Transcript for:
Romans 8:1,4 -No Condemnation- Pastor Rick Beaudry 2023-06-18

Romans chapter 8 verse 1 through 4, would you please stand with me? Happy Father's Day, by the way. Therefore is there now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. Father, we thank you so much that vengeance is mine, I'll repay, saith the Lord, that we don't have to go after all the bad guys. We thank you, Lord, that your Son epitomized holiness, that he is righteous, that he's holy, that he's the chip off the old block, that, Lord, have you, you know, as you said to Philip, Lord Jesus, you know, have I been such a long time with you, Philip, and you don't know me? He that has seen me has seen the Father. And so, Father, we thank you for communicating to us who you are through your Son. We thank you for your love being communicated to us and that he was condemned, not us, that he suffered upon the cross of Calvary so that we wouldn't have to suffer for our sins. And, Lord, we just thank you for the salvation that we have. We thank you for the freedom that we enjoy, the liberty that we enjoy walking in the power of the Spirit, that we don't need to be slaves to sin, that we don't need to be condemned and riddled with guilt because of our sin. And, Lord, that you're fulfilling the righteousness of the Spirit in and through us, Lord, that it's no longer us living but Christ living through us. Help us to realize, Lord, to live in that newness of life and the power of your Holy Spirit, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Would you please be seated? So in Romans 7, Paul's struggling. He's saying, the things I do want to do, I don't do. The things I don't want to do, I do. And he described in Romans 7 the law of sin that was defeating him in his desire to live a life that was pleasing unto God. And so we think of Joseph before the law even came along, Potiphar's wife making advances at him. And he said, how could I do this great evil against God? David said, after he sinned with Bathsheba, after he murdered her husband Uriah the Hittite and all that, he said, against thee and thee only have I sinned. When we sin, our sin is not just on the horizontal against other people, because we're instructed to love our neighbor as ourself, but our sin is ultimately against God. We're sinning. We're missing the mark. So what's sin mean? It means missing the mark. What's the wage of sin? Death. And so all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. So this helplessness drives him to the new law of the Spirit in verse 2 of life in Christ Jesus for victory. So because of the law of the Spirit there in verse 2, number one, we are forgiven. We'll see here that we're forgiven. So there's no more condemnation. The law condemns me. The law just keeps reminding me and showing me that I'm a sinner. It keeps showing me more and more. It's a pedagogue in Galatians 4, a tutor, a teacher, to drive me to Christ. There's no law that can make me righteous. So God uses the law to illustrate to us, to show us, to remind us of who He is. And then in relationship to who He is and who we are, we see that we're undone. Job said, I abhor myself, repentant dust and ashes. Peter said, away from me for I'm a sinful man. The closer we draw near to God, the greater sin is exposed in our life. When you see a person that's very puffed up and prideful and acting self-righteous, you know that's a person that's very far from God, because God resists the proud and He gives grace to the humble. So that humility that we see is a result of being close to God and recognizing that He's the standard. The standard is perfection. The standard is holiness. And we just see how incredibly undone we are. And then it bums us out because we got to carry this carcass, this old man, this old Rick, this old nature, even though I'm saved. I got to keep carrying this old Rick around. And I do good for a few minutes, five minutes, ten minutes, you know, maybe 60 minutes. Being a Christian and then that old Rick raises his head up and reminds me that I'm not perfect yet, that I'm not there yet. And so I have to remind myself, well, it's the blood, it's the blood, it's the blood, you know. There's no condemnation. I shouldn't feel, you know, so bad. If I confess my sin, He's faithful and just to forgive me of my sin and to cleanse me of all unrighteousness in the Lord. But there's still that sense of, that sense of, you know, uneasiness where Kathy many times she'll say, you know, I can't wait till we finally get our new glorified bodies and there won't be that battle within us of sin, you know. But we can get victory, you know, in the short run. We can get victory every now and then by living the life of the Spirit. So what's happening here is that, as Joseph said, you know, how could I do this great evil against God when Potiphar's wife is coming after him? There's a desire, not just according to the law, but a desire, a greater desire, which is love. I want to live a life that's pleasing unto the Lord. How do I do that? By yielding to the Lord. He's going to live that life through me as we see in verse 2. And so there's now therefore no condemnation. So there is therefore no condemnation. So in Proverbs 12 verse 2 says, a good man attains favor of the Lord, but a man of wicked devices will he condemn. So who is the good man? Who is the one that obtains favor? Is there anybody here, you know, that's good enough? Romans 3 10, as we're coming through there, there is none righteous, no not one. Romans 3 23, for all have sinned, all means all, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Romans 6 23, the wages of sin is death, which means eternal separation from God, but the gift of God's eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. In Job the question is asked, 9 verse 2, how should man be just before God? In Job 9 20, if I justify myself my own mouth shall condemn me. Jesus said in John 3 19, this is the condemnation that light has come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light. There is the real issue. The issue is not an intellectual problem. The issue is not people don't understand what is right. They've been given a conscience. They've been given the example of Jesus. They've been given the Old and the New Testament where God's laid out what he requires. The issue is the heart, the will. The will does not want to do the because the deeds are evil. So you want to hide. You want to be with others that can hide. So it's interesting many times when you're in the, not that I've been in the bars, but the bars and the clubs and everything's kind of darkened. It's not real lit up where everyone can see all what's going on. And so we're the light of the world. We're a city that's set on a hill. And we're to expose the darkness. And I don't care if it's Bremerton or Las Vegas or New Orleans or wherever you go that people try to psych you out that this place is really dark and occultic and witches and goblins and whatever. My thought is they should fear you. As soon as you go into the room and you flip the light switch on, the darkness flees. Darkness has to flee. So we have the advantage if we are light, if we continue to be light. But if we lose that light, if the salt has lost its savor, it's good for nothing to be trodden under the foot of men. You don't take a light and hide it under a bushel. The light's got to shine. So that's why I love Ephesians 5.11, have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. All we need to do as Christians is be lovers of God's word, be lovers of who he is, and use the word of God to expose the lies. The greatest tool of the wicked one is deception. We're living at a time of great deception, great, incredible deception. And so we as Christians, we can shine that light. So this is the condemnation that light has come into the world. And men love darkness rather than light. They don't like Jesus. They don't want Jesus. They don't want him to rule over them. In Revelation chapter 11, when the two witnesses are there for three and a half years doing miracles and all, the people rejoice and throw a party. They throw a party when the Antichrist subdues the two witnesses when he kills them. And they lie in the street for several days, and then they ascend up to heaven. But they love darkness so much, they're so glad that the Antichrist was able to kill these two witnesses of Jesus, of who God is and such. And so you just see the hearts of men is just so incredibly dark and so incredibly antithetical of who God is. And it just breaks my heart because I think, why would you persist in unbelief? What do you think hell has to offer you? What do you think eternity has to offer you apart from Jesus Christ? So the law condemns me. In John chapter 8, the scribes and the Pharisees, Jesus went into the temple and he began to preach. And the scribes and the Pharisees brought in, it says, a woman caught in the very act of adultery. Now check that out. Think about that. She's caught in the very act. Now they didn't bring the guy in, but they bring the woman in. And they said, Moses says, the Mosaic Law says that she should be stoned to death. Death penalty. What say you, Jesus, that tempting him? And he gets down on the ground and the finger of God that wrote the Ten Commandments begins to write on the ground, on the floor, the dust on the ground. And then he looks up and he says, he that is without sin cast the first stone. So you hear that all the time when you confront somebody and say, hey, living with that person outside of marriage is sin. You need to stop it. I'm John the Baptist. You need to stop it, King Herod. And so now you wind up in prison and Herodias has her daughter Salome do a dance and now your head's on a plate, John, you know, for telling the truth. But at least he told the truth, right? He confronted evil. He said, the law says you can't do that. And so you try to expose this sort of thing. In many cases, people say, hey, judge not, lest ye be judged. And Matthew 7, that's one of the best verses that people know. Hey, judge not, lest ye be judged. But they're taking it out of context in the sense that we're not condemning you. We're just saying that this is wrong and you need to get right with God. And so another one that they say is, he that is without sin cast the first stone. So if you're condemning, if you're trying to send people, make that your judge, jury, and executioner, you've gone too far with your exposing of sin. And these guys have gone too far. The law says she should be stone. And so Jesus, right on the ground, he that is without sin cast the first stone. And from the eldest to the youngest, their conscience being guilty, they begin to walk out of there. And then Jesus looks back at the woman and he says, where are thine accusers? And she says, nowhere, Lord. And he says, neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. So repent, turn from your sin. Don't keep living according to this lifestyle, because it will come back to bite you. Because the Son of Man came not, in John 3, 17, the Son of Man came not into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. So when the Holy Spirit shows you that your action is sinful, that you're missing the mark, the Holy Spirit's showing you, you have a need of a Savior. And when you cry out to Jesus to come into your heart and life and be saved, now your sins have been forgiven. The past, the present, the future have all been forgiven. There's now therefore no condemnation unto you. But if you raise your hand and say, Jesus, come into my life, and then you continue in sin, living that lifestyle of sin, so this woman's caught in the very act of adultery, if she continues in that, she didn't appreciate what Jesus did in forgiving her of her sin and paying for her sins at the cross, she persists in continuing in that lifestyle, that's an indicator that she's not saved. She's never been saved. Because faith without works is dead. There's going to be the fruit of repentance. She's going to appreciate that Jesus didn't use the letter of the law which says condemn her, stone her, and instead he looked at the spirit of the law, which is he would die in her place, that he would pay for her sins, and that he would come into her heart and life, the Holy Spirit come in, and help her to overcome that domination, the bondage of sin in her life, that practicing of sin. And so neither do I condemn thee, go in sin no more. And then in Revelation 12 verse 10 we're told that Satan, the devil, the fallen angel Lucifer, that he's in heaven before God as the accuser of the brethren. And he's using the letter of the law to accuse you and accuse me before God, saying these people here are sinning. You threw me out of heaven, one third of the angels went with me, we're in a coup, we're in rebellion against you, but these people they they sin far more than we ever did, you know, so to speak. But accusing. Now we have an advocate with the Father, so the prosecuting attorney in that courtroom of law where God the Father's the judge, and Satan's the accuser, he's accusing and he's using truth, he's using the law to condemn me, that Rick's a liar, Rick's a cheater, Rick's this, Rick's mean, Rick's that, and he doesn't need to lie about me, it's true. It's all true. I've sinned and I've come short of the glory of God. I can't justify myself before God. I can't make excuses or blame anybody else. God, I'm guilty. I'm guilty. And that's a great place to be because in my guilt it drives me to Christ, it drives me to my Savior. Lord Jesus be merciful to me a sinner. And the Lord comes into my heart and life and he sets me free from that condemnation and the guilt and such of my sin. But the devil's there to accuse me, and he's a liar, and so I don't want to listen to the devil. I don't want you to listen to the devil. The devil in your head, he will point to the pit of hell. The Holy Spirit will point to the cross. Don't receive the condemnation when the devil sends some of his people to condemn you and accuse you and to drive you from Christ. The Holy Spirit is going to draw us ever closer to Christ because he's the one that saved us. He's the one that died in our place. And so the accuser of the brethren of the devil, he's saying to me, you're worthless. You're a joke. You're the worst pastor there ever was. What are you doing getting up there talking about guns? You're so unloving, you know. It's all about love. Love your neighbor. Love these guys, you know. Just love them enough to just do what they tell you to do. Would you do that? Would you teach these people Romans 13 and show them that, you know, that you're supposed to be passive toward the government, that that government's appointed by God, and that you can't be carrying a weapon, you know. That's so unloving. That's so unkind, you know, and all. Love your neighbor. Wear the mask. Take the jab. Get jabbed many times, you know. Love your neighbor. And so they take the word love and they twist it to, you know, to try and convince us that we're not to confront evil. So there's an imbalance there. But nor do we want to be trying to nationalize America. God's the one that nationalized these nations at the Tower of Babel. He confused the language. He made sovereign nation-states. The devil's wanting to bring it back around to a global government and such. But we're being accused, the church is being accused by the government of trying to, you know, Christian nationalists, that we're not going to give up, you know, our country to these communists and all. And so again, we're being twisted. It's twisted if we were to stand up with our Constitution and our God-given inalienable rights of our freedom and such to resist evil, you know, where it's, again, it's being twisted. So you stand up against evil, but you don't, you don't try to act like you can, you can stand before God in and of yourself and on your own strength. And so we look at Jesus as our Savior. He's the one that set us free. There's no more guilt there. And I'm not going to take a false guilt. I'm not going to take a false guilt with Black Lives Matters that somehow, as a white person, I'm to blame for all the problems in the world. That's a, that's a, that's a lie from the pit of hell. We all have sinned, every race, every ethnic group. Part of the dynamic that's going to take place as we're approaching the end here is a nation rising against nation, and the Greek word is ethnic groups. And so we're watching racism. We're watching the rise of racism where the government and the propaganda is trying to get us all to hate each other because of the difference in our skin and such. And it's all about the blood. We all have the same blood. It's not about the color of our skin. It's the blood of Jesus. And he's closer to being black than he is white. And so my life was saved by a black man going to the cross. And I'm fine with that. I'm comfortable with that because it's his blood. It doesn't matter the color of the skin. So if you're caught up in all that, God help you. And I'm never going to bring black people up on stage as so many pastors did in the woke-ism and apologize to them for my whiteness. Not going to happen. Not going to happen. That's a lie from the pit of hell. We're all guilty. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. I didn't force anybody to make a slave of anybody. I'm not going there, not paying reparations, none of that stuff. I'm as poor as they come. I'm as big a slave as anybody else throughout my lifetime. And you know, that might be a little bit hyperbole and it may offend some of you. But there's white slaves, there's slave trafficking, human trafficking, pedophilia. Slavery continues. And Jim Caviezel and Mel Gibson are trying to bring some light to it with some movies of all the different means of sex trafficking all over the world for these globalists and their pedophilia and such. It's never going to end until Jesus, the great emancipator, comes back. And so I'm not going to be guilty about something that I didn't do. And I don't expect you to fall into that Marxism, the communism that's taking place there. So I feel good. I feel real good about being cleansed in the blood of the Lamb. And praise the Lord. So I can't justify myself. I can't hide my sin. I can't alleviate my guilt. My mind is tormented by my own sin, things that I've done. It's been said every guilty person is his own hangman. Judas said that he betrayed innocent blood, a huge guilty conscience, and he went out and hung himself. Peter, he says, I never knew the man. And he went out and he wept bitterly. Two different types of repentance, two different types of sorrow. Judas, his sorrow was not a godly sorrow that led to repentance. That was Peter's sorrow. Peter's sorrow in doing wrong and sinning led to repentance, not to be repented of. But the worldly sorrows, the sorrow that Judas had, and it's the sorrow that your plan, your agenda didn't work, that you're caught in it, that you're guilty, and then you're a sore loser, and you go out and you hang yourself because, hey, I'm a victim. I'm a victim. Jesus didn't give me what I want. And I wanted him to be king, and when he's king, I'm going to sit on his right hand. And you've got all this huge agenda, which he's supposed to do for you. And when he doesn't do it, when you can't force him and leverage him and get him to do that, and you take the 30 pieces of silver and you go back and you throw them down on the floor and all, they say, what's that to us? And they buy the potter's field, and you go out and you hang yourself. But when you betrayed Jesus, when you penced him in the garden of Gethsemane, he looked to you and he said, betrayeth thou the Son of Man with a kiss? He still gives you a chance out. He still gives you room for repentance. He's not quick to judge. He's not quick to condemn you and blot your name out of the landswork of life. He's long-suffering. He loved Judas. He loved Judas. Betrayeth him. You know, friend, betrayeth thou the Son of Man with a kiss? You're going to come up and give me a kiss to betray me? You're going to pence me, man? So, I know I deserve hell. Satan is right. The law is right. I'm condemned. There is now therefore no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. The word Spirit, you need to circle the word Spirit in Romans 8. Nineteen times the word Spirit is found in Romans 8. The key issue, the key difference of Romans 8 and Romans 7 is Spirit. In Romans 7, the things I do want to do, I don't do. The things I don't want to do, I do. It's the man that's been confronted with his sin, that's trying to live a good life, but he's carnal. He's fleshly. He's dominated by his flesh. How do I overcome the domination of my flesh? The natural man we saw in 1 Corinthians 2 verse 14, the natural man understands not the things of God, their foolishness unto him, neither can he know them because they're spiritually discerned. That's the unregenerate man that hears the Bible taught, that hears the truth go out, but he can't connect because he's body and soul. He's not body, soul, and spirit. He's dead spiritually. Nick, you must be born again. But eye has not seen or ear heard, neither has it entered into the hearts of men the things which God has prepared for them that love him. But he has revealed them unto us by his spirit. God by the spirit in 1 Corinthians 2 verse 9 and 10 reveals himself unto us. The carnal man, 1 Corinthians 3, he's all concerned about, I'm a Paul, I'm a Paulist, I'm a Cephas, and he says you're babes in Christ. Well, how do I grow up? How do I overcome sin? How do I get victory over sin? It's the life of the spirit. It's getting into chapter 8. It's getting in and relying upon the Holy Spirit, 19 times the word spirit in chapter 8. So what does it mean to be, notice it says, in Christ Jesus. No condemnation to those which are in Christ Jesus. You're either in or you're out. You're either for him or you're against him. You're either saved or you're not saved. Nobody's almost pregnant, nobody's almost saved. We talk about trying to pursue the seekers, to pursue the in-betweeners or whatever. Hey, that's great. Evangelize, go for it. But your objective, your job as a pastor is to train up disciples. A disciple is a learner. Get them saved. Preach the gospel to the unsaved. And then once they're saved, then build them up, strengthen them in the word of God through preaching and teaching, which has milk, which has veggies, but since it's carnivore Sunday I want the meat. And the meat helps you to grow, the meat of God's word. And so dig in. Dig into God's word and grow. And that's the objective, to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. To be in Christ. So in Genesis 7, when the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou in all thy house into the ark. So God's going to bring condemnation upon the planet. He looks in Genesis 6 and he sees the thoughts and intents of men's hearts was only evil continually and it repented God that he'd made man. So God looked around and he found a guy named Noah and it says that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. What is grace? Grace is unmerited favor. So you've got close to a billion people on the planet. They're just populating. They're just living to be close to 900 years old and having kids like crazy and the place is populated. There's everything they need, but they have a perfect environment to begin with, but they've spoiled it. They've ruined it. There's a lot of murder and violence and angels leaving their first estate and cohabitating with women. There's giants in the land. There's the Nephilim and the Anakim and the Rephaim and all these different half-breeds, these transgender, if you will, destruction of the genome of humanity. So Genesis 3.15 comes into play. The seed of the woman, the virgin-born son of God, that his heel would be bruised, but that he'd one day crush the serpent's head. And so the seed of the serpent is the Antichrist that's going to emerge one day soon who's going to be a human being and he's going to emerge as in place of the true, in place of Jesus Christ. So in Genesis 3.15, the first prophecy that's going out is that God would come on the scene himself as the seed of the woman, as the virgin-born son of God. So Satan knows this and Satan wants to pollute the gene pool. He wants to pollute the DNA of humanity because Jesus in Hebrews, it tells us he didn't come as an angel. He's coming as a human being. He's coming as the last Adam, the first Adam, our first federal head, our first representative blew it. So by the time of Noah, it says that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord and it says that Noah was perfect in his generations. He was not morally perfect because we see after the ark, after he comes to shore, that he's naked and he's drunk. He's not perfect. But it says Noah was perfect in his generation. What's that mean? He was perfect in that his DNA was not polluted. So God's going to take Noah and his family, all eight of them, and he's going to put them in the ark. Now Noah, we're told, is a preacher of righteousness. So Noah's preaching to people that the end is coming, just as I'm trying to do. The end is coming. It's not doom and gloom. It's glorious good news. Jesus is coming again. That's good news. But the end of this dispensation, this period of time is ending. This church age is ending. It's almost time for the Lord to return and set up his kingdom upon planet earth. Noah's preaching that way and people are thinking he's crazy. Look at the results. 120 years of preaching. 120 years of building a boat and it doesn't rain. There's no rain. He's not near an ocean, not near. He's building out in a desert and people are coming along saying, you're nuts. You're just nuts. What are you doing? And he's saying judgment's coming. Judgment in what form? God's going to cause the whole world to flood. He's going to destroy every single human being upon the planet that isn't in the boat. You've got to be in Christ. You've got to get in the boat. And so 120 years building, 120 years of preaching. Only eight saved. Millions, if not billions, condemned. So God instruct Noah to pray more. Noah, you can save yourself by praying more. Noah, you can save yourself by working more, knocking on more doors. Noah, you can save yourself by doing good deeds, social justice. You can water down the gospel, draw in all the dregs, draw in all the unbelievers. Don't offend the gays, lesbians, pedophiles and anything by mentioning repentance of the cross or sin. And just try to, through osmosis, just work them into the kingdom. Somehow do it that way. Different methodology, different programs and such. No, he didn't tell him you need to give more. And you know what else he didn't tell him? He didn't tell him, Noah, I'm going to give you eight spikes. Take these eight spikes and hammer them into the outside of the boat and you and your family just hang on. Just hang on. Hang on for a year floating upon the water. And if you can hang on, if you can hang on for a year and make it till the water dissipates and till the dove comes back with a twig in its mouth or whatever, you're going to make it. You're going to be saved. You're not going to be condemned with the rest of them. No, he didn't do that, did he? You know, it's not by works of righteousness. It's not by our works that we're saved. All you need be is get in the boat. Get in the boat, Noah. And when he's in the boat, the Lord shuts the door. The judgment comes. The condemnation comes upon the planet. And he's saved because he's in Christ, because he's in the boat. Are you in the boat? Are you in the boat? Are you in Christ? Now, interesting, he didn't just fashion the boat with gopher wood, but he also, he used pitch. He used pitch, which is a tar. And he used this pitch, this tar, to make the, make it impervious to water, you know, soaking in into that wood in that year there. So, he's got pitch, he's got it covered all with pitch. But what's interesting is that word pitch in the Hebrew is the word kaphar, which is atonement. And so, there's an atonement that's there that God is protecting. So, each year on the great day of atonement, the great day of kaphar, the sins of the people would be covered for another year. And it was pointing future that John the Baptist said, behold, the Lamb of God who doesn't cover sin year by year, but who takes away the sins of the world, pointing later. So, the blood of the goats, it was impossible that it would take away sin, but there was a covering, the atonement, the great day of atonement, of reconciliation, where the nation of Israel could go another year because the priest would represent the people and confess the sins of the people upon the scapegoat. The scapegoat would be sent out into the wilderness, an illustration of forgiveness, being forgiven for a year. But when you get into Hebrews, the emphasis is that Jesus wasn't continually crucified year after year after year after year at Mass, that he was crucified once. Moses smite the rock. Jesus was smitten once. Moses speak to the rock. Moses smote the rock. You rebels. He misrepresented the type. In Hosea 12 verse 10, God spoke through the prophets. He also spoke through similitudes. He spoke through pictures, pictures, through types. And the type that was there with the rock, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10 that Jesus is that rock that followed them in the wilderness. Jesus is the rock, the rock of ages. Jesus is that rock that was smitten once, the stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner, the chief cornerstone in Psalm 118. And so Moses speak to the rock. Moses didn't speak to the rock. He smote the rock a second time. He's up on Mount Nebo. He can't go into the promised land now because he misrepresented God. But how did he misrepresent God? Was it in his anger? Or was it he blew the type? Moses is the type of the law. Joshua is the type of Christ. Jesus' name in Hebrew is Joshua. Joshua gets us in the promised land. Moses, the type of the law, couldn't. So Moses smites the rock a second time. But Jesus said, if any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink. He that believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow torrents of living water. All Moses needs to do is speak to the rock. You, once you receive Christ in your heart and life, you need not go and pay for your sins, pay for your sins, pay for your sins, work, hang on to something, do something, pray more, give more, whatever. Just speak to the rock. Speak to Jesus. Ask Jesus for the help of the Holy Spirit. Speak to the rock. Have a continual flow. Be not drunk with wine and weariness and excess, but be being filled with the Holy Spirit. Be being, the Greek tense, be being filled, a continual flow of the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit is wanting to fill you now. The Holy Spirit knows that you're a leaky vessel. You get filled and you start to leak out. You know, by the time you get home, you're already sinning, right? You're fighting in the car. You're lying about the pastor. Oh, I don't believe what he's saying. You know, you're lying. You're lying. You're sinning, right? You're fighting in the car. And the kids are yelling, screaming. You're losing your temper and all that. You can't even get home without sinning, you know? And then by tomorrow you're all bummed out. It's work day and demons are waiting for you and such. You lost your joy. You lost your glow. Now you're gossiping, slandering and all. You can't do it in the flesh. You can't do it. You can't love like you're commanded to love because the whole law is summed up in love. You're not loving. You're a sinner. You're reminded of your sinfulness. And then you catch yourself and you say, Lord, I need help. I need help. I need the help of your Holy Spirit. Lord, just come into my heart and life. Fill me to overflow. Oh, Rick, spend some time in my Word. Get your phone. Throw it into the toilet. Flush it, Rick. Now get into my Word. Get into my Word. Spend time in my Word in prayer and I'll fill you with my Spirit. I'll speak to you. I'll give you ears to hear. And I'm going to give you the capacity, the power to go back and say you're sorry. I'm going to give you the capacity, the power of the Spirit to love people who are unlovable. I'm going to give you that ability, Rick. Only the Lord can do that. Only the Lord can fill us in that way. And so Noah got in and God shut the door. He shut Noah in. You're in Christ Jesus. There's no condemnation and you are kept. That word kept that Peter describes is like a military garrison guarding you. Jesus said no man can pluck you out of his hand. Your salvation is secure in him because it's based upon his power. It's based upon him keeping you. And as we move on through Romans 8 you're going to see there's nothing can separate you from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus. There's no height or depth or principality or power. Nothing's foreign. If you want to fall away you can exercise your free will and try to fall away. But I've discovered that's insanity. You really want to go insane? You've tasted, you've seen his good. You have the words of life. Where are you going to go? You're going to leverage him and say God I'm out of here. This is getting tough. Well Rick, a lot of beasts out there. Big beasts. I'm going to send a couple of them after you. I'm going to discipline you, Rick. And you're not going to be able to cope. You're not going to be able to survive. You're not going to be able to live a normal life without me, Rick. There's no going back to normal. You're a peculiar treasure unto me, Rick. Very peculiar. People would agree you're a little bit off. But it's because of his grace. So why did God save Noah? Why did God save you? Because of his grace. His unmerited favor. Now, 1 Corinthians 1.26. So we understand God didn't save us because we were a prize. God didn't save us because he knew how mightily he could use your life. Because you're a treasure, man. You're really good, you know. It says in 1 Corinthians 1.26, you see your calling, brethren. God called you. As we move on through Romans 8, he's going to say those he foreknew he predestined. Those he predestined he called. God's calling upon your life. He's inviting you to be a Christian. Completed action, that calling. He called you. He justified you. He even glorified you. You're already glorified in eternity. God already sees the finished you. And it's in his foreknowledge, his predestination of you. Jesus said you didn't choose me, but I chose you and I ordained that you would be, you should be a disciple. You didn't choose me, but I chose you and ordained that you should be prophets. He said that to Jeremiah, that you're a prophet. But you didn't choose me, I chose you and ordained that you should bring forth fruit, and your fruits remain, that whatsoever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you, you disciples. In John 15. So you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble. I think as Queen Elizabeth said, I'm so thankful for that word many rather than any of nobility. God saves king and queens. God saved the queen. Many noble are called. God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. I fit in there, foolish. And God has chosen the weak things, that's me, of the world to confound the things which are mighty. And base things, ugh, I don't have a good pedigree of the world. And things which are despised has God chosen, yea, and things which are not to bring to naught things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Jesus is our portion. He's made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption. No longer us living but Christ living through us. So people see you, they know that you're not voted the most likely to succeed or whatever in class. And you're like a nobody, just under the radar your whole life. And then you become a Christian. And God fills you with his Holy Spirit. And now you're studying, you're reading, you're getting the vocabulary together. You can speak a sentence without saying hey dude all the time and smoke coming out, you know. And you're getting past the reefer madness. And your brain cells are starting to connect back again. And you're working a job and you get married and have kids. And you're starting to live a normal life. Well what's the secret? How'd they get back, you know, how'd that happen? They were such a loser. It's Jesus. And some of you, you know, you excel greatly. You exceed so many. It's Jesus. You're an executive, you know. You're like Joseph. You're in the quarter of kings and queens and nobility and all. Or like Daniel, you know. There are those. And then there are just lowly fishermen that he uses, you know. Carpenters and such. But he elevates. He lifts them and he uses them for his kingdom and glory. C.S. Lewis said no creature that deserved redemption would need to be redeemed. That according as is written, he that glories let him glory in the Lord. So God shares his glory with no man. He's chosen the dregs. He's chosen the foolish, the weak, the base things to confound the wise. That no flesh would glory in his presence. I believe that's why Paul, who is a brilliant man, Saul of Tarsus was a brilliant man. Brilliant intellect. Concerning the law he's blameless. A Pharisee of Pharisees. But Saul of Tarsus, his calling was show him what things he must suffer for my name's sake. His ministry was a life of suffering to picture the suffering of Jesus. He was filling up the sufferings of Christ. He was strong, really strong, but the Lord made him weak. He saw great revelation. He said a man whether in the body or out of the body caught up to the third heaven, the things that he saw. But in order to keep his feet on the ground, the Lord gave him a messenger of Satan, of physical infirmity to buffet him and keep him grounded, you know. Keep him grounded lest he be exalted above measure. Because if you're exalted above measure, then you're filled with pride and God resists the proud and he gives grace to the humble. So it's when I'm weak then I'm strong. My grace is sufficient for you for my strength is perfected in weakness, Jesus told Paul. So because of the new law of the Spirit we are forgiven. Secondly, we are free. How many of you prior to coming to Christ were in bondage? A slave to something? And you think, I was never a slave. I was never a slave. Slave to alcohol? Slave to drugs? Slave to material things? Coveting? Slave to lust? Were you giving your members over to things that you said, oh I'm free, I can stop doing this any time I want. Slave to porn? Slave to gaming? Whatever it may be. A slave, an addiction, a control that's over you. Taken captive by the wicked one. Slave to anger, to bitterness, to the flesh. And you and I are free. He came to set the captives free. He grabbed hold of the strong man, the devil, and he subdued the devil to set you and I free. There's nothing that can withhold us from that freedom. So no longer controlled by sin, sin controlling me. Verse 2, for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. So that freedom. So I'm in chapter 7, things I want to do I don't do, things I don't want to do I do. And sometimes I succumb. It's difficult. I got that new nature in me. There's a struggle there. But I need to yield to the Spirit. If I walk in the Spirit I won't fulfill the lust of the flesh. So the key to freedom is, continuing in freedom, is walking in the Spirit in Galatians 5. If I feed the flesh, if I allow through the eye gate and the ear gate all the flesh to come in, and yeah I'm going to eat a lot of flesh today. It's carnivore Sunday. But you know what I'm talking about. You let all that in at the expense of the Spirit. You're not feeding the Spirit. You're Christianette looking for sermonettes. You're not built up. You're not strengthened. You don't have enough of the Word of God to build you up. You're not in God's Word. You're getting weak. You're still saved. You didn't lose your salvation. You're just weak. You're weak spiritually. And so in your weakness the flesh starts to dominate you once again. The flesh starts to take you down. And you're not getting victory. But you have the freedom. The freedom's available. And the only way the devil, there's no such thing as Christian possession. There's no such thing as a Christian being possessed by a demon. Well I've got the demon of overeating. I can't stop overeating. I've got the demon of whatever you want to call it. No you don't. Because once the Holy Spirit comes into your heart and life, the demons have to flee. A house divided against itself can't stand. Jesus has come into your heart and life. Now the only way the devil can dominate you is you giving the devil permission. You're still dabbling in the gaming world, the demonic games. You're giving the devil permission. You're giving the demons permission to come in and torment you and oppress you. They cannot possess you, but they can oppress you in your mind. But don't give them permission. The only way the alcohol is going to enslave you once again is that you go back to doing the alcohol. Physiologically you'll come under the sway of the power of the alcohol once again. Don't give the alcohol permission. Don't give the drugs permission. Don't give in to the spirits. Don't give in to the lies. So you enjoy your freedom. Freedom is something to be enjoyed. He says in Romans 5.21, For sin reigned unto death. So the tyranny of sin that was strangling us in chapter 5. 2 Timothy 2.26, We were taken captive by the devil prior to being set free by Jesus. Galatians 4 verse 3, Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. So your enemy is the world, the flesh, the devil. The world, the flesh, the devil held you in bondage. In Hebrews 2.15, We lived in fear of death and were all our lifetime subject to bondage. We are slaves to sin. Jesus said in John 8.34, Whosoever committed a sin or practices sin is a slave to sin or a servant of sin. Plato said man is a prisoner who has no right to open the door of his prison and run away. This man must turn to God. Turn from your sin. Repent of your sin. Now who's willing to do that? We talk about the alcoholic, the person reaching rock bottom. When are you willing to stop doing what you're doing that's destroying you? You've got to reach rock bottom. In many cases it's a blessing to reach rock bottom. It's a blessing for the Lord to intervene in our comfort zone and bring us to the end of ourselves in the hospital where the doctor says this sickness is unto death. You're going to die. How long do I have doc? Six months. Your mom and dad have been praying for you. Your kids have been praying for you mom. My mom she resisted the Holy Spirit her whole life long. It was cancer that broke her. It was cancer that brought her back to her faith, brought her back to the place of crying out to God. What's it going to take for God to bring you back to that place of blessing, that place of comfort, that place of relationship with Him? Why have you been the prodigal? Why have you been fighting Him and resisting His love for so long? It's the utterly destitute that can fully appreciate the grace of God, not the self-satisfied. And so Jesus described this in Luke chapter 18. He illustrated those who are self-satisfied, trusting in themselves for salvation, and despising others. And He illustrated it by a description of a Pharisee coming into the temple to pray. And he prayed thus with himself. Notice he prayed with himself. He didn't pray to God. He had no access to God because he wasn't a believer. He was religious, but he had no access because he wasn't born again. He prayed thus with himself, God I thank you that I'm not like other men. Sound familiar? You're a little bit better than everybody. They think they're better. I'm not an extortioner. I'm not an unjust adulterer. And I'm not like this hated publican. A publican was a hated tax collector who worked for the government. And then Jesus said the publican who stood afar off wouldn't so much as even lift up his eyes unto heaven but smote his breast and said God be merciful to me a sinner. Jesus said this man, the one that was utterly destitute, this man walked away justified just as if he'd never sinned. He walked away in that freedom knowing he'd been forgiven because of the sin. We crave freedom like a caged bird. Psalm 124.7 says our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers. The snare is broken and we are escaped. Man, the bondage of sin. The terrible, terrible bondage of sin. And I don't want to be a slave. I don't want to be emancipated, set free, and then go back to be a slave again. John 8.36, whom the sun sets free is free indeed. Where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. Now the pastor can use the letter of the law to manipulate and bring people back into bondage. You'll know it if there's so much emphasis of working. The pressure upon you to perform. The pressure upon you to do. Where they say it's not creeds, it's not teaching of the word, it's deeds. You've got to work. You've got to go do out there. You've got to do social justice and change the world on your own. That's a work trip. Instead healthy sheep reproduce. Sheep that are fed. Sheep that are loved. Sheep that are cared for. The sheep have the unction from the Holy One. The Holy Spirit is working within your heart, prompting you, motivating you to live the life that God's ordained for you. And no two of us are the same. We're His workmanship. His work of art. He's the potter, we're the clay. We all have different gifts and abilities. And the Lord gifts each one of us severally as He wills. All of us have spiritual gifts and natural gifts. And those natural gifts and spiritual gifts, when yielded to the Holy Spirit, when yielded to God, we're His workmanship, His poema, His work of art, created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God has before ordained that we should walk in them. We can be a vessel of honor, bringing glory and honor unto the Lord when we yield our members as tools for Him to use in this world. God chooses to use your life. God has freed you and filled you that He might use your life for His kingdom and glory. There's no greater privilege that I've ever experienced than the Lord saying, Rick, I can use you. He reaches into the toolbox and pulls out this, what is it? What am I? Am I a hammer? Am I a screwdriver? Am I a chisel? I don't know. But in the hands of the Master, in the hands of Jesus, He can use me as a tool that brings forth fruit, that brings forth glory and honor unto Him. But if I'm disobedient and obstinate and I say, hey, I'm the shiniest tool in the box, man. Well, that's a tool that hasn't been used, hasn't it? You're the shiniest tool in the box. That's a tool that He sets aside. You're going to have nicks. You're going to have rust. You're going to have all sorts of stuff that happens as a tool, you know? The sufferings that are ours in Christ. So because of the new law of the Spirit, we are forgiven. No more condemnation. Secondly, we are free, no longer controlled by sin. And thirdly and finally, we are fulfilling the righteousness of the law. No more continuing in sin. If you look at 1 John, if we say we know God and keep not His commandments, we're a liar and the truth isn't in us. So people profess that they know God, but in works they deny Him. There's no fruit. So it's the continuing, the Greek tense is the practices or continues in 1 John chapter 3. So what's being watched is there's no change in your life. You're still the adulterer. Well, I got married, but you're cheating on your wife. You're still an adulterer. You're still a thief. You're still a liar. But I go to church. I give. You're still unregenerate. You don't have Jesus in your heart and life. You need to be born again. You're just a religious sinner now. You've cleaned up the outside, but the inside of your heart hasn't changed. Your actions haven't changed. You're still practicing sin. You're living a lifestyle of sin. It is still sin. I still miss the mark. But if I confess my sin, He's faithful and just to forgive me of my sin that cleanses me of all unrighteousness. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, continually cleanses me of all unrighteousness. That's sanctification. God washed and cleansed me of the defilement of a Christian that lives in this life and still sins. But I'm not practicing sin. That old Rick is dead. The new Rick is Christ living through me. The life of the Spirit is living through me and helped me get victory over sin. He says, verse 3, for what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, so the law could not make me righteous. The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. In Hebrews 7, 19, the law made nothing perfect. God sending, the second part of verse 3, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, so God sent Jesus. God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved in John 3, 17. Galatians 4, verse 4, when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman. Where do we get that prophecy? In the fullness of the time was come. In Genesis 3, 15, God prophesied that the seed of the woman would come. Paul is saying in Galatians 4 here, in the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son made of a woman, made of Mary. We celebrate at Christmas the birth of the babe of Bethlehem. Made under the law, Jesus is under the law. To what purpose? To redeem them that were under the law. He's perfect. The second Adam, the last Adam lived a perfect life. God said, this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. Hear Him. All of us are sinners. All of us blew it, but Jesus didn't blow it. So God condemned His Son in your place. God punished His Son, so He wouldn't have to punish you. Glorious. To redeem them that are under the law. Notice the last part of verse 3. And for sin, condemn sin in the flesh. So 2 Corinthians 5, 21. For he that knew no sin, and who is that person? Jesus. He that knew no sin became sin. So you look at Psalm 22, written a thousand years before the cross. And it starts out, my God my God, why has thou forsaken me? Remember Jesus saying that upon the cross? Remember Him in the gospel saying that? My God my God, why has thou forsaken me? He's praying in the garden, Father if you're willing, remove this cup from me. This cup of wrath that's going to come upon me. He's sweating as it were great drops of blood. He's agonizing in the garden. Father if there's any other way, if there's any other way to redeem these people, to save these people from an eternity in hell. Father if you're willing, remove this cup from me. But nevertheless, not as I will, but Thy will be done. Three times. Complete submission unto His Father. There's no other way, except the cross. My God my God, why has thou forsaken me? This is the first time in all of eternity that Jesus would be separated from His Father. Because death is separation. Jesus would die and be separated from His Father. And God would take and punish Jesus. He that knew no sin would become sin. God would pour out His wrath upon His Son, as He's the propitiation, the substitute, the one that would die in our place so that God is full, holy and just in punishing sin. He doesn't just wink at sin. He doesn't just say you get a free pass. Sin has to be judged. Sin has to be punished. And rather than punishing all of us, He chose to punish His Son. He that knew no sin became sin. He said I'm a worm and no man that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. And so His righteousness is imputed. It's in the counting term. His righteousness is imputed to the ledger. In the ledger all those debits, all the sin that's there that we can't pay, that we're bankrupt and impossible to pay, to make up for, it's paid for by the blood of Jesus. Now there's a credit there. He said it is finished, totalist I, paid in full upon the cross of Calvary. All your sins, all my sins have been paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ. He was condemned for me, wounded. He was wounded in Isaiah 53, written 700 years before He's going to go to the cross. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquity. And by His stripes we are healed. Who else could that be speaking of? The nation of Israel? No. Speaking of Jesus. Search the scriptures and them you think you have eternal life and they are they which testify of me. The volume of the book is written of Jesus. If one man were to come along and fulfill eight prophecies, Jesus fulfilled over 300 in His first coming. You don't believe me? Look at prophecy. Be a student of prophecy. Philip Stoner in his book, he noted the compound probability of one man coming along and fulfilling just eight of the 300 prophecies. So if we off the top of our head think of eight prophecies, what city was he to be born in? Micah 5-2, Bethlehem, house of bread. Good. What tribe was he to come out of? Genesis 49. He's the line of the tribe of Judah. How was he to die? Psalm 22, Isaiah 53. His vassals were so marred more than any man, more than sons of man. What else? Who would betray Him? Judas, Zechariah. What else? Would he have any kids? No. What else? Can you come up with eight? Can we come up with eight? What else? Born of a virgin, the virgin birth, Isaiah 7-14. So we got eight. Philip Stoner says if one guy were to come along and fulfill just eight of the 300 in his first coming, we got prophecies being fulfilled now. The more sure word of prophecy. I witness testimony of who Jesus is, willing to go to our death testifying that He was crucified, buried, raised from the dead, but we have the more sure word of prophecy. The AI, the artificial intelligence, this new Bible they're going to write, they cannot write prophecy because the devil is not omniscient. The devil does not know the future. The devil is a student of prophecy. The devil can look at the Bible and see what the Bible says is going to happen, but the devil cannot give these people a Bible, basic constructions before leaving earth, the word Bible is not in the Bible, the book, but they're going to write something, a philosophical way for people to live their lives, a maligation of all the different religious systems into one, a worshipping of Satan, a worshipping of self, that people are going to believe the lie and be given over to a strong delusion that they can be as gods. There cannot be prophecy because the devil doesn't know the future. He can't know the future because he's not omniscient, he's a fallen angel. Right? But our Bible, written by God, is loaded with prophecy. So Philip Stoner says, cover the state of Texas, where all of the people from Washington and the liberal states are moving, cover the state with two feet of silver dollars. The compound probability of one man coming along fulfilling just eight prophecies is ten to the seventeenth power, you mathematicians. Which would be illustrated by filling the state of Texas two feet deep with silver dollars. You mark one silver dollar as the one, you take somebody, you put them in the state of Texas with one of those masks on that are protective of the coronavirus, over their eyes, you spin them around, like at a birthday party, pin the tail on the donkey, you put them into Texas somewhere, wherever you want, the compound probability of one man reaching down or woman and finding that one silver dollar, ten to the seventeenth power, is the same mathematical probability of Jesus fulfilling only eight prophecies, but he fulfilled three hundred. Irrefutable evidence. Irrefutable evidence that your faith can be an intelligent faith based upon facts, not feelings, no matter who fact-checks it. Do they ever fact-check any prophecy? Anybody ever go through and fact-check any of these fact-checkers the fulfillment of biblical prophecy? No, because they would be overwhelmed with the facts. And so why don't they believe? Because their deeds are evil, because they love darkness rather than light. That's why they will not, will not, it's a problem in the will, they will not believe. He was condemned for me. Verse four, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, notice, not by us, not fulfilled by us, filled in us. Christianity is inward. You must be born again. It's an inward work of God's Spirit. You're in Christ Jesus, who walked not after the flesh but after the Spirit. So as we yield to him in us, he lives through us fulfilling all righteousness. No continuing in sin. And so another way to find out if somebody's a Christian or not is if you can go out there and sin and continue in sin and not get spanked and get away with it, you never were a child of God. But if you get spanked, Hebrews 12, whom the Lord loves, he chastens and he scourges every son, if the Lord comes along and spanks you, if you're the guy that's going to take your father's wife in 1 Corinthians 5, your stepmom, and take her unto yourself in 1 Corinthians 5, and get away with it, if the church doesn't challenge you, confront you, knowing a little leaven leavens the lump, if they don't take and put you outside of the church and say, hey, we're going to give you over to Satan for the destruction of your body for the saving of your soul. We love you. It's tough love. We love you enough to confront you with Matthew 18. We came to you private. We came to you the witness. We came to you before the leadership of the church. You've got to stop doing this. You continue in this. You need to leave here. And then you're given over to Satan. Satan's able to buffet you. Satan's able to spank you. Satan's able to beat up on you. Now you lose your job. Now you break out with boils. You're a believer. Praise God. You're like Job. God loves you enough to spank you. But if you get away with it, if you continue in it, if he leaves you alone, then you are illegitimate. You were never one of his. They went out from us because they weren't of us. If they were of us, they would have continued with us. Now unto him is able to keep you from falling in Jude 1.24 and to present you faultless before his presence, for the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. God's able to present you faultless in 1 John 3.22. Now we are the sons of God. It does not yet appear what we shall be. We know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And he that has this hope in him, what's the hope? The blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior. I wait for Jesus to come for me. Jesus has redeemed me with his blood, but he hasn't taken possession of me. He's given me the ring, the engagement ring to mark me and to let me know that I'm the bride of Christ, but he hasn't consummated the marriage yet in that coming for me and bringing me to the place that he's prepared. But he's coming. And I'm watching. I've got the oil. And I'm watching every moment. He's going to come in the fetching. He's going to come and fetch his bride. He's going to catch his bride away. And we're watching. We're ready. And we'll know he that has this hope in him purifies himself even as he is pure. It's a purifying hope. So the only criteria is that you must believe. You must get into the boat. In John 3, 18, Jesus said, it says that he that believes on him is not condemned. You believe in him, you're not condemned. But he that believeth not is condemned already. You're living in condemnation already if you don't believe in him. Why? Because you believe not in the name of the only begotten Son of God. It comes down to one thing. When you stand before God at the great white throne judgment, he's going to say, what did you do with my son? And you're going to say, well, there's this crazy pastor in Bremerton that was wearing this crazy shirt about guns. And it offended me. I like soy. And I like salads. And he was making fun of vegans. And fun of gays and lesbians and all. And I'm a feminine. And I'm a Peter Pan and all that. But he was just so insensitive. And I think he's mean. And God's going to say, I never told you to believe in that idiot. I told you to believe in my son. You find fault with any pastor, any church, any personality that gets up in front of people. But I'm not going to be something I'm not. So I'm not going to water it down. So I know I'm a nut job. But so are you. So I think it's more crazy to go along with that idiocy, you know? Just, man. But he's going to say, what did you do with my son? What did you do with Jesus? Did you find fault with him? No, I didn't find fault with him. But I just like my sin. Well, there's a problem there. It's a problem. Wages of sin is death. I made a way out for you. You remember the prodigal, the story of the prodigal. I had to really study the prodigal. And the only reason I studied this is because I realized it's carnivore Sunday. He killed the fetid calf. I've got to talk about the prodigal. The father's love for the prodigal. He ran away from home. He got his inheritance and he wound up in a foreign country eating riotously and eating bad stuff and doing bad stuff. His brother accused him of being a harlot and spending all of his living. And he went broke and there was a famine that broke out in the land. And he wound up, a certain citizen gave him a job feeding pigs. And when he's eating the pig husks, he realizes, you know, the servants back at home have it better than I do. I'm going to rehearse my apology to my dad and tell him, you know, I'm sorry and all. And I'm going to head back toward home. Now dad, God the father, Father's Day, he didn't go into the foreign land to try and root out his son and bring him home, force him home. He prayed and prayed and prayed. He looked out the window, he kept looking out the window, kept looking out the window in prayer, praying for his son wherever his youngest son was. Waiting and waiting and waiting, praying. Some of us parents, we've been praying for twenty years, thirty years. Some of us as children have been praying for our parents for twenty years. Our parents who refuse to believe. We're praying and praying and praying that the prodigals will come home. And then one day, from afar, looking out the window, he sees his son coming. And what's he do? The father runs. The father runs to that son, that one that was lost, that one that was dead. And when he gets there, he kisses him, pulls him in close, kisses his neck, puts a ring, gives him a robe of righteousness, tells the servants to go and kill the fatted calf. He didn't tell them to go get some bugs from Bill. Doesn't happen, does it? God ran. He gave him the robe of righteousness. He marked him out with the ring, that engagement ring that we have as the bride of Christ. It's carnivore Sunday, the fatted calf is killed. There's a huge party and dancing and all, and the brother, the eldest brother, he's a little indignant and all, but he'll get over it. He was lost, he's found. He was dead, he's alive. A time of celebration. You must believe. Do you believe? Are you a believer? Are you in Christ Jesus? No matter what you've done, what kind of sins have you committed? What kind of sins have you committed that people still remind you of? You go on the holidays, your family doesn't believe. Your family doesn't believe there's really a change in you. They don't believe that God could change you. You stand before them changed, but they still remind themselves of the things you used to do when you were in jail, when you were unfaithful, when you were in drugs, alcohol, whatever it might be. They don't believe. They don't give God the glory. But you stand before them whole. You stand before them a changed person. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things are passed away. All things have become new. No matter what you've done, there is now therefore no condemnation. And a prophet is not without honor except among his own family and his own friends. It takes a while for them. Jesus' own family in Psalm 69, they didn't believe in him. They mistreated him. In John 7, his own brothers didn't believe in him until after the resurrection. They thought he was beside himself. They thought he was crazy. There is what's called the law of double jeopardy. The law of double jeopardy forbids that I be tried a second time. I've already been tried at the cross of Calvary. I've already been tried in a courtroom of law where God says, I'm going to punish my son instead of you. He suffered once. He died on the cross in my place. He was condemned for me that I would be forgiven, that I would be set free, that I would experience him fulfilling the righteousness of the law within me. Get into the boat. There is now therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. Get into the boat. Get into Christ. Whosoever will, the Spirit and the Bride say come. Whosoever will, let him come. God's invitation is to sinners. He didn't come for the righteous but for sinners. He says that it's not those who are well, the righteous, they don't need a physician. It's those who are sick. There is a rejoicing in heaven among the angels when just one sinner repents. Jesus is the great physician. He is the only one that can make you whole. He is the only one that can put your life back together the way that God has planned, the way that God has ordained. Get into the boat. Get into Christ. There is now therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Are you in Christ Jesus? Are you in the boat? Or are you trying to hang on to a spike, trying to do it yourself, being a good person? You are not going to make it. There is none righteous, no, not one. All we like sheep have gone astray and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Father, we thank you. We thank you for this glorious wonderful day. We thank you for the privilege and the blessing of mining the Scriptures, of getting into the Word, of trying to study to hear from you, to be made disciples. We thank you that you are a teacher. Lord, we pray that you would fill us to overflowing with your love today, overflowing with your Holy Spirit. We pray that it wouldn't be an act, that we wouldn't be hypocrites, that we wouldn't just be Christians on Sunday, but all through the week, Lord, that we would have sweet intimate fellowship with you, praying without ceasing, worshiping you in the quietness of our heart, Lord, but singing a song in our heart. Lord, a time of rest, a time of play, a time of work, Lord, just in fellowship with you. Equip us as fathers and grandfathers, as mothers, as grandmothers, as leaders within the home, Lord. Help us to live the Christian life that our children, that our children would be equipped, they'd be discipled, they'd be ready, Lord. They'd be ready to face the reality of the world that's coming, a much harder world than we've ever lived in. God, we thank you that you're our victory. We thank you that you are our champion, that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Lord, you're the one. You're the one we look to. While your heads are bowed as you continue to pray, if there's anybody here this morning, you don't know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Christianity is a relationship. You don't know him, but you can. You can know him. You can give your heart and life unto him. You can smite your breast and you can say, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. As you're crying out to him, there's no other way. You're finding grace in the eyes of the Lord. Lord saying, get into Christ. Let Christ in you. Christ in me, the hope of glory. Anyone here this morning, just lift your hand up. We want to pray with you as you receive Christ. Anyone here this morning? Father, again, we thank you. Lord, we thank you for the assurance of salvation that we have, that we're in Christ Jesus, that if any of us were to die today, we know that we would be present with the Lord. The work is complete. Thank you for the measure of faith that you've given us to believe and trust in you. Lord, thank you for keeping us. And Lord, we pray for our prodigals once again, those that we love, that are running and fighting against you. God, we pray you bring them home. We pray that we could celebrate today, that we'd enjoy our Heavenly Father on this Father's Day. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.