Alright, useful and productive, that is not a typo, we are taking a break out of the book of Exodus today, because as I learned yesterday, I am weird. Which, you already knew this, but I actually had a guy ask me yesterday, he had learned something a couple of weeks ago, he goes, did you know there's a Reformation day? I'm like, yeah, I'm one of the weirdos that actually does a special sermon for it every year. He's like, oh, I didn't even know about this until a month ago. So 504 years ago today, October 31st of 1517, Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses to the door of the castle church at Wittenberg. We make a big deal out of that, and we should. But Luther was inviting a debate. It's what you do at college. You go to the bulletin board, you put up something that's gonna be contentious and ornery, and you hope that somebody will come fight with you about it. That's what Luther was attempting to do. The thing is, he was building upon centuries of tradition, and exegesis that built on the right understanding of scripture. Always remember this about your Protestant Reformation. And by the way, if you don't know, you're in a Baptist church, you're Protestants, okay? You're just there, bippity-boppity-boop, done. You have been Protestantized or something. There you go. Why does this matter? Luther is not coming up with something out of thin air. Neither did Zwingli, neither did Calvin, neither did Busser, neither did Knox. None of these guys just said, hey, I got an idea. Let's ignore the Pope, forget Rome, and go do our own thing. What they're building on is centuries of understanding of scripture. Jan Hus, who they burned at the stake, Wycliffe, who they didn't get around to killing, the evangelistic work that they had done, the right understanding of the nuggets of theology down through what is known as the Dark Ages, all the way back to the early church fathers and the understandings of guys like Athanasius and Irenaeus, even John Chrysostom, and when you get down to the third and fourth century, a consistent biblical testimony. So what makes Martin Luther such a big deal? Since nobody ever does this, I thought it would be useful to do what nobody else does, which is actually read what Luther wrote. out of love for the truth and from desire to elucidate it. There's a good word. We should use elucidate in speech more often. Yeah, that's a good word. The Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts in Sacred Theology and ordinary lecturer therein at Wittenberg, intends to defend the following statements and to dispute on them in that place. Therefore, he asks that those who cannot be present in dispute with him orally shall do so in their absence by letter, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen. For those of you that don't speak highfalutin professor talk, that's an invitation to debate with him, to show up and argue about it. Here's what he would like to argue about. This is good stuff. When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, repent, he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance. This word cannot be understood as referring to the sacrament of penance, that is, confession and satisfaction as administered by the clergy. Yet it does not mean solely inner repentance. Such inner repentance is worthless unless it produces various outward mortification of the flesh." James would agree with him, by the way. Men must especially be on guard against those who say that the Pope's pardons are that inestimable gift of God by which man is reconciled to him. For the graces of indulgences are concerned only with the penalties of sacramental satisfaction established by man. Any truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt even without indulgence letters. Christians are to be taught that unless they have more than they need, they must reserve enough for their family needs and by no means squander it on indulgences. To say that the cross emblazoned with the papal coat of arms and set up by the indulgence preachers is equal in worth to the cross of Christ is blaspheming. I'm a rah-rah guy, I'm like yes and amen. And if you don't know what he means when he says indulgences, they were literally selling your opportunity to get out of purgatory. So you basically had to get out of purgatory free, well not free, it came at a cost. And so people were literally selling or buying with their last bit of money the opportunity to get grandma, who had died, out of purgatory because we don't know how long she's gonna be in there. It's fun when you make up your own doctrines out of thin air. You can kind of make the rules about them as you go. So Luther's answer was, no, you're a repentant believer in Christ. You are heirs of the kingdom. Why is that a big deal? It's not because it stands in opposition to Rome in the 1500s. It's because it stands in support of biblical doctrine. It stands not upon the authority of men, but on the authority of Christ revealed in his word. What am I always talking to you guys about? Justify everything in your life based on what? On the book. Stand in the book. Why should you listen to me? Because I'm talking to you about the book. If I start talking to you about other things, you know what you should do? Yeah, no, don't walk away. Never walk away. Run, run after you throw hymnals. So the minute I start talking about something that's not in the Bible and giving you advice out of that, you throw the hymnals and then you run, preferably screaming, just because I want to see that. No, they're in the back. The kids have access to them. Have the kids throw them while you run screaming. That's a good plan, right? It'll give them something to do, keep them occupied. I'll bet if we told them they could throw hymnals at me, every time I said something heretical, they would pay attention better. Of course, they never get to throw anything at me. Sorry. So, I point all of this out because Luther, and again, it's not just Luther cropping up out of thin air. While Luther is working in Germany, Ulrich Zwingli is working in Switzerland. Their offspring, so to speak, are building on the works of Hus in Bohemia, which is what, modern day Prague? The building on the teachings of Wycliffe, building on the work that William Tyndale had done in translating the Bible into English, building on all of this, because it's building on biblical theology. So what I would like to do is Psalm 119. And the reason I'd like to do that is because there is probably no greater celebration of the Word of God in the Old Testament as it walks through. So my hope is for the next, you know, 30 or so Reformation Sundays, we can just be in Psalm 119, which makes my life easier because I That gives me a book to go through, and you know I don't function without a book to go through. So, let's dive in and see if we can back up the assertions that Luther was arguing about those so many years ago. Verse one, how blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord. Now, this is not a new idea, and it is not even a new idea in the book of Psalms. The beginning of the book of Psalms, Psalm one, one through three, How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither, and in whatever he does he prospers." Now, because we have... Okay, let me ask this question first. 66 books, 40 plus authors, 1,500 years to assemble your Bible. How many messages? One, to make sure we're paying attention. You don't have, well, there's the salvation that Jesus and the apostles are dealing with in the New Testament, and then there's that salvation that Abraham and all the other guys got in the Old Testament. You have a salvation from God. We have a consistent witness. So, How blessed are those whose way is blameless. Whoa, no, go back, go back, go back. There we go. Who walk in the law of the Lord. Who in and of themselves does this? You're getting, I'm getting the look. That's part of the message, Christian. And by the way, Psalms understands this. Rewind to Psalm 32. How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. Paul, building out on that idea in Romans 4. Is this blessing then on the circumcised or on the uncircumcised also? For we say, faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it credited? While he was circumcised or uncircumcised. Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them. All right, make sure we understand the argument being made here. When is Abraham credited as having faith and being, I guess if we had to put it in there, saved by God? Give me a chapter. No, no, no, it's in Genesis. Give me a chapter, Genesis what? And he believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. It's Genesis 15, chapter 15, verse six. When does circumcision come? Genesis chapter 17. I am not a brilliant man, but I know this with certitude. 15 comes before 17. That's the argument Paul's making. Paul, that, Paul, that. Abraham, get my people straight, that Abraham is saved by God, marked out as righteous, without the sign of circumcision. Circumcision was his sign of the covenant. It was his end of the bargain to mark him as what had already been accomplished. Meaning, Abraham's obedience is not the means of his salvation. His salvation is the means of his obedience. There is nothing new under the sun. This is why I tell you, Christian, you do not walk in righteousness. You do not seek to perform acts of sanctification, to live godly in the world so that God will love you and redeem you. You only are capable of doing so because he has loved you and redeemed you. The example I was reading this morning that I used in Sunday school, how many nights of sleep did Pharaoh lose hoping God would be happy with him? It was Pharaoh laying in bed enjoying his Hebrew slaves going, I really hope Yahweh is pleased with my works today. No, as he told Moses, who is this Yahweh that I should listen to him? His answer was, who do you think you are? Which is part of the reason for the plagues and the work that God was doing. No, you only care what God thinks. You only care about walking blamelessly, walking according to the precepts of God, because you have the Holy Spirit inside of you. You only care to do these things because you have been transformed. Never, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, never get those things backwards. This goes back to Luther's first argument right here. when our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, repent, He willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourself, so that no one may boast." In other words, your entire salvific existence is empowered, strengthened, and guided by God, not your will. not your brilliance, but His grace and mercy. How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, who seek Him with all their heart." Hmm. Does that sound like any New Testament verses that any good Christians might be made to memorize when they were children in Sunday school? Something like, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Seek Him with all your heart, hunger, thirst for it. My favorite thing about the Sermon on the Mount is how so many people think it's expounding the gospel so often when really it's Jesus taking a sledgehammer and smacking the people upside the head with it. What's the punchline of the Sermon on the Mount? How does it end? Nobody memorizes that one, so I'll read it to you. Everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the floods came, the winds blew and slammed against that house, and yet it did not fall. for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, the floods came, the winds blew, and slammed against that house, and it fell, and great was its fall. Now stop. Think through the memorable things you know from the Sermon on the Mount. You've got a hunger, thirst for righteousness. You must be meek to inherit the earth. If your right eye causes you to sin, you should do what? You should pluck it out. If your right hand causes you to sin, you should do what? You should cut it off. You shouldn't have any worry. You shouldn't care what the neighbors think about your prayers. You should give, you should pray righteously. You should not judge unless it's with the right standard. You should treat everyone else the same way you want to be treated. And if you don't do all of this, you're building on the sand, the storms will come and you will be lost. How confident are you right now? That's the point of the sermon. That crowd should have been looking at Jesus and saying what? Help me! I can't. I can't. I want to be on the rock and be secure, but I can't. What do you mean if I'm angry, I've committed murder. I looked and I've committed adultery. Who can keep that standard? That's the point. Your sin is not just something that happens to you. It is you. And you is it. There we go. That's horrendous grammar that you'll remember for the rest of the day. It's not something that you just, you know, I can tiptoe properly and walk blamelessly. Okay, I avoided that pothole and I... I mean, you're in a graveyard. You're already in trouble. I need rescue. I need salvation. I need my lawless deeds to not be taken into account. I need God to forget my sin as far as the east from the west. I need Him because I can't. Psalms understands this because it's written and inspired by the same Holy Spirit. We have a consistent testimony from God. We mentioned this last week with Exodus 35. How will all of that work be accomplished? Israel will give all these things for the tabernacle. The workmen will follow the instructions perfectly. They will be skilled. I mean, what are the odds that you're gonna go into Israel and find skilled workmen who won't mess up? Can the DOT hire these guys? That would be awesome. Become sick of them fixing the road and having the same pothole in it after they're done with it. Be like, yeah, they're gonna fix that pothole. How did they put it back? It's a miracle, but not in a good way. No, the message of Exodus 35 was what? You can't! He can. Lean not on your wisdom, but trust in His. Lean not on your willpower, trust in His. Lean not on your ability, cry out for His. Psalms understands this. This right here, what we're talking about, is the battle that launched the Reformation. It was the battle of church history going all the way back to Paul. This is the Judaizers. This is the same argument. No, no, no, no, no, no. You can't just be Christian. Perish the thought. You must first be followers of Moses. You must be circumcised. You must go to the temple and make atonement for your children. You must change those clothes. You must get rid of those pork chops. You must do all of these things. And then, and then maybe if you repent good enough, we'll let you be Christians. We'll see how it goes. That was the argument. I'm being a little silly about it. Well, I'm not being a little silly about it. I'm being very silly about it, but that's the same argument. Welcome to the church of the Middle Ages. Hey, you know what? We got to raise some money because we want to build a big castle in Rome. How do we get people to give money? Hey, I got an idea. Let's sell them grace. What could go wrong? And again, I'm being a little silly, but that's narrowed down to its base instinct. That's what it was. Grandma's in purgatory. Do you like grandma in purgatory? I mean, she was a sweet lady. She had you baptized. She brought you to confession. She went to confession. She brought you to communion. She was a wonderful lady, and then she died, but she was good, but she wasn't, like, saintly good. Because if she was saintly good, she'd have been, like, healing dead people and, you know, casting out demons and stuff. So she's in purgatory. Does that make you happy? Does it make you happy that grandma's in purgatory? Oh, well, you got a couple of bucks. Every time a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs. That was Tetzel's song. Imagine that guy rolling through town. Every time a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs. Probably sounded better in German, but. And so you put your money in, grandma's out of purgatory. What about Uncle Louie? Anybody else got any money? Well, how much did we really like Uncle Louie? Okay, we can wait on Uncle Louie. He probably deserves it. That was the scam. What does that do? That destroys grace. It destroys the work of God and makes it about... You, ye be like God. I keep telling you guys, there are no new arguments from Satan. He's not that clever or smart. This is why Peter tells you to stand firm, because you're not standing up against brilliance, you're standing up against the spirit of the age, just repackaged in a new shiny box and bow stuck on top. It's the same lie over and over again, just with new fun frosting and coverings and everything else that goes with it, but it's the same thing. This is what Luther and the gang, because again, I keep claiming he's not by himself in this. This is what they're arguing against is a return to biblical foundations. So let's continue. They also do no unrighteousness. They walk in his ways. How? How? Christian, this is what you want, right? How's it going? Is it working out for you? You understood it wrongly. The answer's no, you understood it wrongly. They do no unrighteousness, they walk in his ways. Are you righteous? Jesus would argue with you. You have been saved, you are saved, and you will be saved. The goal of sanctification is not to make me good, it's to make me like Christ. And while I know those two things are the same, the focus is different. when I seek to turn from my sin, as we always, you know, we put it to death, you know, we kill it, we kill it with fire. As I seek to do that, the reason I'm seeking to do that is because Christ has called me. Good. He stands before the Father and says, that one right there is mine and he is clean. See, I don't know what the corollary to this for women would be, but guys, did you ever have your dad tell you, You're a man. You're acting like a man. You did a good job. You were like, I grew seven inches that day. You're suddenly Matthew Wilder in 1984. Ain't nothing gonna break up my stride, nobody gonna slow me down. That was you, right? Why? Because you had received approval. You had received confirmation that you were on the right track. Christian, he stands day and night before the Father and says, clean. As far as the East is from the West, that one is mine. Not because of me, but because of him. This is my spurring, this is my work. I am righteous, saved by grace, through faith, not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not as a result of work, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, so that we would walk in them. Which means when you woke up today, you were living out the day that God had laid down for you. Because you're here. You are here, you are his redeemed child in Christ, therefore you have good works to do today that God has prepared in eternity past. There are no accidents, there are no mistakes. It's not like, how did I get here? Well, you got here because you were walking someplace. Where were you going? And if you don't want to tell me, you know what the answer is? Nowhere good. Therefore, where are those good works? Because they're there. It is my job to honor God when? See, don't mess yourself up with that. No, make this easy. When can I honor God? Now, can I honor God 10 minutes ago? No, I can't. It's 10 minutes ago. You got a DeLorean I don't know about? I can't go back. It's gone. I can't. Can I honor God 10 minutes from now? No, no I can't because I'm not there, I'm here. I honor God here. You just discovered why worry crushes so many people. I got this one wrong, now I gotta think about what. What's gonna be the next one? If I'm spending all my time thinking about what the next thing is, you know what I'm not doing? I'm not doing anything right now. I've forgotten here. Honor God in your faithfulness when, now, here. This is where I walk rightly. This is when I walk faithfully. He is at work. He is building. I am trusting. I am walking. I am being renewed. Why? Because he has not forgotten me. He has not forsaken me because he cannot forget me and he cannot forsake me. That's why I can walk in his ways. You have ordained your precepts that we should keep them diligently. This is one of those great things we always forget. How hard is it to know what God has commanded you? It's one of my favorite lines, right? They hide that information where? In books. But it's not just that for you, Christian. Deuteronomy 30. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the Lord your God, by obeying his voice, and by holding fast to him. For this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them. You know, because it has been told. You know, because also you know. That's the new covenant that God promises to Jeremiah, that I will write my law upon their heart. That's why I pick on you guys all the time, because I pick on me too. You have never once been in sin and been like, I didn't know this was going to turn out like this. I just can't believe that we have gone down this road and that this road looked like this at the other end of it. You knew, you just said what? It'll be all right. Because who lies to you the most? You do. And all the warning signs and all the red flags and all the Holy Spirit going, what are we doing? Dude, seriously, like we can, you can see that, right? You can hear me, huh? Hello? You just shut up. We're having fun. Because you lied to you. And now you're here. So when can I serve God faithfully? When Christ calls his people to repent, he means that how much of their life would be a life of repentance? all their life. That was Martin Luther's first point, that all of your life is repentance. In other words, I am in the wrong place. What shall I do? What was the message to Israel, Christian? When things are going well, what do I do? Repent and walk faithfully in Christ. When things are going terribly, what should I do? Repent and walk faithfully in Christ. When the world is giving me everything that I could ever desire, I should do what? Repent and walk faithfully in Christ. When they are trying to beat me half to death and I don't know what's going on, I should repent and walk faithfully in Christ. My call is the same regardless of what is going on around me. I am his, therefore I am strengthened, therefore I can follow the pathway that he has laid out for me. Don't miss that last part, that he has laid out for me. Not like you've just been, all right guys, you got this, good job, go figure it out. No, he is with and he is around. and He is working and He is accomplishing, as we are following that you have ordained your precepts, that we should keep them diligently. This is part of the lesson of Sunday school this morning. What separated, all right, my Sunday school class, shh, okay, shh, you're not allowed. No showing off. What separated the faithless kings of Israel from the quasi-faithful kings of Judah? Alright Sunday school class, what was it? The work of God. If God removes his guiding hand and his grace and mercy from those somewhat faithful kings of Judah, what would they have looked like? They'd have looked like the faithless kings of Israel. That is such a complicated word for my mouth to say. Faithless. It doesn't want to form properly. I don't know why. Sorry, faithless. You say it three times fast and see how it works out for you. What separates them is God, Christian. You look at the pagan world around you and you go, have you seen these people and what they do and how they act? How could they do this? What makes you not them? gracious saving work of God. What's the cure for them? The gracious saving work of God. What's the means by which that medicine should be applied? The faithful proclamation of the mercy and grace of God as it is shined like a light from his people. Repent of your sins and walk faithfully in Christ. Part of that walking faithfully is not just what you do, but come on, why you do it. Why do you need to know the why? You sorta know already, but why should you be able to enunciate it? Why should you be able to explain it to those around you? I need one more E-word and I don't have it, so I'm just gonna have to be a bad Baptist today. No alliteration. Why should you be able to do that? Because that's how the light shines. That's how you explain. That's how you, oh, there it is! That's how you evangelize! Dun-da-da-da! Okay, I'll go sit in the corner, hang on. Oh, that was another good one, educate. See, I always come up with them when I don't need them anymore, see? That's how this is supposed to work. It's not just a what, it's a why. This is what we do with children and grandchildren, right? This is how discipleship works. Do you just want your kids to grow up and do everything you told them to do? If you do, you don't understand discipleship. Isn't that always the story? Christian, stop me if you've heard this one before. If you don't let them have any fun when they're teenagers, they're just gonna go off to college or become adults and live how everybody else lives and it's just gonna be worse. You ever heard that one? You know why? Because if we never tell them why, it's true. If we never tell them why, it's true. If Christianity is just a series of what and a series of how, but never a thing about why, it's absolutely true because there's no reason There's just no... I was terrible for a while in restaurants because you know what I always ask people when they tell me the way that we do things in the restaurant? Why do we do it like that? Because we do! But, okay, but why? There's got to be a reason why it's laid out. Like, there's a reason why when we make the salads we do it in this particular order. I just want to know what it is. And then I had one boss look at me and go, well, why do you want to know? Well, because I'm looking at it and this seems like it makes more sense. And he's like, Well, let me think about it for a minute. And we thought about it for a minute and I was right. Hey, I got one. We thought about it on something else and you know what? I was wrong. But if you never ask yourself why, what will you do? What do you do when the new packaging shows up? It's the same lie, but it's got new packaging. Well, if all you've ever learned is what, you're only prepared for the old packaging. You're not prepared for the new packaging. It's the same lie, but you have no idea it's the same lie because you never understood the why behind it. You didn't see the first one. You didn't understand it. You just dealt with the packaging. That's why when they ask the other question, you're like, I don't know how to answer that question. There's a book, hold on, let me read this. Okay, I got your answer. Where'd you go? Because you don't know the why. But Christian, replicating faith is not a manner of replicating what you do. but it's a matter of replicating the change of heart. It's a matter of implanting the Holy Spirit by the work of Christ, by pointing them to that work, by explaining they, this is the why behind our decisions. This is the why behind our faith. This is the why behind our thoughts. This is the why behind our lives. That is discipleship. That is a replicated faith. So let's continue. Oh, that my way may be established to keep your statutes. See, that's a good call, isn't it? What's the psalmist already realizing? I'm gonna need some help here, because I can't. This goes back to one of my top five favorite Bible verses. One of these days I got to really count those, because I think I have like seven or eight top five favorite Bible verses. I think I'm saying, but I've always told you guys, unintentional comedy is the best comedy, and your Bible has more of it than you give credit for. Mark 9, top five Bible verses right here. They brought the boy to him. Jesus has come down the Mount of Transfiguration. The disciples that didn't go up the mountain have been trying to cast this demon out of this kid all night, and they can't do it. So Jesus comes down the mountain, they're like, finally, I can't do this. So they bring the boy to him, and when he saw him, immediately the spirit, that's the demon, threw him into a convulsion and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth. That's gotta be a good way to start breakfast, doesn't it? Come down the mountain hoping to have something to eat and there's this kid rolling around screaming and foaming. So he asked his father, how long has this been happening to him? And the father said, from childhood. It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us. Yeah, I always love that part. This is the best part right here. And Jesus said to him, if you can, I was gonna make sure I read it like that, because I don't think Jesus was like, if, what do you mean if? I mean, that's how I would have said it, but that's why I'm not Jesus, amongst other reasons. All things are possible to him who believes. Immediately, this is the best verse right here. The boy's father cried out and said, I do believe, help my unbelief. Isn't that the Christian life though? I believe! Well, what are you doing over there? I don't know! I'm not supposed to be here, and I know I'm not supposed to be here, but I don't... Well, I know how I got here, but I don't want to tell you how I got here. So can we just pretend this didn't happen and get back on the highway where we're supposed to be? I believe! Help my unbelief! Oh, that my ways may be established to keep your statutes. I can't! You can, please. Be merciful. And yes, I told you earlier that James would agree with Luther, and Luther would agree with Psalm 119, because you can square this. Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. See, this is why you're not sinless. This is how you're refined. You're refined by the smoothing off of the rough edges. Uh-oh. You're refined by the chiseling off the things that don't belong. If they were just stripped away from you, who would you think did that? Be honest. You would think you did that. Look at me. I repented, trusted in Christ, and my life is perfect. I don't know what's wrong with you people. Look at all this thing that I don't, I don't struggle with that. You ever had that argument when you tell people, well, I'm really kind of struggling with this. Oh, when Jesus saved me, he just took that one away from me. Well, isn't that wonderful for you? So glad you don't have any struggles. It's not that they don't have any struggles, they don't have that struggle. They got stuff you would look at and be like, you have a hard time with that one? See, I do this in my house all the time. Cameron will vouch for this. I am not an anxiety person. I live with an anxiety person. And so there are days that I'm like, I just don't get it. Doesn't make Cameron worse than me. Doesn't make me better than her. There are just days where it's like, I can't help with the anxiety because I just, I'm just not understanding this one. Do you have someone that you can call other than the Ghostbusters? Cause it's Halloween. There you go. Conversely for years, for years and years and years, Cameron did not understand my anger. And I had anger, and she's like, what are you mad about? I'm like, everything! Why? I don't know, I just am. Yeah. She didn't get it, because she was not an angry person. She's been around me long enough, so that's changing a little. You understand, right? But at the same token, I'm not better, I just have a different thing that I struggle with, a different thing that I war against. You have this in your life all the time. This is, again, why we come together, and why the joke is, I don't wanna tell you why I got here. No, you know what you need to do? You need to explain exactly how you got here. Do you know why? I tell you this all the time. Say the dumb things out loud, because you know what you'll realize? That they're dumb, and what's the rule? Don't do dumb things. That's always the rule. That rule is always in effect, remember that. But you should say them out loud, because when you say them out loud, you start to actually hear yourself, and you go, I convinced me of that? Oh, what an idiot. Okay, let's pretend like this never happened and let's just kind of keep moving in the right direction. See, James builds on this. That's why James 1 tells you to rejoice in your pressures. James 2 tells you to do what? Walk faithfully, produce. Have your walk look like you believe. James 3 gives you practical applications about taming the tongue and walking in righteousness so that you can get to James 4 and he warns you of this. You ask and you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives so that you may spend it on your pleasures. You ever wonder why God doesn't answer any of my prayers? What are you praying for? Well, this, this, and this. You want a lot of stuff. This is not a Christmas list, people. I know, aw, wah, wah, wah. That's not, but how, but let's be honest, when do you pray the most? When something's terribly wrong or when I, when I want something. Vern's honest, we give Vern a gold star today. Vern gets a cookie. This is when you pray the most, when things are terrible and when you want stuff. When you don't want anything and things are going great, how's your prayer life? Because you misunderstand prayer. You think it's a goodie bag that if I call out, Santa delivers. That's not how this works. That's not how any of this works. And that's the point that James makes. Your life is not about you. It's about living in righteousness. It's about calling out and trusting in his power, not your own. Colossians 2 puts it this way. as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted, and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, overflowing with gratitude." See, there's one of the things that should mark the believer from the unbeliever in the world. I gotta stop doing this. I gotta stop using the same examples I have in my sermon time in my Sunday school class. I really gotta stop doing that. That or I need better examples. I don't know. I think we're doomed on that one. But think about your life. Think about the things that annoy you the most. The example I used, if you've ever been a paycheck to paycheck person. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt, right? When you were in college or when you were younger and you had that car that just doesn't run right. Did you really like that car a whole lot? No, you were spending your whole life working so that you could do what? Fix it or buy one that doesn't break. I did this. I had a Buick that I drove through the water in Hurricane Floyd and swam out the window. Yeah, I had a Buick, a Buick Regal that was about 10 years old. And yeah, I swam out of it and towed it to a garage. And I went back two days later and I'm like, so what's the plan for this? He goes, you see that tarp over there with all those metal parts on it? Yeah, that's your engine. They literally took the engine out, took it apart into every small piece it would break down into, and just laid it out on a tarp in the sun. He goes, at night when it gets cool, we cover it up so that it doesn't get wet, and in the morning we let it sit in the sunshine so it'll dry out. Once it's dry, we're gonna put it back together and see what happens. That car hated me. I would drive down the road and the speedometer would occasionally just go away because it was digital. So I'm like, yeah, drive another, okay. Automatic transmission, so I'm accelerating off stoplights. All right, first. Second, okay, third, I'm going about 35, I'm good here. One day I was driving down the road and the dome light just came on. Just, yeah. It wouldn't start anymore, so what I would have to do is I carried a long wooden handled screwdriver, and I'd have to put the key in the ignition and turn the engine to on, and it wouldn't turn on, but I would then climb underneath it with the screwdriver and I would have to touch a bolt on the starter to the bolt where the battery is to create a spark. so that the engine would start and then when it was started I could break these sparks flying in my face. That car hated me after that. I spent every day, I'm going to work so I can do what? Make money so I can do what? Buy a car so that this one doesn't decide to just leave me on the side of the road randomly at two in the morning like it did multiple times. Don't ask why I was at a two in the morning, that's a different discussion for another day. I was going home, sober. I was, honest, Scout's honor. What was the problem with the car? Yes! For all those times when I would complain, well it left me on the side of the road at 2 o'clock in the morning, yeah! But the rest of the week it did what? It drove me to work, it drove me to school, it drove me to- I mean it- For every one time I was on the side of the road, there were 27 times when I got where I was going and I didn't die. That should be a wi- Isn't that the goal of the vehicle right there? Now, why was I unsatisfied? Because I was unsatisfied. Now, when I look at that vehicle and go, hey, got me to school, got me to work, got me to go see my girlfriend, it got me home again. This is a good car. I love this car. What's changed? It still has no speedometer, it still has a dome light that randomly turns off and on, I still have to start it with a screwdriver, it still has no heat. You ever had heat go out in a vehicle? Because that can happen. Yeah, it still has none of that. The shocks are still shot, but what's different on it? Me! Oh, that my ways may be established. Not this world, change me. This is Psalm 139 also. See if there is any way offensive in me and lead me in the paths that are everlasting. Change me. That's the call. Then I shall not be ashamed when I look upon all your commandments. Why? Not because your commandments have changed, but because I have changed. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because as he is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment. But the one who fears is not perfected in love. It's 1 John 4. What's he talking about? The world being different? No, he's talking about you being different. The Proverbs 31 woman, why does she smile at the future? Because her household is prepared. Her household is provided for. Why? Because she's trusting and working in and for God. That's why she smiles at the future. She's not afraid. Because she has God. She has been redeemed, she has been transformed, she has been set upon a new path. Not her work, not her will, His work and His will. That's the same thing here. Why does nobody really like to read the Law of God? Let's be honest, how many of you go home and be like, I wanna read some Leviticus tonight. Do the kids ever go, we want a Bible story, we want Leviticus, Leviticus 14, that's our favorite. Like, has anybody ever picked a life verse out of Leviticus? Seriously? Like, do the kids wanna have the 10 commandments read to them for fun? No, why not? Because what do we instinctively know every time we read it? Hmm. And we know that I'm not living up to that because I'm forgetting what? I am saved. I'm being saved. And I will be saved. That he looks upon me and calls me clean, redeemed, sanctified, perfect. Not because of me, but because of him. There's, once again, no fear, nothing to worry about because you can't take that from me. Because you can't win that fight with Him. And He's the one who has gifted. Therefore, you get to verse seven. I shall give thanks to you with uprightness of heart when I learn your righteous judgments. See, we praise. We can praise because I'm not afraid of your judgments because your judgments are righteous and so am I. Luther's 62nd thesis, the true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God. There's your treasure, because in that message is contained that. The grace of God, the message of the gospel is that when you are dead in your trespasses and sins, he made you alive together with him. He has forgiven your iniquity, he has covered your unrighteousness. He has cleansed you and made you holy. Therefore, when his judgments are read, we stand there and go, uh-huh, uh-huh, that's what he said, that's what we should be doing, that's what he said, because that's what I'm about, because that's what he has now made me. And he has made me that way and he has made me to be that way. That's why Paul could tell you, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ, that I may be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know him, the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. That's not a lot of celebration about Paul, is it? It's a whole lot of celebration about God and the work that he has done in Christ. Because that's the Christian testimony. So I can give thanks because your judgments are righteous, and I shall keep your statutes, do not forsake me utterly. There we go, went out there. If you could keep God's statutes, would there be any worry that he would forsake you utterly? Isn't that kind of like, I believe, help my unbelief. I will keep your statutes, don't forsake me. It's a reminder. That just as the prophets were talking about a now and a not yet, that Isaiah could walk into the court of Ahaz and say, a young woman will be with child, and before that child grows, you will know, dot, dot, dot, dot, dot. And why the translators to the Septuagint understood that it wasn't just about some young maiden who was getting married, it was about a virgin who's giving birth. In other words, there was a message to Ahaz, but there was also a message, what? Down the line that was coming concerning the Messiah. You, Christian, live in a now and a not yet. You've been saved. You are saved. You're still being saved. So while Christ has called you clean, Christ has called you righteous, and you stand a little bit taller, guess what you're gonna find out on Tuesday? Because everything bad happens on Tuesdays. God has a sense of humor, so he doesn't do everything bad to you on Monday. He saves a little bit of it for Tuesdays. That's just the first day I always think of, I don't know why. Where are you gonna find yourself? How'd you get over there? I don't know! Well, I do know, but I don't wanna tell you. Welcome to your life. What's the message? Repent and walk faithfully. When? Now, this is when I can serve Christ. I can't do anything about that. That was gone. I have to trust for that too, Christ died. Because I didn't like it, we know he didn't like it, and nobody liked it, so let's just pretend like that didn't happen, and let's separate that as far as the East is from the West, and let's now move forward. Forgetting what lies behind, and moving on to what lies before. Why? 2 Corinthians 5. From now on, we recognize no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him in this way no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature. The old things passed away. Behold, new things have come." And all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. Namely, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against Him, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us. And we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. As he made him who knew no sin, to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. That's a whole mindset right there. That me over there, that was over there, not talking about that anymore, that's dead. And when I was over there, it was still dead, because in Christ I am clean. And I walk in that newness, and I proclaim the mercies and grace of Christ. And when you look at me, you don't see me who was overcome, you see Christ who was overcome in me. Because I have been reconciled to God in Christ, and you can too. Why? Because you have sinned, and you have iniquity, and Christ has borne the penalty. Therefore you may walk anew. When Christ calls us to repent, he means that all of life is a life of repentance. This is the holy message. This is the treasure of the church that he has saved even us. And the punchline for Luther was this. Christians should be exhorted to be diligent in following Christ, their head, through penalties, death, and hell. He'd have been at home in some good old-fashioned Southern revivals right there, and he'd be, ah, go to hell if you don't repent! Guy turning beet red, Cameron's laughing because she has seen that guy in a church suit, tie buttoned up to him, hanging right about like a butt to about here, when you get that gizzard meat poking out and then, you know, looking at you and face turning beet red. If you have never been to one of those church services, you are missing out. They are not just in the movies, they exist. I have sat in them and going, don't laugh, don't laugh, don't laugh, because that vein any second is going to explode and that's not going to be pretty. But Christians should be exhorted to be diligent in following Christ their head through penalties, death, and hell. In other words, scare them a little! If you don't repent, what awaits you on the other side of those eyes closing? Judgment! Eternity! The wages of sin are death. No one survives life. You should be living with the mindset that you are going to die. and that there are penalties for sin. There are consequences for our actions. This is why we say life generally goes better when you follow the statutes. It's not that life goes perfectly, it's that in general, life goes better because you avoid some of the penalties. You avoid some of the consequences by not partaking in those actions. That's what Luther's talking about. You should be Encourage to follow after Christ who has set you on the path and who has laid the pathway out before you and who waits at the end. And you should do so and be reminded of that because there are negative consequences. And thus be confident of entering into heaven through many tribulations rather than through the false security of peace. In other words, don't lie. Don't lie to people about what the reality is. You're going to be okay. Nobody dies until 2020, but that's a different discussion. I'm going to stop. Don't do that. Don't do that. Because that's how this world suddenly started acting. Nobody died until March of last year, ever. Not even a little bit. But don't have a false sense of security. It's going to be okay. Let's be honest. Who thinks more about legacy and life and how people see them? 17-year-olds or 77-year-olds? Yes, why? Because you're a lot closer to the end than you are to the beginning. You start to have some perspective. This is part of discipleship and wisdom. What's the goal for the children? To give them wisdom and perspective. In other words, to start getting more 17-year-olds to think like 77-year-olds, just without the bitter get off my lawn part, right? We want to skip that stage. Sorry, Vern, but we want to skip that. That's just getting good. You kids get off my lawn. You want to skip that part, but you want to have the wisdom and the perspective. Why? Because you want to recognize that there are consequences. There are good and poor decisions that can be undertaken. That there are things that await me that are not always pleasant. But, in Christ, even if I am drug through the potholes of this pathway because I've made too many of those consequential decisions, I can know that I am clean, that in Christ, I can know that there is wisdom and change of heart, that as I walk, I will stand tall and I will overcome and I will accomplish, not because I'm good, but because He is good. That's Luther's final statement. Be confident of entering into heaven through many tribulations rather than through the false security of peace. My life is a war and I fight against my sin and I win a lot of battles. But you know what? I lose a lot too. And I don't like that. That's true security. How many nights of sleep did Pharaoh lose? None. So when you lose a night of sleep, guess what Christian? You're worried about it, good. I told you this before, people used to always ask, this was the big question about 10 years ago in ministry, it seems like. How do I know I haven't committed the unpardonable sin and blaspheme the spirit and I can't get into heaven? You're worried about it. If you weren't worried about it, then I'd be worried about you. But you're worried about your sin. You're worried about your righteousness. You care what the testimony of your life is. It's because the Holy Spirit's kicking you in the butt and sending you down the road in the right direction. Keep up the good work. It may not always be pretty, it may not always be good, but it will always be right. That's true security. an understanding that my righteousness is not mine, it is his. My good works are not because of my brilliant ideas, because of what God has laid down beforehand, and that I walk because he has strengthened. And I will continue to walk, because again, if he's kicking and screaming as we go, he's still going to drag me, because I'm his. And just like you never gave up on your kids, even when you wanted to, he doesn't give up on his children either. And so he disciples, and you worry, and he strengthens, and you overcome, and he builds, and you rejoice, and you fall, and he picks up, and he strengthens, and you overcome, and you continue walking because his work is good, because his children are good, because that's how he is making them. Let's pray.