 380 00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:42,240 salty again? It is no longer good for 381 00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:45,000 anything except to be thrown out and trampled under foot. 382 00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:49,200 You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be 383 00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:52,840 hidden, neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. 384 00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:55,480 Instead, they put it on the stand, and it gives light to 385 00:21:55,480 --> 00:21:59,360 everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light 386 00:21:59,360 --> 00:22:03,120 shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and 387 00:22:03,120 --> 00:22:09,200 glorify your Father in heaven. This was the desire behind our 388 00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:11,680 men's conference. Uncommon was for us to be 389 00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:14,360 different because ordinary wasn't working. 390 00:22:14,360 --> 00:22:16,920 Christians were never designed to blend in. 391 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:20,760 We were supposed to stand out in the way that we operated and the 392 00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:24,560 way that we lived and the way that we loved would identify us 393 00:22:24,560 --> 00:22:28,400 as Jesus. People and other people would 394 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:33,080 see it and be drawn to it and glorify God through it. 395 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:37,760 You know what Jesus does at the very end of this Sermon on the 396 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:40,160 Mount? He does the same thing God does. 397 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:45,080 He makes a promise. He tells a story of a wise man 398 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:51,080 and a foolish man this way. He says, The wise man hears my 399 00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:55,080 words and puts them into practice, and he builds his 400 00:22:55,080 --> 00:23:00,240 house on a solid foundation. But the foolish man hears my 401 00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:03,320 words and does not put them into practice. 402 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:07,400 And this man builds his life on a faulty foundation. 403 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:14,160 And when the storms come, when the winds blow, when the waters 404 00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:22,560 rise and beat against the house, the wise man will be saved, and 405 00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:26,560 the foolish man, his house will be destroyed. 406 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:31,240 Jesus says this. You are not getting any brownie 407 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:35,840 points for knowledge. You are saved. 408 00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:41,480 You are not destroyed when you obey my commands. 409 00:23:42,360 --> 00:23:46,360 Women, you know this, right? Does your husband get brownie 410 00:23:46,360 --> 00:23:49,440 points for knowing where he's supposed to put the dishes when 411 00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:51,760 he's done with them? No, he does not. 412 00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:54,760 No, he does not. When he gets done with that 413 00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:57,880 glass and he puts it on his end table and you go, what are you 414 00:23:57,880 --> 00:24:00,720 doing? And he goes, I know where it's 415 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:03,800 supposed to go, I just didn't do it. 416 00:24:04,120 --> 00:24:07,080 Do you go? God, thank you so much for this 417 00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:09,240 knowledgeable husband that you've blessed me with. 418 00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:12,480 No. And he goes, all right, fine. 419 00:24:12,480 --> 00:24:14,040 And he goes, And he puts it on the counter. 420 00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:15,440 You go. No. 421 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:17,360 And he goes And he puts it in the sink. 422 00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:22,880 You go No, he goes, I know it goes in the dishwasher. 423 00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:27,040 No wife is giving their husband brownie points for knowing where 424 00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:28,600 they're supposed to put the dishes when they're done. 425 00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:31,760 Husbands, pay attention. I am blessing you. 426 00:24:33,800 --> 00:24:36,680 The blessing comes from the obedience of you actually doing 427 00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:41,440 what you're supposed to do, right when your kids, when you 428 00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:44,320 tell them this is where your dirty clothes go and you go into 429 00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:48,720 the room and their clothes are everywhere and you go, hi, what 430 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:50,320 are you doing? You're like, don't worry, I know 431 00:24:50,320 --> 00:24:52,560 where they're supposed to go. In the hamper. 432 00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:55,480 You would go, then put them there. 433 00:25:01,120 --> 00:25:07,120 Whatever Jesus is saying, hey, so you know what I want you to 434 00:25:07,120 --> 00:25:11,480 do? The wise person puts it into 435 00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:15,760 practice. The foolish person doesn't. 436 00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:22,200 You and I are not loving God when we know we are loving God 437 00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:28,640 when we obey what we know. Obedience is the love language 438 00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:33,000 of God and Jesus. With that being said, let me 439 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:37,120 answer a top 20 question that I get asked as a pastor. 440 00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:40,560 People will come to me and they will say, do the 10 commandments 441 00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:45,440 still apply to me today? Am I still under the law? 442 00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:51,080 Does it still apply? The answer in short is no. 443 00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:56,240 You are no longer under the law. You are under grace. 444 00:25:56,480 --> 00:25:58,080 Let me explain it to you this way. 445 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:02,240 Some of you just imagine, if you will for a second that you were 446 00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:04,560 driving somewhere and you were speeding. 447 00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:07,440 I know it'll be hard for you guys to fathom it, but just just 448 00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:09,480 try to get there. Like what would that be like if 449 00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:11,280 you were going faster than you're supposed to go? 450 00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:16,680 When you see the speed limit sign, which is the law, does it 451 00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:20,960 make you go faster or slower? Neither. 452 00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:26,280 The speed limit sign has no bearing on how fast you go. 453 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:31,640 It reveals to you how fast you're supposed to go. 454 00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:35,600 Does that make sense? It can't change how fast you 455 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:38,120 drive. It informs how fast you drive. 456 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:41,640 And some of us, we only talk about whether or not we were 457 00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:45,040 speeding when we get pulled over. 458 00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:49,360 And then we only really identify whether or not we were speeding 459 00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:51,240 by whether or not we got a ticket. 460 00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:55,880 And when we get pulled over, we try to justify the behavior that 461 00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:58,800 we know we've been doing for a really long time and just 462 00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:02,480 haven't been pulled over for. And so we when we're talking to 463 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:06,360 the officer, we're acting like this is our first time at 75. 464 00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:12,600 Who it really got away from me, what the officer should look at 465 00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:13,840 and go listen, look at me straight. 466 00:27:14,120 --> 00:27:16,320 Have you been speeding for the last two years, since the last 467 00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:19,360 time you got pulled over? And we would go, yeah, 100%. 468 00:27:19,360 --> 00:27:20,920 I'm just paying the fast tax here. 469 00:27:21,120 --> 00:27:23,240 That's all I'm trying to deal. Right. 470 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:28,280 And So what we think is that if we can keep the sin of our 471 00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:33,080 speeding and reduce it to only the times that we get caught, 472 00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:35,800 that that's the extent of our sin. 473 00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:41,040 What the law does is it reveals to us our sin. 474 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:44,320 Some of your sin you wouldn't know about if it wasn't for the 475 00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:46,520 Law. The law revealed sin in our 476 00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:48,280 lives. You didn't realize you were 477 00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:50,680 speeding until you saw the speed limits. 478 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:55,040 It reveals sin. The second thing that it does is 479 00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:58,400 there's certain sins that you know about that other people 480 00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:02,040 don't know about. But what the law also does is it 481 00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:04,960 shows us that God sees every sin. 482 00:28:06,320 --> 00:28:08,840 None are hidden from Him. You can hide it from your 483 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:11,440 friends, you can hide it from your spouse, but you can't hide 484 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:13,800 your sin from God. Look what it says in Hebrews 485 00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:18,560 chapter 4 verse 13. Nothing in all creation is 486 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:22,800 hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid 487 00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:27,560 bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account. 488 00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:33,520 So there is a payment that must be paid for every sin that you 489 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:36,280 have ever committed. And if you broke the law 490 00:28:36,360 --> 00:28:39,560 anywhere, you broke the law everywhere. 491 00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:45,160 The law was simply a mirror to show us the condition of our 492 00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:47,160 soul. Ladies, I'm going to do an 493 00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:49,560 illustration here. I mean no harm, but I think 494 00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:53,120 you'll be able to track with me. Men, just be gentle, OK, ladies 495 00:28:55,240 --> 00:28:57,600 hope I'm guessing that you looked in a mirror before you 496 00:28:57,600 --> 00:29:02,200 walked out of the house today and you know that a mirror 497 00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:06,080 cannot fix your face. It can just reveal the face you 498 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:09,160 have. Tracking with me and then what 499 00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:13,280 we like to do is we look in the mirror, we realize that there's 500 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:17,480 some fixing that needs to take place and then we pull out the 501 00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:23,640 drywall mud and we like that person has no wrinkles at all. 502 00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:25,320 You're like, well, she's got drywall in there. 503 00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:29,360 That's what she has. She's spackling and said you 504 00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:32,280 walk around with other people and are like, she has a great 505 00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:35,360 complexion and the husband's like, I saw her paint it this 506 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:39,320 morning. Now what we do is, is we try to 507 00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:43,840 make it look like there are no faults and cracks in our lives. 508 00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:49,280 And then we rate ourselves on how we look in in relationship 509 00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:55,280 with other people. The law reveals that work needs 510 00:29:55,280 --> 00:29:57,160 done. Men, when you're in front of a 511 00:29:57,160 --> 00:29:59,520 mirror, the law does not give you a better haircut. 512 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:01,480 It just tells you that you need one. 513 00:30:02,120 --> 00:30:03,760 It doesn't help you grow more hair. 514 00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:05,880 It reveals that you've lost hair. 515 00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:10,480 And what hypocrites do is that they would use the makeup to 516 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:15,960 cover up their flaws. But the power was never in the 517 00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:19,200 mirror. The power was never in the law. 518 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:25,600 It just revealed what was. And what the law was supposed to 519 00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:31,480 do was not to get you to fix your face, but to reveal to you 520 00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:37,400 that you needed a new face. The law was not designed to get 521 00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:41,080 you to fix your heart. It was to reveal to you that you 522 00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:46,400 needed a new heart. And so Jesus walks onto the 523 00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:52,000 stage, perfect and every way, and through what He did, the law 524 00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:56,000 was nullified. It lost all of its power and it 525 00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:59,120 was wiped out. When He was nailed on the cross, 526 00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:03,400 the law was nailed to the cross. The penalty revealed in the law 527 00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:07,000 was nailed to the cross. And when Jesus cried out, it is 528 00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:09,400 finished. He is saying that the righteous 529 00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:14,600 requirement of the law has been met in Him and our sins. 530 00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:18,440 The debt that we have stacked up, the debt that we know about, 531 00:31:18,560 --> 00:31:21,320 the debt that we didn't know about, the stuff that we've kept 532 00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:24,560 hidden has all been nailed, put on his shoulders and nailed to 533 00:31:24,560 --> 00:31:28,280 the cross. And He has paid in full the 534 00:31:28,280 --> 00:31:32,120 righteous requirement that needed to be met for my sin and 535 00:31:32,120 --> 00:31:35,560 for your sin. So that by our salvation. 536 00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:36,920 Yeah, yeah. No. 537 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:39,480 Watch this. So that means that our salvation 538 00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:44,080 is not based on works. Your salvation is not based on 539 00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:48,920 what you are able to do. Your salvation is by grace that 540 00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:52,840 Jesus poured out on your behalf. By grace he paid what you 541 00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:55,080 couldn't pay. By grace he did what you 542 00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:58,120 couldn't do. And we access that grace through 543 00:31:58,120 --> 00:32:01,920 faith, believing that what Jesus did on the cross is available to 544 00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:04,120 you and me. You might die one day and you're 545 00:32:04,520 --> 00:32:07,040 standing in a long line waiting to get to the judgment seat of 546 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:08,760 God. And you're next to some buddies 547 00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:11,400 and friends from high school and maybe some, some brilliant 548 00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:13,200 theologians. And you're walking there. 549 00:32:13,200 --> 00:32:15,240 They're going, how do you think you're going to get into heaven? 550 00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:17,400 And you're like, well, you, you know, you're trying to talk 551 00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:19,080 like, well, well, let me ask you some questions. 552 00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:21,200 How did you do it honoring your father and mother? 553 00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:23,480 And you'll be like, if you're being honest, you'd be like, 554 00:32:23,480 --> 00:32:28,040 listen, B plus, like, what do you mean B plus? 555 00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:31,480 Well, I was pretty good except for, you know, junior high, high 556 00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:34,960 school and college, right. OK. 557 00:32:35,560 --> 00:32:37,720 How did you do at loving your neighbors? 558 00:32:38,080 --> 00:32:42,520 Well, I did a pretty good job of loving three of them, but the 559 00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:45,320 4th one, no, that was a no go. We forked their yard a lot. 560 00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:47,520 We we just never never got that figure. 561 00:32:47,520 --> 00:32:49,520 OK. How did you do it loving people? 562 00:32:49,520 --> 00:32:52,040 Well, I'll be honest, a pretty, pretty decent job. 563 00:32:52,360 --> 00:32:53,720 How did you do it? Loving your enemies? 564 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:55,520 Not good. Not good at all. 565 00:32:55,920 --> 00:32:57,600 I didn't do a real good job of enemy love. 566 00:32:57,880 --> 00:32:58,600 Really. Ever. 567 00:32:59,280 --> 00:33:01,680 Did you ever commit adultery? I'll be honest with you, I got 568 00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:03,400 zero. I got a zero body count there 569 00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:06,120 and 0 adultery's awesome. And lust. 570 00:33:10,560 --> 00:33:13,520 Not good. Did you did you ever did you 571 00:33:13,520 --> 00:33:14,480 ever cheat? Yeah. 572 00:33:14,480 --> 00:33:18,160 Had a class at 10:00 AM and I didn't study for it, but the 573 00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:21,080 person I sat next to did. And together we both got A's. 574 00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:24,080 That's how did you ever. Did you ever steal? 575 00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:26,400 Yeah. Kit Kat from a Casey's. 576 00:33:26,720 --> 00:33:28,920 I was real hungry and it was a hot day and I was like, I want. 577 00:33:28,960 --> 00:33:31,200 I want a Kit Kat. Did you ever lie? 578 00:33:31,200 --> 00:33:32,000 Yep. I did lie. 579 00:33:32,560 --> 00:33:33,360 Did you did? Yeah. 580 00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:35,160 My wife asked me if she looked good. 581 00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:36,960 And we were running behind, so I said yeah, get in the car. 582 00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:39,360 Let's go. How did How did you? 583 00:33:41,200 --> 00:33:43,760 And they're going to look at you baffled because when you start 584 00:33:43,760 --> 00:33:46,800 going through that list, they're going to go, you're a pretty 585 00:33:46,800 --> 00:33:49,920 jacked up, messed up, despicable human being. 586 00:33:50,640 --> 00:33:53,000 What makes you think you're getting into heaven? 587 00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:56,720 And you'll say, well, you as well, you don't understand. 588 00:33:57,160 --> 00:34:00,840 I'm not getting into heaven based on what I've done, I'm 589 00:34:00,880 --> 00:34:05,040 getting into heaven based on what Jesus has done on my 590 00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:07,440 behalf. I don't get in here because of 591 00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:09,800 me, I get in there because of him. 592 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:12,639 And then you might be thinking, well, if Jesus is grace 593 00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:16,239 increases every time I sin, I should send more. 594 00:34:16,360 --> 00:34:18,840 So that way the grace of God can be displayed even more. 595 00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:20,880 And if you were to think that you'd be an idiot. 596 00:34:22,719 --> 00:34:25,480 Paul says, should we keep on sinning so that grace can 597 00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:28,800 abound? By no means, when you come into 598 00:34:28,800 --> 00:34:31,639 contact with that kind of love, with that kind of excellence, 599 00:34:31,639 --> 00:34:34,320 with that kind of purity, with that kind of holiness, with that 600 00:34:34,320 --> 00:34:38,360 kind of sacrifice, the natural response is not to sin more, 601 00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:43,800 it's to want to sin less. It motivates you to want to do 602 00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:45,679 the things that He's called you to do. 603 00:34:46,400 --> 00:34:50,159 It stirs things in you so that way other people can find what 604 00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:56,280 you have found in him. It motivates you to live a life 605 00:34:56,280 --> 00:34:58,320 doing the things He's called you to do it. 606 00:34:58,760 --> 00:35:04,200 It ushers you into a life of obedience so that way other 607 00:35:04,200 --> 00:35:06,800 people can find what you have found in Him. 608 00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:09,080 We're moving to a time of decision. 609 00:35:12,880 --> 00:35:16,120 So there are some of you in this room and watching online. 610 00:35:16,440 --> 00:35:18,960 And right now, if you were to kind of describe yourself, you 611 00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:21,720 would say that you don't have an intimate personal relationship 612 00:35:21,720 --> 00:35:24,480 with Jesus Christ. And that is the heartbeat of our 613 00:35:24,480 --> 00:35:26,040 church is for people to find that. 614 00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:28,320 I'm just going to be honest with you. 615 00:35:28,320 --> 00:35:30,160 When you die, you will stand before God. 616 00:35:31,120 --> 00:35:34,400 And you will either stand on your own account and what you 617 00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:38,120 have done, or you can stand and have Christ stand in your 618 00:35:38,120 --> 00:35:39,520 behalf. And you can stand there on 619 00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:43,960 account of what Jesus has done. And you can kind of wrap 620 00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:47,760 yourself in your own works and you can compare yourself to 621 00:35:47,760 --> 00:35:49,760 other people, but that is not the standard that you will be 622 00:35:49,760 --> 00:35:53,080 measured by. You can stand there and go, 623 00:35:53,080 --> 00:35:56,960 yeah, I was kind of nice a couple times, or you can stand 624 00:35:56,960 --> 00:36:02,040 there, the Bible says, wrapped, clothed in Christ. 625 00:36:03,320 --> 00:36:06,520 Another way I've heard it said is you can stand before God and 626 00:36:06,520 --> 00:36:10,520 he can either see your sin or he can see his Son. 627 00:36:11,240 --> 00:36:13,760 That's what we do when we come into an intimate, personal 628 00:36:13,760 --> 00:36:16,880 relationship with Jesus Christ. We allow the blood of Christ to 629 00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:21,960 wash over us, to cover us. We become clothed in Christ, 630 00:36:22,720 --> 00:36:27,320 We're forgiven in Christ, and God promises that he will 631 00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:31,120 remember our sins no more. As far as the East is from the 632 00:36:31,120 --> 00:36:34,640 West is how far he will separate us from our sin. 633 00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:38,080 And so if you're here today and you've never started an 634 00:36:38,080 --> 00:36:41,200 intimate, personal relationship with Jesus Christ, I got to ask 635 00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:45,480 you, why in the world are you putting it off? 636 00:36:47,480 --> 00:36:49,200 So I'm going to encourage you in just a few moments when the 637 00:36:49,200 --> 00:36:51,960 people in this room stand and sing and come, some of them come 638 00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:54,200 to the steps and pray. I'm going to encourage you. 639 00:36:54,200 --> 00:36:57,400 If you're watching on the chat, would you click that link? 640 00:36:57,400 --> 00:36:59,920 That opens you up to a chance to go into a private chat where 641 00:36:59,920 --> 00:37:02,000 people can talk to you about what that looks like. 642 00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:04,200 And if you're here in this room, you should walk right over there 643 00:37:04,200 --> 00:37:06,720 underneath that screen right next to the baptistry and begin 644 00:37:06,720 --> 00:37:08,800 asking questions about how to begin the relationship that 645 00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:12,080 changes everything. To the rest of you in the room, 646 00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:16,080 I got something really spiritual to talk to you about. 647 00:37:17,080 --> 00:37:19,720 Do you know what the secret ingredient in a Portillo's 648 00:37:19,720 --> 00:37:22,760 chocolate cake is? You're not. 649 00:37:22,920 --> 00:37:25,560 Some of you are not going to believe this mayonnaise. 650 00:37:26,480 --> 00:37:30,400 If I invited you over to my house and you saw a big old jar 651 00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:32,880 of mayonnaise and what's that for? 652 00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:35,840 Well, I'm making cake. Like, I think this guy's a 653 00:37:35,840 --> 00:37:38,560 little sick in the head, all right? 654 00:37:38,600 --> 00:37:40,760 It makes no sense. You put mayonnaise in a cake, 655 00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:43,040 but that is the special ingredient that makes a 656 00:37:43,040 --> 00:37:45,320 Portillo's cake so good. And I have to say this, I'm 657 00:37:45,320 --> 00:37:47,560 already fat enough, so I don't want you guys going out and 658 00:37:47,560 --> 00:37:50,800 getting me Portillo's cake. I want to live to at least 47. 659 00:37:50,880 --> 00:37:55,960 OK, But the secret ingredient in a Portillo's cake is mayonnaise. 660 00:37:56,680 --> 00:37:59,760 Who'd have thought? And some of you are sitting here 661 00:37:59,760 --> 00:38:01,520 and you're kind of going through your Christian life. 662 00:38:02,240 --> 00:38:03,840 And if you were to be honest with yourself, you're like, I 663 00:38:03,840 --> 00:38:06,680 don't really experience God's power in my life. 664 00:38:07,520 --> 00:38:11,840 I don't feel him like I used to. Can I tell you something? 665 00:38:12,600 --> 00:38:15,200 It might be because you're missing the secret ingredient, 666 00:38:17,080 --> 00:38:21,480 obedience. You do not need the Holy 667 00:38:21,480 --> 00:38:23,560 Spirit's power in your life to be complacent. 668 00:38:24,720 --> 00:38:28,240 You don't need the Holy Spirit's power in your life to love 669 00:38:28,240 --> 00:38:33,400 people that aren't nice to you. And if you're wondering why you 670 00:38:33,400 --> 00:38:36,320 don't feel him or you're not experiencing him or you're not 671 00:38:36,320 --> 00:38:40,320 seeing him move, it's because you don't need the Spirit of God 672 00:38:40,320 --> 00:38:42,400 to just know what God wants you to do. 673 00:38:43,000 --> 00:38:45,800 You need the Spirit and the power of God to do what he has 674 00:38:45,800 --> 00:38:48,760 called you to do. And that is released when you 675 00:38:48,760 --> 00:38:54,240 are obedient, when you find yourself in a situation and he 676 00:38:54,240 --> 00:38:58,680 says, love those who persecute you, love your enemies, you're 677 00:38:58,680 --> 00:39:00,840 going, there's no way I could do that. 678 00:39:02,320 --> 00:39:04,440 And Jesus goes, you're exactly stinking, right? 679 00:39:05,240 --> 00:39:08,160 There's no way you can do that on your own. 680 00:39:09,160 --> 00:39:13,520 But in my power and in my strength, you're able to do it. 681 00:39:13,800 --> 00:39:17,080 You see, you're thinking, God, how am I going to fix my heart? 682 00:39:17,080 --> 00:39:19,640 God's going, I'm not here to fix your heart. 683 00:39:20,320 --> 00:39:25,280 I'm here to give you my heart. And my heart is capable of 684 00:39:25,280 --> 00:39:28,560 things that your heart cannot possibly imagine. 685 00:39:29,960 --> 00:39:32,760 So if you're wondering what might be missing in your walk 686 00:39:32,760 --> 00:39:38,800 with the Lord, it just might be obedience that unlocks the 687 00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:41,120 things that you've been missing. Would you stand with me? 688 00:39:44,440 --> 00:39:45,760 God? When I think about this church, 689 00:39:45,760 --> 00:39:47,640 I can't help but think about how much I love it. 690 00:39:48,520 --> 00:39:51,040 I love the people. I love what you're doing here. 691 00:39:53,040 --> 00:39:55,120 And God, I know when I think about how much I love them, it 692 00:39:55,120 --> 00:39:58,800 doesn't even get in the same Galaxy of how much you love 693 00:39:58,800 --> 00:40:04,440 them. You know what they're capable 694 00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:07,440 of. You know what they're struggling 695 00:40:07,440 --> 00:40:12,960 with. You know their hurts, you know 696 00:40:12,960 --> 00:40:18,600 their doubts. And so, God, I'm asking that you 697 00:40:19,160 --> 00:40:22,600 would interact with every person in this room and every person 698 00:40:22,600 --> 00:40:28,320 who's watching online. Yeah, that you would clearly 699 00:40:28,320 --> 00:40:34,760 reveal the very thing that you want them to do, and, God, that 700 00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:39,800 you'd give them the courage and the strength to do it. 701 00:40:40,800 --> 00:40:42,760 In your name I pray. Amen.