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[0:00] O heaven of light, I know it is my sight, he is all I give.

[0:18] It makes me wiser than my host, for where the way he came.

[0:36] Than all my desires, now I have more understanding of.

[0:53] Before my meditations, I held in morning's heart.

[1:11] And under sun may I accept those not by yet.

[1:27] For I endeavor to give all the life of my demons.

[1:45] My fear from Egypt when I stay, the night he came I were.

[2:03] I throw thy blood in the house where, for thou hast taught me, Lord.

[2:21] How sweet and new my kids, O Lord, are all thy words offered.

[2:38] Yea, I do heart and sweet and heart, and honey to my heart.

[2:56] I threw thy grace in my heart, and I'm good to understand it.

[3:13] I live forever, with not most, with all my heart you have.

[3:35] Let us join together in prayer. Let's pray. O Lord, O God, as we continue before you, we give thanks that we are assured through the word that we have been singing.

[3:53] And the word that is contained within the scriptures of the Old and New Testament. That you are the hearer and the answerer of prayer.

[4:04] And that you are God over all. And that there is no God like unto thee. We give thanks that we can contemplate the glory of the majesty that is alone yours.

[4:24] While we have limited understanding of it. We have knowledge of it through your word.

[4:35] And yet, our experience of it is so limited, unlike others that your word speaks of, who encountered the God of heaven on occasion.

[4:54] And if not, are you as God the creatures that you sent to speak on your behalf?

[5:06] Even these ambassadors of heaven. Even these ambassadors of heaven that dwell in your presence. And who themselves weigh their faces as they are conscious of the holiness, even the holy otherness of God.

[5:28] Help us then to worship. Help us then to worship. And may our worship be acceptable. May it be received by you in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ. May the blessings that you have to confer upon us, may they be truly appreciated for what they are.

[5:49] May the blessings that they are tokens of your grace. May the blessings that you are not worthy recipients of the least of your measures. And yet, your servant of old confessed that each and every day that he awoke that these measures met him.

[6:07] And your faithfulness accompanied them. May the miracles, with gifts that you would separate the sins of your souls2. May the blessings that you have. We ask that you would sanctify the knowledge that we have of the truth. So that it would not in any way deprive us of the understanding that it is necessary for us to appreciate who God is.

[6:32] And what you have done. we often are guilty of letting the word of God slip through our fingers as it were.

[6:44] So we pray for your blessing to be our possession this evening not just the limited time that we're together here in this place but as we part one from the other that we would take something with us as a result of being here.

[7:05] We remember your people, thankful for their presence and ask that you would bless your word through them. We pray for those of that number who are unable to attend on the public gatherings of your people.

[7:23] We ask that you would bless them where they are. We pray also for those who delight in coming to God's house who appreciate it for what it is and we would ask that that appreciation would increase and that they would find it as a token of your goodness towards them that the knowledge that they have of Christ would increase and their appreciation often would be the very thing that draws them to place their trust in him for their soul's keeping.

[8:04] We pray that you would remember the preaching of the gospel this evening throughout the world and we pray for the beginning as we remember the congregations of our denomination here in our own island community.

[8:22] We are mindful of congregations that are without a pastor. We pray for these congregations. We pray for others that have just even today been pronounced as a vacant congregation.

[8:42] Others that may well have that experience in due course. You are wise in your way of dealing with your own people.

[8:53] There are peaks and troughs in their experience. There are times of blessing as there are times of leanness. The blessings are what we seek.

[9:08] Remember the proclamation of the truth in light of the sacrament and we pray that those congregations that have met together today to remember the death of Christ, the congregations of Bach and Lachs in their own presbytery and others no doubt throughout the length and breadth of the land.

[9:33] We ask that the Christ of which these sacraments speak would be magnified and that he would, as he has promised, if I am lifted up, I will draw all men to me.

[9:48] We pray for your blessing upon the proclamation of truth by hand of missionary or emissary of any description to the four corners of the earth.

[9:59] Thankful for those who fearlessly go and proclaim that word in places where hostility is open and life is cheap.

[10:14] We remember before you those places in the world where there are persecutions carried out against the saints of God.

[10:27] So many that are unspoken of and unheard of that have been taken from this world and cast headlong into eternity and no one speaks of it, no one remembers them here in this world.

[10:47] But your word says otherwise, that a book of remembrance is written for them and that those who are of yours are written large in the Lamb's book of life and their testimony will not be overlooked.

[11:04] And we remember the places where they laboured that their labours would not be in vain. Even as your servants of old said, the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.

[11:24] And so it was in the case of our own nation that there were those who were brutally taken from this world.

[11:36] Some were hanged. Some had their heads removed by axe. Some were tied to the stake and burnt alive.

[11:49] Some were even drowned. The brutality was inexpressible. And yet it is these very places and peoples that ensured that the word of God would have free course.

[12:09] And their testimony, while it was concluded, the fruit of it remained. And we bless you for that.

[12:20] We ask, Lord, that you would remember those amongst us who are dealing with illness, those who have dread, fear about the consequences of these illnesses.

[12:34] Think of those who are saddened by loved ones experiencing them. We pray for those who are terminally ill, where they are found, whether it is in their homes, hospitals, or in the hospice.

[12:49] We ask, Lord, that you would encourage them always to put their trust in Christ and to seek his face and favor always.

[13:00] Remember the grieving and the sorrowful whose hearts are heavy and who on occasion are reminded of these ones who are taken from them.

[13:12] Sometimes without expecting it, some tokens that stir up their memories and make them grieve afresh. Sanctify such griefs to them, we pray.

[13:28] So hear our prayers now for ourselves and for the congregations of our land, for the world in which we live that is in peril always.

[13:40] There is great fear that those war mongers who are ever present in the world will overstep the mark and bring us headlong into carnage.

[13:56] And we pray, Lord, that you would stay their hand and prevent them from fulfilling the evil that is in their heart. Watch over as each one cleanse from every sin.

[14:09] In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Let us again sing to God's praise verses from Psalm 72.

[14:21] Psalm 72, we're singing from the beginning of the Psalm, down to verse 8. O Lord, thy judgments give the King, the Son, thy righteousness.

[14:34] With right he shall thy people judge, thy poor with uprightness. The lofty mountains shall bring forth unto the people peace.

[14:46] Likewise the little hills, the same, shall do by righteousness. The people's poor ones he shall save. The people's poor ones he shall judge.

[14:57] The needy's children save. And those shall he in pieces break. Who them oppress at hand. They shall be fear while sun and moon do last through ages on.

[15:10] Like rain on mown grass he shall drop. All showers on earth that fall. The just shall flourish in his days and prosper in his frame.

[15:22] He shall, while death the moon endure, abundant peace maintain. This large and great dominion shall from sea to sea extend.

[15:33] It from the river shall reach forth unto earth's utmost end. Verses 1 to 8 of Psalm 72. O Lord, thy judgments give the King, the Son, thy righteousness.

[15:48] O Lord, thy judgments give the King, his Son, thy righteousness.

[16:06] O Lord, thy judgments give the King, his Son, thy righteousness. слيれて  regulatory, the sustentасe of cat New Zealand.

[16:28] O Lord, and the Holy of Father shall jeep the King. And who thou givest is.

[16:42] Likewise thou ever hast laid in God, who I have left.

[16:59] The people's good ones, he is alive. Like he is churnished.

[17:14] And who shall he in peace and victory?

[17:26] The people's good ones, he is churnished. Holy fear, д visiting God, Like rain on board, let me show you all, O show you all, earth and all.

[18:08] The just shall flourish in His day, And prosper in His rain.

[18:24] He shall fall in love, let me show you all, And I give to Him, His large and great, A million pounds, From sheep to sheep again.

[18:58] If come the river, And shall reign for love, To love you, LDL, Amen.

[19:13] Amen. I'm going to read a portion of the scripture from the New Testament, from Paul's epistle to the Romans, chapter 2.

[19:30] We're reading from the beginning to verse 16. Romans chapter 2. Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest.

[19:49] For wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself. For thou that judgest doest the same thing. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.

[20:08] And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God.

[20:19] Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.

[20:32] But after thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteousness, of the righteous judgment of God.

[20:50] Who will render to every man according to his deeds. To them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality eternal life.

[21:06] But unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth. But obey unto righteousness, indignation, and wrath, tribulation, and anquisheth on every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile.

[21:25] But glory, honor, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile. For there is no respect of passions with God.

[21:39] For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law. And as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law.

[21:50] For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. For when the Gentiles which have not the law do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law are a law unto themselves, which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts, the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.

[22:35] And so on. May the Lord add his blessing to a reading of this portion of his word. We can sing to God's praise now from Psalm 85.

[22:49] Psalm 85. And we're going to sing verse 6 to the end of the psalm. Psalm 85 at verse 6.

[23:04] That in thee may thy people joy, although not us revive, show us thy mercy, Lord, to us do thy salvation give. I'll hear what God the Lord will speak.

[23:18] To his folk he'll speak peace, and to his saints, but let them not return to foolishness. To them that fear him, surely near is his salvation, that glory in our land may have her habitation.

[23:35] Truth met with mercy, righteousness and peace kissed mutually. Truth springs from earth, and righteousness loops down from heaven high.

[23:48] Hear what is good the Lord shall give. Our land shall yield increase. Justice to set us in his steps shall go before his face.

[24:00] You can sing these verses, verses 6 to 13, Psalm 85. That in thee may thy people joy, would thou not us revive.

[24:13] Not in thee may thy people joy, when the Lord has divine, show us thy mercy, Lord, to us tonight's salvation give.

[24:50] I'll hear what God the Lord will speak, to his holy peace.

[25:07] I'm through his sin, but let them not return to foolishness.

[25:24] To them that fear him, surely near is there, salvation and glory in our land may have our happy creation.

[25:57] through men with mercy, through men with mercy, righteousness and peace, and peace with you, of the Lord, through men with mercy, righteousness and peace, righteousness and peace.

[26:25] Who's done from heaven high. If all is good, the Lord shall give.

[26:43] you, our love shall give. in peace, just as you, as you, as you, as you, as you, as you.

[26:58] and you, as you, as you, as you, as you are.

[27:13] I'd like us to turn now to Paul's epistle to the Galatians, chapter 2, and reading at verse 15.

[27:24] Galatians 2, verse 15. Galatians 2, verse 15. We who are Jews by nature, and 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, 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.

[27:54] For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin God forbid.

[28:11] 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." And so on.

[28:33] I think reading these words tells us that they are not words that are simple words to understand.

[28:47] I think that comes from not so much the truth that God is conveying to us by means of the apostle, but the actual construction of the sentences makes them rather more difficult to understand than they would otherwise be.

[29:09] I think in order to help us to understand what the apostle is saying, my own understanding is that we need to understand that Paul is still continuing to speak to the apostle Peter.

[29:30] If you remember last Lord's Day when we were looking at this passage, we saw how Peter had to be rebuked by the apostle because of the way that he hypocritically refused to fellowship with fellow believers who were Gentiles.

[30:02] He reverted to the habit of his early lifestyle as a Jew, where it was very much put into them that they should not consort or spend time in fellowship with those that God had kept his blessing from.

[30:33] The doctrines of Judaism Forbared them from having fellowship with those who were not Jews.

[30:45] And as he describes to Paul, to Peter, the wrongness of such an attitude, he continues to emphasize that.

[31:01] However, briefly, the words of verse 15 seems to be connected with what he has just said.

[31:12] Now, there is a division amongst the various writers on the epistles.

[31:27] They have a separate... When they look at these words, each one in his turn tries to decide where the divisions are.

[31:41] If indeed there is a division. Some, for example, would insist that Paul has finished with Peter and he is now stating a plain doctrine.

[31:55] Others would say that, no, he is not yet finished with Peter, but he is going to launch into a doctrinal discourse.

[32:10] And I suppose the truth may well be one or both of these. But we can, I think, and believe that the apostle is speaking first of all to Peter.

[32:28] He is not... He is not... He is not walked away from Peter. He is not ignoring Peter. He expects Peter to understand what he has to say to him.

[32:39] And he wants him and everyone else to understand the implications of faith in Jesus Christ with regard to their legal standing before God.

[32:54] But he says, no, that's what he has to do. The doctrine that he wants to emphasize is the doctrine of justification by faith in Jesus Christ.

[33:06] And it's either a statement of that followed by an explanation or a combination of both. both. Now you'll remember, some of you anyway, will remember the teachings of the Westminster Confession and the abbreviated teaching as we have it in the Schachter Catechism.

[33:31] Justification, we are told, is an act of God's free grace wherein he pardoneth all our sins and accepteth us as righteous in his sight only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone. We are accepted as righteous in his sight only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone. Two things in particular are specified within that statement. First of all, our sins as believers are pardoned and secondly, the sinner is accepted as righteous in the sight of God. Now here, as Paul reminds Peter that even though they once belonged to a system of belief that trusted in their own righteousness, which was based upon their own observation of God's law. They believed that as God's covenant people,

[35:00] God had entrusted the law to them and on the basis of their obedience to that law, accompanied by the relationship that they enjoyed with God as a covenant nation, then righteousness was properly theirs. That is what they once believed. But Paul has discovered that that is not how things are.

[35:29] And not only does Paul know that, but he believes also that Peter knows the same thing. Because Peter is like himself, someone who has come to Christ and put their trust in him.

[35:45] And his faith in the same way that Paul's faith has rested upon Christ. So that whatever they were before that, whatever belief they had before that, whatever trust they had that made them think that righteousness was theirs on the basis of their own law keeping, that is something that they have gone away from. So you have Paul's understanding of what he once was and what he is now.

[36:25] But he also has an understanding of what the Gentiles once they were. He speaks of them and this is what what is the Gentiles.

[36:37] What is the Gentiles? What is the Gentiles? What is the Gentiles? Not only did Paul have a view of his own self-righteousness as an acceptable righteousness to God, he also had a view of the Gentile nations' lack of righteousness.

[37:00] He believed them to be devoid of righteousness. He believed them to be outside the boundaries, if you like, of God's blessing. And all you have to do is read, for example, his words written to the Ephesian church. And he describes there in Ephesians 2 what some of them, remember he's writing to Christian believers converted Gentiles in Ephesus. And he says of them that they were once strangers from the Commonwealth of promise, from the Commonwealth of aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel.

[37:49] Israel. And the aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel, they were estranged from God, they were strangers to the covenants of promise, and they had no hope, and they were without God in the world. Go on, read that chapter for yourself.

[38:07] This is how they were by nature. This is how they were perceived by Paul and all like him. But now they have come to discover that both Jew and Gentile converts, those who are no longer putting their trust on their Judaism, those who are now Gentiles who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, they're alike.

[38:41] They are no longer outside, but by faith they are inside. They are both saved. They are both beneficiaries of God's blessing.

[38:54] And this is what he, at his launchpad, as it were. This is how he communicates the truth that now prevails as far as he, Peter, and Barnabas, and all like them are concerned.

[39:14] They have put their trust in Jesus Christ. If you remember how Paul writes his epistle to the Romans, in chapter 6, he says something, I think, probably you would think of a bit repetitive.

[39:41] But he wants to emphasize the truth as it applies to them on the basis of faith. And in Romans, chapter 6, we read, That's the key text.

[40:21] That's the key text. You are not under the law, but under grace. God has changed you. God has changed your relationship to himself.

[40:35] Your relationship to the law is no longer what it was. God has changed your relationship to Jesus Christ. So, Paul wants us to understand, those who are heudish of his word, to understand that a believer's justification does not depend upon their obedience to the law.

[40:58] because by the law works justification if I put it like that it was just not possible I want to make this as simple as possible for us it was not possible for a person to justify himself or herself in the sight of God on the basis of their keeping of God's law Reformed theologians and Luther is probably the most renowned theologian who dealt with this book of Paul this epistle of Paul to the Galatians it was an eye opener to Luther once he understood the doctrine of justification by faith as it is contained within this book but the reformers who followed on from him understand that if we are to expect

[42:13] God's favour on the basis of our law keeping our law keeping must be perfect it must be constant it must involve us in an obedience that is always perfect it is always without any shortcoming or shortfall nothing is allowed to slip I quote to you the words of Don McLeod and his words are not different to many other Reformed theologians he says there is no use observing the law most of the time so that's not the way it is by nature we think about well I've done my best I've done as well as as I could and I'm sure

[43:15] God will understand that but that is not sufficient no use observing the law most of the time it was no use observing the law almost it was no use observing the law through someone else it has to be a personal observation of the law it has to be a permanent and exact keeping of God's law and that essentially is what Paul is saying get this wrong and you get everything wrong so how then does Paul expand on this thought how then can a person be justified in the sight of God well it is only by faith in Jesus Christ only by putting their trust in Christ

[44:19] Jesus knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by the faith of Jesus Christ 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 and this is essentially what he has to say Paul states in fact that he has believed in Christ so that he can be justified by faith in Christ and what can we understand by what he has to say what do we need to understand by what he says and although the language that he goes on to use is complicated the language is complicated but the truth is not we quoted last week

[45:21] Joseph Pippa and he says that when we talk about justification we need to remind ourselves that this is the language of the courtroom and it expresses freedom from the guilt and the condemnation that sin brings into every person's experience by nature we are sinners by nature we have failed to keep the contract with God we haven't fulfilled God's requirement to keep the law of God perfectly and as such if the day comes when we will be summoned into his presence to give account of our law keeping we will always find ourselves unable to say anything other than guilty as charged we have failed miserably we have not fulfilled the righteousness of the law we stand before our

[46:41] God condemned we stand before God as those worthy of his wrath and his holy displeasure for time and for eternity now the opposite of being condemned is what Paul wants us to get to it is the liberty the justification that comes from not being able to keep the law we are justified when our law keeping is perfect and how can it possibly be that the person who is at once guilty as a lawbreaker can be considered to be justified as one who has kept the law and he says that this is where the believer receives the grace that God gives in Christ

[47:57] Jesus it is holy and deserved the believer in Christ is in receipt of the merits of a law that is kept perfectly by someone who is wholly free from any tarnish any condemnation because he has kept God's law perfectly and when the two are brought alongside the other there is the judgment of the judge that condemns or the judgment of the judge that brings the sinner to experience the fullness of God's mercy and that he is fully acknowledged and acquitted as a possessor of a righteousness that satisfies

[49:04] God that belongs to the person who is acknowledged and acquitted but as one who has been in receipt of it by faith when you are declared righteous as far as the law is concerned it is just that it is a declaration and I think that's what the Shochdor Catechism takes us to that takes us to the place where the pardon of God for our sins our acceptance in his sight as righteous is not on the basis of anything that is true of us it becomes ours when we put our trust in Christ Jesus and that's what Paul says that's what he understands for himself if while we seek to be justified by Christ he goes on to say we ourselves also are found sinners is therefore

[50:16] Christ the minister of sin God forbid now this is a hypothetical situation that he brings up and the arguments that he makes are slightly complicated but it is based and formulated on the understanding that the person that is spoken of here is a person who has experienced God's grace and forgiveness on the basis of the righteousness of Christ it is imputed to him he doesn't become righteous if he did then that person would be sinless that person would be without any demerit in his experience what is imputed to him is the righteousness of Christ which declares him righteous but does not infuse righteousness into his being

[51:17] I think that's where a lot of doctrinal error flows from but I think for the benefit of these words to be considered what Paul is going on to say if while we seek to be justified by Christ we ourselves are found sinners is therefore Christ the minister of sin God forbid now whatever that means it doesn't mean that Paul understands himself having been justified that he is sinless that from the point of being justified by faith in Christ that he is sinless that is not possible he says it doesn't make sense if while we seem to be justified by Christ we ourselves are also found sinners the argument that he is making really has to do with licentiousness it has to do with liberty being taken with the freedom that the righteousness imputed to and by

[52:35] Christ involves them in so that some people look at Christians and they say to them well if what you're saying is true then you can't sin at will it doesn't really matter if you're sinner or not you're righteous well yes the sinner who is saved by grace possesses by reason of faith the imputed righteousness of Christ in which he will stand on the day of judgment but that does not mean that sin will not be in his life any longer nor does it mean that that person who is a sinner saved by grace who is righteous in the sight of God will be able to go on as if sin matters not because the change brought in them by the grace of God involves them in an awareness of sin that they did not have before the grace of

[53:40] God became so prevalent in their experience if anything sin is more odious if anything sin is more despicable if anything sin is something that they cannot abide so what Paul is saying look if you are arguing with me I'm saying what you're saying is that as a righteous man you can you can do what you like and then Christ is tarnished with the brush of you sin that is not right if I build again the things which I destroyed I make myself a transgressor and I think that's another I think the complications in the way that statement is written is there for all to see but there is this other dimension to it if he reverts to the former practices as

[54:42] Peter had done then whose attempt at law keeping will find him guilty of the transgression that that law keeping which he failed to fulfill he will he he will stain his character by it you could say that was true of Paul that's my understanding of it anyway and I know that others have looked at the various descriptions that some people are explanations given four or five of them exist people trying to reconcile this truth with how they understand what Paul is saying if I give you an example from the experience of a minister you know you can fall into the trap if you like if you think that you are not going to sin any further or on the other side of that coin if you forget that the blood of

[56:07] Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin and if you forget that and think that the justification that is used by Christ or by faith in Christ is insufficient to meet your sin and the example I'm going to give you is the minister a minister a well known minister of the highlands Dr.

[56:33] Kennedy and he was making his way to preach the gospel somewhere and in process of preaching he happened to say to the congregation he said he said to them if only you knew he said what thoughts passed through my mind as my way as I made my way here today you would shy away from me you would keep your distance and one of the congregation took exception to that because he felt that it was wrong for a minister of the gospel to unveil his heart to all and sundry but according to the telling of the story some time later he was so glad that he had heard such a confession from that minister but the thing that drew attention to it for this service is this that here we have somebody who is a minister of the gospel who believes himself to be justified by faith in Jesus

[57:49] Christ who believes in the power of Christ's blood to cleanse him from every sin and yet at the same time who struggles with sin in his life in the sense that there is a sensitivity to it and a fear of it and a disdain to himself because of his recognition that he is not as he should be so if that is somebody and that was somebody who was a renowned theologian of repute if he believes what Paul was warning against here that you know it didn't matter what you did you're no justified you're no righteous you're no clothed in the righteousness of Christ sin doesn't matter nothing could be further from the truth and Paul insists on that

[58:54] I through the law am dead to the law he says that is the way it is the law no longer condemns me I am liberated I am free from the condemnation that it brings but it doesn't stop there he says it is in order that I might live unto God that the life that he now lives is a life that is is in a with a relationship to sin that did not exist before the grace of God came into his experience now I know I've said it it is a difficult passage in construction in the way it's constructed but Paul wants us to understand that the person who has come to faith in

[59:57] Jesus Christ they put their trust in him in his finished works in the way that Christ has satisfied the demands of a broken law for all and for every individual that have put their trust in him now when Paul writes this epistle to the Ephesians he is writing it as somebody who who knows who knows what it is like to be of a different mind to be of a different opinion writing to the to the philippians rather he describes his own background familiar with it I'm sure you are circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel the tribe of Benjamin and Hebrew of the Hebrews as touching the law of Pharisee concerning seal persecuting the church touching the righteousness which is in the law blameless this is what

[61:00] I once was if anybody had confidence in the flesh in their law works it was me I did all these things I was perfectly proud of what I was able to do but now he says what things were gained to me those I counted loss for Christ he doubtless I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but done that I may want Christ and be found in him not having mine own righteousness which is of the law but that which is through the faith of Christ the righteousness which is of God by faith what could be clearer than that Paul has been taken from somebody who was building for eternity on the flimsiest of foundations when it would come to the point of being tested

[62:06] God would find him out with one eye focusing upon Paul did you really keep the law perfectly but now when God takes him to stand before him he is covered from head to toe in the righteousness that is perfect there is not a chink in the cover that now hides away the sins that were so prevalent in his heart that it took God to reveal them to him is that not true for every Christian who is here tonight I don't think anybody here is a Christian who is not a worse sinner today than they once were when they were in the ignorance of unregenerate deadness do you understand what I'm saying they're worse people today than they ever were in what sense you're saying surely they're good people surely they're holy people well they're all that but they now know what sin is they now know what sin has done in their life

[63:41] I was reminded of it how some people today spend more time and their minds go back to what they did once and what they would wish to have these things suppressed and submerged and hidden from sight and in a sense they are in a sense these things will never trouble them but they are still stirred up by their own memories and their own conscience and they're not dealing with them as they should or could I'm trying to remember whoever it was that was saying talking about the sins of the converted believer who constantly were tormented by their past and the advice that was given leave these things where they are leave them where they are why are you stirring these things up as if they're going to give you some advantage they're not if

[65:02] God sees foot to bring them to your attention you will do so why should you do the work of the devil why should you be so industrious at doing the very things that Christ has sought to cover with his blood in a way that no other could what Paul means us to understand this and I hope that some of it has been we've been able to appreciate tonight let us pray the Lord of God we confess our sin knowing that only the blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse us from it we see righteousness but only the righteousness that is perfect that we would understand that that is only to be found in the person of the

[66:03] Lord Jesus Christ we pray blessing in his name upon all who love him all who own and honor him and all who would seek him for themselves cleanse us in his name Jesus precious name we ask Amen we closing psalm psalm 143 psalm 143 the first version of the psalm and we are going to sing from psalm 143 psalm 143 psalm 143 psalm 143 the first verse I call to mind the days of old to meditate I use on all thy works upon the deeds I off thy hands do muse my hands to thee I stretch my soul thirsts as dry land for thee his Lord to hear my spirit fails hide not thy face from me less like to them

[67:09] I do become that go down to the dust at more let me thy kindness hear for in thee do I trust teach me the way that I should walk I lift my soul to thee Lord free me from my force I flee to thee to cover me because thou art my God do thy will to me instruct thy spirit is good me to the land of uprightness conduct we'll sing from verse 6 to 10 my hands to thee I stretch my soul thirsts as dry land for thee my hands to thee I stretch my soul thirsts my land for thee as

[68:12] Lord to hear my spirit hymns I know thy hands from me lest like to them I do become and go down to the dust and more let me thy kindness hear for in the heart run take me the way I should all

[69:13] I lift my songs away Lord leave me from my cause I flee to thee to cover me because the word my God do I will do me for me not In the kingdom, in the kingdom of God, O unrighteous one, Amen.

[70:15]  May we praise, mercy, and peace from God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit rest and abide with you all and ever and always. Amen.