1 00:00:01,440 --> 00:00:02,840 Praise God. Good morning everybody. 2 00:00:03,920 --> 00:00:06,160 I'm so happy to be here. I'm so encouraged to be here. 3 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:08,840 And like I said, I'm I'm so happy that I look around and I 4 00:00:08,840 --> 00:00:11,520 see faces I don't recognize, which is a blessing to me. 5 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:14,960 And I'm just encouraged because I know that things are happening 6 00:00:14,960 --> 00:00:17,560 in this church and this body and it's growing and the community 7 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:19,600 is growing and it won't be much longer while you guys will be 8 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:21,360 out of here and it's something better. 9 00:00:21,360 --> 00:00:26,360 So praise God for that. I'm also encouraged because as 10 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:29,720 we were singing in the 1st song this morning, I heard the the 11 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:33,960 Apostles Creed in that song. And that's one thing that all of 12 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:36,320 us, all Christians can agree on, right? 13 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:38,600 That's the one thing that defines us as Christians. 14 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:40,280 We believe in God the Father, right? 15 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:42,760 The Son, the Holy Spirit that he died and he rose again. 16 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:46,960 That unifies all Christians. All professing Christians 17 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:50,160 believe in those things. Anybody who doesn't profess 18 00:00:50,160 --> 00:00:52,200 those things is not a Christian. So that's one thing we can agree 19 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:55,360 agree upon. That being said, today we're 20 00:00:55,360 --> 00:00:57,880 going to talk about some of the things that we don't agree upon 21 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:00,640 as Christians or with our brothers and sisters and how we 22 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:05,400 can kind of find grace in those areas and also like what it 23 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:08,160 means to be live in faith, right? 24 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:10,640 You know, God's faith for us. So we're going to touch on a 25 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:12,400 couple different things and we're going to all wrap it up 26 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:15,040 together at the end of it. So just bear with me as I go 27 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:17,480 through because it might seem like what is he talking about? 28 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:20,320 But trust me because as we go through the stages, it's going 29 00:01:20,320 --> 00:01:22,520 to make sense. OK, so First things first. 30 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:25,360 I was talking to my wife the other day and we were in the, I 31 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:28,680 think we were in the car and I was saying, man, you know, I 32 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:31,800 love this time of year and I also hate this time of year. 33 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:33,800 And she's like, why do you say that? 34 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:36,960 And I said, man, this time of year is, is great because, you 35 00:01:36,960 --> 00:01:39,520 know, I, we obviously enjoy the holidays and things of that 36 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:41,880 nature. But then of course you get the 37 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:45,360 people who chime in and pop up and anybody who follows me on 38 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:48,320 any of my social media, they laugh because they know where 39 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:49,920 I'm getting or I'm going with this, right. 40 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:53,200 So you see all these people chiming in on this is that, and 41 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:55,640 that is this and this is wrong and you shouldn't do this and 42 00:01:55,640 --> 00:01:58,800 you shouldn't do that. And it's like as soon as October 43 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:02,240 1st hits, you know, you hear the people saying real Christians 44 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:05,400 don't celebrate Halloween. You know, real Christians, you 45 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:07,440 know, they don't do this, They don't have that, they don't have 46 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:09,800 that. And I'm like, man, this is some 47 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:12,040 of these people you don't hear from all year round, right? 48 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:14,680 They don't talk about anything. And then they don't, they pop up 49 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:17,800 around Halloween saying that this is Satan's birthday and 50 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:20,000 this and that. And then you roll into you roll 51 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:23,400 into Thanksgiving, right? And then it's, you know, all 52 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:25,920 this is a Pagan holiday that was taken from this. 53 00:02:25,920 --> 00:02:28,960 And then look, let me let me stop all that right here, right? 54 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:31,360 And all for those of you that know me, I'm a big church 55 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:34,160 history buff. And let's be clear, Halloween is 56 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:38,160 not a satanic holiday. It wasn't started by Satanist or 57 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:40,080 paganist. It was a Christian holiday. 58 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:44,000 And All Hallows Eve means the eve of All Saints Day. 59 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:46,920 So Hallows means holy, which means St. 60 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:50,880 So it was just the day before they recognized the day of All 61 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:52,840 Hallows Day was the day that they had for Saints. 62 00:02:52,920 --> 00:02:55,840 They recognize martyrs, people who died in the faith. 63 00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:59,440 So the eve before it, they would go ahead and, you know, fast and 64 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:02,040 pray so that they could be prepared for the next day, which 65 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:05,240 they spent in church remembering the Christians that had died in 66 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:06,120 the faith. Why? 67 00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:08,480 Because they set the groundwork for those of us that are 68 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:10,800 Christians, right? There was a time when Christians 69 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:13,320 were persecuted and they were killed for their faith. 70 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:17,520 And a lot of those people died so that we can worship here and 71 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:20,280 have freedom to worship here. And so when the, when the 72 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:23,360 Puritans came from England and they came over here, that's what 73 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:24,760 they did. They said freedom, right? 74 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:27,120 And that that goes into Thanksgiving. 75 00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:30,160 What is Thanksgiving? It was started by Christians, 76 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:33,640 Puritans who came over here after they broke away from the 77 00:03:33,640 --> 00:03:35,720 Church of England and they came here and they wanted to 78 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:38,200 celebrate what we got crops this year. 79 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:41,200 We're so thankful that we can live here and grow crops and eat 80 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:43,400 and, and we're just going to have a time where we just give 81 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:47,080 thanks to the Lord, right? And obviously Christmas, the 82 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:50,440 word Christ is in the day. So obviously this is a Christian 83 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:54,200 holiday, and I say all that to say even further than that, all 84 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:58,520 days belong to the Lord. We need to stop giving things to 85 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:03,400 the world that belong to us. We need to stop saying this 86 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:07,000 belongs to Satan or no, no, no, Satan is not an omniscient 87 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:08,600 being. He's not all powerful. 88 00:04:08,600 --> 00:04:11,560 He's not everywhere. He's not doing any of these 89 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:13,320 things. Now, do people do things that's 90 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:14,440 wrong? Absolutely. 91 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:18,279 Do I paint, put blood on the side of my doors and ghouls and 92 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:19,640 goblets? No, I don't do that. 93 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:22,640 But why don't we? We should take these days back. 94 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:26,360 You know, a few years ago, we, we, we put a table out in front 95 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:30,040 of the house and on Halloween and we put candy and, you know, 96 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:33,200 the girls dressed up, but we gave out tracks and we gave out 97 00:04:33,280 --> 00:04:36,520 Bibles and we gave out, you know, Christian magazines. 98 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:38,880 I, I couldn't think of a better time to do that. 99 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:42,880 People are coming to my house. They coming to my doorstep. 100 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:45,440 This is the easiest. This is this is set up for us 101 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:47,360 perfectly. They come to my door and I say, 102 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:48,480 do you know about Jesus? That's right. 103 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:51,160 Do you know about our Lord, the Savior, Jesus Christ, right. 104 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:53,720 It's it's it's the best opportunity. 105 00:04:53,720 --> 00:04:56,720 Instead we, you know, I grew up, you know, firing brimstone. 106 00:04:56,720 --> 00:04:58,760 So I was like, lock the doors, turn off the lights. 107 00:04:59,280 --> 00:05:01,040 That's true. I mean it remember shaking 108 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:02,320 because she was raised the same way too. 109 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:03,880 Well, I didn't go to school that day. 110 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:07,960 My mom didn't send me to school. We stayed in the house. 111 00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:10,240 We turned off all the lights and we made believe like nobody was 112 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:13,800 home because my mom didn't want anybody knocking on the door. 113 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:15,320 Nobody. We don't do none of that 114 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:18,080 Halloween. We don't want none of that here. 115 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:21,040 And you know, thankfully, you know, God and his omnicious and 116 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:24,080 his wisdom has enlightened us to say, well, obviously this is an 117 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:28,160 opportunity for us to preach the gospel to somebody and you know, 118 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:32,160 take the gospel. So all those things I say God is 119 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:36,000 in control instead of us hiding and you know, fearfully and 120 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:38,200 judging other people. You know, I don't really, I 121 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:40,320 don't practice Halloween, but I don't judge those that do. 122 00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:43,760 But let's let's find a common ground there and say, you know 123 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:45,800 what, how can we love on somebody? 124 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:47,480 How can we use this as an opportunity? 125 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:50,520 Same thing with Thanksgiving. How can we use this opportunity? 126 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:53,320 You know, some, some people, I've seen the people where 127 00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:55,560 they're like, oh, Friendsgiving outside of the regular 128 00:05:55,560 --> 00:05:58,040 Thanksgiving where they take a day where they invite their 129 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:01,680 friends, maybe who from the area who don't have family and get 130 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:04,480 together and say, Hey, come to my house and let's share the 131 00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:07,080 love of Christ with one another. Praise God, Amen. 132 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:09,040 That's the that's the things that we should be doing as 133 00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:11,200 Christians, promoting those those things. 134 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:15,000 And remember, God is in control. All days belong to the Lord. 135 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:18,280 He has control over all days. He is a mighty God. 136 00:06:18,280 --> 00:06:20,480 He's king. And that's who we worship. 137 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:23,960 So anything that's against us, we don't have to fearful, be 138 00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:25,920 fearful or worry about any listening because our God is in 139 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:27,200 control. Amen. 140 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:29,320 And what's what better than that? 141 00:06:29,320 --> 00:06:32,480 And what's even better than that is that this week something 142 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:34,320 happens. We can remember something even 143 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:36,880 better for those of us that are Protestants, right? 144 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:38,680 Which everyone here is a Protestant, right? 145 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:40,560 Yeah. Everybody's like, I don't know, 146 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:43,280 maybe, but yeah, we're all Protestants, right? 147 00:06:43,280 --> 00:06:45,200 Meaning we're not, we're not Catholic, right? 148 00:06:45,280 --> 00:06:48,680 Or Roman Catholic or Oriental Catholic or Coptics or anything 149 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:50,520 like that. And something this week happens 150 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:52,280 even greater than that. And what is that? 151 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:55,360 It's Reformation Day, which is what? 152 00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:59,600 The day that Martin Luther posted in his 95 thesis on the 153 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:02,200 door of Wittenberg, right? I know I'm getting a little 154 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:04,920 nerdy, but trust me, this is important, right? 155 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:07,480 This is important for us to understand because what did he, 156 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:08,840 what is this the purpose of that? 157 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:14,000 That was the day that the church proper, I would say I'm sorry to 158 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:17,240 any of my Catholic friends out there, The church proper broke 159 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:19,800 away and reformed back to the church the way it was supposed 160 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:22,360 to be. So who was Martin Luther? 161 00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:25,680 Martin Luther was ordained to the priesthood in 15 O 7. 162 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:29,840 Now he came to reject several teachings and practices with the 163 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:31,920 Roman Catholic Church. How did that happen? 164 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:35,000 He started reading his Bible. That is the truth. 165 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:37,680 He read his Bible and he was like, wait a minute, some of the 166 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:39,080 stuff that they're teaching isn't right. 167 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:42,640 So that's that's key to remember, read your Bibles 168 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:45,440 because not everybody that preaches and teaches something 169 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:49,240 is teaching something right. And for thousands, 1000 years, 170 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:51,840 right, I would say, give or take, things were going in the 171 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:54,000 wrong direction. And people started saying, wait 172 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:55,320 a minute, I don't think that's right. 173 00:07:55,960 --> 00:07:58,920 I don't think that's biblical. And it took for not only him, 174 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:01,280 but certain men to be like, wait a minute, we've gone too far. 175 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:04,640 And So what did it look like in in the teaching of the Catholic 176 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:06,200 Church? There's a thing called 177 00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:09,160 indulgences. And in particular, he disputed 178 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:12,320 the view of indulgences. That's where he drew the line 179 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:14,040 and he was like, all right, enough is enough. 180 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:16,640 I've seen too much and I know that this is going the wrong 181 00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:18,880 way. And I'm we got to draw the line. 182 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:21,880 This is not biblical. And the teaching of indulgences 183 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:25,120 in the Catholic Church, it comes from the word indulgence. 184 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:27,240 Yeah. Which means to permit is a way 185 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:29,960 to reduce the amount of punishment one has to under 186 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:33,360 undergo for a forgiven sins. The Catechism of the Catholic 187 00:08:33,360 --> 00:08:37,480 Church describes an indulgence as a remission before God of the 188 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:40,559 temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been 189 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:44,200 forgiven, with which faithful Christian who is duly disposed 190 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:46,360 gains under certain prescribed conditions. 191 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:48,920 That's all a bunch of wordy stuff to say. 192 00:08:49,040 --> 00:08:51,480 If you paid money, you got a free ticket to heaven. 193 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:53,720 That's what it was. That's what indulgences are. 194 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:55,440 And it might not necessarily be for you. 195 00:08:55,680 --> 00:08:57,960 You can say, because, you know, they believe in purgatory and 196 00:08:57,960 --> 00:08:59,800 praying for people that have died. 197 00:08:59,920 --> 00:09:02,760 So you could say, oh, I don't know if you know, if my grandma 198 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:06,280 made it to heaven, Well, give me $200.00 and I'll and you're 199 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:07,720 good. Your grandma's going to get to 200 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:10,480 heaven. And so, OK, cool, here's your 201 00:09:10,480 --> 00:09:12,720 $200.00. So what happened was somebody 202 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:15,840 started coming into the town where Martin Luther was and 203 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:19,840 started teaching indulgences and people started practicing this. 204 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:22,240 And he was, he had his own, his own church. 205 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:24,640 And when people come to the church, they'd like, Nah, I'm 206 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:26,360 good. I don't need to repent or do 207 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:27,760 confession or any of that. I'm good. 208 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:30,680 I bought some indulgences. And that's right. 209 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:33,080 That's what happened. And he was like, wait a minute, 210 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:36,680 enough is enough. And then he was like, that's it, 211 00:09:36,680 --> 00:09:38,480 I'm done. And we can laugh at that, right? 212 00:09:38,560 --> 00:09:40,720 And we can laugh at that and say that's ridiculous. 213 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:41,960 Who would think that That's true. 214 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:47,840 But if you just think back in your own memory, think of a 215 00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:51,520 commercial, you might have heard one time about getting some holy 216 00:09:51,520 --> 00:09:54,000 water. And if you drink this holy water 217 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:58,040 and if you pour this holy water on yourself, $2500 is coming 218 00:09:58,040 --> 00:09:59,920 your way. And I'm not making that up. 219 00:09:59,920 --> 00:10:01,160 That's actually a real commercial. 220 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:08,320 What's another one that I saw the holy for $500, you get some 221 00:10:08,360 --> 00:10:12,240 oil that was olive oil that's from Israel, and you can bless 222 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:13,080 your family. That's all. 223 00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:14,920 That's all real. You can look that up on YouTube. 224 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:18,400 What's another one that I saw? The only oil, the water. 225 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:20,720 Oh, the prayer shawl. If you really want to get 226 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:24,000 connected from Christ, $700.00 for a gift of $700.00, you can 227 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:27,200 get your prayer shawl from Israel and you'll be connected 228 00:10:27,200 --> 00:10:29,640 more deeper on a spiritual level than you've ever been connected 229 00:10:29,640 --> 00:10:32,200 before. And we're talking about 230 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:34,360 Protestants doing that. We're not talking about Roman 231 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:35,880 Catholics. We're talking about Protestants 232 00:10:36,120 --> 00:10:37,840 who are sending their money for these things. 233 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:40,520 So we can laugh and say that's silly. 234 00:10:40,680 --> 00:10:42,320 They're buying their ways into heaven. 235 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:46,280 But we might know somebody. I know somebody who bought one 236 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:48,560 of those prayer shawls. So, you know, you might know 237 00:10:48,560 --> 00:10:51,520 somebody who's out there spending $700.00 and saying, 238 00:10:51,640 --> 00:10:53,400 hey, I got my vial of holy water. 239 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:56,720 We're good, we're good. That new job is coming. 240 00:10:56,920 --> 00:10:59,560 So. And why does that happen? 241 00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:01,560 Because they strayed from the word of God. 242 00:11:02,480 --> 00:11:07,600 So on October 31st of 1517, Luther nailed his 95 thesis to 243 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:09,360 the door of the church in Wittenberg. 244 00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:11,520 Luther Crane. Luther claimed that the 245 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:15,320 repentance required by Christ in order for sins to be forgiven 246 00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:18,280 involves inner spiritual repentance rather than merely 247 00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:21,960 external Sacramento confession. He argued that indulgences LED 248 00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:25,240 Christians to avoid true repentance and sorrow for sin, 249 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:28,400 believing that they could forego it by obtaining an indulgence. 250 00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:30,800 So they were like, I'm not going to church. 251 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:34,280 I just paid that guy $500. I'm good. 252 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:37,720 And then he started to realize that this was something that was 253 00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:40,480 happening and he said, wait a minute, what else are they 254 00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:43,640 teaching that's wrong? And he posted 95 reasons why the 255 00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:45,800 church needed to be reformed on the door. 256 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:50,120 And, and contrary to to popular belief, when we say reformed, 257 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:53,160 he's not saying that he wanted to make a new church. 258 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:57,720 He wanted to reform the church. So he wanted to get it properly 259 00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:00,640 Catholic, as he would say, right, which is what back to the 260 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:03,400 ways of, of Acts, right, The church in Acts. 261 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:05,280 And that's what we're going to look at today. 262 00:12:05,280 --> 00:12:08,040 Some of the things that he's saying and why it's important 263 00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:12,400 for us like he's to live our lives by not only through faith 264 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:15,920 alone, through grace alone, through Christ alone for the 265 00:12:15,920 --> 00:12:18,440 glory of God alone, through Jesus alone, right? 266 00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:20,000 That's what that's the Protestants. 267 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:21,520 Those are our main things, right? 268 00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:24,040 But we're going to focus on the faith alone aspect of it. 269 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:27,800 Luther once said, the moment you begin to have faith, you learn 270 00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:31,960 that all things in you are all together blameworthy, sinful and 271 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:34,200 damnable. When you have learned this, you 272 00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:37,520 will know that you need Christ who suffered and rose again for 273 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:41,280 you, so that if you believe in him, you may through faith 274 00:12:41,280 --> 00:12:45,000 become a Newman insofar as your sins are forgiven and you are 275 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:48,760 justified by the merits of another, namely of Christ alone. 276 00:12:49,680 --> 00:12:53,200 So let's see what what the Scriptures say about what what 277 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:55,280 Luther says. So I want you to follow with me 278 00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:57,760 and we're going to start in Romans and just follow along. 279 00:12:57,760 --> 00:12:59,800 Some of this stuff is going to be in Romans. 280 00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:02,760 So we're going to start in Romans chapter 1 verses 16 and 281 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:07,760 17, Romans chapter one verse 16 through 17. 282 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:10,760 Then we're going to jump to Romans chapter 3 and Romans 283 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:13,560 chapter 5 and we're going to continue from there because I 284 00:13:13,560 --> 00:13:17,120 want you again, I can't tell you guys, Hey, read your scriptures. 285 00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:19,000 Don't just follow what somebody tells you. 286 00:13:19,200 --> 00:13:21,160 And then I just tell you a bunch of stuff and you guys don't 287 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:22,480 follow the scriptures with me, right? 288 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:25,200 I'd be a hypocrite. So follow along with me as I 289 00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:27,760 read them. Romans chapter one verse 16 290 00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:31,560 through 17 says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is 291 00:13:31,560 --> 00:13:35,240 the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the 292 00:13:35,240 --> 00:13:38,880 Jew 1st and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of 293 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:40,840 God is revealed. For from faith. 294 00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:44,840 For faith as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith. 295 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:48,120 So should the righteous live by works or by faith. 296 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:51,400 The scriptures teach us that the righteous live by faith, by 297 00:13:51,400 --> 00:13:53,720 faith in whom? Our faith in Christ. 298 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:57,960 So right away, right from Romans chapter one, we get the example 299 00:13:57,960 --> 00:13:59,600 of what Paul is teaching us is what? 300 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:02,840 It's not by your works, but it's by your faith in Christ. 301 00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:05,520 Jesus did the works. What could you bring to the 302 00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:08,480 table that's greater than Jesus? What could you bring to the 303 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:11,000 table that Jesus greater than what Jesus did for us? 304 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:13,400 Absolutely nothing, absolutely nothing. 305 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:16,040 And we have to trust in him. We have to trust that his work 306 00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:19,760 is finished and it's complete in US and and through him. 307 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:26,560 Romans chapter 3 verse 21 through 30, Romans 3 verse 21 308 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:30,960 through 30 it says, but now apart from the law, the 309 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:34,480 righteous of righteousness of God has been manifested being 310 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:37,280 witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness 311 00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:41,200 of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe 312 00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:44,280 So what the law of the prophets is completed through what 313 00:14:44,280 --> 00:14:46,560 through Christ and our faith is in him. 314 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:47,960 So it through our faith in Christ. 315 00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:51,280 All of that isn't completed, for there is no distinction, for all 316 00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:55,320 have sinned and fall short of the glory of God being justified 317 00:14:55,320 --> 00:14:59,200 as a gift by His grace to the redemption which is in Jesus 318 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:03,600 Christ, whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in 319 00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:06,560 His blood through faith. So there we go again through 320 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:08,880 faith. His sacrifice was given to us 321 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:12,160 for us through faith. This was to demonstrate His 322 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:15,440 righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed 323 00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:18,920 over the sins previously committed for the demonstration, 324 00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:22,000 I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He 325 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:25,680 would be just and the justified of the one who has faith in 326 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:27,280 Jesus. So how are we justified? 327 00:15:27,640 --> 00:15:31,400 Through our faith in Jesus? Where then is boasting? 328 00:15:32,080 --> 00:15:35,760 It is excluded. By what kind of law of works? 329 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:40,600 No, but by a law of faith, for we maintain that a man is 330 00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:43,440 justified by faith apart from the works of law. 331 00:15:43,960 --> 00:15:47,880 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles 332 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:50,720 also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since 333 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:54,320 indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the 334 00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:56,640 uncircumcised through faith is 1. 335 00:15:56,800 --> 00:16:00,160 So Paul is calling to an account what not only the prophets and 336 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:03,120 the law, but he's saying, well how will the the Gentiles be 337 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:05,080 justified? Because if the Romans are 338 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:08,520 clinging to their law, and if the Romans are saying no, this 339 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:11,920 is how the Jews do it, how are the Gentiles justified? 340 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:14,920 Because they don't have those same laws, they don't have the 341 00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:16,800 same things. And he's saying, no, it's 342 00:16:16,800 --> 00:16:21,320 through faith in Jesus Christ which actually completes the 343 00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:25,880 prophecy, completes the law. So he's reminding them it's not 344 00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:28,560 because of the things you do. It's not because of the 345 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:30,400 traditions you have. It's not. 346 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:33,680 But by the way you do it, it's through faith in Jesus Christ 347 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:36,720 because he completed all that. All those things were a 348 00:16:36,720 --> 00:16:39,080 foreshadowing. They were pointing to who? 349 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:42,760 They were pointing to who to Christ, so that even the 350 00:16:42,760 --> 00:16:46,400 Gentiles who didn't have those prophecies at the time, even 351 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:49,200 those Gentiles who didn't have the law at the time, can be 352 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:53,560 justified through Christ, which he talks about in the law, in 353 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:56,440 the prophecies that even many nations will come, right? 354 00:16:56,760 --> 00:16:59,120 And so he's fulfilling that through Christ and through our 355 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:02,960 faith in him, which is a gift of God through his grace. 356 00:17:03,280 --> 00:17:05,839 Through his grace we are gifted the faith in Jesus Christ. 357 00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:09,800 So it's nothing you can do, no kind of tradition, no kind of 358 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:12,160 thing you can do. And all this stuff that we have 359 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:14,520 is beautiful. I think it's beautiful when I 360 00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:17,079 look at a Roman Catholic Church and I see all the paintings on 361 00:17:17,079 --> 00:17:20,599 the wall and I see how big it is and I see, I see the beauty in 362 00:17:20,599 --> 00:17:21,520 that. And I'm like, wow, that's 363 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:24,440 beautiful. But I also see the beauty in a 364 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:28,560 YMCA where there's people who come together and just love and 365 00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:32,400 worship God and love each other the way that God has called us 366 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:34,000 to do. I see the beauty in that. 367 00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:37,200 I think that's beautiful. So you can see the range of 368 00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:38,720 God's grace and all those things. 369 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:42,640 So I'm just thankful that God, you know, grafted us in as 370 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:45,600 Gentiles, right? That he gave us an opportunity 371 00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:47,560 through his grace. And we have to remember and 372 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:50,160 believe that his promises are true and forever. 373 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:53,560 Amen. Romans chapter 5, verse one 374 00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:57,480 through 2. Romans 5, verse one through 2. 375 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:01,200 Therefore, having been justified by faith. 376 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:03,920 So you see, we're building on this, Paul is building on it. 377 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:06,760 So we already understand that we've been, we are justified 378 00:18:06,760 --> 00:18:08,200 through faith. So therefore, having been 379 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:12,040 justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord 380 00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:14,840 Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our 381 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:18,560 introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand and we 382 00:18:18,560 --> 00:18:20,440 exalt in hope of the glory of God. 383 00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:23,920 So you're going to see the same thing spoken about grace and 384 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:26,320 faith, God's grace and he gave us faith, right? 385 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:29,480 And we are have what now? We have peace with God. 386 00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:32,960 I implore you Christians that are here that are struggling 387 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:37,040 with their position with in the eyes of God, you should have 388 00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:40,960 peace in your hearts that you have been saved by his blood. 389 00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:44,880 And you should understand that even though you may falter, even 390 00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:48,440 though that you may fall short. We all wretched men, but God is 391 00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:51,880 good and he's poured his grace upon us and he's given us 392 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:55,640 forgiveness, right? And so that we can trust in that 393 00:18:55,640 --> 00:18:58,440 promise and that should give us peace in our hearts. 394 00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:01,240 We should have peace in our hearts that God has forgiven us. 395 00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:04,760 There's nothing you can do. Yes, you fall, yes, you make 396 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:07,960 mistakes, yes, you fall short, but there's not like if you do 397 00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:11,160 101 good acts that now you're going to be righteous in the 398 00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:14,160 eyes of God again. There's what could you do? 399 00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:17,160 What could you do that could equal our Lord and Savior being 400 00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:20,040 crucified on the cross? Absolutely nothing. 401 00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:22,480 There's nothing you could do that would equal that. 402 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:26,080 And, and what I'm going to get to today is that our works are a 403 00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:31,120 byproduct of our faith, not because we had we do our works, 404 00:19:31,120 --> 00:19:33,560 we have faith. It's backwards and our, our, our 405 00:19:33,560 --> 00:19:36,000 Roman Catholic friends, they, they're, they got it backwards. 406 00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:38,200 And you'll see that right? You'll see that in a little bit. 407 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:41,480 But just I, I want to implore those of you among here that are 408 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:44,440 struggling in their walk. And I know because I've, I've 409 00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:45,560 been there. I've been there where I 410 00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:47,840 struggle, where I feel like I'm not holy enough, I'm not 411 00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:51,200 righteous enough, I'm not doing enough, I'm not good enough. 412 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:55,560 How could God love me? Trust me, God loves you and he 413 00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:59,480 died on the cross for you and those and those those moments of 414 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:02,800 guilt, those moments of of repentance lead me to believe 415 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:06,920 that you are a true born again Christian and that should put 416 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:08,320 you at peace. You should have peace in your 417 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:09,840 heart that you say, you know what? 418 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:11,280 I'm never going to be good enough. 419 00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:14,960 But Jesus is, and we need to hold on and cling on to that 420 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:17,440 promise that Jesus Christ is good enough for us. 421 00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:20,120 His promises are true, right? He's good enough. 422 00:20:20,120 --> 00:20:23,560 He's powerful enough to wipe our sins away and make us white. 423 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:27,360 Romans chapter 5, verse 8 through 11. 424 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:33,600 But God demonstrates, I'm sorry, 5 or 8 through 11, but God 425 00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:37,080 demonstrates his own love toward us, and that while we were yet 426 00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:38,720 sinners. So just exactly what I was 427 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:40,480 saying earlier, right? While we were still Sinner, 428 00:20:40,760 --> 00:20:44,840 Christ died for us much more than having now been justified 429 00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:47,680 by his blood. We shall be saved from the wrath 430 00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:51,200 of God through him. For if while we were enemies, we 431 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:54,800 were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, 432 00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:58,440 having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 433 00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:01,640 And not only this, but we also exalt in God through our Lord 434 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:04,200 Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the 435 00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:06,520 reconciliation. Not only do we have peace, we 436 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:10,560 have reconciliation with God. We have been reconciled to God 437 00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:13,360 the Father, and through Jesus Christ and his death on the 438 00:21:13,360 --> 00:21:17,000 cross, that's his promise to us. And we need to hold on to that, 439 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:20,120 that we have been reconciled. And while we were enemies of 440 00:21:20,120 --> 00:21:23,720 God, while we were enemies of God, while our hearts were far 441 00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:27,840 from him, while we were hardened to who God was, he reached out 442 00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:31,960 from the deaths of, of, of our, of our darkness and he rescued 443 00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:35,240 us and he changed our hearts from our heart of stone to a 444 00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:37,880 heart of flesh. And that's something that we 445 00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:42,520 need to remember constantly, constantly because man's nature 446 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:46,200 in nature is man's nature is just to be like, how can I do 447 00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:48,080 this? How can I do this? 448 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:53,000 How can I be more holy? How can I reconcile myself to 449 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:56,800 God instead of waiting on God to reconcile us to him, How can I 450 00:21:56,840 --> 00:21:59,720 reconcile myself to God? And what that leads to is a 451 00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:02,880 bunch of bad doctrine. And and that's what we see today 452 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:05,160 in the churches, right? Just a bunch of bad doctrine, 453 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:08,560 all kinds of strange things that people are teaching. 454 00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:09,800 Why? Because they're trying to force 455 00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:12,480 people into reconciling with God instead of saying, you know 456 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:14,640 what, we can trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ. 457 00:22:15,360 --> 00:22:18,600 So faith is a gift from God. It is not a work. 458 00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:22,600 It is the power to change a man or a woman, the best and worst 459 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:25,080 of us all. This leads to a fundamental 460 00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:27,800 change in a person, which produces what? 461 00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:30,560 Through the Holy Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit, right? 462 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:33,800 So as we are, we're Christians, we're changed, we are indwelled 463 00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:36,400 with the Holy Spirit. And this is what produces the 464 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:40,320 fruit of the Spirit. So Galatians chapter 5, verse 16 465 00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:42,480 through 26. And this is something that we 466 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:45,600 teach the children all the time, you know, in all our, our 467 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:47,480 children's Bible studies, we teach this. 468 00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:50,360 And sometimes as adults, we need to hear this more often. 469 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:53,840 And, and, and we need to remember what the fruit of the 470 00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:56,640 Spirit is. And we need to live it 471 00:22:56,640 --> 00:23:00,320 constantly because it's easy for us to forget these things. 472 00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:05,680 So I'm Galatians chapter 5 verse 16 through 26 says, but I say, 473 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:09,600 walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the 474 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:12,120 flesh. For the flesh sets his desire 475 00:23:12,120 --> 00:23:15,080 against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. 476 00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:17,640 For these are in opposition to one another. 477 00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:20,600 So that you may not do the things that you please, but if 478 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:23,040 you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 479 00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:28,040 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are immorality, 480 00:23:28,360 --> 00:23:35,480 impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, 481 00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:41,600 jealousy, outbursts of anger, dispute, dissensions, factions 482 00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:46,400 envying, drunkenness, carousings, and things like 483 00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:48,720 these. Of which I forewarn you, just as 484 00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:52,120 I have forewarned you that those who practice such things will 485 00:23:52,120 --> 00:23:56,000 not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is 486 00:23:56,000 --> 00:24:02,600 what Lovejoy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, 487 00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:06,280 faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. 488 00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:09,240 I'll stop there for self-control against such things. 489 00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:12,760 There is no law now. Those who belong to Christ Jesus 490 00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:16,600 have crucified the flesh with his passions and desires. 491 00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:19,720 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. 492 00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:24,120 Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying 493 00:24:24,120 --> 00:24:26,720 one another. So what is this saying here? 494 00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:29,720 There's a fundamental change in a person, right? 495 00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:32,360 And when we're talking about this kind of change, this is a, 496 00:24:32,360 --> 00:24:37,560 a divine change that occurs in a person because naturally, 497 00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:42,240 naturally some of us embody those those naturally I'm apart 498 00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:43,880 from the Spirit, apart from Jesus. 499 00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:48,120 Some of us embody those those fleshly deeds, right? 500 00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:50,520 Some of us are prone to immorality. 501 00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:53,760 Some of us are prone to sensuality and idolatry. 502 00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:57,920 Some of us are prone to sorcery, strife, jealousy, drunkenness, 503 00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:00,920 carousing and all those kinds of things. 504 00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:05,720 Some of us naturally are flesh apart from Christ are drawn to 505 00:25:05,720 --> 00:25:07,760 those things, right? That's what happens. 506 00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:12,200 That's some of us are naturally inclined to that, whereas Jesus 507 00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:13,760 is. Paul is telling us through the 508 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:18,960 Scripture what as a Christian, you are supposed to do the 509 00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:21,800 opposite things of that. Now, how does that happen of our 510 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:24,680 own accord? No, through the Holy Spirit 511 00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:27,640 that's within us, right. So there's a fundamental change 512 00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:29,600 that happens. This is divine. 513 00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:32,640 It's not natural. It's not, it's it's outside of 514 00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:35,760 your nature that it happens. So you start to what? 515 00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:39,960 You start to grow love, you start to have joy, you start to 516 00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:43,800 have peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 517 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:46,240 gentleness, and self-control. And I'll be the first to admit 518 00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:47,960 that I struggle with a lot of those things. 519 00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:51,120 I'll be the first to admit that. But when I get there in those 520 00:25:51,120 --> 00:25:53,920 positions, I have to lean on the Holy Spirit and say Holy Spirit, 521 00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:58,440 I am struggling with doing this. My flesh is telling me to do the 522 00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:00,680 opposite. But I want to do what you want 523 00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:03,520 me to do. And so like even to the point of 524 00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:06,440 giving sometimes, right, naturally my inclination is 525 00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:10,120 like, Nah, I'm, I'm good. You know, I don't really want, I 526 00:26:10,120 --> 00:26:13,120 got a bill to pay, you know, But you know, then I have to say, 527 00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:16,960 what would Christ want me to do? What is the right thing to do in 528 00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:19,200 that situation? You know, my wife has come to me 529 00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:23,600 and said, you know, hey, Alex, somebody asked me for this and I 530 00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:25,080 don't know, should I, should I give it? 531 00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:27,880 And my natural inclination, man, we're good. 532 00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:32,120 We're good. But then I say, well, what does 533 00:26:32,120 --> 00:26:33,440 the Scripture say? And we're going to see that in a 534 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:34,440 second. But Scripture, what does the 535 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:36,880 Scripture say? OK, somebody asks for me, you 536 00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:39,280 should give it. It doesn't give a caveat. 537 00:26:39,360 --> 00:26:40,800 It doesn't. And that's what we do, right? 538 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:43,520 As humans, we add additional caveats. 539 00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:50,600 But I would give, but I would give, but I would, but, but I 540 00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:52,320 want her. I want her to a sermon where 541 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:55,200 somebody says when it says take up, you know, your brother's 542 00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:58,160 cross, you know, doesn't mean when you, when it's easiest for 543 00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:00,680 you, it doesn't mean when it's easiest for you. 544 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:03,600 In fact, taking up the cross is probably at a time where it's 545 00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:06,200 hard for you to. And it doesn't, again, it 546 00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:08,920 doesn't give a caveat. It doesn't say take up your 547 00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:12,640 brother's cross and suffer with him when you're good, when you 548 00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:15,680 have the ability to, when you have the option to no, it says 549 00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:18,680 take up your brother's cross. So if your brother comes to you 550 00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:22,320 and says, I need help with this cross, this burden, you're 551 00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:24,640 supposed to say I've got my own burdens. 552 00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:26,280 But yes, brother, let me help you with that. 553 00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:27,960 That's what we're supposed to do. 554 00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:31,760 See, it's easy when we have and we can, but it's not so easy 555 00:27:31,760 --> 00:27:33,720 when we don't have and we still have to. 556 00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:35,920 But that's what Christ calls us to do. 557 00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:41,320 See, there's no, no amount of of, of indulgences you could buy 558 00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:42,880 to be like, Oh no, I bought my indulgences. 559 00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:44,040 I can't help my brother. I'm good. 560 00:27:44,520 --> 00:27:46,920 That's what Luther was warning US against, that we were going 561 00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:50,320 to focus on what we can do and our, our ability and our 562 00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:53,320 traditions and go against what scripture has called us to do. 563 00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:56,800 So a natural byproduct of this is good. 564 00:27:56,800 --> 00:28:00,320 Worse, Christ was selfless. God the Father was selfless. 565 00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:04,200 Therefore, we begin to take on some of those attributes as his 566 00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:09,360 adopted children in Acts chapter 2 verse 42 to the 47, Acts 567 00:28:09,360 --> 00:28:16,280 chapter 2 verse 42 to the 47. We're going to see a little bit 568 00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:19,000 of this right now and I'm going to, I'm going to prove to you 569 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:20,560 guys through the Scripture that what I'm talking about is 570 00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:24,440 biblical. They were continually devoting 571 00:28:24,440 --> 00:28:26,960 themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to 572 00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:28,680 the breaking of bread and to the prayer. 573 00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:32,440 Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe and many wonders and signs 574 00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:35,480 were taking place through the apostles and all those who had 575 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:38,400 believed were together and had all things in common. 576 00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:41,800 And they began selling their property and possessions and 577 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:44,880 were sharing them with all as anyone might have need. 578 00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:48,080 Now, again, what you didn't see there is saying they had a 579 00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:49,720 bunch. So they just sold it. 580 00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:53,320 They just gave what they had. What you see there is they had 581 00:28:53,400 --> 00:28:57,320 and they sold what they had to take care of others day by day, 582 00:28:57,320 --> 00:29:00,960 continuing with one mind in the temple and breaking bread from 583 00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:02,920 house to house. They were taking their meals 584 00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:07,160 together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God 585 00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:09,160 and having favor with all people. 586 00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:13,560 And the Lord was adding to their number day by day, those who 587 00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:18,240 were being saved, not just because they were professing 588 00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:20,480 Christians, but they were living Christians. 589 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:22,600 They were living out their Christianity. 590 00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:26,000 And the number of those that were being at it was day by day, 591 00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:29,320 they were gaining people for Christ, not because of anything 592 00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:30,800 that they were doing. They were just living like 593 00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:33,680 Christ told them to. They were just exemplifying what 594 00:29:33,680 --> 00:29:36,120 Christ would have done. You know what, here we have a 595 00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:39,240 bunch of foreigners who have come into our land, right? 596 00:29:39,240 --> 00:29:42,920 The the Hellenistic Jews that were from other regions, they're 597 00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:45,560 here and they've accepted Christ. 598 00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:47,960 They're our brothers and sisters in Christ, right? 599 00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:51,800 And we have to take we have to take care of them because 600 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:53,240 they're our brothers and sisters in Christ. 601 00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:57,120 What did Jesus say when they said, Hey, your mother and your 602 00:29:57,120 --> 00:29:58,480 brothers are out there waiting for you. 603 00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:00,760 What did he say? He said, who is my mother? 604 00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:03,560 Who are my brothers? He then pointed to his apostles 605 00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:07,440 and said, these are my brothers, these are my mother. 606 00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:11,280 So what is that telling us? That's how we should live. 607 00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:14,680 That's how we should be. When we talking about brothers 608 00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:20,760 in Christ, it's much deeper than just Yeah, he's a Christian too. 609 00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:23,680 It's much deeper than that. It's much deeper than that. 610 00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:25,640 It's much deeper than. Oh, this guy. 611 00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:27,440 Yeah, he's a Christian. That's my buddy. 612 00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:30,160 No, it's much deeper than that. How would you treat your 613 00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:32,680 brother? How would you treat your mother? 614 00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:35,680 That's how you should be treating brothers and sisters in 615 00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:38,520 Christ. We should be sacrificial for 616 00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:39,720 those. And yes, it's difficult. 617 00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:41,600 It's hard. I'm not saying it's easy, 618 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:43,200 neither. It wasn't easy back then. 619 00:30:43,440 --> 00:30:45,720 Imagine having to sell your house to take care of a 620 00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:47,840 stranger. But that's what happened. 621 00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:51,080 That's what happened. That's showing the love of God. 622 00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:53,440 That is the fruit of the Spirit. This is love. 623 00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:56,000 These people need something. And I have the ability. 624 00:30:56,200 --> 00:30:58,840 And even if I don't have the ability, I'm going to find a way 625 00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:02,360 to help these people because that is not a work. 626 00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:04,960 That is something that you're doing through faith. 627 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:07,160 This is a byproduct of our faith. 628 00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:10,000 A byproduct of our faith is what our works. 629 00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:12,240 It's the opposite. It's the opposite. 630 00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:15,200 It's not we're doing works because we're trying to gain 631 00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:18,120 favor. No, a byproduct of faith is 632 00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:21,960 saying, you know what? What would Jesus do, right? 633 00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:24,280 I hate to bring up that old 90s mantra, but it's true. 634 00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:27,320 What would Jesus do, right? Matthew chapter. 635 00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:30,160 Let's look at his own words. Matthew chapter 5 verse 40 636 00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:34,120 through 42. Matthew chapter 5 verse 40 637 00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:44,080 through 42, If anyone, if anyone wants to sue you and take your 638 00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:48,320 shirt, let him have your coat. Also, whoever forces you to go 639 00:31:48,320 --> 00:31:53,320 one mile, go with him too. Give to him who asks of you and 640 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:55,960 do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. 641 00:31:56,800 --> 00:31:59,640 That's Jesus, that's Jesus saying that. 642 00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:04,440 And again, we know he's talking to believers because later on in 643 00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:07,200 the New Testament, right, it talks about he's talking to, 644 00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:09,880 he's talking how we should treat believers and non believers 645 00:32:10,160 --> 00:32:12,920 because and we know in the, in the, in the New Testament later 646 00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:15,760 on, it talks about brothers in Christ shouldn't sue each other, 647 00:32:16,040 --> 00:32:17,800 right? So when he's talking about if 648 00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:20,040 anyone wants to sue you, he's talking about how we should 649 00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:23,120 treat non believers. So he takes it even further. 650 00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:25,400 How should you take take non believers? 651 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:28,320 If a non believer wants to wants your shirt, you shouldn't just 652 00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:30,120 give them your shirt. You can give them your coat too. 653 00:32:31,360 --> 00:32:33,760 If they if somebody, if a brother asked you to walk a mile 654 00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:36,680 with them, you shouldn't say, Oh yeah, I'm good. 655 00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:40,200 Let's just go for a mile. Let's go to let's go. 656 00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:44,120 What is he teaching us is to go beyond what the expectation is 657 00:32:44,360 --> 00:32:46,760 set. It's beyond what we think. 658 00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:48,040 It's what God has called us to do. 659 00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:51,960 So if God has called us to go beyond for those in the world 660 00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:54,520 and go beyond for our brothers and sisters in Christ. 661 00:32:54,520 --> 00:32:57,200 And I don't know about you, but I'm not too keen on giving away 662 00:32:57,200 --> 00:33:00,040 my clothes. So, you know, if somebody says, 663 00:33:00,040 --> 00:33:02,160 Hey, I need your shirt, I'm like, yeah, you can have the 664 00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:05,360 shirt, but now my coat too. But that's what God calls us to 665 00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:06,960 do. It's just, it's, it's not. 666 00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:10,400 And again, this is not a man centered way of thinking. 667 00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:12,520 This is a divine way of thinking. 668 00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:15,040 It's beyond us. This is something that comes 669 00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:17,600 through the Holy Spirit. And if we're struggling with 670 00:33:17,600 --> 00:33:20,600 that, we need to pray to God and saying, how can I get closer to 671 00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:23,760 you, Holy Spirit, help me to make those decisions where I 672 00:33:23,760 --> 00:33:26,560 where I'm more selfless for those around me, where I can, 673 00:33:26,560 --> 00:33:30,560 where I can focus on, on what you have for me, my calling, for 674 00:33:30,560 --> 00:33:32,240 those around me. And it's difficult. 675 00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:34,440 It's not easy, but this is what God has called us to do. 676 00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:38,440 And again, this is a byproduct of our faith. 677 00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:41,160 So we believe in Christ. We're changed and we're 678 00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:43,880 fundamentally changed. And this happens so that when 679 00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:47,520 people see us, they say there is a fundamental change in Natalie. 680 00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:49,800 There is a fundamental change in Miriam. 681 00:33:49,800 --> 00:33:53,080 I see it, I see it. What is it about them? 682 00:33:53,080 --> 00:33:56,640 There's something different. I need that, that peace that 683 00:33:56,640 --> 00:33:58,200 they have, that joy that they have. 684 00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:00,600 I need it. And we see it in the Church of 685 00:34:00,600 --> 00:34:02,360 Acts, right? When they sold all their 686 00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:04,440 belongings and people were like what? 687 00:34:04,800 --> 00:34:08,120 They sold their homes to take care of strangers. 688 00:34:08,679 --> 00:34:11,400 Why would they do that? I need to hear about this. 689 00:34:11,719 --> 00:34:15,239 And he was adding to their group daily, daily. 690 00:34:15,239 --> 00:34:18,360 We it's lost on us a society, especially in Western culture, 691 00:34:18,679 --> 00:34:22,840 because we're so money driven and we're so success driven and 692 00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:25,360 we're. So how can I have the next best 693 00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:27,199 thing? What's the next best technology? 694 00:34:27,360 --> 00:34:30,560 What's the next fanciest car? How can I get those things, 695 00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:33,120 which that's what we fund. That's how we are raised in 696 00:34:33,120 --> 00:34:36,440 America. You know, those of us that are a 697 00:34:36,440 --> 00:34:38,600 little older, you know, the Reaganomics, you know, how can 698 00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:41,320 we, how can we get these things? How can we fix these things when 699 00:34:41,320 --> 00:34:44,960 we need to trust in Christ and we need to trust that Jesus is 700 00:34:44,960 --> 00:34:46,639 going to lead us down the path that we need to go to. 701 00:34:46,639 --> 00:34:50,400 We can trust in him. So why are we bringing this up? 702 00:34:50,400 --> 00:34:53,719 Why is this all all together? What's this all over the place, 703 00:34:53,719 --> 00:34:56,159 right? No, it's not because I, you 704 00:34:56,159 --> 00:34:58,960 know, when we're thinking about again, our, our Catholic friends 705 00:34:58,960 --> 00:35:02,000 would say, you need to do, in order to be saved, you need to 706 00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:04,120 confess, you need to give, you need to do this. 707 00:35:04,280 --> 00:35:05,760 How could you be made righteous with that? 708 00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:10,600 And, and, and of course, you know, they teach that works like 709 00:35:10,600 --> 00:35:13,400 indulgences are necessary and complementary for salvation, 710 00:35:13,600 --> 00:35:15,840 that they go hand in hand. But those of us that are 711 00:35:15,840 --> 00:35:17,600 Protestant, we don't believe that because that's not what the 712 00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:21,640 Bible teaches. And of course, when you start 713 00:35:21,640 --> 00:35:24,320 bringing this up, they will obviously head to James and hit 714 00:35:24,320 --> 00:35:27,480 you with the obvious verse that says faith without works is 715 00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:30,200 dead. That's always the first verse 716 00:35:30,200 --> 00:35:32,880 they're going to say when you when you say, no, wait a minute, 717 00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:35,720 no, Bible doesn't teach. James says faith without works 718 00:35:35,720 --> 00:35:38,200 is dead. So where are your works? 719 00:35:38,680 --> 00:35:39,600 Right? That's what they're going to 720 00:35:39,600 --> 00:35:42,600 tell you. And no Protestant would disagree 721 00:35:42,840 --> 00:35:44,280 that faith without works is dead. 722 00:35:44,880 --> 00:35:47,920 What we disagree upon is that God needs our works in order for 723 00:35:47,920 --> 00:35:50,800 us to have faith. Instead, we would we would 724 00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:54,680 argue, as you know, I've been making the case that works are a 725 00:35:54,680 --> 00:35:56,560 byproduct of our God-given faith. 726 00:35:57,080 --> 00:36:03,400 And so let's look at James chapter 2 verses 14 through 26. 727 00:36:04,480 --> 00:36:07,360 James, Chapter 2, verse 14 through 26. 728 00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:19,560 Amen. It says, What use is it, my 729 00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:24,160 brethren, if if someone says he has faith, but he has no works, 730 00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:28,200 can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is 731 00:36:28,200 --> 00:36:32,040 without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says 732 00:36:32,040 --> 00:36:36,200 to them, Go in peace, be warmed and be filled, and yet you do 733 00:36:36,200 --> 00:36:41,120 not give them what is necessary for their body, what uses that? 734 00:36:41,360 --> 00:36:45,560 Even so, faith, if it has no works, is dead being by itself. 735 00:36:45,880 --> 00:36:49,840 But someone may well say, you have faith and I have works. 736 00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:53,560 Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my 737 00:36:53,560 --> 00:36:56,240 faith by my works. You believe that God is 1. 738 00:36:56,480 --> 00:36:59,520 You do well. The demons also believe that and 739 00:36:59,520 --> 00:37:01,040 shudder. But are you willing to 740 00:37:01,040 --> 00:37:04,040 recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is 741 00:37:04,040 --> 00:37:06,440 useless? Was not Abraham our father, 742 00:37:06,440 --> 00:37:10,640 justified by works when he offered up Isaac, his son on the 743 00:37:10,640 --> 00:37:12,880 altar? You see that faith was working 744 00:37:12,880 --> 00:37:16,720 with his works and as a result of the works faith was perfected 745 00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:20,120 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says And Abraham believed 746 00:37:20,120 --> 00:37:23,080 God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness, and he was 747 00:37:23,080 --> 00:37:26,440 called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified 748 00:37:26,440 --> 00:37:31,000 by works and not by faith alone. In the same way was not Rahab 749 00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:34,240 the harlot also justified by works when she received the 750 00:37:34,240 --> 00:37:37,480 messenger and sent them out by another way for you? 751 00:37:37,680 --> 00:37:41,120 For just as the body without the Spirit is dead, so also faith 752 00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:44,240 without works is dead, says James chapter 2, verse 14 753 00:37:44,240 --> 00:37:47,920 through 26. So what is so a Catholic person 754 00:37:47,920 --> 00:37:51,880 might tell, see, and you'll go, oh man, that's kind of good 755 00:37:51,880 --> 00:37:54,000 argument. Like maybe he got me. 756 00:37:54,240 --> 00:37:57,200 But I would argue that they don't because what is what is 757 00:37:57,200 --> 00:38:00,480 James making an argument for? Is James making an argument that 758 00:38:00,480 --> 00:38:02,680 is just works alone that bring you to faith? 759 00:38:03,040 --> 00:38:07,200 No, he's trying to tell you that it's together, that through your 760 00:38:07,200 --> 00:38:11,080 faith begin the works. So as a Christian, I should see 761 00:38:11,080 --> 00:38:14,040 good works in you. I should see the works that that 762 00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:17,520 come out of that, not because you're obligated, but because 763 00:38:17,520 --> 00:38:21,040 the Holy Spirit is moving in you and the fruit of the Spirit, as 764 00:38:21,040 --> 00:38:23,520 we talked about before, is pouring out of you. 765 00:38:24,120 --> 00:38:27,120 And as the fruit of the Spirit is pouring out of you, you start 766 00:38:27,120 --> 00:38:30,720 to grow in your love, your kindness, your selflessness for 767 00:38:30,720 --> 00:38:32,880 others. And that reflects in how you 768 00:38:32,880 --> 00:38:36,040 treat other people. So it's not a matter of you need 769 00:38:36,040 --> 00:38:38,920 to do this to get this. This is you're doing it because 770 00:38:38,920 --> 00:38:41,160 you have something. And what is that? 771 00:38:41,320 --> 00:38:44,000 You have the Holy Spirit and because the Holy Spirit is 772 00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:47,440 indwelling in you, this is pouring out of you this 773 00:38:47,440 --> 00:38:51,120 selflessness and this love. So verse 14 through 16, James 774 00:38:51,120 --> 00:38:54,480 goes back to Jesus's words in which he said if someone asks 775 00:38:54,480 --> 00:38:57,200 you, like we read earlier or a brother in the faith that you 776 00:38:57,200 --> 00:38:59,640 should give it. See, he's saying a person who 777 00:38:59,640 --> 00:39:02,640 wouldn't give it is practicing a different faith. 778 00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:05,120 So his argument is not that faith. 779 00:39:05,160 --> 00:39:08,480 You need faith alone or works alone. 780 00:39:08,560 --> 00:39:11,400 He's arguing that if someone comes up to you, a brother in 781 00:39:11,400 --> 00:39:14,960 Christ, and asks you for some food and you say no, you're 782 00:39:14,960 --> 00:39:18,840 practicing a different faith. He's making it clear that your 783 00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:22,960 faith is not in Christ because if you had Christ and if you 784 00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:25,520 were indwelled with the Holy Spirit, you would take up your 785 00:39:25,520 --> 00:39:28,360 brother's cross, as we talked about earlier, and you would 786 00:39:28,360 --> 00:39:31,800 say, hey, I've only got 2 loaves of bread. 787 00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:35,080 I guess we're eating half and half, right? 788 00:39:35,080 --> 00:39:37,240 Because that is what a true Christian looks like. 789 00:39:37,640 --> 00:39:40,720 That's what he's arguing, that this person's faith is different 790 00:39:40,840 --> 00:39:43,400 because there were people teaching and preaching, but not 791 00:39:43,400 --> 00:39:46,160 living. And it's easy for us to teach 792 00:39:46,160 --> 00:39:48,560 and preach and say, I know you're getting plenty of head 793 00:39:48,560 --> 00:39:50,880 knowledge on the Scripture and say, well, this is what the 794 00:39:50,880 --> 00:39:54,160 doctrine says and this is what the Scripture says, and this is 795 00:39:54,160 --> 00:39:56,680 what this says. And I know this to be true and 796 00:39:56,680 --> 00:39:59,280 this famous preacher said this, but are we living that? 797 00:40:00,320 --> 00:40:02,960 Are we living that when we go out, are we being selfless to 798 00:40:02,960 --> 00:40:04,400 others? Are we being selfless with our 799 00:40:04,400 --> 00:40:06,920 family? Or can our family members say 800 00:40:06,920 --> 00:40:09,800 that we live as Christians? To those of us who spend the 801 00:40:09,800 --> 00:40:13,480 most time with us and closed doors, can they say this person 802 00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:17,000 exemplifies a Christian? You know, people can say 803 00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:21,720 whatever they want about my dad, but I live with my dad for 20 804 00:40:21,720 --> 00:40:24,480 years, right? And I can tell you that he's a 805 00:40:24,480 --> 00:40:26,720 man of God. Do I agree with everything he 806 00:40:26,720 --> 00:40:27,920 says? Always no. 807 00:40:28,440 --> 00:40:30,960 But I know that when I was when I was a teenager and I get home 808 00:40:30,960 --> 00:40:33,120 at 5:00 in the morning, my dad was on his knees praying. 809 00:40:34,120 --> 00:40:35,640 I never saw him raise a hand to my mother. 810 00:40:35,680 --> 00:40:38,240 I never saw him even say a bad word to my mother. 811 00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:43,600 So when when anybody could say, oh, your dad, this and this. 812 00:40:43,600 --> 00:40:46,800 And I'm like, let me stop you right there because the proof is 813 00:40:46,800 --> 00:40:49,520 in the pudding. On the opposite end, right on 814 00:40:49,520 --> 00:40:52,680 the opposite end. How sad is it when I hear 815 00:40:52,680 --> 00:40:57,160 children of pastors who say he was abusive to my mother, he was 816 00:40:57,160 --> 00:41:01,240 abusive to me. So are people going to come when 817 00:41:01,240 --> 00:41:04,240 your children get older, when they grow up and they say, I'm 818 00:41:04,400 --> 00:41:06,720 going to tell you what type of man my man, my father really 819 00:41:06,720 --> 00:41:08,440 was. I'm going to tell you what what 820 00:41:08,440 --> 00:41:10,760 woman of God my mother really was. 821 00:41:11,400 --> 00:41:13,400 I don't want, I don't want to live like that. 822 00:41:13,800 --> 00:41:17,080 I don't want to have to have that fear that one day and it's 823 00:41:17,080 --> 00:41:18,760 happened. There's a famous, famous 824 00:41:18,760 --> 00:41:22,600 preacher recently who four of his kids, four of his adult 825 00:41:22,600 --> 00:41:27,520 children separately, have made statements separately saying 826 00:41:27,520 --> 00:41:30,240 that he was abusive to them and their mother. 827 00:41:30,240 --> 00:41:32,480 This guy has a huge church with a huge following. 828 00:41:32,480 --> 00:41:36,800 And and I'm just like, what a blow to the body of Christ. 829 00:41:37,280 --> 00:41:39,880 What a blow to the body of Christ because everything he's 830 00:41:39,880 --> 00:41:43,080 done in the name of God is nobody's going to listen to him 831 00:41:43,080 --> 00:41:44,800 anymore. Nobody's going to care whether 832 00:41:44,800 --> 00:41:47,320 it was true or not. Nobody's going to care because 833 00:41:47,640 --> 00:41:51,080 the byproduct of his spirituality was abuse and 834 00:41:51,080 --> 00:41:53,240 neglect. And that's all people are going 835 00:41:53,240 --> 00:41:56,080 to see. He, he was emboding, emboding, 836 00:41:56,080 --> 00:41:59,800 according to James, a different type of faith because he wasn't 837 00:41:59,800 --> 00:42:00,760 giving. That's not loving. 838 00:42:01,200 --> 00:42:02,960 You go home and you preach a sermon and then you beat your 839 00:42:02,960 --> 00:42:04,480 wife. That's not loving. 840 00:42:05,560 --> 00:42:08,520 That's not loving. You know, it's, it's, it's, it's 841 00:42:08,520 --> 00:42:12,680 ridiculous that there are people that profess to be Christians 842 00:42:12,680 --> 00:42:13,600 and that's how they live their life. 843 00:42:13,600 --> 00:42:15,440 I'm not saying that we all fall all fall short. 844 00:42:15,480 --> 00:42:18,480 We all fall short, but pastors, teachers were held to a 845 00:42:18,480 --> 00:42:22,160 different standard and we have to embody what God has called us 846 00:42:22,160 --> 00:42:23,720 to do. I can't stand up here and say 847 00:42:23,720 --> 00:42:26,040 this is what God has called me to do and then go home and be a 848 00:42:26,040 --> 00:42:29,120 hypocrite. I'm, I'm just hard, harder than 849 00:42:29,200 --> 00:42:33,880 somebody else because of that. So that's why I say continue to 850 00:42:33,880 --> 00:42:35,800 be in your words. It doesn't matter if it's me, 851 00:42:36,040 --> 00:42:39,520 John Michael, anybody else, Let's make sure it matches up 852 00:42:39,520 --> 00:42:41,560 with the scripture. What scripture says is true. 853 00:42:41,960 --> 00:42:44,320 And, and, and I know that John Michael will say the same thing. 854 00:42:44,560 --> 00:42:46,480 He would say, go home and read your scriptures to find out if 855 00:42:46,480 --> 00:42:50,280 what I'm saying is true. Verse 20 through 26, he mentions 856 00:42:50,280 --> 00:42:53,200 this is interesting. He mentions Abraham and Rahab 857 00:42:53,400 --> 00:42:55,320 and how they were justified by their works. 858 00:42:55,960 --> 00:42:59,240 And this again, it's reconciling what we see in Hebrews. 859 00:42:59,440 --> 00:43:01,880 So if we turn, if we, if you guys don't have to turn this, 860 00:43:01,880 --> 00:43:03,480 I'll just read it. But if you want to take notes 861 00:43:03,480 --> 00:43:06,480 and read it later, it's fine. Hebrews Chapter 11, which we 862 00:43:06,480 --> 00:43:08,040 know as the hall of faith, right? 863 00:43:08,480 --> 00:43:13,080 And Hebrews Chapter 11, verse 17 through 19, it says by faith 864 00:43:13,160 --> 00:43:17,000 Abraham when he was tested, offered up Isaac and he who had 865 00:43:17,000 --> 00:43:19,520 received the promises was offering up his only begotten 866 00:43:19,520 --> 00:43:21,760 son. It was he to whom it was said, 867 00:43:21,960 --> 00:43:24,040 and Isaac, your descendants shall be called. 868 00:43:24,200 --> 00:43:27,640 He considered that God is able to raise people even from the 869 00:43:27,640 --> 00:43:31,040 dead, from which he also received him back as a type. 870 00:43:31,280 --> 00:43:35,760 So it's saying what in Hebrews that Abraham had faith and he 871 00:43:35,760 --> 00:43:39,000 knew that when God gave him the promise of descendants and he 872 00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:42,840 said go up and sacrifice your son, he trusted in God and 873 00:43:42,840 --> 00:43:46,760 through his faith he went up there, which is what the work 874 00:43:46,760 --> 00:43:49,360 right? He went up there and he had the 875 00:43:49,360 --> 00:43:52,520 knife ready to do it and he was prepared because he knew no 876 00:43:52,520 --> 00:43:55,040 matter how it turned out that God's promise was going to be 877 00:43:55,040 --> 00:43:57,200 fulfilled. He had faith in God's word that 878 00:43:57,200 --> 00:44:00,880 it would come back true. So you see in James he's saying, 879 00:44:01,040 --> 00:44:06,120 no, Abraham did the work right by, but Hebrews is saying he did 880 00:44:06,120 --> 00:44:08,560 the work because of his faith. So what? 881 00:44:09,000 --> 00:44:13,640 It's a faith because it's a work because of the byproduct of his 882 00:44:13,640 --> 00:44:16,080 faith. So we see that when James is 883 00:44:16,080 --> 00:44:19,000 talking, he's trying to reconcile this Hebrews, right? 884 00:44:19,000 --> 00:44:21,480 So he would know that the reader knows about the story in 885 00:44:21,480 --> 00:44:23,280 Hebrews. So what he's telling people is 886 00:44:23,800 --> 00:44:26,360 just don't rest on the fact that you claim to be a Christian. 887 00:44:26,720 --> 00:44:29,280 Just don't say, oh, I have faith, I'm good. 888 00:44:29,560 --> 00:44:31,600 Which happens a lot, believe it or not. 889 00:44:31,840 --> 00:44:33,760 Well, I'm a Christian. I was, I was baptized. 890 00:44:34,720 --> 00:44:37,200 I've heard that a lot. I was baptized and they rest on 891 00:44:37,200 --> 00:44:38,440 that. You know, I was baptized. 892 00:44:38,440 --> 00:44:40,560 I'm good. And he said, no, no, no, no. 893 00:44:40,560 --> 00:44:44,760 It's not just that he was reconciled by his faith and that 894 00:44:44,760 --> 00:44:46,640 that the work came out of his faith. 895 00:44:46,680 --> 00:44:50,480 And he mentions Rahab also, and also in Hebrews in that same 896 00:44:50,480 --> 00:44:55,200 chapter, it mentions Rahab by faith in verse 311131. 897 00:44:55,480 --> 00:44:59,080 By faith, Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who 898 00:44:59,080 --> 00:45:02,680 were disobedient after she had welcomed the spies in peace. 899 00:45:03,000 --> 00:45:07,760 So that's what by faith. So James is mentioning 2 people 900 00:45:07,960 --> 00:45:11,200 and who also get mentioned in Rome in Hebrews Chapter 11 in 901 00:45:11,200 --> 00:45:15,720 the Hall of Faith and saying what you guys, there was a work 902 00:45:15,720 --> 00:45:18,560 that was produced. She believed and she did. 903 00:45:19,200 --> 00:45:22,400 And the same thing for us. We believe, so we should we 904 00:45:22,400 --> 00:45:25,640 should do and that's a byproduct of what we believe. 905 00:45:26,920 --> 00:45:29,880 So is there a contradiction? Absolutely not. 906 00:45:30,160 --> 00:45:33,440 James is trying to show us how naturally Christians produce 907 00:45:33,440 --> 00:45:36,600 works through our faith. Our faith in Christ does not 908 00:45:36,600 --> 00:45:40,280 free us from works, but from false opinions concerning works, 909 00:45:40,800 --> 00:45:43,760 that is, from the foolish presumption that justification 910 00:45:43,760 --> 00:45:48,040 is acquired by works. So what is it saying that James 911 00:45:48,040 --> 00:45:49,400 and all these scriptures are teaching us? 912 00:45:49,400 --> 00:45:50,240 What? That is? 913 00:45:50,240 --> 00:45:53,160 Nothing that we can bring to the table to earn merit with God. 914 00:45:53,840 --> 00:45:56,040 There's no amount of money you could pay to earn merit with 915 00:45:56,040 --> 00:45:57,200 God. There's nothing. 916 00:45:57,600 --> 00:46:00,400 Jesus did the work, It is completed, it is finished. 917 00:46:00,840 --> 00:46:03,320 We can trust in Him, and we know that He is good. 918 00:46:05,000 --> 00:46:08,800 Martin Luther once said faith is the organ by which God's special 919 00:46:08,800 --> 00:46:11,080 revelation can and must be received. 920 00:46:11,360 --> 00:46:14,680 We know God because God chooses to be known, and what He has 921 00:46:14,680 --> 00:46:18,080 chosen to be known must be believed in order to be truly 922 00:46:18,080 --> 00:46:21,000 understood. So Martin Luther understood 923 00:46:21,000 --> 00:46:23,040 this. He understood that the 924 00:46:23,040 --> 00:46:26,000 Scriptures have led us to understand that Jesus Christ 925 00:46:26,000 --> 00:46:28,600 died on the cross for our salvation, and through him we 926 00:46:28,600 --> 00:46:32,320 are reconciled, and through his reconciliation we have peace 927 00:46:32,320 --> 00:46:34,240 with God. And because we have peace with 928 00:46:34,240 --> 00:46:36,560 God, we have been indwelled with the Holy Spirit. 929 00:46:36,840 --> 00:46:39,720 And because we're indwelled with the Holy Spirit, the fruits of 930 00:46:39,720 --> 00:46:43,480 the Spirit are produced in US, which are what Lovejoy, peace, 931 00:46:43,480 --> 00:46:46,680 patience, and all these things. And in turn, what does that 932 00:46:46,680 --> 00:46:48,840 produce? Faithful works of Christian men 933 00:46:48,840 --> 00:46:50,760 and women. Amen. 934 00:46:51,640 --> 00:46:53,840 Amen. So the next time somebody says 935 00:46:53,840 --> 00:46:57,200 to you, hey man, you really need to buy this thing, it's going to 936 00:46:57,200 --> 00:47:00,960 get you holier to God. You going to say, no, I'm good, 937 00:47:00,960 --> 00:47:03,160 brother or sister, I'm good. Actually. 938 00:47:03,320 --> 00:47:06,400 Let me show you where in the Scripture we've been liberated 939 00:47:06,400 --> 00:47:09,000 from that. We've been liberated from that 940 00:47:09,000 --> 00:47:11,840 because that's just a constant battle. 941 00:47:11,840 --> 00:47:14,520 It's a constant work. You're never going to do enough 942 00:47:14,520 --> 00:47:18,040 to get righteous with God. And I'm so sad to see that there 943 00:47:18,040 --> 00:47:21,080 are so many people out in the world, even professing 944 00:47:21,080 --> 00:47:23,840 Christians who are still struggling with their faith 945 00:47:23,880 --> 00:47:27,040 because they are trying to work towards their salvation. 946 00:47:27,880 --> 00:47:31,920 And I, I'm so burdened with those people because I want them 947 00:47:31,920 --> 00:47:34,280 to see just like man, there's peace, there's freedom in 948 00:47:34,280 --> 00:47:36,640 Christ, there's freedom in Jesus. 949 00:47:36,880 --> 00:47:40,360 You can have that, but they continue to look for worldly 950 00:47:40,360 --> 00:47:44,600 things and strive for things out in the world in which they think 951 00:47:44,600 --> 00:47:47,720 will make them holier and make them more righteous with God. 952 00:47:48,160 --> 00:47:51,200 So I just implore the church today that trust in your faith 953 00:47:51,200 --> 00:47:53,800 in God and just remember that you have peace in him. 954 00:47:54,120 --> 00:47:56,280 Amen. Amen. 955 00:47:56,280 --> 00:47:59,600 Let's let's pray. I don't know if you have 956 00:47:59,600 --> 00:48:02,560 anything else. OK, Father God, we give you 957 00:48:02,560 --> 00:48:04,320 thanks, Lord. We give you thanks, Lord, for 958 00:48:04,480 --> 00:48:07,240 all that you have given us, Lord, for the for the grace and 959 00:48:07,240 --> 00:48:10,400 mercy that you have poured upon us, Lord, the gift of faith that 960 00:48:10,400 --> 00:48:12,280 you have bestowed on us believing Christians. 961 00:48:12,280 --> 00:48:14,720 Lord, I thank you, Lord. Because we didn't deserve it, 962 00:48:14,720 --> 00:48:17,960 Lord, but you gave us the ability to have faith in you and 963 00:48:17,960 --> 00:48:20,800 faith in your son, Lord, that he died on the cross of Calvary for 964 00:48:20,800 --> 00:48:23,960 the remission of our sins. It's a propitiation, Lord, for 965 00:48:23,960 --> 00:48:27,120 us and to make us righteous in your eyes, Lord, To make us 966 00:48:27,120 --> 00:48:30,640 wash, Lord, to bring us peace and joy, Lord, so that we may do 967 00:48:30,640 --> 00:48:33,600 works, not because we're obligated to, but because we 968 00:48:33,600 --> 00:48:37,000 want to, Lord, because we want to just exemplify to the world 969 00:48:37,000 --> 00:48:39,600 who you are. We want to show the love of just 970 00:48:39,760 --> 00:48:43,720 a small slither of the love that you have for us to them, Lord, 971 00:48:43,720 --> 00:48:46,040 so that we may be able to draw them closer to you, Lord. 972 00:48:46,040 --> 00:48:48,600 And we thank you, Lord, for all those things that you have done 973 00:48:48,600 --> 00:48:50,240 for us, Lord. I pray right now, Lord, for this 974 00:48:50,240 --> 00:48:52,840 body, Lord, that you would just touch their hearts and their 975 00:48:52,840 --> 00:48:56,120 minds, Lord, that you would just help this word today be planted 976 00:48:56,120 --> 00:48:57,280 in their minds and in their hearts. 977 00:48:57,280 --> 00:49:00,760 And not only them, but me too, Lord, as I go forward, Lord, and 978 00:49:00,760 --> 00:49:03,640 we go forward into this upcoming week and these upcoming months 979 00:49:03,880 --> 00:49:06,560 and this holiday season, remembering the reason why we 980 00:49:06,560 --> 00:49:10,440 celebrate these these, these days, Lord, not only because we 981 00:49:10,440 --> 00:49:13,480 can, but because you have given us the opportunity to praise and 982 00:49:13,480 --> 00:49:15,680 worship you, Lord. And let us remember on those 983 00:49:15,680 --> 00:49:19,720 days, days like Thanksgiving and Christmas, Lord, that you gave 984 00:49:19,720 --> 00:49:22,720 us the grace and mercy and let us use it as an opportunity to 985 00:49:22,720 --> 00:49:25,400 preach to somebody who is lost. Lord, Give us all the 986 00:49:25,400 --> 00:49:28,000 opportunity to preach the gospel, Lord, and just share the 987 00:49:28,000 --> 00:49:30,720 word of God with somebody. Lord, I pray for this 988 00:49:30,720 --> 00:49:32,640 congregation. Lord continues to grow. 989 00:49:32,640 --> 00:49:35,320 Lord, that you just bring the people here that his needs, 990 00:49:35,320 --> 00:49:36,640 Lord, in order to continue to grow. 991 00:49:36,640 --> 00:49:39,160 Lord, I pray over my brother John Michael, Lord, that he 992 00:49:39,160 --> 00:49:42,960 continue to not only bless this congregation, but all those men 993 00:49:42,960 --> 00:49:45,600 that he's working with through his ministry, Lord, and all the 994 00:49:45,600 --> 00:49:48,280 families that through you he's helping to save. 995 00:49:48,280 --> 00:49:50,760 Lord, I ask that you to continue to strengthen him, Lord. 996 00:49:50,760 --> 00:49:53,520 And when he has his moments of doubt, Lord, when he has his 997 00:49:53,520 --> 00:49:57,200 moments of, of weakness, Lord, that you just remind him that he 998 00:49:57,200 --> 00:50:00,000 has peace and he has joy and that you just strengthen him to 999 00:50:00,000 --> 00:50:02,200 go forward and what you have called him to do. 1000 00:50:02,200 --> 00:50:05,360 Lord, I just continue to pray that him and his wife, Lord, 1001 00:50:05,360 --> 00:50:07,000 that you just lead them in your direction. 1002 00:50:07,000 --> 00:50:09,560 Lord, I play for Natalie as well, Lord and her family. 1003 00:50:09,560 --> 00:50:12,680 Lord, that as he is led to do the things of God, that you just 1004 00:50:13,040 --> 00:50:16,520 help her Lord to give strength in her Lord also that she may be 1005 00:50:16,760 --> 00:50:18,640 the, the, the support that he needs. 1006 00:50:18,640 --> 00:50:21,680 And also that you support her, Lord, in these times, Lord, 1007 00:50:21,800 --> 00:50:24,320 Because it can be difficult when you have men that are in 1008 00:50:24,440 --> 00:50:27,080 involved in the ministry, Lord, And the women have to take up a 1009 00:50:27,080 --> 00:50:29,880 lot of the the burden, Lord. And I ask that you just help her 1010 00:50:29,880 --> 00:50:32,560 Lord, and strengthen her and their sons, Lord, And that you 1011 00:50:32,560 --> 00:50:35,560 just prepare their sons, Lord, for the ministries ahead, Lord. 1012 00:50:35,560 --> 00:50:38,360 I pray for all the the young men in here, Lord, that are being 1013 00:50:38,360 --> 00:50:41,320 discipled, Lord, And all the women that are being discipled 1014 00:50:41,320 --> 00:50:43,520 here, Lord, that you just strengthen them, Lord, so they 1015 00:50:43,520 --> 00:50:46,760 can go out into the community and gain others for the glory of 1016 00:50:46,760 --> 00:50:48,800 God. Lord, I thank you for this 1017 00:50:48,800 --> 00:50:51,160 congregation, Lord. I thank you for the Salt church, 1018 00:50:51,200 --> 00:50:53,200 Lord. Continue to bless them and be 1019 00:50:53,200 --> 00:50:55,200 with them. Lord, I ask you all this, in the 1020 00:50:55,200 --> 00:50:58,080 name of the Father, Son, the Holy Spirit, we pray Amen and 1021 00:50:58,080 --> 00:50:59,160 Amen. Amen.