1 00:00:03,280 --> 00:00:10,040 So, so say this with me today. Religion is painful, Very 2 00:00:10,040 --> 00:00:12,360 painful. Say very painful. 3 00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:15,720 If you're a man, just just bend your legs for a moment. 4 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:19,760 Just just cross your legs. I'm just going to preach from 5 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:25,120 the Bible, say religion is very painful. 6 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:28,400 And what's religion in Afrikaans? 7 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:38,080 What's Dean's is buyer a no, say a no, a no. 8 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:43,080 OK let's read Galatians 5. We're doing a series on freedom 9 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:46,000 and and every one of us, I don't know if you, if you've ever 10 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:50,240 bought a car and it looks very beautiful and you buy this. 11 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:53,440 You buy it with full faith. It's like you go in there and 12 00:00:53,440 --> 00:00:56,000 you buy this car and you've got faith in your heart and the 13 00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:58,360 salesman that they're a special breed. 14 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:02,720 They they they say this car is the best second hand car you 15 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:04,840 will ever buy. It's fully serviced. 16 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:06,920 You're not sure where, but it's fully serviced. 17 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:09,240 There's a record, you're not quite sure if the record's 18 00:01:09,240 --> 00:01:13,000 right, but there's a record of the servicing and and as you get 19 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:15,160 into it, you go for the test drive and everything's fine. 20 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:18,120 And then you buy it and you drive out and as you come and 21 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:19,680 stop quickly it pulls to the left. 22 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:22,560 Have you ever had that? It's all like you think I'm my 23 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:28,240 hat and then pulls to the right and then you take up a sport 24 00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:30,120 like balls. You must be careful of balls 25 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:32,440 because more people die playing balls in rugby. 26 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:36,080 It's it's a true story. It's a promise you. 27 00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:37,840 It's a true story. It's it's facts. 28 00:01:38,320 --> 00:01:40,720 Yeah, just because all those play balls and I know that, but 29 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:42,800 they're they're more heart attacks on the Bowling Green 30 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:43,960 than they are on the rugby field. 31 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:47,400 It's a true story. But every bowling ball that you 32 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:49,760 pick up, if you go one way, it will do this. 33 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:52,400 If you turn it around the other way to go that like that and 34 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:55,840 every one of us has got those bends, when you push the brakes 35 00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:59,040 hard, we go to the left or we go to the right and when you throw 36 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:00,680 the ball it goes to the left or to the right. 37 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:03,720 That's why we need the Bible because all of us have got a 38 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:08,039 bent one way or the other, either ward towards religion or 39 00:02:08,039 --> 00:02:12,880 towards a moral licentiousness. I was sitting in a meeting this 40 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:17,360 week friends and and and I remember meeting a girl 20 years 41 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:20,480 ago and I couldn't remember How I Met her but she happened to 42 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:24,280 come to church 3 weeks ago and now she's got a boyfriend and 43 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:26,520 they don't live in town And she said, can I have coffee with 44 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:27,560 you? And I said absolutely. 45 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:31,920 And I couldn't quite remember How I Met her but I remember 46 00:02:31,920 --> 00:02:35,400 that I I journeyed with her for a while and we're sitting having 47 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:39,720 coffee this week And and they are absolutely in love and they 48 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:42,760 they are besotted with each other and they found God and 49 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:45,400 they're free and they're experiencing this new 50 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:47,720 relationship. And then this man said I went 51 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:53,480 into a anti abortion rally with with with these placards 52 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:58,680 Christians against abortion And I looked at this little girl. 53 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:00,320 She's not a little girl anymore. She's a woman. 54 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:03,120 I looked at her and her tears just started falling from my 55 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:06,960 eyes and I started to cry because I met her because she 56 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:09,000 had an abortion when she was a young girl. 57 00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:13,120 I remember her walking up into my office in Durban with her 58 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:16,120 parents and she thought she was going to walk into the law. 59 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:19,200 She thought she was going to walk into some cross head master 60 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:22,360 and she walked into my office and I said this is the the 61 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:26,200 lounge of a father and her and I became friends around 62 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:30,200 redemption. And the man she's dating now was 63 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:33,520 the guy carrying the placard saying Christians against 64 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:35,800 abortion, Christians against abortion. 65 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:41,080 And now he's dating a girl who's had an abortion and and and now 66 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:44,000 you've got to find God's grace because one is pulling to the 67 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:46,040 left and the other one is pulling to the right. 68 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:48,680 And I sat there looking at this beautiful couple. 69 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:51,960 I just sobbed. And I thought, God, only you can 70 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:55,560 take someone from extreme religion and from from extreme 71 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:58,800 wildness and bring them into a relationship of grace. 72 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:03,120 Amen. And then, you know the amazing 73 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:05,520 thing. Cathy just happened to be in 74 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:08,520 that restaurant. Cathy Dolenberg happened to be 75 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:11,840 in that restaurant. And when the bill came, somebody 76 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:15,920 said, are your bills being paid? Of course it's been paid. 77 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:20,160 I mean and and I said was it a girl called Kathy? 78 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:22,760 She said yes, it was a it was a lady called Kathy. 79 00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:25,840 But she's left already. And now I'm sitting here 80 00:04:25,840 --> 00:04:28,720 thinking we're talking about God's grace and the bill gets 81 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:31,640 paid and then that's how we extend the Kingdom of God, 82 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:34,680 little bit by little bit in every situation, whether we're 83 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:37,480 having coffee or having lunch. So we have got teal and tankies 84 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:39,560 go there afterwards. There's ladies in our church, 85 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:43,560 teal and tankies, started by by a business empowering other 86 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:45,200 people, which just go and bless them. 87 00:04:45,840 --> 00:04:48,440 And and the money that we make there goes towards the pastor 88 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:50,760 who needs care. And so we take that money, we 89 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:52,160 give it to a pastor who needs care. 90 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:54,400 And people come and say to me, oh, why are you turning God's 91 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:58,240 house into a market? Man, jump on your horse. 92 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:03,760 This is not a flipping temple. This is just brick and mortar 93 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:05,520 keeping the rain and the sun off us. 94 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:09,040 We are the temple of God. You can't turn this thing into a 95 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:10,520 market. Amen. 96 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:13,520 I'm going to talk to you just now about religion because 97 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:18,240 you're going to get Ana. Let's read Galatians 5. 98 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:19,480 Are you with me? Nice to see you. 99 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:26,960 It is for freedom, say freedom. It is for freedom that Christ 100 00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:32,000 has set us free. It is for freedom that Christ 101 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:37,880 has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let 102 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:43,960 yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. 103 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:48,360 It is for freedom's sake that Christ has set us free. 104 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:52,680 Stand firm military term, then, and do not let yourselves be 105 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:55,000 burdened again by a yoke of slavery. 106 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:57,400 Mark my words. I, Paul, tell you that if you 107 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:03,000 let yourself be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to 108 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:06,120 you at all. Every one of us have got 109 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:08,160 external signs. I saw it this week. 110 00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:11,680 I saw two guys shake hands. That means you went to great 111 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:14,160 college. That means you went to Alfie's. 112 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:19,560 This means you went to Boys High Every We've got all these 113 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:23,160 external things, don't we, That tell us whether we in or we out, 114 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:26,360 don't we The way we shake hands, the way we worship. 115 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:29,200 I did a black wedding friends. I didn't know this. 116 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:31,160 But. But in our culture, when the 117 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:32,920 bride walks in, you stand up. That's honor. 118 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:35,440 And the black culture, when the bride's in, you sit down, that's 119 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:37,560 honor. I said everybody stands and no 120 00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:42,720 but but friends, it's not whether we stand or whether we 121 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:44,640 sit. Is it because if those are the 122 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:47,200 things we are going to never able to be able to get on with 123 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:49,520 each other Because because now we stand or whether we sit or 124 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:52,640 whether we stand or sit, then Christ has no value to us. 125 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:57,320 Because Christ lives way above whether we stand or whether we 126 00:06:57,320 --> 00:06:59,560 sit or whether we shake hands like this or shake hands like 127 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:01,880 that, or whether we grew up in a church or grew up with other 128 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:03,640 church. Whether we were in anti abortion 129 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:05,400 rallies or whether we had an abortion. 130 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:10,800 Christ has to come in and set us free, completely and utterly 131 00:07:10,960 --> 00:07:16,000 free again. I declare to every man who lets 132 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:20,360 himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole 133 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:25,880 law, the whole law. 613 laws. Don't do this. 134 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:27,720 Don't do this. Don't do you must, you must. 135 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:32,800 You must. You're trying to be justified by 136 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:34,560 law. You are trying to be 137 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:37,200 justifiable, have been alienated from Christ. 138 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:43,040 You have fallen away from grace. But by faith we eagerly await 139 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:45,840 through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope, 140 00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:49,480 say, hope, Friends. Most of our relationships in our 141 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:54,400 lives are based on history. I have Christmas with my family 142 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:56,000 because I have a history with my family. 143 00:07:56,600 --> 00:07:59,240 I grew up as a dire. I have history with my family. 144 00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:02,040 I meet my mates from school because we played rugby together 145 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:04,760 and we talk about the good old days, 30 or 40 years ago. 146 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:08,400 I have friends from university, I have friends from rugby, we I 147 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:10,280 have friends from church that I've done church with. 148 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:14,360 But the but the relationship of the church is a relationship of 149 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:16,640 the future. We are here together not because 150 00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:19,240 we have the same past, but because we have the same future. 151 00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:24,600 And So what will separate us is our past. 152 00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:26,880 What will hold us together is our future. 153 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:29,720 You understand that? That's the hope. 154 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:32,320 Hope is not like our hope. Tomorrow is a sunny day because 155 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:33,799 there's a wedding. That's not the hope. 156 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:36,960 The hope that we speak about is an anchor that is rooted in our 157 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:40,480 future, that we hold on to for dear life and we draw it closer. 158 00:08:42,159 --> 00:08:44,840 So whether we sit or stand at a wedding, whether went to office 159 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:47,240 or to boys house, makes absolutely no difference. 160 00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:51,760 That's historical. What holds us together is that 161 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:55,480 you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives together. 162 00:08:56,480 --> 00:08:58,360 The rest of our lives we're going to spend together. 163 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:00,840 And because of that, I'll lay hold of the hope and I'll bring 164 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:05,200 it closer. Does that make sense? 165 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:09,600 So it is because of our future that we have hope, not because 166 00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:15,400 of our past. For in Christ Jesus, neither 167 00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:19,200 circumcision nor uncircumcision, we're going to do a test just 168 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:21,040 now. Has any value. 169 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:26,040 The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through 170 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:28,360 love. You were running a good race. 171 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:39,040 Who cut in on you and kept you? Amazing term. 172 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:41,720 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you? 173 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:44,720 Doctor Sakis Neyman. Who? 174 00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:49,280 Who cut in on you? That's the issue. 175 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:52,480 That's the issue. That's the issue. 176 00:09:52,680 --> 00:09:55,680 We are talking about external signs that qualify us for our 177 00:09:55,680 --> 00:09:57,320 future. When I'm telling you it's an 178 00:09:57,320 --> 00:10:03,080 internal happening inside of your heart who cut in on you? 179 00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:06,440 You're running a good race. You're running a good race. 180 00:10:07,920 --> 00:10:12,640 Let's put that video up, if you don't mind, all the way across 181 00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:15,720 the road. Everyone pretty much in the 182 00:10:16,040 --> 00:10:19,920 ditch is what fan art Julian Alafleep didn't hit the deck, 183 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:21,680 he's about one of the only riders. 184 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:25,360 So yeah, trying. To. 185 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:29,880 Hold a sign out for the camera got absolutely shouldn't have 186 00:10:29,960 --> 00:11:13,000 been there in the first place. You're running a good race. 187 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:15,440 You're running a good race. Who cut in on you? 188 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:18,040 Do you see friends? When one person goes down, you 189 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:19,760 can stop a whole peloton behind you. 190 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:23,520 That's why we have to keep going at this, keep going at this, 191 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:26,560 keep going at this until the whole community, because it goes 192 00:11:26,560 --> 00:11:29,880 on and says this. This kind of persuasion does not 193 00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:33,480 come from the one who calls you. A little bit of yeast works 194 00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:34,880 through the whole batch of dough. 195 00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:38,760 One guy says you have to be baptized. 196 00:11:38,960 --> 00:11:42,040 Somebody that says you must be baptized when you're a child, 197 00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:46,320 somebody else says you must tithe, you must, you must, you 198 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:48,360 must, you must. And all of a sudden this 199 00:11:48,360 --> 00:11:51,600 generation that we're trying to get free get tripped by one 200 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:55,000 person and people start falling, that that's why you said Rudy. 201 00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:58,000 Why do you keep going on it? I will keep going on it until 202 00:11:58,040 --> 00:12:01,080 every single one of us understands we are here by the 203 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:04,760 grace of God alone in Jesus, finished work alone. 204 00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:08,720 And anything else of that is taking the value of Christ away. 205 00:12:09,960 --> 00:12:14,080 Any external behavior is taking away the value of Christ. 206 00:12:16,720 --> 00:12:19,880 The one who is throwing into confusion will pay the penalty 207 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:25,440 whoever he may be. Brothers, If I'm still preaching 208 00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:28,800 circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? 209 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:31,760 In that case, the offence of the cross has been abolished. 210 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:37,280 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way. 211 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:43,040 And don't stop with the foreskin. 212 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:49,320 Cut the whole thing. Because you're messing up the 213 00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:52,840 grace of God. You're messing up the grace of 214 00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:56,800 God. Stand, sit, shake hands. 215 00:12:56,800 --> 00:12:57,880 Don't shake hands. What? 216 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:00,640 What gives us our identity? Our identity is Christ. 217 00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:03,800 Anything else needs to be cut off completely. 218 00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:09,480 You, my brothers, were called to be free. 219 00:13:10,680 --> 00:13:13,760 But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature. 220 00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:16,080 Rather, serve one another and love. 221 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:18,840 The entire law is summed up in a single command. 222 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:22,040 Love your neighbor as yourself. If you keep on batting and 223 00:13:22,040 --> 00:13:25,440 devouring each other, watch out or you'll be destroyed by each 224 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:27,800 other, Simon. Just for no other reason than 225 00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:29,080 because you're beautiful where you is. 226 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:29,960 You've gone out. Simon. 227 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:34,360 Come here, You Beautiful thing. And where is there? 228 00:13:34,360 --> 00:13:40,760 Is there a child in here? Yeah, no three children. 229 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:42,000 Bring bring one of your children. 230 00:13:55,780 --> 00:13:57,340 Put the yoke up there, if you don't mind. 231 00:13:58,380 --> 00:14:01,700 Put the yoke up. That's a yoke. 232 00:14:03,660 --> 00:14:04,620 Afrikaans. We call it that. 233 00:14:04,620 --> 00:14:08,700 A yoke. Not a joke. 234 00:14:09,140 --> 00:14:12,740 Yoke. There are two things we get 235 00:14:12,740 --> 00:14:15,820 yoked to. We get yoked to sin. 236 00:14:17,820 --> 00:14:22,600 It says in the past, Galatians, you were enslaved to the basic 237 00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:26,400 principles of this world, and we get yoked to the law. 238 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:29,680 It is for freedom's sake that Christ has set you free. 239 00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:35,640 Do not let yourselves become enslaved to the say it the yoke 240 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:38,800 of slavery. So come and stand here, Simon. 241 00:14:38,840 --> 00:14:41,480 Put your if you don't mind putting. 242 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:42,600 OK. Is he too shy? 243 00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:44,160 He's OK. He's too shy. 244 00:14:44,880 --> 00:14:52,480 OK, too shy. Come, Ellen, put that over your 245 00:14:52,520 --> 00:15:00,040 shoulder there, like that, and put this on your shoulder and 246 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:04,320 you can see he's taller, so you can see who's stronger. 247 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:09,720 You can see who's got the power. And always friends, the weight 248 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:13,640 is going to lean here, always the weight is going to lean 249 00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:17,440 here. So when you're in sin, you are 250 00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:20,200 in partnership. You are in yoke with sin. 251 00:15:21,080 --> 00:15:25,640 You're yoked together. So this girl will never be able 252 00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:27,920 to turn that man in a million years. 253 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:33,160 He's too strong, so wherever he decides to go, she has to go 254 00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:35,080 because she's got a noose around her neck. 255 00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:38,320 So if he says we go left, she goes left. 256 00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:40,800 If he says we go right, she goes right. 257 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:43,280 If he says we're going straight, we go straight, he said. 258 00:15:43,280 --> 00:15:47,040 If we're going backwards back into our old life, back into 259 00:15:47,040 --> 00:15:51,400 sin, back into pornography, back into she goes, because she's got 260 00:15:51,400 --> 00:15:56,840 no choice, because she's bound, then we swap it. 261 00:15:56,840 --> 00:15:59,680 If you can come and stand this out, Simon and your child. 262 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:14,760 And all we do is we swap our licentious lifestyle now for a 263 00:16:14,760 --> 00:16:19,400 religious lifestyle. But the law is also more 264 00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:24,120 powerful than me. And so wherever the law goes, I 265 00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:27,520 have to go. And so now I'm obeying the law, 266 00:16:28,520 --> 00:16:30,760 obeying the law, obeying the law. 267 00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:35,280 So keep standing there. Let's put up Acts 15. 268 00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:38,520 Let's read it together. I don't know where our preach's 269 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:41,880 going to go, so men came down from Judea to Antioch. 270 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:45,120 We're teaching the brothers. Unless you're circumcised 271 00:16:45,480 --> 00:16:47,840 according to the custom taught about Moses. 272 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:52,920 Unless you shake hands like an Affairs boy or like a Gray boy, 273 00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:55,960 or or like if you if you haven't come through the the religious 274 00:16:55,960 --> 00:16:58,680 ranks of Pretoria. If you have not, then you cannot 275 00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:03,120 be A to this day, there are people in Pretoria that don't 276 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:05,520 accept me because I'm an outsider, that came in to preach 277 00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:07,680 in the religious institution. Think you're an outsider. 278 00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:09,839 You never grew up here. Go and jump in the lake. 279 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:10,760 I'm in. Christ. 280 00:17:12,119 --> 00:17:14,440 I'm telling you this, friends, because there's so many things 281 00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:21,240 that shake us this port. You cannot be saved. 282 00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:24,599 And unless you're circumcised, you cannot be saved. 283 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:27,839 And unless you're baptized, you cannot be saved. 284 00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:30,280 We'll steal that to the thief on the cross. 285 00:17:31,840 --> 00:17:33,200 Tell that to the thief on the cross. 286 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:38,360 And I believe children belong to God. 287 00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:40,640 I believe every aborted child goes to heaven. 288 00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:45,000 I believe that we're going to see millions of children in 289 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:47,840 heaven aborted. And so if you're sitting here 290 00:17:47,840 --> 00:17:49,680 having an abortion, your child is in heaven. 291 00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:51,800 The Bible says children belong to God. 292 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:55,520 This brought Port and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate 293 00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:57,000 with them. So Port and Barnas are 294 00:17:57,000 --> 00:17:58,920 appointed, along with some of the believers, to go to 295 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:01,520 Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. 296 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:05,040 That church sent them on their way, and as they traveled 297 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:07,280 through Phoenicia and Samaria, they're told how the Gentiles 298 00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:09,720 had been converted. This news made all the brothers 299 00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:11,440 very glad. When they came to Jerusalem, 300 00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:14,160 they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders to 301 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:16,400 whom they reported everything God had done through them. 302 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:19,440 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the 303 00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:23,240 Pharisees stood up and said the Gentiles must be circumcised. 304 00:18:24,360 --> 00:18:27,880 You have to add something to your salvation and required to 305 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:30,720 obey the law of Moses. The apostles and the elders met 306 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:33,960 to consider this question. After much discussion, Peter got 307 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:36,200 up and addressed them. Brothers, you know that some 308 00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:39,200 time ago God made a choice among us that the Gentiles might hear 309 00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:41,560 from our lips the message of the gospel and belief. 310 00:18:42,600 --> 00:18:45,680 God knows the heart, so that he accepted them by giving the Holy 311 00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:47,200 Spirit to him, just as he did to us. 312 00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:50,520 He made no distinction between us and them, say us and them. 313 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:55,880 There is no distinction, friends, between US and them. 314 00:18:58,080 --> 00:18:59,520 Ayanda, do you mind joining me, please? 315 00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:03,800 There's no distinction between US and them. 316 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:10,440 There is no distinction between US and them. 317 00:19:16,040 --> 00:19:20,840 This city decided to put in law. The distinction between that, 318 00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:26,360 and so in the roots of the city is the distinction between that. 319 00:19:27,360 --> 00:19:30,360 If that is still our distinction, then Christ is of 320 00:19:30,360 --> 00:19:36,200 no value, and he has no value according to the law of our 321 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:41,560 previous land historically. But if we turn and we look to 322 00:19:41,560 --> 00:19:44,320 the future and to the hope to which he has given us, and 323 00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:49,880 together we lay hold of that and pull it closer, and I give 324 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:55,360 Christ value, then I give Him value and He gives me value. 325 00:19:55,360 --> 00:20:00,400 Great joy, brilliant picture. And now there is no distinction 326 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:03,800 between us and them, because we are in Christ. 327 00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:10,920 This is just one picture. We can make it male and female. 328 00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:12,600 We can make it English and Afrikaans. 329 00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:15,800 We can make it rich and poor. We can make it educated and 330 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:18,400 educated. I want to tell you, whatever the 331 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:22,440 strong man is, he will pull you around for the rest of your 332 00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:25,080 life. And it's starting to get heavy, 333 00:20:25,080 --> 00:20:29,360 hey? Yeah, but it's starting to get 334 00:20:29,360 --> 00:20:32,120 heavy. It's starting to get heavy with 335 00:20:32,120 --> 00:20:34,320 tears in my eyes. Because you have people in this 336 00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:38,720 church that live under the burden of shame and guilt and 337 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:43,640 fear and condemnation and sin and not doing nothing. 338 00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:46,240 Not good enough. And you've been too bad enough, 339 00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:49,040 and it's and you just sit there, think, God, How? 340 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:59,840 Now then why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of a 341 00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:05,400 disciples A yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able 342 00:21:05,400 --> 00:21:09,520 to bear? No, we believe it is through the 343 00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:12,640 grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that we are saved just as they 344 00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:15,040 are. The whole assembly became silent 345 00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:17,440 as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the 346 00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:20,520 miraculous signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles 347 00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:22,000 through them. When they finished, James spoke 348 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:24,320 and said, Brothers, listen to me, it doesn't matter. 349 00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:31,760 Matthew 11 Please come to me all you who are wary and burdened, 350 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:38,440 and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn 351 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:43,360 from me, For I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will 352 00:21:43,360 --> 00:21:48,400 find rest for your souls. For my this is what Jesus does. 353 00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:08,400 Take it off. Take it off, Takes it off, takes 354 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:09,960 it off. Just like, keep standing there, 355 00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:12,960 keep standing there. And he fulfills. 356 00:22:14,360 --> 00:22:21,080 He takes the whole of sin and he absorbs sin into himself and he 357 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:24,840 absorbs a wrath of God into himself and he takes the whole 358 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:31,840 law and he fulfills the law And that yoke, that yoke that kept 359 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:37,680 us enslaved becomes Jesus whose arm is long enough to get to 360 00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:41,080 Ayanda and his arm is long enough to get to the girl who 361 00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:43,640 had an abortion. And his arm is long enough to 362 00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:45,960 get to the guy who is at an anti abortion rally. 363 00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:54,040 And he pulls them in close and says this. 364 00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:59,080 Don't devalue Christ. Don't try and do anything. 365 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:03,000 Now your shoulders are sore. Now you've got to go for a 366 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:05,840 massage, then you have to go, and then eventually you've got 367 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:08,680 to go to the chiropractor. And you've got to spend money to 368 00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:11,640 try and carry this load which Christ carried for you. 369 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:22,440 Say this if I don't know what time it is, just put your arms 370 00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:24,200 out. Bump. 371 00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:36,400 People say it is for freedom's sake that Christ has set me 372 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:41,600 free. Do not let yourself be burdened 373 00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:44,520 again. Because eventually, friends, 374 00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:47,440 somehow the enemy has got it in such a way that this is what 375 00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:50,040 will end up happening. This poor girl will have to 376 00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:53,440 carry this thing all by herself. And it just rests. 377 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:56,240 Yeah, and and it has been saying raw, you can't. 378 00:23:56,240 --> 00:24:01,840 You can he wants to step in and and and and she wants to protect 379 00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:04,200 and Mel saying hey babe be careful. 380 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:06,160 And I'm this is I love this girl. 381 00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:12,240 But there are people that are literally dying under the weight 382 00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:15,400 of guilt and shame and condemnation and 383 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:19,200 disqualification. And you think that your sin is 384 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:23,720 too far for God to get to. And he says, come to me, all you 385 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:30,840 who are tired, I'll give you rest and it doesn't matter. 386 00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:33,680 Keep standing there. It doesn't matter. 387 00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:37,120 It doesn't matter how strong this guy is. 388 00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:40,400 It doesn't matter how many weights he's lifted. 389 00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:44,000 If he keeps standing here by tonight his shoulder is sore, 390 00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:47,280 but tomorrow morning his shoulder wants to fall off. 391 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:52,080 By the next day his knee starts shaking and he stands here as a 392 00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:53,760 strong man thing. I can do this. 393 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:56,360 I can do this if you think you can do it. 394 00:24:56,360 --> 00:25:06,720 Christ has no value. So Christ takes it off and he 395 00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:11,280 stands in front of me, says He, says, Come to me, come to me, 396 00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:16,480 not to the law, not to the church, not to religion, not to 397 00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:20,920 baptism. Come to me All you who are weary 398 00:25:21,560 --> 00:25:24,720 and heavy laden. Come to me, and I will put my 399 00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:30,920 yoke upon you. I'll put my yoke upon you, for 400 00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:34,800 my yoke is easy and my burden is light. 401 00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:45,400 And in me you will find rest three CI rest, say rest. 402 00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:48,440 But we don't use our rest to commit sin. 403 00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:50,640 People say, oh, if you preach like this or people are going to 404 00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:51,960 do everything. No, no, no, no. 405 00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:54,960 The hands of God are wide enough for the law and for sin. 406 00:25:56,120 --> 00:25:59,200 It pulls me close. You say do you preach tithing as 407 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:00,080 the Lord? No, I don't. 408 00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:03,960 You're free financially, you're completely free. 409 00:26:04,480 --> 00:26:08,760 And then God comes and says, I want you to give me access. 410 00:26:08,760 --> 00:26:12,160 Seek first the Kingdom I want, in relationships and in time and 411 00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:14,440 in your business and in your words and your money. 412 00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:16,880 But it's it's not going to be by the yoke. 413 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:19,880 It's going to be by the yoke of Christ. 414 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:22,120 Say this. I am free. 415 00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:26,400 I will stay free for freedom's sake. 416 00:26:27,440 --> 00:26:32,320 Christ has set me free. Never again will I be burdened 417 00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:36,200 by the yoke of slavery. Amen.