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Hello and welcome to the
Middletown Baptist Church Podcast,

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where we are proclaiming the
truth to the world.

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My name is Pastor Josh, and I
want to thank you for listening to

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this podcast.

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I hope that this podcast can
be a blessing to you and strengthen

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you in the word of God.

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Now, come along.

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Let's look into the Bible and
see what God has for us here Today

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we're going to be in the Book
of Romans.

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I know it's been a few weeks
since we've been here, but we're

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going to continue our series
in Romans.

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And this week we're going to
be in Romans chapter seven.

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We're going to start in verse
number one.

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Romans, chapter seven, verse one.

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The title of the sermon this
morning is the Limitation of the

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Law.

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We're going to speak about
how, even though so important, God's

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law that he extended in the
Old Testament had limitations, even

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though it was important, even
though it's vital for us to understand

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the law, there is limitations
to the law.

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And what we've been looking at
through Romans chapter one through

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six, is this the.

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The essential aspect of God's
grace, let's put it that way, the

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essential aspect of our life.

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In the desperate need of God's grace.

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All of us are in desperate
need of God's grace.

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Why?

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Because we cannot perfectly
keep the law.

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None of us can keep the law.

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Even though the law tells us
what God's standard is, even though

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the law tells us what we
should strive for, we can never keep

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the law completely.

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Romans has told us that.

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Romans has told us that for
all have sinned and come short of

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the glory of God.

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The Bible says that for the
wages of sin is death, but the gift

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of God is eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord.

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And so chapters one through
six has, I think, at some degree,

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hopefully to.

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To a serious degree, have
taught us that we all need God's

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grace.

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We.

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We all need God's forgiveness.

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Because none of us, with our
religious strength, with our power

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of our own life, can reach the
pinnacle of what God has called us

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to live.

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None of us can be perfect.

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There's only one that's been perfect.

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The Bible says the one who
knew no sin became sin for us.

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That's 2 Corinthians, chapter 5.

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And so what he's been talking
about in the first six chapters is

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what Jesus Christ has done for
us and the need for salvation.

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And I want to talk about two
words here this morning that again,

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I think I need to define so
that we can understand the context.

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There's a word in relation to
justification called sanctification.

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And there's two words, justification.

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Sanctification.

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Justification is the
declaration of righteousness that

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God gives us when we trust in
him in faith.

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That that's the word that
describes what God does when he saves

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us.

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He justifies us.

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He declares us righteous even
if we are not righteous.

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He looks at the righteousness
of His Son and our identity in His

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Son and says, you know what?

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You are saved.

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That's a positional thing.

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That's a from darkness to
light, that's from death to life.

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But that's not the end of our
salvation story.

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That's just the beginning.

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So our salvation story
continues on.

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And there's this word called sanctification.

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Now, positionally, we are
sanctified at the moment of our justification.

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We are saved.

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And God has taken us from
darkness to light, from death to

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life, and so we are sanctified.

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Now, that word sanctified
means to be set aside or to be separated

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from something.

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So when we are saved, we are
separated from a life of sin and

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death and punishment.

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But that's not the end,
because the Bible says that now that

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we are justified, we are on
the sanctification process.

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Not that we are getting more
and more saved, but we are growing

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more and more like the one who
saved us.

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And so we could phrase it this way.

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Sanctification is growing in
the Lord.

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It's spiritual maturity.

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And so we are saved not by the law.

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We are saved by God's grace
and by his power.

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But many people are tempted to
think, yes, I'm saved by God's grace,

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but I grow by following the
law, by doing good, by becoming a

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better person, by trying
harder, by.

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By just trying to get myself
to a place where I can follow the

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checklist of religion.

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But no, I'm going to tell you
here this morning.

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The Bible tells us that we are
saved by his grace, we are sustained

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by his grace, we are matured
through his grace, we grow through

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his grace.

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And so it's not a matter of
trying harder.

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It's not a matter of doing more.

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It's not a matter of reaching
this pinnacle in our life where we

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say, you know what?

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I think I'm a pretty good person.

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No, it's realizing every day
that we are saved by his grace, and

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we are sustained by his grace,
and we are sanctified in his grace.

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And so in chapter seven, he's
going to speak to the limitation

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of the law.

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He says, know ye not, brethren?

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So he's speaking to believers here.

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Know ye not brethren, for I
speak to them that know the law.

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So he is assuming here that
the reader understands the law.

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He's talked about the law.

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What's the law?

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What is he talking about here?

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He's not talking about the law
of the land here in America.

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He's talking about God's law,
the Mosaic law that was given back

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in the Old Testament.

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Many of you know that the
folks that were living at the time

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of the Old Testament lived
what we would call under the Old

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Covenant, the law.

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There's 613 of them we know
really well, but 10, and I think

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of all of us were able to go
back in time and even today realize

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that none of us, no matter
when we lived in old times or new

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times, none of us can keep the law.

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I'm going to give you a little
bit of understanding here that even

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the people back in the Old
Testament didn't live under the law

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perfectly.

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No one could live under the
law perfectly.

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A lot of people think that
people were saved back then through

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keeping the law.

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The Bible says no.

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Hebrews chapter 11 says every
individual that has salvation has

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never found it through works.

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It's always been found through faith.

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Read the whole book of Hebrews
and specifically go to Hebrews chapter

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11 and you can see that
Abraham was saved by his faith.

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All of these folks that were
what we would consider to be under

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the law were still saved
through faith.

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Their faith was looking to a savior.

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Our faith is looking back to
what Jesus Christ has done for us.

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And so here he says this is
the law that he's talking about.

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I'm speaking to those who know
the law.

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I. I'm speaking to those who
are religious people.

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I'm speaking to those who are
understanding that, hey, you know

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what?

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I think I can do this, but
really, at the end of the day, I

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can't.

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Why?

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He says that how?

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That the law hath dominion
over a man as long as he liveth.

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Meaning this.

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The law can only be effective
in our life when we are alive, right?

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When we die, the law is over.

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When.

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When we die, it's.

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It's specifically ending that
dominion or power over us when it

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comes to the law.

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When we die, we've got to pay
for what we have done.

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When we die, we have to be
standing before God and saying, this

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is what I have done.

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And all of us, if we stood
before God, would realize that we

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all have fallen short of the
glory of God.

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All of us have limitations.

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All of us have fallen short of
his standard of perfection.

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So he's making a point here
and he's going to make this point

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in a very clear way by giving
an analogy, but by giving an example.

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And he's going to speak to the
example of a married couple.

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Now this, this passage of
scripture is not an exhaustive passage

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of scripture dealing with marriage.

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There's a lot more to deal
with when it comes to the idea of

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marriage and what that means.

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But he's using marriage as an
example here and he's talking about

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how marriage.

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In scripture God teaches that
marriage is for life, that that someone

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is bound to their spouse by
the law.

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They are bound to their spice, their.

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Their spice, their, their
spouse by, through, throughout their

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whole life.

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And so in verse 2 he says for
the woman, for the woman which hath

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a husband is bound by the law
to her husband so long as he liveth.

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So what he's explaining is
something that they would have understood,

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that a wife is bound to her
husband as long as he lives.

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But when he passes away, we
understand till death do you part.

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She's no longer bound by law
to be married to her husband because

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of this death says, but if the
husband be dead, she is loosed from

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the law of her husband.

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So then if while her husband
liveth, she be married to another

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man, she shall be called an adulteress.

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This is specifically speaking
about the context of hey, if she's

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married to this man, she's
married to this man, she can't go

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marry another person, she's
bound by law to that man for life.

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And in this case he says, hey,
you would know, you would understand

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that if there was a husband
and a wife, and the wife just said,

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you know what, I'm going to go
marry this person over here.

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She's breaking the bounds of marriage.

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He's breaking the law of marriage.

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Because in that culture and
even in today's culture, you're married

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to one person.

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And that's what he's saying here.

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This is not an exhaustive
topic about marriage.

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He's just explaining this idea
that if you are married to someone,

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you are bound to them by law
for life.

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But then when death happens
there, there's, there's the loosing

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of the law.

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It says, but if her husband be
dead, she is free from the law, so

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that she is no adulteress,
though she be married to another

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man.

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So he's making an analogy here
to the law and the law's relationship

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with the believer to someone
who is married to an individual,

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that we are bound by that law
in this life.

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But Then he says in verse 4,
Wherefore, my brethren, ye are also

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become dead to the law by the
body of Christ.

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Meaning this.

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He says, when we identify
ourselves with Christ in salvation,

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we saw this in Romans, chapter six.

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We are buried with him in baptism.

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We are.

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We are dead in him, and then
we are raised to walk in newness

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of life.

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So he says, when you identify
yourself with Christ, you are dead

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to the law because you are
dead in him, and you are alive in

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the newness of life.

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You are alive in his identity.

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And so, ultimately, what he's
saying here is this.

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The law was only good for us
before we came to know Christ.

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The Law was there to show us
that we are wrong.

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The Law is there to show us
what we need to change.

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The law is a mirror that shows
us all of our flaws.

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But the moment that we
identify with Christ, we are dead

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to the law, and now we are
married to Christ.

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You could put it this way.

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Before we came to know Christ
as Savior, we were married to the

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law.

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That's all we could live by.

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We live by the law and we die
by the law.

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But the Bible says that when
we become Christians, we are now

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dead to the law.

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Now we are free to be married
to Christ.

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We know that the picture of
the salvation experience is this

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eye picture of Jesus being the
groom and the Church being the bride.

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And he says, now you are
married to someone else.

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Now you are united with
somebody else, and that is Jesus

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Christ and what he brings us
in faith.

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00:10:37,050 --> 00:10:39,730
And he says, wherefore, my
brethren, you're also become dead

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00:10:39,730 --> 00:10:43,130
to the law by the body of
Christ, that ye should be married

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00:10:43,130 --> 00:10:47,210
to another, even to him who
was raised from the dead, that we

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00:10:47,210 --> 00:10:48,930
should bring forth fruit unto God.

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00:10:48,930 --> 00:10:51,370
Meaning, if you want to be a
fruitful Christian, if you want to

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00:10:51,370 --> 00:10:54,750
know what it means to walk in
spiritual growth, we cannot walk

250
00:10:54,750 --> 00:10:56,590
by trying to follow a list of rules.

251
00:10:56,750 --> 00:11:00,230
We walk by walking in
fellowship with our Savior, the One

252
00:11:00,230 --> 00:11:02,910
we are now married to, the one
we are united with.

253
00:11:03,310 --> 00:11:04,270
And so you might.

254
00:11:04,270 --> 00:11:07,390
You might say, I'm not tempted
to fall into the trap of the Mosaic

255
00:11:07,390 --> 00:11:07,710
Law.

256
00:11:07,790 --> 00:11:09,310
I. I don't even care about that.

257
00:11:09,310 --> 00:11:11,030
I. I like to eat pork, okay?

258
00:11:11,030 --> 00:11:11,830
It's no problem with me.

259
00:11:11,830 --> 00:11:12,190
Okay?

260
00:11:12,190 --> 00:11:13,990
I. I like to do all these
things, and.

261
00:11:13,990 --> 00:11:15,430
And so it doesn't really
matter for me.

262
00:11:15,430 --> 00:11:17,710
I'm not tempted to fall back
into the Mosaic Law.

263
00:11:17,870 --> 00:11:20,670
Well, what we can see in our
life is that maybe we're not tempted

264
00:11:20,670 --> 00:11:23,430
to follow that law, but maybe
we're tempted to follow the law that

265
00:11:23,430 --> 00:11:26,240
we have created either within
our church or within our own life

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00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:29,640
to say that, you know what I'm
growing through what I do, I'm growing

267
00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:31,480
through how different I can be.

268
00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:33,400
And it's very Pharisitical to
say this.

269
00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:35,000
I'm going to add to Scripture.

270
00:11:35,560 --> 00:11:37,120
And, and that's really what
the Pharisees did.

271
00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:38,840
The Pharisees added to Scripture.

272
00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:42,280
And so what we're seeing here
is that the real hope that we have

273
00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:43,800
is not in our goodness.

274
00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:46,240
The hope that we have is in
our relationship with Christ.

275
00:11:46,240 --> 00:11:49,120
And so, so many people think,
well, I'm going to grow if I just

276
00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:49,560
do this.

277
00:11:50,130 --> 00:11:52,650
I'm going to grow if I go to
church, I'm going to grow if I read

278
00:11:52,650 --> 00:11:54,450
my Bible, I'm going to grow if
I serve.

279
00:11:54,530 --> 00:11:56,130
And those are all wonderful things.

280
00:11:56,130 --> 00:11:59,490
And in done in the right
fashion, in the right Spirit will

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00:11:59,490 --> 00:12:00,290
bring fruit.

282
00:12:00,290 --> 00:12:03,370
But we all know, I think that
if we can go to church, we can come

283
00:12:03,370 --> 00:12:06,289
to church in the Spirit or we
can come to church in the flesh.

284
00:12:06,530 --> 00:12:08,370
We can come to church for the
wrong reasons.

285
00:12:08,690 --> 00:12:11,210
Now, I'd rather you come to
church for the wrong reasons and

286
00:12:11,210 --> 00:12:12,250
not come to church at all.

287
00:12:12,250 --> 00:12:14,410
But what I'm going to say here
this morning is that we all know

288
00:12:14,410 --> 00:12:17,120
that we can waste our time
when it comes to coming to church,

289
00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:18,560
when it comes to reading our Bible.

290
00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:21,440
If you're not reading your
Bible for the simple purpose of knowing

291
00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:24,840
God more and growing in faith
with him and growing in your love

292
00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:27,240
for him, if you're just
reading your Bible to check a box,

293
00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:28,800
folks, that's empty, that's hopeless.

294
00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:31,480
Because anything that we do in
the flesh will eventually come back

295
00:12:31,480 --> 00:12:34,200
to the law and will eventually
come back to our failure.

296
00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:36,600
And eventually we'll come back
to the place in our life where we

297
00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:38,880
will have hopelessness and
emptiness and no fruit.

298
00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:41,000
So if we want to be fruitful
Christians, what do we do?

299
00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:42,320
Well, we don't just work harder.

300
00:12:42,320 --> 00:12:45,340
We, to be a fruitful Christian
means to walk with Christ and allow

301
00:12:45,420 --> 00:12:47,380
him to be the driving force in
our life.

302
00:12:47,380 --> 00:12:48,620
Read John chapter 15.

303
00:12:49,260 --> 00:12:50,620
Reference John, chapter 15.

304
00:12:50,620 --> 00:12:53,580
The Bible says that he is the
vine, we are the branches.

305
00:12:53,980 --> 00:12:55,180
It's not the other way around.

306
00:12:55,580 --> 00:12:57,260
Sometimes we think that we are
the vine.

307
00:12:57,260 --> 00:13:00,180
Sometimes we think that we are
the driving force in our spiritual

308
00:13:00,180 --> 00:13:00,460
growth.

309
00:13:00,540 --> 00:13:00,940
Folks.

310
00:13:00,940 --> 00:13:05,180
No, spiritual growth comes
through obedience and dying to ourselves

311
00:13:05,260 --> 00:13:08,100
and becoming more like Christ
and allowing the Spirit to guide

312
00:13:08,100 --> 00:13:08,460
our lives.

313
00:13:09,400 --> 00:13:12,520
And so what happens is, is
that people try to just stop doing

314
00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:12,920
bad.

315
00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:14,640
The Bible says that's never
what it means.

316
00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:18,160
To be a Christian, that never
is what it means to live a life that's

317
00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:19,000
growing in Christ.

318
00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:22,480
Yes, it means stopping the bad
things, but it also means infusing

319
00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:25,040
our life with the good,
infusing our life with the Spirit.

320
00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:26,000
And that's what he says here.

321
00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:27,560
He says, you are married to another.

322
00:13:27,560 --> 00:13:30,240
You're walking in fellowship
with the one who was raised from

323
00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:30,560
the dead.

324
00:13:30,560 --> 00:13:32,760
And you are raised from the
dead in your salvation.

325
00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:33,880
Verse 5.

326
00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:37,740
For when we were in the flesh,
for when we were working in our own

327
00:13:37,740 --> 00:13:41,340
good, when we were trying to
be our own Savior, when we were trying

328
00:13:41,340 --> 00:13:45,420
to be our own religion, says
the mode.

329
00:13:45,420 --> 00:13:47,100
I like the way that this says
it here.

330
00:13:47,100 --> 00:13:51,700
The motions of sins which were
by the law did work in our members

331
00:13:51,700 --> 00:13:53,620
to bring forth fruit unto death.

332
00:13:54,580 --> 00:13:55,460
So he says this.

333
00:13:56,020 --> 00:13:59,260
We're going to have fruit no
matter what we do in our life, but

334
00:13:59,260 --> 00:14:01,300
it's either going to be good
fruit or bad fruit.

335
00:14:02,510 --> 00:14:06,270
When we live in the flesh,
what comes, it says, the motions

336
00:14:06,350 --> 00:14:11,790
of sin, the actions of sin,
the pattern of sin.

337
00:14:11,790 --> 00:14:15,030
When we live in the flesh,
inevitably we will come into the

338
00:14:15,030 --> 00:14:15,470
motions.

339
00:14:15,630 --> 00:14:19,390
And the pattern of sin which
were by the law did.

340
00:14:19,390 --> 00:14:20,590
And what, what did that bring?

341
00:14:20,590 --> 00:14:24,270
It worked in our members to
bring forth fruit unto death.

342
00:14:25,950 --> 00:14:29,950
Work in our flesh always
brings empty fruit.

343
00:14:31,150 --> 00:14:32,190
It might be fruit.

344
00:14:32,190 --> 00:14:33,910
It might look like something good.

345
00:14:33,910 --> 00:14:34,990
It might have a result.

346
00:14:35,150 --> 00:14:36,830
But that result is not what we want.

347
00:14:37,550 --> 00:14:39,550
We don't want to have success
in ourselves.

348
00:14:40,910 --> 00:14:45,510
We don't want to have people
praising us for how we have grown

349
00:14:45,510 --> 00:14:48,670
in the Word, how we have grown
in our walk with Christ.

350
00:14:48,830 --> 00:14:51,230
No, it's all about exalting him.

351
00:14:51,470 --> 00:14:53,790
He is the source, he is the change.

352
00:14:54,870 --> 00:14:57,350
None of us want to stand
before the law in our sin.

353
00:14:58,630 --> 00:15:01,630
None of us want to stand
before the righteous judge and say,

354
00:15:01,630 --> 00:15:03,750
hey, look, this is what I have
done in my flesh.

355
00:15:03,750 --> 00:15:05,510
Because the Bible says, what
is that going to bring?

356
00:15:05,510 --> 00:15:06,630
That's going to bring judgment.

357
00:15:07,030 --> 00:15:08,390
That's going to bring hopelessness.

358
00:15:09,030 --> 00:15:09,830
So, so what he.

359
00:15:09,830 --> 00:15:10,950
What he says here is this.

360
00:15:11,030 --> 00:15:13,990
We don't want to be the sinner
who's standing before the law.

361
00:15:14,070 --> 00:15:15,750
What do we want to stand
before the law.

362
00:15:15,750 --> 00:15:17,030
We want the substitute.

363
00:15:17,910 --> 00:15:20,070
We want the Savior standing
before the law.

364
00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:23,520
Because the only one who can
respond perfectly to the law is Jesus

365
00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:23,800
Christ.

366
00:15:24,920 --> 00:15:28,720
And so we want the Lord to be
seen through our lives.

367
00:15:28,720 --> 00:15:30,240
We want to give him the credit.

368
00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:32,760
We want to give him the direction.

369
00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:35,440
We want to give him the wheel,
so to speak.

370
00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:37,920
And so what we see here in
this case is he says, you're going

371
00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:39,400
to have fruit, no matter what
you do in your life.

372
00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:41,800
But the fruit that comes
through a relationship with Christ

373
00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:43,400
is the fruit that was going to last.

374
00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:48,560
Matthew 5:16 says, Let your
light so shine before men that they

375
00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:51,800
may see your good works and
glorify your Father, which is in

376
00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:52,200
heaven.

377
00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:55,360
We don't do things for God.

378
00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:59,920
We don't follow his word so
that people will praise us, because

379
00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:01,040
that's empty, that's.

380
00:16:01,040 --> 00:16:01,640
That's hopeless.

381
00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:05,400
And he goes on to say this,
verse six, but now we are delivered

382
00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:06,120
from the law.

383
00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:11,160
We are no longer under the law
anymore that being dead, wherein

384
00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:16,680
we are held that we should
serve in newness of spirit and not

385
00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:18,440
in the oldness of the letter.

386
00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:22,360
So essentially what he's
saying here is that we serve and

387
00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:26,920
we grow and we love and we
forgive for a different purpose.

388
00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:28,360
It's not the purpose of the law.

389
00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:29,960
It's not about keeping a list.

390
00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:30,640
It's not.

391
00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:32,360
It's not about having people
notice us.

392
00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:37,360
We serve in newness of spirit
and not in the oldness of the letter.

393
00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:40,040
It's not the law that
motivates us anymore.

394
00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:43,400
It's not fear that motivates
us anymore.

395
00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:46,600
It's not judgment that
motivates us anymore.

396
00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:50,640
The Bible says that the
motivation is not the motivation

397
00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:52,840
of the flesh, it's the
motivation of the Spirit.

398
00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:53,280
Which.

399
00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:53,600
Why?

400
00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:53,880
Why?

401
00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:54,480
What does that mean?

402
00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:55,160
That means this.

403
00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:58,200
Why we serve is because the
Spirit has changed me.

404
00:16:58,920 --> 00:17:00,280
God has changed me.

405
00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:04,960
God loves me, and I serve out
of love and devotion to him and not

406
00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:09,000
out of fear of judgment from
man or for others that might be causing

407
00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:10,810
me to have some type of peer
pressure to.

408
00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:12,400
To follow some type of list.

409
00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:14,160
And so the problem with the
law is this.

410
00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:16,080
We are under the flesh, under
the law.

411
00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:18,560
We can't bear fruit to God.

412
00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:20,960
It's impossible to bear fruit
to God in our flesh.

413
00:17:21,360 --> 00:17:24,400
Instead, we bear fruit to, as
the Bible says here, death.

414
00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:27,640
Because the law, as it.

415
00:17:27,640 --> 00:17:31,280
As it's going to say here in
verse five, it essentially arouses

416
00:17:31,360 --> 00:17:33,520
our passions to sin.

417
00:17:34,560 --> 00:17:36,120
That that's what it's saying
there in verse five.

418
00:17:36,120 --> 00:17:40,290
It says, for when we are in
the flesh, the motions of sin is.

419
00:17:40,290 --> 00:17:41,610
The arousal to.

420
00:17:41,770 --> 00:17:43,690
Is the law arouses sin.

421
00:17:43,690 --> 00:17:44,650
So what does that mean?

422
00:17:45,610 --> 00:17:46,330
It means this.

423
00:17:46,330 --> 00:17:50,170
Okay, so some of you, some of
you understand that when someone

424
00:17:50,170 --> 00:17:54,650
tells you not to do something
in our flesh, it makes us want to

425
00:17:54,650 --> 00:17:55,209
do it more.

426
00:17:56,090 --> 00:17:58,010
Some of you might say, well,
that's not me.

427
00:17:58,090 --> 00:18:01,490
Well, in some cases in our
life, what happens is that we focus

428
00:18:01,490 --> 00:18:04,610
so much on the thing that we
don't want to do or that we can't

429
00:18:04,610 --> 00:18:07,710
do, so that we're so focused
on that it's all we can think about.

430
00:18:07,950 --> 00:18:09,310
It's all we're focused on.

431
00:18:09,310 --> 00:18:10,870
And when we're focused on
that, you know what?

432
00:18:10,870 --> 00:18:13,030
We're not focused on doing the
things that God has called us to

433
00:18:13,030 --> 00:18:13,270
do.

434
00:18:13,270 --> 00:18:15,550
We're focused on just not
doing this, not doing this.

435
00:18:15,550 --> 00:18:16,430
I can't do this.

436
00:18:16,430 --> 00:18:17,150
This is bad.

437
00:18:17,150 --> 00:18:20,190
And he says, when we live in
the flesh, when we live by the law,

438
00:18:20,270 --> 00:18:23,230
we are inevitably always going
to be turning back to that.

439
00:18:23,310 --> 00:18:25,790
That sin if that's all we're
focused on.

440
00:18:27,150 --> 00:18:30,750
It's like, you know, we're
showing a child how to ride a bike,

441
00:18:30,890 --> 00:18:31,090
right?

442
00:18:31,090 --> 00:18:32,330
We say, okay, get on the bike.

443
00:18:32,810 --> 00:18:35,330
And what we're going to do is
we want you just to ride down this

444
00:18:35,330 --> 00:18:36,970
road, but don't hit that tree.

445
00:18:37,450 --> 00:18:38,570
Whatever you do, don't.

446
00:18:38,570 --> 00:18:40,170
Do not go towards that tree.

447
00:18:40,410 --> 00:18:41,770
Do, do, do not hit that tree.

448
00:18:41,770 --> 00:18:43,570
If you hit that tree, you're
going to be hurt, okay?

449
00:18:43,570 --> 00:18:44,410
It's going to be bad.

450
00:18:44,490 --> 00:18:46,250
It's going to be the worst
thing that you could ever do.

451
00:18:46,250 --> 00:18:48,450
You know what's going to
happen is that child might start

452
00:18:48,450 --> 00:18:50,490
saying, okay, I don't want to
hit that tree.

453
00:18:51,130 --> 00:18:52,730
So I'm going to start focusing
on that tree.

454
00:18:52,730 --> 00:18:55,410
Well, if any of you ever have
ridden a bike, especially in the

455
00:18:55,410 --> 00:18:57,770
early stages, whatever you're
looking at is the way you're going

456
00:18:57,770 --> 00:18:58,090
to go.

457
00:18:58,900 --> 00:19:00,660
And so that child might be on
the bike and, okay, I don't want

458
00:19:00,660 --> 00:19:01,220
to hit that tree.

459
00:19:01,220 --> 00:19:02,020
I don't want to hit that tree.

460
00:19:02,020 --> 00:19:02,580
That tree's bad.

461
00:19:02,580 --> 00:19:03,220
That tree's bad.

462
00:19:03,220 --> 00:19:04,660
And he's looking at that tree,
and all of a sudden he's going to

463
00:19:04,660 --> 00:19:05,700
start going towards that tree.

464
00:19:06,180 --> 00:19:09,260
Because when we focus on the
sin that we're supposed to stay away

465
00:19:09,260 --> 00:19:12,860
from, sometimes when we're in
our flesh, that's all we can think

466
00:19:12,860 --> 00:19:14,020
about, and that's where we're going.

467
00:19:14,020 --> 00:19:17,380
He says, no, the law always
brings the motion to sin.

468
00:19:17,380 --> 00:19:19,220
The law is always going to
bring you to the sins that you're

469
00:19:19,220 --> 00:19:19,860
trying to avoid.

470
00:19:19,860 --> 00:19:20,180
Why?

471
00:19:20,180 --> 00:19:21,540
Because that's all we can
think about.

472
00:19:21,540 --> 00:19:23,300
We just try to think about
working harder.

473
00:19:23,300 --> 00:19:24,220
I've got to work harder.

474
00:19:24,220 --> 00:19:25,100
I got to get up earlier.

475
00:19:25,100 --> 00:19:26,180
I got to do all these things.

476
00:19:26,470 --> 00:19:27,870
Got to make sure I don't think
about this.

477
00:19:27,870 --> 00:19:29,110
Don't think, Tell.

478
00:19:29,110 --> 00:19:31,350
Tell yourself not to think
about something constantly.

479
00:19:31,430 --> 00:19:32,470
What are you going to start doing?

480
00:19:32,630 --> 00:19:34,470
Thinking about the thing that
you're telling yourself not to think

481
00:19:34,470 --> 00:19:34,710
about.

482
00:19:35,750 --> 00:19:36,150
Right.

483
00:19:36,230 --> 00:19:39,110
We tell our kid, we, you know,
let's say we, we have a, a jar of

484
00:19:39,110 --> 00:19:41,470
cookies at our house and we
say, okay, kid, don't eat those cookies,

485
00:19:41,470 --> 00:19:42,030
whatever you do.

486
00:19:42,030 --> 00:19:43,270
They're the best cookies by
the way.

487
00:19:43,750 --> 00:19:45,190
You're going to enjoy it, but
don't, don't eat it.

488
00:19:45,190 --> 00:19:49,910
That say no, no, we're, we're,
we're causing, we're, we're setting

489
00:19:49,910 --> 00:19:51,750
them up for failure right now.

490
00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:53,240
The law is not a bad thing, by
the way.

491
00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:55,680
A lot of people think that
people teach that we should just

492
00:19:55,680 --> 00:19:58,000
destroy the law, tear the law away.

493
00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:00,120
No, the Bible says that Jesus
came to fulfill the law.

494
00:20:00,120 --> 00:20:02,080
The law shows us what the
standard is.

495
00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:05,520
The law shows us what God
intends to be good.

496
00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:09,200
Now there are certain aspects
of the ceremonial law and the dietary

497
00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:11,880
law that we believe in the New
Testament that God abolished.

498
00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:15,240
But God never abolished the
moral law and the concept of the

499
00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:15,840
importance of it.

500
00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:16,120
Right?

501
00:20:16,120 --> 00:20:16,960
Thou shalt not kill.

502
00:20:16,960 --> 00:20:18,400
I think that's an important
thing to think about.

503
00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:20,360
Think that shows us the heart
of God.

504
00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:24,000
But what the Bible is telling
us in the New Covenant is that the

505
00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:27,400
law can never save us from the
problem of sin.

506
00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:29,320
It can only show us what sin is.

507
00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:32,240
Think about it from this perspective.

508
00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:35,720
We can put every law in this
country, we do, we have a law in

509
00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:36,800
this country not to kill people.

510
00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:37,160
Right.

511
00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:41,000
Last time I checked, murder,
murdering is against the law.

512
00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:44,040
Does that stop anyone from murdering?

513
00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:45,520
It stops some people from
murdering people.

514
00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:47,430
But, but it doesn't stop
everyone from murdering people.

515
00:20:47,430 --> 00:20:47,870
We know that.

516
00:20:47,870 --> 00:20:48,710
Just look at the news.

517
00:20:50,230 --> 00:20:51,030
Look at the news.

518
00:20:51,430 --> 00:20:52,710
There's hate in this world.

519
00:20:53,910 --> 00:20:54,630
There's murder.

520
00:20:54,630 --> 00:20:59,270
People are being gunned down
in broad daylight.

521
00:21:02,630 --> 00:21:05,590
So the law doesn't stop an individual.

522
00:21:05,590 --> 00:21:05,870
Why?

523
00:21:05,870 --> 00:21:07,430
The law just shows us what's wrong.

524
00:21:07,910 --> 00:21:09,430
But the law can't fix a heart.

525
00:21:10,630 --> 00:21:13,430
We can, we can make a thousand
more laws in our country.

526
00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:15,640
More and more laws, more and
more laws.

527
00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:17,840
That's still not going to
change the heart of man.

528
00:21:19,280 --> 00:21:22,160
Going to tell you, hey, I'm
all for laws that are for good things.

529
00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:28,280
I, I, I'm all for laws that
reflect the goodness of God in accordance

530
00:21:28,280 --> 00:21:28,800
to his word.

531
00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:31,720
But we all know that if we
just throw more laws out there in

532
00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:34,320
this world, it's not going to
make people change their hearts.

533
00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:36,600
So what is he saying here?

534
00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:38,480
He says the law doesn't change
the heart.

535
00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:40,200
The law just shows us what's
good and bad.

536
00:21:40,200 --> 00:21:42,570
So some people might follow
the law for other reasons.

537
00:21:42,890 --> 00:21:45,090
There are some people that
don't speed because they don't want

538
00:21:45,090 --> 00:21:46,010
to pay for the ticket.

539
00:21:46,730 --> 00:21:49,050
It's not a moral thing, right?

540
00:21:49,690 --> 00:21:50,650
Sometimes we don't.

541
00:21:50,730 --> 00:21:54,330
Sometimes we don't do things
because we just are afraid of what

542
00:21:54,330 --> 00:21:54,890
might come.

543
00:21:54,890 --> 00:21:56,170
It's a selfish thing.

544
00:21:56,329 --> 00:21:59,770
It's not a matter of a moral
conviction that we have in our hearts.

545
00:22:00,250 --> 00:22:01,170
So what does he say here?

546
00:22:01,170 --> 00:22:03,450
He says, there might be some
people that can look good from the

547
00:22:03,450 --> 00:22:06,090
outside, but the law will
never change the heart.

548
00:22:06,090 --> 00:22:08,630
He says the law is, is not
going to bring us to anything.

549
00:22:08,630 --> 00:22:10,870
It's going to bring us just
back to the motions of sin.

550
00:22:11,270 --> 00:22:12,630
So what's the answer?

551
00:22:14,310 --> 00:22:15,030
Just think about.

552
00:22:15,190 --> 00:22:16,430
Just don't think about sin.

553
00:22:16,430 --> 00:22:20,870
No, he says, remove the what.

554
00:22:20,870 --> 00:22:23,990
What we believe is the
necessity to think about the evil

555
00:22:23,990 --> 00:22:25,830
and replace that with good.

556
00:22:26,950 --> 00:22:27,710
What does he say?

557
00:22:27,710 --> 00:22:28,550
How do we find good?

558
00:22:28,550 --> 00:22:29,350
Well, verse four.

559
00:22:30,310 --> 00:22:31,590
You are married to another.

560
00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:34,960
I'm married to my wife.

561
00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:36,920
We had our marriage night last
night here at the church.

562
00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:37,520
It was awesome.

563
00:22:37,520 --> 00:22:38,120
It was a good time.

564
00:22:38,120 --> 00:22:40,000
Some of you that are there,
you had some good laughs.

565
00:22:41,360 --> 00:22:43,920
We had a good time just
fellowshipping with one another.

566
00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:46,160
I had a great time being with
my wife.

567
00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:50,160
If I'm married to my wife, I'm
not married to somebody else.

568
00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:54,600
If I'm truly walking in
fellowship with my wife, I don't

569
00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:57,720
say, hey, honey, I'm gonna go
and, and spend time with this other

570
00:22:57,720 --> 00:23:00,630
person and have a good time
with her and love her.

571
00:23:01,270 --> 00:23:03,790
That's, that's not me walking
in fellowship with my spouse.

572
00:23:03,790 --> 00:23:06,550
If I'm married to my spouse,
it's all for her.

573
00:23:07,110 --> 00:23:07,710
It's, it's.

574
00:23:07,710 --> 00:23:08,710
It's to edify her.

575
00:23:08,710 --> 00:23:10,390
It's to build her up, to show
her love.

576
00:23:10,470 --> 00:23:13,190
I don't want my affection to
be stolen by anybody else.

577
00:23:13,830 --> 00:23:14,670
That's what's happened.

578
00:23:14,670 --> 00:23:15,230
That's what he says here.

579
00:23:15,230 --> 00:23:17,230
He says, you're no longer
married to the law anymore.

580
00:23:17,230 --> 00:23:18,070
You're married to Christ.

581
00:23:18,310 --> 00:23:21,590
So therefore, the answer to
the sin problem in your life is not

582
00:23:21,590 --> 00:23:23,510
just trying to follow more rules.

583
00:23:23,590 --> 00:23:26,670
The answer is being more
devoted to the one who you are connected

584
00:23:26,670 --> 00:23:28,010
to in salvation.

585
00:23:28,010 --> 00:23:29,090
And that's Jesus Christ.

586
00:23:29,170 --> 00:23:30,490
It's growing to know him more.

587
00:23:30,490 --> 00:23:34,010
So the more we know him, the
more we love him, the more we want

588
00:23:34,010 --> 00:23:36,970
to please him, the more we
want to serve him, the more we won't

589
00:23:36,970 --> 00:23:38,050
want to do those sins.

590
00:23:38,450 --> 00:23:41,770
And so it's that idea that I.
I want to die to those things in

591
00:23:41,770 --> 00:23:42,210
my life.

592
00:23:42,370 --> 00:23:44,050
I want the Spirit to guide my life.

593
00:23:44,050 --> 00:23:47,170
I don't want the flesh to
dictate to me what I wanted before.

594
00:23:47,250 --> 00:23:50,850
I want to have The Spirit
dictate to me what my new desires

595
00:23:50,850 --> 00:23:52,410
are in Christ Jesus.

596
00:23:52,410 --> 00:23:56,220
And so therefore, he says here
the answer to the sin problem in

597
00:23:56,220 --> 00:24:02,620
our world, the answer to all
the things that we look into our

598
00:24:02,620 --> 00:24:03,940
culture and say, this is sinful.

599
00:24:03,940 --> 00:24:04,820
This is evil.

600
00:24:04,900 --> 00:24:05,300
Right.

601
00:24:06,180 --> 00:24:07,980
I'm just going to say marriage.

602
00:24:07,980 --> 00:24:11,140
The definition, the biblical
definition of marriage is under attack

603
00:24:11,140 --> 00:24:11,420
today.

604
00:24:11,420 --> 00:24:12,660
It has been for many years.

605
00:24:12,820 --> 00:24:17,420
And we're seeing the fruit of
not defining marriage as God defines

606
00:24:17,420 --> 00:24:17,700
it.

607
00:24:18,820 --> 00:24:22,020
Identity is being defined in
this world today by culture.

608
00:24:22,370 --> 00:24:24,490
And what culture is going to
tell us is that we can be whatever

609
00:24:24,490 --> 00:24:25,250
we want to be.

610
00:24:26,130 --> 00:24:29,410
God designed you wrong, and so
you can just go be whatever you want

611
00:24:29,410 --> 00:24:29,730
to be.

612
00:24:29,890 --> 00:24:37,010
Do you see now the fruit of
that movement, the fruit of selfishness,

613
00:24:37,170 --> 00:24:41,050
the fruit of trying to do it
our way, trying to define things

614
00:24:41,050 --> 00:24:43,170
our way is always going to be punishment.

615
00:24:43,250 --> 00:24:44,610
It's going to be separation.

616
00:24:44,690 --> 00:24:45,970
It's going to be darkness.

617
00:24:46,210 --> 00:24:47,570
It's going to be confusion.

618
00:24:47,570 --> 00:24:50,210
We live in a world today that
there's so much confusion, people

619
00:24:50,210 --> 00:24:51,970
are confused about who they
even are.

620
00:24:53,110 --> 00:24:55,950
A Christian cannot be confused
because God is not the author of

621
00:24:55,950 --> 00:24:56,550
confusion.

622
00:24:56,710 --> 00:24:59,990
We might have temporary lapses
of confusion of something that we're

623
00:24:59,990 --> 00:25:00,870
dealing with in our life.

624
00:25:00,870 --> 00:25:03,070
Last night, after the marriage
night, there was a leak over in the

625
00:25:03,070 --> 00:25:03,350
building.

626
00:25:04,550 --> 00:25:06,910
And obviously we got to take
care of the leak.

627
00:25:06,910 --> 00:25:07,630
We got to figure it out.

628
00:25:07,630 --> 00:25:09,230
And all the guys are looking
at it, and I'm.

629
00:25:09,230 --> 00:25:11,110
I'm like, I don't know
anything about this, but I'm going

630
00:25:11,110 --> 00:25:11,990
to pretend like I do.

631
00:25:11,990 --> 00:25:13,910
I'm going to start looking at
that pipe and go, oh, yeah.

632
00:25:13,910 --> 00:25:14,070
Yep.

633
00:25:14,070 --> 00:25:14,270
That's.

634
00:25:14,270 --> 00:25:15,070
That's your problem right there.

635
00:25:15,070 --> 00:25:15,510
Yep.

636
00:25:16,550 --> 00:25:18,230
I'm not talking about that
type of confusion.

637
00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:20,160
I was confused.

638
00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:20,920
I'm like, I don't know.

639
00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:21,960
Water's dripping.

640
00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:22,520
Figure it out.

641
00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:23,280
They figured it out.

642
00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:24,560
We had some smart people at
the church.

643
00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:25,000
That's good.

644
00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:26,800
That.

645
00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:27,720
Not that type of confusion.

646
00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:28,840
I'm talking about confusion of who.

647
00:25:28,840 --> 00:25:29,560
Who am I?

648
00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:31,160
What's my purpose?

649
00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:34,200
What defines me as a human being?

650
00:25:34,360 --> 00:25:34,880
You know what?

651
00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:41,880
When we remove the value of
life, when we reduce the value of

652
00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:43,640
life to what does that person
bring us?

653
00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:45,090
We all going to have different opinions.

654
00:25:45,090 --> 00:25:45,330
Right.

655
00:25:45,330 --> 00:25:48,370
If that person isn't making me
happy, they have no value anymore.

656
00:25:48,610 --> 00:25:50,130
And we're seeing the product
of that.

657
00:25:51,010 --> 00:25:53,450
We're seeing the product of
when we look into the world and say,

658
00:25:53,450 --> 00:25:55,410
well, my law is the law of the land.

659
00:25:55,410 --> 00:25:56,570
And the law of the land is this.

660
00:25:56,570 --> 00:25:59,170
If you're not bringing forth
any productivity, you're out.

661
00:25:59,410 --> 00:25:59,970
You're bad.

662
00:26:00,050 --> 00:26:01,050
I don't want you anymore.

663
00:26:01,050 --> 00:26:02,210
I'm going to write you off.

664
00:26:03,090 --> 00:26:05,330
Why do we believe that people
have value?

665
00:26:07,090 --> 00:26:08,690
Why is there sanctity of life?

666
00:26:08,690 --> 00:26:10,930
Why do we want to preserve
life and protect life?

667
00:26:11,310 --> 00:26:13,630
Not because, hey, they're
valuable to us, so we're going to

668
00:26:13,630 --> 00:26:14,150
protect them.

669
00:26:14,150 --> 00:26:15,030
I agree with them.

670
00:26:15,030 --> 00:26:15,990
We're going to protect them.

671
00:26:15,990 --> 00:26:16,910
No, what do we do?

672
00:26:17,070 --> 00:26:20,070
We believe in the value of
life because the word of God says

673
00:26:20,070 --> 00:26:23,150
that every individual that is
born is in the image of God.

674
00:26:23,150 --> 00:26:25,230
Born in the image of God,
marred by sin.

675
00:26:25,230 --> 00:26:27,630
Never perfect, but there's
value to that.

676
00:26:28,990 --> 00:26:32,750
When, when we say that this
person is an inconvenience to me,

677
00:26:35,150 --> 00:26:37,390
and we look at individuals
that say, well, you know what?

678
00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:39,680
We're just going to terminate
life because that person's not.

679
00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:40,320
That.

680
00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:41,920
That's going to be an
inconvenience to me.

681
00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:45,640
That's saying, my life, my
value is more valuable than that

682
00:26:45,640 --> 00:26:45,920
person.

683
00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:49,600
The truth is, is that every
life is valuable.

684
00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:51,480
And when we live by the law.

685
00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:53,520
So the law of the land, the
law of the land says it's okay.

686
00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:55,760
Oh, then it's okay.

687
00:26:56,000 --> 00:26:57,600
No, because we don't live by
the law of the land.

688
00:26:57,600 --> 00:26:59,200
We live by the truth of God.

689
00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:03,240
And so if we want to see our
culture change, we don't just make

690
00:27:03,240 --> 00:27:03,920
more laws.

691
00:27:06,060 --> 00:27:07,740
That, that's a, that's an
immediate step.

692
00:27:07,740 --> 00:27:09,580
That's a, that's an initial
step to the flesh.

693
00:27:09,580 --> 00:27:12,620
And I'm saying, okay, fine,
but if we want to see true change

694
00:27:12,620 --> 00:27:15,500
in our world, what brings
that, we'll go to that.

695
00:27:15,740 --> 00:27:16,460
Verse 6.

696
00:27:17,020 --> 00:27:17,740
Verse 6.

697
00:27:18,540 --> 00:27:23,660
But now we are delivered from
the law that being dead, wherein

698
00:27:23,660 --> 00:27:27,020
we were held that we should
serve in newness of spirit.

699
00:27:27,500 --> 00:27:28,340
Newness of spirit.

700
00:27:28,340 --> 00:27:30,980
Now how do we receive the
newness of spirit salvation?

701
00:27:31,220 --> 00:27:34,300
The gospel of Jesus Christ,
the indwelling of the Holy Spirit

702
00:27:34,300 --> 00:27:35,620
comes through faith in him.

703
00:27:35,780 --> 00:27:38,180
So if we want to see people
truly change their life and have

704
00:27:38,180 --> 00:27:42,740
a new identity, a new
direction, a new sense of morality

705
00:27:42,820 --> 00:27:46,900
that comes through a change of
heart, that is changed through the

706
00:27:46,900 --> 00:27:47,380
Spirit.

707
00:27:47,380 --> 00:27:49,380
A heart of stone toward a
heart of flesh.

708
00:27:50,820 --> 00:27:53,460
Folks, we have to be
presenting the gospel.

709
00:27:53,460 --> 00:27:55,140
We have to be preaching the gospel.

710
00:27:55,140 --> 00:27:57,340
We have to be living the
gospel unashamedly.

711
00:27:57,340 --> 00:28:03,110
By the way, there are so many
people today that are afraid to speak

712
00:28:03,110 --> 00:28:06,230
the truth because of the
outcome that might come through that.

713
00:28:06,230 --> 00:28:07,910
We can't be afraid to preach
the gospel.

714
00:28:08,630 --> 00:28:11,390
We speak the truth in love,
but we cannot be afraid to preach

715
00:28:11,390 --> 00:28:11,990
the gospel.

716
00:28:12,790 --> 00:28:14,310
The gospel is the first thing.

717
00:28:14,470 --> 00:28:15,870
Jesus is the answer.

718
00:28:15,870 --> 00:28:18,230
And so he Comes here and he
says, okay, Christians, you want

719
00:28:18,230 --> 00:28:19,110
to see spiritual growth.

720
00:28:19,110 --> 00:28:20,230
It's not by the law.

721
00:28:22,150 --> 00:28:24,150
It's not by following a list
of rules.

722
00:28:24,660 --> 00:28:24,900
All right?

723
00:28:24,900 --> 00:28:27,100
I could sit here today and
say, hey, you know what?

724
00:28:27,100 --> 00:28:28,940
To be a good member of
Middletown Baptist Church.

725
00:28:28,940 --> 00:28:31,100
Here's your list of rules, okay?

726
00:28:31,100 --> 00:28:32,100
This whole book here.

727
00:28:32,100 --> 00:28:33,460
Read this book and go home.

728
00:28:33,780 --> 00:28:34,300
Okay?

729
00:28:34,300 --> 00:28:36,100
Let's pretend this book
doesn't say living hymns.

730
00:28:36,100 --> 00:28:39,820
Let's say this book says the
rules of Middletown Baptist Church

731
00:28:39,820 --> 00:28:41,860
written by Pastor Josh Massaro.

732
00:28:42,260 --> 00:28:44,660
And I said, okay, these are
all the things that you have to follow

733
00:28:44,820 --> 00:28:46,020
to be a good Christian.

734
00:28:48,740 --> 00:28:50,900
That could be something that
you could try your best to follow,

735
00:28:50,900 --> 00:28:52,980
but none of us could probably
follow perfectly.

736
00:28:54,220 --> 00:28:56,220
There could be things in here
that are my preferences.

737
00:28:56,860 --> 00:28:59,260
There could be things in here
that don't matter in the grand scheme

738
00:28:59,260 --> 00:29:01,180
of eternity, but I think
they're important for you to grow.

739
00:29:01,500 --> 00:29:03,500
No, that is not how we change hearts.

740
00:29:03,500 --> 00:29:06,500
How we change hearts is we
lead people to Christ and we say,

741
00:29:06,500 --> 00:29:07,060
hey, you know what?

742
00:29:07,060 --> 00:29:08,860
Let the Holy Spirit change
your life.

743
00:29:09,179 --> 00:29:10,860
I can only lead you to the truth.

744
00:29:10,860 --> 00:29:12,420
And so that's what Paul is
saying here.

745
00:29:12,420 --> 00:29:14,220
He says, you want to see
spiritual growth?

746
00:29:14,300 --> 00:29:15,740
Don't just try harder.

747
00:29:15,820 --> 00:29:17,100
Rely on God more.

748
00:29:17,500 --> 00:29:18,620
Trust in him more.

749
00:29:18,620 --> 00:29:19,820
It's that change of heart.

750
00:29:19,820 --> 00:29:20,860
It's that change of spirit.

751
00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:22,680
So verse six, he says, we.

752
00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:23,760
What are we serving in?

753
00:29:23,760 --> 00:29:24,840
We're not serving in.

754
00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:27,640
I have to do this or someone's
going to get upset.

755
00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:29,720
That's the oldness of the
letter of the law.

756
00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:32,600
He says, no, we serve in the
newness of spirit.

757
00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:35,280
Folks, if you're challenged in
your life to do the things that God

758
00:29:35,280 --> 00:29:40,480
has called you to do, whether
it be serve, whether it be read the

759
00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:43,960
Bible, whether it be praying,
whether it be loving others, forgiving

760
00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:45,880
others, it's not a matter of
trying harder.

761
00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:47,480
It's a matter of trusting in
him more.

762
00:29:48,570 --> 00:29:49,370
It's not about trying.

763
00:29:49,450 --> 00:29:50,490
It's about trusting.

764
00:29:51,130 --> 00:29:55,050
If I trust God enough, I will
allow him to direct me in my life.

765
00:29:55,050 --> 00:29:56,730
I will trust what His Word says.

766
00:29:57,370 --> 00:30:01,850
I will trust when it says
that, you know, what, I'm to love

767
00:30:01,850 --> 00:30:02,890
my neighbor as myself.

768
00:30:03,850 --> 00:30:05,610
Well, that sometimes doesn't
make a lot of sense.

769
00:30:06,570 --> 00:30:09,290
So am I willing to trust what
the word of God says, or am I going

770
00:30:09,290 --> 00:30:11,930
to be willing to trust what I
think is the best answer?

771
00:30:12,650 --> 00:30:15,410
Am I going to be willing to
trust what the world says about marriage,

772
00:30:15,410 --> 00:30:17,660
what the world says about
sanctity of life, what the world

773
00:30:17,660 --> 00:30:20,460
says about identity, what the
world says about someone being good

774
00:30:20,540 --> 00:30:21,340
or evil?

775
00:30:21,340 --> 00:30:23,700
No, I'm going to trust what
God says about it.

776
00:30:23,700 --> 00:30:24,460
Because you know what?

777
00:30:26,220 --> 00:30:27,340
People will fail me.

778
00:30:29,180 --> 00:30:30,460
Media will fail me.

779
00:30:32,380 --> 00:30:34,140
My family could fail me.

780
00:30:34,300 --> 00:30:35,900
The Bible says that that's the case.

781
00:30:36,220 --> 00:30:38,780
You know who's the one person
that will never fail you?

782
00:30:38,780 --> 00:30:41,860
That is Jesus Christ, your
Savior, the one who took you out

783
00:30:41,860 --> 00:30:44,220
of bondage and moved you to
marvelous lights.

784
00:30:44,980 --> 00:30:45,700
So here this morning.

785
00:30:45,780 --> 00:30:47,460
Justification, sanctification.

786
00:30:47,540 --> 00:30:48,500
How are we justified?

787
00:30:48,500 --> 00:30:50,660
We're justified through
Christ, faith in him.

788
00:30:50,660 --> 00:30:51,740
How are we sanctified?

789
00:30:51,740 --> 00:30:53,700
How do we grow through Jesus Christ?

790
00:30:54,580 --> 00:30:57,700
It's not a list of rules that
brings us to a place of spiritual

791
00:30:57,700 --> 00:30:58,020
growth.

792
00:30:58,180 --> 00:31:02,540
It's the newness of the
Spirit, that we don't walk in that

793
00:31:02,540 --> 00:31:04,900
sin anymore, that we don't
walk in that letter of the law.

794
00:31:04,900 --> 00:31:09,100
So Paul summarizes the theme
of verses 1 through 5 and verse 6.

795
00:31:09,100 --> 00:31:12,380
He says, we're delivered from
the law, that being dead, wherein

796
00:31:12,380 --> 00:31:16,300
we are, we are held that we
should serve in newness of spirit

797
00:31:16,300 --> 00:31:19,020
and not in the oldness of the letter.

798
00:31:21,260 --> 00:31:24,060
So how do you serve in the
newness of the spirit?

799
00:31:25,980 --> 00:31:27,340
Well, we don't serve sin.

800
00:31:28,140 --> 00:31:29,660
We don't serve legalism.

801
00:31:31,180 --> 00:31:35,380
It's not devotion to a person,
it's not devotion to a pastor, it's

802
00:31:35,380 --> 00:31:36,940
not devotion to a movement.

803
00:31:37,450 --> 00:31:39,170
It's a devotion to Jesus Christ.

804
00:31:39,170 --> 00:31:45,490
And so it's unfortunate that
churches over many years have used

805
00:31:45,490 --> 00:31:48,650
fear to motivate people for
doing good.

806
00:31:51,130 --> 00:31:53,289
Control is sometimes easier, right?

807
00:31:53,289 --> 00:31:56,410
If we can control people by
causing fear in their life and following

808
00:31:56,490 --> 00:31:59,370
rules, that so should never be
the fear of man.

809
00:31:59,370 --> 00:32:01,290
It's the fear of God that
drives us to Him.

810
00:32:02,170 --> 00:32:04,160
So, so if I get up here and I
say, know what?

811
00:32:04,160 --> 00:32:06,400
I'm going to be very upset
with you if you guys don't show up

812
00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:10,000
to this event on Saturday
where we have a big service event

813
00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:10,560
in our community.

814
00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:13,680
And if you guys don't show up,
I'm going to be really upset and,

815
00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:14,040
and I.

816
00:32:14,040 --> 00:32:16,320
And I'm going to really feel
like you let me down.

817
00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:18,240
That's control, right?

818
00:32:18,240 --> 00:32:18,480
That.

819
00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:20,320
That's putting guilt in
people's minds.

820
00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:21,200
That shouldn't be there.

821
00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:25,400
So we are, we should be driven
by fear, but not the type of fear

822
00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:26,080
that that is.

823
00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:29,280
We should be draw, drawn to
God through His love and understand

824
00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:30,700
that we fear him out of that respect.

825
00:32:30,850 --> 00:32:34,490
Respect that awe, that
powerful nature that, that who he

826
00:32:34,490 --> 00:32:37,250
is and what he has done for
us, that drives us to service.

827
00:32:37,650 --> 00:32:40,050
Some of us have been tempted
in our lives to say, you know what?

828
00:32:41,490 --> 00:32:42,770
I'm burned out with church.

829
00:32:44,130 --> 00:32:44,810
I'm Burnt.

830
00:32:44,810 --> 00:32:46,450
I'm, I'm burnt out with service.

831
00:32:46,530 --> 00:32:48,370
I'm burnt out with showing up
to church.

832
00:32:48,370 --> 00:32:50,850
I'm burnt out with all the
things that are happening.

833
00:32:50,930 --> 00:32:56,860
If we go back and we explore
that trail of being burnt out, it

834
00:32:56,860 --> 00:33:01,020
usually stems from something
in our flesh because we never get

835
00:33:01,020 --> 00:33:01,740
tired of God.

836
00:33:01,740 --> 00:33:03,260
We shouldn't be getting tired
of God.

837
00:33:03,420 --> 00:33:05,180
We shouldn't be getting tired
of his Word.

838
00:33:05,660 --> 00:33:08,940
What we usually end up saying
is it's because that person over

839
00:33:08,940 --> 00:33:09,860
there said this about me.

840
00:33:09,860 --> 00:33:11,660
And you know, if they don't
want me to be serving here, that's

841
00:33:11,660 --> 00:33:12,220
fine, I'm done.

842
00:33:12,780 --> 00:33:14,300
Question is, who are we serving?

843
00:33:15,100 --> 00:33:16,380
Who are we serving for?

844
00:33:17,900 --> 00:33:19,260
I'm serving for Jesus Christ.

845
00:33:19,260 --> 00:33:21,100
I don't care what you say
about me.

846
00:33:22,710 --> 00:33:24,070
If I'm serving for Jesus Christ.

847
00:33:24,070 --> 00:33:28,150
I don't care if people accept
me or like me because I'm serving

848
00:33:28,150 --> 00:33:29,270
for the audience of one.

849
00:33:29,670 --> 00:33:32,350
And what we can see here in
this case is he says, hey, it's not

850
00:33:32,350 --> 00:33:35,510
about just doing things out
of, out of the motivation of fear

851
00:33:35,510 --> 00:33:37,670
of others, the motivation of.

852
00:33:38,070 --> 00:33:44,510
And I would even say this, the
trap of success or acceptance that

853
00:33:44,510 --> 00:33:46,150
people will think, I'm a good Christian.

854
00:33:46,150 --> 00:33:46,870
You know what?

855
00:33:48,160 --> 00:33:50,000
I think we should have a great testimony.

856
00:33:50,240 --> 00:33:51,600
I think we should live for Christ.

857
00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:55,880
But at the end of the day,
there's what other people say about

858
00:33:55,880 --> 00:33:56,920
me is not going to matter.

859
00:33:56,920 --> 00:33:58,320
It's what God says about me.

860
00:34:00,560 --> 00:34:03,640
I don't want to hear well
done, thou good and faithful servant

861
00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:05,360
from anybody else outside of
my Savior.

862
00:34:06,560 --> 00:34:07,680
And that's really the goal.

863
00:34:07,680 --> 00:34:10,160
That's the motivation we serve
out of that spirit.

864
00:34:11,600 --> 00:34:14,740
So if some of you are dealing
with that burnout right now, I understand

865
00:34:14,740 --> 00:34:15,900
there's physical burnout.

866
00:34:16,620 --> 00:34:17,340
I understand that.

867
00:34:17,340 --> 00:34:18,380
I'm not talking about that
type of burnout.

868
00:34:18,380 --> 00:34:20,620
I'm talking about spiritual exhaustion.

869
00:34:21,260 --> 00:34:23,460
If you're dealing with
spiritual exhaustion right now, go

870
00:34:23,460 --> 00:34:24,540
back to what he says here.

871
00:34:25,180 --> 00:34:29,180
Don't do things just because
that's what we're told to do.

872
00:34:29,899 --> 00:34:32,340
Do it because God has called
you to do something.

873
00:34:32,340 --> 00:34:34,540
I have a lot of people come
and ask me, pastor, what should I

874
00:34:34,540 --> 00:34:35,340
do in this situation?

875
00:34:35,500 --> 00:34:38,580
And there's some situations
that hey, frankly, there's no Bible

876
00:34:38,580 --> 00:34:39,340
answer for.

877
00:34:39,750 --> 00:34:42,230
The Bible answers for is, how
is God calling you?

878
00:34:42,470 --> 00:34:43,750
Where is God leading you?

879
00:34:44,310 --> 00:34:45,390
Where's the conviction?

880
00:34:45,390 --> 00:34:46,230
Where's the comfort?

881
00:34:46,230 --> 00:34:47,150
Where's the open door?

882
00:34:47,150 --> 00:34:48,310
Where's the closed door?

883
00:34:48,390 --> 00:34:51,910
We have to, as Christians know
that it's more than just being spoon

884
00:34:51,910 --> 00:34:52,190
fed.

885
00:34:52,190 --> 00:34:56,590
Answers, well, what is, what
does the Bible say about this?

886
00:34:56,590 --> 00:34:58,990
Well, the Bible might not
Mention the iPhone.

887
00:34:58,990 --> 00:35:01,310
But the Bible mentions
principles of how we're supposed

888
00:35:01,310 --> 00:35:03,510
to interact with media, right?

889
00:35:04,550 --> 00:35:06,700
And so as a pastor, what's my role?

890
00:35:06,700 --> 00:35:09,300
My role is not to get up here
and say, all right, here's the letter

891
00:35:09,300 --> 00:35:09,660
of the law.

892
00:35:09,660 --> 00:35:10,700
Here's the letter to the law.

893
00:35:10,780 --> 00:35:12,060
That would be easier.

894
00:35:12,220 --> 00:35:14,940
That would be easier in our
fleshly sense, because I can keep

895
00:35:14,940 --> 00:35:18,020
tabs on everybody, but I can
watch what you're watching at home

896
00:35:18,020 --> 00:35:18,940
when you're by yourself.

897
00:35:19,740 --> 00:35:22,620
I. I can't control what you're
thinking in your mind and what you're

898
00:35:22,620 --> 00:35:23,820
believing in your hearts.

899
00:35:24,060 --> 00:35:27,060
I can't follow you everywhere
you go and say, oh, that's wrong,

900
00:35:27,060 --> 00:35:27,660
that's wrong, that's wrong.

901
00:35:27,660 --> 00:35:28,940
No, no, no, no, that's not good.

902
00:35:29,820 --> 00:35:32,940
And it might only be something
that God sees you doing in your life.

903
00:35:33,250 --> 00:35:37,250
And so the reason why we do
what we do at Middletown Baptist

904
00:35:37,250 --> 00:35:39,490
Church is not so that we can
keep up appearances.

905
00:35:39,730 --> 00:35:42,690
The reason we do what we do is
so that people can come to know Christ.

906
00:35:42,850 --> 00:35:46,290
My role as a pastor is not to
spoon feed you answers constantly,

907
00:35:46,530 --> 00:35:48,890
even though there are times in
our life where people have spiritual

908
00:35:48,890 --> 00:35:49,449
questions.

909
00:35:49,449 --> 00:35:51,810
And I need to give spiritual
answers as a pastor.

910
00:35:51,890 --> 00:35:52,610
But there's.

911
00:35:53,090 --> 00:35:57,130
I use this example in our
Bible study here this morning, this

912
00:35:57,130 --> 00:35:57,730
past week.

913
00:35:59,580 --> 00:36:00,060
Micah's.

914
00:36:00,060 --> 00:36:02,380
Micah's a. Micah is a picky eater.

915
00:36:02,380 --> 00:36:03,900
Okay, just gonna say that.

916
00:36:03,900 --> 00:36:04,540
He's not in here.

917
00:36:04,540 --> 00:36:05,460
Don't tell him I said that.

918
00:36:05,460 --> 00:36:05,900
Okay.

919
00:36:05,900 --> 00:36:07,100
Mike is a picky eater.

920
00:36:07,100 --> 00:36:09,340
So we're like, okay, you gotta
start eating some.

921
00:36:09,340 --> 00:36:11,380
You gotta start eating some
real food, Sonic, you gotta start

922
00:36:11,380 --> 00:36:11,980
getting stronger.

923
00:36:11,980 --> 00:36:13,260
You're playing football now.

924
00:36:13,660 --> 00:36:14,500
You're doing all these things.

925
00:36:14,500 --> 00:36:15,020
You gotta start eating.

926
00:36:15,020 --> 00:36:16,460
So he says, all right, dad,
I'm gonna try a steak.

927
00:36:17,500 --> 00:36:17,900
So.

928
00:36:17,900 --> 00:36:18,300
Steak.

929
00:36:18,300 --> 00:36:20,020
All right, all right, we're
gonna try a steak.

930
00:36:20,020 --> 00:36:20,260
All right.

931
00:36:20,260 --> 00:36:21,100
So we're at a restaurant.

932
00:36:21,100 --> 00:36:22,060
I'm like, oh, man.

933
00:36:22,060 --> 00:36:22,660
He's gonna.

934
00:36:22,660 --> 00:36:23,980
He's gonna buy the steak and
not eat it.

935
00:36:23,980 --> 00:36:25,500
But that's okay because I
would have eaten it if he didn't

936
00:36:25,500 --> 00:36:25,820
eat it.

937
00:36:26,470 --> 00:36:27,070
But what did he do?

938
00:36:27,070 --> 00:36:30,030
He grabbed that steak and he's
like, all right, I've watched dad

939
00:36:30,030 --> 00:36:30,950
do this a lot of times.

940
00:36:30,950 --> 00:36:33,670
So he grabs his steak knife
and he grabs his fork and he starts

941
00:36:33,670 --> 00:36:35,030
cutting into it, taking.

942
00:36:35,350 --> 00:36:36,350
Am I doing it right, dad?

943
00:36:36,350 --> 00:36:37,230
I'm like, yeah, I did do right.

944
00:36:37,230 --> 00:36:38,150
Make sure they're cut right.

945
00:36:38,230 --> 00:36:39,590
And he ate the whole steak.

946
00:36:39,590 --> 00:36:40,430
And he was like, I did it.

947
00:36:40,430 --> 00:36:40,870
I did it.

948
00:36:40,870 --> 00:36:41,190
I ate it.

949
00:36:41,190 --> 00:36:41,550
It was great.

950
00:36:41,550 --> 00:36:41,990
I love it.

951
00:36:41,990 --> 00:36:43,150
I'm like, good, we Got new food.

952
00:36:43,150 --> 00:36:43,710
You can eat now.

953
00:36:43,710 --> 00:36:45,870
It's going to cost dad a lot
of money to eat that every time.

954
00:36:45,870 --> 00:36:46,510
So we're gonna.

955
00:36:46,510 --> 00:36:47,550
But no, he did it.

956
00:36:47,550 --> 00:36:51,110
And, but, but Silas was
sitting on the other side of the

957
00:36:51,110 --> 00:36:51,430
table.

958
00:36:52,100 --> 00:36:54,700
Silas is not even two years
old yet.

959
00:36:54,700 --> 00:36:57,860
I didn't hand him a knife and
go, son, start cutting up the steak.

960
00:36:58,740 --> 00:37:00,420
He would have probably done
other things to that knife.

961
00:37:00,420 --> 00:37:01,420
He probably would have thrown
that knife.

962
00:37:01,420 --> 00:37:01,940
I don't know.

963
00:37:03,060 --> 00:37:06,740
Do you see at that point,
like, the way that Micah could understand

964
00:37:06,980 --> 00:37:08,340
eating that and grow?

965
00:37:08,340 --> 00:37:10,340
He watched, he watched dad do it.

966
00:37:11,700 --> 00:37:14,260
And there was a time and a
place where he needed to be spoon

967
00:37:14,260 --> 00:37:14,580
fed.

968
00:37:15,460 --> 00:37:18,460
But as his physical growth
happened, there was time in his life

969
00:37:18,460 --> 00:37:20,060
where he's like, okay, I can
start doing this.

970
00:37:20,060 --> 00:37:21,180
I can start figuring this out.

971
00:37:21,180 --> 00:37:24,010
I can start being more, more
independent in that sense.

972
00:37:24,010 --> 00:37:26,290
But what we can see as
Christians is that so many times

973
00:37:26,370 --> 00:37:30,050
within our culture, people are
just wanting to be spoon fed, bottle

974
00:37:30,050 --> 00:37:30,370
fed.

975
00:37:30,610 --> 00:37:32,450
And there is a time and a
place for that.

976
00:37:32,690 --> 00:37:34,730
A new Christian needs to be
bottle fed.

977
00:37:34,730 --> 00:37:37,490
But there is a point in time
in our spiritual life that we can't

978
00:37:37,490 --> 00:37:39,730
just give you a list of what
it means to be a Christian.

979
00:37:39,890 --> 00:37:42,290
It's about having the Spirit
guide my life.

980
00:37:42,690 --> 00:37:46,050
And as you get older and as
you become more mature and you are

981
00:37:46,210 --> 00:37:49,980
growing in that sanctification
process, you able to discern things.

982
00:37:51,100 --> 00:37:53,540
I. I'm totally fine with
someone coming up to me and say,

983
00:37:53,540 --> 00:37:56,980
pastor, should I listen to
this speaker, this person on YouTube?

984
00:37:56,980 --> 00:37:58,700
I'm fine with giving you
advice on that.

985
00:37:59,260 --> 00:38:02,580
But there's a time and a
place, maybe as we spiritually mature,

986
00:38:02,580 --> 00:38:06,220
that we can identify those red
flags in our own life as the Spirit

987
00:38:06,220 --> 00:38:06,940
guides us.

988
00:38:07,820 --> 00:38:09,060
Nope, that person's not good.

989
00:38:09,060 --> 00:38:10,020
Because I've read the word.

990
00:38:10,020 --> 00:38:12,180
I know that that's
contradictory to what God's word

991
00:38:12,180 --> 00:38:12,460
says.

992
00:38:12,540 --> 00:38:15,100
I don't need pastor to tell me
that that person's good or bad.

993
00:38:15,100 --> 00:38:15,280
You.

994
00:38:15,430 --> 00:38:18,310
Even though, again, let me
preface that I love to help you with

995
00:38:18,310 --> 00:38:18,430
that.

996
00:38:18,430 --> 00:38:19,230
I'd love to do that.

997
00:38:19,230 --> 00:38:22,470
So it's not saying I don't
want to do that, but just as I don't

998
00:38:22,470 --> 00:38:24,790
want to be feeding Micah a
bottle for the rest of his life,

999
00:38:26,230 --> 00:38:29,150
I want him to grow and I want
him to trust and I want him to be

1000
00:38:29,150 --> 00:38:34,070
able to flourish in his
relationship with God, just as all

1001
00:38:34,070 --> 00:38:35,190
of us should be doing.

1002
00:38:35,750 --> 00:38:38,670
And so that's what Paul's
talking about in that sanctification

1003
00:38:38,670 --> 00:38:39,030
process.

1004
00:38:39,830 --> 00:38:41,670
I don't need someone else's approval.

1005
00:38:41,830 --> 00:38:43,590
I don't need a list of rules.

1006
00:38:43,910 --> 00:38:46,870
I use the Word of God, and I
use the conviction of the Spirit

1007
00:38:46,870 --> 00:38:49,790
and the guidance of the Spirit
to make decisions that honor God.

1008
00:38:49,790 --> 00:38:53,230
I serve in the motivation of
newness of life and newness of Spirit.

1009
00:38:53,230 --> 00:38:56,270
And so here today, this is
something that's dangerous for us

1010
00:38:56,270 --> 00:38:58,110
to preach in the church, but I
think it's.

1011
00:38:58,110 --> 00:39:00,430
It's very important that we
don't just preach.

1012
00:39:00,430 --> 00:39:02,510
Hey, it's a list of rules, but
it's a.

1013
00:39:02,510 --> 00:39:02,870
It's.

1014
00:39:02,870 --> 00:39:05,190
It's following in a devotion
to the Spirit.

1015
00:39:05,350 --> 00:39:08,630
Now, let me just retrack just
a few moments here.

1016
00:39:09,030 --> 00:39:10,880
Let me just go back a few steps.

1017
00:39:12,160 --> 00:39:15,040
I'm not saying that the Word
of God is not our guide.

1018
00:39:15,520 --> 00:39:17,320
Some people might be hearing
me say, well, you're.

1019
00:39:17,320 --> 00:39:18,880
You're saying that there's not
a list of rules.

1020
00:39:18,880 --> 00:39:20,320
So I don't have to live by the Bible.

1021
00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:23,160
No, but if the Spirit's
guiding you, you will align yourself

1022
00:39:23,160 --> 00:39:23,720
with His Word.

1023
00:39:23,720 --> 00:39:25,280
The Spirit does not contradict himself.

1024
00:39:25,840 --> 00:39:27,200
The Spirit's living within me.

1025
00:39:27,200 --> 00:39:29,800
I'm not going to want to avoid
the Word of God.

1026
00:39:29,800 --> 00:39:31,280
I'm going to want to be in it more.

1027
00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:35,160
You know, the remedy of
wanting to read your Bible more is

1028
00:39:35,160 --> 00:39:36,040
to love God more.

1029
00:39:37,160 --> 00:39:40,000
Alicia wrote me love notes
when we were in high school, and

1030
00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:41,480
I. I keep those to this day.

1031
00:39:41,480 --> 00:39:42,760
They're precious to me.

1032
00:39:42,840 --> 00:39:44,680
This is God's love letter to you.

1033
00:39:44,680 --> 00:39:47,160
And if you love him, you'll
want to know what he told you.

1034
00:39:47,880 --> 00:39:49,480
You want to know more about Him.

1035
00:39:49,480 --> 00:39:50,840
Are you going to understand everything?

1036
00:39:51,400 --> 00:39:52,360
None of us do.

1037
00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:53,880
I'm a pastor.

1038
00:39:53,880 --> 00:39:55,240
I read my Bible every day.

1039
00:39:55,320 --> 00:39:57,000
I study His Word every week.

1040
00:39:57,160 --> 00:39:59,720
I still get to portions of
scripture that I'm like, lord, give

1041
00:39:59,720 --> 00:40:02,200
me wisdom on this, because I
have no idea what this is saying.

1042
00:40:02,900 --> 00:40:05,420
But that's okay, because he
gives us that wisdom and he says,

1043
00:40:05,420 --> 00:40:07,060
ask of it, and he'll give it
to us.

1044
00:40:07,060 --> 00:40:09,780
And so I'm going to tell you
here this morning as we close.

1045
00:40:10,260 --> 00:40:15,780
The Spirit of God is a
powerful tool.

1046
00:40:15,780 --> 00:40:19,460
It's a powerful way in our
life to identify what we should do

1047
00:40:19,460 --> 00:40:20,580
and what we shouldn't do.

1048
00:40:20,740 --> 00:40:22,660
I'm going to say it's not just
a powerful tool.

1049
00:40:22,660 --> 00:40:26,060
It is the tool for us to
understand from the Word of God what

1050
00:40:26,060 --> 00:40:27,980
it means to walk in obedience
to Him.

1051
00:40:27,980 --> 00:40:32,040
And so spiritual growth, just
as salvation does not come from following

1052
00:40:32,680 --> 00:40:34,880
a law, because the law is only
good till we.

1053
00:40:34,880 --> 00:40:35,720
Till we're dead.

1054
00:40:37,800 --> 00:40:40,440
The truth is, is if I just try
to follow a list of rules, I'm going

1055
00:40:40,440 --> 00:40:40,880
to die.

1056
00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:42,320
And those rules are dead with it.

1057
00:40:42,320 --> 00:40:43,320
And I'm dead with it.

1058
00:40:43,880 --> 00:40:45,960
But if I want eternal life,
what do I trust in?

1059
00:40:45,960 --> 00:40:47,080
Not the letter of the law.

1060
00:40:47,080 --> 00:40:49,960
I trust in the truth of Jesus
Christ and the Gospel of Jesus Christ

1061
00:40:49,960 --> 00:40:53,040
that says when I believe in
him in faith, when I trust in him

1062
00:40:53,040 --> 00:40:55,370
and him alone for my
salvation, we when I trust in him

1063
00:40:55,370 --> 00:40:57,650
and him alone for my
forgiveness and my eternal life,

1064
00:40:57,810 --> 00:41:01,090
that the moment that I trust
in Him, I am dead to sin.

1065
00:41:01,090 --> 00:41:02,370
I am dead to the law.

1066
00:41:02,610 --> 00:41:04,050
And I'm born in Him.

1067
00:41:04,130 --> 00:41:06,010
I'm walking in newness of life
in Him.

1068
00:41:06,010 --> 00:41:07,570
I'm walking in fellowship with him.

1069
00:41:07,570 --> 00:41:13,570
And he's the one that's going
to stand before me and be the advocate,

1070
00:41:14,850 --> 00:41:19,170
to be the propitiation, the
payment for my sin, so that one day

1071
00:41:19,250 --> 00:41:20,930
I don't stand before the law.

1072
00:41:21,260 --> 00:41:23,860
The only one who can stand
before the law fallless, and that

1073
00:41:23,860 --> 00:41:25,580
is Jesus Christ is standing
before me.

1074
00:41:25,660 --> 00:41:28,300
And he's the one that is going
to stand before the law.

1075
00:41:28,540 --> 00:41:30,700
I want to read one last verse
for you and then I'm done.

1076
00:41:31,340 --> 00:41:34,460
Hebrews, chapter 10, verse 10.

1077
00:41:35,740 --> 00:41:37,340
Hebrews chapter 10, verse 10.

1078
00:41:38,700 --> 00:41:41,300
Lest we think that it's
anything more than the sacrifice

1079
00:41:41,300 --> 00:41:45,460
of Jesus Christ that gives us
salvation and sanctification, let's

1080
00:41:45,460 --> 00:41:47,100
see what the Word of God has
to say here.

1081
00:41:47,360 --> 00:41:48,880
And Hebrews chapter 10, verse 10.

1082
00:41:51,120 --> 00:41:54,240
We don't need to add to what
Jesus has done.

1083
00:41:55,360 --> 00:41:55,680
We.

1084
00:41:55,680 --> 00:41:59,120
We don't need to infuse our
own spin on things.

1085
00:42:01,600 --> 00:42:04,280
Many of you know that when
Jesus was on the cross, he said a

1086
00:42:04,280 --> 00:42:04,560
statement.

1087
00:42:04,560 --> 00:42:10,080
He says, it is finished
Tetelestai, which means it's like

1088
00:42:10,080 --> 00:42:11,120
the debt has been paid.

1089
00:42:12,080 --> 00:42:13,840
You don't have to pay any more debts.

1090
00:42:15,210 --> 00:42:16,250
Hebrews chapter 10, ver.

1091
00:42:16,250 --> 00:42:22,650
10 says, by the which will we
are sanctified through the offering

1092
00:42:22,650 --> 00:42:25,690
of the body of Jesus Christ
once for all.

1093
00:42:27,130 --> 00:42:28,970
You don't have to keep getting resaved.

1094
00:42:30,330 --> 00:42:33,450
You don't have to keep trying
to perform in the law.

1095
00:42:34,490 --> 00:42:41,220
It's a complete and total
submission to the work of Jesus Christ.

1096
00:42:41,300 --> 00:42:42,660
So some of you might say this.

1097
00:42:43,620 --> 00:42:45,460
I'm confused now, Pastor.

1098
00:42:46,020 --> 00:42:49,700
You're telling me to live a
righteous life, but you're telling

1099
00:42:49,700 --> 00:42:51,220
me that it's not about trying harder.

1100
00:42:51,220 --> 00:42:53,820
You're telling me to follow
God's word, but it's not about the

1101
00:42:53,820 --> 00:42:54,580
letter of the law.

1102
00:42:54,820 --> 00:42:55,900
What I'm telling you is this.

1103
00:42:55,900 --> 00:43:00,100
The Word of God is God's
complete, authoritative guide for

1104
00:43:00,260 --> 00:43:01,780
faith and practice.

1105
00:43:02,580 --> 00:43:03,500
Faith and practice.

1106
00:43:03,500 --> 00:43:04,980
Not just what we believe, but
what we do.

1107
00:43:06,670 --> 00:43:11,030
But if we reduce this down
Just to a letter on a page, we're

1108
00:43:11,030 --> 00:43:15,710
missing the spirit of what
God's trying to teach us.

1109
00:43:15,710 --> 00:43:16,830
He's trying to teach us this.

1110
00:43:16,990 --> 00:43:18,470
This is how you follow me.

1111
00:43:18,470 --> 00:43:19,470
But we don't worship this.

1112
00:43:19,470 --> 00:43:20,270
We worship Him.

1113
00:43:20,430 --> 00:43:21,790
This is His Word to us.

1114
00:43:22,510 --> 00:43:25,750
And so if we try to go to this
without going to him, we're missing

1115
00:43:25,750 --> 00:43:26,270
the point.

1116
00:43:27,390 --> 00:43:28,470
It's going to seem crazy.

1117
00:43:28,470 --> 00:43:29,150
It's going to seem.

1118
00:43:29,310 --> 00:43:30,670
It's going to seem unreasonable.

1119
00:43:30,670 --> 00:43:32,110
It's going to seem too burdensome.

1120
00:43:32,920 --> 00:43:34,680
So he says it's not about
keeping this.

1121
00:43:34,680 --> 00:43:37,560
Because the Hebrews says more
about this.

1122
00:43:37,560 --> 00:43:40,760
He says the blood of bull and
goats cannot completely save us.

1123
00:43:41,240 --> 00:43:45,120
Animal sacrifice cannot keep
saving us over and over and over

1124
00:43:45,120 --> 00:43:45,320
again.

1125
00:43:45,320 --> 00:43:48,120
The Bible says it's that once
for all sacrifice in Jesus Christ.

1126
00:43:49,240 --> 00:43:52,360
And so if you want to grow in
his word, if you want to live a life

1127
00:43:52,360 --> 00:43:54,880
that's more righteous, that's
a good endeavor.

1128
00:43:54,880 --> 00:43:58,040
But the way that we do that is
not by trying harder, following more

1129
00:43:58,040 --> 00:44:00,420
rules, letting other people
give us approval.

1130
00:44:00,420 --> 00:44:03,980
The way to live a righteous
life is to live in the righteousness

1131
00:44:03,980 --> 00:44:07,980
of Jesus Christ and allow him
to guide us, to allow him to convict

1132
00:44:07,980 --> 00:44:12,380
us, to allow him to allow us
to walk in newness of life, walking

1133
00:44:12,380 --> 00:44:13,380
in his identity.

1134
00:44:13,380 --> 00:44:17,060
So, Christian, here's the
action item this morning.

1135
00:44:17,620 --> 00:44:18,980
The action item is this.

1136
00:44:19,620 --> 00:44:23,140
What are you relying on in
your life for spiritual growth?

1137
00:44:24,910 --> 00:44:25,630
Well, I've got my.

1138
00:44:25,710 --> 00:44:27,390
I do my morning devotions.

1139
00:44:27,390 --> 00:44:28,110
That's great.

1140
00:44:28,590 --> 00:44:29,470
But go deeper.

1141
00:44:29,470 --> 00:44:29,790
Why?

1142
00:44:31,150 --> 00:44:33,230
What is your morning devotion
all about?

1143
00:44:33,230 --> 00:44:34,830
What's your motivation behind it?

1144
00:44:35,310 --> 00:44:36,670
I serve at the church.

1145
00:44:36,830 --> 00:44:37,190
Great.

1146
00:44:37,190 --> 00:44:38,830
What's your motivation behind it?

1147
00:44:39,390 --> 00:44:40,670
Is it the letter of the law?

1148
00:44:40,670 --> 00:44:41,950
Is it the fear of man?

1149
00:44:41,950 --> 00:44:44,510
Or is it the newness of the spirit?

1150
00:44:46,110 --> 00:44:47,590
You might say, well, you know
what, Pastor?

1151
00:44:47,590 --> 00:44:49,870
I don't have the opportunity
to serve the way I used to serve.

1152
00:44:49,870 --> 00:44:50,510
That's okay.

1153
00:44:51,230 --> 00:44:54,710
Maybe physical ailments or
circumstances in your life have allowed

1154
00:44:54,710 --> 00:44:57,070
you to not get to a place that
you used to be in.

1155
00:44:57,070 --> 00:44:59,230
That doesn't mean that your
spiritual life goes back.

1156
00:44:59,310 --> 00:45:02,070
It just means that God has me
in a different capacity in a different

1157
00:45:02,070 --> 00:45:02,390
way.

1158
00:45:02,390 --> 00:45:04,910
But God still calls me to walk
in fellowship with him.

1159
00:45:05,230 --> 00:45:08,790
If a church is all about what
we can get from you, that's the wrong

1160
00:45:08,790 --> 00:45:09,150
point.

1161
00:45:09,630 --> 00:45:10,910
The wrong point is this.

1162
00:45:10,910 --> 00:45:12,110
Hey, you know what?

1163
00:45:12,110 --> 00:45:12,910
You're bringing me value.

1164
00:45:12,910 --> 00:45:14,190
At church, you get honor.

1165
00:45:15,230 --> 00:45:16,190
The Bible says no.

1166
00:45:17,120 --> 00:45:18,680
The Bible says there's gonna
be some people in the church that

1167
00:45:18,680 --> 00:45:19,680
have different seasons.

1168
00:45:20,400 --> 00:45:21,840
There's gonna be different opportunities.

1169
00:45:22,480 --> 00:45:25,760
But church is not about
lifting up one individual Person,

1170
00:45:25,760 --> 00:45:26,840
that is the pastor.

1171
00:45:26,840 --> 00:45:29,120
The church is not lifting up a
name, a program.

1172
00:45:29,280 --> 00:45:31,840
The church is about lifting up
Christ and actually allowing the

1173
00:45:31,840 --> 00:45:32,320
other way around.

1174
00:45:32,720 --> 00:45:34,720
We lift up Christ as he lifts
us up.

1175
00:45:34,720 --> 00:45:36,080
He's the chief cornerstone.

1176
00:45:36,240 --> 00:45:37,600
He's the sure foundation.

1177
00:45:38,320 --> 00:45:39,200
He's the head.

1178
00:45:39,840 --> 00:45:44,890
And so what we must do is have
more Jesus and less of us, more of

1179
00:45:44,890 --> 00:45:49,090
the Word and less of what we
would consider to be just people's

1180
00:45:49,090 --> 00:45:49,610
opinions.

1181
00:45:50,010 --> 00:45:51,450
I love people's opinions.

1182
00:45:51,770 --> 00:45:52,410
They're all different.

1183
00:45:52,410 --> 00:45:53,290
And that's okay.

1184
00:45:53,930 --> 00:45:55,090
But the idea would be this.

1185
00:45:55,090 --> 00:45:57,690
The only opinion that matters
is what God believes.

1186
00:45:57,850 --> 00:45:59,970
And what we would say is this,
Lord, what do you want from us?

1187
00:45:59,970 --> 00:46:00,770
And he says, you know what?

1188
00:46:00,770 --> 00:46:04,250
That is the ultimate goal for
you to walk in fellowship with me

1189
00:46:04,250 --> 00:46:04,610
next week.

1190
00:46:04,610 --> 00:46:08,770
We're going to talk more about
the law and the more about how sin

1191
00:46:08,770 --> 00:46:10,030
corrupts the law and.

1192
00:46:10,100 --> 00:46:13,100
And how we can, as Christians,
deal with that struggle that happens.

1193
00:46:13,100 --> 00:46:17,020
Because some of you might say,
you know what, Pastor, I want to

1194
00:46:17,020 --> 00:46:17,540
do good.

1195
00:46:18,740 --> 00:46:20,500
I really have good intentions.

1196
00:46:21,220 --> 00:46:24,100
But why do I just still
struggle with that sin?

1197
00:46:25,700 --> 00:46:29,380
Well, I'm glad that you asked
that, because Paul mentions that

1198
00:46:29,380 --> 00:46:29,940
next week.

1199
00:46:30,260 --> 00:46:34,100
Paul says, you know, there's
things that I struggle with still,

1200
00:46:34,820 --> 00:46:38,220
because a lot of times people
will think this, well, if I'm a Christian,

1201
00:46:38,220 --> 00:46:39,940
why do I still struggle with
these temptations?

1202
00:46:40,500 --> 00:46:42,100
Why do I still struggle with sin?

1203
00:46:42,100 --> 00:46:43,860
Why do I still struggle with
these thoughts?

1204
00:46:43,860 --> 00:46:45,620
Why do I still struggle with
all this?

1205
00:46:45,620 --> 00:46:49,260
The Bible speaks of this idea
of the spirit in the flesh, is they're

1206
00:46:49,260 --> 00:46:49,700
at war.

1207
00:46:50,180 --> 00:46:53,339
And next week we're going to
talk about the true battle that we

1208
00:46:53,339 --> 00:46:53,780
all fight.

1209
00:46:53,780 --> 00:46:55,340
And Paul describes his battle.

1210
00:46:55,340 --> 00:46:57,460
And some of you might be
shocked by what Paul says.

1211
00:46:58,100 --> 00:46:59,580
This idea that, hey, you know what?

1212
00:46:59,580 --> 00:47:02,420
I have this desire in the
Spirit, I have this desire in the

1213
00:47:02,420 --> 00:47:02,740
flesh.

1214
00:47:03,020 --> 00:47:04,380
They're at war with each other.

1215
00:47:04,380 --> 00:47:05,620
How are we gonna rectify that?

1216
00:47:05,620 --> 00:47:06,340
So come back next.

1217
00:47:06,340 --> 00:47:08,060
We can see, because this is
all the.

1218
00:47:08,140 --> 00:47:11,500
The big idea stuff in verses
one through six.

1219
00:47:11,500 --> 00:47:13,900
And then Paul starts getting
down to the minutia, the.

1220
00:47:13,900 --> 00:47:18,020
The very micro level of how
this looks like within the Christian

1221
00:47:18,020 --> 00:47:18,300
life.

1222
00:47:18,300 --> 00:47:21,660
When we're warring against
evil, when we're warring against

1223
00:47:21,660 --> 00:47:24,140
darkness, when we're warring
against our own flesh.

1224
00:47:24,220 --> 00:47:25,060
How does that look?

1225
00:47:25,060 --> 00:47:27,020
And what do we rely on in that process?

1226
00:47:27,260 --> 00:47:29,140
And what do we have in
forgiveness in him?

1227
00:47:29,140 --> 00:47:31,760
And he's gonna tell us more
about that when we study Romans,

1228
00:47:31,760 --> 00:47:32,680
chapter seven next week.

1229
00:47:32,680 --> 00:47:36,440
But I'm going to ask for you,
if you're able to stand with me.

1230
00:47:36,440 --> 00:47:39,000
Every head bowed, every Eye
closed as the music plays this morning,

1231
00:47:39,560 --> 00:47:44,160
I want to ask you just a few
questions about what we've talked

1232
00:47:44,160 --> 00:47:44,920
about here today.

1233
00:47:46,120 --> 00:47:47,440
The idea would be this.

1234
00:47:47,440 --> 00:47:52,520
Number one, what are you
trusting in for your salvation, your.

1235
00:47:52,520 --> 00:47:53,880
Your justification?

1236
00:47:54,120 --> 00:47:55,880
How can you justify yourself?

1237
00:47:58,370 --> 00:47:59,250
Let me give you a little hint.

1238
00:47:59,250 --> 00:48:02,050
Biblically speaking, you
cannot justify yourself.

1239
00:48:02,610 --> 00:48:06,250
You must have someone who is
righteous declare righteousness in

1240
00:48:06,250 --> 00:48:06,570
your life.

1241
00:48:06,570 --> 00:48:08,210
And God doesn't overlook sin.

1242
00:48:08,370 --> 00:48:12,890
We know that God never can,
never will never overlook sin.

1243
00:48:12,890 --> 00:48:17,770
But what he can do is he can
look to his son Jesus and his perfect

1244
00:48:17,770 --> 00:48:18,770
sacrifice for us.

1245
00:48:18,770 --> 00:48:22,290
And when we trust in him, that
is what justifies us.

1246
00:48:22,570 --> 00:48:25,330
That is why God can declare us
righteous because of the payment

1247
00:48:25,330 --> 00:48:26,170
of Jesus Christ.

1248
00:48:27,130 --> 00:48:30,330
So this morning, I don't care
if you've been a church member for

1249
00:48:30,330 --> 00:48:30,970
decades.

1250
00:48:30,970 --> 00:48:34,410
I don't care if you're someone
who serves.

1251
00:48:35,930 --> 00:48:38,730
The true question I would ask
you is, what are you trusting in

1252
00:48:38,970 --> 00:48:41,610
for your justification for
your salvation?

1253
00:48:41,610 --> 00:48:42,890
It cannot be the law.

1254
00:48:42,970 --> 00:48:44,410
The law does not justify.

1255
00:48:45,850 --> 00:48:47,410
It cannot be my good works.

1256
00:48:47,410 --> 00:48:49,290
It cannot be the way that I look.

1257
00:48:49,290 --> 00:48:51,690
It cannot be where I sit on
Sunday mornings.

1258
00:48:51,690 --> 00:48:53,650
It cannot be what ministry I'm in.

1259
00:48:53,730 --> 00:48:56,810
Matthew chapter 7 says, There
was a bunch of people, there will

1260
00:48:56,810 --> 00:48:59,730
be a bunch of people to take
the next step in your spiritual walk,

1261
00:48:59,890 --> 00:49:02,930
the next endeavor in your
spiritual growth process.

1262
00:49:03,170 --> 00:49:05,410
And sometimes that takes faith.

1263
00:49:05,570 --> 00:49:07,330
Sometimes that takes sacrifice.

1264
00:49:07,490 --> 00:49:09,770
Sometimes that takes being
able to say, you know what?

1265
00:49:09,770 --> 00:49:11,210
I no longer want to do those things.

1266
00:49:11,210 --> 00:49:12,530
I want to do the things of God.

1267
00:49:13,570 --> 00:49:15,410
Where is your desire this morning?

1268
00:49:16,830 --> 00:49:17,710
Question would be this.

1269
00:49:18,190 --> 00:49:21,670
If you're trusting in anything
else outside of the grace of Jesus

1270
00:49:21,670 --> 00:49:25,270
Christ for the sanctification
process, we're trusting in the wrong

1271
00:49:25,270 --> 00:49:25,550
things.

1272
00:49:26,110 --> 00:49:28,310
So maybe you just want to come
to the Lord this morning and say,

1273
00:49:28,310 --> 00:49:31,230
lord, I'm sorry for trying to
do this in my own strength.

1274
00:49:31,870 --> 00:49:32,670
I'm sorry.

1275
00:49:32,750 --> 00:49:36,590
I apologize for trying to be a
good person in my own flesh and try

1276
00:49:36,590 --> 00:49:40,470
to keep some type of law that
maybe I've even created in my own

1277
00:49:40,470 --> 00:49:40,750
life.

1278
00:49:40,830 --> 00:49:45,280
Lord, I want you to be the one
who grows me, who changes me, who

1279
00:49:45,280 --> 00:49:48,320
gives me that place of
spiritual maturity in my life so

1280
00:49:48,320 --> 00:49:51,240
that I can show others what it
means to have that spiritual growth.

1281
00:49:52,600 --> 00:49:54,720
Lord, I pray that you be in
this time of invitation, working

1282
00:49:54,720 --> 00:49:58,800
hearts and lives speak to us
this morning through your word, through

1283
00:49:58,800 --> 00:50:02,640
the conviction of the Spirit,
through the guidance of the Spirit.

1284
00:50:02,640 --> 00:50:05,840
Lord, I pray that we can
follow you, Lord, not follow anything

1285
00:50:05,840 --> 00:50:09,890
else outside of your grace and
your forgiveness and your love and

1286
00:50:09,890 --> 00:50:11,210
your comfort and your guidance.

1287
00:50:11,290 --> 00:50:13,290
So, Lord, I pray that you be
in this time of invitation.

1288
00:50:13,530 --> 00:50:15,130
We thank you for your love and grace.

1289
00:50:15,530 --> 00:50:16,250
Jesus name.

1290
00:50:16,250 --> 00:50:16,570
Amen.

1291
00:50:16,570 --> 00:50:18,490
As the music plays, some have
already come.

1292
00:50:18,490 --> 00:50:20,090
Follow as the Lord leads here
this morning.

1293
00:52:08,049 --> 00:52:10,450
Thank you again for listening
to the Middletown Baptist Church

1294
00:52:10,450 --> 00:52:11,090
podcast.

1295
00:52:11,330 --> 00:52:13,650
I hope that this sermon has
been a blessing for you.

1296
00:52:14,290 --> 00:52:16,570
If you would like to find out
more information about our church

1297
00:52:16,570 --> 00:52:21,260
or this sermon can find us at
middletownbaptistchurch.org or find

1298
00:52:21,260 --> 00:52:22,940
us on Facebook or YouTube.

1299
00:52:23,660 --> 00:52:28,100
You can also email me directly
at Josh Massaroiddletownbaptistchurch

1300
00:52:28,100 --> 00:52:32,580
dot com if you've enjoyed this
podcast, please subscribe and follow

1301
00:52:32,580 --> 00:52:35,340
along for future podcast and updates.

1302
00:52:36,060 --> 00:52:37,020
Thank you so much.

1303
00:52:37,180 --> 00:52:37,980
God Bless.

1304
00:52:38,220 --> 00:52:39,500
Have a wonderful day.