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Good morning. 
It's very good to see each and 

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everyone of you who is here. 
I'm very honored and very 

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thankful to be your speaker and 
I'm looking forward to spending 

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the day with you and to study 
God's word with you. 

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There's no better place than we 
can be than to be together on 

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the first day of the week as God
has commanded us and to gather 

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together to worship him. 
And that is our goal this 

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morning. 
You know, when I was younger, I 

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really, always really was hoping
that you could just open the 

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Bible and then it would say do 
this or don't do that and just 

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have a set of rules and, and 
then I could just do them and I 

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wouldn't have to worry about 
anything. 

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But as I grew older, I began to 
realize that there's poetry in 

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the Bible, there's a genealogies
in the Bible. 

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There's all kinds of different 
things in the Bible. 

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Make it a little bit more 
complicated than just a, just a 

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rule book. 
And so I really struggled with, 

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well, how do I make sense of the
Bible, and maybe this is 

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something you struggled with 
over your lifetime is how do I 

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make sense of the Bible? 
What parts of this apply to me? 

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What parts of this do I have to 
do? 

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And what parts of it am I just 
reading a story? 

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What's what is important for me 
to know from the Bible? 

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Our goal is not to answer all of
those questions this morning. 

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As you see, this is a a series. 
This is lesson 1 or one lesson 

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from a series of making sense of
the Bible. 

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And so we're not going to answer
all the questions. 

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We're not going to cover all the
topics. 

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And what I leave out, you say, 
oh, you forgot about. 

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I know this isn't all of it, but
hopefully this is a foundation. 

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Hopefully this will be a place 
for you to be able to build off 

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of as you go through and study 
the Bible for yourself. 

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And so where will we start? 
Well, we want to start under the

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idea of covenants, and the Bible
we find teaches in covenants, 

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and a covenant is just an 
agreement you and I can have in 

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a covenant. 
But when we're talking about 

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specifically are the covenants 
that God makes with mankind. 

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A covenant is an agreement 
between God and his people, and 

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covenants often have blessings 
from God, but also consequences 

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if they do not do what God has 
asked. 

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And as often promises in with 
these covenants as well. 

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But almost always there's a core
concept when there is a covenant

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between God and man, and that is
that there are commandments 

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within those covenants. 
Just an example in Deuteronomy 

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28 verses 1, verses 1 and 2. 
And then verse 15, it says, now 

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it shall come to pass, if you 
diligently obey the voice of the

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Lord your God, to observe 
carefully all His commandments 

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to which I command you today, 
that the Lord your God will set 

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you high above all nations of 
the earth. 

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And all these blessings shall 
come upon you and overtake you, 

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because you obey the voice of 
the Lord your God. 

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And verse 15 says, But if it 
shall come to pass, if you do 

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not obey the voice of the Lord 
your God, to observe carefully 

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all His commandments and His 
statutes which I command you 

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today, that all these curses 
will come upon you and overtake 

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you. 
So we see here that there is 

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reward and praise for obedience 
to the commands of God. 

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And also we see curses or 
punishment when we disobey the 

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commands of God. 
And this is how covenants work 

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between God and man, really, 
nothing more and nothing less. 

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We see many covenants between 
God and man. 

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Of course, you have Adam and Eve
in the garden of God told them 

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that they could eat of all the 
trees there except for the one 

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tree they're not supposed to eat
of. 

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There's a commandment. 
There was an agreement that and 

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they disobeyed that agreement. 
He says that they ate of that, 

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that they would surely die. 
That's exactly what happened. 

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Of course, we have another 
covenant that God made with 

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Noah. 
God told Noah to build an ark 

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and get on the ark, and everyone
who would be on the ark would be

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saved. 
And that's exactly what we see. 

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Noah and all of his family, 
everybody who was in the ark, 

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they were saved. 
All the people who were outside,

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not so much. 
Another covenant that we have in

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the Bible is God made one with 
Abraham. 

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God told Abraham that he 
remained faithful, that he would

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bless him greatly, and he indeed
did do that. 

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And of course, we have today 
what we would call the the old 

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Covenant, which is the law of 
Moses. 

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And then of course, many others 
throughout the Bible, the people

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have followed. 
But then we see this, this basic

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idea that a God has blessings, 
but he also demands obedience to

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the commands or to the laws that
you live under with that 

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covenant. 
And today, of course, we live 

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under the New Testament, the new
covenant. 

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The next question is, is 
everything inside the Bible a 

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command? 
While all the Bible is inspired 

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and it is indeed the word of 
God, it is truth it teaches us, 

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but not every verse is a 
command. 

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You know both Testaments, both 
the old and new contain a mix of

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a gods of both commands and 
narratives. 

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When he used the word narrative 
this morning and in the Old 

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Testament, you had the laws of 
God and then you also just have 

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the the history of the nation of
Israel. 

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You also have Psalms and 
different things like that that 

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are not necessarily commands for
you to obey. 

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There's also genealogies there 
as well in the New Testament of 

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Christ's teachings. 
But we also just have some 

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history about the beginning of 
the church. 

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Some of it is is relevant to us 
today and some of it is not or 

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not that's not relevant today, 
but some of it is something we 

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need to pay attention to, to 
replicate. 

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And some of it is just 
narrative. 

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So what what examples are we 
talking about, Aaron? 

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So something that is narrative 
is in Matthew 8, verse 23, it 

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says Jesus got into a boat. 
Does that mean I have to get 

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into a boat? 
Maybe you don't know how to 

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swim. 
You don't want to get into a 

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boat. 
You want to stay on dry land. 

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Is that something we have to 
replicate just because we read 

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it in the Bible? 
Well, not necessarily. 

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This is just part of the 
narrative. 

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This is just part of the story 
telling us what happened. 

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But here in Exodus 20, verse 15,
I know this is the Old 

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Testament, but it says you 
should not steal. 

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Well, that sounds like a 
command. 

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That sounds like something you 
must obey. 

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And so throughout the Bible we 
have both of these things. 

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In the New Testament, you know, 
Paul is traveling on his 

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missionary journeys and he is 
going from different places. 

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And it says he came to this town
and he stayed a certain amount 

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of time period and then went to 
the next place. 

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And then he traveled. 
And then sometimes he took a 

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boat, sometimes he walked. 
All of that is very interesting.

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It's very good for us to read. 
That doesn't mean I have to 

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replicate how long Paul stayed 
at each place or if I have to 

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follow the same missionary 
journey that Paul did. 

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But at the same time, Paul wrote
First Corinthians and Second 

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Corinthians where he's 
correcting a church and he says 

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you need to do these things and 
you need to not do these other 

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things. 
Well, those are things that we 

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need to pay attention to. 
And if we are doing the same 

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things that the Church of 
Corinthus and we, they were told

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to stop, then we should stop. 
And if we're not doing the 

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things that Corinth was not 
doing and they were told to 

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start, then we need to start. 
And so we see how that works. 

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So the the next thing we need to
really understand it before we 

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move on is that the Old 
Testament contained the law of 

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Moses and other covenants, but 
the whole Testament is not the 

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law of Moses. 
In the same way in the New 

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Testament we have the New 
Testament. 

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It contains the new covenant 
which we live under, but not 

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every verse. 
Like Jesus getting into a boat 

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is part of that covenant that I 
have to follow and replicate in 

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my daily life. 
So it contains the covenant, but

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there are parts that are simply 
narrative. 

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So we know, as we said, there's 
a core of commands for every 

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covenant that God gives us. 
So how do we identify these 

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commands? 
Like I said when I was really 

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young, I wish it was just a thou
shalt, thou shalt not thou 

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shalt. 
That's what people often think 

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about when they think of 
commands when God speaks to us. 

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But really, there's more to it 
than that. 

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It's a little bit more in depth 
than that. 

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When the Bible talks about 
commands, it's not just looking 

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for a rule list. 
Rather, they help us understand 

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what God expects us to do or not
to do. 

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And that's really what we're 
looking for when we're reading 

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through the Bible. 
They've revealed to us what sin 

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is because sin is going against 
God's commands. 

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It's disobedience to God. 
So here are 4 clear ways that 

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God communicates His commands to
us today. 

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Number one is direct statements 
#2 broad principles #3 indirect 

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instructions and #4 examples. 
And we're going to go into these

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each in detail here in a moment.
So with these four different 

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ways that God communicates His 
will to us, we have a broader 

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picture of how we are to live 
our lives and remain faithful to

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God within the covenant of which
we live. 

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Direct statements are super 
easy. 

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They're everyone's favorite. 
They're clear, explicit 

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instructions given by God and 
his messengers in the Old 

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Testament in Genesis 9, verse 4.
But you shall not eat flesh with

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its life, that is its blood. 
So he says don't eat the blood. 

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That's a nice, easy command for 
them in the New Testament, in 

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Acts 2, verse 38, repent and let
everyone of you be baptized in 

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the name of Jesus Christ. 
That's a very clear, simple, 

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open command for us today. 
So these direct statements 

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clearly and unmistakably show us
exactly what God expects of us. 

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These are the thou shalt the 
people love and and want to hold

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on to. 
But these are not the only ways 

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in which God communicates his 
will to us. 

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And when he does so that it 
means that it's binding. 

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It is part of that covenant 
under which we have a we have 

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agreed to live under, we have 
agreed to make with the Creator 

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of the universe. 
The second category is broad 

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principles. 
These are general commands that 

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apply to many different 
situations, not just a specific 

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go do this or don't do this, but
more general ideas of how we 

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live and act toward one another.
In the Old Testament, he says 

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you shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart and 

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Deuteronomy 6 verse five. 
That means that when you go to 

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school, when you go to work, 
when you get home from work and 

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you're tired, you love God no 
matter what. 

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In the New Testament, in 
Galatians 6 verse 2, bear one 

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another's burdens and so fulfil 
the law of Christ. 

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This is true no matter where we 
are or who we are, but it might 

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be different depending on the 
situation. 

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How I bear the burdens of 
Frankie may be very different 

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than how I have to bury the 
burdens of Terry. 

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They're very different because 
the relationships are different.

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Maybe there's something that 
Terry and I have in common that 

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Frankie and I don't have in 
common that we both struggle 

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with, but we're still supposed 
to be there. 

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So this is a general command 
that I'm looking for 

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opportunities to help each and 
everyone of you, that you are 

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looking for opportunities to 
help me and each other. 

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And we're working together. 
So that's a general statement, 

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but it's still required by by 
God that we do this thing. 

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So these principles provide a 
broad standard is the way to 

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think about it, or guide to our 
daily choices and actions. 

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The third category are indirect 
instructions or commands, and 

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they are really through implied 
statements or promises from God.

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And in the Old Testament 
example, we have Proverbs 28, 

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verse 13. 
He says whoever, whoever it is 

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who's not talking to you. 
He's not talking specifically to

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me, but he's just saying general
statements. 

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Whoever confesses and forsakes 
sin will have mercy. 

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Well, what does that imply? 
That implies that we must admit 

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and turn away from our sins. 
If I want to be part of that 

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whoever, then I'm going to take 
this action. 

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Also in Mark 16, verse 16, he 
who they who, she, who, whoever 

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it is, if they take this step, 
what happens? 

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He who believes is baptized will
be saved. 

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So this implies the necessity of
belief in baptism if you want to

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be what saved. 
So this is just a general 

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statement that God says this is 
a truism and if you want to 

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participate in it, this is what 
you need to do to accomplish 

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00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:36,040
that. 
So there's not a you must or 

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00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:41,200
thou shalt hear at all. 
The last category we want to 

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00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:48,320
talk about are examples. 
Now examples in Scripture become

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00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:54,000
binding when they describe 
believers obeying a command or 

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principle previously talked 
about or given by God. 

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00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:02,800
And we have just one example 
from the New Testament here. 

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00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:06,520
Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25 says
that we're not to be forsaken or

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00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:08,240
the assembly of ourselves 
together. 

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00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:12,520
And Acts 20 verse 7, we see 
that's exactly what they're 

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doing now. 
The first day of the week when 

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the disciples came together, 
they came together. 

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00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:21,080
They obeyed the command to not 
forsake the assembling of 

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00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:28,960
themselves together. 
Now an example alone without an 

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00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:33,920
underlying command from God is 
never binding by itself. 

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00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:37,680
And this goes back to the whole 
thing about Jesus stepping into 

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00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:39,680
the boat. 
That's just narrative. 

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00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:41,000
That's just a thing that's 
happened. 

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00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:44,960
Unless the Bible says we all 
need to get on boats, then we 

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00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:48,640
don't have then that's not a 
binding example of something we 

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00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:53,680
have to do. 
Examples only carry authority 

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when they illustrate obedience 
to commands or principles 

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already given by God. 
In the Old Testament, God 

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00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:07,880
primarily spoke through the 600 
plus laws and then we just see 

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00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:10,800
people carrying them out. 
And so we don't really see this 

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00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:15,160
pattern very much in the Old 
Testament, but we really see a 

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00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:19,400
lot in the New Testament because
examples carry more authority. 

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00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:24,320
And that is because as we were 
reading the actual actions and 

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00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:28,080
teachings of the apostles as 
they lived out the commands that

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00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:33,200
God gave them, and the apostles 
themselves had divine authority 

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00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:37,680
to establish church practices, 
Jesus gave them his authority. 

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00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:40,800
In Matthew 28, verse 18 through 
20 says, go into all the world 

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00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:43,400
preaching the gospel. 
So when we read about them doing

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00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:45,120
that, we can see that as an 
example. 

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00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:51,120
And also in John 14 verse 26, in
John 16, verse 13, Jesus says, 

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00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:53,640
I'm going to remind you of 
everything that I talked to you 

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00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:56,880
about and I'm going to tell you 
things you're not ready for and 

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00:15:56,880 --> 00:15:58,920
you need to tell people and 
spread the message. 

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00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:02,120
That means as we see the 
apostles doing these things, 

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00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:06,680
they create, they create binding
examples for us, of course, as 

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long as they're tied back to 
these commands from God. 

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00:16:11,280 --> 00:16:14,560
Because of this, we find a lot 
more examples of the New 

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00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:17,760
Testament than we ever would in 
the Old Testament. 

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00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:24,920
And again, Jesus getting into 
the boat is not a pattern for us

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00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:26,760
to follow that or that we have 
to follow. 

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00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:29,360
It's not binding upon us. 
If you want to get into a boat, 

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00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:35,760
you can do that. 
So this brings, excuse me. 

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00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:40,000
So this brings us back to the 
heart of what a covenant is. 

275
00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:46,280
The four types of commands are 
the heart of what God expects in

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00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:50,880
His covenants. 
He says here in John 14 verse 

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00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:54,720
15, If you love me, keep my 
commandments. 

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00:16:55,800 --> 00:17:00,760
So each command in Scripture is 
either a direct instruction or 

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00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:04,760
one of the the four commands 
that we have from God on what he

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00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:09,640
expects of us. 
If we are going to obey him, he 

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00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:16,640
we show our love to God through 
obedience in the covenant 

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00:17:16,640 --> 00:17:19,240
relationship with God. 
God says, I'm going to offer you

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00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:20,720
salvation. 
I'm going to offer you a new 

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00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:25,119
life, a new opportunity to a new
a new start. 

285
00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:27,160
And what do you what do I want 
in return? 

286
00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:31,200
Love me. 
And you do that by keeping my 

287
00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:34,800
commandments. 
These commandments not only 

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00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:40,440
guide us then, but they also 
clearly define what sin is. 

289
00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:48,840
Because if by by inference we 
can see that if we love God and 

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00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:51,160
we keep us commandments, then if
we don't keep us commandments, 

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00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:55,240
we don't love God, that means 
that's sin. 

292
00:17:56,040 --> 00:17:57,400
We're not showing our love to 
God. 

293
00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:02,600
So what is sin? 
Scripture teaches clearly that 

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00:18:02,600 --> 00:18:09,440
sin is breaking God's commands. 
And 1st John 3 verse 4 says sin 

295
00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:14,480
is lawlessness, means it is 
something that was without the 

296
00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:19,600
law breaking the law. 
Someone who is an outlaw is a 

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00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:23,320
law breaker. 
Paul goes on and explains in 

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00:18:23,320 --> 00:18:26,720
Norman 7 verse seven, I would 
not have known sin except 

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00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:31,120
through the law. 
And so when God gives his 

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00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:35,680
covenant, he establishes the 
laws of the covenant, the rules 

301
00:18:35,680 --> 00:18:39,520
of the covenant, the commands of
the covenant, and my goal, but 

302
00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:44,080
my job as someone who loves God 
is to obey them. 

303
00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:48,280
But there are no rules or laws 
or something like that. 

304
00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:53,280
Then I can't break that law if 
God had not spoken about it. 

305
00:18:58,360 --> 00:19:01,800
So we sin when we break God's 
commands. 

306
00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:05,560
And we do this in two ways. 
First of all, we do this by 

307
00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:10,040
doing things that God forbids. 
You can think of this as active 

308
00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:14,040
disobedience, like when Adam and
Eve eight of the fruit, they 

309
00:19:14,040 --> 00:19:16,000
were not supposed to in Genesis 
3 verse 6. 

310
00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:21,240
Or maybe I luckily my oldest is 
only 7, but I foresee a time 

311
00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:24,080
when she may be able to old 
enough to drive and I say don't 

312
00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:26,560
drive the car and she drives the
car. 

313
00:19:26,560 --> 00:19:29,720
That's active disobedience. 
She's choosing to disobey me. 

314
00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:34,720
Hopefully we'll never have that 
situation, but that happens all 

315
00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:36,880
the time. 
People have active disobedience 

316
00:19:36,880 --> 00:19:41,000
against God. 
The second way is failing to do 

317
00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:45,880
what God has commanded. 
James taught us in James 4 verse

318
00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:48,400
17. 
It's just to him who knows to do

319
00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:51,480
good and does not do it to him 
and his sin. 

320
00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:54,960
If you know there's something 
you should be doing and you 

321
00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:58,080
don't do it, then you're also 
sinning. 

322
00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:01,760
There's those general principles
about loving God, loving your 

323
00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:04,160
neighbor. 
We're not doing those things 

324
00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:07,400
that we are also sitting. 
And breaking the command, the 

325
00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:12,560
covenant that we have with God. 
So what is sin? 

326
00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:16,600
Romans 4 verse 15 says where 
there is no law, there is no 

327
00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:20,360
transgression. 
Romans 5 verse 13 says sin is 

328
00:20:20,360 --> 00:20:23,160
not counted where there is no 
law. 

329
00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:28,960
Without God's explicit commands,
we can have no true standard of 

330
00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:32,520
right or wrong, because it's not
up to you and I to decide what 

331
00:20:32,520 --> 00:20:35,160
is right and wrong. 
It's up to God to set that 

332
00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:37,880
standard. 
You know, Jesus actually 

333
00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:42,760
condemned the Pharisees for 
adding their own rules on top of

334
00:20:42,760 --> 00:20:46,520
what God had given them. 
In Matthew 15 verse 9, he says 

335
00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:51,440
that they're hypocrites. 
Understanding that sin only 

336
00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:56,680
occurs when we break God's 
commands helps us avoid wrongly 

337
00:20:56,680 --> 00:21:00,520
judging others and creating 
unnecessary We're binding 

338
00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:04,480
unnecessary things upon others 
and ourselves, just like the 

339
00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:08,040
Pharisees did. 
We must never elevate our own 

340
00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:12,840
opinions or traditions to the 
level of God's law. 

341
00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:18,320
Only God's commands can define 
what sin is because sin is 

342
00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:21,480
breaking them. 
So let's look at some examples 

343
00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:23,440
to apply this very quickly this 
morning. 

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00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:30,040
When God gives a command, he 
knows exactly what he expects. 

345
00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:33,560
At the same time, he excludes 
all other options. 

346
00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:37,080
For example, God commanded in 
the Old Testament priests to 

347
00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:44,840
offer in Exodus chapter 30, 
excuse me, in Exodus chapter 30,

348
00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:50,000
verses one through 8, to offer 
incense as worship to God. 

349
00:21:50,760 --> 00:21:53,760
And they dab and by who? 
They're very excited to be the 

350
00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:56,680
new priests for God. 
And what do they do? 

351
00:21:56,840 --> 00:22:01,560
They sin by offering incense in 
a way different than what God 

352
00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:03,880
commanded. 
And they actually sinned in two 

353
00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:06,520
different ways. 
First of all, they will use 

354
00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:11,080
censors instead of placing the 
incense of the altar of incense 

355
00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:14,160
like God commanded them back in 
Exodus 30. 

356
00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:19,320
And, and secondly, it says they 
offered strange fire, mean fire 

357
00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:22,200
from a source that God had not 
commanded. 

358
00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:28,720
The fire was profane or strange 
fire, as some translations put 

359
00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:31,960
it. 
Others call this common fire. 

360
00:22:32,120 --> 00:22:36,160
It was unholy fire. 
It was something other than what

361
00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:41,600
God had asked them to offer. 
It was not until later in 

362
00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:47,160
Leviticus 16 that God talked 
about offering incense on a 

363
00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:51,760
censure, and that only happened 
one day a year, on the Day of 

364
00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:55,600
Atonement. 
And so God had told them how 

365
00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:58,800
that he wanted them to offer 
incense and they did something 

366
00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:05,840
different than what God had 
commanded them and so God 

367
00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:08,400
punished them. 
The Bible talks about that. 

368
00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:10,680
They took that fire and they 
offered it before God and the 

369
00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:16,800
fire came out and devoured them.
They were burnt up because they 

370
00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:24,080
disobeyed God's clear commands. 
We can apply this to for us 

371
00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:31,160
today as well. 
And Ephesians 5 verse 19 says 

372
00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:34,440
speaking to one another in 
psalms and hymns and spiritual 

373
00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:38,040
songs, singing and making melody
in your heart to the Lord. 

374
00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:43,440
Here the apostle Paul 
specifically identifies singing 

375
00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:47,760
music from the voice is what is 
being offered up. 

376
00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:52,920
And he also says making melody. 
And this word making melody 

377
00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:56,720
comes from the Greek word to, to
pluck, to pluck something. 

378
00:23:57,360 --> 00:24:02,480
And by the time that the Bible 
was written, the only way that 

379
00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:05,840
you know, what was being plucked
was by the context of what was 

380
00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:08,080
being talked about. 
So it could be that you have a, 

381
00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:10,160
a Carpenter string that you're 
plucking. 

382
00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:13,560
It could be that you have a a 
bowstring from a bow and arrow 

383
00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:16,120
that you're plucking. 
It could be that you have a 

384
00:24:16,120 --> 00:24:20,960
guitar string that you're 
plucking, or it could be a heart

385
00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:25,440
string that you're plucking. 
And so he gives this command 

386
00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:29,080
about what kind of music we are 
to have. 

387
00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:32,920
We are singing with our voices 
and plucking our hearts, 

388
00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:36,800
plucking our heartstrings for 
God. 

389
00:24:37,120 --> 00:24:41,400
We sing from the heart. 
This is the only type of musical

390
00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:46,040
worship that God talks about the
New Testament, and therefore He 

391
00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:53,920
excludes instruments or any 
other kind of music throughout 

392
00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:58,080
the Bible. 
Every example of sin involves 

393
00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:01,080
breaking these commands that we 
talked about this morning. 

394
00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:07,200
Scripture never labels something
as sinful unless it violates a 

395
00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:11,040
specific command that God has 
already given or one of those 

396
00:25:11,120 --> 00:25:16,120
four types that we talked about.
This is such a critical truth 

397
00:25:16,120 --> 00:25:20,040
for us to understand. 
When God commands something, He 

398
00:25:20,040 --> 00:25:22,960
excludes everything else that He
did not command. 

399
00:25:24,120 --> 00:25:29,800
Human traditions or my opinions 
or your opinions can never carry

400
00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:33,240
the same authority as God's 
commands. 

401
00:25:34,360 --> 00:25:38,760
We also want to note the absence
of a command from God does not 

402
00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:42,160
give us the right to create 
requirements like the Pharisees 

403
00:25:42,160 --> 00:25:48,160
did, where God had not spoken. 
And so our goal, our prayer this

404
00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:53,120
morning is to encourage each of 
us to carefully follow. 

405
00:25:53,120 --> 00:25:59,000
Follow only what God commands, 
nothing more and nothing less. 

406
00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:08,000
This morning, this is the 
foundation, I think, of a 

407
00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:12,400
foundation for understanding how
to make sense of the Bible. 

408
00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:15,320
As I said, there's things we 
could talk about outside of the 

409
00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:20,000
realm that we covered, but this 
is a good beginning place, a 

410
00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:22,960
good foundation so that when 
you're reading through the 

411
00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:24,720
Bible, So what part of this 
applies to me? 

412
00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:27,600
How do I make sense of it? 
How do I know what I'm supposed 

413
00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:29,360
to be doing? 
How do I find the right church? 

414
00:26:29,360 --> 00:26:31,320
How do I know they're doing what
they're supposed to be doing? 

415
00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:36,320
We can follow this the simple 
plans, the simple idea that 

416
00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:39,360
throughout Scripture God only 
requires obedience to commands 

417
00:26:39,360 --> 00:26:44,040
given in the law of a covenant. 
So we need to find out, learn a 

418
00:26:44,040 --> 00:26:48,080
little bit more about covenants 
and that's it's other a whole 

419
00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:50,400
another series, part of the 
series. 

420
00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:54,920
We need to figure out what God 
wants from us and then do it 

421
00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:59,320
because we love him. 
That's our goal as Christians. 

422
00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:02,560
God has made a promise to each 
and every one of us on this 

423
00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:07,200
planet that if we will be 
faithful, if we will learn to 

424
00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:12,720
love Him and to obey Him, to 
show our love to Him, that he 

425
00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:15,840
will save our souls. 
He's already done all that was 

426
00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:21,920
necessary to do that. 
He sent Jesus, who was God and 

427
00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:29,280
also man, to come and live a a 
perfect sinful life, sinless 

428
00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:34,480
life. 
Wow, perfect sinless life to die

429
00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:39,520
upon that cruel cross for you 
and for me to pay the penalty 

430
00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:43,200
for our sins. 
And if we're going to accept 

431
00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:47,600
that and accept the covenant 
that God offers us and enter 

432
00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:52,480
into that covenant, that 
relationship with God, then he 

433
00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:56,560
offers us a new life, a new 
opportunity, our sins to be 

434
00:27:56,560 --> 00:27:59,880
washed clean and eternal life 
with Him. 

435
00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:03,640
How wonderful that is, how 
beautiful that is. 

436
00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:07,560
Romans chapter 10 verse 17 says 
faith comes by hearing and 

437
00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:13,040
hearing by the word of God. 
This doesn't mean that this idea

438
00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:15,240
of faith is so such an 
interesting idea. 

439
00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:18,080
This doesn't mean that I just 
kind of believe that Jesus kind 

440
00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:22,080
of existed, but I get to know 
him. 

441
00:28:22,480 --> 00:28:24,360
I get to know what the Bible 
says about him. 

442
00:28:24,360 --> 00:28:28,160
Hebrews 11 verse 6 says, but 
without faith is impossible to 

443
00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:30,840
please him. 
For he who comes to God must 

444
00:28:30,840 --> 00:28:34,880
believe that He is and that He 
is a rewarder of those who 

445
00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:39,120
diligently seek Him. 
There are many people who kind 

446
00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:43,080
of like the idea of Jesus, but 
he says He's a rewarder of those

447
00:28:43,080 --> 00:28:45,440
who diligently seek Him this 
morning. 

448
00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:48,480
The purpose of this lesson is to
teach us how to begin to 

449
00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:50,840
diligently seek Him. 
How do I seek Him? 

450
00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:53,720
How do I understand Him? 
How do I apply what He wants for

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me? 
In Acts 17 verse 30, it says 

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truly these times of ignorance 
God overlooked, but now commands

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all men everywhere to repent. 
That's what God expects us, and 

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repentance is not that. 
We have to be perfect today, but

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it means I'm not going to try to
live in my life for my think so 

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so the way that I've wanted to. 
Then my mindset and I'm going to

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shift and turn and follow after 
Jesus and use his mindset and 

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00:29:18,920 --> 00:29:23,480
look at my life through the eyes
of God and I'm willing to to try

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00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:28,440
it his way not and realizing how
many mistakes I have made. 

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00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:33,960
And then of course, we need to 
confess in Matthew 10 verse 32, 

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Jesus said whoever confesses you
before man, I will confess 

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00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:40,600
before my father who is in 
heaven and I absolutely love 

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00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:43,400
this passage. 
The idea is that you're standing

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before God on the day of 
judgment, which I am sure is 

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00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:51,560
going to be a terrible, scary 
thing for everybody no matter 

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00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:53,720
what. 
And Jesus can be right by your 

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00:29:53,720 --> 00:29:56,480
side saying that's OK, This is 
my brother, this is my sister. 

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00:29:57,160 --> 00:30:00,000
I'm vouching for you because you
vouched for me while we were 

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here on earth. 
How wonderful that would be, how

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comforting that will be to know 
that Jesus will be there with 

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00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:11,400
you. 
In Acts chapter 2, verse 38, the

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first gospel servant that was 
ever preached, Peter told these 

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00:30:14,720 --> 00:30:17,560
men here that they had killed 
the Messiah that they've been 

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00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:20,720
waiting generations for. 
And they said, men and brothers,

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00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:24,520
what shall we do? 
He says repent and let everyone 

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00:30:24,520 --> 00:30:29,160
of you be baptized in the name 
of Jesus Jesus Christ for the 

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00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:33,840
remission of your sins. 
Maybe you've taken these steps, 

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00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:36,520
but you've not been living your 
life the way that you ought to. 

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00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:42,280
You've been struggling. 
Life is not an easy an easy game

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00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:45,280
to win. 
Life is difficult. 

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00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:51,400
In Revelation 2, verse 10, we 
are told be faithful unto death 

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00:30:51,440 --> 00:30:54,000
and I will give you a crown of 
life. 

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00:30:55,720 --> 00:30:58,440
That's all he asked of us. 
Enter into that covered 

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00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:03,880
relationship and be faithful and
God promises you a crown of 

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00:31:03,880 --> 00:31:05,360
life. 
How wonderful that is. 

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00:31:05,360 --> 00:31:10,640
What a an amazing covenant that 
you get to have with the Creator

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00:31:10,640 --> 00:31:13,200
of the universe. 
If we can help you in either 

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00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:15,520
case, we ask you, please come 
while we stand and sing the song

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00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:16,240
of invitation.