It's nice to be
with you again today.
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I'm Pastor Dale Leamon.
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And we're going to look
deeply into God's word together.
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But before we do,
let's ask for His blessing.
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Father in Heaven, thank You
so much for giving us the Bible
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and here we find
marvelous truth that shows us
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how much You love us,
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how perfect Your
plan is for our salvation,
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how able You are to bring
everyone of us into Your family.
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Let these things become
clear as we study together today
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and use me dear
Lord in Jesus name, amen.
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Well, we've a
tremendous tendency, don't we?
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To kind and not like
the Ten Commandments.
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Oh, they just kind
of cross a lot of things
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that are carnal
nature we're born with
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automatically
wants to do, you know,
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we're naturally selfish
and the Ten Commandments
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say we should worship God only.
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We naturally
have a tendency to be,
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you know, dishonest and perhaps
seen a little bit gluttonous
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and we naturally have tendencies
to take a advantage of
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or harm other people even
though we know it's not right
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and all of these things the
commandments tell us not to do.
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Well, you know what,
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the commandments are
not just commandments,
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they are actually promises.
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That's right. We've in
the Bible clear evidence
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that God has spoken these words
to us not so much to tell us
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how we can get to heaven,
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because in fact
none of us are capable
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of keeping the
commandments anyway,
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unless He writes
them in our hearts.
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But these are
given to us to show us
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what He will do for us by faith.
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Each one of the commandments
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was kept by Jesus
in a powerful way.
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He gained a huge
victory and so the commandments
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are not thou shalt
not, as much as they are
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because of my
grace thou shall not.
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In other words instead of
becoming pushy forced commands,
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imperatives, they are promises.
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I'm delivering you,
I'm giving you my grace,
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I'm winning the victory
for you and for that reason
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you won't do
those things anymore.
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How wonderful it is to
look at the law that way,
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it relieves the pressure.
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And actually makes us
look forward to understanding
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God's law and to see each aspect
fulfilled in our own lives.
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Well, some people say
that God's commandments
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have been done away with.
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And it's certainly
true in the Old Testament,
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that aspects of the law of Moses
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were nailed to
the cross with Christ,
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and are no longer in
force for the Christian.
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But that's not true
of the Ten Commandments
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and it couldn't be, because
their promises of the new life
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will have Jesus forever.
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And if they were
done away with then God
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will be breaking His promises.
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If God broke the commandments,
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He would be
breaking His promises to us.
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Promises of the life
that we come to want to live
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more and more as we're
saved by grace through Christ.
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So each of us needs to
discover God's law in that way.
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A way that
makes us not dread it,
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or wish we could avoid
it, but in fact appreciate it.
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You know, we
have seen that James
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regarded the
commandments as law of liberty
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and that is
because the commandments
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describe the liberty
that Jesus is giving us
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from our natural
tendencies to do wrong.
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But we have many
beautiful scriptures
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that describe the law in a way
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that shows that
it has freedom in it.
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Psalm 119, verse
45 was one of those.
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Let's read that together.
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"And I will walk at liberty,
For I seek Your precepts."
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Now do you understand
what that verse is saying?
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Somehow when we seek
God's will in our life,
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He gives us liberty, freedom.
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You see, we suddenly no
longer are trying to obey
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of our own strength.
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Now we're
appreciating God's plan
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for our life as a promise
which He alone can fulfill.
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And so it changes
our whole viewpoint,
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we feel free and that
freedom is what we all want.
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We, Americans,
especially want freedom,
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but I think
everybody in the world does
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and we think it's our
right to have freedom.
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And do you know
what, God thinks so too.
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It is our right.
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He has won it for us
through Christ Jesus,
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and He doesn't want
us to be slaves anymore.
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Let's see what Jesus himself
said was his main mission
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to the world in Luke,
Chapter 4 and verse 18.
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"The Spirit of
the Lord is upon Me.
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This is Jesus
speaking and He says
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God's Spirit is upon Me,
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because He has anointed Me to
preach the gospel to the poor.
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He has sent me to
heal the brokenhearted,
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to proclaim liberty, there
we've that word to the captives
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and recovery of sight to
the blind, to set at liberty,
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there is that word
about freedom again,
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those who are oppressed."
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So Jesus mission was
a liberating mission.
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In fact as we look at
the items listed here,
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we actually see that they all
pertained to liberty in someway.
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For instance, preaching
the gospel to the poor.
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These people who
have heard no good news
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in their whole lives
now are hearing good news
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and they're given the invitation
to become part of God's family
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and to be rich forever,
free from their poverty.
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He sent me to
heal the brokenhearted.
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Here people are being freed
or liberated from their diseases
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and particularly they're
diseased of a broken heart,
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their emotional diseases.
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He has sent me Jesus says
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to proclaim
liberty to the captives.
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And we don't see Jesus
releasing a lot of people
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from physical prisons,
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but we do see
him releasing people
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from prisons of other kinds.
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Prisons of diseases,
we've already mentioned,
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prisons of
emotional illness yes,
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prisons of spiritual
illness in particular.
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Some whom the devil had
complete control of than others
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who were only
under partial control.
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I suppose most of us
have experienced that
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from the dark side.
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But Jesus came to free us,
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that is His whole
purpose and His law
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was given as a
precursor of the freedom
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we would experience through him.
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You see the law
pointed forward to Jesus,
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because it shows us the freedom
that Christ would give us,
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not from goodness,
but from sin into goodness
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and what a
glorious truth that is.
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He's also giving recovery
of the sight to the blind
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and so they're free from the
darkness that has covered them
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and understand
that spiritual blindness
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is one the things
Jesus says that all of us
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in these last days
have to be concerned about.
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But Jesus says given
freedom from that blindness
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by which our mind
can't even discern the truth
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and suddenly
Jesus give us insight
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and we see and we understand
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and He sets at liberty
those who are oppressed.
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And certainly
that is a condition
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that we find
ourselves in even though
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we're so rich in
our modern western world
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and even though
we're so well educated,
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we suffer from major
oppression from selfishness,
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from love of things,
from love of pleasure,
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and of course
oppression from others
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who do not love the truth.
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Its something that many are
experiencing all over the world,
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but Jesus gives us a deep
inner sense that we're His
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that we belong to Him
and takes away that darkness
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that surrounds the heart
so easily and discourages us.
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So freedom, Jesus
ministry could be described
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as a ministry of freedom.
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And that really
rings for all of us,
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because we want to feel
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that we are able to walk upright
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and proud and free.
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Well, some will say yes,
yes, that's what I meant.
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We're free from the law.
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The laws were done away with
and we're free from the law,
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is that what it is?
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Well, let's see
Jesus' own words here.
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Matthew, Chapter 5, Matthew,
Chapter 5 verses 17 and 18.
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"Do not think that I've come to
destroy the Law or the Prophets.
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I did not come to
destroy but to fulfill.
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For assuredly, I say to you,
till heaven and earth pass away,
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one jot or one tittle will
by no means pass from the law
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till all is fulfilled.
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How long did Jesus
say, His law would remain
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as a valuable tool in
His plan of salvation?
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He said till heaven
and earth pass away.
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He said He didn't
come to destroy it,
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but He came to fulfill it.
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In other words Jesus came
to earth to keep His promise.
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His promise was even though
you became in bondage to Satan
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where Adam and Eve chose to sin
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and the race has been
controlled more or less
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by Satan's plans ever
since, I will deliver you.
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And in the law we
see the precious promises
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of his freedom
to serve God only.
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Do not have to
worship images too.
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Do not take His
name in vain anymore,
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to love His holy
Sabbath day and so forth,
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to stop stealing, to stop lying,
to stop committing adultery.
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These are deliverances
that Jesus will work out for us.
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And He promised to
do it and He tells us
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He didn't come to
do away with the law,
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but in fact He
came to fulfill it.
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And then He says it
won't be unneeded until
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heaven and earth pass away.
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Well, the reason
why the law actually
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might not be needed anymore
at least in it's written form
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as we have looked
at it so many times
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on the two tables of stone.
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The reason it might not be
needed anymore in that form
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once the world comes to
its end is that the Bible
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assures us that by that
time the Lord will have His law
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written in the
hearts and in the minds.
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We can see that in
Hebrews, the eighth Chapter,
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in the hearts and in the
minds of all of His children.
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So it will no longer
be necessary to review it
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on tables of stone or in books.
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But let's continue now
looking at this New Testament
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doctrine of the value of
God's freeing law in Romans,
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you know Romans
is written by Paul
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and is one of the great
theological books of the Bible.
00:11:58.28\00:12:02.31
Romans 8 and verse
21, the apostle says,
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"Because the creation
itself also will be delivered
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from the bondage of corruption
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into the glorious
liberty of the children of God."
00:12:14.04\00:12:18.93
So this great
verse is showing us
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that not only are God's children
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set free from the
moral and fleshly corruption
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that they've experienced,
but all nature is going to be
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set free as we
come to the end of world
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and that's the reason of
course why we won't need to
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look at the commandments
written in the stone
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as we have seen them.
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But now they're
written in our hearts,
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they'll be written in
every flower and every tree
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and every animal
of the whole planet
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will be free from
the selfishness and evil
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that came upon us as a result
of Adam and Eve's rebellion.
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What a wonderful
day that would be
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and Jesus has made
all of that possible.
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So the law has been a
previous, a leading promise,
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leading us to that very day
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that we're looking
forward to so much.
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In Second Corinthians,
the apostle continues to talk
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about this great freedom
which has always been God's plan
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and since it's always
been God's plan of course
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everything He has
told us up to this time
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should be leading
us toward this freedom.
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Second Corinthians 3:17,
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"Now the Lord is the Spirit
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and where the
Spirit of the Lord is,
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there is liberty."
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In this verse, we're clearly
told that wherever God is,
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wherever God's spirit
is, its freedom and liberty,
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certainly God's
spirit, God Himself,
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and His spirit were in His law
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and so the laws intended to
be a precursor of the liberty
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that He would give
us through Christ Jesus,
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a promise of that liberty.
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Galatians Chapter 5, verse 1.
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Let's read this one,
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"Stand fast therefore in
the liberty by which Christ
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has made us free,
00:14:07.89\00:14:09.88
and do not be entangled
again with a yoke of bondage."
00:14:09.89\00:14:15.60
This verse of course
is taken by come to mean
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that we should be careful not to
try to obey God's commandments
00:14:18.59\00:14:22.08
anymore because that
would be a yoke of bondage
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that would bring us
back out of the liberty,
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Christ has won for us,
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that's a totally wrong
understanding of that verse.
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The liberty which
Christ has won for us
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is the liberty of being enabled
to obey the commandments.
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And there is of course a bondage
00:14:39.37\00:14:42.43
in terms of many
Jewish regulations
00:14:42.44\00:14:44.85
from which we
have been liberated
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through Christ
fulfillment of those promises.
00:14:46.98\00:14:49.96
But as far as the
moral and ethical promises
00:14:49.97\00:14:52.70
of the Ten
Commandments are concerned,
00:14:52.71\00:14:54.88
yes, Christ has won
us freedom and liberty
00:14:54.89\00:14:58.27
and we never want to
go back into the bondage
00:14:58.28\00:15:00.04
of trying to be
saved by our own obedience,
00:15:00.05\00:15:02.88
but the freedom that He has
given us is a liberty to obey
00:15:02.89\00:15:06.63
by His grace rather than to
try to do by our own strength,
00:15:06.64\00:15:12.01
which is a
terrible slavery indeed.
00:15:12.02\00:15:14.81
So Jesus has given us
the hope of the freedom
00:15:14.82\00:15:20.05
from selfishness implied in
every one of the commandments,
00:15:20.06\00:15:23.19
the hope of
complete commitment to God.
00:15:23.20\00:15:26.31
Now as we look
at the commandments,
00:15:26.32\00:15:30.18
we'd like today to look
at the second commandment,
00:15:30.19\00:15:34.50
which deals with
the issue of idolatry.
00:15:34.51\00:15:38.94
And that of course is
found in Exodus the 20th Chapter
00:15:38.95\00:15:44.97
and verses 4 through 6.
00:15:44.98\00:15:48.96
We'll just take time to
read all of those verses.
00:15:48.97\00:15:52.41
"You shall not make for
yourself a carved image,
00:15:52.42\00:15:56.15
any likeness of anything
that is in heaven above,
00:15:56.16\00:15:58.36
or that is in the earth beneath,
00:15:58.37\00:15:59.56
or that is in the
water under the earth,
00:15:59.57\00:16:02.23
you shall not bow down
to them nor serve them.
00:16:02.24\00:16:05.64
For I, the Lord your
God, am a jealous God,
00:16:05.65\00:16:08.30
visiting the
iniquity of the fathers
00:16:08.31\00:16:10.09
upon the children to the
third and fourth generations
00:16:10.10\00:16:13.24
of those who hate Me, but
showing mercy to thousands,
00:16:13.25\00:16:18.05
to those who love Me
and keep My commandments."
00:16:18.06\00:16:21.71
Isn't this an
interesting command,
00:16:23.31\00:16:27.32
it's an even more
interesting promise.
00:16:27.33\00:16:29.96
It's a promise of mercy.
00:16:29.97\00:16:31.65
It's a promise
of God's jealousy.
00:16:31.66\00:16:33.43
I like that
actually that He is jealous,
00:16:33.44\00:16:35.82
because it just shows
how important we're to Him.
00:16:35.83\00:16:38.25
You know, you're
only jealous of those
00:16:38.26\00:16:39.60
that you really care about.
00:16:39.61\00:16:40.98
And He cares about
us, every one of us.
00:16:40.99\00:16:43.22
And it upsets
Him when we hate Him
00:16:43.23\00:16:45.49
and that makes
Him feel very sad.
00:16:45.50\00:16:48.40
We could look at the
continued generational problem
00:16:48.41\00:16:52.74
that happens here,
when people hate God,
00:16:52.75\00:16:55.17
it even affects their
children, their grand children,
00:16:55.18\00:16:57.67
and their great grand children.
00:16:57.68\00:16:58.67
It's not because God
would punish the children
00:16:58.68\00:17:01.14
for the parent's sins,
00:17:01.15\00:17:02.16
but because there is a
terrible law of inheritance,
00:17:02.17\00:17:06.46
attitudes get passed along.
00:17:06.47\00:17:08.72
But here we see the
Lord promising to deliver us
00:17:08.73\00:17:12.90
from making
images for worship. Hmm!
00:17:12.91\00:17:17.87
I wonder how many Christians
even want to be delivered
00:17:17.88\00:17:20.89
from the habit of
making images for worship.
00:17:20.90\00:17:23.96
But He promises not
only to deliver us from that,
00:17:23.97\00:17:26.13
but also to
deliver us from bowing down
00:17:26.14\00:17:30.23
to these merely material things.
00:17:30.24\00:17:33.31
You know, we've
a terrible way of
00:17:33.32\00:17:34.91
in this present age of saying,
00:17:34.92\00:17:36.91
I love this and I love
that and I love the other thing,
00:17:36.92\00:17:40.04
but here He says He shows
mercy to those who love Him
00:17:40.05\00:17:43.97
and keep His commandments.
00:17:43.98\00:17:45.88
I think we've
learned to use that word love
00:17:45.89\00:17:47.62
altogether too
lightly, don't you?
00:17:47.63\00:17:49.58
We love pizza,
we love fast cars,
00:17:49.59\00:17:51.87
we love beautiful
homes whatever it may be.
00:17:51.88\00:17:54.47
The Lord wants to take all
the idols out of our hearts
00:17:54.48\00:17:59.49
and He needs to do that.
00:17:59.50\00:18:00.75
It must happen
because the way to heaven
00:18:00.76\00:18:04.83
is complete trust in Jesus
00:18:04.84\00:18:07.57
and complete letting go of
all the things of this world.
00:18:07.58\00:18:12.57
You just can't have them both.
00:18:12.58\00:18:14.40
You remember the
scripture that says
00:18:14.41\00:18:16.20
no man can serve two masters.
00:18:16.21\00:18:18.74
You can't do it.
00:18:18.75\00:18:20.06
He says you'll either end up
00:18:20.07\00:18:21.07
hating the one
or hating the other.
00:18:21.08\00:18:23.35
You can't love them both.
00:18:23.36\00:18:25.89
Jesus comes and offers us
00:18:25.90\00:18:28.11
an all or nothing
relationship with Him so.
00:18:28.12\00:18:30.92
But what a reward for those
who find freedom from idolatry
00:18:30.93\00:18:37.44
and the love of things.
00:18:37.45\00:18:39.32
That's what that's all
about the love of things.
00:18:39.33\00:18:41.89
There's another
scripture which clearly portrays
00:18:41.90\00:18:44.96
this deliverance and it
shows that this is not something
00:18:44.97\00:18:47.46
we do for God. I
don't give up idols for God.
00:18:47.47\00:18:50.06
I don't give up my love
of beautiful cars for God.
00:18:50.07\00:18:52.68
It's something He does for me.
00:18:52.69\00:18:54.81
Ezekiel 36 and verse 25,
00:18:54.82\00:19:00.46
and also verse 26.
00:19:00.47\00:19:03.18
"Then I will
sprinkle clean water on you,
00:19:03.19\00:19:06.54
and you shall be clean,
00:19:06.55\00:19:08.63
I will cleanse you
from all your filthiness
00:19:08.64\00:19:10.32
and from all your idols.
00:19:10.33\00:19:12.43
I will give you a new heart
and put a new spirit within you.
00:19:12.44\00:19:15.84
I will take the heart
of stone out of your flesh
00:19:15.85\00:19:19.52
and give you a heart of flesh."
00:19:19.53\00:19:22.34
Now I really like that,
00:19:22.35\00:19:23.95
you see people become
like what they worship
00:19:23.96\00:19:26.36
and when we worship
things that are made of metal,
00:19:26.37\00:19:28.83
we become metallic and we
worship things made of stone,
00:19:28.84\00:19:32.10
we become like stone.
00:19:32.11\00:19:33.48
He says that He's gonna take
the stony hearts away from us.
00:19:33.49\00:19:36.09
When we worship movie stars,
00:19:36.10\00:19:38.05
well our character may
become kind of like theirs
00:19:38.06\00:19:41.21
and so on and so on.
00:19:41.22\00:19:42.64
But He says He's
gonna remove all the affect
00:19:42.65\00:19:45.16
of our idolatry
and give us soft hearts
00:19:45.17\00:19:48.64
like He gave to Adam
and Eve to begin with.
00:19:48.65\00:19:51.32
Soft heart like Jesus
has won for each of us.
00:19:51.33\00:19:54.12
He says I will
cleanse you from your idols.
00:19:54.13\00:19:58.40
That is
wonderful, because you know,
00:19:58.41\00:20:00.06
when you worship an
idol for a long, long time,
00:20:00.07\00:20:01.77
it really does
become a part of you.
00:20:01.78\00:20:04.80
And, oh, how we need
to be completely cleansed
00:20:04.81\00:20:07.55
of all those addictions
and all those idolatries.
00:20:07.56\00:20:12.09
What Jesus has done this for us?
00:20:12.10\00:20:14.92
He promised that He would.
00:20:14.93\00:20:16.47
The Second Commandment
can be seen as a promise
00:20:16.48\00:20:19.42
of what Jesus would
do for us when He came
00:20:19.43\00:20:21.32
under the law to fulfill
the law for us and in us.
00:20:21.33\00:20:26.68
And so we can see that
through the very experience
00:20:26.69\00:20:29.59
of Jesus in this
world, we are delivered.
00:20:29.60\00:20:35.84
God wants us to
come to totally trust
00:20:35.85\00:20:39.33
what we cannot see.
00:20:39.34\00:20:41.51
In our material age,
we've a kind of idolatry
00:20:41.52\00:20:44.43
that is just based
upon a faithless confidence
00:20:44.44\00:20:48.18
and things that we can
touch and see it whole.
00:20:48.19\00:20:51.00
We think we'd be happy
if we have this object,
00:20:51.01\00:20:55.43
that recreational device,
this much money in the bank,
00:20:55.44\00:20:59.68
things that seem tangible to us.
00:20:59.69\00:21:01.78
But God is inviting
us to give up our hope
00:21:01.79\00:21:03.76
in everything tangible.
00:21:03.77\00:21:05.01
Tells us this world is
all gonna go up in smoke
00:21:05.02\00:21:07.29
before we'll know anything,
00:21:07.30\00:21:08.35
anyway everything tangible
here is truly worthless.
00:21:08.36\00:21:13.35
And He says, I want
you to put your faith
00:21:13.36\00:21:14.86
entirely in what you cannot see.
00:21:14.87\00:21:17.77
Well, that takes a miracle.
00:21:17.78\00:21:21.88
We just don't do
that automatically.
00:21:21.89\00:21:24.46
But when we look
at the life of Jesus,
00:21:24.47\00:21:25.99
isn't that exactly the
way we'll see Him living.
00:21:26.00\00:21:28.79
He truly had no
confidence in tangible things,
00:21:28.80\00:21:33.75
but He put His trust
entirely in the Heavenly Father.
00:21:33.76\00:21:39.08
So we're promised
in this commandment
00:21:39.09\00:21:40.78
that we'll no longer desire
00:21:40.79\00:21:43.63
the mere
physical representations
00:21:43.64\00:21:45.32
of God's blessings, we'll
want God's presence itself.
00:21:45.33\00:21:48.75
We want Him in our hearts.
We want Him as our best friend.
00:21:48.76\00:21:51.73
We will feel that
God's love and His spirit
00:21:51.74\00:21:55.11
are the greatest
treasures of our life.
00:21:55.12\00:21:58.25
His presence
will be so real to us
00:21:58.26\00:22:01.14
that anything less
will be unsatisfying.
00:22:01.15\00:22:04.17
We will feel His
jealousy, His jealous love,
00:22:04.18\00:22:07.80
and we'll love it,
we'll feel protected by it,
00:22:07.81\00:22:11.12
and we'll feel safe in His arms.
00:22:11.13\00:22:13.95
Everything else will seem
cheap and unimpressive to us.
00:22:13.96\00:22:19.43
We'll also find
that material things
00:22:19.44\00:22:22.81
have no longer the
power to own our affections,
00:22:22.82\00:22:29.39
the things we thought we
couldn't be happy without
00:22:29.40\00:22:31.85
we'll discover that
they no longer give us
00:22:31.86\00:22:34.83
any happiness at all.
00:22:34.84\00:22:37.27
Well, how did Jesus
win this victory for us?
00:22:37.28\00:22:40.10
How did He fulfill
the Second Commandment?
00:22:40.11\00:22:44.25
I think you
remember a little regard
00:22:44.26\00:22:46.86
He had for all
things material, He said
00:22:46.87\00:22:52.80
"The foxes have holes
and the birds have nests,
00:22:52.81\00:22:57.09
the Son of Man has
nowhere to lay his head."
00:22:57.10\00:22:59.93
And He wasn't complaining,
00:22:59.94\00:23:01.28
He was just saying
that's the way I live,
00:23:01.29\00:23:03.83
I put my
confidence in My Father.
00:23:03.84\00:23:08.01
When He was invited by Satan
00:23:08.02\00:23:13.13
in the wilderness of temptation
00:23:13.14\00:23:14.64
to make bread out
of stones, He refused.
00:23:14.65\00:23:19.63
Hungry as He was
near to starvation,
00:23:19.64\00:23:22.84
He put His
faith in the invisible
00:23:22.85\00:23:25.52
instead of in the visible.
00:23:25.53\00:23:29.03
He trusted His
Father completely.
00:23:29.04\00:23:32.63
He never worried
about material things.
00:23:32.64\00:23:35.18
He said that we also
should not be concerned
00:23:35.19\00:23:38.75
about what we'd
wear, remember that verse,
00:23:38.76\00:23:41.44
take no thought
for what we wear,
00:23:41.45\00:23:44.37
what we will eat.
00:23:44.38\00:23:46.76
He says our Heavenly Father
knows we need all those things
00:23:46.77\00:23:49.21
and will make sure
that they're provided.
00:23:49.22\00:23:54.11
But, you know, the time
that really touches my heart
00:23:54.12\00:23:56.45
when we see the victory
of Jesus most completely
00:23:56.46\00:23:59.56
is as He approaches
the cross of Calvary.
00:24:01.55\00:24:07.16
And He says not my
will but thine be done.
00:24:07.17\00:24:11.16
And then He
marches bravely forward
00:24:11.17\00:24:13.16
to all those terrible
trials, beatings, and floggings,
00:24:13.17\00:24:18.01
and all the ridicule
being called the king
00:24:18.02\00:24:22.97
when they didn't think
He was any king at all.
00:24:22.98\00:24:27.36
But to me it was the
total letting go of everything
00:24:27.37\00:24:31.11
that was most remarkable.
00:24:31.12\00:24:33.50
Jesus didn't cling to anything.
00:24:33.51\00:24:36.62
His one great desire
was for our salvation
00:24:36.63\00:24:42.75
and the symbol of
his complete victory
00:24:42.76\00:24:45.75
over all things material,
00:24:45.76\00:24:48.61
I see in the
method of His crucifixion
00:24:48.62\00:24:51.92
in which they literally
stripped Him of everything.
00:24:51.93\00:24:56.81
Even His clothing was taken away
00:24:56.82\00:24:59.47
and was put in a pile
for others to haggle over
00:24:59.48\00:25:04.32
and to gamble over
00:25:04.33\00:25:08.56
and there He was
hanging on the cross
00:25:08.57\00:25:13.89
with nothing left to His name
as far as humanity could see.
00:25:13.90\00:25:20.09
He cared for none of it.
00:25:20.10\00:25:22.95
He said father, forgive them
00:25:22.96\00:25:24.79
for they don't
know what they're doing.
00:25:24.80\00:25:26.89
He didn't grieve about
it, He didn't complain,
00:25:26.90\00:25:29.78
He was so completely
wrapped up in the father's will
00:25:29.79\00:25:35.29
that He didn't even
complain about the discomforts
00:25:35.30\00:25:37.64
of the miseries of crucifixion.
00:25:37.65\00:25:39.98
You remember that the
thieves on either side of Him
00:25:39.99\00:25:43.45
were having a
discussion about that.
00:25:43.46\00:25:45.91
Why don't you curse God or
why don't you set yourself free
00:25:45.92\00:25:50.21
if you're so powerful.
00:25:50.22\00:25:52.37
But finally the
one said to the other
00:25:52.38\00:25:55.01
why are you
talking to Him like this,
00:25:55.02\00:25:57.12
you know, we deserve
this but He is innocent.
00:25:57.13\00:26:01.32
And so Jesus
literally had no concern
00:26:01.33\00:26:04.24
for anything material anymore.
00:26:04.25\00:26:08.40
And folks I believe that
in that tremendous victory
00:26:08.41\00:26:11.90
over the cross, He
fulfilled the meaning
00:26:11.91\00:26:15.30
of letting go of all idolatry.
00:26:15.31\00:26:19.70
He was looking in
only one direction,
00:26:19.71\00:26:23.32
He said, Father why
have you forsaken Me,
00:26:23.33\00:26:27.74
as he took the
death of hell on Himself
00:26:27.75\00:26:31.88
and was separated
momentarily from the Father.
00:26:31.89\00:26:34.03
The only thing that
meant anything to Him
00:26:34.04\00:26:36.29
must to be restored
to His heavenly Father.
00:26:36.30\00:26:38.80
Of course, then the moment
of victory came, didn't it?
00:26:41.82\00:26:45.26
When He realized that
His sacrifice was accepted
00:26:45.27\00:26:49.55
and He shouted it is finished.
00:26:49.56\00:26:53.23
What a victory He won,
00:26:53.24\00:26:55.25
nothing meant
anything to Him anymore
00:26:55.26\00:26:57.91
but that He was
going to be reunited
00:26:57.92\00:27:01.34
with His Heavenly Father.
00:27:01.35\00:27:03.12
Friends it may
seem a bit extreme
00:27:03.13\00:27:05.42
that may seem like
too much for God to ask,
00:27:05.43\00:27:08.08
but that's what He is asking.
00:27:08.09\00:27:10.02
He wants to fulfill
that promise in your heart.
00:27:10.03\00:27:12.66
He wants to take away
the value of everything
00:27:12.67\00:27:16.45
less than the privilege of
being in heaven with the Father.
00:27:16.46\00:27:22.45
And so we are able today
because of what Jesus did
00:27:22.46\00:27:28.88
to claim that
victory in our own lives.
00:27:28.89\00:27:31.04
What about you friend?
00:27:31.05\00:27:32.33
Are you hindered
by love of things?
00:27:32.34\00:27:38.07
Have you had an
opportunity to serve God
00:27:38.08\00:27:40.03
in some particular
way and yet said no to it
00:27:40.04\00:27:43.64
or passed it by because
things which are important
00:27:43.65\00:27:47.06
Jesus has fulfilled the promise
of the Second Commandment.
00:27:47.07\00:27:52.05
He will give you
the victory He has won,
00:27:52.06\00:27:55.75
claim it today in Jesus name.
00:27:55.76\00:28:00.66