Doing -- Not Demanding!

[0:00] Please take your Bibles and go to the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew's Gospel. Matthew chapter 12. Matthew chapter 12. We'll finish chapter 12 today.

[0:13] Matthew 12, starting in verse 38. If you're visiting with us in a black Bible, you'll see that one in the chair in front of you. If you pull that out, go to page 10 to the back of that black Bible.

[0:28] Page 10, you should find Matthew chapter 12, starting in verse 38. Page 10 of that black Bible. Matthew 12, starting in verse 38.

[0:41] And we'll read to the end of the chapter, verse 38 to 50. Matthew 12, 38 to 50. By the way, while I am gone, Ezra is gonna lead the music for us the first two Sundays.

[0:56] So, the 21st and the 28th. So, be kind to him. And he's actually gonna use my guitar, which is...

[1:10] Yeah, exactly. What did you do to my baby? I mean, was that allowed? I'm sorry. Okay.

[1:20] Be kind. Be gentle. Anyways. So, Ezra's gonna do that. Matthew chapter 12, verse 38. Then some of the scribes and Pharisees, answering, said to him, teacher, we want to see a sign from you.

[1:38] But answering them, he said to... But answering them, he said, An evil and adulterous generation wants a sign. Yet no sign shall be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.

[1:53] For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nedevah shall stand up with this generation at the judgment and shall condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

[2:17] The queen of the south shall rise up with this generation at the judgment and shall condemn it because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

[2:31] Now, when the unclean spirit goes out of the man and passes through the desert seeking rest and does not find it, then it says, I will return to my house from which I came and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept and put in order.

[2:46] Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself and they go and live there and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.

[2:56] In the same way, it will also be with this evil generation. Verse 46, while he was still speaking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and brothers were standing outside seeking to speak to him and someone said to him, behold, your mother and your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to you.

[3:18] But answering the one who was telling him, he said, who is my mother and who are my brothers? And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, look, look, my mother and my brothers.

[3:33] For whoever does the will of my father who is in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother. I'm sure you all probably heard or read the story about a college professor at USC.

[3:52] He was a professor of philosophy, an atheist. Every year he would try to prove that God did not exist. At the end of the semester, he would say, if God existed, he would keep me from dropping this piece of chalk and he would be able to stop it and so he would drop it and it would shatter in a bunch of pieces.

[4:12] Have you heard this story? There was a Christian freshman who enrolled in the class. No one wanted to stand up to this professor but he stood up to the professor at the end of the semester and the professor called him a fool in front of the whole class.

[4:27] Oh, how could you do that? I'm going to drop this chalk. So he tried to drop the chalk. It slipped from his fingers. It went off his shirt cuff, onto his pants, down his leg, off his shoe, and it rolled away unbroken.

[4:39] That's how the story goes. Well, it's a great story. It's just not true. Yeah, I know. It did not happen. Unfortunately, sorry.

[4:52] You're like, oh, wow, that's really cool. No, it didn't happen. Sorry. There's kind of a similar story that happened back in the 1920s. It was a different college in Pennsylvania.

[5:05] Hard to confirm this story, though. I was like a beaker and actually a professor would, he would lecture on how God did not answer prayer or something like that or prayer was fake, something like that.

[5:17] But even that's hard to confirm. Now, regardless, many people like to demand that God prove his existence, right?

[5:31] Have you met somebody like that who says, God needs to prove to me that he exists and then I'll believe. They demand this from God. They think they have a right to demand this from God as if he should succumb to our wishes and our wants.

[5:47] And you see this happening in this very passage from people you would expect would actually believe in Jesus and not do something like this.

[6:00] Religious leaders and Jesus' own family. As we come to this part in Matthew's gospel, again, Matthew's crying out to us as his readers, his hearers, bow down and worship Jesus.

[6:15] He is the Messiah King of Israel. And this part, we come to this. Doing, not demanding. Doing, not demanding.

[6:33] Or, to put it in simple statements for you, doing, not demanding. Doing the Father's will, not demanding from the Son. Or, faith worshipers of Jesus do the Father's will by trusting and obeying Jesus instead of demanding things from God.

[6:56] Now, there's two ways people seek signs from God. A sign that God is real. We just talked about that, right? And, a sign if we should do this or that.

[7:12] We as Christians do this, right? What, should I do this or should I do that? So we seek God to give us a sign. His will to do something.

[7:26] His will not to do something. Now, of course, the former, for God to, you have to show me you're in real existence. You have to show me you're for real. That's evil. We know that.

[7:36] That's very clear. But even the latter has its bad points as well because either way, we can be demanding of God.

[7:51] Look, God doesn't need to prove himself to us. The evidence is all around us already. The real question, are we doing the will of the Father, which is to sit at the feet of his son and trust him?

[8:10] Do you want to know God's will for your life? I know what it is. I know God's will for your life. That's right. I will audaciously say this. This is God's will for your life.

[8:20] Follow Jesus. Love Christ. Build your life around his word. around his truth. Around the Bible.

[8:34] Build your life around Jesus so that we're more conformed to the image of Jesus. That's his will for you. That's his will for me.

[8:45] Sam Albury, he wrote an article in Desiring God on their website and it's titled Why God Hides His Will For You.

[9:03] You get that preposition? Not from you. Why God hides His will for you. Hmm. Interesting.

[9:13] He says this, quote, God is not telling us what to think at every moment but how to think. He's rarely telling us what decision to make but teaching us how to make decisions.

[9:33] See friends, this is key to our passage. No one has the right or the privileged position to demand from God who do we think we are.

[9:48] God's word, the Bible is very clear. Bow down and worship Jesus. He's the Messiah King of Israel. Now, that's not to say that we don't search God's word to find out different things like where to move, what job to take, what person to marry, when should I retire, things like that.

[10:10] So many, we don't search God's word but at the end of the day, when it's all said and done, we bow down and worship. At the end of the day, it's about our attitude.

[10:24] Do we trust and submit to Christ? That's what it's really all about. Sam Albury says this, quote, this is our relationship to God's will.

[10:40] Not that he emails a daily briefing of what we're to do each day, but that he gradually renews our minds, changing the way they work, giving us the capacity to discern his will without moment-by-moment direct updates, end quote.

[11:03] See, this is hard for us, especially in this day and age. I mean, you can Google anything you want and Google will tell you exactly what to do, right?

[11:14] Thank you, Lord, for Google. I mean, yeah. That's called sarcasm, you know. Oh, but seriously, all kidding aside, that's why Jesus was so strong against the Pharisees and his own family.

[11:35] They thought their position gave them the right to demand from God. That's why it's serious.

[11:46] That's why when you talk about God's will, it's not so much what to think, but how we're supposed to think. What is our attitude?

[12:01] I have a right to demand from him? No, no. It's about doing the Father's will and hanging around those who do the Father's will too. We have way more in common with those who trust Jesus than with those who don't.

[12:17] Why? Because they're family. True, real family. You're gonna live with each other forever. It will happen. That's how close we are.

[12:34] True family relationships resides with those who follow Christ. True family is truly devoted to Christ. Christ. The unbelief of Jesus' contemporaries left them in a very bad condition.

[12:51] A far worse state than if Jesus had not come. And with all that they've been given, they demanded a sign. Both of them. The religious leaders and Jesus' family.

[13:03] You'll see that in just a moment. Even Gentiles responded with far less revelation. Well, look at that. But it's to those who do the Father's will, they are Jesus' true family.

[13:23] So with that said, notice the first demanders, the religious leaders. Verse 38. This is almost comical.

[13:36] You almost want to chuckle. Some scribes and Pharisees answered, saying to him, teacher, we want to see a sign from you. Really? This is in response to Christ's strong words to them earlier, earlier in the chapter.

[13:54] They asked Jesus to do a sign for them to prove himself, which was totally insane. Almost comical. You've got to be kidding me.

[14:04] What do you think I've been doing this whole time? I'm like, really? I just casted out a demon from a blind man, from a man who is blind and mute.

[14:16] He said, teacher, we want to see a sign from you. Are you nuts? By the way, they address him as teacher, which doesn't, in Matthew's gospel, it means they were not believers.

[14:29] but they wanted him to accredit himself by doing some spectacular miracle. But these miracles Jesus did were acts of God's goodness not fulfilling some unbelieving skeptic's demand to perform for them.

[14:49] Jesus didn't do this to try and get entertainment to entertain people. That's not why he did these signs. What's the matter with you?

[15:01] These were acts of the gracious goodness, kindness of God. This is what the kingdom is going to be like in the future. Because Jesus was the epitome of the kingdom.

[15:14] They just didn't get it. Friends, beware. Beware of those who demand a sign from God and won't believe in him unless he does a sign.

[15:28] I've had countless occasions where people say, you know, if God would just give me a sign that he's for real. One time I just audaciously said, you know what, maybe I'm that sign from God. He just said that.

[15:41] Maybe I'm the answer to your prayer. You ever thought about that? It throws them off. They don't know what to do with it. that. They're most likely an unbelieving skeptic demanding some kind of evidence that is actually right in front of their face.

[16:00] They want God to perform. And yet, I also say, just be mindful of ourselves. Are we seeking a sign from God for our lives?

[16:11] A spectacular sign? God, should I do this? God, should I do that? God, His will, directly and indirectly, is found in His word.

[16:22] Sam Albury said this, it's not about having our own personal angel who tells us what to do with our lives. No.

[16:34] He wants us to know how to think. and what better way to think than to be consumed with the Father's will, which is what? Just listen to His Son.

[16:47] Build your life around the Word of God. Build your life around Jesus and the Gospel. That's His will.

[16:57] One note is Jesus. And Jesus refused. Verse 39. Answering them, He said, an evil and adulterate generation wants a sign.

[17:10] This phrase, evil generation, He says this four times. Verse 39, 41 to 42, and then in verse 45. Four times total. Well, Gideon's trying to make a point by calling them an evil generation.

[17:26] He flat out refused, yet no sign shall be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. He would not be a performer at the whim of people's demands.

[17:40] He was no circus performer for the superficial. The only sign this evil and adulterate generation would see was the sign of Jonah, which is right there recorded in the Old Testament.

[17:54] You want a sign? There it is. There's your sign. Why does He call them evil and adulterous? Well, they were evil in that they selfishly demanded from God adultery in that they should trust God with fidelity to Him alone.

[18:13] They lacked trust. They imposed a miracle on God and they refused faithful service the faithful service of God's servant. Remember that?

[18:23] Earlier in chapter 12, He says, Behold, my servant whom I have chosen. The Father chose Jesus. Why don't you believe in Him?

[18:35] The Father did. The Father did. One writer says this, quote, Signs are granted to faith, so how can the faithless ever see them?

[18:48] Beware. If you demand a sign from God, beware if you're here, you're not a Christian and you say, you know what, I don't want to become a Christian, I'm not going to become a Christian because God needs to, He's a show me that He's for real.

[19:04] Guess what? I'm the reality. I'm your sign. It's right in front of you. I'm telling you what the gospel is, so I'm the answer to your prayer. Can I audaciously say that to you?

[19:19] Jesus is calling you to Himself. If you're here, you're not a Christian and you demand God to give you a sign, guess what? I'm the answer to your prayer. I'm your sign. Trust Jesus and He'll save you. There's your sign.

[19:36] Be careful. Let us be careful to follow and trustful worship. Let us be careful. Find a person demands a sign and you find a person who's a skeptic and does not want to believe the evidence laid before them.

[19:50] Look, no position of privilege gets you anywhere with God. It's embracing Jesus Christ and the evidences that point to Jesus Christ. Trust Him.

[20:04] And notice what Jesus does. He goes on with this whole thing with Jonah. Verse 44. As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

[20:18] He's referring to Jonah chapter 1 verse 17. It was a cryptic prophecy of Jesus' death and resurrection. Interesting what Jesus does here.

[20:32] The resurrection was, is, the final, ultimate validation of who Jesus claimed to be and His purpose. You want a sign?

[20:44] I'm going to resurrect from the dead, but you still won't believe that. Now, it's interesting because it says three days and three nights in the belly of the fish and it says Jesus will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

[20:58] Well, how was Jesus three days and three nights in the heart of the earth? This does not require specific 72 hours of grave time.

[21:11] Because the Jews would reckon any part of a day to count as a day. It was a Jewish idiom to refer to three days or on the third day He would rise again.

[21:24] So, some skeptic were chosen on purpose. Says to you three days and three nights oh, Jesus was in three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Just say, that's a Jewish idiom for three days.

[21:36] On the third day He would rise again. That's what it is. Sorry, skeptic. Nice try. But Jesus began to unfold that His mission included His death and His resurrection.

[21:50] So, He does this. He goes through this whole thing. These demand this thing from the sign. Jesus refused and then He does this. He does this doers versus demanders thing. A contrast.

[22:03] Notice this. This is shocking. Verse 41. The men of Nineveh shall stand up with this generation at the judgment and shall condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

[22:21] Who were the doers? Gentiles repented at the preaching of Jonah. Gentiles. Yet the Jews did not believe.

[22:37] But here's these Gentiles who responded to Jonah's preaching and remember Jonah. Jonah was no like, wow, I really want to be a prophet like Jonah.

[22:49] Jonah was a jerk. I'm serious. He was, Jonah, it should say in the Bible, Jonah the jerk prophet. It really should say that because he was a jerk. He was. He could not stand the people of Nineveh.

[23:03] He was more happy that God had a tree that shaded him and he was angry at God for taking that tree away from him that was shading him than he was that those people were going to perish.

[23:18] A.K.A. a jerk. That's Jonah. And yet, these Ninevites repented at his preaching.

[23:30] How can you not believe in me when Gentiles had wayless revelation responded to Jonah? How could you do that?

[23:41] Notice, the doers and the demanders. You see that? This generation, when he says this generation, it were those who lived during the time of Jesus' active physical ministry here on earth, these Ninevites responded with wholehearted repentance.

[24:02] Look at this blunt contrast. Ninevites repented. These Jews did not. Ninevites were confronted by Jonah. There's something greater than Jonah and yet they refused.

[24:16] And that's why Jesus says these Gentiles, they would condemn this generation. for not repenting at the preaching of the very eternal Son of God.

[24:28] They will say shame on you. If even these pagans could recognize God's revelation in this man, a sorry prophet who hated them, why not this generation?

[24:42] He goes farther. And remember who he's talking to here. The religious leaders. A Pharisee.

[24:53] Remember what the Pharisee would pray. Oh God, thank you that I'm not a Gentile, a tax collector, or a woman. He would pray that. I'm serious. So now look at verse 42.

[25:06] The queen of Sheba shall rise up with this generation at the judgment and shall condemn it because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and behold something greater than Solomon is here.

[25:18] The queen of Sheba who probably traveled all the way from modern day Yemen. That was a long way in that day. Let me do this for emphasis.

[25:29] She came to hear Solomon's wisdom. She would condemn this generation. Generation of men on the day of judgment because these did not repent of Jesus coming but she came to hear Solomon's wisdom.

[25:47] You get the point? The men of Jesus' day weren't impressed with Jesus yet this woman, remember how this generation thought of women, was totally impressed with Solomon.

[26:04] Look at what Jesus is doing. He's shaming them. She came from a long distance and these Jews were right there. She responded and these Jews did not.

[26:14] Here are Gentiles and a woman. What's wrong with you guys? And I'm not here trying to belittle women. I'm not doing that. I'm trying to put you in the context of the first century for a Pharisee, the religious leaders, what they thought of women and Jesus was coming down hard on them.

[26:31] You guys are demanding a sign and here are these people, the very ones that you pray that you're not like. They responded, they were doers of the will of the Father. What's wrong with you?

[26:47] Gentiles and a woman responded, doers, they listen, not the ones we would have expected, God's people Israel.

[27:01] Why? Because Israel thought they were privileged. they're snobs with their pinkies in the air. We're God's chosen people.

[27:18] How deep, how far is our trust in God? When things don't go our way, we begin to doubt His promises almost demanding He send us a sign.

[27:33] His will is very clear. Trust and love the Son. Friends, learn from this. It's so easy for us when things don't go our way, we doubt God's promises and we demand that He give us a sign.

[27:49] Beware of that attitude. Let us beware. Look what Jesus does here. It's almost kind of weird.

[28:00] He starts talking about unclean spirits, this whole thing, verse 43 to 45. What in the world is this all about? Don't you think it's weird? I thought it was weird. Unclean spirit, verse 43, goes out of the man, passes through the desert, returns to the human abode, oh man, finds it all cleaned up and tidy, it goes and takes seven other spirits, come, they live inside the man, the last day is worse than the first and then He says this at the end of verse 45, in the same way it will also be with this evil generation.

[28:34] What? What is He talking about? Here's the point. Great multitudes had benefited from Jesus' healings and casting out of demons.

[28:49] Things had been put in order. But very few understood His identity, His mission, and their need to repent. Jesus is talking about them.

[29:03] The nation had its demons removed, but had not embraced Jesus as Savior and Lord. Hardened unbelief is very dangerous.

[29:17] If Nineveh and the Queen of Sheba responded despite such very little evidence, what about them with such overwhelming evidence? If they continued down this path, refusing the opportunity that was presented before them, yes, their last date would be worse than the first.

[29:35] It would have been better for Jesus to not have come. They should repent and reorient and reorient their lives around Jesus.

[29:49] There's a lesson to be learned here. If you do not fill your life with the Lord Jesus Christ, that issue will just rear its ugly head in some other area of your life.

[30:02] Addiction, pornography, conversion therapy for the homosexual lifestyle, et cetera, et cetera. You must fill, we must fill our lives with Jesus, the Spirit of Christ.

[30:17] Or to put it another way, to be absent from your demons doesn't mean you've been redeemed. To be absent from your demons it doesn't mean you've been redeemed.

[30:31] You turn from that and you put all your trust, all your hope in Jesus Christ. Else your last date will be worse than the first. Just because your house has been cleaned it doesn't mean you have a good tenant who takes up residence inside of you.

[30:49] Clean it out, sure, repent and trust in Jesus. Let Him fill your life. Jesus did all these miracles as ways to express the compassion and grace of God to needy people not as awesome displays of power to convince skeptics.

[31:09] If you're seeking a sign from God be careful. Be careful. So this is religious leaders. This is the first demanders. But notice the other ones.

[31:20] the second demanders. Jesus' own family. Well now this kind of gets personal, right? I mean, come on. Well, he was teaching verse 46.

[31:35] Behold, his mother and brothers are standing outside so you can speak to him and someone said to him, behold, your mother and your brothers are standing outside to speak, wanting to speak to you. Now from other passages, by the way, I try hard to keep us in Matthew.

[31:52] We can go to Mark's gospel, we can go to Luke's gospel and John's, but I really don't like doing that. If we're gonna be in Matthew, let's stay in Matthew. I try to focus our time in Matthew's gospel and how Matthew's trying to speak.

[32:04] Does that make sense? But every once in a while throw in sometimes, I try not to, things about the other gospels. Well here, actually we know from other passages in the other gospels that Jesus' family was not sympathetic to his mission.

[32:19] As a matter of fact, they even thought he was kind of, they thought it was crazy. They did, they thought it was a nutcase. And notice, his physical family was outside, whereas Jesus' true family was inside.

[32:40] because of their status. They wanted to see Jesus. So you should stop what you're doing, fella, and go see your mama. That's basically what it is.

[32:55] The impression was family, his family had priority rights. You should go see your mama. They should be able to interrupt you in the middle of your teaching because of their status and position.

[33:08] Uh-uh. You should stop and attend to them. Uh-uh. Once again, the idea of putting a demand on God because of status.

[33:23] You do this for me. I have status. Do a sign for me. Do something for me. No, it don't work that way. Notice, once again, Jesus refused.

[33:36] Verse 48. I'm sorry, who is my mother and who are my brothers? Jesus refused by asking a question.

[33:49] The ones who were his true family were on the inside listening to his teaching, meaning his physical family was not listening to his teaching. Amen. Any thought that ethnic descent or family loyalty defines God's people was criticized heavily by Jesus.

[34:10] And here's one case here. He refused. And then he does this in verse 49.

[34:21] Stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, look, my mother and my brothers. This is where we get the main part of this whole section.

[34:34] Here in verse 50. For whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother. Notice, once again, the doers versus the demanders.

[34:44] Jesus is not saying to disrespect your family. He's not saying that. Or that we should abdicate our familial relationships totally.

[34:56] He's not saying that. Go home and say to your grandchildren, I'm not going to see you anymore. No, don't do that. Your grandchildren will be like, what? What about your grandma? Grandpa's like, I don't know.

[35:07] I don't know. She's got something in her head. No, no, no. Jesus is not saying that. But he is saying this. Superficial discipleship doesn't cut it. Those who truly do the will of the Father, which is believing in or following his Son, were, are his true disciples.

[35:26] Period. It's about allegiance to Jesus and to those whose lives are directed by Jesus and what he values, which is the kingdom.

[35:44] And that means we may have to leave family behind or even face betrayal by our own family. It's not the first time Jesus brings this up.

[35:56] Remember chapter 10? Chapter 10, verse 34. He says, I didn't come to bring peace on earth, but a sword. A mother against her daughter. A mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law.

[36:07] Why? Because the people in your own family might be your enemy because you might say, I trust Jesus. He has my allegiance. And your family might say, you know what? Too bad. Then you can go.

[36:17] Loyalty to Jesus is first and foremost. Doing the will of the Father. That's what the Father wants.

[36:29] He wants us to love his Son just as much as he does. One writer says it like this, quote, doing the will of God is all important, end quote.

[36:42] This is what it means to be a Christian. This is what it means to follow Jesus. Your family, if need be, like when push comes to shove and it's either us or them type thing.

[36:54] Us or him. It takes second. If you don't know Christ today, you must realize the gravity of this issue. You must say, Lord Jesus, you have me.

[37:08] No matter the cost, I will follow you. Trust Jesus today. Don't walk away out the door and not respond to the Lord Jesus Christ.

[37:19] Come to him and follow Jesus. His arms are wide open to you. We should surround ourselves with those who have committed themselves wholeheartedly to Jesus because they become our family.

[37:37] We surround ourselves with Jesus and with those who love him too. that's who we should surround ourselves with. I'll make an even stronger statement.

[37:54] our loyalty should lie more with those within the body of Christ than our physical lineage or heritage. That steps on toes.

[38:09] Our identity, security, and nurture, one writer put it like this, quote, can be best met through the community of those who follow Jesus, end quote. That's a great way to put it and yet sadly that's not the case.

[38:23] We're not going to to what extent do we love the body? How far will we go in our love for the body of Christ for this thing that we call family?

[38:38] I believe, and this is only my opinion, I believe our American society or our society puts us in a position where we don't have to think about it. our structure of church allows us to have the best of both worlds.

[38:58] What do I mean? We can do our thing on Sundays and Wednesdays and then live our lives in whatever way the rest of the week. That's how we can do things in our society.

[39:13] We'll spend time with each other, we'll do things with each other, blah, blah, blah, blah. We can do church in a way where we just do our Christian thing and then we go home and you leave me alone.

[39:29] It's our brethren in other countries where it's illegal to be a Christian or to exercise your religion, our First Amendment, who truly understand this principle of family, the Christian family.

[39:48] True followers of Jesus, they find out real fast who is their real family and who is their enemy. What's even worse, those within the church end up becoming our enemies, it's even worse than with non-Christians.

[40:05] My friends, it ought not to be this way. What has happened? What has happened? This beloved servant of the Father, he's far greater than Solomon, far greater than Jonah, the Sabbath, the temple, even David, and yet people rejected him and they only wanted a good show, demanders.

[40:32] Even his own family were not his real family. What matters most? Doing the Father's will, which is what? Loving, listening, trusting, obeying the Lord Jesus Christ.

[40:49] It's him. And being with those who want to do that too. It's about doing the Father's will and hanging around those who do the Father's will too.

[41:04] We have way more in common with those who trust Jesus than with those who don't. Why? Because they're family. At least it should be this way. And we fall so short.

[41:16] We do. And yet, that's why Jesus had to die, right? Praise his name. We falter, we fall, we fail, but yet that's why Jesus had to die for those sins. Else, we wouldn't need a Savior.

[41:32] Faith worshipers of Jesus do the Father's will by trusting and obeying Jesus instead of demanding things from God. and we'll falter and that will fail.

[41:42] That's why Jesus had to die for that. That's why we keep trusting him, why we keep turning from sin and trusting. We want to do the Father's will and not demand things from the Son.

[41:54] You have me, Lord Jesus. We renew that once again. Father, work in our hearts once again and transform us that we might better reflect your Son.

[42:05] and yet we also proclaim and confess to you and just as Ward said earlier today, we're sinners. We fall short and yet thank you.

[42:19] Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your death. Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you took upon yourself the wrath that we deserve because we falter in those things. You've saved us and redeemed us.

[42:33] Change us. Give us your grace to do your will, O Father, to love, adore, worship, delights, and take pleasure in you, Lord Jesus, and in those who also love you.

[43:00] I want to encourage you in this time a few moments of silence for you to ponder as Paul says, let your mind dwell in these things.

[43:18] Let your mind dwell in the things that we've seen in God's Word today. Remind yourself of this gospel truth, the forgiveness that comes in the Lord Jesus Christ.

[43:34] It may be a time to pray, Lord, I know I falter, I fail, thank you for your forgiveness, I confess that, keep changing me, whatever the case may be. Let this be a time between you and the Lord, and yeah, we'll do our songs, time of giving songs, our prayer, we do that.

[43:54] But I give this to you so that way you can let your heart dwell in the things that we've seen from His Word. Do that now, please.

[44:24] thank you. Thank you. For now, please. Thank you. Thank you.