1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:06,240 How to blow up in a crisis? Because this same controversy 2 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:10,920 appeared. How Jewish do you need to be in 3 00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:21,160 order to be in the life and family of Abraham in the embrace 4 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:28,200 of God, of Yahweh? For us, sometimes that feels a 5 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:33,520 long way away. I mean, very few of you would 6 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:39,280 have answered, Oh my legacy and heritage of family is that I am 7 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:44,160 in the family of Abraham. Did anybody say that? 8 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:49,280 None of us here said that, though I have friends who would 9 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:56,560 say that because they are Jewish and they would claim that they 10 00:00:56,560 --> 00:01:01,240 are children of Abraham. Now some of you growing up in 11 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:04,120 church would have sang that song. 12 00:01:20,340 --> 00:01:27,740 OK, so you know it, you know it, you claimed it, but you forgot 13 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:38,080 this was a very close issue and conversation in Paul's day. 14 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:44,800 Can you and I claim Abraham as our father in faith? 15 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:51,560 Can we claim to be in the covenant of Abraham? 16 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:58,960 Can we claim to be truly in the fellowship of God? 17 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:09,240 And so he's having this conversation with the people of 18 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:14,360 Galatia, with these churches, and in chapter 3, he's telling 19 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:16,440 them you have forgotten the gospel. 20 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:22,040 And he says, you foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you 21 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:27,320 before your very eyes, Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as 22 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:30,880 crucified. I would like to learn just one 23 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:34,760 thing from you. Did you receive the Spirit by 24 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:39,120 the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? 25 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:44,400 Are you so foolish after beginning by means of the 26 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:47,880 Spirit? Are you now trying to finish by 27 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:53,720 means of the flesh? Have you experienced so much in 28 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:59,440 vain, if it really was in vain? So again I asked, does God give 29 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:04,240 you His Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the 30 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:09,480 law, or by your believing what you heard? 31 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:16,800 So also Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as 32 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:22,080 righteousness. Understand, then, that those who 33 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:24,600 have faith are children of Abraham. 34 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:29,880 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith 35 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:34,440 and announce the gospel in advance to Abraham. 36 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:39,040 All nations will be blessed through you. 37 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:45,320 So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the 38 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:50,320 man of faith. For all who rely on the works of 39 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:54,560 the Law are under a curse as it is written. 40 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:59,320 Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything 41 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:05,600 written in the book of the Law. Clearly, no one who relies on 42 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:13,200 the Law is justified before God because the righteous will live 43 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:17,600 by faith. The Law is not based on faith. 44 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:21,959 On the contrary, it says, the person who does these things 45 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:26,280 will live by them. Christ redeemed us from the 46 00:04:26,280 --> 00:04:30,240 curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. 47 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:36,760 For, it is written, cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole. 48 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:43,320 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might 49 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:48,120 come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith 50 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:52,960 we might receive the promise of the Spirit. 51 00:04:55,400 --> 00:05:00,160 Paul is talking about their freedom of association of Jew 52 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:05,320 and Gentile together under the banner and life of Christ, and 53 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:12,880 he wants them to key in that. They started the life of faith 54 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:20,320 or the life with Christ by faith, and he's trying to give 55 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:26,040 them some good news that the way you started your life with Jesus 56 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:29,960 is the way you finish the life with Jesus. 57 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:35,520 You started the life with Jesus by believing him. 58 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:40,600 You finish the life with Jesus by believing him. 59 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:47,680 You continue to grow and live in the life of faith with Jesus by 60 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:52,960 believing Him. You are made acceptable and put 61 00:05:52,960 --> 00:06:02,320 into this family of faith by believing Him, not by following 62 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:10,520 a set of rules or laws or dietary code or changing your 63 00:06:10,520 --> 00:06:16,000 flesh through circumcision, he says. 64 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:21,800 You actually become part of this family, and you remain part of 65 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:27,160 this family the way you started. You started with faith. 66 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:31,120 Notice, he says. I would like to learn just one 67 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:35,880 thing from you. Did you receive the Spirit by 68 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:39,920 the works of the law or by believing what you've heard? 69 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:44,280 Paul treated the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives as 70 00:06:44,280 --> 00:06:48,520 this one who brings them into the communion of God and causes 71 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:54,760 them to have an experience with God that the Spirit is working 72 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:58,680 in their life to confirm that they really are children of God. 73 00:06:59,480 --> 00:07:04,800 And he says, you didn't get this by ticking a box, you got this 74 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:08,560 by believing. In fact, this had been Peter's 75 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:13,080 experience of watching in the living room of Cornelius that 76 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:22,200 when these Gentiles believed the gospel of Jesus, the sign that 77 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:28,280 they believed was that the Holy Spirit showed up and some of 78 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:30,400 them started speaking in tongues. 79 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:37,160 They actually expressed and showed with their life the 80 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:40,960 presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives. 81 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:46,160 And so Paul's appealing to this with the Galatian folks to say, 82 00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:50,080 don't, Don't you have an experience of God that came 83 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:55,480 about not because you tried to do a few things, but because you 84 00:07:55,480 --> 00:08:01,480 believed in Jesus? This is pretty consistent with 85 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:06,840 Paul's expressions in his life. He says in Romans chapter 10, 86 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:11,280 faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is 87 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:13,760 heard through the word of Christ. 88 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:20,880 Have you recently tried to tell someone the message of Jesus? 89 00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:31,640 Did it seem strange, as you started to tell the message of 90 00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:35,960 Jesus, that you actually believe that there was a man who was 91 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:42,000 born of a virgin who actually came from God, and who was God 92 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:49,160 who lived in Israel and died on a Roman cross in Israel, was 93 00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:55,920 buried, and God raised him from the dead and that his death on 94 00:08:55,920 --> 00:08:58,880 the cross was significant for all of us? 95 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:01,880 Of course, there were other Jewish people who died on 96 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:07,400 crosses, but Jesus died on a cross, and God accomplished 97 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:12,240 something in that moment for our benefit, showing us that God 98 00:09:12,240 --> 00:09:17,240 loved us, that he forgave us for our sin, and that he paid the 99 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:24,080 debt of our sin and cleansed us from the death that our idolatry 100 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:27,360 had brought to us. He set us free. 101 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:34,440 Did your conversation go anything like that, or did you 102 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:39,280 find yourself stuttering a little bit and feeling a little 103 00:09:39,280 --> 00:09:42,560 bit like that is the strangest thing? 104 00:09:42,560 --> 00:09:48,800 I believe, and I'm going to tell it to you, there are no stranger 105 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:58,200 things than this. And Paul says that through that 106 00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:06,320 message, a significant radical transformation happens in our 107 00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:12,360 lives when we believe. And some of us are so from far 108 00:10:12,360 --> 00:10:18,280 from that day. We've forgotten because now 109 00:10:18,280 --> 00:10:21,040 we're just living in the grace of it. 110 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:28,800 And we've forgotten that it was actually that believing that 111 00:10:28,800 --> 00:10:32,080 ushered us into the transforming work of God. 112 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:37,200 Remember Paul's argument from Galatians chapter 2? 113 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:42,440 He provides a vision of discipleship for both Jews and 114 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:45,560 Gentiles. He says, look, this is what it 115 00:10:45,560 --> 00:10:48,440 is. This vision for spiritual 116 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:52,560 formation in our lives comes because we are crucified with 117 00:10:52,560 --> 00:10:56,360 Christ. There's some sort of conversion 118 00:10:56,360 --> 00:11:01,320 that happens in our life because we're believing Jesus, we're 119 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:06,760 crucified with him, we're dying a death with him so that we can 120 00:11:06,760 --> 00:11:11,560 receive a life from him. And then we live by faith in the 121 00:11:11,560 --> 00:11:15,400 Son of God who loved us and gave us life for us. 122 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:18,440 And we don't throw away this grace. 123 00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:22,760 We hold on to this grace. This is his vision of 124 00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:26,640 discipleship for both Jew and Gentile. 125 00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:31,200 And he's expanding now on what is this life of faith? 126 00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:40,320 And he appeals to Abraham. He says Abraham believed God and 127 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:43,840 it was credited to him as righteousness. 128 00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:53,040 What did Abraham do to have this new covenant from God at the 129 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:58,680 time that God actually would bless all the nations through 130 00:11:58,680 --> 00:12:11,000 him, that God actually would give him a family that was as 131 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:15,240 numerous as the stars that he could see in the dark of night? 132 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:22,240 And he says it's Abraham. Abraham believed God and the 133 00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:27,000 Scripture says God credited it to him as righteousness. 134 00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:33,320 Now most often when we hear the word credited, we're thinking 135 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:38,680 about I opened up my school loans and they had been paid. 136 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:42,360 Wow, someone credited my account. 137 00:12:42,760 --> 00:12:44,720 Wouldn't you like that to happen tomorrow? 138 00:12:46,680 --> 00:12:52,760 It's done, it's paid for. But this actually in the 139 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:58,080 reference in the Scripture is a reference to God doing something 140 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:03,960 for this person that that establishes a family line for 141 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:10,760 them, that establishes a family line for them where they have a 142 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:14,320 special place in the work and life of God. 143 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:17,800 There's a really strange passage in the Old Testament where it's 144 00:13:17,800 --> 00:13:26,560 used one other time where Phineas is told that his actions 145 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:34,280 which were violent, we're actually now going to be 146 00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:39,240 credited to him as righteousness because he had acted for the 147 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:43,120 holiness of God. Now, that's that's weird. 148 00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:49,280 But when this phrase here is being used to say God is 149 00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:56,160 crediting it as righteousness with Abraham, Paul's appealing 150 00:13:56,480 --> 00:14:04,880 to this thing where God is just deciding, I see you, I see your 151 00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:10,920 faith, and now I've included you in a covenant and I'm making you 152 00:14:11,160 --> 00:14:16,400 into a family. He has to expand this some more 153 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:17,760 because it would have been really hard. 154 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:23,280 This is his thing, that everyone who has faith in Christ is 155 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:27,080 completely accepted into Abraham's family. 156 00:14:30,680 --> 00:14:34,280 Everyone who has faith in Christ is completely accepted into 157 00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:37,840 Abraham's family. And most of us have no emotional 158 00:14:37,840 --> 00:14:40,800 draw on that. Most of us are not going, oh, 159 00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:43,120 I'm so glad I'm in Abraham's family. 160 00:14:44,280 --> 00:14:48,920 But there were Gentile followers of Jesus in the church who 161 00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:53,160 weren't sure that they really were included because they 162 00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:56,600 weren't signing up to be circumcised. 163 00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:01,880 They weren't signing up to follow the dietary laws. 164 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:07,760 They had only signed up to hold on to Jesus. 165 00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:12,160 That's all they had signed up for. 166 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:19,640 We we see Jesus like the Greeks who came to Philip and said we 167 00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:24,120 want to see Jesus. They had grabbed hold of Jesus 168 00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:28,160 and now they needed assurance that Jesus had grabbed hold of 169 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:32,600 them and that God had actually made them family. 170 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:36,000 You all have had that experience. 171 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:41,880 Maybe we're because of something that happens in your life. 172 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:48,600 You're like, I'm not sure God really loves me because of 173 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:53,560 something you do or say or some nagging persisting sin in your 174 00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:56,240 life. And you're like, I'm not sure 175 00:15:56,440 --> 00:15:59,480 that I'm really acceptable to God. 176 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:04,600 I feel like I'm stuck in an airport and there's an official 177 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:10,280 for me saying unacceptable. And all the time we have an 178 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:16,600 accusing voice to ourselves saying not really in not really 179 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:19,240 sure. I feel sad. 180 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:21,520 Is it OK to come to a happy church? 181 00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:27,040 I'm not really sure. I feel like part of the family 182 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:38,870 today. And God's assurance is, did you 183 00:16:38,870 --> 00:16:41,830 put your faith in Jesus the Son of God? 184 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:45,360 You're in the family. Notice what Paul says. 185 00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:49,000 He says Scripture for so that God would justify the Gentiles 186 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:52,840 by faith and announce the gospel in advance to Abraham. 187 00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:56,840 All nations will be blessed through you. 188 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:02,520 God was assured of it. He says for all who rely on the 189 00:17:02,520 --> 00:17:04,319 works of the law are under a curse. 190 00:17:04,560 --> 00:17:06,440 Curse. It is everyone who does not 191 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:10,160 continue to do everything written in the book of the law. 192 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:15,240 Now, at this point, Paul quit talking to the Gentiles and 193 00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:17,800 started talking to the Jewish audience. 194 00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:23,560 And he reminds them, you know, if you're under the law, you're 195 00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:29,800 now under a curse. That's bad news. 196 00:17:30,720 --> 00:17:33,160 If you're under the law, you're under a curse. 197 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:37,160 But all of them would have gone. Yeah, Paul, you're right. 198 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:41,760 You're right. They would have just said you're 199 00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:43,760 right. In fact, they would have gone 200 00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:51,320 further and said the experience of being under the curse is that 201 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:55,600 now we're still in exile in our own land. 202 00:17:57,120 --> 00:18:00,960 We're in spiritual exile in our own land because we cannot 203 00:18:00,960 --> 00:18:03,640 fulfil the law. They would reach all the way 204 00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:10,280 back to Deuteronomy chapter 2720820930 and 31, where God 205 00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:13,320 tells them that here are the blessings, here are the curses, 206 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:16,960 here are all the blessings that will come to you if you obey the 207 00:18:16,960 --> 00:18:18,760 Lord your God and keep this word. 208 00:18:19,120 --> 00:18:23,080 Here are all the curses that will come to you if you do not 209 00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:32,040 obey the word of God. It's as if then the Word of God 210 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:36,200 now became the rubric for the paper they were writing in life. 211 00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:38,680 How many of you have had a rubric? 212 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:44,200 A standard. And then the rubric is held up 213 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:47,440 to their lives and the red pen comes out. 214 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:56,280 No, no, no, no, no, no. Wrong, wrong. 215 00:18:57,040 --> 00:19:02,480 How many of you have had papers with lots of red, but how many 216 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:05,120 of you have had your life read that way? 217 00:19:10,660 --> 00:19:15,540 And Paul is saying and reminding the Jewish audience in the 218 00:19:15,540 --> 00:19:19,820 churches there, hey, you know how God sees us. 219 00:19:20,740 --> 00:19:26,620 We are in exile and our lives are full of red marks. 220 00:19:28,020 --> 00:19:33,800 But here's the incredible news that Christ Jesus poured out his 221 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:42,080 blood, and now our lives are read so differently because he 222 00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:54,010 redeemed us from the curse. The righteous will live by faith 223 00:19:54,850 --> 00:19:59,570 in the man who died on the cross for us. 224 00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:05,640 He just says there is a mystery of what God has done for the 225 00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:09,840 Jewish person, and there is a mystery for what God has done 226 00:20:10,120 --> 00:20:16,440 for the Gentile person. And every time a Gentile person 227 00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:22,200 says I trust Jesus Christ, they're actually saying I trust 228 00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:28,160 Jesus Israel's Messiah. For that is what Christ means. 229 00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:38,120 I trust Jesus Israel's Messiah. And so there's our connection. 230 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:44,320 Israel's Messiah has brought us into the family of Abraham and 231 00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:50,560 has truly blessed us now, for he's given us his Spirit so that 232 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:55,840 we can be in the communion of God, so that we can be forgiven 233 00:20:56,160 --> 00:21:04,080 of our own sin and idolatry. We weren't under that curse, but 234 00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:07,960 we were under Adam's exile as well. 235 00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:14,600 And now we're being brought back into the life and fellowship of 236 00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:19,320 God, 'cause he says, look, I'm gifting you this spirit, 237 00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:26,360 redeeming you and including you in Abraham's family. 238 00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:29,240 Notice what he says. Christ redeemed us from the 239 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:32,160 curse of the law. That's the Jewish folks, by 240 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:36,360 becoming a curse for us. For as it is written, cursed is 241 00:21:36,360 --> 00:21:41,920 everyone who's hung on a pole. He redeemed us, and now he's 242 00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:45,960 speaking to all of us in order that the blessing given to 243 00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:49,600 Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, 244 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:55,040 so that by faith we might receive the promise of the 245 00:21:55,040 --> 00:22:02,800 Spirit. One of our basic prayers of 246 00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:07,000 Christian life is Come, Holy Spirit, Come. 247 00:22:08,280 --> 00:22:13,240 When you pray that prayer, you are praying into the blessing of 248 00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:18,840 Abraham. Because the blessing of Abraham 249 00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:24,520 is fulfilled in this, you become the friend of God because of the 250 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:29,720 Spirit of God within you. You become part of the family of 251 00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:33,120 God because of the Spirit of God within you. 252 00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:39,200 And so now even our expectations of ourselves and of each other 253 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:43,280 change. I'm expecting you to act like a 254 00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:50,000 Christian. Is that what we're expecting? 255 00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:57,760 I'm expecting rather the Spirit of God to help you act like a 256 00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:03,040 Christian. I'm expecting the Spirit of God 257 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:11,040 to bear fruit in your life. I'm expecting the Spirit of God 258 00:23:11,360 --> 00:23:17,240 to change your life and mine. Here's the challenge for us and 259 00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:19,800 why we can't just get away from this. 260 00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:25,760 Word about the curse is that the longer you reside in the life of 261 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:30,920 the church, the more likely it is that you and I will become 262 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:35,680 like older brothers. Do you remember the story that 263 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:42,440 Jesus told about two lost sons? One of the sons said, oh, Dad, I 264 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:46,440 wish you were dead. Give me the inheritance now. 265 00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:51,160 And the dad did the extraordinary thing. 266 00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:55,600 He didn't go and die. He just tore his life apart by 267 00:23:55,600 --> 00:24:00,400 selling property and giving his son the inheritance. 268 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:06,160 The younger son went off and like money that comes. 269 00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:11,120 Easy, easy come, easy go. And it went. 270 00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:16,120 He had no discipline, he had no character, he had no way to 271 00:24:16,120 --> 00:24:20,080 actually hold on to it. And in wild living he spent it 272 00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:26,680 all till he was desperate. And he got a little job feeding 273 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:31,840 the pigs, but there really wasn't much to eat. 274 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:37,080 And he came to his senses and says, I'll go home to my dad. 275 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:41,320 At least there with my dad, I can be like a servant. 276 00:24:41,520 --> 00:24:45,200 I'll become my dad's slave and I'll work for him. 277 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:54,860 At least I'll get to eat. And the older brother was lost 278 00:24:54,860 --> 00:24:57,780 as well. For when the younger brother 279 00:24:57,780 --> 00:25:03,900 came home, the older brother was very angry because he wasn't 280 00:25:03,900 --> 00:25:09,840 acting like Abraham's son. He wasn't acting like a son or 281 00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:14,200 daughter of Abraham. He wasn't marching to the right 282 00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:16,920 beat. In fact, he just seemed to be 283 00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:21,120 out of step father Abraham, one of them. 284 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:26,280 He couldn't get it right. And so the younger brother was 285 00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:29,120 an outcast. But the older brother became 286 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:33,600 angry when he came home and judged him and said, you're not 287 00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:38,160 doing it right. And he even told his dad, you're 288 00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:43,080 not doing it right. I've been doing the right thing. 289 00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:47,920 I should have more. I've been slaving for you. 290 00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:52,880 Oh, there's the word. He'd been trying to be good 291 00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:57,160 enough to get the Father's blessings. 292 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:04,080 And the strange thing is, the longer we're in church and in 293 00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:09,560 the life of this body, the more likely we are to become like 294 00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:13,280 older brothers. And that's the worst kind of 295 00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:16,880 church. Who wants an older brother like 296 00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:21,800 that? None of us want that. 297 00:26:23,120 --> 00:26:30,040 And so that means we've sort of slid in under the curse and we 298 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:33,840 begin to use the righteousness and the works of God and all of 299 00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:37,880 these things, and we hold it over onto each other and 300 00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:44,520 ourselves and we slave away. But Christ redeems us from the 301 00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:47,760 curse. When Israel would have heard 302 00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:51,320 that word redemption, they would have immediately thought of a 303 00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:58,560 slave Set free. I've been set free to live free. 304 00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:02,600 I've been set free to love freely. 305 00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:11,280 I've been set free to truly live with Jesus by faith. 306 00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:22,720 God has fulfilled His promise over and over and over for you 307 00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:28,320 and for me. You are set free. 308 00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:34,720 Let's pray together. Lord Jesus, I pray that just the 309 00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:39,120 simple ways that you would let this truth settle deep in our 310 00:27:39,120 --> 00:27:44,200 lives, that you would let it settle into our life so that we 311 00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:50,200 actually appreciate the church as a place where we become more 312 00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:57,160 like Jesus, as a people with whom we get to know Jesus and 313 00:27:57,160 --> 00:28:00,200 the people with whom we get to join Jesus in this mission. 314 00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:07,800 Lord, would you give us a new vision so that we see rightly 315 00:28:08,160 --> 00:28:13,240 each other and you, Paul had to ask the Galatians who bewitched 316 00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:15,960 you, who gave you the evil eye? Whose?