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[0:00] Nice fall day, kind of crisp, the leaves are changing and all that good stuff. And it means it's time to think spring. Oh, yeah.

[0:14] Maybe I'm jumping the gun a little bit, but anyway. And I'm going to do something that we ordinarily don't do, but we're doing something that we ordinarily don't do.

[0:26] So I'm going to read some of the items that I ordinarily would just leave for your attention and ask you to read them individually. But because so many of our folks are not here, we are recording this, and they will be able to get it on their computers this afternoon after it is posted.

[0:49] That is the entire message. So they are not here to gain the benefit of the information of some of the items we'll be sharing from the bulletin, et cetera, and the scripture reading and so on.

[1:00] And in an effort to make them feel as included as possible, even though they're not with us, we're going to do some things that we ordinarily would not do. So beginning with reading that article on the front page of your bulletin, For the time being, we continue to encourage each person and family to take responsibility for yourself in view of the unknown still existing about COVID-19.

[1:28] Your presence or absence at the services here at Grace are at your discretion. As often stated, personal health issues and a compromised immune system are prudent reasons for remaining at home.

[1:43] And thanks to the grace position, you need not have to deal with guilt feelings. Isn't that great? Regrets, yes. But guilt, no.

[1:54] Of course, we miss you and long for your fellowship. So let's stay in touch via phone and internet. Blessings to you, Pastor Marv. And the face masks are presenting a real problem here.

[2:12] And I feel like we are in a no-win situation with the face masks because I know there are a number of folks that are not here because face masks are required.

[2:26] And they just don't feel that that's necessary and they're not going to involve their family in it. And as I mentioned, that is a personal responsibility. As Paul wrote in Romans 13, let everyone be fully persuaded in his own mind.

[2:43] And no one has the right to sit in judgment on someone else for wearing or not wearing a face mask or for being or not being here. It's to his own master he stands or falls. It's an individual responsibility thing.

[2:56] And we ask Grace people to take responsibility for that. So, whatever the position. And you know, this thing has not begun to let go of us.

[3:08] It is surging in areas. Clark County is again red. And that is not a good thing. We just don't know how long we're going to be dealing with this.

[3:19] But in the meanwhile, we try to be as prudent as we can. And someone says, well, I'm not sure that those face masks do any good. I'm not either. But I know one thing.

[3:31] If you don't wear them, for sure they don't do any good. So, we're trying to err on the side of caution and safety and common sense. And people have ways of drawing that line in different places.

[3:43] So, as I mentioned, each to his own. You'll have to decide for yourself. So, take that responsibility. And thank you for being grace-oriented enough to do it. Would you join with me in prayer, please?

[3:55] Thank you.

[4:25] Thank you for the technology that makes us available. And we ask that as we enter into the morning with the message and with personal responsibilities that each of us must bear as a result of the message that you will undertake for us.

[4:41] We continue to uphold our nation and the ongoing kind of social and spiritual crisis we are confronted with. We simply pray that those in decision-making positions will have the wisdom and the understanding to chart the course that this nation should be taking.

[5:03] We are grateful for those you've placed in office. We continue to uphold them in prayer. Those in the Oval Office and those in the halls of Congress that you will allow them to understand precisely what it is our nation is facing and prescribe the best remedies and the best direction for it.

[5:21] Thank you again for the free country that we live in, for the elections that we are able to participate in, and for the information that is available to us to help us make wise decisions.

[5:37] We look to you for your direction and your wisdom in it all, and we thank you once again for simply the privilege of living in a nation unlike any that the world has ever seen.

[5:50] We pray that we may be able through your grace to preserve it and to improve it in every way. Thank you for those who are here this morning for the truth that will be before us in Christ's name.

[6:01] Amen. We have a charming young lady here on the platform, Rebecca McConkie. Most of you know her, and she's been in Spain of late but has returned to the States, and I've asked her if she would take a few moments this morning and update us on what's going on in her life and what her plans are, so Rebecca, come right ahead.

[6:26] Well, buenos dias and good morning. It is so good to be back, and I know a lot of the seats are empty, so it's a little bit weird. It's weird everywhere.

[6:37] I was kind of concerned to come back to the U.S. because for me, the whole COVID thing felt like it was a Spain issue, and I thought, oh, I'm going back to the U.S., and then I knew it was going to be different.

[6:48] So it's good to see you all and get some familiarity with you all and just see some common faces. So thank you for being here.

[7:00] But, yeah, I would just like to share a little bit about what my ministry is doing. So I am with Operation Mobilization in Spain. That is an organization based in Atlanta, Georgia, and they go all over the world, and their mission is to reach people through everyday work, through jobs.

[7:18] So for me, my area of study is Christian ministry. And so for me, I'm doing a lot of discipleship, but my main focus and my heart desire is to focus on the girls in the street in Barcelona.

[7:32] So there are a lot of prostitutes and girls who are sex trafficked in an area called Raval in Barcelona, and they work the streets kind of all day.

[7:46] So we actually go out around 5 o'clock in the afternoon, and we see plenty of girls. There's usually about 20 of them out there working regularly, and we just go out. Usually we go out weekly, and we speak with them and ask them how they're doing, try to build relationships with them, and we pray with them.

[8:04] They're all very receptive to prayer. So we have a lot of different types of girls. We have a lot of girls from South America, from Russia, from Eastern Europe, Romania, a lot of Nigerians.

[8:19] And so I'm actually the only English speaker on my team, so it's really important that we have people who can speak different languages because obviously they know a bit of Spanish, but not all of them do.

[8:30] So I'm able to go up to these Nigerian girls and speak with them in English. They speak English and just really speak with them and kind of get to know them, and it's been a good ministry.

[8:41] So obviously during the COVID situation, it's been really hard because we haven't been able to go out to the streets and meet with these girls like we like to. A huge part of this ministry is just being there, showing up for them because they have been so deceived in so many ways, and just to see a familiar face, and we haven't been able to do that for them.

[9:01] So it's been really hard, so we could really use your prayers in that. Our team has had some kind of personal matters. My team leader has fibromyalgia, so it's really hard for her to get out of the house and move, and she's also working full-time, so she could really use your prayers.

[9:23] But we also have had some really good blessings on our team. So we have recently joined a chapter of Esclavitud 21, which is Slavery 21, and it is an organization in Spain, and they reach out to all different types of girls who are working the streets.

[9:41] And so the team leaders of that area in Barcelona are also working with our team. So previously it was just me and two other women going to the streets, and now we have a husband and wife, and as soon as I get back, we're going to be meeting with a small group from a Russian church who wants to join us.

[9:58] So we're so thankful for that, and we're also thankful because we have a cell phone. So previously we couldn't contact the girls because it's not safe for us to use our personal cell phones to contact the girls to give them our numbers because a lot of them are trafficked, and they're with mafias, and it's just not safe.

[10:17] So we have this phone, and we're able to contact the girls, and that's been a really good blessing. Just ask them how we can pray for them, how they're doing, what their needs are during the virus. So continue to pray for that, that we can have more phone numbers for these girls, and that they would actively be participating in the phone calls and stuff and get back with us.

[10:37] So, yeah, we're really excited. We've been doing more prayer walks more often. We're trying to do every 15 days now to just surround the area in prayer. We're not going directly into the streets because a lot of these girls aren't wearing their masks, and they're with clients, and we have to protect our families.

[10:56] So they like to do the hugs, and it's common to do the kissing, greeting in Spain. So it's just to protect our families right now and to also protect them. We're just surrounding the area with prayer.

[11:08] So if you could keep praying for our organization, we're called Lucy Vida, Light and Life. And, yeah, this is my heart ministry, and it's a really big deal to me.

[11:19] And so it's hard work, and we really do need your prayers. And then, yeah, an update on my life. So I do feel like this is a life call for me to continue this type of ministry.

[11:34] I'm not sure where. But I have recently been engaged. So we are going to get married in April in Springfield, and we've decided to live in the U.S. for a year just to kind of establish some basic principles so I can work a little bit and get paid off my student loans a little bit quicker.

[11:57] So we're going to do kind of a year sabbatical in Springfield and go from there. So we will be seeing a little bit more of you. We're both moving to the U.S. in January. So we're excited to see you.

[12:09] And, yeah, we could just use your prayers. Please pray for our ministry. It's a challenge right now, and I'll continue to pray for you and all the things that are happening here.

[12:24] Thank you. Thank you, Rebecca. Extraordinary young lady with an extraordinary kind of ministry.

[12:37] It is very, very much needed. Thank you for sharing that with us. Appreciate it so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. There was some announcements now, and again, to repeat myself, I mentioned that folks who are not with us don't have the advantage of this.

[12:56] So if you will take the insert that is included in your bulletin, and I'm talking about the one that talks about the fake news and the need to wake up. And just follow along as I read this.

[13:08] You know, as I saw this, and it was sent to me by someone on the Internet, the light went on, and I remembered. I remember that.

[13:19] Yeah, Mark, you're old enough to remember that. You remember that. I remember. I'm almost positive this was the time when Nikita Khrushchev took off his shoe at the meeting of the United Nations and pounded on his desk with the shoe as he uttered the words, America, we will bury you.

[13:46] Can you imagine that? I remember that scene. America, we will bury you.

[14:00] Anyone who is younger than 60 years old should be aware of what former Soviet Prime Minister Nikita Khrushchev said during an address to the United Nations in 1959, back before some of you were even thought of.

[14:16] Your children's children will live under communism. You Americans are so gullible. No, you won't accept communism outright.

[14:28] But we will keep feeding you small doses of socialism until you finally wake up and find you have already have communism.

[14:41] Communism is nothing more than socialism on steroids. We will not have to fight you. We will so weaken your economy until you will fall like overripe fruit into our hands.

[14:57] The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. It was September 29, 1959, when Nikita Khrushchev delivered his prediction for America at the United Nations.

[15:14] At that time, just the word communism was feared throughout our nation. Remember this. Socialism leads to communism.

[15:24] Socialism. How do you create a socialist state? There are eight levels of control. One, health care. Control health care and you control the people.

[15:39] It's not rocket science, folks. Poverty. Increase the poverty level as high as possible. Poor people are easier to control and will not fight back if you are providing everything for them.

[15:58] Three, debt. Increase the debt to an unsustainable level. That way you are able to increase taxes and this will produce more poverty.

[16:09] Now the name of the game is the more poverty there is, the more dependent they are on the government, which is the whole point. It is the elevation of government to the position of be all, end all.

[16:22] The individual, kaput. The government is everything. Gun control. Remove the ability to defend themselves from the government.

[16:34] That way you are able to take control of every aspect of food, housing, income of their lives because that will make them fully dependent on the government.

[16:46] And that ties in with welfare as well. Education. Take control of what people read, listen to, and take control of what children learn in school.

[16:57] Do you see any semblance of this going on? Education.

[17:09] Take control of what people read, listen to, and take control of what children learn in school. Religion. Remove the belief in God from the government and schools because the people need to believe in only the government, knowing what is best for the people.

[17:27] Class warfare. Divide the people into the wealthy and the poor. Eliminate the middle class. This will cause more discontent, and it will be easier to tax the rich with the support of the poor.

[17:40] Here is our scary future. Six of those levels are already being pushed. Now folks, I trust you understand this is not opinion.

[17:53] And if you think it's just opinion, would you just look around? It's fact. It is an opinion. All of these levels are being worked on, including erasing history.

[18:10] If you want to chart the course for people's future, confuse, obfuscate, and eliminate their past.

[18:23] Hmm. And destroying monuments, too, by the way. Another thing that happens when tyrants take power, take over, they remove the police and put their own henchmen in their place.

[18:40] Sound familiar? When Adolf Hitler took over Germany in the 1930s, they developed a paramilitary kind of organization known as the Brownshirts.

[18:55] And the Brownshirts were given instructions to go into the community and virtually oppose the police from policing the area and doing their normal job.

[19:06] We haven't seen any Brownshirts show up yet, but keep your eyes open. And this item is posted on the bulletin board.

[19:17] You can't see the pictures here, but the pictures are on the bulletin board. It's been seven years since BLM was formed. Black Lives Matter.

[19:29] I want you to understand, if you don't already realize it, the genius and the necessity of the organization that you're going to begin having the right name.

[19:40] It needs to be a name that no one can honestly, safely oppose. Kind of like freedom of choice.

[19:52] Is there anybody in their right mind that could be opposed to freedom of choice? Choose the right label for your organization. And Black Lives Matter is a stroke of genius.

[20:04] Is there anything or anybody that can oppose the concept of Black Lives Mattering? If you oppose that, what kind of an animal are you?

[20:16] Of course Black Lives Matter. Choose the right name for your organization. It's been seven years since Black Lives Matter was formed.

[20:27] They have raised over a billion, that's with a B, a billion dollars. They haven't had one neighborhood cleanup, sent one poor black child to college, bought school supplies, fed the hungry, or donated to a food bank or provided housing to one poor black family.

[20:47] Where is the money going other than to buy huge charter buses to transport members to riots?

[20:59] Look at all the Antifa slash Black Lives Matter luxury buses. They're on the bulletin board. Just waiting to take each protester, also known as rioter, to their different democratic city to destroy, burn, and murder.

[21:21] They get paid about $15 to $18 per hour, which includes food and drink, for all the young, uneducated teenagers and adults.

[21:32] If this doesn't show you how serious they are in their mission, then I don't know what will. Don't tell me that this wasn't planned a long time ago to bring down the president.

[21:46] And here is a flyer that was posted, and it too is on the bulletin board. Originally appeared in the Philadelphia Craigslist organization.

[21:57] Stop Trump. You can earn up to $1,500 a week. Hiring immediately.

[22:08] Call today. Start tomorrow. $15 to $18 hourly rate. Hourly rate. Bonus overtime up to 77 hours a week.

[22:21] Drivers earn gas reimbursement. Morning and evening shifts. No previous experience required. Full-time and part-time positions. Weekend positions available.

[22:32] No fundraising and no commission. And the phone number to call to sign up. These are the people who were bussed in from out of state into Seattle and into Wisconsin and into Illinois.

[22:53] And they were there to mingle with the protesters. But they were a lot more intent on doing things other than just protesting.

[23:05] They were destructive. They set fires. They turned over police cars. They set them on fire. They closed who knows how many businesses were people that put their life's work into. Shut them down.

[23:16] Burned them. Set them on fire. Looted. Walked in and carried off whatever merchandise they wanted. And these people were all paid and assigned to do what they did.

[23:29] America. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up.

[23:39] Open the scriptures if you would please. We do have something more important to attend to. To 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy. Chapter 1.

[23:53] Along with what I've been doing by way of trying to inform everybody. Including people who are not with us. We're dealing with Moses and Paul and reasons for confusion.

[24:05] Part 3. We will search far and wide to find greater differences than those existing under law as compared to grace. We continue our contrasting the two.

[24:18] Hopefully a Q&A will follow. Have your questions and comments ready. The morning prophecy slash mystery comparison we began the first of the year has necessarily been altered.

[24:28] Due to the temporary halting of the 9 o'clock session. So we began by treating issues relating to prophecy at 9. Then we followed with a contrasting study of mystery at 1015.

[24:39] However, the arrival of the coronavirus changed that. With a 9 a.m. teaching temporarily halted, we now resort to combining the two during the one hour at 1015.

[24:52] This also necessitates a change in their numbering. So today's session will be number three. And by the way, in connection with this, and this is just amazing how this keeps cropping up.

[25:03] In the October issue, dated October 14, from two minutes with the Bible, it was altered by Mr. Stamm and their copies back there.

[25:14] You've got this one for your inserts this morning. I thought, this is amazing. This keeps coming up. A coffin for the law.

[25:25] What do you do with a coffin but put dead things in it? Usually dead people.

[25:35] Isn't that what a coffin is for? And this is truly remarkable. And I want you to understand at the outset what the message is for the law. The law that God gave Moses that's going to be put in a coffin almost strikes me with the concept of being dead on arrival.

[26:03] What does that mean? The law that God gave dead on arrival. How could that be? In fact, that's exactly what's going to turn out to be.

[26:16] For what the law could not do. In that it was weak through the flesh. That is human flesh. Well, let's read this. Coffin for the law. It's in your bulletin insert.

[26:27] October 14. I never knew this. You know, I've studied Exodus. I've preached from it. I've never got, I never picked up on this word. The ark. We're talking about the ark of the covenant.

[26:38] And for those of you who are not familiar with the Bible, you're familiar with Indiana Jones and the ark of the covenant. Well, we're talking about the same ark.

[26:50] But Hollywood, of course, unnecessarily embellished it and departed from the truth in a number of ways, even though it made a thrilling, riveting story that I think everybody enjoyed with the action.

[27:01] But let's read this. God had barely given the law to Moses when he ordered that it be put in a coffin. That's right. A coffin.

[27:12] The reason for this is that the Mosaic covenant clearly stipulated. Now, therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people.

[27:28] For all the earth is mine. Israel, of course, did not obey God's voice indeed, but broke the law before Moses even got down from Sinai.

[27:41] It was because of this that God in grace commanded, and they shall make an ark. This word ark in Exodus 25.10 is rendered coffin in the last verse of Genesis, and that is its simple meaning.

[28:00] But why did God order a coffin as the very first article of furniture for the tabernacle? The answer is to put the law in.

[28:12] Read it for yourself. Remember, when they put the tablets of the law, Moses put the tablets of the law in the ark of the covenant, He also put in Aaron's rod that budded and a golden pot of manna, and then put the lid on the ark.

[28:31] The lid is called the mercy seat. Well, if it's a seat, who sat on it? God sat on it.

[28:43] That was the idea that was being expressed. And there were two overarching cherubs or angels, one on either end of the ark with their overarching wings, and the mercy seat that was the lid of the ark was to be the dwelling place where God said He would meet with His people.

[29:06] Now, difficulty for us humans is God is spirit. And we are told those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

[29:17] And spirit is that which is invisible. You cannot see spirit. You cannot touch it. You cannot feel it. It has no physicality to it, but it has objective reality. And God is saying that there between the overarching cherub is where He will meet with His people.

[29:33] And then on the Day of Atonement, the high priest, who was the only one allowed in that place, this was the most holy place, was allowed in only once a year, not without blood.

[29:44] And there He would make atonement for the sins of the people, and He would bring in people and bring in blood and apply it to the altar. And Israel would get a reprieve for another year.

[29:56] The nation's sins were forgiven for another year. Next year, it would have to go through the same thing all over again. And that's because it was not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sin.

[30:09] And that's where they got the blood from. It wasn't human blood. It was animal blood. But when Jesus institutes the new covenant, it will be with His blood, which, of course, is dramatically different.

[30:22] Now, let's continue on. If God had not put the covenant of law in a coffin and met His people from a mercy seat, none of them ever would have been saved.

[30:33] The Old Testament type has a lesson for us today. For if God dealt with us according to our works, none of us would ever be saved. But Christ died for our sins, meeting for us the just demands of a broken law, so that we might be saved by grace through faith in His redemptive work.

[30:53] Colossians 2.14 says, Concerning this handwriting of decrees that was against us, that's the law, that our Lord in death took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross.

[31:10] And Romans 7.6 explains, But now, we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held, that we should serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.

[31:28] Thus, believers in Christ are saved by grace through faith, not of works, but unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.

[31:41] I'm not going to take time to read it, because it was in your insert either last week or the week before, and that is the one from September 16, The Law Misunderstood. And that too is really eye-opening, because despite the fact that biblical Christianity has been in place for 2,000 years, and has replaced the law with grace, the message still does not have a hearing in much of the world today.

[32:09] And there are reasons for that, some of which we've already explained. So it tells you about the law being misunderstood. Now, if you will come, please, to the scripture reading for this morning, in 2 Timothy chapter 1, we'll be reading the first 12 verses.

[32:27] And I would ask you, if you would, please, to stand as you follow along when we read the Word of God. 2 Timothy chapter 1. If, by the way, if perchance it is physically difficult for you to stand, feel free to remain seated.

[32:42] No one will blame you for that. You'll be comfortable where you are. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my beloved son, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

[33:00] I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience, the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day, longing to see you, even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy.

[33:17] For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.

[33:28] And for this reason, I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.

[33:43] Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me, his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.

[34:17] But now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher.

[34:38] And for this reason, I also suffer these things. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.

[34:56] Thank you. Be seated, please. It still strikes me as really peculiar that the proclaiming of the gospel comes with suffering.

[35:23] And we can naturally ask... Why is this so? Why should anyone have to suffer for preaching such good news? I can understand people being made to suffer for delivering bad news that no one wants to hear.

[35:39] Sometimes you take it out on the one who's delivering it. But in this case, it's not only good news, it is the best good news the world has ever heard ever since there was a human being to hear it.

[35:57] Now pray tell me, why in the world would information like that be met with hostility, invective, persecution, and sometimes produce martyrdom?

[36:14] It makes no sense at all. And at the expense of being somewhat repetitive, but I just need to do this because I want you to get so firmly fixed in your mind that you cannot forget it.

[36:26] Why it meets with hostility and why could anyone possibly be opposed to this kind of message of eternal life, of full forgiveness for sins committed, past, present, and future?

[36:39] How or why would anybody in their right mind possibly oppose a message like that? And the answer is because people naturally are not in their right mind.

[36:53] They are in a fallen mind. We all are. Every last one of us has a fallen mind that causes us to think with a skewed logic and reach wrong conclusions upon which we act and then realize wrong consequences.

[37:18] Did it ever occur to you that that's what's wrong with the world? We've got a whole mass of humanity thinking with warped minds, reaching screwball conclusions, inane decisions, and sometimes deadly consequences.

[37:45] As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. That means our thinking needs to be adjusted and that is the very first thing I think that God addresses when we come to faith in Christ because when you give your heart and life to Jesus Christ and you receive him as the one who died for your sins, he comes into your life and he does a work in you called regeneration that none of us ever understands.

[38:19] We may possess it, we may enjoy it, but we do not understand it. God changes you on the inside where nothing else can reach. This is what Paul was talking about when he said, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creation.

[38:36] Old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new. Jesus likened this to being born again. It's just like you're starting life all over again at whatever point you are now.

[38:49] That's what the new birth does. And with that new birth, not only makes you alive alive spiritually, quickens you on the inside, but it also imparts to you a capacity and an ability to think the thoughts of God after him.

[39:11] And you get those from the scriptures. One of the principal reasons we have the Bible is to reveal not only who God is and what he is about, but to reveal also who we are as fallen individuals.

[39:27] And we have a thinking pattern that is askew. It goes all the way from thinking there is no God to worshipping sticks and rocks and false gods and all kinds of nonsense like that.

[39:39] It covers a whole gamut. That's what the fallen human mind is capable of. That's what it produces. And along with that, a major consequence, big time consequence of the fall is the impartation of self-centeredness that affects us all.

[40:02] There isn't a person in this room who isn't essentially self-centered. And if someone says, well, not me, I'm always thinking of others.

[40:15] Plus, I'm the most generous person who ever lived. There's nothing self-centered about me. Well, you're not only self-centered, you're also self-deluded because you are self-centered. We all are.

[40:25] It's part of our being. It's in your DNA. You can't help it. It's just you. It's me. And for anyone who asks the ridiculous question, does that apply to preachers?

[40:39] My answer is, especially to preachers. We are in no way exempt from this. Self-serving, self-satisfaction is the name of the game.

[40:54] You never run into that in politics, do you, Jim? No, of course not. No, no, of course not. There. Well, let's move right along. Suffering persecution and hardship because of delivering the best news the world ever heard.

[41:11] And Paul is talking about this. For this reason, I also suffer these things. Such clearly reveals the ignorance of humanity with that fallen intellect.

[41:25] The ignorance and animosity remains in place today. And when Paul comes along preaching this incredible, unheard of message, the gospel of the grace of God, it's called justification by faith, which means you come into a right relationship with God solely, exclusively, totally on the basis of your believing Him.

[41:49] Nothing else. Justification, that is, being made right with God, acceptable to God, forgiven by God, is solely on the basis of your believing.

[42:00] that's it. Nothing else. That won't fly. That won't fly with people who are thinking with a fallen intellect.

[42:15] That does not compute. It doesn't work that way. And they apply life's experiences and world experiences to this thing called the gospel, and it is rejected.

[42:27] That can't be. We know that can't be. Justification by faith can't be because that's what I have, that's contrary to what I've always believed. Therefore, that makes it wrong.

[42:38] And that's the argument that Paul was up against. The one thing that he was accused of more than anything else, more than anything else, was he was teaching against the law of Moses.

[42:50] And if there was anything for which a Jew could not forgive a Jew, it was teaching against the law of Moses. Paul never did that. He never taught against the law of Moses.

[43:03] He updated the law of Moses. And this, too, is where skewed logic and thinking has difficulty in appropriating this. When we say he updated it, that means what Paul is saying is the law is just and holy and good.

[43:21] He mentioned this to Timothy, too. There's nothing wrong with the law. The problem is the people to whom the law was given. That's where the breakdown occurs. And because the breakdown occurs there, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God and all are under divine judgment because of it and all are condemned because of it.

[43:41] And that's why we have this good news. It is designed to offset the bad news. The good news is good because the bad news is bad. The good news is the solution.

[43:52] The good news is the antidote. The good news is reparative therapy that is spiritual.

[44:03] And it leaves a person completely different from what they were before. And probably the most radical example of that is Saul of Tarsus.

[44:13] and I wonder if that's not why God chose him because he would be the most dramatic opposite. The most dramatic example of what he was doing on the basis of grace.

[44:28] What the law could not do. I'm not going to read it but I encourage you to read it at your leisure and that's the flip side of the insert that you have today about the real purpose of the law and what the law could not do.

[44:39] Paul preached for the first time this gospel that was ever heard justification by faith alone just believe.

[44:50] But there was a reason for preaching it. And here is the nub of the matter and I want you to get this nugget because it's really very important. This is at the core the very core of justification by faith for those who accept it and believe it and it is the impediment and the misunderstanding for those who do not.

[45:15] The reason was due to the monumental reality that the substitutionary death of Christ allowed for such a gospel to be preached.

[45:27] Not only to be preached but to be created and preached. Those rejecting it either deny or depreciate the price paid on the cross to make justification by faith a reality.

[45:42] And this folks is where the real rub comes in. This is the issue. If you do not understand the efficacy maybe that's too big of it.

[45:59] It's not a word we use every day is it. E-F-F-I-C-A-C-Y the efficacy. The efficacy of the death of Christ meant the inherent ability of the death of Christ to do what it did.

[46:20] It was the effectiveness of the death of Christ. It was the extent of the death of Christ. Christ therein lies the key to the whole thing.

[46:33] Because Christ died for our sins God was satisfied. He shall see the travail of his soul and be satisfied.

[46:46] God was satisfied. That means God was placated. It means that God was propitiated.

[46:58] Jesus Christ was the propitiation for our sins. Not a big theological word. It simply means the substitute. Jesus Christ was the substitute our substitute for our sins.

[47:13] God was propitiated. That means God was satisfied. That means God looked upon the death that Christ died and pronounced it enough.

[47:25] That's good. That did the job. That took care of it. What was it it took care of? It took care of the sin of the entire human race.

[47:37] Everybody who ever lived at all times. As in Adam all die and Christ shall all be made alive. And I've labored to make the careful distinction in the past.

[47:48] This does not mean because Christ died for the sins of everyone. that everyone is saved and everyone is going to heaven. No. That's universalism and the Bible certainly doesn't teach that.

[48:00] But what it does teach is because Christ died for the sins of everyone without exception. Everyone is an eligible candidate for salvation.

[48:15] That does not mean that they avail themselves of it. Some still repudiate it, reject it, mock it, make fun of it, dismiss it, demean it, whatever.

[48:27] But it's there and it satisfied God. And the most remarkable thing is think of this. The death of Jesus Christ for your sin satisfied God.

[48:41] God. He did. But it didn't satisfy some people. You know why? Because they're thinking with a skewed logic.

[48:57] It all comes back to that. Man is the problem. I think it was G.K. Chesterton who was a famous publicist and columnist in a London newspaper, very well known, had quite a sense of humor.

[49:17] One of his writers wrote him a letter and said, Dear Mr. Chesterton, could you please, in just a brief expression, explain to me just what it is that is wrong with this world?

[49:38] And Chesterton wrote back and said, Dear so-and-so, I am signed yours truly, G.K. Chesterton.

[49:52] That's what's wrong with the world. I am. You are. We are. We're what's wrong with the world. And Jesus Christ came to enable us to be right with the world.

[50:11] That's what it's all about. That's why he came. That's why he did what he did. That's what it's all about. The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. I've been preaching this for 60 years.

[50:24] I've never gotten over it and never expect to. It just floors me every time we go over this. Still, justification by faith was met with unbelief and suspicion because it did appear contrary to the law of Moses.

[50:41] the law theoretically says, the law says, do and thou shalt live. But nobody could. Nobody could do. And grace comes along and says, live and thou shalt do.

[50:57] We are not saved by our good works, but we are saved unto good works. And once we are saved, you know what you're supposed to do? Once you become a believer in Jesus Christ, what you are supposed to do is roll up your sleeves and get busy and whatever it is that God calls you to do because for the first time in your life, you are able to do something that God will accept that will not be of the flesh and it's a marvelous thing.

[51:25] the message Paul delivered was suspicious because Paul was suspicious. I want you to think about this now.

[51:37] Here is this man, Saul of Tarsus, already established a reputation as being persecutor and chief. I've already likened him to Heinrich Himmler.

[51:51] He would have been a good comparison. Himmler was one of Hitler's Gestapo experts and Saul of Tarsus out-Gestapo'd them.

[52:04] He was an original kind of brown shirt. What about hailing, that's H-A-L-I-N-G, hailing men and women and throwing them into prison and ascending to their execution and torture and everything else.

[52:19] And when this man with that dramatic Damascus Road experience came to faith in Christ, the world would never be the same and still isn't.

[52:30] And I've often described Paul as having lived the second most important life that ever lived because he was dedicated to explaining and proclaiming the first most important life that ever lived and did it in such a wonderful, wonderful way.

[52:48] but you know, that was part of Paul's opposition. I get the impression that he was not a great speaker at all.

[52:59] I think I told you that earlier. In fact, Paul himself mentions that and we think that somebody in the position he was who knew what he knew would probably be about the most gifted orator that ever walked on the planet.

[53:15] But I don't think that that was the case at all and I don't think he was being humble. I think he was simply being truthful. And if you will look for just a moment at 2 Corinthians chapter 10, Paul as much as alludes to that and I suspect that he saw that as some kind of a hindrance.

[53:35] In 2 Corinthians 10, well I just want to lift a verse out here for time's sake. Verse 10, verse 10 they say, 10, 10 I'm talking about 2 Corinthians, 10, 10.

[53:47] For they say, that is those on the receiving end of Paul's letters, his letters, Paul's letters are weighty and strong. Man writes a good argument but his personal presence is unimpressive and his speech contemptible which literally means this man Paul wasn't anything to listen to.

[54:12] And if you come across the page to chapter 11, and verse 6, Paul himself admits but even if I am unskilled in speech.

[54:29] Now you know who was skilled in speech? Anybody remember? What was his name?

[54:40] Pardon? Who was it? Yes, yes, thank you.

[54:53] Apollo. Apollos was gifted in speech. He was the orator. He was the spellbinder. Paul wasn't. Paul was somebody that you could listen to him for a little while and thank you, I've had enough.

[55:09] What was it that made this man so valuable? Don't ever forget this. Content, content, content.

[55:20] It wasn't Paul's way with words. It was the message that he had to deliver. He himself called himself, I who am less than the least of all the apostles.

[55:36] To me was this grace given that I should make known among the Gentiles the mystery of Christ, salvation that is in Christ. Paul was not a gifted speaker or orator, but he had the content.

[55:52] And if you would take the time to concentrate and listen to what this man says, you will be immeasurably benefited. And I would say the same thing about what has been written.

[56:05] I am not so, I'm unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in knowledge. In fact, in every way we have made this evident to you in all things.

[56:17] This gospel of the grace of God that is referred to as justification by faith, which means being declared by God to be just, just on the basis of believing, was absolutely unheard of.

[56:34] This was a new thing. For some, that was a reason right there to reject it. It was new. And the fact that Paul was, he was an apostle, well, they knew the twelve apostles.

[56:49] They knew Matthew and Peter and James and John and Andrew and all the others. And these twelve apostles spent three years with Jesus.

[57:00] I mean, they really got the stuff. They got the content. They got briefed on the kingdom of heaven was at hand and they were to go into all the world and so on.

[57:12] They preached this gospel of the kingdom. The king is coming and it's going to be wonderful and he's going to establish the kingdom and all the rest of it. And that went on for three years.

[57:22] And they lived and ate and slept and drank with our Lord and preaching that kingdom message. And part of that message was a sacrificial thing like he told the rich young ruler when he said, what else do I lack?

[57:38] I've done all those things. What else do I lack? And Jesus said, well, you're a wealthy man. You sell your possessions and give your money to the poor and come and follow me. I can see his jaw dropping.

[57:51] And the text says, this is in Matthew 19, the text says, he went away sad for he had many possessions.

[58:03] And then Peter walks over to Jesus and says, we heard what you just told that young fellow. Sell everything, give to the poor, come and follow me, and he'd have treasure in heaven?

[58:17] Jesus says, yes. And Peter said, well, we did that. We did that. We left our business, left our livelihood, left our boats, left the nets, left our families, left the fishing, and followed you.

[58:37] And now, those guys have been talking among ourselves, you know, what are we going to get out of this? What's the payoff going to be?

[58:48] You told that rich young ruler, sell everything he had, and come and follow you. That's what we did. And here we are, and we've been doing this, following you. What do we get out of this?

[59:00] And Jesus said, you who have followed me, in the regeneration, that's when this world is made new, when the kingdom comes that they were preaching, you also, shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

[59:23] This is millennial stuff. This is kingdom stuff. This is the realization of the kingdom, which everybody prays, in thy kingdom come, thy will be done. That's that kingdom that we're talking about.

[59:37] Are we preaching that today? Is that our message today? Of course not. What are we preaching today? It isn't sell everything you have and go and follow Jesus.

[59:50] It isn't sell everything you have. And you know, there have been, and there have been, and there still are, some religious organizations, and I guess you could call them churches, they call themselves a church, and they're extremely, extremely manipulative, and you know what they get their authority for that?

[60:10] from what the Bible says. We get it right out of the Bible where you're supposed to sell what you have and bring the money to the church and give it to the church.

[60:25] And I've heard horror stories, and you have too, about some of the cults that exist where they manipulate people and squeeze people, and they have people donating their cars to them and donating their homes to them and all of this on the basis of pleasing God and being sufficiently rewarded for having done so.

[60:49] And they got it right out of the Bible. There it is in black and white. Well, if you've got a red letter Bible, there it is in red and white.

[61:01] And for some people, aren't you supposed to do what the Bible says? Well, yes. Well, that's what it says. It says, Sell that which you have, give to the poor, come follow me. And, you know, in Acts, early Acts, that's exactly what they were doing because they were trying to be good stewards with what God had given them, and we were told that there were those who had houses and lands, and they sold them, sold them, and they brought the proceeds, and they gave the money to the apostles and said, here, you dole this out and give it to whoever, this was the earliest welfare system, and it began in Acts 4 and 5.

[61:44] And then, of course, somebody threw a monkey wrench into it named Ananias and Sapphira, and they had land, and they sold this land for, choose a number, they sold this land for $15,000, $15,000, and they brought $5,000, and gave it to the apostles and said, here, use this for the poor, and their sin was not in that they held back part of the money, their sin was that they deceived the apostles into thinking they had given everything and had given just a portion, and Peter said, Ananias dropped dead, and he did.

[62:30] Boy, aren't we glad things don't work that way today? And Sapphira, his wife, wasn't there, and she came in, and Peter says, Sapphira, tell me, how much did you get for that land that you donated?

[62:47] She backed up her husband's lie because they had colluded together, and so their stories would be the same, and she lied, too. And she fell over dead. Well, what is this business about people falling over dead for simply telling a lie like that?

[63:01] Listen, this was the earliest instigation, the application of kingdom principles that were being realized, even though that kingdom never did come to fruition, it was getting underway.

[63:16] And this is exactly why they were doing that. They were trying to fulfill those objectives. They're not for us. They're for the kingdom content.

[63:30] We are in the dispensation or the administration of the grace of God, and the kingdom that was promised, anticipated, the kingdom for which Christ died, has been put on hold, and it has never yet come into being.

[63:46] This kingdom is synonymous with the millennial thousand-year reign of Christ, and that has never happened. And when it does, it will be miraculous beyond words.

[63:59] So the message that Paul was giving was a blockbuster message, and it was so radical and so different that that led some to reject it right out of hand.

[64:10] And besides, Paul had this weird story about going to Damascus and seeing this bright light and all the rest, and we don't know if he was really on the level.

[64:22] We don't know if maybe he was hallucinating or if he was having some kind of a seizure or there's maybe some explanation for that, and he just went radically to another extreme and began preaching the faith that he once saw to destroy.

[64:37] And this man, maybe he's mentally ill. You know, all kinds of accusations were leveled against him, the basis for rejecting his message. He had a tough way to go.

[64:48] And let me tell you something. The gospel of Jesus Christ, whereby men and women are justified solely on the basis of faith alone, has a rough way to go today.

[65:00] Because if you don't give people something to do that they can take credit for and get a pat on the back for, a lot of them just aren't interested. This is all of grace.

[65:11] All you do to receive it is the same thing you do to receive any gift that anybody gives you. You just reach out and take it.

[65:25] And frankly, it would be an insult to your friend who is giving you a gift. Maybe it's your birthday. Maybe it's Christmas.

[65:35] It's a nice package. It's all wrapped up. It's got a bow on it and it's got your name on it and you open it and you say, oh, it's wonderful. Thank you so much. How much do I owe you? What an insult.

[65:50] What an insult. The gift is given to be received freely. No strings attached.

[66:03] What you do after you receive that gift, that's where the work comes in. That's where the effort comes in. That's where the labor comes in.

[66:13] That's where the proclaiming the gospel comes in. It is a result of having received that free gift, not because of it, but as a result of it.

[66:28] The message preached by Paul was so great. Why didn't any of the prophets proclaim it? This message that he's preaching, you're justified by all things, but you could not be justified by through the law of Moses.

[66:42] Well, if that's true, how come Isaiah, how come Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, and Dan, how come they didn't say anything about it? They didn't know anything about it. They weren't supposed to know. It wasn't that they were somehow deficient or stupid.

[66:56] The information was never made available to them. They never knew. And that's what Ephesians 3 is all about, that this gospel of the grace of God, which was not made known to the sons of men before, as it is now disclosed through the holy apostles and prophets.

[67:15] They didn't know it, and they weren't supposed to proclaim it. But now, there is additional revelation, and it came not from Jesus on earth, but from Jesus in heaven.

[67:26] Wow! The ascended Christ. What happened in the interim? In the interim, that kingdom that had been proclaimed, anticipated, preached, expected, was all put on hold.

[67:39] And when Paul came on the scene, the message that God gave him was a message that realized the kingdom message, sell what you have and give to the poor and all, that's passe.

[67:54] That is not going to be full. The time is coming when it will, and when it will, God will rule with a rod of iron. That means a no-nonsense reign. But for now, God has slipped something in that was totally unexpected, unanticipated, unrecognized.

[68:14] In fact, it just sounded too good to be true. But it was true. And I am here to tell you with such joy and delight that this message of the gospel of the grace of God saves your soul, forgives your sins, brings you into a right relationship with God, provides for you eternal life that you could never, ever earn, gives you a standing with God solely on the basis of what Jesus Christ did.

[68:52] And that means you don't get any credit. Jesus gets all the credit. You get the benefit.

[69:06] Such a deal. Wow. That is, John Newton says, it's amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.

[69:22] So we've got to look beyond the messenger and focus on the message. Can truth stand alone even if the proclaimer of it is suspect?

[69:36] And Paul was suspect in the minds of many. He's teaching against the law of Moses. Truth is truth no matter from whom it comes.

[69:50] Sometimes the message, you know what? All messengers are flawed. All messengers are flawed. I don't care who they are. All messengers are flawed and some of us are deeply flawed.

[70:01] But that doesn't mean the message is flawed. We have this treasure, Paul said, in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.

[70:14] Amen to that. Well, such a gospel. Mm, mm, mm. Pray with me, would you please?

[70:28] Father, Father, as long as we've known this, we don't begin to appreciate it in its depths and its width and its marvelous nature.

[70:44] There is so much about this simple, simple gospel. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And that through him you are justified by all things which you could not be justified through the law of Moses.

[71:02] Just cannot get over this glorious message. And then we are reminded of what it costs to make it available to us.

[71:14] And therein we see its power. Enabling Paul to say, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

[71:35] Father, our hearts go out to any who are listening by way of computer or here in this auditorium. who have been struggling with these issues wondering about life.

[71:50] Is there life after this life? How is it obtained if it exists? What must I do? How good do I have to be? What do I have to believe?

[72:01] What do I have to join? What do I have to pledge? Our prayer is that they may see the simplicity of the gospel and sweep all those things away and say forsaking all I take him F A I T H Forsaking all I take him to just believe on the Lord Jesus Christ that accomplishes all that needs to be accomplished because of what he accomplished when he who knew no sin was made to be sin on our behalf.

[72:40] Can't begin to fathom that but we sure love to hear it and we appreciate it so much. Is there anyone here this morning our father who is outside the arc of safety that has never consciously deliberately delivered themselves to you for your salvation?

[73:00] Our prayer is that even right now they may cease the struggle and say Lord Jesus you died for the whole world's sins including mine and I want to appropriate what you did on that cross on my behalf.

[73:24] I want to respond by saying I want to trust you as my substitute for my sin I want to give myself to you ask you to give me your forgiveness and your righteousness I want that new life that the gospel promises and here am I present myself to you thank you for the opportunity dear friend if you make that your prayer I respect your privacy not asking anyone to raise their hand come forward or do anything I'm just asking you to do business with God in your heart right where you are and if you've made that decision it'd be wonderful if you let a friend or family member or somebody know that you've made that decision because they'll want to rejoice with you and encourage you in every way that they can please tell them let them know that you put your faith and trust in Jesus

[74:27]  Christ thank you father for this time to share and enjoy together for the marvelous distinctions that exist between law and grace and how grateful we are that grace was extended to us and made available because Jesus Christ met the full demands of the law in his own death we bless you thank you for him for each and every one here this morning in Christ's name amen if you have a well no we won't I'm already over on my time so feel free to bring any questions that you may have to our session next week and we'll try to entertain them maybe maybe next week we can open with some Q&A and just have the whole session for Q&A that'd be fine with me if you want to do that we can do that so thank you for your presence and your kind attention and keep us in prayer as a church and other churches everybody's struggling like we are and they're struggling not only with attendance but struggling with finances and all the rest of it and thank you for those who remember us in the mail and send in your offerings to help keep the church going we appreciate it so much the Lord bless you enjoy this beautiful fall day and thanks spring okay