[0:00] Welcome to you all to the service this morning. It's good to be able to come together to worship God and we look to Him to bless us under the sound of His Word.
[0:21] We can begin by singing to God's praise Psalm 100. Psalm 100, the first version of the psalm, and we'll sing the whole psalm.
[0:34] Psalm 100 All people that on earth do dwell, sing to the Lord with cheerful voice, and send with mirth his praise forth tell, Come ye before Him and rejoice.
[0:49] Know that the Lord is God indeed, without our aid He did us make. We are His flock He doth us feed, and are His sheep He doth us take.
[1:01] O enter then His gates with praise, approach with joy His courts unto. Praise Lord and bless His name always, for it is seemly so to do.
[1:14] For why? The Lord our God is good, His mercy is forever sure, His truth at all times firmly stood, and shall from age to age endure.
[1:30] Psalm 100, the whole psalm to God's praise, All people that on earth do dwell. All people that on earth do dwell, Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice, Him, say, with mirth his praise forth tell, Come ye before Him and rejoice.
[2:15] Know that the Lord is gone in need, With love the wicked in the name, We are His wrong He doth us be, I am for His gift he doth us take.
[2:55] O when the man is kept with grace, I am for His grace, I am for His grace, I am for His gift with grace, Praise God and bless His name always, For it is simply so to do.
[3:34] For why the Lord our God is good, His mercy is forever true.
[3:53] His truth has all thy families do, And your love is good and pure.
[4:15] Let us join together in prayer. Let us pray. O Lord our God, as we come with these familiar words upon our lips, May the truth that is contained within the psalm, May it be a truth that draws from us that praise and that thanksgiving of which the psalm speaks.
[4:47] May it kindle within our heart and mind affection to the God who is the God of all, That we may delight in thinking of who you are and what you are.
[5:11] As you have been pleased to reveal yourself to us in the person of your Son, Jesus Christ, We give thanks that the more we see of Him, the more we see of you, And the more it gives a great pleasure to your people that such a God is of God.
[5:37] Whether we are familiar with these false deities and idols that lay claim to Godhead throughout the world or not, We know that there is no God like unto thee.
[5:56] There is none who is able to bestow mercy upon a sin-sick world and all in it in need of mercy.
[6:13] We bless you and thank you that you have been pleased to reveal that to us as the one through whom mercy comes, even Jesus Christ.
[6:25] We pray for your blessing in his name to be a portion this day. We ask that you would visit us as the one through whom mercy comes, We ask that you would visit us as of God and make yourself known to us in such a way that we would be encouraged to pour out our heart in your presence and bring out burdens and leave them in the arms that are all-powerful.
[6:53] We ask that you would be, and not lift up these burdens and take them with us as we leave, as we are wont to do. Even your praying people have often confessed that this is their failing.
[7:10] They bring their burdens to the Lord and rather than leaving them with you, they take them with them again.
[7:21] And do not gain the relief that you have promised. Our foolish hearts and minds make us believe that we can in some way sustain our journey in this world by our own strength and devices.
[7:46] We acknowledge that too often this has been our undoing, that it is our great failing. So help us to come in faith and act in faith and leaving all our cares and concerns in the hands of the one who is able to do for us even more than we would ask or think.
[8:15] We pray for all in the gathered congregation today. All the homes and families represented.
[8:27] Young and old alike, we pray for and ask that you would make yourself known to us and that you would remind us of the interest that you have.
[8:41] That is not a remote interest. We have a king and a queen who reign over us as a nation. And they have by their own sworn allegiance to their duty declared an interest in the subjects that they rule over.
[9:08] And yet, how remote they are from the needs of the common man and even those who are in their province of influence.
[9:25] Similarly, within the parliaments, they are sworn to serve the people for the good of the people. And yet, they are at times indifferent to the plight of those many who are under their governance.
[9:44] And even when the enemy of our soul would tell us different and say that our God has no interest in us.
[10:04] He is the father of lies and he is simply hiding from view what is the truth that you know the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end.
[10:20] And what is immediate is under this sway of your influence, just as sure as what lies in the future, a future that may be hidden from sight.
[10:33] And we give thanks that all things that you do, you do well. And this is true for your people in particular, who can afford to trust that you do what you have promised to do with regard to their never dying soul.
[10:52] So remember, the congregation as a whole, those who belong to the body of the members of the congregation.
[11:03] We pray that you would bless each of us according to the needs that we have. We pray for those who are not able to be present, some by reason of ill health, some confined to their homes or homes for the elderly because of the infirmity of old age.
[11:25] We remember especially those who are grieving today as you have visited us as a community and as a congregation taken from our midst, one who was regularly to be found amongst us while his health allowed it.
[11:48] We raptured, now taken from the scene of time into eternity. His place here has been vacated, but his place in what lies at the full school of his God in glory, has now been filled, never to be vacated.
[12:13] We know that in this world all your people will know what it is to hear the word spoken. Arise, let us go hence.
[12:26] But in the world to come, in the glory that has been prepared, a place prepared for a prepared people, there will never be heard these words because they will ever be with the Lord.
[12:44] And remarkable as it seems to us here who suffer deprivations and who suffer times of close, intimate fellowship.
[13:03] And then times where we are sensing in our own heart and mind that there is a lack in our life and that we are looking for something that we cannot find because our Lord is hidden from us.
[13:23] But it is only for a season that that is true. And we know that your people will have seasons of intimacy and seasons of deprivation.
[13:37] But they are all under your hand and we pray for those today, as we said, whose heart is broken. But we pray for healing and we pray for grace that your name would be magnified in all our providences.
[13:54] Remember your church in your island and beyond. Remember them as they gather in your name today. The congregation of Bach to remember the Lord in his death until he come.
[14:09] We pray for our own congregation here to prayerfully prepare for doing the like commemoration on the Lord's day that beckons if we are spared to see it.
[14:24] We would pray for your name to be magnified in your presence. And that your name would be lifted up in a way that we would know that it is a name above every name.
[14:37] And the eyes of the blind that they may be open to see him in all his beauty. That the ears of the deaf would be unstopped. That they would know the beautiful sound and the joy that accompanies it as the gospel rings through in their understanding.
[14:59] So we pray for a day of power. A day of quickening. A day where you would unveil your presence to us in a way that we would not.
[15:11] But understand that you are God indeed. Remember the world in which we live that denies such a God. That lives in flagrant unbelief.
[15:24] And we pray for mercy. And remember those who would proclaim the name of Christ in such a context. Throughout the world there is a need for all of us to pay heed to the fact that this world is ripe for judgment.
[15:43] And you have promised that that is what awaits it. And soon that will be what awaits each of us. The day that we die we are told we will appear at the judgment seat of Christ.
[15:58] To receive from him what we deserve. Our just deserts and judgment is left to him by the God who is God over all.
[16:10] And the world that is in defiance of such a God will discover. Even in the midst of providential judgments that inevitably stir up in the mind some thought of a God who is God over all.
[16:26] But they are fleeting glimpses and memorials of what is true. But the day will come and it will be undeniably so. And all will experience it and know it for themselves.
[16:40] So pour out your spirit upon us. Enveil your face to us. Open the heavens that we may hear. That you are of God indeed. Bless us together short time we're here.
[16:53] And forgive our sins in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. But boys and girls.
[17:06] I wonder if you could have a look around you today. Can you see everybody who's here? Are you able to see everybody who's here today?
[17:20] That's what I do every Sunday. I have a look to see who's here in church. And maybe I don't notice who is here in church as much as I notice who's not in church.
[17:34] I hope you'll remember that. The minister who sees everything sees who's not here more than he sees who is here. Well maybe that's not true. I appreciate every single one of you who comes to church on a Lord's Day.
[17:47] But I'm sure there's one person here and you can't see him. But I know that he's here. Because the Bible tells me he's here.
[18:02] Who do you think I mean? Well I mean the person of God. God who is God over all.
[18:12] He's always present wherever we are. Anywhere. It doesn't matter where we are. God is always there. But sometimes, in fact more often than not, we are not aware of God being where we are.
[18:32] And it's amazing how good he is. In that he is willing and prepared at times to make known to us that he is who he is.
[18:47] And that he is where he is. So that people can know that for themselves. There are times he doesn't do it all the time. In fact, most of the time he wants us to believe his word.
[19:02] Because his word is truth. And it would be very silly of us not to believe the truth. But because he has given us his word and his word is truth, he tells us that he is here and we are to believe him.
[19:15] But that's always been the case. Today I think in Sunday school you are going to go, in your Sunday school, to a place where God made himself known to his people in a very, very real way.
[19:35] When Israel had left Egypt, three months into their journey, they were in a wilderness or a desert called Sinai.
[19:47] And God came down to a mount that was in that desert, which we call Mount Sinai. And he called his servant Moses to come to him.
[20:02] And he spoke to Moses and he told Moses, this is what I want you to tell my people. And he told Moses what to say. And he gave Moses very clear instructions.
[20:17] This is what you'll tell them. And this is what they are to do. They're going to come to this place. And in this place, Mount Sinai, I'm going to make myself known to them.
[20:28] I am going to make myself known to them. Now, if you read the story there, what God tells us is how willing he is to condescend.
[20:43] To come down to our level in order to help us. He doesn't need to do this. He didn't need at that time to do it. But it was in order that when he came down to Sinai, that people would know that Moses was his servant.
[21:07] That when God came down, and when Moses spoke, that because of what they saw and heard, that they would know that Moses was God's servant.
[21:23] And when he came down, the people certainly knew that God was God. Now, if you read the story very carefully, it tells you that smoking down to the mountain, it tells you that there was lightning, and that there was thunder, and there was a loud trumpet sound.
[21:51] Very loud trumpet sound. And all of these things made the people very afraid. But again, the interesting thing is, God had already come down to the mountain, and already spoken to Moses, and already made himself known to Moses without any of these things.
[22:16] There was no lightning, no thunder, no loud trumpet, and yet God was on the mountain. But he wanted the people to know, I am here, and this is the way that you'll know that I am here.
[22:36] I wonder, this is a question for you. How would you prefer God to make himself known to you? Would you prefer to believe the truth of God that tells you he is here?
[22:54] Or would you prefer that God would come down in smoke, in thunder, in lightning, with the sound of a great trumpet?
[23:07] What would you prefer? Well, if you think of it like this, in a stormy night in the winter, you'll hear thunder and lightning.
[23:21] Very often, the lightning comes and goes without us. Sensing it's there, we might see it, but it doesn't trouble us. But when we hear the thunder, it makes us afraid.
[23:34] And that's what happened with the children of Israel. Fire and smoke and the loudness of the trumpet made them tremble.
[23:45] And they said to Moses, don't let God speak to us. Tell him to let you speak to us, lest we die.
[23:59] Is that not something? Sometimes we think we'd be better off and we would believe more easily if God made himself known to us in a way that we would know that it was him.
[24:16] But remember, our God is a God who is holy. A God who is mighty. A God who is fearful in wonder. And make sure that you believe him in his word.
[24:31] Lest the day come when he will speak to you in a way that maybe it won't be easy for any one of us to stand in his presence. Well, there's much that he can tell us through his dealings with God's people Israel.
[24:48] I'm going to sing now as you go out to Sunday schools. Let's pray.
[25:20] And so on to the end of the psalm from verse 6.
[25:38] Psalm 85. That in thee may thy people joy that thou not us revive. Not in thee may thy people joy.
[25:55] Will thou not us revive. Show us thy mercy, Lord, to us.
[26:12] To thine salvation. I hear what more the Lord will see.
[26:30] To heaven's hope. To heaven's hope. Give me peace. And your sins.
[26:42] The dead Lord. Return to holiness.
[26:53] To them not here and surely here.
[27:05] Is this the reason that your reigns are not behalf?
[27:21] Our heart is given. Our heart is given. Through man's will mercy rise again.
[27:37] The dead Lord. The dead Lord. The dead Lord.
[27:52] The dead Lord. Lose them from heaven high.
[28:06] Ye, what is good, the Lord's life again, our life shall be in grace.
[28:22] Just his angels in his death shall go behold him.
[28:42] Let us hear God's word as we have it in the New Testament scriptures. And we're reading from Paul's epistle to the Galatians and chapter 2.
[28:54] Paul's epistle to the Galatians chapter 2. We can read the whole chapter. Then 14 years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas and took Titus with me also.
[29:13] And I went up by revelation and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run or had run in vain.
[29:31] But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised, and that because of false brethren in a ways brought in who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage, to whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.
[29:59] But of these who seemed to be somewhat, whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me, God accepteth no man's passion, for they who seemed to be somewhat in confidence added nothing to me.
[30:14] But contrarywise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter, for he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles.
[30:35] And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, that we should go unto the heathen and they unto the circumcision.
[30:53] Only they would that we should remember the poor, the same which I also was forward to do. But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.
[31:08] For before, that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles. But when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.
[31:22] And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him, insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?
[31:53] We who are Jews by nature are not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ.
[32:03] Even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law. For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
[32:19] But, if while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin?
[32:30] God forbid. For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I, through the law, am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.
[32:46] I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
[33:03] I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
[33:15] Amen. And may the Lord add his blessing to this reading of his word, and to his name be all the praise. We are going to sing from Psalm 116.
[33:28] Psalm 116, verse 7, down to verse 16. O thou, my soul, do thou return unto thy quiet rest.
[33:41] For largely, lo, the Lord, to thee his bounty hath expressed. For my distressed soul from death delivered was by thee. Thou didst my mourning eyes from tears, my feet from falling free.
[33:57] I, the land of those that live, will walk the Lord before. I did believe, therefore I speak. I was afflicted sore. I said when I was in my haste that all men liars be.
[34:12] What shall I render to the Lord for all his gifts to me? I love salvation, and take the cup. On God's name will I call.
[34:23] I'll pay my vows now to the Lord before his people all. Dear in God's sight is his saint's death. Thy servant, Lord, am I.
[34:35] Thy servant sure, thine handmaid's son, my bands thou didst untie. I'm going to sing verses 7 to 16 of Psalm 116.
[34:49] O thou, my soul, do thou return into thy quiet rest. O thou, my soul, do thou return forth.
[35:17] O thou, my soul, O thy Lord, to thee, is the Gangnam�� address, For my desolate soul from death Delivered was my day Thy death, my Lord, In my strong care My heat from falling grief I am a land of those that live
[36:22] Well, O the Lord, behold I didn't believe Therefore I say I was a faithful soul I said when I was in my head That old man I heard be For all His gifts to me
[37:22] I lost a wish and gave the cup On God's given I call I'll give my love now to the Lord Before His people Dear ring of sight is His same I said, I said, I'm Lord I'm Lord, I'm I
[38:22] I said, I'm sure I'm God, I'm His son My man's love And we turn to the passage that we read together The New Testament Epistle of Paul to the Galatians chapter 2 And we can read again Verse 20 I am crucified with Christ Nevertheless I live Yet not I, but Christ Liveth in me And the life which I now live In the flesh I live by the faith Of the Son of God Who loved me And gave Himself for me
[39:25] Now without question This passage as a whole And probably this verse in particular Is a very difficult verse To process To get to the truth that it contains In its fullness Now one of the favourite preachers That I listen to occasionally And read his writings Is a Canadian American Partly UK Don Carson I've mentioned to him before frequently And one of his favourite expressions Whenever he's dealing with scripture He'll say something like
[40:26] Now let us unpack This verse And he's very good at doing that Unpacking scripture It's as if he's Opening a suitcase And Taking every item That's in the suitcase out One by one And that's his favourite way Of explaining God's word And I must admit That he's far better At doing it than I am But I want us today To look at this verse And we're going to look at it This morning And again This evening Look at The first part Of the verse In the morning I am crucified With Christ Nevertheless I live Yet not I But Christ Lives
[41:27] In me And I want us to Look at it Because I think That as we As Christians Anticipate Going To The Lord's Table Next Sabbath If we're spared Then it's important For us To Focus Our minds On Who Christ Is And what He is to us And what We are As those Who are Believers In Christ And what Our life Consists of Because Of our Belief in Christ And I think This verse Has both Of these Elements In it It Helps us Understand What a Christian Is meant To be And why They are Meant To be Like that Because Of who Christ is And what Christ means
[42:27] To them Now we need To set The words In context And the Context As I said The whole Passage Is a Complicated One Because of The issues That the Apostle Paul Is confronting And Some believe That the Whole Reason For the Words Of the Apostle Has to Do With The Reason For the Letter As a Whole Paul is Writing This Letter And the Theme of His Letter Is to A People Who Have Departed From What it Means to Be a Christian Looking to Jesus For Salvation And for The life That salvation Brings There is A regression On the Part of Some of Them To a Life
[43:27] That they Themselves Expect To live With the Understanding That because Of how they Live their Life That there Is some Merit Attached To it And that In particular Applies to Those Who Formerly Were Jews Converted To Christianity And Who were Persuaded To return To some Of the The Practices That they Followed As Jews With the Understanding Of the Belief That what They were Doing Would enhance Their Christianity Would Make them More alive If you Like Would Reinforce The life That they Had But it Depended On what They did It depended
[44:29] On how They did It and So on So with That in Mind What the Apostle Teaches The main Theme of The Epistle Is The Emphasis That a Person Is Justified Before God By faith In Jesus Christ Alone A Person Does Not Relieve Himself From the Obligations Of the Law As a Life Giving Manor Manor Of Conduct With Without Resorting To Anything Other Than Christ And The Understanding Is That Some Had That Is That Is That Is Not The Case Is This Is Salvation Justified By Faith In Christ Alone
[45:29] Nothing Added To It Nothing Taken From It By Faith In Christ Salvation Is Certain And If We Trust In Jesus That Is All That Is Expected Of Us Now Others Are Not Satisfied That That Is The Way It Is So That Is How People Came In And There Is The Emphasis On As I Said Works Of Righteousness In Particular Within The Church Things That Formerly Marked Out The Jewish Faith The Jewish Way Of Life Where There Were Rights And Where There Were Obligatory Sacrifices Kept And Observed And These Foolishly Were
[46:30] Believed To Be The Source Of Life To Them Or Even Salvation Self Rather Than What Was Originally Meant By Them They Appointed Them In The Direction Of How God Was Going To Save Sinners In The Passion Of Jesus Christ So With The Gospel Having Come And Christ Being Revealed As The Alone Saviour Of Sinners The One Who Was To Offer A Perfect Sacrifice With Which God Was Pleased And To Whom All Sinners Who Looked To It Would Be Assured Of Life Without End There Is A Departure From That So Paul's Response Has To Be Behind Our Understanding About These Words That We're Looking At Today Mean But Further
[47:30] Possibly And Some Argue That The Words Of The Text Have More To Do With The Particular Dealing That Paul Had With The Apostle Peter And What Paul Did With Regard To Peter Was Very Important Because Of Who Peter Was And Because Of The Effect That What Peter Did Had On Others And We've Read That In This Chapter How Peter Was Influenced By Some To Revert Himself To Practices That Belonged To His Former Religion Or His Former Life Of Religiosity And One Aspect Of It Is Highlighted How The Jews At One Point
[48:30] Well The Jews By Practice Shunned Those Who Were Not Jews Those Who Were Not Of The Jewish Faith Would Not Be Permitted To Fellowship With Those Who Were Gentiles Or Whichever We Have Put It There Jewish Believers Were Prohibited From Intercourse Fellowship With Gentiles Those Who Were Not Jewish Believers Peter Having Come To Faith Peter Being Being Brought Into The Company Of Christ And Into The Life That Christ Brought Into His Experience Lived His Life As A Christian And Believed The Doctrines That Christ Had Taught Him And He Preached His Gospel To Anyone And Everyone But Under
[49:31] The Influence Of The Judaizers Which Is What They Were People Who Wanted To Take Them Back Into This Obligation To Law Works Influenced Peter So That He Shunned Believers Who Were Gentiles He Separated Himself From Them Even Having Been Taught By Christ The Wrongness Of That Even Having A Particular Personal Experience Through The Spirit Of How Christ Took Away The Obligation To Observe This Former Practice Peter Peter Under That Influence And It's Important For You To Remember That You Know What Kind Of Peter Was What Kind Of Person Peter Was How Strong A Character He Was How Often He Stood Out As Somebody Who Was You
[50:31] Know Who Knew What He Believed And He Acted On What He Believed Very Very Forcefully And Yet Here He Is Persuaded By The Influence Of Others To Depart From What Christ Had Taught And Was Right That He Should Embrace Believers Whether They Were Formerly Gentiles Or Jews That If They Were Christians If They Had Come To Faith In Christ They Belong To The Same Fellowship And They Should Be Treated Accordingly And Peter Had Forgotten That And He Departed From That And He Shunned Gentile Believers Because They Were Not Of The Jewish Faith And Such Was The Effect That It Had On Peter And Upon Paul As He Looked The Way It Affected Peter
[51:31] He Saw The Influence That Peter Had On Others You Notice That What We Read Down There That Barnabas Followed The Example Of Peter And The Example Of Peter Was Making Barnabas Stray From The Truth And That Is Another Lesson That We Have To Learn The Obligations That We Are Under To Be Consistent In What We Believe Because Our Failure To Apply The Truth Consistently To Our Life May Impact Upon Others Who Are Less Fixed In Their Own Thinking And Paul Confronted Peter To His Face He Told Them Face To Face In The Public Domain Look Peter You Are Wrong What You Have Done Is Wrong And You Need To Come
[52:31] Back To What Is Right So All Of That Lies Behind The Words That We Have In This Text And The Emphasis That Is Placed Upon The Relationship That Exists Between The Believer And Christ Is Of Such Import To The Believer That The Relationship To The Law Is Transformed By The Relationship To Christ And That Is The Only Way We Can Understand This And As I Said There Are So Many Things Going On Here That Taking A Verse In Isolation Is Has Got Difficulty Attached To It But We Can Look At These Words In This I Don't Want To Oversimplify What's
[53:31] There But I Don't Want To Make It Over Complicated Either When Paul Is Saying This And He Is Saying It In A Particular He The Way He Is Saying I Am Crucified With Christ And I Think That's Important For Us To Recognize That When He Says This He Is Saying He Is Not Saying It As Somebody Who Is Different To Everybody Else But Because Of The Fact That He Is A Believer This Has To Be True Of Him As A Believer As It Has To Be True Of Every Other Believer That Just As Paul Was Able To Say This I Am Crucified With Christ What Is Important For Every Believer Is That They Are Able To Say The
[54:31] Same Thing I Am Crucified With Christ Whatever That Means Before Anything I Am Crucified With Christ That Is What Makes Me A Believer First And Foremost I Am I Am Crucified With Christ If You Can't Say That Then There Are Questions To Be Asked About Your Faith Whether It Is Genuine Or Not So In Order To Establish What Is Meant By It So That You Can Be Sure Of Your Faith Being Genuine You Need To Answer The Question What Does It Mean To Be Crucified With Christ Christ And The Answer Obviously Has To Do With With Our Understanding Of What
[55:32] Is Meant By Crucifixion With Christ Clearly Christ We Know From The Scripture Died On On A Cross And His Death Death Was A Crucifixion So Can You Say That You Were Crucified With Christ Literally In That Sense Well Obviously Not That Can't Be What Is Meant By It What We Are To Understand From It Is That This Relationship That Is Meant Or Meant To Be Understood By It Is A Relationship That Is True Of Every Believer That There Is Some Sense In
[56:32] Which Crucifixion Or What It Implies Applies To Them Now You'll Notice In The Previous Verse Verse 19 He Says There I Through The Law Am Dead To The Law That I Might Live Unto God And What Paul Is Laboring What Paul Is He's Not Struggling To Emphasize Far From It He Is Wanting To Emphasize It To The Degree That Every Person Understands This Bear In Mind That The Whole Ethos The Whole Purpose The Whole Thread Of His Teaching Is That A Person Needs To Be Right With God A Person Needs To Be In A Right Relationship With God Those Who Have Trusted In Law Works
[57:32] Believes That Their Root To Being Right With God Lies In Their Fulfillment Of The Law Whatever You Want To Think Of Whether It Is The Moral Law Or The Law That That Brings In The Rights And The Sacrifices Of Old Testament Sacrificial System The Law On Embracing That The Thinking Of Some Was That If I Do These Things God Will In Some Way Be Appeased This Is My Rule To God This Is My Way Of Making Myself Right With God Now The Problem With That Thinking Was This And Paul Emphasized It In Different Places With Great Great Emphasis That Is That It Was Doomed To
[58:32] Failure Whatever Method A Person Tried Because As He Stated Repeatedly In Different Ways All Have Sinned And Come Short Of The Glory Of God All Have By Reason Of Personal Sin And By Reason Of The Sin Of Their First Parents Who Was A Covenant Head Of His People Without Going Into The Deep Theology Of That It Meant That Every Person Born Into The World Was Born Into Sin And Any Sin One Sin Condemned That Person To Be The Focus Of God's Wrath One Failing One Shortcoming One Place That They Did Not Quite Come Up To Mark Would Condemn Them So That Any Endeavor To Fulfill The Law Or To Keep The Law Or To Uphold The
[59:32] Law Or To Think That That Was The Way That God Would Be Pleased With them Was Never Going To Succeed And God Through The Apostle Tells Us That Very Thing In His Epistle To The Romans Paul Says There Now We Know That What Things Soever The Law Saith It Saith To Them Who Are Under The Law That Every Mouth May Be Stopped And All The World May Become Guilty Before God Therefore By The Deeds Of The Law There Shall No Flesh Be Justified In His Sight For By The Law Is The Knowledge Of Sin It's Another Way Of Putting Just What I've Said Into A Nutshell Everything Everything That We Are Obligates Us To What God Is God Is Our God
[60:33] We Are Obligated To Him We Are His And He Has Given To Us His Word And His Word Is Life It Is His Word Is Truth His Word Is What If We Consistently Adhere To It As First Parents Were Meant To They Could Continue As They Were In God's Presence Perfectly Holy Perfectly Happy In Perfect Fellowship With Their Creator But The Moment They Departed By Way Of Sin From God They Were Out Of His Fellowship They Were Under His Condemnation They Were Under His Wrath And His Curse And Death Came Into Their Experience And That Applied To All Who Followed Them Now The Futility Of Trying To Appease God Or To Follow God Or
[61:33] To Approach God By Law Works As We Said Is Doomed To Failure So What Has God Done Well God In His Mercy And In His Grace Has Provided A Way By Which The Doomed Sinner Could Have Life The Person Who Was In The Grip Of Death Destined To Die Eternal Death Could Be Have The Experience Of The Remission Of Sin By God's Hand Death And Death But Now The Righteousness Of God Without The Law Is Manifested Being Witnessed By The Law And The Prophets Even The Righteousness Of God Which Is By Faith Of Jesus Christ And To All And Upon All That Believe For There Is No Dif Dif Difference If
[62:34] All I Had To Say To You Was Today You Are Condemned You Are Destined To A Lost Eternity Because Of The Fact That There Is One Sin In Your Life And I Know There Is More Than One Sin If There Was More Than One Sin In Your Life Or Even Just One Sin In Your Life That Would Assure You That Your Destiny Was Sealed And That Destruction From God's Hand Is What Awaited And If You Wanted To Listen To That And Hear That All Your Days It Would Not Make You Any Better It Would Not Give You Any Comfort It Would Not Give You Any Prospect Except The One That Your Your Lostness Insists Upon But In His Mercy God Sent His Son Into The World And He Sent His Son Into The World In
[63:35] Order To Provide Someone Who Could Do What I Cannot Do What Paul Could Not Do What Peter Could Not Do And And That Is Obey The Law Of God Perfectly Fulfill All Righteousness As God Required It And That's Why The Emphasis Of This Passage Is All Important The Words I Am Crucified Cannot Be Taken Literally So They Must Be Taken In Another Way If I Am Crucified It Means Simply This That I Am Looking To Christ The Sinless Son Of God Who Died On The Cross You Ask The Question Why Did He Die On The Cross He Died On The Cross Because Of Sin Whose Sin Did He Die For Not His Own Sin But To Sins Of Those Who
[64:35] Are His Those Who Have Trusted To Those That God Has Given To In The Covenant Of Election In The Covenant Of Grace Those Who God Has Provided To Be Heirs Of Grace Jesus Christ Died On The Cross He Was Crucified And Those Who Look To Christ By Faith Can Say I Am Crucified With Him Now The Greek Scholars And The Translators Tell Us That The Translation That We Have Here Errs Slightly In The Tense That Is Used The Greek Tense Is Not The Past Tense But The Perfect Tense Which Means That This Is Something That Did Not Just Happen In The Past But
[65:35] That Happened In The Past With Ongoing Consequences There Are Always These Tenses In The Greek Language Which You Can Be Unaware Of And I Suppose In Many Respects They Do Not Influence The Heart Of The Truth That Is Contained But By Reminding Yourself Of The Tense There The Perfect Tense That This Is Not Just Something That Was Relevant To To The Life Of A Person At One Point It Has Some Consequences In Their Life As They Go On Hugh Martin The Scots Divine Preacher And Teacher Puts It Like This Far Better Than I Could And His Interest I Suppose When He Thinks Of This Is In The Doctrine Of Substitution And
[66:36] He Is Looking At Christ Dying For Me And Taking My Place I Want I'm The One That Deserves The Death Of The Cross I'm The One That Deserves The Punishment Of God I'm The One Who Deserves The Wrath Of God To Be Pulled Out On My Head But Christ Came And Took My Place And This Is What Hugh Martin Says Christ Enters Into My Place He Dwells In It And Makes It His In Order That I May Enter Into His And Dwell In It And Make It Mine What A Change What A You Know If Somebody Comes To You And Say I Have This Thing Here And I Know You Have Something That Is Far Better Than Mine Would You Be Be Prepared To Swap With Me Why Don't We Just Swap You Take Whatever
[67:37] It Is Of Mine Which Is Which Is Rubbish Really And I Take The Best Of What You Have And We'll Swap Christ Has Nothing But The Best He Has Life He Has Life In Its Fullness He Has Life Without End And What Have You You Have No Life At All Because The Life That We Live In This World Without God Without Christ Is A Life That Is Divided Of True Worth Or Merit Or Meaning And The Prospect That We Have In This World Is Death And Not Death Being A Death That That Becomes Eternal And You're Going To Swap That For What Christ Has To Offer And That's What He Says I I Am I Am I Am I Am Crucified Means
[68:37] Also I Have died to the law in Christ My law keeping is irrelevant Now some people take this text and they apply it in what is called an antinomian way They say that because the law is no longer relevant I can live my life without the law I can do what I like because the law no longer means anything Well that is a misapplication of what Christ is teaching us yes the law is no longer in force as far as being the means by which life is secured to me but it is still relevant to the way I live my life here in this world to the glory of God The moral law in particular You do what God would have you do to his glory because you don't want to offend him because God is holy and God wants you to be what you should be as far as you're able
[69:50] But not thinking that that is what is to secure eternal life for you One of the other preachers says in his death I died and I died to the law I died by having the sentence of the law executed against me How was it executed against me?
[70:18] Well I was crucified with Christ My sin was punished in Christ's body God's wrath was poured out on Christ's head so that I would not have to suffer the death that my sin deserved later on Max Wynne in his own inestable way says it is a death that is unspeakably glorious it's hard to speak of a death like that but he says when you think about Christ in his death it is a death that is unspeakably glorious a death that derives dignity from the glory of the person who died and it is Christ who was crucified and yet you can say if you are his by faith
[71:20] I was crucified with him now moving on very quickly just a word Christ died although he had no sin of his own to merit being condemned but because he died and he suffered my death I live but notice the apostle wants me to understand though I live it is because Christ lives in me and I don't think we get to grips with what that means what does it mean to you Christian if you are a Christian what does it mean to you that Christ lives in you what does it mean well it means that our relationship to God has changed our relationship to the law has changed our relationship to those who are in the world has changed we are not of the world we are of another body entirely what I am by nature is dead
[72:40] I am now a new creature in Christ is that not what Paul teaches when you are born again you have become a new creature in Christ your life is no longer your own you have been bought with a price Peter says you no longer allow sin to have mastery over you oh you are saying you are telling me that I can have mastery over sin well if it is simply something you do in your own strength you are on a losing wicked you can't do it but because your relationship to God has changed and your awareness of how sin works has changed you want as little to do with sin as possible and in order to overcome the desperate wickedness that is found in your heart you look to God to help you through this life is yours this is the way you live your life now those of you who are not Christians if you don't know what a Christian is read this verse again we are going to come back to it tonight maybe I have taken liberties in doing that but I want us to come to the cross
[74:15] I want us to come to Christ on the cross I want us to emphasize our relationship to Christ on the cross I know some of you only come out in the morning why don't come out at night you might hear the second part of it it might do your soul good I know it will but I want to emphasize this to the Christian in particular you want the mind of Christ to understand what Christ has done for you to understand what sin is and how awful the effect of sin is on our relationships with each other we can see that with God in particular because you're a Christian you are no longer what you were you are no longer someone who lives your life from without any purpose or without any understanding of what your reason for living is
[75:24] I think we need to address that in our lives I think one of the commentators says this is the text you go to and you ask the question why am I here I heard a philosopher ask that question why am I here what's the purpose of life and many people begin with that question and they go off on a tangent and they think that the answer to their question is found somewhere else apart from Christ but when you come to Christ and when you are in Christ and when you look to the cross of Christ you understand that you are in here in this world in this life in this time in this moment that you're in here for the glory of God for the good of your soul the ultimate end of your existence is well you go to the short of catechism God is man's chief end man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever it's amazing the wisdom of these people who put the catechism in order beginning with that question in answer to the question why am
[76:37] I here man's chief end if you want to live to God's glory you can only do it in Christ and if you want to do it forever you can only do it in Christ and by being in Christ you are knowing that that is what you will be doing throughout the endless ages of eternity we can't even begin to comprehend what it means what it means we can't talk about it but it's well worth talking about it let us pray oh lord oh god give us our inability to tackle the truth as we ought to be able to tackle it to understand the awesome wonder of what it is to be in Christ to be crucified in Christ to be looking to him as the one through whom life has become ours in its fullness we pray for mercy for every shortcoming there is in the way that we live in him forgive us we pray in
[77:47] Jesus name amen of concluding psalm is psalm 145 the second version of the psalm psalm 145 oh lord thou art my god and king thee will I magnify and praise I will thee bless and gladly sing unto thy holy name always and sing to verse 6 for stanzas oh lord thou art my god and king oh lord thou art my god and king thee will I magnify and praise I will thee bless and gladly sing sing unto thy holy day morn ways each day
[79:01] I rise I will live and praise thy hymn time to be thee subsist earth��ant SaintPhil Shale
[80:09] Christ washed me Thy wondrous words Thy will reborn Thy man now My child 없어 Of all thy dreadful O Lord, I am your Lord, and I, my greatness will uphold.
[80:52] I make this mission, peace in God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit rest and abide with you all, never and always. Amen.