{"id":18779,"date":"2016-05-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-05-15T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/law-grace-001-an-overview\/"},"modified":"2016-05-15T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-05-15T05:00:00","slug":"law-grace-001-an-overview","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/law-grace-001-an-overview\/","title":{"rendered":"Law & Grace 001: An Overview"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[88],"series_event":[477],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[152],"class_list":["post-18779","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-john","series_event-law-grace","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-dr-jim-mcgowan","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Law & Grace 001: An Overview","sermon_date":"20160515","sermon_month":"5","sermon_year":"2016","sermon_notes":3624,"sermon_slides":3623,"sermon_mp3":3625,"sermon_id":"515161048182","series_or_event":477,"service_type":[472],"speaker":152,"books_of_the_bible":88,"chapter_and_verse":"1:17","sermon_transcript":"Dr. Jim McGowan\n\nLaw vs. Grace: An Overview\n\n2 Corinthians 3:6-11 (5-15-16)\n\nThe children are dismissed, I\u2019m supposed to say that so there they go.\u00a0 I love the sound of the children as they\u2019re leaving [laughter], that didn\u2019t come out right, did it?\u00a0\u00a0 You know when I try to make a joke it flops.\u00a0 I meant to say I love the sound of their excitement as they\u2019re leaving because they truly are excited and it encourages me and it challenges me and it convicts me when I see smiles on their faces and their desire to go meet with their Sunday School teachers and hear the Word of God, and what a blessing that is, isn\u2019t it?\n\nIf you haven\u2019t been attending Sunday School let me just make a quick positive comment about the class this morning.\u00a0 Brother Bob is teaching on the Holy Spirit and he mentioned some very interesting things about the gifts of the Holy Spirit and I want to thank you, Bob, for the great teaching this morning.\u00a0 And the reason I mention it is because I really believe that what we\u2019ve heard up here this morning is an evidence of the gifts of the Holy Spirit being made manifest in our presence.\u00a0 Every person has a gift, he told us this morning, and what a wonderful gift you shared with us today, and all of our musicians and our singers, I think sometimes we take them for granted.\u00a0 Thank you Hedy for helping out on that, that was a wonderful, wonderful piece.\n\nLet me ask your indulgence this morning, I\u2019m having some small problems with my breathing; I\u2019ve been having this for a little while so if you see me reach down and get a drink of water, just pray for me, forgive me and we\u2019ll try to pursue and press forward.\n\nWhat I\u2019d like to speak to you this morning about is the topic of the Law vs. Grace and what this is, it is actually an introductory lesson that I taught in a home Bible study and with the intention of doing a full series on it.\u00a0 And I\u2019m praying right now about possibly doing that in the fall but I thought it might be good for us this morning to talk about this.\u00a0 Little did I know, and this just goes to show you how awesome God is, that on this past Wednesday night that our wonderful pastor, Andy, would be mentioning many of the things I\u2019m going to cover today.\u00a0 I almost stood up on Wednesday night and said stop, you\u2019re giving it away.\u00a0 But it was awesome, in fact, I would encourage you if you haven\u2019t been listening to the Wednesday evening messages on soteriology, please, by all means go listen, go watch them, I think you\u2019ll find them incredibly encouraging and edifying.\u00a0 And\u00a0 you might just learn something.\u00a0 I know I learn something every time I go.\n\nAnd then at the same time, Bob, this morning many of the things that you had to say in your class you\u2019re going to see repeated here this morning, I\u2019m sorry, I didn\u2019t get into your notes, I think maybe the Holy Spirit must have been involved.\u00a0 So having said that let\u2019s move forward, shall we?\n\nSo here\u2019s basically what I\u2019m going to try to cover this morning in the time that I have and let me get my watch off because I don\u2019t want to be one of those competing for the longest time in the pulpit; I won\u2019t mention any names Gabe\u2026 I mean\u2026 [laughter]\u00a0 So we\u2019re going to look at this morning the purpose and aim of the study on law and grace and then I\u2019m going to give you some points of contrast and comparison, some critical insights into Christ\u2019s first coming.\u00a0 We\u2019re going to talk a little bit about the misunderstanding that believers have with regard to the law on Christ\u2019s earthly ministry, a proper response to the grace gift, and then we\u2019ll conclude with that.\n\nOne more comment about Sunday School today, and again I chalk this up to just the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit, we had an individual in our class this morning who had a lot of questions and my real hope and prayer this morning is that some of the things I\u2019m going to talk about are going to address those questions.\u00a0 And I mention that only because it\u2019s not by chance that anyone is here this morning.\u00a0 Everyone here is here because God brought you here, He had something for you this morning so I hope that\u2019s your heart.\n\nSo as we go on what is our purpose, aim and objective here, is to compare and contrast law and grace because we want to be able to properly understand these two important themes and then how they are related to the life of the New Testament believer.\u00a0 It you look at 2 Corinthians 3:6-11, which we read earlier, and I\u2019m just going to touch upon this quickly and we\u2019ll pick this up later.\n\n[2 Corinthians 3:6, \u201cHe has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant\u2014not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.\u00a0 [7] Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, [8]will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? [9] If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! [10] For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. [11] And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!\u201d]\n\nBut in that passage Paul actually introduces seven contrasts between the Law of Moses and grace.\u00a0 And you can see I have some things highlighted there, he notes that the letter kills but the Spirit gives life.\u00a0 He mentions that the Law, and we\u2019re talking about the Mosaic Law here, you may not have thought about this but he actually calls this a ministry of death, and he contrasts that with the ministry of the Spirit.\u00a0 He then comes back in verse 9 and he calls the Law the ministry of condemnation, again contrasting that with the Spirit\u2019s ministry which 9 is a ministry of righteousness.\u00a0 And then he addresses the issue of the glory that each brings to the table, so to speak.\u00a0 So we\u2019ll talk a little bit more about that here in a minute.\n\nI want to give you a quick disclaimer here; many times when we talk about the issue of law and grace the tendency is to become polarized.\u00a0 So some of us go way over here on the law side and we heard somebody in Sunday School today, there\u2019s a group in the area that says that in order to be a Christian you have to keep all of the Ten Commandments.\u00a0 All right, then there\u2019s the other side of the coin which says everything\u2019s okay, you\u2019ve got your eternal security taken care of, go and instead of sin no more it\u2019s go and don\u2019t worry about it.\u00a0 And so neither one of those views are correct so we\u2019re going to endeavor not to have an extreme teaching this morning and later if I do the series.\n\nBut one the things that\u2019s important for us is to understand that there are differences and that\u2019s why we\u2019re able to contrast and compare.\u00a0 You may have seen this or be familiar with a particular television show that talks about this.\u00a0 I used to believe that, I don\u2019t any more.\u00a0 However, one of the problems with that is as we come to the Word of God it\u2019s not an issue of being fair and balanced, it\u2019s an issue of being biblical.\u00a0 Would you agree with that?\u00a0 [some say Amen]\u00a0 Good, I filled that now, now I can go forward; if you hadn\u2019t answered right on that I\u2019d just shut the whole thing down right now.\u00a0 [laughter]\u00a0 All right.\n\nSo we might want to ask the question, why compare and contrast and are there really differences with regard to Israel under the Law and the church under grace?\u00a0 And we would point out here that as we compare and contrast we\u2019re going to discover that there are indeed similarities between Israel and the church, and I\u2019ve given you a couple of passages here in Exodus.\u00a0 Notice that God refers to the children of Israel and He says they are My people, Exodus 7:4, \u201c\u2026My people, the sons of Israel\u2026\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 But then we come to the New Testament and we see the Holy Spirit speaking through Peter, saying, \u00a0\u201c\u2026now you\u201d the Body of Christ \u201care the people of God\u2026\u201d\u00a0 [1 Peter 2:10]\u00a0\u00a0 Both are true, are they not?\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019ll answer that: Yes they are, both are true.\n\nHowever, there are some very important differences between Israel under the Law and the Church under grace.\u00a0 For example, where are you blessed?\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if you can make those pictures out that well but the picture on the left is a picture from the 30,000 foot level of the land of Israel.\u00a0 And as we read and study about Israel and God\u2019s promises to Israel we discover that God\u2019s promises to Israel are earthly; they\u2019ve been promised land, for example.\u00a0 And we\u2019ll talk some more about that.\n\nBut is that true for us?\u00a0 When we don\u2019t understand law and grace properly are we attempting to bring Israel\u2019s blessings into our camp and that would not be the right thing to do because our blessings are what?\u00a0 They\u2019re heavenly, are they not.\u00a0 In fact, again in Sunday School we talked about the divine riches, the heavenly riches that God provides for us, resources, etc.\u00a0 As we compare and contrast we want to be sure that we avoid extremes.\u00a0 So how would we do that when we come to the Word of God?\u00a0 We do that first of all by noting what is the same or similar between Israel and the church because there are things that are very similar.\u00a0 But we also want to determine and talk about those things that are different.\u00a0 And thankfully God\u2019s Word addresses those issues for us.\n\nNow probably the next question would be does it really matter?\u00a0 Do we really want to waste our time on this and as\u00a0 you see I say here, why would we consider it so important to compare the contrast between law and grace, Israel and the church, isn\u2019t this all just much ado about nothing?\u00a0 And sadly there are people who actually believe that and I hope that you\u2019ll forgive me for putting this quote up, I have nothing particular against John MacArthur but I want you to notice what he says about dispensationalists.\n\nHe says, \u201cThere is a tendency, however, for dispensationalists to get carried away<\/em> with compart\u00admentalizing truth to the point that they make unbiblical differentiations<\/em>. An almost obsessive desire <\/em>to categorize and contrast related truths has carried various dispensationalist interpreters (Chafer, Ryrie, Hodges, etc.<\/em>) far beyond the legitimate distinctions between Israel and the Church. Many would also draw hard lines,<\/em>\u201d notice this, \u201cbetween salvation and discipleship,\u201d in other words, \u201cjustification and sanctification<\/em>\u201d so he has an issue with drawing hard lines there.\u00a0 He says we\u2019re\n\nnot on the right path because we\u2019re making hard distinctions between \u201cthe church and the kingdom, Christ's preaching and the apostolic message, faith and repentance, and the age of law and the age of grace<\/em>.\u201d \u00a0[John MacArthur Jr., The Gospel According to Jesus<\/em>, page 31]\n\nAnd again that\u2019s John MacArthur, who claims to be a dispensationalist but I think when you research his books and his writings and such you discover that he must have a different interpretation of what that means.\u00a0 And that\u2019s not to say that I don\u2019t like John MacArthur, I just disagree with him on some issues, like soteriology for example.\n\nDoes it really matter?\u00a0 Well, for one thing it does matter because it\u2019s what the Bible says and isn\u2019t that what matters\u2014what the Bible says?\u00a0 In 1 Corinthians 10:11, referring back to, in context Paul was referring back to the things that transpired to the children of Israel in the wanderings and he says, \u201cNow these things happened to them as an example and they were written for our instruction.\u201d\n\nSo we don\u2019t want to cast aside the law, we don\u2019t want to cast aside what the Bible is telling us about the commandments, but neither do we want to over emphasize them under grace.\u00a0 Another reason why this matters is because properly understanding distinctions, these distinctions, between law and grace, impacts relationships and identities.\u00a0\u00a0 And you\u2019re going to see how important that is here in just a second.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to make a bold statement here\u2014God designed this life and eternity so as to require clarity of identities and relationships.\u201d\u00a0 Sometimes we\u2019re under the impression that when we die and go to heaven that we\u2019re just going to all kind of morph into some nebulous spiritual entity without any separate identities.\n\nAnd what I\u2019d like to just call your attention to is if you remember the story, and it\u2019s story, not parable, of the rich man and Lazarus.\u00a0 \u00a0And I would ask you, did Lazarus recognize Abraham?\u00a0 Did Abraham recognize Lazarus?\u00a0 And he did, right?\u00a0 And all through the Old Testament\u00a0 you find when the patriarchs would die it would say they are going to be gathered to their people.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that an interesting way to word that.\u00a0 Some people say oh that just means they died.\u00a0 No, it doesn\u2019t mean that, it means that when they died they went to be with their forefathers, those that had gone on before them, which has to include identifying them, wouldn\u2019t it?\u00a0 Can you see somebody wandering around heaven going gee, are you my patriarch, are you my patriarch?\u00a0 No, they knew who they were.\u00a0 So I just share that for your information.\n\nThis issue of identity and relationships is pretty important.\u00a0 Should I just leave that up there and not comment?\u00a0 [Laughter]\u00a0 There you see my lovely wife and my two daughters.\u00a0 And I want to just share a couple of comments with you about that.\u00a0 If identities in relationships aren\u2019t important we have some problems, don\u2019t we.\u00a0 My wife and my daughters, here they are, my wife was born in Houston, Texas; my two daughters were born in Houston, Texas, there\u2019s some sameness there, isn\u2019t there?\u00a0 They are all three females, there\u2019s some sameness there.\u00a0 One is a wife and two are daughters, that\u2019s a little different but they are still all females.\u00a0 In this world today we never know, right?\u00a0 They are all born in the same city and the same state.\u00a0 They are all a part of the same family.\u00a0 They all at one point in time had the same last name, until my daughters decided to run off and get married, of course.\u00a0 So there\u2019s a lot alike here.\n\nNow I love all three of them.\u00a0 But it\u2019s very important that I make a distinction regardless of what I see in common.\u00a0 Do you see where I\u2019m going here?\u00a0 If I fail to make the appropriate distinctions in spite of what is common between my wife and my daughters a lot of people would get very upset, not the least of which would be their husbands.\u00a0\u00a0 And certainly my wife.\u00a0 How about making proper distinctions with other women.\u00a0 Is that important?\u00a0 Well, it is for me; my dear sweet kind gentle wife has clearly indicated the ramifications of not maintaining appropriate distinctions and I believe if I recall correctly she expressed it something like this: I\u2019ll snatch her baldheaded!\u00a0 Now she never did articulate what she was going to do to me and I didn\u2019t ask!\n\nSo I\u2019m being a little humorous here but I think that you\u2019re getting my point, that distinctions in relationships here on earth are critically important and the point I want you to understand is they\u2019re likewise important once we depart this earth, so to speak, once we go to our heavenly abode or earthly abode, as the case may be.\u00a0 It\u2019s very important then, in spite of what is common, to see distinctions.\u00a0 It matters greatly in regards to identities in relationships, not only in our present earthly existence but also in eternity.\u00a0 It matters greatly in regards to identities and relationships not only in our present earthly existence, but also in eternity.\u00a0 It matters that we understand identities and relationships.\n\nNot only that, it\u2019s a matter of life and death.\u00a0 Does it really matter?\u00a0 Yes, I answer my own question here.\u00a0 We in the church have been crucified with Christ so as to die to the Law, so that Christ would do the living through us.\u00a0 That\u2019s in Galatians 2:19-20.\u00a0 [Galatians 2:19, \u201cFor through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God.\u00a0 [20] I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.\u201d]\n\nNumbers 15:32\u201336, notice what it says here and you tell me if there are any distinctions between the law and grace.\u00a0 It says, \u201cNow while the sons of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering wood on the sabbath day. [33] \u00a0Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation; [34] and they put him in custody because it had not been declared what should be done to him. [35] Then the Lord said to Moses, \u2018The man shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.\u2019 [36] So\u201d what did they do?\u00a0 \u201call the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.\u201d \u00a0That\u2019s law, isn\u2019t it.\u00a0 So there\u2019s a pictorial representation.\u00a0 I would like to suggest to you that if we insist on living under the Law, and believe me, there are many, many Christians who do, then we\u2019ll be trying to be blessed by a ministry of death and condemnation, according to 2 Corinthians 3:7 and 9 which we\u2019ve already read.\n\nMany Christians today are trying to be blessed, though, by a ministry of death and condemnation.\u00a0 They\u2019re trying to live under some form of law.\u00a0 And again those are not my words, those are the Apostle Paul\u2019s words given under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 Can you imagine trying to be blessed under a ministry characterized by death and condemnation.\u00a0 There it is, \u201cBut if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as<\/em> it was, [8] how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory? [9] For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory.\u201d Corinthians 3:7\u20139\n\nPaul\u2019s talking about the Law of Moses here; he\u2019s calling it \u201cthe ministry of death\u201d\u00a0 and \u201cthe ministry of condemnation.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 But God never intended that we in the church would live that way.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because we\u2019re already blessed so why would we strive and work under a ministry of death and condemnation in order to be blessed?\u00a0 \u00a0We\u2019ve heard Andy talk about, in the past from the pulpit, you know, we come to Christ.\u00a0 How do we come to Christ?\u00a0 By faith, right!\u00a0 Why is it that once we come to Christ by faith we think that the very next thing that should happen is that we should take over.\u00a0 God, you did a great job getting me saved, I\u2019ll take it from here.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that what we do?\u00a0 Don\u2019t raise your hand, it\u2019s okay.\n\nBecause of our identification in Christ Paul tells us that we died to the Law.\u00a0 He goes on to tell us that Christ is now our life and He is our righteousness so we don\u2019t have to try to find life and we don\u2019t have to try to stay alive.\u00a0 He\u2019s already done it all for us, hasn\u2019t He.\u00a0 How wonderful is that!\u00a0 Galatians 2:19-20 says that, look what Paul says here, \u201cFor through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. [20] I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life<\/em> which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.\u201d\n\nSo it\u2019s no longer I doing the living, it\u2019s Christ who\u2019s doing the living in me.\u00a0 I like what Brother Bob has been saying in his class.\u00a0 He says are you a Home Depot Christian, I believe is the way you expressed that?\u00a0 When you said that I thought about what was that TV show that used to be on, Tool Time, Tim the tool man, are you Timothy the tool man, that type of a Christian?\u00a0 You know, you can do it, you can fix it all, just give me what I need, let me go and I\u2019ll fix it?\u00a0 And of course the Scripture tells us very clearly that we can\u2019t possibly do that, as believers we can\u2019t fix ourselves; we can\u2019t do what only the Spirit can do.\n\nRomans 7:4, look what Paul says, \u201cTherefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You died to the Law.\u00a0 I\u2019m a very big proponent on teaching on the identification truths, understanding who we are in Christ.\u00a0 And I\u2019m convinced that that\u2019s the thing that causes us most of our grief in our Christian life, is we don\u2019t really understand that.\u00a0 We don\u2019t understand who we are in Christ and what He\u2019s done for us.\u00a0 And then that causes us to be somewhat backwards in our understanding and our ability to move forward in progressive sanctification.\n\nLet\u2019s look at the next point, points of contrast and comparison.\u00a0 So pretty much everything up to this point was just to kind of get you thinking in terms of similarities and differences but let\u2019s talk for a minute about some contrasting comparisons.\u00a0 The Law, of course, was given at Mt. Sinai, right; and who was it given to?\u00a0 Well, if you were here on Wednesday night you know the answer to that; it was given to Israel, wasn\u2019t it?\u00a0 And one of the interesting things that happened when God gave the Law was He told Moses to tell the people do not dare come close to the mountain.\u00a0 He\u2019s going to give them this Law but don\u2019t you let one toe cross that boundary because if you do you\u2019re going to die.\u00a0 The Law is being given, don\u2019t come near.\n\nThe other mountain is Mount Calvary.\u00a0 Mount Calvary, also known as Golgotha, right, and this is the other mountain where what was shown?\u00a0 Was grace shown there or was it grace that was shown there.\u00a0 It was grace, wasn\u2019t it.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a chart that points out some contrasts and comparisons here.\u00a0 Notice that under Moses the Law was given.\u00a0 He was the steward; Moses was the steward, Christ, of course, is the steward of grace.\u00a0 What\u2019s the governing principle?\u00a0 The governing principle under Moses is Law; under Christ it\u2019s grace.\u00a0 Whose works are you depending upon under the Law?\u00a0 You\u2019re depending on your own works, right?\u00a0 Your ability to keep the Law, which is, of course, impossible.\u00a0 But whose works are you depending upon under grace?\u00a0 You\u2019re depending upon the Lord Jesus Christ, are you not, because again He\u2019s living through you.\u00a0 What is the people group?\u00a0 The Law of Moses came to Israel and grace came to the church.\n\nThis is an interesting one, I wonder if you\u2019ve noticed this before, the Bible tells us that the children of Israel were baptized into Moses.\u00a0 But who are we baptized into?\u00a0 We\u2019re baptized into Christ.\u00a0 What\u2019s another word for baptism?\u00a0 Another word for baptism is identification.\u00a0 So when the children of Israel were given the Law, when they went through the sea they were \u201cbaptized\u201d into Moses, they were identified with Moses and the legal system.\u00a0 When you were saved, when you put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ what happened then?\u00a0 You were baptized in the Spirit, were you not, and you were instantly identified with the Lord Jesus Christ.\u00a0 In fact, the Bible tells us that when He died I died; when He was buried, I was buried; when He rose I rose; when He ascended I ascended; when He was seated I was seated with Him in heavenly places.\u00a0 That\u2019s identification.\n\nWhat are the ministry characteristics?\u00a0 We\u2019ve mentioned this already but under Moses and the Law it was death and condemnation; but under Christ it\u2019s the Spirit and righteousness.\u00a0 What are the nature of blessings under the Law?\u00a0 Well, if you\u2019re careful when you\u2019re reading the Scriptures, especially Deuteronomy 28, you\u2019ll notice that the blessings are what?\u00a0 They\u2019re conditional, God tells Israel if you do this I\u2019ll do that.\u00a0 And notice also that they\u2019re earthly focused.\u00a0 When the millennial kingdom comes who is that for?\u00a0 Why is God going to set up the millennial kingdom?\u00a0 Why is He going to put David on the throne reigning as coregent with Christ?\u00a0 Why is he going to do that?\u00a0 Is that for the church?\u00a0 No, that\u2019s to fulfill the promises to the Fathers, specifically to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.\n\nBut what about us, do we have any blessings?\u00a0 We sure do but notice that our blessings are not conditional; our blessings are based entirely on the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.\u00a0 And notice that they\u2019re heavenly.\u00a0 Where are our resources?\u00a0 Where are our divine resources?\u00a0 They\u2019re in the heavens.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 What about how earthly difficulties are dealt with?\u00a0 Under the Law there are curses for disobedience.\u00a0 Now it\u2019s a popular teaching among some more radical Christian groups to teach that there are such things as generational curses. Well, I don\u2019t believe that, not for the believer certainly.\u00a0 But under the Law, if you didn\u2019t follow the Law there were curses that went along with that.\n\nWhat about for the believer?\u00a0 When we have earthly difficulties does God curse us?\u00a0 Well, you know, you didn\u2019t go to church on Wednesday night and listen to Andy\u2019s Soteriology class so therefore you\u2019re going to have boils on Thursday.\u00a0 [Laughter]\u00a0 No, no!\u00a0 I haven\u2019t gone once or twice, no boils.\u00a0 NO!\u00a0 But does God discipline us when we do things that we\u2019re not supposed to?\u00a0 Absolutely.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because the Bible tells us that He loves us as a father loves his children, doesn\u2019t He, and therefore He disciplines us for our own benefit.\u00a0 Anybody like discipline?\u00a0 I don\u2019t particularly like it.\u00a0 And you know, that\u2019s a good thing, you\u2019 re not supposed to like discipline, you\u2019re\u00a0 supposed to avoid the need.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that correct.\u00a0 Too bad I dismissed the children already\u2026 well, we\u2019ll save that one for later.\n\nHow about this one, distance and intimacy.\u00a0 Have you ever considered the fact that there\u2019s a real clear distinction between distance and intimacy, between the Law and Grace.\u00a0 A significant point of contrast between Law and Grace is in our access to and our intimacy with God.\u00a0 Under the Law of Moses distance from God was a (notice) legal requirement.\u00a0 Look at Exodus 3:4-5 here, \u201cWhen the LORD saw that he turned aside\u201d meaning Moses here, \u201cwhen he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, \u2018Moses, Moses!\u2019\u201d\u00a0 You know, everybody\u2019s seen The Ten Commandments,<\/em> right?\u00a0 And Charlton Heston said\u2026 I mean, Moses \u201csaid, \u2018Here I am.\u2019\u00a0 [5] Then He said, \u2018Do not come near\u201d \u201cdo not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wow, a God encounter and God says don\u2019t come near.\u00a0 That sounds a little different from some of the things I\u2019m hearing coming from some of the more radical Christian groups now.\u00a0 They have a different perception of who God is.\n\nExodus 19:12-13, when the Law was being given on the Mount Sinai, I\u2019ve already referred to this but look what it says, \u201cYou shall set bounds\u201d this is God speaking, \u201cYou shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, \u2018Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch the border of it; whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. [13] \u2018No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through; whether beast or man, he shall not live.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Wow, that\u2019s kind of powerful.\n\nHow about this one, let\u2019s move a little bit forward in the Old Testament, let\u2019s move out of the Pentateuch, let\u2019s go into the Prophets here.\u00a0 What happened when Isaiah was given a vision of the glory of God?\u00a0 Remember what he said here?\u00a0 He says, \u201cWoe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.\u201d\n\nI hope you can see this picture.\u00a0 As wonderful as the temple was and will be when it\u2019s restored, one of the things you should notice about the temple is the construction of it.\u00a0 When you look at the picture on the far left what do you notice about that?\u00a0 Do you notice that it\u2019s segregated?\u00a0 Do you see the divisions there?\u00a0 And then when you come over to the picture to the right at the bottom, that\u2019s a blowup of the picture in the middle, that\u2019s the actual inner court, if you will.\u00a0 And notice you see even more distinctions, more barriers to access to God.\u00a0 In fact, under the Law who was the only person that could actually access the Holy of Holies?\u00a0 Could just any average common Jew just walk in and burst open the curtains and God, You and I need to talk?\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that what we\u2019re hearing today about how we approach God by some people, that well, we have bold access so by golly let\u2019s get in there, right, and forget about proper procedures and forget about a holy life and forget about sanctification.\u00a0 You know, God\u2019s your genie.\n\nBut no, even in the temple you see what?\u00a0 You don\u2019t see intimacy do you; you see distance.\u00a0 What about access?\u00a0 What does Jesus say to us.\u00a0 Well, we know from the Word of God that under grace we have access to God and we are called to draw near to God because God and Christ want us to know them deeply and intimately.\u00a0 Jesus wants to have an intimate relationship with you.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t just want to be your fair-weather friend.\u00a0 You know, I can\u2019t pay my bills this week so let\u2019s get on\u2026 as Jimmy Swaggart used to say, you know, call Him up, call Him up and tell Him what you want.\u00a0 Have you ever heard that song?\u00a0 Trust me, Jesus is on the mainline now.\u00a0 Call Him up.\n\nI like these pictures, don\u2019t you?\u00a0 When I think of Jesus I think about Him that way.\u00a0\u00a0 Even when I sin, even when I fall short, the enemy is there to whisper to me and say now run, hide, but the Holy Spirit is doing what to me the whole time?\u00a0 Convicting me, drawing me, wooing me to do what?\u00a0 To come back, to confess my sins that I can be cleansed, I can be forgiven, have restored fellowship with the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.\n\nEphesians 2:18 and then chapter 3, 11-12, look what it says; [2:18] \u201cfor through Him\u201d that\u2019s Christ, \u201cwe both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.\u201d\u00a0 [3:11] \u201c\u2026Christ Jesus our Lord [12] in whom we have boldness and confident access, through faith in Him.\u201d What is it about us adults that the longer we live and the more we live and the older we get we lose that whatever it is that children have?\u00a0 Have you noticed how children will just run up to you and just the spur of the moment and hug your neck or talk to you.\u00a0 I just love to come into the church here because I get mobbed by the children and I absolutely love it.\u00a0 It keeps me thinking about how God wants me to interact with Him; He wants me to know that I have intimate access to Him.\u00a0 Are you taking advantage of that?\u00a0 The call that Christ is making to all of us today is come near and stay near.\n\nLook at Hebrews 4:15-16, it says, \u201cFor we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet<\/em> without sin. [17] Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.\u201d\u00a0 What is our natural inclination as believers when we mess up?\u00a0 We start\u00a0 listening to the sin nature, we start listening to the enemy whispering in our ear things, oh, I thought you were a Christian, oh, I thought you were a believer, oh, I thought you were a teacher, how could you do that?\u00a0 O my gosh!\u00a0 Right!\u00a0 And then the shame game, right, all designed to do what?\u00a0 To isolate us from Christ.\n\nHow does the lion hunt on the plains there in Africa?\u00a0 Do they just openly run up and scare all the animals?\u00a0 Well, they do, but they don\u2019t do that until a certain point. What they do is all of the\u2026 the real hunters of course in the lion pride are the females, rights, I don\u2019t know what that says to us today, but you know, gentlemen, treat your wives well [laughter].\u00a0 But what happens, they single out, they find a weak animal, don\u2019t they, and then what they do is they send out what the Bible calls the roaring lion.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if anybody in here has ever been to Africa, I\u2019ve been to Africa and I had the pleasure of going to a facility where I got to stay up all night long and watch animals come up to a salt lick, which was fascinating.\u00a0 About 2:00 o\u2019clock in the morning I start hearing this God-awful roar, and I literally mean that, it was terrifying.\u00a0 When I heard it, it send chills up and down my spine.\u00a0 But I heard it for about an hour before I ever saw anything, and finally out from the bush walks this incredible male lion, and he walks by the salt lick and he walks off and disappears.\u00a0 And the same thing happened about 4:00 in the morning with a different lion, before I ever saw him I heard the roar. Well, how do they hunt?\u00a0 The lioness I guess, because they\u2019re the bosses, they send him out and say you go roar, right?\u00a0 You go roar and we\u2019re going to find out where the weak ones are and then they\u2019re going to run toward us and when they do we\u2019re gonna get \u2018em, right.\n\nWell, sometimes I think we as believers are listening so much to the roaring lion of the enemy\u2019s voice, you know,\u00a0 he\u2019s ministering in our ears and instead of running to Christ and understanding that we have this awesome access to Him, we think well, you know, God just can\u2019t forgive me for that, I just, you know, I\u2019ll just try to fix it on my own and so I\u2019ll go buy Oprah\u2019s latest book.\u00a0 That was a joke!\n\nWe read earlier where it said that Moses recorded the things that happened to the Israelites for\n\nour benefit and our instruction; that\u2019s the Law of course.\u00a0 We\u2019re told here in Romans 15 and\n\n1 Corinthians, Paul reiterates this here, he says, \u201cFor whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.\u201d\u00a0 [Romans 15:4]\u00a0 He goes down and the next verse says, \u201cNow these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the age have come.\u201d [1 Corinthians 10:11]\n\nAmong the benefits and things written for our instruction is that the Law points to who Christ is and what He did for us.\u00a0 We wouldn\u2019t even understand what it is that God did for us if we didn\u2019t have the Old Testament to give us these types and pictures.\u00a0 How would we understand the Passover, the need to put the blood over the doorpost?\u00a0 How would we understand about Moses getting the water from the rock?\u00a0 How would that translate to us in our understanding as Christians?\u00a0 What would we do with this issue of this unblemished lamb that has to be offered up?\u00a0 We know from 1 Corinthians 5:7 that the Bible says that Christ is our what?\u00a0 Passover.\u00a0 [1Corinthians 5:7, \u201cClean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.\u201d]\n\nIn John 1, John the Baptist said that Christ was the Lamb of God.\u00a0 He said, \u201cBehold, the Lamb of God.\u201d\u00a0 [John 1:29, \u201cThe next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, \u201cBehold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.\u201d]\u00a0 And in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 Paul said Christ is the rock who provides spiritual drink.\u00a0 [1 Corinthians 10:4, \u201cand all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.\u201d]\n\nRemember when it said Jesus stood in the last days and He said if any man will come to me I\u2019ll give Him living waters.\u00a0 Grace also looks back on the Law because we understand again that Christ is the Lamb of God, and our Passover, and He\u2019s the One that gives living water.\n\nSo let\u2019s look at the third point here, critical insights into Christ\u2019s first coming.\u00a0 Well, Christ was the steward who initiated the church through the apostles in His first coming, his three years of ministry are often misunderstood by Christians.\u00a0 And while all of my message is important this morning I believe what I\u2019m about to say is probably the most important thing for our edification and spiritual maturity.\u00a0 Christ was first sent to earth to be born what?\u00a0 A Jew.\u00a0 Where was He born?\u00a0 In the land of Israel.\u00a0 And why?\u00a0 Because He was there to appeal only to the Jews.\u00a0 And what was His appeal?\u00a0 It was that they would receive Him as their King and Messiah.\u00a0 And how did He do it?\u00a0 By preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God.\n\nIt\u2019s vitally important that we understand that\u2019s what was happening; if you study the Gospels you\u2019ll really get that picture.\u00a0\u00a0 Matthew 10:5-6, notice what this says, Jesus told His disciples, he says, \u201c\u2026.Do not go in the<\/em> way of the<\/em> Gentiles, and do not enter any<\/em> city of the Samaritans; [6] but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.\u201d\u00a0 Matthew 15, He says, Jesus speaking, [24] \u201cI was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.\u201d\n\nIn fact, all but the very last part of the earthly ministry of Christ was to the Jews in the land of Israel.\u00a0 And it was an appeal to live under the Law and to accept Him as their King.\u00a0 Of course we know what happened, don\u2019t we?\u00a0 Matthew 23:1-3 says, \u201cThen Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, [2] saying: \u201cThe scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; [3] therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things<\/em> and do not do them.<\/em>\u201d\n\nWhat did Jesus mean there?\u00a0 Well, He was not telling the Jews to follow and observe everything the Pharisees taught but rather those teachings that were faithful to the Law of Moses.\u00a0 It was only after it was abundantly clear that the Jews had rejected Christ as their King under the Law of Moses that Jesus began to introduce His disciples to the mystery of the Church.\u00a0 What happened?\u00a0 What caused the big change here in focus?\u00a0 Matthew 23, Jesus is speaking, He says, \u201cO Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,\u201d notice what it says, \u201cand you were unwilling. [38] \u201cBehold, your house is being left to you desolate! [39] \u2018For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, \u2018BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!\u2019\u201d\u00a0 And that will happen at the end of the tribulation period.\n\nHow about misunderstanding the Law and Christ\u2019s earthly ministry?\u00a0 It\u2019s my personal feeling that many believers in the church today are trying to carry out parts of the Law.\u00a0 They\u2019re seeking the Jewish earthly blessings.\u00a0 What do I mean by that?\u00a0 Well, 2 Chronicles, \u201cIf my people, which are called by My name,\u201d etc. etc. etc.\u00a0 [2 Chronicles 7:14, \u201cif my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.\u201d]\u00a0 How many times have you heard people pray that prayer for America?\u00a0 That was given in the context of Israel and is a prayer for Israel.\n\nIt doesn\u2019t mean we shouldn\u2019t pray for our leaders but what we do is we don\u2019t go to the Old Testament, we go to the epistles and we discover Paul saying things like pray for your government that we can lead a quiet and peaceable life.\u00a0 [1 Timothy 2:1-2, \u201cFirst of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men\u00a0 [2] For kings,\n\nand for<\/em> all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.\u201d]\u00a0 That\u2019s where we go, we don\u2019t go back to Israel and try to bring Israel\u2019s blessings into the church because we\u2019re separate identities.\u00a0 Have we made it clear that identities and relationships are very important in the Scriptures yet?\u00a0 Very, very important!\n\nSome people are forgiving so that they can be forgiven by God.\u00a0 Well, doesn\u2019t the Scripture say that if I don\u2019t forgive my brother God won\u2019t forgive me?\u00a0 It does say that.\u00a0 [Matthew 18:35, \u201cThus also My Heavenly Father will do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from your heart.\u201d]\u00a0 What\u2019s the context of that statement, however.\u00a0 In the church the Bible says why do we forgive others?\u00a0 Not to be forgiven, we forgive others because we have been forgiven by God, and because of the sense of gratitude and thankfulness we have in having been saved and brought into the family of God, worthless as we were, because of a heart of gratitude we reach out to others and we forgive because we\u2019ve been forgiven.\n\nAnd then there are others who are striving to imitate the earthly life of Christ.\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t that sound like a great thing? \u201c What would Jesus do?\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s been a big thing over the last few years.\u00a0 Well, if I could just imitate Jesus; if I can be just like Him.\u00a0 Well, good luck with that, right?\u00a0 We already said that most of Christ\u2019s ministry was to the Jews under the Law and it was to prove and demonstrate who He was as a part of His offer of the kingdom to them.\u00a0 So if I\u2019m imitating Him why am I doing it?\u00a0 Am I trying to be something I\u2019m not or do something I shouldn\u2019t be doing?\u00a0 There just happens to be a branch of Christianity today that, in fact, is doing this very thing, it says we just need to be like Christ, we need to imitate His earthly ministry.\u00a0 It\u2019s called dominion theology.\u00a0 And what do they say?\u00a0 They say well, it\u2019s the duty of Christians to create a worldwide kingdom patterned after the Mosaic Law.\u00a0 But that\u2019s not what God has called us to do.\n\nDo you fall into any of these categories?\u00a0 I have at times and have to confess and forsake my ways and let the Word of God transform me by the renewing of my mind.\u00a0 These theological misunder\u00adstandings cause many Christians to misinterpret grace as well, leading them to think that they must do or not do things by living under the Law in order to be blessed and have spiritual maturity or spiritual victory.\u00a0 If I don\u2019t understand the Law and God\u2019s purpose for it, and if I don\u2019t understand what Jesus came to do in presenting the gospel of the kingdom to the Jews then I will have a perverted understanding of God\u2019s grace.\u00a0 A misunderstanding of the Law leads to a misunder\u00adstanding of grace.\u00a0 Failure to understand the Law causes believers to find ways to trim it down so they can handle it.\u00a0 Have you noticed that?\n\nWell, how many laws were given?\u00a0 613.\u00a0 How many of those are you following?\u00a0 Have you noticed that people that want to live under the Law, have you noticed that they don\u2019t have\u2026 I bet you couldn\u2019t go to their house and find anything that had the 613 laws posted on the wall.\u00a0 No, what do we do?\u00a0 We say well, you know, that one is kind of hard to follow, let\u2019s see, maybe if I just keep commandment number 3, let\u2019s do away with 4 and 5 right now, I\u2019m having some struggles with those, trim it down, trim it down, trim it down.\u00a0 And once you get to the point where you trim it down so far that there is no sense of any kind of law, no sense of any kind of obedience, it\u2019s just do your own thing.\u00a0 And we\u2019re certainly seeing that today.\n\nWe say well, the Ten Commandments are great but you know that Sabbath thing bothers me so I\u2019ll just take nine of them. But wait, I really like the idea of tithing so let\u2019s bump it back up to ten.\u00a0 And you know, we can\u2019t stone people in the church today so let\u2019s just remove all discipline.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 Let\u2019s just remove discipline from the church because you know, they don\u2019t let us stone people.\n\nThis is a quote from one of my favorite commentators, D. Edmond Hiebert, \u00a0and he says: \u201cOur obedience to God\u2019s will cannot be on a selective basis.\u00a0 We cannot choose that part that is to our liking and disregard the rest.\u201d\u00a0 So if we\u2019re going to live under the Law we have to keep the whole thing.\u201d\u00a0 Galatians 5:3,\u00a0 Paul says that those who place themselves under the Law are obligated to obey the whole Law.\u00a0 [Galatians 5:3, \u201cAnd I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law.\u201d]\n\nWe can\u2019t pick and choose and say oh, I don\u2019t like that one, let\u2019s just forget it.\u00a0 We have to put our self under the whole Law.\u00a0 Well, what\u2019s wrong with that?\u00a0 Well, there\u2019s a good illustrative picture, right.\u00a0 Romans 3:19-20 says, \u201cNow we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; [20] because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes<\/em> the knowledge of sin.\u201d\n\nActs 15 you remember the big discussion, what was going on there?\u00a0 They had the big Jerusalem Council because you had all these Gentiles coming into the church and the Law-keeping Jews, the Judaizers, just couldn\u2019t stand the thought of all these believers being added from the Gentile world, we just have to put some type of restrictions on them.\u00a0 And notice what it says:\u00a0 Peter stood up and he says, \u201cNow therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? [Acts 15:10]\u00a0 Peter says you know what, when you try to go back under the Law you put a yoke on yourself\u2026 not an egg\u00a0 yolk, right?\n\nGalatians 5:1, what do we know about Galatians? \u00a0Well, those Judaizers, what have they done?\u00a0 They just started following Paul around, didn\u2019t they, and Paul had come in and God had used him to do this mighty work in Galatia and here come the Judaizers and they said oh well, you know, what Paul said is good, it\u2019s good but you know, it\u2019s really not enough; you\u2019ve got to keep the Law of Moses.\u00a0 Here in chapter 5, verse 1, Paul says \u201cIt was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm,\u201d stand firm in what?\u00a0 Stand firm in your freedom, \u201cand do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.\u201d\u00a0 So you\u2019ve got a burden on you; you\u2019ve got a yoke of burden and you\u2019ve also got a yoke of slavery if you\u2019re trying to live under the Law.\n\nLiving under grace is not what we do, it\u2019s not what we do or don\u2019t do, rather it is our reliance upon what Christ has already done that determines our blessings and spiritual victory.\u00a0 We don\u2019t do or not do things in order to be blessed but because we already are blessed.\u00a0 We should have a banner that says that.\n\nEphesians 1:3 says, \u201cBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.\u201d\u00a0 Look what 2 Peter says, \u201cSeeing that God\u2019s divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. [4] For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.\u201d\u00a0 [ 2 Peter 1:3-4]\n\nDoesn\u2019t that sound a lot better than law; promises sound a lot better than commandments to me.\n\nWhat\u2019s a proper response?\u00a0 Let me back up, I wanted to make one more comment about that.\u00a0 This is from Zane Hodges, he says: \u201cOne of the greatest lessons of 2 Peter is that to maintain a holy life in a world like ours we must be deeply rooted in the prophetic promises of God\u2019s Word.\u00a0 Above all we must hold fast to that blessed hope of the coming again of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.\u201d\u00a0 And all I can say to that is Amen.\n\nWhat is a proper response?\u00a0 What should, how should we respond to the grace gift that we\u2019ve been given?\u00a0\u00a0 I bet you know the answer.\u00a0 Dr. Constable said this: \u201cThe Old Covenant\u201d which was law, \u201cwas very specific concerning human responsibilities. It was essentially an objective, external standard that God revealed for His people Israel\u201d notice this, \u201cwithout any special enabling grace.\u201d\u00a0 Now just stop there for a second.\u00a0 If you\u2019re going to try to live under the Law guess what?\u00a0 You\u2019re not going to have any special enabling grace.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go on.\u00a0 \u201cHowever the New Covenant\u201d which is \u201c(GRACE) rests on promises that include the indwelling and empowering presence of God\u2019s Holy Spirit\u201d why?\u00a0 Why is that important?\u00a0 Because it\u2019s the Holy Spirit \u201cwho enables the believer to obey.\u201d\u00a0 So what\u2019s your choice?\u00a0 You can choose to live under Law without any enabling ability or you can choose to live under grace where the Holy Spirit gives\u00a0 you the ability and the power to live an obedient life.\u00a0 I think I\u2019ll choose the latter.\n\nWhat\u2019s a proper response to the grace gift?\u00a0 Well, we say grace is a gift in the fullest sense, is it not?\u00a0 It\u2019s not like some of those gifts that you\u2019ve gotten in the past.\u00a0 Have\u00a0 you ever had a family member say hey, I want to give you whatever it is, and they give it to you and they don\u2019t like the way you\u2019re using the gift?\u00a0 Have you ever had that happen?\u00a0 Just don\u2019t acknowledge that, I don\u2019t want anybody to know.\u00a0\u00a0 You know, I thought it was a gift, I thought it didn\u2019t have any strings attached to it.\u00a0 Well, you know when I gave you that car I thought you were going to use it for this or that, and you\u2019re just wasting it.\u00a0 Well, I thought it was a gift.\u00a0 I\u2019m so glad that God\u2019s gift isn\u2019t like that; it\u2019s a gift in the fullest sense.\u00a0 There\u2019s no [can't understand word]\u00a0 no Indian Giver, there\u2019s no paying God back for the gift.\u00a0 It\u2019s given freely out of His love, isn\u2019t it.\n\nSo what does God expect, as you see there on the screen, He expects thankfulness.\u00a0 Are\u00a0 you thankful?\u00a0 Can I just tell you that one of the things that troubles me the most about my life as a believer is I\u2019m so terribly ungrateful.\u00a0 I am just\u2026 I can get so negative sometimes and I can just focus on all the bad things, and I\u2019m just completely forgetting what God did for me when He saved me.\u00a0 You know?\u00a0 And that\u2019s why it\u2019s so important to have brothers and sisters in Christ that you can fellowship with because about the time you start getting too negative, if they love you, they come and say you know brother Jim, you\u2019re getting a little negative there, I think we need to have a sit down and talk to Jesus meeting.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 And they\u2019re right.\n\nAre you grateful?\u00a0 Are you thankful?\u00a0 Is that something foremost in your heart and mind?\u00a0 And believe me, I\u2019m asking myself that question, you know; I struggle with that.\u00a0 Sometimes I\u2019m kind of hard on myself because I forget who I am in Christ; I\u2019m thinking about who I was in Adam.\u00a0 And there\u2019s a huge difference, isn\u2019t there?\u00a0 Paul had something to say about being thankful.\u00a0 In Colossians he says, \u201cLet the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.\u201d\u00a0 Oh-oh, that\u2019s a command form.\u00a0 That\u2019s a command form!\u00a0 What does that tell me?\u00a0 That tells me it\u2019s my choice, I can choose, I have to choose to be thankful.\u00a0 The Holy Spirit isn\u2019t just going to come on me and say \u201cbe thankful.\u201d\u00a0 You know.\u00a0 Wouldn\u2019t that be great if he did.\u00a0 He probably wouldn\u2019t, that\u2019s why He doesn\u2019t do it.\u00a0 So be thankful.\n\n\u201cLet the word of Christ richly dwell within you,\u201d perhaps if the Word of Christ was richly dwelling with me as it should I would be thankful.\u00a0 Don\u2019t get me started now, I heard somebody say come on back there, I\u2019m liable to get going and time\u2019s a runnin\u2019 out so I can\u2019t afford to do that.\u00a0 \u201c\u201dLet the Word of Christ richly dwell within you with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another\u201d how do we do that, Bob, if we don\u2019t associate together, I believe you said something about that in Sunday School again today, didn\u2019t you?\u00a0 Yeah, we can, so we\u2019re to encourage one another.\u00a0 How do we do that?\u00a0 Well, you know, I have to go to church again, and doggone it, I just know that crazy guy is going to get on those drums [laughter] and man, I wish somebody would turn Sister So and So\u2019s mic down, whoooo.\u00a0 And that brother Jim, when he preaches he just drones on.\u00a0 [Laughter]\u00a0 That\u2019s not a heart of thankfulness, is it.\u00a0 He says, \u201cWhatever you do in word or deed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,\u201d how are you to do that?\u00a0 \u201cgiving thanks through Him to God the Father.\n\n[Colossians 3:15-17]\n\nThankfulness!\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if you noticed on the screen, the very first slide I had, this is basically the same slide and it points out that what it says here in John, John chapter 1, that the Law was given through Moses \u2026 but grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.\u201d\u00a0 [John 1:17]\u00a0 What a distinction we have there.\u00a0 Let me throw this out at you here; it\u2019s my firm belief that if we don\u2019t understand how over\u00adwhelmingly earth shakingly awesome the Law is we won\u2019t understand how overwhelmingly heavenly shaking grace is.\u00a0 Maybe we need to do a study on that.\n\nWhat should you take away from this this morning?\u00a0 For the believer misunderstanding the clear distinctions between Law and grace causes us as believers to incorrectly seek Israel\u2019s earthly blessings.\u00a0 It causes us to come under bondage.\u00a0 It causes us to be burdened with striving to imitate the earthly life of Christ to the nation of Israel.\u00a0 We have to be reminded that Galatians 5:1 says, \u201cIt was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.\u201d\u00a0 <\/em>[Galatians 5:1]\n\nWhat about the unbeliever?\u00a0 Maybe you\u2019re here this morning and you\u2019re thinking golly, this is interesting, I\u2019ve never heard anything quite like this, you\u2019ve got a weird church, or a weird speaker.\u00a0 Well, what should you come away with from this.\u00a0 The admonition that we would have for you today is that today is the day of salvation; TODAY!\u00a0 None of us has any guarantee that when we walk out this door, out in the parking lot to get in our cars, drive out of the parking lot, none of us has any guarantee that we\u2019ll make it home.\u00a0 That\u2019s the reality of things.\u00a0 So the Holy Spirit has promised He would do something this morning.\u00a0 And you know, He uses the Word of God.\u00a0 He promised that He would convict\u2026 He would convict!\u00a0 So if you\u2019re sitting here this morning and you\u2019re under conviction don\u2019t get mad at the messenger, right?\u00a0 Attribute that to the Lord trying to speak to your heart.\n\nWhat\u2019s the message that you need to understand is that you can place your faith in Christ, in His promises, and you can do that right now. Perhaps the greatest question ever asked in the Bible is the one you see on the screen there.\u00a0 What must I do to be saved?\u00a0 What must I do to be saved!\u00a0 I\u2019ve tried all these other things, maybe it was drugs, maybe it was alcohol, maybe it was sex, maybe it was this, maybe it was that, I\u2019ve tried all these things and nothing has worked.\u00a0 Well, it\u2019s because they can\u2019t work.\u00a0 The only thing that you can do is come to the Lord Jesus Christ as it says there, \u201cbelieve on the Lord Jesus Christ and\u00a0 you will be saved.\u201d\n\nLet me just tell you that there are no magical incantations, no secret handshakes, no promise on your part to do good deeds, no commitment to church membership, no emotional pressure induced assurances, no hand raising, no aisle walking are required.\u00a0 There is only one condition for salvation and that\u2019s faith.\u00a0 What is faith?\u00a0 Well, it\u2019s trust or confidence or reliance upon Christ\u2019s promise to give new life to all those who come to Him for salvation.\n\nSo a simple question is this:\u00a0 Where are\u00a0 you this morning?\u00a0 If this is something you\u2019ve done\u00a0 during the service or perhaps the Holy Spirit is speaking to you this very moment and I would ask for the believers if you would just begin praying right now in case we do have someone here who doesn\u2019t know Christ, but if you\u2019re here and you don\u2019t know Jesus but God is moving on your heart, I can tell you that if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ you will be saved.\u00a0 And the wonderful thing about that is that I have the authority to declare to you that when you make that decision you become a child of God.\u00a0 That\u2019s really good news because as a child of God you have access to all of God\u2019s divine resources and riches of grace, some of which we\u2019ve talked about this morning.\n\nNow here\u2019s the thing; it\u2019s not enough just to get saved.\u00a0 That\u2019s the first step, that\u2019s the most important step but that\u2019s enough, that\u2019s not all God has for you.\u00a0 God wants you, because He loves you He wants you to grow and mature spiritually.\u00a0 And while there are any number of places, churches that you could attend to do that, could I just tell you, I\u2019m a little bit biased, but I really believe that Sugar Land Bible Church would just be an awesome place for you to grow and mature.\u00a0 And we\u2019re here for you for that very purpose.\u00a0 So maybe you\u2019ll think about that.\n\n \n\nIf you feel like\u00a0 you need more information then that\u2019s fine also, there are elders and deacons here and the pastoral staff, and believe it or not, there\u2019s probably a church member sitting next to you that could also talk to you about whatever might be on your heart and mind.\u00a0 So I encourage you to take advantage of that.\u00a0 Let\u2019s pray.\n\n \n\nHeavenly Father, thank You so much for today; thank You for Your word, thank You for helping me speak given the restrictions that I\u2019m dealing with right now.\u00a0 I pray, Father God, that the Holy Spirit\u2019s ministry would go forth in power.\u00a0 Thank You for the convicting work of the Holy Spirit and I pray, Father, that we would all be sensitive to heed the voice of the Spirit as He draws us to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation or restoration of fellowship or spiritual growth.\u00a0 And all of God\u2019s people said\u2026 Amen.\n\n \n\n ","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t