Romans chapter 7 today. Continuing Romans chapter 7. I know it's been kind of long, but hopefully not tedious, you know, in looking at these verses today. Yeah. Oh, the clip has gone. It's probably stuck on me. That's where it is. At least the mic gets stuck on me. The wire's here though. No, I got it. There we go. All right. Now that that's all done with, now we can commence. Where was I? We're looking at today, we're looking at Romans chapter seven through 12. I had actually planned last week to get through verse 12, but today it's kind of a neat bookends. The question is asked in verse seven before we read it is, is the law sin? That's what we're gonna answer today. Is it sin? Right? So let's start off by reading these passages, Romans chapter 7. I have nothing to work in here. Here we go. Romans 7, verse 7. What shall we say then? Is the law sin? He's abrupt right here. God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin but by the law, for I had not known lust except the law had said thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, rotten me all manner of computions. For without the law, sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore, the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just and good. And Lord, we just pray that you would add your blessing to your word this morning. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Right now that we have that read, let's go back to the book of Exodus. Exodus chapter 20, as most people would know, this is where the Ten Commandments are found. So Exodus chapter 20, verse number one. And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them, for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that take his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days thou shalt labor and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt not do any work, thou nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day. Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. and shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's. And that's the end of those 10 commandments. But let's continue here, just a matter of reading this. And all the people saw the thunderings and the lightnings and the noise of the trumpet and the mountains smoking. When the people saw it, they removed and stood afar off. After all, it's a holy God, a powerful God. This was a fearful thing for them. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear, but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not, for God has come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was. And the Lord said unto Moses, thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. An altar of earth thou shalt not make with me gods of silver, neither shall you make unto you gods of gold. An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen. In all places where I record my name, I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of honed stone. For if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon. I'm going to end right there. But if we were to continue, we would see the next three chapters are filled with laws. for the Israelites to follow. Those were holy laws for them. The requirement for the law was a requirement from the Israelites so that they could have life, right? By life, it means that they could live a life, a prosperous life by following all his commandments. And likewise, if they didn't follow the law, You know, what people always seem to forget that believe the church has replaced Israel, they forget about the curses of not obeying the law. They don't take that, they only take the blessings. But is the law sin? Was any of that sin? The answer is God forbid. The law does not dictate our behavior for today, but it did dictate a response to God's faithfulness, or the faithfulness of the nation of Israel in their day. Let's go over to Leviticus 18 for a second. Leviticus 18, I hope I get the right verse because I'm kind of going by my memory, which is sometimes rough. Leviticus 18. Let's just look at verses 1-5. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am. the Lord your God. After the doings of the land of Egypt wherein ye dwelt, shall you not do? And after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall you not do? Neither shall you walk in their ordinances. Don't be like the Egyptians. Don't do like the Canaanites. And think of it, we have history. that they went the way of the Canaanites. They did become idolaters, just like them. They wanted to go back to Egypt where they had better food. Wrong reasons to go back to Egypt, by the way, they'd be put right back in bondage. Verse four, ye shall do my judgments and keep my ordinances to walk therein. I am the Lord your God. And verse five, ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them. I am the Lord. So they were to derive their life from obeying the commandments. Without obeying the commandments, they would be cursed like the other nations. And luckily, well, not luckily, providentially, we know that they did not walk in the commandments of God. They gave themselves up to idols. They gave them up to the idols of the nations where they went into exactly what the Lord had told them not to do. And what's amazing, we are not under the law. You can see the law has no more power. We're dead to the law. But we still have commandments through the scripture. I started off with the 10 commandments. We find these through our epistles to the church. The church epistles, we still find in them nine of the 10 commandments. I didn't take the time to write them all down and go there, but if you read through the letters, you'll find commandments not to murder or kill, not to steal. They're all there. The only commandment that you will not find is the fourth commandment about keeping holy the Sabbath. Nine of the 10 commandments are talked about, mentioned as commandments for us. Thou shall not kill. Is that a good commandment? Should be something that we have written on our hearts. But unfortunately, it is those that are abject criminals, lawbreakers that'll do anything against the law. Do we not kill solely because the law says not to kill? Or do we today, do we trust in what God has done? I'd say yes. We grow in grace. We understand the knowledge of how loving God is and how giving he is to us. Remember once again, all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That's what we have today. Let's look for a second at Galatians chapter six. Galatians chapter six. I think I'll be revisiting Galatians six as well. Look at verse one. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Verse two, bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. See, we have a higher law, right? Our higher law is self-sacrificing, doing for others like we would be done to ourselves. All these different things we learn through the grace of God. And just because I like verse three so much, I'm gonna go to verse three. For if a man thinketh himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. The reality is, if a man, if anyone, thinks himself to be higher than anyone else, he deceives himself. Right, because we're all in. At the beginning of service, you know, it's always wonderful to see people getting together, shaking hands, and hugging, and chatting one another. That's the reality that we have in the local assembly. It's not something you find online. You can't cry with anybody online. You can't rejoice with those who are rejoicing online, but in fellowship. When we get together, we can do those things. But the law of Christ are those laws that are in Scripture that lead to our sanctification, our growing in Him. They're not mandatory things, they're spiritual things that we grow in. Let's go over back to the book of Romans. Let's go to Romans 8 for a second. Verses one through three. It says, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. If you're looking at the dictates and mandates of the flesh, guess what's gonna happen? You're gonna have condemnation. And I think, and you can check this out, I think that condemnation isn't necessarily a condemnation from God, but what do we do? We have a little pity party for ourselves. I'm a horrible Christian. Maybe true. I can't fellowship together because I have something that's worse than anybody else. There's no condemnation. Which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh. If you walk after the flesh, even walk after the law, what's gonna happen is you're gonna set these goals that are unattainable. You're gonna be looking for perfection where there isn't in your performance. But if we look to one who has, is the perfect one, perfectly fulfilled the law, perfectly fulfilled all righteousness, we have no condemnation. And look at verse two, another law. for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Yes, we no longer look at our performance basis of ourselves. We look to the performance of Christ Jesus. After all, he's the one that loved me and died for me. and He'll keep you and me as well. Verse number three, for what the law could not do and that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. He came as a man. He came just as you and I. He came. in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. He took upon Him all this sin. I still can't fathom it that He died for the sins of the entire world. We couldn't even bear our own sin. Think of how marvelous that is. We can't handle the truth. Our own sin, if we try to have it forgiven any other way but through Christ, is futile. Verse four. that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. The righteousness of the law, right? Jesus himself has imputed that righteousness to us. And that righteousness of the law is fulfilled in those who walk after the Spirit. Think of that for a second. I am crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. Do I now frustrate the grace of God by thinking that we can obey the law? And I added that to the end. Thinking our obedience would be the thing that would justify us. Let's go over to James chapter two, the book of James chapter number two. Let's go to verse eight. If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture. I like, you don't have to go any further to find out what the royal law is. Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself. Ye do well. But if you have respect to persons you commit sin and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, do not commit adultery, said also, do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. Guilty of the whole law by breaking one commandment. And we add the next few chapters in the book of Exodus, we find all the different laws for the nation of Israel. But they would be blessed to walk, they would derive their life. The law was the constitution for the nation of Israel, for those under Moses. This law of Christ. is the practical application, finds a practical location in 1 Corinthians 13. Should we go there? Oh sure, I think so. 1 Corinthians 13. It's only 13 verses too in 1 Corinthians 13. I think what happens is so many people use portions of 1 Corinthians 13 for all different things. But this is the practical application for that which is started in chapter 12 and also shows the control of what happens in chapter 14. The motivation for ministry, the motivation for the church, is the love of God, clearly and truly. Verse 13, verse 1 always drives people crazy. It says, though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity, there it is, speaking with the tongue of angels, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I looked up what the tongue of angels is and we hear the tongue of angels is a clear message usually. Think of the angel Gabriel with the announcement to Mary. He had a clear message. He was 100% correct in his words because they were the words of God that he was projecting. I'd say this, that Gabriel was probably the most eloquent speaker of any being ever, right? So I speak though, Though is, you can look at that as if. Even if I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity or love. This happened in early passages in 1 Corinthians. There were different schisms. There were schisms in the church where they followed more eloquent people than the Apostle Paul. And they condemned Paul because he was of rude speech. It says, even if I were like them, and of angels, and have not charity, I am become a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. Now I look at that sounding brass and tinkling cymbal. If I got up and tried to play the trumpet, sounding brass, what you would hear would be like, it would be horrible. And even somebody with great oration skills, if they don't have love or charity, they're a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. Verse number two, and though, even if I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains and I have not charity, I am nothing. You know, I could do all the great wonders. The gift of prophecy. Somebody thinks that the rapture was supposed to happen a couple weeks ago, right? Even if that were true, and that gift of prophecy were alike, or correct rather, without love or charity, it's nothing. And though, even if, I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Right? No matter what you do. It could be Ed McMahon with a publisher's clearinghouse check. That's nothing. The younger people don't know who Ed McMahon is. I have to teach you that someday. Charity suffereth long. It puts up with a lot of things. It is kind. Charity envieth not. Charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up. It doth not behave itself unseemly. Seeketh not her own is not easily provoked. I always kind of look at that one part, is not easily provoked. True love stands a test. True charity stands a test that cannot be taken away by anything at all. Thinketh no evil. true charity, doesn't have evil thoughts. How can I get this person back? Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth. Beareth all things, Believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. And by believeth all things, that's not a license to go out and just say, I believe anything I hear. It's believe all things of the truth that's been given. Hopeth all things, endureth all things. Another part about believeth all things, how many people have possibly known somebody in the past They always are having some issue. Eventually you feel like, oh man, I see this person I wanna get the hip waders on. I don't wanna hear it anymore. But yet, charity believeth all things. We'll give an ear to that kind of person. And of course, as it's rejoicing in the truth, you give the truth no matter what. the inconvenient truth as it may be. It beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity is ever enduring. True charity. Verse 8, charity never faileth. Just as the sun and the moon shine their light continually, Charity doesn't fail. Who is it that came up with the expression that honesty is the best policy? That's a good saying. But charity or love is the best policy. Love is the motivation for all we do. Charity never faileth, but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail. Do they not? Whether there be tongues, they shall cease. Whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. We're talking early church had these things actually in it. All gone now. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. It's always a controversy of what that's talking about. I would hold that we have the complete canon of scripture. We have no need for prophecy. We have no need for tongues. But there was a need, and it's been done away. There's only a couple verses left. When I was a child, I speak as a child. How many remember being a child? Here we go. Still remember being a child. Do you remember how you talked when you were two years old? Two, three years old. I love it. Those young kids will battle over the color of their bowl. Amen? I wanted the green cup. I don't want the pink cup. Then they grow older and there's reasons. They don't want the pink cup because that's a girl's color cup. We spoke as a child, right? But we grew up. We learned to speak, you know, what's the word I'm looking for? Maturely, that's what I was looking for that. We learn maturity. We learn how to use our voice and not just cry for something we need or yell me, me, me, me. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things. I often wonder if that's true today, because there's a lot of grown babies out there. It's not going right. The president's building a ballroom. Children. Not to mention that a couple presidents earlier, they tore down a section and put a basketball court in. That's cool. Or FDR tore down the whole West Wing and created what's there now. These things have been going on for years. Get over it. Grow up. For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known. We don't have to look through a glass darkly. We have the scripture. We have the full revelation of what we need from God. In verse 13, And now abideth faith, hope, and charity, these three, but the greatest of these is charity. Why? Because without charity, you can have all the faith and hope you want. It'll mean nothing. Charity or the love of God that we display is the greatest of things. So that law of Christ, the practical application for that is 1 Corinthians chapter 13. Think of that, love. We have not love for one another, we are just clanging cymbals or sounding brass, it means nothing. Let's go to chapter 7 of the book of Romans, again. Verse 7, what shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid, nay. I had not known sin, but by the law For I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. See, the law is holy. It's there for a reason. Verse number eight, I have the first word underlined, highlighted, but. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment. All right, what does this mean, taking occasion? That means it's, the word is, it's the starting point, is the literal meaning, right? So think of it this way. But sin taking the starting point by the commandment. And I say it all the time, we all want to do the things that we're told not to do, don't we? I was talking about a diet one day. All right, I know what I'm supposed to eat and what I shouldn't be eat to be on a diet. I know that in my heart, but the lure of an ice cream cone, knowing that I can't eat it or I shouldn't eat it is so attractive. It's like, ice cream, chocolate chip. I love it. Because I know it's not good for me, but still my flesh says, give me, give me, give me. We overindulge in those things. I want to go to a few places where this word here, for occasion, but sin taken occasion by the commandment. I want to go to where else it's found, just in a few places. 2 Corinthians chapter five. Do I want to go there? Because I know I go further in 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians chapter five. Let's just go to verse 12. For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion, right? The starting point, this is the place where this comes to place. The starting point to glory on our behalf, that you may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance and not in heart. This starting point for glory, based in the Lord here, occasion to glory on our behalf that you may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance and not in heart. In other words, there were those who were looking the part, dressing the part, But yet, that was all an outward show. And yet, the glory is that which is in the heart. Let's go to 2 Corinthians chapter 11. 2 Corinthians 11. It starts with but, verse 12. You know, Paul dealing with false teachers. Verse 12 says, but what I do, that I will do. I'll do what I'll do. I had a doctor one time, the post office wanted like a multi-page form filled out for an injury I had way back when. and my doctor wrote two words, back to work on such and such date. I brought it in, my boss said, he needs to fill out that paperwork. And he told me, I've written what I've written. Sounds almost like Pontius Pilate. I've written what I've written. The doctor's note was proof of what they needed. They didn't need any more detail. So, but what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion. You know, take starting point to mean nip it in the bud, right? Here's the starting point. From them which desire occasion, that we're in their glory, they may be found even as we. So he wants these false apostles to go back and be humble, and not look at themselves as some great people they are. Look at verse 18, it says, for such are false apostles deceitful workers transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness, whose ends shall be according to their works. " It's amazing. Halloween is coming up on Friday, right? It glorifies gore. It glorifies frightening things. We have this picture of that being satanic. but really the most satanic things are those things that look like the truth. They look all good. I don't know if I ever told you this one time. At a previous church, I did a Sunday night service, and this was the time back when the Columbine shootings took place. I had actually written to Marilyn Manson, You know, because Marilyn Manson was blamed. His music was the reason why these kids went in and shot up the school. And I made a statement, something kind of benign, I think, at the time. I said, I would rather Marilyn Manson walk through the door of the church than a five-point Calvinist. because they're deceitful workers, transforming themselves into angels of light, looking so good and appealing to the flesh, or appealing to the mind. Well, that night, they happened to be two guys that were five-point Calvinists. They took off and they showed up back at the church. They wanted to beat me up. I actually had a couple bigger guys than me that were protecting me, but I think of that, how deceitful it is. Oh yes, we love the love of God, because God has chosen us. We're elect. God loves us more than you. But yet, I'll kill you if you mention that fact. One more place, or two more places, let's go to Galatians 5, Galatians chapter 5. All right, I was gonna put some context in this one too. Let's go to verse 11. And we could go a lot earlier than verse 11. And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the offense of the cross ceased. I would they were even cut off, which trouble you. For brethren, you've been called unto liberty, only use not liberty for an occasion, for the flesh. Think of it again, the starting point. How many times do we offer, well, you believe in grace, you believe that people can do anything they want, right? I do believe that people can do what they want, but there'll be consequences of doing what you want. And I know that in Titus chapter 2, it says the Holy Spirit teaches us, right? Teaches us not to sin. That's what growing in the grace is all about. For brethren, you have been called unto liberty, only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh. That starting point, oh yeah, I can do what, what can I get away with today? What can I do today? But, another but, by love, serve one another. That's great, substituting the occasion for the flesh, substituting it for love or charity. Verse 14. For all the law, how much of the law? Is fulfilled in one word, even in this. Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself. That goes right along with 1 Corinthians 13 as well. I have to continue here. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. How many of you have been through that? Just bickering, bickering, bickering. Next thing you know, everybody fizzles out, right? They're consumed. This I say, then walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Where a lot of that lust of the flesh comes from the occasion of the commandment. Goes back full circle. I've thought of it, I tried to live by following the 10 commandments. I get fed up. I couldn't do it. People that learn that you have to obey all the commandments, they end up just abandoning the faith. They end up saying, I can't do this. This is too much. Or people that are given this formula. Five things to financial freedom. And they get the bill in the mail from the doctor. They get mad at God. Because their priority is in the wrong place. The priority is to grow in Him. In verse 17, For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. Like a dog fight. The flesh, the spirit, who's gonna win? So many of the flesh wins out. I give up, I can't do it. Notice it's the spirit and not the law, right? For the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary the one to the other so that you cannot do the things that you would. I tell you, keeping your eyes on Jesus, He's the one that fulfilled everything. He's the one that did the work, the legwork, so to speak, of salvation. But if you be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. That's so incredible. Again, the law, we see the Mosaic law is found throughout the epistles, but yet we don't live by that law. Let's keep going here. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these? adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like. So anything like all those. And if you want definitions for each of those, see me later. They're mostly quite clear. and such like, of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, they that which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. You know, 1 Corinthians 6 is a good place to go. But, another important but. We have all these works. And I emphasize the s, the s. These works of the flesh. Verse 22 says, but the fruit, right? It's singular. Works are plural. Sins are plural. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law. So you don't have to go try fulfilling this law of commandments that's against us. Boy, it reminds you of Colossians 2. All these ordinance that were against us were taken away by the cross. Amen. Against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts, right? Crucified. If you're in the spirit, you're not gonna live according to the affections and lusts. But yet, we often get out of the spirit and we walk in the flesh. That's where we feel the great debt that we think we need to pay. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. That's our conversation, is in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. Then it goes with verse six. Let's not. try to elevate ourselves by provoking one another or envying one another. I think how easy that can be. I don't have what he has. He's a better car than I have or she is a better Christian than me. Don't envy anyone, right? No envy or provocation of one another. The motivation is indeed love. And look into the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's go back to Romans 7. That's why I think I'll be dead and buried by the time we're done with the book of Romans. Or raptured, that too. That's coming first, so. But if I'm dead and buried, I'll beat you. Out of here, so. Romans chapter seven. Verse nine. For I was alive without the law once. You know, there's often controversy of when Paul wrote this. Was it before his encounter with Christ and his salvation or was it after? I lean that it's more present with him because some that say it was before. This was before he was a believer. But he did believe something before that. He was a Pharisee. So he says, for I was alive without the law once. Elsewhere in the book of Philippians, he said, as a Pharisee, the law, he was blameless. He knew the law. I think that was one of the great, great things. But he was alive without the law once. But when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. So let me change my thinking as I go here. This before salvation or after salvation. Think before, I misspoke. But when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. Galatians 2 verse 19 says, for I, through the law, am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. Right? Dead to the law, at the same time, right? Without the law, right? He says what? He says I was alive without the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. I remember a I remember an analogy I saw a long time ago, and I'll see if I can get it right, that, imagine if you will, no, we're not gonna do Rod Sterling. Imagine if you will, if we had no speed limits on the highway. Imagine if we had the Autobahn everywhere, right? And you had a car, that you didn't even know how fast it could go. Your only obligation would be to step on the gas. Test the limits of that car. But then, what happens is we get speed limits. I'll show my age, I remember there was a popular song called, I Can't Drive 55. Yeah, there we go, with Sammy Hagar, I can't drive 55 when the national speed limit got lowered to 55 miles per hour to save gas. And so he was right out, I can't drive 55, right? Can you drive 55 or 65, whatever the limit is? Can you set your cruise control at the speed limit and stay at it? Never vary from it. I drive pretty slow, but I can't even do that. And so what happens, the speed limit comes along, now you have the speed limit on your mind. I can't break that law. Went from unlimited speed down to a 35 mile an hour speed limit. That's scary. Then you have the speed limit, then you go further and you see what you have in school zones. School zones and blinking 20 mile an hour and there's a big sign that says strictly enforced. Can't do it. I can even try to do it. We have a five mile an hour speed limit at the post office in the parking lot. I don't even have to put my foot on the gas. I'm doing more than five miles an hour up a hill. It's impossible, right? So, he was alive, and the commandment, which was verse 94, I was alive without the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died, right? Alive, cruising along, doing over 55, Then the commandment came and I died. Verse 10, which I kind of already covered already in Leviticus, and the commandment which was ordained to life I found to be unto death. See the Mosaic covenant, the Mosaic commandments were made so that the Israelites could have life. They were meant for a blessing for them. As the chosen people, as the elect of God, they were to be different. And outside of the countries, the nations around them. In verse 11, for sin, taking occasion by the commandment, just like in verse 8, deceived me, and by it slew me." So sin started with its starting point as the commandment deceived him, right? He knew that sin. He knew the sin to avoid. and by it slew me, guilty as charged, dead. I don't have actual figures, but I believe that a majority of people really believe this, that if you're a good person, If you're obedient to the law, if your karma is right, then God will be somehow pleased with your efforts. The Boy Scouts motto used to be, do your best. Your best isn't enough. You can be your best and still go to hell. You know, what we have is we have God's best, his son, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross, was buried, and rose again from the grave. In closing, well, not closing yet, often we have what I like to call sneaky legalism. It gets in. You get promised fun and liberty. The lights, the music, everything. Oh, let's have a blast. But yet, that produces good living and the answer for your every earthly situation. If you just follow a certain path and a certain form, you can have a better life. But what's missing is true identification with Christ Jesus. I am crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me. And the verse 12 says, wherefore, here's the answer from verse seven, wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. Let's go to 1 Timothy for a second, the closing of the closing. 1 Timothy, chapter one. All right, I'd love to go to verse one, but I'm not going to. Let's look at, look at verse five. Now the end of the commandment is charity, right? The royal law, charity, love, the motivation. Out of a pure heart and of a good conscience and of faith unfeigned. Faith that doesn't waver. It has all benefits of faith, right? The end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart. How do you get that pure heart? Believe in the gospel. That's part of believe in the gospel. Right? And of a good conscience. How does your conscience become good? The Word of God. And of faith unfeigned. An unwavering faith. I know our faith can waver, but the faithfulness and faith of Jesus Christ can never waver. I'm so glad about that. Because when I'm weak, He is strong. Amen? No matter what we have. From which some, having swerved, have turned aside unto vain jangling. People had their eye on the Lord. They had to hit the brakes and they had to swerve off of the road. turned aside under vain jangling." A bunch of words. A bunch of vanity. Desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor whereof they affirm. They have no clue about the grace of God. They have no clue with actually knowing the Word of God. They find commandments that say, oh, do this. You'll have a blessed life. Do this and you'll have riches untold. In verse eight, but we know that the law is good if a man use it lawfully. The lawful use of the law as it condemns, points out how much we've come short. Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man. It's not made for us. Because your righteousness isn't because of your behavior, your righteousness is because of the Savior. That just rang, didn't it? but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for men-stealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine. According to the glorious gospel, of the blessed God which is committed to my trust. Amen. The law is not for us. We have the grace of God. The goodness of God, actually Romans 2.4. It's the goodness of God that leadeth to repentance. Amidst all the trials, all the judgments, yet it's the goodness of God. In some versions say the kindness of God. Right? And that He would send His Son Jesus Christ to this world to pay for sins. Amen? Simple. Believe the Gospel. Jesus Christ died, was buried, and rose again. That is the fact. There's nothing to be added to it or subtracted, because God is good. Amen.