The Age of Grace #6 - Fred Price
Category
📚
ÉducationTranscription
00:00Peter chapter 1 verse 3, we're going to finish this today, the age of grace, that's the age
00:08we're in and we have been in since Christ finished work, his completed work at Calvary.
00:19Paul said we are not under law, we are under grace. And so what does that mean?
00:25So many beneficial things, so much for the believer as it relates to the new covenant,
00:34the new testament, so many rights, so many privileges, all because of the grace of God.
00:44There's healing made available to us all because of the
00:48grace of God, not by our might, but by his. First Peter 1, 3, are you there?
01:00And it says, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to
01:06his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus
01:12Christ from the dead. As you can see, this scripture lets us know that while salvation
01:18is essential and primary, there's so much more than salvation. We also see that we have been
01:24begotten to a living hope. And then verse four says to an inheritance, say this with me. I've
01:34inherited something. And even if I don't know what it is, I know is good.
01:46Now it's in the new testament, so we can actually know what it is.
01:50But if we've inherited something, the Bible says that we are joint heirs with Jesus.
01:54We are heirs and Abraham's seed, according to the promise. So we have an incorruptible and
02:04an undefiled inheritance, verse four says, that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.
02:13That which is incorruptible, our bodies that'll be made new. But we also have an inheritance
02:19as far as the new covenant rights and benefits that we can partake in right now.
02:25Jesus said this too, after he encountered the rich young ruler or the rich young ruler
02:30encountered him. And isn't it sad that the rich young ruler encountered our savior
02:35and yet walked away sad. I can't even imagine a scenario where I encounter Jesus, the Christ,
02:43a scenario where I encounter Jesus, the Christ, and I walk away sorrowful,
02:49but we all know how that went. He probably had an opportunity to be on team Jesus.
02:57And so he said, of course, or asked the question, well, what must I do?
03:01Jesus throws out a couple of commandments. He said, oh yeah, I got all that covered.
03:05Jesus said, well, there's one thing you lack. He said, go,
03:10he said, sell your possessions. And in addition to that, give to the poor.
03:20Well, he walked away sorrowful because he had very many great possessions,
03:24but we know that the great possessions really had him.
03:28But Jesus then engages his disciples. And in this passage of Mark 10, we get near the end. He
03:36basically says this. He says, if there's anyone who leaves family, I'll sum it up by saying family,
03:45brother, sister, children, husband, wife, lands. He said, if you, if you, if you leave for my sake
03:52for my sake and for the sake of the gospel, he says, you will receive in this life and in the
03:59next manifold return manifold, not just the pie in the sky on the other side, no, in this life
04:11and in the next. And that is because of the inheritance that we have received because of
04:17the work of Christ, because of the grace of God says verse five here says who are kept by the
04:22power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Just like Jew,
04:29Peter talks about the last time we have since the age of the church, we have been in the last time
04:38says in this, you greatly rejoice though. Now for a little while, if need be,
04:43you have been grieved by various trials. Anyone been grieved by various trials, various
04:50diverse trials says that the genuineness of your faith being much more precious than gold
04:57that perishes though it is tested by fire or approved by fire may be found to praise, honor,
05:04and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ whom having not seen you love though now you do not
05:13see him yet believing you rejoice with joy and expressible and full of glory receiving the end
05:20of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Look at this. It says we haven't seen him,
05:26but we rejoice with joy and expressible. In other words, many of us are at a point where it doesn't
05:32matter that we haven't seen him face to face yet. We know he's real and you can't talk us out of it.
05:40You can't talk me out of Jesus. I don't care what you say. I don't care how clever you are.
05:43I don't care what you come up with. You can't talk me out of them. I'm locked in.
05:52And then he says, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your, what
05:56your souls, because at the end, before we receive our glorified bodies, that will be the completion
06:02of the salvation of our souls. Verse 10, of this salvation, the prophets have inquired. Listen to
06:10this. Listen to what Peter says here. It says of this salvation, the prophets, our Isaiah's and
06:15Jeremiah's and Ezekiel's have inquired and they've searched carefully who prophesied of the what?
06:23Grace that would come to you. It's talking about us. Saints searching what or what manner of time
06:32the spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when he testified beforehand the
06:38sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow to them. It was revealed that not to
06:44themselves, but to us, they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you
06:49through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy spirit sent from heaven. Watch this
06:54things, which angels desire to look into. We have become partakers of something that intrigues
07:03angels. They desire to look into salvation. And that lets you know that even now in this
07:10present time, they're still growing in knowledge. They don't fully understand. They, they have a,
07:18they have a strong idea, but remember the Bible says that now because of us, the church manifold
07:24wisdom is going to be made known to them. You and I will make known to the angels manifold wisdom,
07:31the manifold multi layered wisdom of God, and they desire to look into salvation.
07:39So what does he say in verse 13? He says, well, therefore here's what true spiritual warfare is.
07:45If you read Ephesians 6, 11 through 18, we read about the armor of God. We learned that our loins
07:52must be girded. Our waist must be girded with truth. But when you look at what's being discussed
08:00there, you realize it's talking about the word of God, helmet of salvation, breastplate of what
08:07righteousness shield of what faith is talking about the word. And so look what Peter says here.
08:12He says, therefore gird up the loins of your mind, gird up the loins of your
08:21mind. It's very fitting for the healthy minds initiative, isn't it? Girding up the loins,
08:28protecting your mind in the natural and spiritually.
08:33It says, be sober. I'm supposed to do that. That means be watchful, be vigilant.
08:38All right. No watchman was a drunkard.
08:45Do you think, you think in ancient days, the King said, you know what? The best men for this job
08:50to watch over the city and let us know when enemies are coming are the drunkards.
08:57No, no. Be sober and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the
09:03revelation of Jesus Christ as obedient children, any obedient children here, by the way, just,
09:09okay. Obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lust, see the ways of the old man
09:16as in your ignorance, but as he who called you as holy, you also be holy in what?
09:22In all your conduct, all of it, not some of it, but all of it because it is written,
09:28be holy for I am holy. God is holy and he's telling us to be holy. All right. We live that
09:36out, right? We live it out on our flesh because we choose to be led by our new nature, our born
09:44again spirit. So that can influence our mind. So we can be spiritually minded individuals.
09:50Look here, Galatians five,
09:55Galatians five. This, this act of grace was an act of love. God's agape, unconditional love.
10:08And so we, we, we can't, we can't talk about being under grace without also talking about
10:15this new commandment that we've been given, which is to love one another. Galatians five, one,
10:31the, the only way this is according to the Bible. Now, according to the new Testament,
10:38according to the gospel of our savior, the only way to inherit eternal life is to believe on him.
10:48That's what Jesus said. There's nothing else required for eternal life.
10:54I'm not talking about obedience. I'm not talking about living right here in the earth realm. I'm
11:00talking about for eternal life. There is one thing that must occur. We must believe
11:07on the one sent by our father, Jesus, the Christ. Galatians five, one says this,
11:14stand fast. Therefore in the Liberty by which Christ has made us free
11:19and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. In other words, don't go back to bondage.
11:25You're now in Liberty. Don't, don't, don't, don't put, don't put the yoke of the law on yourself
11:33trying to do deeds in order to be righteous. Verse two. Indeed, I, Paul say to you that if you become
11:43circumcised, watch what he's saying here. He's saying, if you become circumcised for your
11:49justification, because circumcision was a part of the mosaic law, something that had to be done.
11:58So what's Paul saying? He says, if you become circumcised for that reason,
12:02well, Christ will profit you nothing. He says, and I testify again to every man who becomes
12:09circumcised. If it's done for your righteousness, if it's done for your justification,
12:17if you become circumcised because you want to be right before God, well, look at what he says next.
12:23He says, he says, I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised,
12:27that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. Circumcision from a, from a, a medical standpoint,
12:39a natural standpoint, it is not what Paul is talking about here. He's talking about
12:45trying to keep the law for your righteousness. He's saying, if, if, if, if you get circumcised
12:52for that reason, well, now you've got to keep the rest of the law. So, so if you,
12:57if you started with the one law, well, you got to keep the other 612.
13:02You're indebted to the whole law. He says, you have become estranged from Christ.
13:08You who attempt to be what? Justified, declared righteous by Torah law. You have fallen from
13:17grace. It's law or grace. Meaning law of Moses, law of grace. Which one is it?
13:26It says, for we, through the spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in
13:32Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but faith working
13:41through love. Look at verse seven. Now it says, you ran well, who hindered you from obeying the
13:50truth? This persuasion does not come from him who calls you. And it's fitting that Paul is writing
13:56this to, to the church at Galatia because there were many, there were actually, there were, there
14:01were Jews at every church. There was, there was a, a group, an assembly of, of Jewish believers
14:11at every church. And you can tell when Paul is, is writing specifically targeting the,
14:17the, the born again Jewish believers. We see it right here in, in Galatians. He's addressing the
14:22law. Well, Paul wouldn't be writing to Gentiles about the law. They didn't live under it.
14:27You know, like a Galatians 3.13, very popular scripture. We love quoting it.
14:32Christ has redeemed us from what? The curse of the law. Who was he talking to? He wasn't talking
14:38to Gentiles. They weren't under the law. Now they were living under the curse in the world. Adam let
14:44the curse in. But this, but specifically the curse of the law would be for those living according to
14:50the law. So he says, Christ has redeemed us. And then, you know, he's talking about Jewish
14:56believers because he says, he says, this has happened so that the blessing of Abraham would
15:00be poured out on the Gentiles. And so here he's doing the same thing. He's talking to the Jewish
15:06believers who would have been under law pre-Christ. Look at verse seven. He says, you ran well.
15:15You gave it a good try. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion does not
15:20come from him who calls you a little leaven, leavens the whole lump. Again, that you're trying
15:27to do that one law. Oh, you got to do it all now. I have confidence in you in the Lord that you will
15:33have no other mind, but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is. And I brethren,
15:40if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross
15:46has ceased. I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off for you,
15:52brethren, have been called to Liberty. You have been called to what? Liberty. You've been called
15:58to what? Liberty. Again, in the new Testament, the laws that we see, the law of faith, the law of love,
16:05the law of Liberty. There is freedom in Jesus. There's freedom. There's Liberty in Jesus.
16:10There isn't bondage in Jesus. However, look at what Paul says here. He says, you've been called
16:16to Liberty, only do not use the Liberty as an opportunity for the flesh. Why? Because that's
16:23actually bondage. He says, but through love do what? Serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled
16:31in one word, even in this. Oh, what is Paul about to say here? He said all the law, right? This is
16:38because of the grace of God. All the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, you shall
16:44what? Love your neighbor as yourself. It sounds like what Jesus said when the scribe or lawyer,
16:55depending on the translation you're reading, Matthew 22, for example, it sounds like the
17:01response Jesus gave to the question that was asked of him, what is the greatest commandment? And how
17:08did Jesus respond? He said, he said, love the Lord, your God with what? All your heart, all your mind,
17:15all your soul, all your strength. In other words, love the Lord, your God with all of you.
17:20He said, and the second is like the first, love your neighbor as yourself. Let me give you the order
17:30of love in which we just quoted Jesus. You're going to have to love God so that you can love you,
17:40so that you can love your neighbor. Because if you don't love you, there's no loving your neighbor.
17:48So love your neighbor as yourself. And I have uttered this time and time again. If you see people
17:57struggling to walk in love with individuals, it's because they're struggling to walk in love with
18:03themselves. They don't love them. And when you don't love you, you are not displaying that love
18:12to anyone else. Verse 15 says, but if you bite and devour one another, beware, lest you be consumed
18:21by one another. We could even say this, those who live by the sword, they would.
18:29If you, if you bout and devour, bite and devour one another, you'll be consumed by one another.
18:35Okay. Look at James, James, James says something so similar. Again, this is what grace has provided.
18:43The umbrella of grace says you now walk according to these laws, law of faith, law of love,
18:51law of liberty. The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of
18:59sin and death. These are the laws I read about in the new Testament because Christ has fulfilled
19:07the entirety of the law of Moses. James two, are you there? Look at verse one.
19:18It's so interesting. I was, I happen to be just roaming through Instagram and I came across,
19:27there are a couple of young men out there, but there are young men. They intentionally go out
19:30to engage the Hebrew Israelites. And if you've heard the Hebrew Israelites preach
19:36very strict belief system, but they believe that you're supposed to keep the law
19:41to inherit eternal life, which of course that means they all must be going to hell
19:44because you can't keep the whole of the law. And if they're preaching that for us,
19:50then everybody's going to hell. If I got to keep the law to inherit eternal life,
19:55man, this young man, this young man was, he was hitting him with all kinds of scriptures,
20:00proving that the law has been fulfilled in Christ and that all you have to do is believe on him.
20:04They kept asking him scriptures. He was like, yeah, John 3, 16, John 3, 18, Galatians 2, 21,
20:11James 2, 10. And we're about to read James here. And James says the same thing that Paul
20:17is saying over in Galatians five. Watch this. Verse one, this is where the, this is where the
20:27Hebrew Israelites and I, this is where we butt heads when it comes to justification,
20:32when it comes to righteousness and salvation, I'm new Testament all day.
20:38I'm the words of Christ and his apostles all day. And I understand that when I'm reading in the old
20:45Testament where God tells his people, you shall keep this forever. This is for perpetual generations.
20:52I understand that that is perpetual and forever until the sacrifice. And once he came,
20:59he satisfied all those requirements. Look at what James says here. My brethren do not hold
21:06the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory with partiality. And what's so fitting
21:10about James is how does James open up his epistle? He says to the 12 tribes scattered abroad.
21:18He says here, verse two, for, if there should come into your assembly, a man with gold rings
21:23and fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes. And you pay
21:30attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, you sit here in a good place
21:37and say to the poor man, you stand there or sit here at my foot footstool. I mean,
21:42you don't even say you sit there in a bad place. He says, you say, stand here or sit at my feet,
21:48sit at my footstool. He says, have you not shown partiality among yourselves
21:53and become judges with evil thoughts? He says, listen, my beloved brethren has God not chosen
22:00the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he promised to those
22:05who love him. Boy. Okay. Let's go ahead and, and let's uproot some bad doctrine quickly. Can we do
22:12that? Because folk have read this fifth verse. See, there it is right there. You're not supposed
22:19to be rich because God has chosen the poor. Let's, let's read it. Let's read it like this.
22:30Let's read what the Greek language is actually telling us. Let's do it like this.
22:34Look at verse two again, which says, if there should come into your assembly,
22:38a rich man and a poor man, isn't that what we just read?
22:43We get to verse four and he says, if you show that partiality to the rich man and you neglect
22:47the poor man, he says, have you not shown partiality among yourselves and become judges
22:53with evil thoughts? Verse five, listen, my beloved, my beloved brethren has God not also chosen
23:00the poor of this world to be rich in faith? Has he not also chosen them? In other words,
23:08James wasn't saying that only the poor, he was making the point you neglect the poor for the
23:15rich, but hasn't he also chosen the poor to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom,
23:23and heirs of the kingdom, which he promised to those who love him.
23:28And, and, and again, oh gosh, because I already went there. Let me go ahead and clarify this.
23:37How many of you have heard of the prosperity gospel?
23:40Anybody heard of the prosperity gospel? Okay. I hate it.
23:45Now what I do love is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ on the subject of prosperity.
23:50Now that I like. It's the difference between the two. What's the difference? A prosperity gospel,
23:56which so many individuals like my father was accused of preaching. No, he wasn't. And no,
24:01he didn't. It's not what he preached. He preached Jesus. He preached Jesus.
24:08And then he said what the Bible said about prosperity. That's what he preached.
24:13A prosperity gospel. Now we've seen it because it's out there. A prosperity gospel is a gospel
24:18centered on prosperity and not Jesus. And it's evil and it's wicked. And you know what else is
24:25evil and wicked? The poverty gospel. A gospel centered on poverty. Two extremes. You being
24:36rich is a sign that the anointing is on you. You being poor is a sign that God is with you.
24:43That's foolishness and false humility. And it's unbiblical. Listen, if you want to be poor or you
24:51want to be rich, God will honor whichever one you choose. But I promise you this, even though
24:59it may not seem this way with the poor, whether it's poor or rich, you got to work hard at being
25:04one of the two. It's going to require you some effort.
25:13Right? Took some effort to get into debt. It's going to take some effort to get out of debt.
25:18You may not realize this, but it took some effort to gain all that weight. It's going to take some
25:21effort to lose all that weight. Work goes both ways. Okay. Verse six, look at James here. He
25:33says, but you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts?
25:38In other words, what's he saying? He's saying, why would you favor the rich man so much to
25:42the neglect of the poor? Look what the rich have done to you. Not that all rich are evil,
25:46but he's saying, why would you rock with the rich when they've done this to you? What did the poor
25:50do to you? That's what James is saying here. He says, do they not blaspheme that noble name by
25:57which you are called? Pay attention to verse eight. He says, now, if you really fulfilled the what?
26:07The royal law. This word royal, it comes from the same Greek root word as king. In other words,
26:16we could read it this way. If you really fulfill the king's law and who's the king, y'all know the
26:23king. So in other words, if you were to really fulfill the law of Christ, what does James say
26:30next? He says, he says, according to the scripture, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Didn't
26:37Paul just say that to the Galatians? Didn't he say the law is summed up in this. You shall love
26:43your neighbor as yourself. Now we have James who some on the outside of scripture love to put James
26:49and Paul against each other and say that they contradict each other, which they do not. But
26:55here's James saying the same thing. He says, if you really fulfill the law of the king, the royal law,
27:00according to the scripture, which is, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. He says, well, you
27:05do well, but if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
27:13Verse 10, for whoever shall keep the whole law, yet what? Stumble in one point, he's guilty of
27:20the whole law. Thank God Jesus satisfied every requirement. Thank God he wiped out the handwriting
27:31of requirement that was against us and nailed it to the cross. He did the hard part. I just
27:40believe in him. That's the easy part. Believe in the finisher, believe in the completer.
27:50Verse 11, for he who said, do not commit adultery. Well, you know, he also said don't murder.
27:56Now, if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you don't get to say, well, I didn't
28:02commit adultery. Can you imagine you get arrested for a crime and then you literally list all the
28:08crimes you didn't do to try to get out of the one you did. He says, you become a transgressor
28:19of the law. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of Liberty.
28:27And then this is a powerful statement that he's, that he, oh, we hold fast to this. This is some
28:32truth right here in verse 13. Listen for judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy.
28:39Oh, let me say that again for judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Paul
28:47even writes this in, in Galatians chapter six, verse one, he says, he says, you who are spiritual,
28:53meaning mature, because you who are spiritual deal with one who has been overtaken by a trespass
29:03in the manner in which you'd want to be dealt with.
29:10Let me read that again for judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy
29:16triumphs over judgment and grace is better than mercy. Are you still here? I look at Romans 13,
29:27look at three verses, Romans chapter 13. We've got an election coming up.
29:34Did you guys know that you guys know that there's an election coming up?
29:41And so we're just going to read Romans 13. We're going to read verse eight, but verses one through
29:45seven talk about government. And Paul lets us know that it's the will of God to obey authorities.
29:57And the law of the land authority. Listen carefully.
30:04Authority has been ordained of God. Not necessarily every person assuming the role,
30:15but God's a God of authority and order. So therefore it is ordained in the earth by him.
30:21But after you read all that in those first seven verses of, of Romans 13, we get to verse eight and
30:27it says this, oh, no one, anything except to love one another for he who loves another has done what?
30:36Wait, Paul, didn't you say this to the Galatians? James, didn't you say this in your letter?
30:42For he who loves another has fulfilled the law. Watch this for the commandments. You
30:46shall not commit adultery. You shall not murder. You shall not steal. That's three. You shall not
30:53bear false witness. That's four. You shall not covet. That's five. And if there is any other
30:59commandment, which there are another 608, they're all summed up in this saying, namely, you shall
31:05what is this the third time I don't read this. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
31:11And notice that, that Paul or James, they don't mention loving the Lord, your God,
31:17because that's automatic. If you love your neighbor as yourself, you love God.
31:22Because remember what Jesus said, and the second is like the first. So you can't love your neighbor
31:27as yourself. If you don't love God, if you love your neighbor as yourself, I know you love God.
31:32That's why Jesus said, they're going to know them on the outside,
31:37they're going to know you belong to me. When they see that you have love for one another.
31:48Look at this verse 10, love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the, what
31:57it's the fulfillment of the law. Love is the fulfillment of the law. An act of love placed
32:04us under grace. And now my deeds aren't me trying to be righteous. My deeds are because I am
32:14righteous. I do good deeds because it's my nature. I can't help, but to do good deeds.
32:24We're supposed to be, have you ever seen, have you ever seen Steph Curry hit three pointers?
32:30It is poetry in motion. It is art. It is beautiful. Whether it's a game, whether it's practice,
32:39whether he's just playing in the stands and he just lobs a ball and it goes in the net.
32:44It's beautiful. How many of you would agree? Because he said right now to be the greatest
32:50shooter to ever live now. How many of you would agree that, that for him, shooting a basketball
32:57is second nature. That's what good deeds are supposed to be for us. Just second nature.
33:06Why do you do good? Oh, Oh, you mean I did some good? Like that's how automatic
33:12it's supposed to be. I should be doing so many good deeds. I don't even remember
33:16all the good deeds I've done. It should be like breathing oxygen.
33:21Now, if I'm walking in love because it's love that brought me under grace and because I'm
33:28under grace, I'm living out love. You think forgiveness plays a little part somewhere in here?
33:36Like, like you think there's some sort of connection between forgiveness and love and
33:40forgiveness and grace. Look, look at, look at Matthew six, 14 and 15, Matthew six. Now,
33:49what do we have here in Matthew chapter six? We're reading verse 14 and 15, but
33:56what, what, what happened right before that? Oh, that's right. The disciple said, Jesus,
34:02do us a solid, teach us how to pray. He said, I'll do you a solid. I'll teach you how to pray.
34:13Now watch this. We're about to read something. Well, we're not going to read it. It, it's in
34:21chapter six, verses five through 13
34:26begins with verse nine through verse 13. We're going to read verse 14 and 15,
34:30but, but what gets us to verse 14 and what gets us to verse 15 when the disciples said,
34:36teach us how to pray. And then what does Jesus give the disciples? He gives them a
34:41gift of forgiveness. He gives them a gift of love. He gives them a gift of forgiveness.
34:47When the disciples say it teaches how to pray. And then what does Jesus give them?
34:52Now watch this. It's been, it's been falsely assumed for so many years. It's amazing how,
34:57how people can hold on a tradition for so long. And they call this the Lord's prayer.
35:07Well, as my father would so eloquently say,
35:13well, if it's the Lord's prayer, why are you praying? It is his prayer.
35:17So you're a thief. You're stealing the Lord's prayer.
35:21Nowhere does the Bible call this the Lord's prayer. Nowhere does the Lord call this the
35:27Lord's prayer. Nowhere does the Lord pray it. And nowhere do you see his disciples praying it.
35:35Why? Because Jesus wasn't telling them to say these words. Jesus was showing them how to pray.
35:42The key word here in Matthew six is manner. In Luke's account, the key word is say.
35:54Matthew records, therefore pray in this manner. Luke records, and when you pray, say.
36:01The point is, is that when you pray, you got to open up your mouth.
36:05In other words, Jesus was saying, and when you pray, say it in this manner.
36:09Say it in this manner. Say it like this. And when you look at this blueprint and you look at this
36:15schematic, this model addresses a number of things in prayer that we should be addressing all the
36:22time. But not pray these words exactly, because some of the words, some of the words actually
36:28wouldn't qualify for this side of the cross and grace. It would have been applicable to them
36:37before he laid down his life. Like, you know, there's one part that says, and deliver us from
36:42the evil one. Now, if I'm asking you to deliver me from the evil one, I must be implying that I
36:49haven't been delivered from them yet. But on this side of the cross, on this side of grace
36:58or under grace, Colossians one, Paul wrote to the Colossian believers. He said, he says,
37:03for we have been delivered past tense from the power of darkness. We're now in the kingdom of
37:08his dear son. Never pray for something God's already given you. You already have it. Thank
37:18him for it. I thank you, father. I've been delivered from the evil one. And I thank you that the evil
37:24one has been rebuked. I thank you. He's been bound. That's the thing. You know, we bind the devil. I
37:31get it. But actually all you got to really do is just give him a reminder. Oh, bro, you, you,
37:37you know, right? You, oh, you forgot. You didn't know you were bound. Let me remind you.
37:44You were bound about, about, about 2000 years ago. You, you were, you were bound.
37:50I've been delivered from you for quite some time now.
37:54So what was Jesus teaching his disciples? He was teaching them a model.
38:01Okay. Then he gets to verse 14 and he says this, this is right after, right after he says, amen.
38:13And he gets to verse 14 and he says, he says, and who's he talking to? He's talking to the
38:18ones that asked him a question. Teach us how to pray. Well, he says, well, if you forgive men,
38:23their trespasses, your heavenly father will, will then forgive you. But if you don't do it,
38:30if you don't forgive men, their trespasses, well, neither will your father forgive your trespasses.
38:36So it sounds like what Jesus was telling them was if you want the heavenly father to forgive you,
38:43what must you do first? You must forgive. That's what I'm reading here. Now, now that sounds good.
38:51It sounds like a pretty simple formula to follow. If I want the forgiveness of the heavenly father,
38:58I need to forgive my brother based on Matthew 6, 14 and verse 15. Matter of fact,
39:06let's see if Jesus says this anywhere else. Go to Mark 11, not verse 24, go to verse 25.
39:18Cause you know, we love 23 and 24. Everybody loves Mark 11, 23 and 24. Whoever says to this mountain,
39:27be removed and be cast into the sea. I'm casting mountains into the sea
39:31and doesn't doubt in his heart. He going to have what he says, death and life are in the hand of
39:36the tongue. Whatever things you ask when you pray, believe you receive them and you'll have them.
39:44Oh, that preaches. I like how that sounds. But again, he was talking to his disciples.
39:50It's applicable for us. Trust me, because the new Testament talks about the prayer of faith,
39:55but, but he was, we have to always first keep everything in context. After we examine the
40:02context, then we see what's applicable to us. And he was specifically talking to his disciples.
40:07And so he hits them with this again in verse 25, watch this Mark 11, 25. And whenever you stand
40:12praying or sit praying or kneel praying or lay down praying or shower praying. In other words,
40:21whenever you're praying, if you have anything against anyone, do what forgive them so that
40:28something can happen that your father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you
40:34don't forgive neither will your father in heaven, forgive your trespasses. Again, it sounds like
40:40what I'm reading here in Mark 11, 24, 25 and 26. That sounds a lot like Matthew 6, 14 and 15.
40:47It sounds to me like if I want the forgiveness of my Abba,
40:51my heavenly father, I better forgive my brother. That's what Jesus was telling his disciples,
40:58except when was he telling them this? What Testament was still in power when he was telling
41:13them this? The what? I heard you say it. The old Testament was now, now do we agree that Jesus is
41:21the embodiment of the new Testament and that, and that his parables and his messages pointed us to
41:28the new Testament, his words were new covenant, but he was preaching his message and executing
41:38his ministry under the covering of which covenant? The old, how do we know this?
41:45Well, Hebrews 9, 16 and 17 tell us this. It says for, for where there's a Testament,
41:52there is also of necessity or there must be of necessity the death of the testator. Otherwise
41:59the Testament has no power because the Testament has no power while the testator lives.
42:04So a Testament can't be enforced while the testator's alive. Who's the testator of the
42:09new Testament? Jesus. Was he dead when he was telling them about forgiveness? No, he was still
42:15alive. So, so the new Testament had not been in operation yet. Matter of fact, it can't happen
42:24until after he dies. So what then was he telling his disciples? He was telling his disciples
42:33something they were familiar with based on the covenant they were living under.
42:38New Testament wasn't in operation yet, wasn't in power yet, wasn't enforced yet. Therefore,
42:43here's how forgiveness works until I die. You go forgive your brother so your heavenly father can
42:50forgive you. And we can go to the old Testament and we can see it. We can see Solomon pray this.
42:57We can see Solomon acknowledge this. Remember when Solomon, Solomon, Solomon talked about the
43:03Israelites doing right. And then he said, and then what is see their trespass no more.
43:11Something along those lines. In other words, Solomon was saying, once they do this,
43:15God, now you can forgive them based on your word. Because that's how forgiveness worked under the
43:23law. See under the law, it's, I have to under grace is I get to
43:33under the law. It's, I have to, if I want to acquire this under grace,
43:38it's because I've acquired all of this. Here's how I'll conduct myself.
43:46Now, again, if we're under grace, then what does forgiveness look like under grace?
43:51Many of you know where I'm going. Forgiveness under grace doesn't look like a Mark 11,
43:5725 and 26 forgiveness under grace. Doesn't look like Matthew six, 14 and 15,
44:03Matthew six, 14 and 15 Mark 11, 25 and 26 look like law forgiveness.
44:10And so everything Jesus said was, was on point on target. He is sharing with men who live under the
44:17law, how to be forgiven. But you and I, we don't live under the law, not the law of Moses. That is
44:25we're under Liberty, faith and love. We are under the banner of grace. So what does forgiveness
44:31look like? How do we function in it? Oh goodness. This is going to require faith. That's why it's
44:38so important for us to learn about faith. You know, that scripture we read earlier about faith
44:42working through love. How many of you know that not everyone is easy to love?
44:56Yeah, not so it's, it's, it's, it's for, it's for some, it's, it's about as complicated as
45:03as scalene triangles. Anybody remember scalene triangles from
45:07there's about three people who remember scalene triangles back in geometry.
45:12Still trying to figure out when I'm going to use that knowledge in this life.
45:20All right. Scalene triangle. That's a triangle and none of the sides are equal.
45:26Now, what am I going to do with that? Maybe builders. Yeah. Builders, construction folk.
45:33You all could use that for some loving. Some, some people is just a complicated,
45:43tedious, monotonous, meticulous, detailed process.
45:52Well, what, what is it that I can learn about to make it easy faith?
45:58So then I removed me and all my emotions out of the equation.
46:04And I love you because the Bible says so. And I love you because God first loved me.
46:10So even though you may not be so lovable, I love you in the name of the Lord Jesus.
46:18Because love is the fulfillment of the law.
46:26So even though faith works through love, or you're going to have to love by faith.
46:34Some folk, you don't need faith to love them. I don't need any faith to love my family.
46:37It's easy. Loving my family is like one plus one.
46:42Loving some others. It's like the cubed root of 6,842.
46:54But I can love them just like I love my family by faith.
46:58That's why you got to learn about faith. Because when it comes to faith, you're not moved by how
47:03you feel. Oh, wait a minute. That doesn't mean you're not to be heard. It doesn't mean that
47:10you're not present. We're just not moved by. I go with the report of the Lord.
47:18Okay. Well, would you say forgiveness might be similar to love in the sense that
47:26in some cases, it's easy to forgive someone. Other times, ooh, maybe not so much.
47:34But would I rather learn how to forgive that person if faith is required than harbor unforgiveness
47:42in my heart? Because when you hold on to forgiveness, the Luciferian you shows up.
47:52The Luciferian you shows up.
47:58Yeah. You remember Hillel, Lucifer who became Satan and the devil, the first sin ever engaged
48:07pride. It's amazing how pride can find its way in every sin. The sin of pride
48:14can be present in every other sin. Oh, you can't forgive somebody. That's a little bit of pride.
48:19Because God definitely forgave you.
48:27And we didn't deserve it. Look here. Let's look at this thing. Ephesians 4 or Ephesians 4 32.
48:35I'm about to read something. It don't read like what Jesus said. It's close, but it's a little
48:40bit different. Is the Bible contradicting itself? Absolutely not. Because who's the one who called
48:47Paul to his apostleship? Jesus. And by the spirit of God, Paul writes or wrote what he wrote,
48:53which means that what Paul wrote, Jesus affirmed. Ephesians 4, are you there?
49:02Last verse of the chapter.
49:07This is after Paul says, don't grieve the spirit, put off the deeds of the old man.
49:13Be renewed in the spirit of your mind, which I believe has to do with the subconscience. If
49:19renewal takes place in the subconscience, then the life of the believer, again, that's what
49:24gets us closer to autopilot. He says all of that. And then he gets to verse 32 and he says,
49:32he opens with this. I'm telling you, this is how he says it. You're not going to really pick this
49:38up from reading it. This is how he says it. He says, could y'all just be kind to one another?
49:42He says, and be, how much does kindness cost?
49:52It is sad that we live in a world where kindness is rare.
49:56It's so rare that people are caught off guard when you're kind.
50:02You look and you can see it on their face. We're just on, we're on an airplane and I just,
50:09it just seemed like it makes sense. The people closer to the window have to wait before they can
50:14get their carry ons. So I just got the carry on for the person. And they're like, thanks.
50:26Like they just weren't expecting kindness. There's something wrong with this world. There's
50:31something wrong with the system of this world. When kindness is rare as believers, we should
50:37be exuding it to be seeping out of our spiritual pores. Everywhere we go, it should be like an
50:43infectious disease. Kindness. And here Paul's talking about you who are born again, be kind
50:50to one another. Be tender hearted. What does it mean to be tender hearted, compassionate,
51:02sympathetic. And then it says, what next? Forgiving one another. Stop there. Stop. Stop.
51:11Forgiving one another. Okay. So far, that sounds like what Jesus was talking about, right? He said,
51:15he said, uh, uh, forgive your brother. So your father in heaven can forgive you.
51:22But here what Paul says, it hits differently. He says, forgiving one another
51:28so that God can forgive you. That's what it says, right? No, that's not what you read. You're not,
51:35you're not, that's, you're not reading that. So, so you're telling me that in the 32nd verse of the
51:41fourth chapter of Paul's epistle to the Ephesians, you're telling me verse 32 of chapter four
51:46does not say forgiving one another. So your heavenly father can forgive you. That's not
51:52what you read. Well, what does it say?
51:59Forgiving one another, even as God in Christ, Oh, we'll forgive you.
52:07Oh, it's already done. Isn't that interesting that under law,
52:14Paul, I needed to forgive you so that he could forgive me,
52:22but under grace, he's already in Christ forgiving me.
52:29So who do I think I am to not forgive you?
52:36And it would, it would be, you know, it'd be all right if, if, if we only read it one time,
52:39but we don't read it one time. Paul also writes this to the Colossians, go to Colossians three.
52:52Oh, when we, when I was in Turkey this year with, with Dr. Rick Renner,
52:56which let me go ahead and just publicly say, he's one of my favorite humans on this planet.
53:01And, um, he took us to see Colossae and he said, there it is. All right, we're leaving.
53:11We just saw it through the, through the windows of the bus, because it hasn't been excavated.
53:15He said, now, if you want to go, you can go and you can encounter all kinds of serpents
53:19and scorpions, the literal ones. We figured we'd stay on the bus and just keep it pushing.
53:24But he writes here to the Colossian believers, Colossians three, verse 12. Look at what it says
53:34here. It says, therefore, uh, as the elect of God, that's you and I, holy, are you holy? Yep.
53:42Are you beloved? Yep. He says, I need you to do something. I need you to put something on,
53:50put on what? Put on tender mercies. You know, what's interesting is leading up to this 12th
53:56verse, Paul first tells you everything to put off. Go back to verse six, says put to death
54:03your members. Then he starts listing what the members can do, put to death your members.
54:08Then in verse eight, he says, and put off all of these anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy,
54:15filthy language, that filthy language, that filthy language that proceeds,
54:20filthy language that proceeds out of your mouth. He says, put it off, put it off.
54:28Did I mention, he said, put off filthy language. Did I mention that one?
54:35I wasn't telling y'all that that was for me. I mean, I don't use filthy language,
54:40but guess what? I'm gonna go ahead. And if you guys think that I'm disqualified and I need to,
54:43you know, maybe step away from ministry because there have been times where I've used strong
54:46language. Yeah, sorry, bro. Because it was the most fitting adjective in the moment.
55:07It was, I said past tense, right? Past tense that it's in my past. Doesn't matter if it was
55:12this morning, it's in my past. It doesn't matter. It's in the past. I didn't use any strong language
55:20this morning. I'm serious. I did not. Okay. He tells you everything to put off. Then he gets
55:26to verse 12. He says, now this is what you put on. Put on tender mercies, put on kindness. There it
55:32is again. Put on humility. Oh, I got to put humility on because if I don't put humility on,
55:39it's arrogance and pride that remains. Put on meekness, not weakness.
55:47Meekness. Put on long
55:52suffering. That's long patience.
56:01Some people thought my dad wasn't, wasn't a patient man. Oh, they had,
56:04they missed it. He truly had no patience for foolishness, but oh my gosh,
56:12you like, for example, like, like a birthday or something, he's the most patient.
56:16So he, I mean, he just wait his, his patience, but he had no patience for stupidity and just
56:24dumbism and, and, and just, he just didn't have it for that. I think we should all maybe model
56:35that as well. Leave a little space for, for, for people's issues and challenges, idiosyncrasies
56:42and stuff like that, but it's got to reach a limit at some point. Bottom line, put on long
56:47suffering. Look at verse 13, bearing with one another and then doing what? Forgiving one another
56:54if anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ will forgive you.
57:00Oh, I didn't read that one right. Oh, forgave you even as Christ forgave you. So you also
57:07must do. I'm forgiving you because Christ forgave me. When I got born again,
57:12I stepped into divine forgiveness. I'm in it now. I'm in divine forgiveness.
57:18So I'm going to walk in divine forgiveness. I'm going to walk in his divine forgiveness
57:22and I'm going to exude his divine forgiveness towards you. Matter of fact, I forgive all of
57:27y'all right now for anything you might do to me. That's how so deep I am into this,
57:34into this God kind of forgiveness. You're already forgiven in the name of Jesus.
57:40Cause he forgave me. God forgave me in Christ. And you know what it says right after that?
57:46We don't have to read it, but in verse 14 he says, but above all,
57:53put on love, which is the bond of perfection. You want to know what Paul is saying there?
57:59He's saying you could take the long route or the short route. Here's the long route,
58:05put to death each and every one of your members individually, then put off anger and then put
58:11off wrath and put off malice and put off blasphemy and put off filthy language. And then after you
58:16put all those things off, then start putting on kindness and start putting on tender mercies and
58:21start putting on long suffering and start putting on meekness or you go to short route.
58:26He says, but above all, just put on love. It's the bond of perfection. Saints. When you put love on,
58:34you put off everything he told you to put off and you put on everything he told you to put on
58:40when you put on love, every head bow, every eye closed father, we thank you for your word.
58:45This life is truth. It will not, it cannot return to you. Empty, vain, futile, useless,
58:53lazy, but it, it, it, it will, it will accomplish your word accomplishes father. And it prospers
59:00where you've sent it. I thank you that you're accomplishing prospering word has been sent and
59:05planted today.