Father, I do thank you that we can gather and consider these things together. As always, we do ask for your kind presence and power to be among us, that you would teach us your word, teach us your good news, teach us how to apply it and live it, to be your people. Assist us in this sunny school hour as well as our worship service to follow. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright, well, we are in chapter 13. Chapter 13. So, number 17 of the notes. We're really following up on the... He started addressing the whole question of why commands in the last chapter. And so, this chapter is kind of a follow-up. How do we work for God? How do we do it? So he says in point number 17 of the study guide here, good works, most people believe they are justified by them. Most people think that's what they've got to do to get into heaven, do good works, right? But we discover in the gospel the only good works God accepts is the work of Christ. Greer elaborates on this several, that should be times, in chapter 13. He writes, quote, Christian witness is primarily a testimony about God's work on our behalf, not about our work on His. And again, quote, salvation, start to finish, is from God, and He doesn't need anything from us in the process. And, third quote, the points screamed from cover to cover in the Bible is God doesn't need you for anything. All right. So, what then is the primary work of those who embrace the gospel? What is the primary work? It's not the only work, but is the primary work. Primary as in first. What does God require of us? Obedience, yes, but... Belief, right? So we're just putting that as a primary. Primary, and he cites John 6, 29. This is the work that God... Well, somebody look it up and read it for us. John 6, 29. You got it there, Al? Yep. Go ahead. Jesus answered and said to them, this is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he sent. There it is. This is the work of God, right? To believe in the one he sent. So, that again, I don't believe is the only thing the New Testament tells us to do. But it's certainly the primary thing that the Gospel demands of us, is to believe. You've got to believe the one God sent. That's right. So, repent and believe. We can put those together. Repent and believe. Turn and believe. Point B there. If God does all the work in our salvation, then does the gospel produce spiritual lethargy, or lethargy, or however you pronounce that, wherever the emphasis is, or does it produce a bad work ethic? And if not, why not? Not, because of your grateful heart. Right, because if not all God... He doesn't just get us off from hell. He does more than that, doesn't He? Right? I mean, the salvation we receive is not just a, okay, you get in. It's more than that, isn't it? What more? Adoption. Yeah, adoption. Transformation. I mean, one of the things we forget is that God made a way for us to be changed from the inside out. He didn't just save us on the outside, just externally save us. He saved us from being sinners. We're walking in one direction and now we're in a totally different direction. That's right. I'm going to land on that in our introduction to Leviticus as well. there's a change that comes that's deeper than just the externals. You were going to hell and now you're going to heaven. Well, that's true, but for that to happen, a lot more had to happen. There had to be a real change. There's another set of questions on the next page, on page 10, so we'll turn over there. Greer provides some principles. By the way, before I go on to this, it's always the question that comes up when you bring up just the finality of the gospel and the graciousness of the gospel. Anytime you preach it in all its glory, that God did it all, that is the natural question that always comes up. It came up in the Book of Romans, for instance. Or shouldn't we say that? Exactly. Because that's where our fallen mind goes. It's like, oh, if I don't have to do anything, then goody, I get to keep living the way I'm living. You know? Or, in a more pious sounding way, oh, you're saying you get to live any way you want, because they're just showing themselves not to understand the gospel. And that's not real deep. So if you say it's all great, then you're going to remove any reason for obeying. Because the only motivation that could possibly work on a fleshly person is fear. fear of not getting in. It's a question that always comes up when you start understanding the gospel. Well, wait a minute. What about obedience? Greer provides some principles on how to, quote, work for God. He writes, when we grasp how much God has given us in grace, that's what Charlie was just mentioning, gratitude, right? We grasp that, and we see how great the needs of the world are, we will want to work for God. Also, quote, Those who place all their resources at the disposal of Jesus in grateful response to his grace, and with great confidence in his ability, will find nearly unlimited power at their disposal. And anytime we start talking like this, there's always a point in counterpoint, there's always the other side of the coin. It's easy for us sinners to misunderstand whichever side of the question you're talking about. So his first question as he's leading for that, he says, is it biblical to say that we are working for God at all? Is it even biblical to say we're working for God? What about Acts 17.25 where Paul says God is not served by human hands as though he needed anything? Does our work make God a debtor to us? So we can misunderstand the whole phrase, we're working for God, like God needs us. We just said God didn't need us. So in what sense are we working for God? Are we making God a debtor to us? Romans comes to mind to me again, when he's talking about his whole works righteousness and saying, well if Abraham worked for his salvation, then his wages would have been owed. I'm not getting it. Do you know the pastor I'm talking about? Let's put our hands on it. I think that's relevant to the point here. He would have something to boast about. That's right. He would have something to boast about. Not before God, that's right. Somebody got their finger on that passage? Yep. Where is it? Romans 4, verse 2. Romans 4, 2. For if Abraham were justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. He's making the point that he didn't do a five works, so therefore he doesn't have something to boast about. But he says, even if he did do it, did something, he would have something to boast about. He says, but still, not before God. It's like another little principle. Even then, God wouldn't owe him something. Why? Because he didn't remember anything. That's right. What do you have to give back to God that he hasn't first given to you? Yeah, he says it later when he says that if anybody has a right to boast, it's me, because I was a Pharisee of a Pharisee. Right. And, you know, I studied under Gamaliel, and I did this and I did that, and I was more earnest than anybody for the... I had more zeal for the righteousness of God than anybody. Right, right. All of my works are like filthy rags. Right. Even when he's boasting in another sense of boasting of working harder than all the apostles, but not me. Christ in me. So Paul got it, that all of his previous zeal, that he thought he had something to boast about initially, it's like, well now that's filthy rags. That's me trying to be good enough. That's refuse. And then even spirit-empowered works which are pleasing to God, They're to God's glory, not mine. That's the point, right? And this is how we're to see our works. We work for God, and as we learn to work hard, and be zealous, and be disciplined, and try hard, and put lots of effort in, all of that desire to find the things of God, and do those things, and please God, are to His credit. Right? Because who gave us that new heart that's chasing the things of God. Who changed us from being self-servers to being God-servers? But how can we even say that we're working for God? I mean, do we even get that in the Bible anymore? Yeah, I think to work hard and to be zealous, I think it's certainly appropriate language. But we have to understand what we mean by it, and what we don't mean by it. Sure, you have the pastoral epistles. Timothy, where Paul admonishes Timothy to study and to work hard at the craft. Yeah, and you should do all things for the Lord, unto the Lord. You know, you should do it all for the Lord in a certain sense. But we're not saying we're working for the Lord as if then God then owes us some payment. It's more of a working as a servant that owes the service. Right? We, at the end of the day, we should say we're unprofitable servants. We're just doing what we should do. As opposed to wage earners that we've now benefited to you somehow, so now you owe us a pay. That's a wrong way to think about our work. But the word work is broad enough and general enough that it's certainly appropriate to use in more than one sense. But we do need to, when we're talking about these things, make sure we understand what we're talking about. But that's exactly the question he's asking. Is it even appropriate to say we work for God? You don't think so? You don't think we should use that terminology at all? Yeah, and we're told to make every effort? That's exactly... Yeah, and of course, perhaps there's a better way to say it, but still, as long as we're defining it properly, I think it's appropriate. I think as long as we say, we're working for God's glory, then that makes it more plain what we mean. Or, we're working for God as opposed to working for ourselves. We're not in it for ourselves, we're in it for God. That makes it more plain. But see, that's the reason the question's like, well, let's be careful how we speak about these things. Is that the way to say it? And certainly we don't mean that we're making God a debtor. But in 1 Timothy chapter 4, verse 10, he says this, It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For it is for this we labor and strive. Because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the savior of all men, especially the believers, who strive to teach these things. There's certainly enough in the scriptures that talks about our striving to know the word, to strive to preach the word. Paul again says, take heed to thyself and thy doctrine, says Timothy, which in all of the self-disciplines that are necessary. So, in that sense, we do strive, we do exert effort in the gospel. If we're a son, we exert effort. And it's inappropriate for Christians to be lazy. It's inappropriate. I mean, it doesn't mean that it's an unforgivable sin. But I mean, it's inconsistent with the glory of the gospel. It's inconsistent. Maybe that's a better way to say it. It's inconsistent with the gospel to be lazy. It is consistent with the gospel to then respond with great effort and working hard. Even the passage in Philippians that comes to mind, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. For it's God who works in you both to will and to act. So there they put a real fine point on it. That even as we work hard, just like the Apostle Paul thinks, but not me, Christ in me. And I thank God that I want to work hard for God. Because that's evidence of grace. If you find yourself wanting to work hard for God, that didn't come naturally to you. You weren't born naturally with that. That's a grace gift. And we should see it as such. So this is an area I think that we stumble over quite a bit. So it's worth rehashing and rehashing this to be very careful about how we think about this. Even how we say these things to each other and think about these things in our own minds. Let's look at letter B. On page 10 of the notes, Sherry, and do you have the notes? Okay, and number 18, letter B. Regarding the second quote by Greer, so let's look at that again. He said, when we grasp how much God has given us in grace and we see how great the needs of the world are, we will want to work for God. That was the second quote. Regarding the second quote by Greer, how do you keep yourself from viewing God as a divine formula? Grateful response plus great confidence equals unlimited power. You can reduce it into a formula. So how do you keep yourself from doing that? Does our work make God a debtor? No, that's the wrong one. Is there a danger to working in a way that you are using God? Well, I think there's a danger in any formula with God. And you have the text in Isaiah 55 which says, My ways are not your ways. You thought that I was like you. especially Christians that have been Christians a long time, they have this 1 plus 2 equals 3 mentality, which says if we do x plus y, we will have whatever. And you fill in the blank. It could be you will have health, it could be you will have wealth, it could be you will have a big church full of people, it could be whatever, if you do these following things. It doesn't work that way. I've had that same conversation with numerous friends as well. And it sneaks up on you, because if you were thinking about it directly, you wouldn't go there. But it sneaks up on you, you feel yourself getting angry at God, and you know you're not supposed to be angry at God, so you push that aside. You don't, you know, I'm not supposed to be angry at God. After a while though, you are angry at God, and this is usually the reason. I put in this, you were supposed to give me this. And you didn't. Not working out according to plan. I was faithful, you were supposed to do your part. Yeah, and it comes up again and again. You know, when your children don't turn out the way you hoped. Sure, yeah. And they don't turn out to be the next version, or David Brainard, or whatever. Or even a believer. And you say, Lord, come on. What's up with that? Exactly. It can be some really heavy-duty things. So, I mean, I don't want to in any way trivialize it. It's something, it's usually the things that matter a lot on a worldly level, right? But what is God trying to teach us all the value most? Trust Him. Him. Having Him. Trusting Him. Loving Him. Being satisfied in Him, having that He's enough? But what if I don't get this? What if I don't get that? Is God still going to be enough? And sadly, what happens a lot of times with putting through the testing of our faith, like Abraham and Isaac, are you going to give them back? Are you going to give Isaac back? But sadly, a lot of us then fall by the wayside. Well, you're not enough. reveals a deficit there that is disturbing and painful. The Lord only knows whether that's going to ultimately bring them to repentance or just reveal that they never loved the Lord in the first place. But those are pretty challenging lessons. But they come to the heart of the matter, don't they? Yeah Yeah, yeah and You know those are those are tough those are tough battles But You are dealing with a person. I just want to say, just to amplify what you said about tough battles, because I've read Francis Schaeffer after his wife died, and it was massively shaking to an obvious huge Christian intellect, that after the Lord took his wife, he really He was angry with God. He stumbled back. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's good for us to meditate on these things before that day, but sometimes by the Lord's providence, we don't wrestle with them until we've got the battle right in our face. But it's... Yeah, it's an easy thing to slip into, to sort of... turn God into a formula. If I do X, he'll do Y. I think when we slip into that thought, we actually set ourselves up for the testing. Because God would not have us think of him that way. It's a fearful thing. It gives me shivers just thinking about it. It's like discipline in your kids. If the rebuke isn't enough, then you need the spanking. If that's not enough, it gets worse. Ultimately, if it gets out of the parents' hands, then you've got to be spanked by God. You don't want that. But worse still, you don't get spanked by God in this life, and you go to hell. Well, what did Paul say in Corinthians? He's delivered over to Satan. You know, that's a tough verse to understand, and in some cases, God would take a saint rather than damn the saint. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, that is weighty waters, isn't it? But we must not think of God as a as a formula, it is a great danger and I think very prevalent. It's something that I think all of us at one time or another kind of slide into in one degree or another and we've got to guard against that type of thinking. It's a good thing to reflect on. How about letter C? What is the relationship between the work of believing and to behavior, he's kind of awkwardly spoken there, but he means this. What is the relationship between the work of believing and the work of behavior? What is the relationship between the work of believing and the work of behavior? To what you profess about Christ and your practice in living the Christian life. So he's saying it twice in two different ways. You professing that Christ has saved you and then you also want to practice living the Christian life. So what is the relationship between what you believe about Jesus when he's done for you, your work of believing, and your practice of the Christian life, your work of behavior, the life, the fruit that grows out of it? So what's the relationship between those two things, believing and obeying? Well, one is a reflection of the other, and the other feeds back to build the one. Yeah, okay, I agree. Now flush that out a little bit for us. Yeah, that's good. So, if you truly believe, it will be manifested in your life by how you live. And how you live will reinforce what you believe. Because if I discipline myself to center on the Lord, What happens to me is my unbelief begins to pale, begins to be smaller, because I'm disciplined in the things of the Lord. If, however, I take a season where I just go off my own merry way, to do my own merry things, my heart gets cold. So it sounds a little bit like what he was talking about in the last chapter of cultivating an appetite for the right things. Not just the right stuff, but the right faith. You know, the right trusting in God, and therefore living. You're cultivating an appetite for that. Or, something else. That's good. The soul will thirst for something. And we, Jeremiah this morning, did a sermon on heaven. And how the soul is built to long for heaven and when we don't seek God the soul seeks its satisfaction in other things and so we try to establish a heaven on earth for ourselves which is always futile but it's because the soul hungers Yeah, I think that's an insightful point it brings a lot of things to mind as far as substitute heavens from the very craft to just, I want what I want when I want it. So instant gratification to the one that's trying to set up utopia here on earth. You know, and everything in between. You know, yeah. Sherry? I was just thinking of a friend of mine, his mother one time, we were talking and she was brought up in Germany during World War II. So she really had that atheistic kind of concept. And we were talking and she said, well why do you think we were created? you know, believe in God, that we were created for His good pleasure, and to glorify Him. And she goes, you really believe that? And I thought, that takes in everything, you know? Because if you really think about glorifying God, it's good, so we won't take pleasure in Him. Yeah. Yeah, it was really an interesting conversation. She was real strong. It does put a sharp point on a lot of things. If we're just talking about, say, moral things, like we should do this, we shouldn't do that, it gets confusing until you put that point on it. So you know what? It's all about bringing God's glory. And at the heart of the matter is, am I going to be a self-pleaser, or a God-pleaser, or a God-glorifier? I'm going to go after my own glory, going after His glory. It just brings a lot of things to light, doesn't it? It was one of the solos of the Reformation that they were trying to grab hold of central truths for God's glory alone. It is that the whole thing is about God's glory alone. That's the main point. And it is excellent to keep coming back to that. It reminds me of a conversation I had with somebody at the pool last week. That's the point I landed on, too, is that really, because, you know, It was interesting because she starts whispering because she says, you know, the thing I didn't like about the Old Testament was that city being destroyed because of the homosexuals. That sounds like, well, I know that's a hot issue here today in our culture, but the real main point goes way beyond being a homosexual or not. It's about whether you're here to please yourself or here to please God. and I find that sometimes this whole patriotic movement, which is good, it's good to think highly of the nation that God has given you to live in, but a lot of people get so confused with Christianity, and America, and patriotism, and trying to create almost what I would say is a sacralist society, that there's this way that we can create a God, community, nation, which I think... Yeah, and that's on the one end of the spectrum. It's like, you know, we've got to make everybody on the outside conform for the blessing of the whole nation. We've got to set the laws. On the other hand, it's not good to go to lawlessness. I mean, when you keep defying God's order, and defying God's order, and defying God's order, that is the message of Sodom and Gomorrah. And it wasn't just about their sexual practices. There was an outcry that rose up to heaven that went beyond that. We have that concrete evidence in the storyline. But the point was to illustrate that they were going their own way. And pleasing themselves. And had no fear of God. And does that destroy a culture? Sure does. On the one hand, you can't just artificially on the outside make everybody conform. On the other hand, it's not like these matters don't matter at all for the culture. But we know as Christians, the kingdom we're really building is not America. The kingdom we're building is God's kingdom that will go on forever. And so, while we're in America, it's appropriate to love it and work for its good. in the different ways that you have available to you. But at the end of the day, if it fails, God's kingdom doesn't fail. And ultimately, we'll have to say, well, then God knows what he's doing here, even when it looks like wickedness is winning. There's been lots of times when wickedness looked like it was winning. I mean, World War II being one of those. It didn't look good for the good guys at that time, through much of that war. the Nazis were going to just take over the world. And there were a lot of interesting, I would say sovereignly appointed key points that really turned that war around. But there are many times throughout human history that it seemed like wickedness was prevalent and winning and dominant. And we're told before the end, it's going to look like that again. So What time, what place, the Lord only knows. But we don't have to be afraid. So there's a good you work for, like in our setting. We want to work for the good of the United States on one level. But we have to hold that a bit loosely. At the end of the day, we might not be able to accomplish good for the United States. And that would be okay. It's not what we're looking for, not what we're hoping for. At the end of the day, we trust God that He knows what He's doing. But we see in Tunnel Vision, it's like prosperity and blessing and ease, good. Freedom to be able to worship God and freedom, good. And the lack of those things, bad. And yet, in God's sovereign plan, He's got the whole mix that all are being used to further His ends, which is why He's God and we're not. because he can use even the most wicked act in human history, the death of his son, to beat death. So he used the most heinous act ever committed by humanity as the key point in his plan for our good. So we just need to hold our assumptions and our hopes and our dreams for right now, quite loosely, knowing that we act with finite information, and he acts with infinite information, and he knows exactly what he's doing, and it's powerful to bring it about. I think one of the best parts of this study has been that little section in his prayer where we say, we judge God's goodness by the cross, and his power by the resurrection. Because our circumstances often don't seem to be panning out for us. But we judge God's goodness by the cross, and his power by the resurrection. And the problem of evil would say, well either he's not good or he's not powerful. But we say no, because he died for us, and he came back from the dead for us. He is both good and powerful, it's just we don't understand his plan sometimes. And we rest on what we know objectively from God and his word, and the living word, Jesus, our Savior. So I think that's one of the most powerful parts of this study we've done. That keeps coming back around in my head anyways. It's one thing that's been a blessing to me. But I don't get fearful because I know it's in God's hands. He has everything. Everything seems to be going according to the scriptures. That's right. Don't even go there! What? And it's funny, you know, people bring their own baggage to that. I almost started laughing, you know, but I said, why is that? And she goes, I just told you, don't even go there. I was so taken aback because she was so strong. I didn't go there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, it is interesting, when you say, well, it's in the Lord's hands, people will hear what they want as far as, that means it'll all work out and America will win. You know, some people will do that. Or other people will say, oh, you're saying America's going to lose and it's all going to fall apart because God wants that. But they'll all bring their own assumptions. Well, I know. I don't know what it is either. I know. But you could imagine both types of scenarios, couldn't you? You could imagine somebody saying, oh, well, so you just simplistically think it's all going to work out for America. No, that's not what I said. I said it's all going to work out for God's kingdom and his plan. Might not work out for America. I don't know. I don't have information on that. Or another person will say, well, you're saying America is going to be destroyed because God's mad at America. No, I didn't say that either. I just said that God is working out His purposes, and so I don't have to worry. But you know, it's easy to read into these things a lot of different assumptions. I would be with you, Cheri. I'd be itching to know. Why didn't you want to go there? What baggage are you bringing? I don't know. But anyways. So we're on that last question, Lucy. We started off this rabbit trail going with what's the relationship between believing God, faith in God, the work of believing God, and the work of our behavior, the act of our Christian life. And I think there is that circular relationship that our brothers started off with. I think it's not just is not just responding to the thing we now know by faith. Because when you come to faith in Jesus, you don't only know about the good news, you believe the good news. You know that the Bible says that Jesus was God and that he became man, but now you believe it. You know that the Bible said that he lived perfect before God, but now you believe it. You know that he died on the cross as our substitute, and now you believe it. And you know that the Bible says that he was raised from the dead and ascended to heaven, and now you believe it. So that when you're brought to faith, your first work, if you will, but even there, that's a gift from God, it says in Ephesians. Even our faith is a gift from God. That's not the only gift he gives us. I think this faith is a gift, and I think that then the work that we do are gifts, and that this is part of our salvation. So when we work out our salvation with fear and trembling, that fear and trembling and that hard work is a gift from God, and we're told the very next part of the verse that it is, because it's God who works in you both the will and the act. You do this, and see you're working hard with wanting to please God, caring about it, even, dare I say, worrying about it, because God's worked in you to care that much about it. You know, so, I love the illustration I got from, now I'm darned if I can remember his name, R.W. Glenn. R. W. Glenn, he did an excellent series in Exodus, so I listened to his series, which was well done. I don't remember where it was in Exodus, but he gave this illustration that stuck with me. He says, you know, imagine you're going into heaven, and the street is lined with all these people, and they're all cheering. They're all cheering, and you're coming in, and they're not cheering for you. They're cheering for Jesus. Jesus, you did it again! You did it again! And you're joining them. Look! He did it again! Here I am! I don't deserve to be here, but he did it! He did it! That's the picture. Isn't that a wonderful picture to have stuck in your head? And even in this life, as we figure bit by bit our life out, if we get anything right, say, thank you. Thanksgiving keeps us from pride. Thanksgiving keeps us from boasting. It also keeps us from discouragement, because when we fail, well, I've got the cross still. Jesus died for that. Thank you for that. And so it's fixing our eyes on Jesus that steadies us. When we're doing well and when we're doing poorly, we go back to the same place. And that gives us the biblical support and encouragement for our works. Isn't it a great person? That's right. When the Spirit teaches us that lesson, it is so freeing. You know, it's not freeing in the sense of, oh goody, I get to do whatever I want now. But, you know, freeing from that sort of treadmill fear you get into, like, am I good enough this week? Am I good enough this week? Am I good... I'm not! But He is! And you know what? I'm starting to figure some things out! And that's to His glory. You know? That's right. That's right. Or the John Newton one, you know, I'm not the man I was, I'm not the man I should be, but glory be to God, I am who I am. There's a wonderful freedom in that. A great peace that doesn't lead to being lethargic or inactive. It leads to actually great work. Because now you can put all your effort just into loving God and loving others. You know, you don't have to, you're not trying to do it, there's no angle for you. Right? Jesus took care of that. You don't have to earn anything. All your effort can be just loving Him, loving others, and when you blow it, Thank you, Jesus, that I get to be in this again and I can get back up off the ground because you paid the price, because you always got it right. There's wonderful freedom and everything in our life, our successes and our failures, become an occasion to praise God. With that note, let's close in prayer. Father, I do thank you that you have given us such a great salvation. I mean, I feel like I'm barely scraping the surface, and I'm probably right in that assessment. I think your salvation is so deep, so wide, so wonderful, so beautiful, so rich, that we are just beginning to understand it. Would you continue to open our eyes, help us to see in full color the glorious things you have done for us? I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.