The law reflects the moral perfection of God. That's what we've already talked about. When God gave us his law, it was a reflection of his own moral perfection. So, it wasn't this list of rules that God had for us just to be burdensome to us. I don't know, have you ever worked for someone, had a boss, and they just wanted you to have busy work? And it didn't matter if it was productive for the company, it didn't matter if it made sense, they just wanted you to be busy. And it wasn't any work that they would ever do, but you worked for them and so you were going to be busy. And maybe as a kid your dad had you carry rocks from one side of the field to the other and then back again, or maybe it was in a corporate setting. That's not what the law of God is. It wasn't, God said, what can I do to make sure these people just have a miserable life? Rather, it's a reflection of the moral perfections of God. God has no other gods before Himself. God never takes His name in vain. God never steals. God never lies. God never covets. Everything that's in the law that He gives to us is a reflection of His own moral perfection, His own moral character, and that's why The command is given to us, be ye perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Because the law that He gave us is a reflection of who He is. Therefore, it exposes our sinfulness by sharp contrast. Every time we try to keep the law perfectly, we find out pretty quickly that we fail. So what is God to do? Is He going to grade on a curve? Is he going to lower his own moral, ethical expectations? Of course not. His law is more lasting than the law of the Medes and the Persians, which could not be changed. God's law is forever settled in heaven, the Word of God tells us. So he doesn't lower his ethical standards because of our inability to match up to them. But, he does credit the perfect obedience of Christ to our accounts, thus being the just and the justifier of his people, as the Scriptures put it. A couple of you, a few of you were here eight years ago, whenever it was, when we had the class on justification. It's been a long time now. But we really went into depth into that fact that in order for God to justify His people and still be just, there had to be a substitute. There had to be someone whose righteousness was imputed to their account. And so this gives us a two-fold significance of the law for the believer. The law is significant for the believer on two accounts. First is because of the obedience to the law by the Messiah, which plays an integral part in the accomplishment of our salvation. If Jesus had not kept the law perfectly, he could not have been our perfect substitute. If he had been a lawbreaker in any point, James tells us, then he would have been guilty of all. And he couldn't have been that perfect substitute for us. So the law is critically important for the believer, because we say, this is the law that Jesus kept perfectly. on our behalf. Secondly, the followers of Jesus Christ have set before them the example and goal of lawful living by the Lord. Jesus, in His perfect obedience, first and foremost, obeyed for us, imputed it to our account. People who tell you that Jesus was just a good example are heretical, but Jesus was a good example. It's proper for us to say we ought to attempt to walk even as He walked, and we're going to see that in some Bible verses that we read this evening. So, the law And Jesus' obedience to us is important to us for both of those reasons. Because His obedience to it is imputed to our account, and because in His obedience to it we get a perfect example, a perfect picture of what keeping the Law looks like. Can you imagine if we didn't have Jesus' keeping of the Law, and we were still under the impression that the way that the Pharisees kept the Law was the proper way to keep it? Jesus said, you put burdens on them that are too heavy for them to bear. They weren't giving the people the true law of God. They were giving their twisted version of it. So, when someone says, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, what does that mean? Well, let's look at how Jesus kept it. He used it for good. He told us that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. It was given as a good gift. It wasn't given as a burdensome day, but as a resting day. And on and on it goes. Jesus gave to us a perfect example of what following the Law looks like. So if the Law, speaks of God's holy nature and is an expression of His holy, perfect character, then we can only expect that Jesus would be a perfect reflection of that. Ms. Gladys, would you turn to Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 3 for us? Ms. Debbie, would you look up John chapter 8 and verse 46? And Ms. Elena, would you look up John 15.10? Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 3. Who be in the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholdeth all things by the word of His power. That's a description of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He was the brightness of God's glory, He was the express image of God's person, and He upheld everything by His own power. So, if the Bible tells us that Jesus is the express image of the person of God, And the Law, we've already established, is the reflection of God's character and holiness, then wouldn't we expect that Jesus would perfectly keep the Law? He's the express image of that very thing that the Law is a reflection of. Namely, the holy character of God. What's that? Oh, is there more to it? Yes, ma'am. Yeah, it was the express image of His person I was going for, but yeah, finish the verse for us, please. When he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. Okay, so He accomplished that work for us. When He had finished it, He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. But that one phrase there was really the one I was going for. Jesus was the express image of the person of God, of the Godhead, right? And so, we would expect Him to keep the Law. Only Jesus could look His accusers in the face and say, who here can convict me of a sin? And that's what John 8 and verse 46 says. Now, None of us could honestly stand there and say to an accuser, it doesn't matter even if we're being falsely accused, who here can convict me of any sin? I'd be terrified to say that, because every one of you could probably point to some time when you saw sin in me. You saw me react wrongly to someone, you saw me act selfishly, you saw me not do something that I ought to be doing. But Jesus could stand there, in a crowd, and say to His accusers, who here can convince me of sin? Well, he could do that because he always kept the law. And anything that they were going to bring against him would have to be a false accusation, which is what eventually happened. They drummed up some liars to try to accuse him. But he knew that he had always kept the Word of God perfectly. In fact, that was the statement that he made of himself. He not only asked a rhetorical question, who can convict me of sin, But he said, I have kept my Father's commandments. Elena, would you read John 15.10 for us? If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just like I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love. If you keep my commandments, you'll abide in my love, just like I've kept my Father's commandments. Once again, none of us could say that. We could say, like Paul, follow me as I follow Christ, but we can't say, I've always kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love. Jesus could. Darla, would you look up Psalm chapter 40, verses 7 and 8? And Brandy, would you look up Hebrews chapter 10, and verses 4 through 10. Pastor, would you look up Galatians chapter 4 and verse 4. Could you say 40 for Psalm? Yes ma'am. And 10? Let me go back over here. 40 verses 7 and 8. Verses 7? 7 and 8, yes ma'am. So the Old Testament had promised such a deliverer. It had promised someone who would perfectly keep the commandments of God, who would be that perfect righteousness. Would you read Psalm 47 and 8 for us? Then said I, Lo, I come, and the volume of the book is written of me, a delight to do thy will, O my God. Yea, then, thy law is within my heart. So, it was written in the book of him that he's come to do the will of God, and in fact the law of God was written in his heart. Now, who is that talking about? It's talking about David, right? He was the man after God's own heart. He's the one who wrote the Psalms. Well, that's not what Hebrews tells us. Hebrews tells us it was speaking of the Messiah. Would you read Hebrews chapter 10 and verses 4-10 to us, Brandy? the bull and a goat should take away sins. Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he said, sacrifice an offering, thou wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin, thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, lo, I come, and the body of the goat is there as need to do thy will, O God. Above, when he said, sacrifice an offering, in burnt offerings, an offering for sin, thou wouldst not, neither has pleasure therein. which are offered by the law. Then said he, lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second, by the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. Amen. So it's the body of Jesus Christ that Psalms was talking about. So it was prophesied that there was one who would come who would do the will of God, whose the law of God would be in his heart, and Hebrews chapter 10 leaves us no doubt who that was talking about. It was talking about Jesus Christ. He was the Messiah. He was the Promised One. In fact, the scriptures tell us that Christ was made under the law. Did you read Galatians chapter 4-4 to us? But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law. So this is how Christ came. This is the way that God had ordained in eternity past that the Messiah would come. He'd come under the law. What does that mean that he'd be under the law? Well, it means he'd be born into the people who had the oracles of God. He'd be born among that nation and among those people from that seed that had the law of God. And he'd be born in such a way that even as an infant, all the law was fulfilled in him. That's what Luke chapter 2 and verse 22 tells us. Even before In His human ability, Christ could keep the laws, we would say. The Scriptures tell us in Luke chapter 2 and verse 22, when the days of Mary's purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord. As it is written in the law of the Lord, every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord, and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord. a pair of turtle doves or of two young pigeons. So everything that was done for Him was done according to the Law. He was brought when the Law said He should be brought. He was brought because the Law said that the firstborn needed to be brought. He was brought with the sacrifice that the Law said needed to be brought. Everything that Jesus did fulfilled and obeyed the Law perfectly. He did that in such a way that no accusation could be rightly and honestly laid against Him, that there was some aspect of the Law that He was disobedient to. The whole of Jesus' life, His behavior, teaching, and saving work, is patterned after God's holy commandments. All of His life was, but even to the point of paying the penalty that Logs acted for sin in his death. You might, if you ever read the Puritans or any deep theological writers, you may read of the active and passive obedience of Christ. You may hear those terms used in a sermon. When we talk about Christ's active obedience, we're talking about all those things that we've been talking about in Jesus' life. The ways he obeyed. The law said, you need to be circumcised. He was circumcised. The law said, you can't break the Sabbath. He never broke the Sabbath. The law says, thou shalt not lie. He never lied. He actively obeyed the law all his life. That was his active obedience. However, there was a passive obedience of Christ, which was that He passively submitted to the penalty of death for sin, even though He hadn't earned it. The wages of sin is death, the New Testament tells us, right? Jesus hadn't earned that. He hadn't worked for that, because he'd never sinned. However, he passively obeyed in his death. He submitted to something that he hadn't earned, which was death. Anna, would you look up Deuteronomy chapter 21 and verse 23? And Miss Gladys, would you look up Galatians chapter 3 and verse 13? Yes, so this is proving the point that Jesus obeyed even to the point of paying the penalty that the logs acted for sin. Let's do Deuteronomy 21-23. His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day. For he that is hanged is accursed of God, that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for inheritance. So this was a law about a criminal who bore the lawful penalty of execution by hanging. That he was not to be left hanging overnight, he was to be buried the same day, and everyone who was killed by hanging was accursed of God. It's part of the law. What does Galatians chapter 3 and verse 13 tell us? Christ has been redeemed from the curse of the law, A curse is made, a curse for us, for it is written, curse is everyone that paints on the truth. Okay, so the law said criminal that dies by hanging. He's accursed of God. He can't be left hanging there overnight. He has to be taken out that same day. Even in his death, Jesus obeyed the law. God saw to it that he wasn't left hanging there as was typical, as would have happened for 99% of those who were killed by crucifixion. They would have been left there for days and days. But because of the way that the Holy day was falling and things of this nature. Jesus died, gave up the ghost. They ran him through with a spear, so that the prophecy that none of his bones would be broken would be kept. He was taken down from hanging before the end of the day. And he took the curse of God. So he actively obeyed in his obedience in his life, and he passively obeyed in his obedience in his death. Christ is the Great High Priest. This is the point of the whole book of Hebrews, is that Christ's priestly work is greater than the Levitical priestly work. It's the representation of the shadow. It's the reality of the picture. He's the Great High Priest, but he's still in that priestly role according to the dictates that God gave in His Word. We're told even that the tabernacle and the temple that was here on earth were patterned after that which was in heaven. So God is giving us, even in the priestly duties, a picture of that which is even realer than what we saw in the Old Testament expression of the Law. Christ is that fullest expression. He's the Great High Priest who sacrifices Himself, He's also the Sacrificial Lamb, to discharge the curse of the Law. He also functions as a prophet of the law. That's what we were talking about a couple of lessons ago when we were talking about the inability of the Pharisees and their interpretation of the law. Jesus is the perfect prophet. He properly expresses its meaning and frees it from the burdensome traditions of men. Because of his perfect obedience and his hatred for lawlessness, God has exalted him as king." Ms. Debbie, would you look up Hebrews chapter 1 and verses 8 and 9? When I first read that sentence, because of his perfect obedience and his hatred for lawlessness, God exalted him as king, I thought, That almost sounds off, right? Jesus has always been King, and yes, it's true, He always has been King, but Hebrews 1 and verses 8 and 9 pretty expressly say it just that way. Would you read it for us, Miss Debbie? But unto the Son who saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of the kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." So because he's loved righteousness and hated wickedness, therefore God hath anointed thee above thy fellows. Your scepter, O Lord, that scepter that the king would hold there in his hand. So God exalted him as king. So this is the threefold office of Christ. He's prophet, priest, and king. He's our priest. He's our prophet. He's our king. When we talk about the threefold office of Christ, He's exercising all those three things. And all three of those things are unified around the permanent expression of God's will, His holy law. His office as priest is based on our whole understanding of the Levitical priesthood and sacrifices. His office as prophet is completely based around the Word of God. He expressed the Word of God for his people. And his office as king, Hebrews tells us, comes because he loved righteousness and hated iniquity. And therefore he was exalted and anointed above his brethren. So, when we think of Jesus Christ, Many times we think of Him as antithetical to the law, opposed to the law. You used to have the big bad law, and then Jesus came and He killed the law, and now we have grace, and the law is dead because Jesus defeated the law. But that's not the biblical narrative. The biblical narrative is that everything that Jesus is, His character, His person, His work, is all based around the expression of God's will, His law, His word. Salvation without justification is impossible. Now remember, when we say justification, we mean being declared righteous. That's what justification means. It's a legal term, like a judge declaring someone to be righteous. But we couldn't be saved from hell, from our sin, from ourselves, from the devil, from death. We couldn't be saved from those things unless God declared us righteous. As long as we were in our sins, there is no salvation for us. There has to be righteousness declared in order for us to be saved. Justification, being declared righteous, without righteousness, without real righteousness, is inconceivable. God could not be just and the justifier if He just winked at sin. If He just said, I know you're a sinner, but I love you anyways. We'll just not mention that part. You're a sinner, but it's okay. Come on into heaven anyways. If there was no Jesus, if there was no active obedience and passive obedience of Jesus, God would be unjust to allow sinners into heaven. If He declared us to be righteous when there was no righteousness, He would be a liar. And God's not a liar. He's told us in the expression of His will, Thou shalt not lie, and therefore He's not a liar. Therefore, all of Scripture centers on the obedience of Christ. It's central to everything. Because we couldn't be saved without justification, and we couldn't be justified unless God had a real righteousness to impute to our account. To say, I'll declare you righteous, not because we're just all pretending here that you're righteous, but because you're in Christ who really is righteous. And when we say righteous, we mean He really always obeyed that which the Father said. He always kept the law of God. The extent of Christ's obedience is seen in the fact that He not only lived a perfect obedient life, that we might have His righteousness imputed to us. So God looks at us and He says, I'm seeing when you're in Christ, when I put you under that federal headship of Christ, I'm seeing someone now who has not had any idols, who has not taken God's name in vain, who has not lied, who has not killed, who has not coveted. I see that because I see Christ." We have the active obedience of Christ imputed to us. And because of His passive obedience, that He died under the penalty of the law. And so God looks at our sins and He says, those sins really were punished. Once again, we're not just pretending that they were punished, we're not just lying about them being punished, but they really were punished. When Christ died, He became sin. He knew no sin. He took that on Him and that was the punishment. Elena, would you read Hebrews 9.22? And Darla, would you read 1 John 1.7? Yes ma'am, Hebrews 9.22. And 1 John 1.7. And Brandy, would you look up 2 Corinthians 5.21. So He lived a perfectly obedient life, that we might have His righteousness imputed to us. And He also passively obeyed, dying under the penalty of the law, that our punishment might be imputed to Him, or our sin might be imputed to Him in His punishment. What does Hebrews 9.22 say? According to the law, all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. So there's no remission of sin without the shedding of blood, according to the Bible. I know several years ago it was kind of really trendy and popular not talk about the blood. That's kind of gruesome. Nobody wants to think about that. There were people outside of Christianity who kind of made that a point of mockery. Just cosmic child abuse, that God would kill his own son. How could we ever... Nowadays, I don't know if it's quite as trendy to talk about it. We just don't talk about it. There's a lot of churches who just don't even talk about it. But according to the scriptures, The death of Christ, the shedding of His blood, is the only way our sins could be atoned for. Otherwise, God would just be a liar. Sin really doesn't bring about death. Or He would just be this magical Santa Claus in the sky. Well, I know you haven't been good all year, but you'll get presents anyways. I know you haven't been good, but we'll let you into heaven anyways. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission. What does 1 John 1 and verse 7 say? But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. And the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son, cleanseth us from all sin. So the Scriptures refer to the blood of Christ as that cleansing agent. There isn't cleansing of sin without the blood, without the death of Christ. We have to have that death, that punishment for sin. And when we say that, when we say there has to be bloodshed in order for the payment of our sins, punishment for our sins, we're demonstrating the crucial continuity, the continuing factor of the Old Testament to the New. God didn't come into the New Testament and say, you know what? Scrap that. That has not been working at all. Sheep and goats and bulls, it's just not. Cutting the mustard, let's try a different one. mode of operation here. Let's go to plan B. No, the same thing is going on here. A sacrifice has to be killed, blood has to be shed. That blood pays for the sins that have led up to that point. Now, Hebrews is very clear that the blood of bulls and goats were never enough, and that's why they had to continue to be sacrificed every year. The blood of Jesus was enough, once for all, but it's a continuity. It's a continuing reality from the Old Testament to the New. It's not like God in the Old Testament was this bloody, gory, mean God, and the God of the New Testament now is all just grace and love and mercy. But it's always been this way. He's forgiven and looked over sin when blood was shed as punishment for that sin, one way or the other. We are saved, and hear me out here, we are saved by the keeping of the law. Just not by our keeping of the law. By someone else's keeping of the law. Because we couldn't keep the law, someone else had to for us. And that was Jesus Christ. He kept the law for us. Brandy, what does 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 21 say? For He hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made right with the righteousness of God in Him. So there we see it. He that knew no sin became sin for us. He took that penalty. He took that punishment in His passive obedience that we might be the righteousness of God in Him. That we might get that righteousness, that obedience to the law credited to our account, in Christ, being the recipients of His active obedience, and therefore being credited to our account. Far from revoking the law, grace confirms the law. Grace confirms the law. It says, since the law's demands cannot be altered, you can't change the law just because you don't meet up to it, There are so many of these new curriculums or methods in the school system. If we have too many people failing the test, then we've got to dumb the test down. Well, that's not what God did with His law. He didn't say, nobody's keeping this, let's make it a little easier for them to keep. No, the law couldn't be altered. But grace says, since the law's demands cannot be altered, you must have a substitute. God has to intercede for you. He has to become flesh, and that's exactly what John 1 tells us that He did. Pastor, would you look up Galatians 3.13? We've read that once before already tonight, but let's read it again in a little bit of a different context. Ms. Gladys, would you look up Colossians 2.14? And Ms. Debbie, would you look up Romans 8.1? This is critical in understanding Christ's relationship to the law, the messianic obedience of the law, Jesus' obedience to the law. The law was not revoked, it was not taken away, but its penalty was. It's condemnation. It's guilt. The handwriting of ordinances. These are the things that are taken away. And people say things like, Jesus came to do away with the law. No, He didn't. He came to negate its curse. He came to take away its curse for His people, but He didn't do away with the law. What does Galatians chapter 3 and verse 13 tell us? Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on truth. So He redeemed us from the curse of the law. He didn't redeem us from the law, or from the obligation to the law, or from obedience to the law, but He redeemed us from the curse of the law. The law no longer has its curse against us. It no longer says, because you've broken me, you must die. No, Christ has already died for us. What does Colossians chapter 2 and verse 14 say, Ms. Gladys? Blimey not the handwriting or the ardent, the ardent, ardent that was against us, ardent that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way. So the handwriting of ordinances was that bill of debt. It was that mortgage note. It was that thing that was written out that said UO. At any time this can be cashed in and you've got to pay. That's what the handwriting of ordinance was. And that passage tells us it was against us. It was hanging over our heads. It was our enemy. It said at any time you can be called to account to pay, and Jesus took that out of the way. It was nailed to the cross. When He was nailed to the cross, that debt was paid. No longer do we have that handwriting of ordinances against us, hanging over us, just waiting under the weight of it. But Jesus took it away. It doesn't say that He took the law, or the commands, or the Word of God away, but it took that which was against us away. That penalty. That debt. And then what does Romans chapter 8 and verse 1 say? There is therefore no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. So He cancelled the curse, He blotted out the ordinances that was against us, He took away the condemnation. You see the theme here? The bite of the law, the sting of the law, the guilt and punishment of it was taken away by Jesus Christ. But the law itself, with all of its integrity, What we talked about a couple of weeks ago was the integrity of the law remains in full force while our guilt is removed. That's the beauty of the law for the Christian. It has all of the blessings, it has all of the descriptions of God's character, it has all of the prescriptions for how we're to live, but it has none of the curse. It has none of the condemnation. It has none of the handwriting of ordinances that is against us. principle that we'll just mention briefly tonight, and this kind of leads us into our topic the next time that we come to this, is this link between the messianic obedience, or the obedience of Jesus, and the sanctification of the Holy Spirit, or by the Holy Spirit for the believer. Elena, would you look up Ephesians 4, verse 13? Darla, would you look up Philippians 2, verses 5-8? Brandy, would you look up 1 Peter 2, verses 21-25? So each of these passages that we're about to read I want you to be listening for the principle, the idea, that the underlying principle of Christianity is that we are to be becoming more like Jesus. There is that reality for the believer. It's not that we've got to get out of hell free card and now we can just... What should we say then? Should we continue to sin that grace may abound? God forbid. That's what Paul said. But there are so many in all ages, not just in our time, who seem to live as if that's what they believe. Yeah, I was saved. I walked the aisle. I went through the tank of water. I'm a member of that church. Yeah, I do that. I do that Christian thing. And then nothing in their life looks like Jesus. Whereas this seems to be the consistent calling for the believer. What does Ephesians 4.13 tell us? "...until we come to the unity of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to perfect man, to the measure of the statue and the fullness of Christ." So that's what we're building toward, till we come to the measure and the stature of the perfect man of Christ. That's what believers are building toward, and God gave us, in all different ages, prophets and apostles and pastors and teachers and evangelists to help us on this journey, because that's the goal that all of us have. as we're looking to become this measure of the perfect man, of Christ. What about Philippians 2, verses 5-8? "...let this mind be of you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, ought not to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant who was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and he became obedient to death, even the death of the cross." So what's the point of that? Let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God. Oh, that's how we need to think? We need to think that we're in the form of God? Well, you need to be perfect, like your Father in Heaven is perfect, but the punch of that passage is that He became like a servant. He humbled Himself. Even though He was God, He became a servant. He became obedient. He became humble. Let that mind be in you. Be more like Jesus. Be more humble. Be more of a servant. Be more obedient. And then 1 Peter chapter 2 and verses 21 through 25. For even here unto when ye call, because Christ also suffered for us, leading us in example, that ye should follow His steps. Who did no sin, neither was God found in his mouth. Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered, he threw it in bondage, but committed himself to him that judged righteously. Who his own self bare our sins, and his own tree, that we, being made to sins, should be given unto righteousness, by whose stripes ye were healed. So we're following in His steps. We're called to follow in His steps, and then it gives us that litany, that long list of all the things that He did. Who didn't revile when He was reviled against, who was humble, who was obedient, who served in all of these ways. So if this is what the Scripture calls us to, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, till we come to that perfect measure of Christ, that we follow in His footsteps, What does that look like? What does that mean? What does it mean to look more like Jesus? What have we spent the last 50 minutes talking about? Jesus perfectly obeyed the law of God. He always did that which His Father commanded Him. He always walked and lived in the commands of God, and therefore abided in God's love. And He called us to do the same. It's sad to me how many false impressions of Jesus are out there. Jesus was a hippie, Jesus was a socialist, Jesus was a political activist, Jesus was... a civil rights actor. Jesus was obedient to the commands of God. He was the Savior of the world. He came to save His people from their sins, to be sure. But when we say, look like Jesus, we're not saying, look like what you would like to imagine Jesus was like. You know what, I think if I sat down and had a beer with Jesus, let me tell you what I think He'd say. Well, the Bible tells us who He was. The Bible tells us what He did say. The Bible tells us what He did. So when we're called to look more like Jesus, we're not called to look more like the Jesus that our culture presents to us, or that our mind creates for us, but we look to the Word of God. What did Jesus do? Well, He perfectly kept the Law of God. He perfectly obeyed everything that the Father had commanded Him. So looking like Jesus means looking like Not lying. Not coveting. Not bearing false witness. Keeping the Sabbath. Not making idols. The things that God commanded that Jesus kept perfectly. That's what it means to look like Jesus. Yes, sir? Who's the guy that did the rule of captains to manage a bird? He made a comment when the WWJD movement was coming out. He said the problem with that whole mindset is it's not open to speculation. What would he do? What we should be asking is what did he do? And that's our example, not what would he do. Because that's exactly what you were saying. If I was sitting there talking to Jesus, you know, and it doesn't matter what you think he would have done. He got the record of what he did do. And that was obey the law. Josh McGough, he brought that out. He was like, it's really a reflection of what's happened to our culture. It's very subjective. Well, maybe he would have done this. And I didn't even think about this until right now. And you're saying that Anna was just talking to somebody the other day. And they were saying, she was talking about, Paul said, I will that the younger widows marry, bear children, keep the house. And this person was saying, well, that was totally cultural, and that day you needed to have your name and your legacy. And they said, I really would like to know what Paul would say today. If he was here in this culture, I wonder how he would have commanded. Well, that wasn't inspired by the Holy Ghost, that wasn't for us in this day and age, but so many times we like to do that with the Bible. Well, I know women weren't permitted to teach in the church, but I wonder if it was today. Well, I think the Holy Spirit transcends time, transcends culture, and certainly Jesus Christ is. yesterday, today, and forever. Yes, that's right. So, yeah, we need to be very careful, because, I mean, just for myself, it's easy to kind of slip into that, about, well, I bet God would have, Jesus would have, Paul would have, instead of saying, you know what, we're given everything necessary for life and godliness, it's here in the Word of God, so what does it say for us? And follow that, instead of trying to speculate our way into something that maybe would fit our ideas a little bit better. So, that's all that I have for this evening. Is there any other questions or comments on anything that was said this evening? Looking forward to getting back to the London Baptist Confession next week, and then in two weeks, it'll probably be close to a full two hours when we deal with sanctification by the Holy Spirit and the way that the law plays into that. Alright, let's go ahead and close in a word of prayer then. Father, again, we're thankful for your word, for your law, for your commands. Oh, how grateful we are that Jesus kept them perfectly. We recognize your grace, your Spirit has revealed to us that we're unable to keep them perfectly. And we just totally rely on that finished work of Jesus Christ, and at the same time, We strive and long for further sanctification by the Spirit to make us more like Jesus in those ways, to be more obedient to You and to Your Word. And we just ask that You continue to help us with that, to die to the flesh, to die to ourselves and the world, and to earnestly hunger and thirst after righteousness. and trust your promises that those who hunger and thirst after righteousness are blessed because they'll be filled. And so I pray you'd help us in that way. I pray you'd be with us as we go our separate ways this evening. I thank you that you're bringing some more people here. I pray that they would be blessed by this as well and that each of us as we continue to ingest the Word before us would further grow to that perfect stature that you've given to us, that perfect man, Christ Jesus. Give us safety as we go our separate ways until we come together again. In Jesus' name, Amen.