Identification Truths Plus 2012
Courtney Hemenway · Sep 23, 2012
Identification Truths Plus, No. 37
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/4926328327344

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

We are in lesson three, or no, Grace, what's lesson, what is it, 19? 19. 19, third lesson on Grace. I'm gonna go back onto question four. We're still there. We're getting smiles already. Again, it's kind of a brash statement. And this actually came from Chester McCauley in his study on Grace. And he brought this up, and when you first see it, it's kind of like, wow, hits you square between the eyes. I think last week Hollywood was kind of taken aback, and it was like, no, this is really something you should consider.

So, question four. Do you agree with this statement? There is no more immoral, rotten, and filthy to the core with sin than a person who is a legalist. Pretty harsh. I think it is so crucial when you consider everlasting life or non-life. And if you are a legalist, you're not in Christ. If you're not in Christ, you're doomed.

So I agree. Who's he talking to here, though? I mean, we got to some verses in Galatians and that. Who is he talking to? Believers or unbelievers? Believers. Believers. So, the salvation aspect of his vow. Oops. So, it's believers he's talking to. So, we're saying the legalist who is a believer is the one that's being called a rotten filthy by Macaulay. We'll go into what Paul has to say.

So, does that change your answer? Well, I guess I don't understand what he's saying because I thought, All of Christianity means you either believe in Christ or you don't. If you're a legalist, I guess you could be a legalist and believe in Christ, but why would you be a legalist if you didn't believe in Christ?

Read Galatians. That's it. Law and grace. That's when you really understand what Galatians is. Paul is just pleading with them. And how many times do we see we're not under law, we're under what? Grace. We're not under law, we're under grace. You're dead unto it. All these things tell us, as believers, we are not under law, we're not under that system anymore. We're under a system of grace.

So... Yeah, every time you put yourself under law, then you are putting yourself under the consequences of law, which is death. Yeah, and we're not, and we're not, what was the law associated with? Jews. Well, the law, Jews, but a law system. It's to show the exceeding sinfulness of sin, as we all put it in one place. To make sin super abound, but what is it associated with? Me doing things. The flesh. The flesh, yeah, flesh, flesh. It's associated with the flesh.

What happened at the cross? We died. We died. Romans 6. We've been over it a bunch. Our co-crucifixion with Christ. So, sin and the law are associated with what? Flesh. We are now what? As Corinthians says, we are new creatures in Christ. Does that law system apply to us now? No. So, Paul is going after this, going, what are you doing? Don't go back to a law system. You are a new creature in Christ. That system doesn't even apply. What are you doing?

And we'll get into the verses here. We went over the Romans 7 and 8, which basically said what the law does. We've come to know sin except through the law. And for apart from the law, sin is dead. So, you get that, but then Paul takes us into Galatians 5, and this is the summary one. This is where you equate where, and he's talking to believers here. where you go back to If you want to go under a law system, what does Paul tell you? And it's similar to what Chet McCauley said about your rotten, filthy person who wants to go back to a legal system. Paul states it this way in Galatians 1-5.

It was for freedom that Christ set us free. Therefore, keep standing firm and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery. Behold, I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, one little tiny part of the law, Christ will what? Be of no benefit to you. And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision that he is under obligation to keep the whole law.

So again, that's that whole thing. If I just dabble and pick and choose the laws that I want to obey, you can't do it either all in or all out. So you can't just take a little bit of law and mix it with grace. You can't just take a little bit of law and think you're taking the whole law and applying it.

So, the last one is, you have been, and the New American Standard has a pretty tough word which you can be, I don't think it's a good translation, you have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by the law. You have fallen from grace. And that's basically, that severed actually is the Greek word ekthipto, which is to lose one's part or the interest in that state. So it's basically you're losing fellowship, you who are seeking to be justified by the law.

So, you know, I don't think it'd be any clearer. If you are trying to put yourself under a law system, and he's talking to believers, Christ will be of no benefit to you. You have fallen from grace. pretty harsh statements. I don't think Paul can be any clearer as to if you go back to a lost system, Christ becomes of no benefit to you.

You're going back to the old man. Are you functioning in the new man, new creature? If you're back to law, no. So, notice the people who have fallen from grace. Are these, is he saying, you who have fallen from grace are the ones who are gross sinners.

You guys who steal a newspaper. I don't know, that's just my fun example. I shouldn't always get that, but that just, that tickled me. You who, whatever. You know, who do, who shoot somebody. Is that who he's talking to here? No. Who's he talking to?

The guys who go to church every Sunday. The ones who put you back under law. Now does that put it in perspective? He's talking about people who are believers and they didn't shoot anybody, they didn't do anything. What did they do? They put you or yourself back under law. So it's kind of a puts it in perspective for me. He's not talking about you gross, horrible sinners. He's talking about you guys who put yourself back under law. Man, you know, I thought the gross sinners were the ones that went. He's talking about those who put you back under law.

I think part of it is Like when you look at the sheep and the goat thing that Jesus was talking about, and I was hungry, and he fed me, and I was sick, he came and visited me. And the ones who did all these nice things, they go on to eternal glory. The other ones go into the lake of fire. I think those are the kind of scriptures, like I was raised in the First Christian Church, and it was all about works.

You know, you better be helping people, you better be... You know what I mean? It's... To me, it's when you... and that's the trap of this, is by doing something, you're putting yourself under a merit system. And I always say, you know, look at your heart motive on things.

If you're doing it because it's just who you are in Christ. But if you're doing it because you want to please God because He will smile on you a little bit better. You know, when you think about that, I take that, that diminishes what Christ did on the cross. Because it wasn't enough. I mean, if you think you can add to that, what you're saying, Christ's death on the cross wasn't enough. God will love me just a little bit more if I do this.

Remember the John 17 verses we went over. That intimacy. Through Christ, He wants all that intimacy. Ephesians 1-3. What have we been blessed with? All spiritual blessings. What more do you want? And if you think you can do something to make God smile a little bit more, you diminish Christ's work on the cross. Right.

Like you say, it is a trap because the Pharisees who prided themselves on keeping the law to the letter. Jesus' comment one time about them was they love to be seen on the street corner praying in public. that they have received their reward. It didn't have anything to do with laying up treasures in heaven. They were getting the praise of their fellow citizens who saw that and thought, oh, how good they are. Well, you kind of touch on something that when you do do the law or try and keep the law or do this, what is kind of the root underneath that? You said it makes you look good. Pride. Look what I did. It's pride.

If you look at 1 Peter 5.5, I can read it to you. You, younger man, likewise, be subject to your elders and all of you. Clothe yourselves with humility towards one another. For God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Which scripture is that?

1 Peter 5.5. I just wanted to point out before you move on, Macaulay has a fantastic website called wordoftruth.net and he's got hundreds and hundreds of hours in it. Free stuff, but one of them is a four-part series on grace where he makes a specific statement Yeah, we yeah, I mean, that's where we said this comes from his his four tape series We've taken some of that and and Macaulay actually takes a lot He kind of takes what Lewis Perry Chafer does in his grace book and kind of turn it into English You know Lewis Perry Chafer's book on grace. It's a great book, but I I find myself reading it, you know, three times over to get where he's at, where Chet did a good job of putting it kind of into our terms to be able to understand it.

So, yeah. So the struggle with the fallen from grace, is that different from the severed from Christ or in that verse? Okay, what do you think it means? That's why I asked. Well, I like to give yours before I say anything. Fallen from grace. Is that just turning or putting yourself in the law system and ignoring grace? Or is that, because we talk about grace as being an environment operating system. And fallen to me seems like That tense of the word seems like that would be something you'd get out of, getting out of grace. If we can't get out of grace, what does that mean? If you're under law, if you're not in grace, what are you under? Under law. Right. So, it's basically you're under one or the other. Right. And so, if you're in law, you're not operating in the grace system. So that's where, if I turn to a law and I'm not operating or functioning in grace, so I've fallen or removed myself from that grace system, God is full on. God never changes. God is trying to get me.

I mean, we'll be back in. What I do, obviously, is I turn my back and I walk away. I'm walking away from that fellowship that I had with Him. He's doing everything in His power to make me come back, to realize my dependency upon Him, realize that I'm not operating in grace, I'm operating in law. So, it's really one or the other. You're either operating in law or you're operating in grace. So, it's not a position thing, it's more of a condition thing. Yeah, there you go. That's exactly it. That's a great point. It's not a positional thing.

Positional things are what? Forever, eternal, not to be ever changed. Position and condition, we talk about that a lot, where positional truths, and we went through, I think, Lewis Perry Chaffer's 32 things of, you know, what immediately you possess after you believe. Those are positional truths that will never change. Conditional things, yeah, that's our day-to-day walk with him. Okay, good point.

The other one I wanted to look at, I was looking at this last night and this morning, Philippians 3, 8 and 9. This is Paul 2. More than that, I count all things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them but rubbish so I may gain Christ. And this, again, may be found where? In Him. See how many times we get the In Hims? Again, how important that is.

When you start looking in Scripture, again, our co-crucifixion and where we're placed into, we are separated judicially, positionally, taken out of the flesh and placed into Christ. And that may be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law. Again, that pride, that righteousness from the law. But that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith. Again, it's kind of that pride thing. Not having a righteousness derived of my own from the law. Again, law is self-centered. It is prideful.

That is nothing what is in grace. It separates us from it. So, the natural thought is if there are no rules, there is anarchy. If you don't have rules, if you don't have law, you know, you're in a fishbowl and you don't know what to do. And that's the usual thing about grace is if we're not under law, what are we under? We're under grace.

What does that mean? Who's not comfortable with that? It leaves me with nothing to do. I'm not comfortable with it. I'm not. My old man is not comfortable with that. He's the guy who wants to do something. So when you think you've got to do something, who's the one trying to get you to do that? The old man or the new man? Old man.

When you think you've got to do that certain thing, you know, I've got to come every Sunday. I've got to. I've got to tithe. I've got to do this. I've got to do this because God requires it. I have to. It's a requirement. It's a law. That's the old man. So that means you have guilt feelings? Yeah. You know, that's what I said. It takes you a long time.

This is not, you know, this is the, we'll get to it, 2 Peter 3.18, growing the grace and knowledge. This is a growing process. Well, and what we talked about last time, how do you understand grace? Can you just see that in nature? No. Can you figure it out on your own, just sitting here? We have to be taught grace. It's contrary to everything else in the world. So, I mean, you grow in the grace and knowledge. And we'll see, how do you understand grace by, where do those two grow in grace and what?

Knowledge of Him. Knowledge of Him. Not just reading your Bible. I mean, it's... I can read my Bible and get a lot of facts. You know, there are people... well, we're talking about Zodiates. A guy who knows the Greek inside and out. But he may not know the Lord at all. And he's taken the scripture, he's torn it apart, knows the Greek intimately and detailed, but he knows all that, but he doesn't know... he may not know Him personally.

I don't know that for a fact, but... So how would you know? I mean, you're reading the Bible, so you're being taught, right? OK, if you say no, then how would you know? No, I said just by reading the Bible for a fact. To read, to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ. And that's, as I said, the one thing Mike did tell me that was worthwhile.

You've got to understand Eli, we have a mutual abuse society here. We like to just beat each other up. Equal opportunity. Yeah, equal opportunity. See, when he teaches, he beats me up. So when I teach, I get to beat him up. But that was the whole thing.

He basically said, read the Bible to what? To know Him. To know Christ. Because as we know Christ, who are we also knowing? Ourselves. Who we are in Christ. So then as you know who you are in Christ, you function. You know how He functions. He knows how you function. Then it becomes more like breathing.

I do things because that's just who I am in Christ. Not because I have to do it. It's just because, I always bring this up, Christ didn't have a refrigerator list every morning and say this is okay, God the Father put a list on the they didn't have a refrigerator, on the lentil or the fireplace, put it up there and said, this is my will for you today. You do these ten things. Did he do that? No. He did it because, what? It's who he is. He did it because that's who he is. He did the Father's will because that's who he is.

Once we understand who we are in Christ, we begin to function that way. And that's the growing and the grace and the knowledge. I think that's the key. It's when you grow. And look at their joint, grace and knowledge. That's the key. That's why I love that verse. Growing the grace and knowledge of Christ.

Do we have to know the tenets of the law to know what we don't do? Is that a double negative? I'm trying to think. We don't do, don't, don't. We need to know the law, the specifics of the law. Aren't there 670? Yeah. No, we don't. Are you, are you under those law? No, but I want to know when I've escaped. Don't need to know anything about those.

Other than that, the law is good and true. I mean it, but who fulfilled it? Jesus Christ. The good thing about using that marriage analogy with Grace is that you have the situation where that would be like me saying, well, I'm married to Jessica, I'm under Grace, but I need to study all the other women around here to make sure I know who I'm not married to. See, that's the perfect thing. just absolutely clear about mixing law and grace. And how many times do I say we're not under law, we're under grace? How many times does Paul say that? So that's exactly what he's saying here is don't put yourself back under that. Stand firm in the liberty with which you are in Christ. Stand firm. Don't put that yoke of slavery back on you.

And the point is, and that's why I'm in the identification, is the important part is you start recognizing that's the only person, the only nature that wants to do that is the old nature. So when you start recognizing I need a law, I need to do, you begin to understand that's the old nature acting. I know he takes pride in it that I can't serve him pork on Saturdays at 7.

I think it's important from a historical standpoint to notice that God gave one apostle to the Gentiles and twelve to the Jews because he had to unlearn law. The Jewish believers had to unlearn the law system. And Paul didn't teach in his epistles to the Gentiles an unlearning gospel. He taught the gospel of grace from the get-go. not even dealing with law unless it came up as an evil.

You know, I think that is a similar thing. I told you about the catering thing when we were helping with caterers and we had the Jewish thing and that really became an eye opener. The Lord used that in a way to show how these people are so steeped in the law and keeping them. And I understand Paul, when I read Galatians, how just passionate, if I get passionate about this, I can see how Paul was passionate about this, trying to get them out of the law, which they had grown up with. That was all their life. That was everything about them. And then Paul says, separate. That's a huge, huge thing.

I think of some of the things now in some of the churches that are not believing, the Christian churches, those are the hardest ones to get new believers, to get people out of it, that have a lot of rituals, have lots of things that go on, but don't have a personal relationship. Those are the hardest ones to show a personal relationship with Christ. We have the same thing with Paul and the Jews. I think we have that in some of the churches that have a lot of Christian traditions, but they're the hardest ones to convince that you need a personal relationship.

We're in the same boat. The scripture that you read in Philippians 3, 8, 9, if you continue to the next verse, because Paul says, Now that I'm in Christ, and you talked about growing in grace and knowledge, and he goes on, that I may know him, and that knowing is the same kind of intimacy as Adam knowing Eve and having child. It's intimate knowledge. Yeah. You know, you were talking about growing in the grace and knowledge of his word. It is so easy to step over even that line and start memorizing the Bible, whereas I found by setting that whole concept aside, when you need to remember a particular verse, I may not know where in the Bible it is, but the Holy Spirit will lay on you the verse that you need at that moment in time. I've used this a lot, and before, and this is before understanding and identification, you know, being an elder and all the other stuff, you know, brethren, church and all that, I always felt it was very, I memorized, there were guys who knew scripture, And I always thought, man, those guys are spiritual.

I've got to be like them. Again, talking about following a man. And I could never memorize. I'm a horrible memorizer. I'm just terrible at it. And it used to frustrate me because I thought that's what it took to please God and to be spiritual, is to memorize a lot of verses.

Ever since I understand the identification truths, I know more scripture now than I ever have. Because it's now, I'm learning about Him, and it's trying to get an intimate knowledge of who He is. And I know more scripture now than I ever have, because it's not because I want to learn verses. I want to learn about Him. It's night and day. I mean, it's just not even in the same ballgame.

So anyway, talking about anarchy and undergrace, You have to be open, under grace, you have to be open to the thought there's another way to operate. You have to be open to that. We're so steeped in law and pay, payback. Remember we always say, when Mike and I go out to lunch, we always say, who paid last time?

That shouldn't be part, that's not gracious. It should be just, I know, you're just working on your heart too. Maybe the doctor will find a heart tomorrow. Our normal is payback. If you do this, I have to respond. If you do this, I have to respond. If I do this, you have to respond.

And that's not gracious. That is under a law. That's under a system of merit. The other is, if we were under that operating now, God every morning would have to give us a list. Every day we post on our refrigerator, this is what I want you to do today. And because you're going to go to school today, you're going to go to work today, you're going to do this, and you're going to meet three people, and you're going to have to have a list of everything.

A loss. It doesn't operate. We're under grace. And we'll find out we're under principles, not laws. He gives us principles to operate, which account for all the things we deal with. Okay, moving fast onto how Grace is known. In question five, how is Grace known? You have to be taught it. Taught? But how do we... So, we're taught. We look in the scripture. How do we know? Where do we learn Grace?

From Mike. It's your first mistake. Your biggest mistake. From the Lord Jesus. That's right. Perfect. John 1, 16 and 17. For of his fullness we all received, and grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses, grace and truths were realized through Jesus Christ. Romans 5, 15 also. But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. So we know grace through Christ. Actually, the New King James is a little bit better on that, abound to many.

It has abounded to many. And if you look at that word in the Greek, it's aorist active indicative, which means grace has abounded. Past tense. What does that mean? Fact. Fact. Look at Titus 2.11, for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men. Past tense. Grace has appeared.

So, do we need to wait for grace? Is it something in the future? Is it something that only when we step into eternity? No, it's right now. Grace is realized through Christ. So, should we be in anticipation of what God is going to do for us? Should we think of all these things He needs to do for us? He's already done it. He's already done it.

Just say thank you and accept it. That's the thing. You know, Ephesians 1-3, you've been blessed with all, have been blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly. Done. Done. Physically done. So, grace comes from Christ and it's past tense. It already has been.

So, if this is true, what should our focus be? On Christ. To grow in the grace and knowledge. And if the focus is to be on Christ, where is He? Where are we right now? Are there Republicans and Democrats in the heavenlies? No, they're not. No. The point being is that all of this nonsense that goes on the earth Colossians 3, 1, since you be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above. He's not kidding about that. And that's why I say, we're political crazies, but it doesn't mean a thing. It doesn't mean a thing. Our citizenship is in heaven. So we are just sojourners here, ambassadors for Christ. Okay, keep moving on, see if we can get through this lesson here.

Does grace have the power to control or move us? Does grace have the power to control or move us? Yes. It can direct us. I said no. And why? It wouldn't be grace. It wouldn't be the gift that God gave us if we have to do something. Well, does it have the power to control or move us? This is grace acting on you, not you having to respond. Does that change your answer? So, it changes you because you are in Christ. So it's an automatic thing, you don't have to think about it. As you operate in Christ, you're operating in grace.

Look at Titus 2, 11, and we'll go 11 through 14. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Christ Jesus, who gave himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed and to purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good deeds." So what was in verse 12? Instructing us. for the grace of God has appeared instructing us. So it does have the power to move or to draw us to him, basically, is what grace does. Is it to draw us to dependency on him? To realize who we are in Christ?

That would not be just the reverse, Courtney. The sin that I used to embrace just no longer has an influence or a desire. Your example is stealing newspapers. I no longer steal newspapers. Rather, I borrow them, read them, and then return them. That's a modified law. That's kind of like sort of pregnant. You can't do it. It's really under grace now. What does Romans 6 say? Reckon yourself what? Dead. So, we're to reckon ourselves dead under that, under the law. But the interesting thing is, at the end of that it talks about good deeds. Zealous for good deeds. Zealous for good deeds.

But if you're in Christ, is that something that you have to have a list for? Is that something that's going to make God happy? No, but it's a good thing because it shows that the body of Christ, through grace, can lovingly do good things. If we're operating in Christ, it's just like breathing. It's just like breathing.

Notice that verse 12 says that there's an instructing aspect to the grace of God. And the instructing aspect is to deny ungodliness. You can't do that yourself. You're instructed by grace. And worldly desires. and we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world. Grace is the thing that teaches you, by willing you to Christ, about those specific issues. So then when you get to the next verse, which is the good works verse, the good works come after this. So I'm not ever going to deny ungodliness in and of myself, because I value But if Christ becomes more valuable to me, then it's interesting the word ungodliness, because it's anything that's not of God, I value. And anything in the world, I value. What grace is designed to do is to wean me away from that to Christ alone.

See, to me, the weaning is a growing. It's a growing process. You know, I always say that hymn, that in the things of earth grow strangely dim, I think that really is, as we become to know who we are in Christ, the worldly things become dim. It just becomes less and less important as you grow in the grace and knowledge.

See, and I think that's the barometer. And when you wake up one day and say, you know, that used to really be a big deal with me and it isn't so much anymore because it's been replaced by something of the Lord Jesus Christ's glory and His grace. that what he has taught us in the word is actually working out in our life. Although if I'm looking for metrics, I'm self-defeating at that point. But I think you then translate the way I do it. It's not bare metrics. Mine is, there's more rest and peace. As I just rest more, I just rest more. Because it's not a burden. There was no rest in the world. I don't know how you can be a political junkie because there's no rest in that deal. It is because I realized it's just like going to a football game. You get excited for the football game and then it's over.

I remember I think it was Walter Cronkite or something when the Broncos were playing the Super Bowl. And it was the first Super Bowl, and they played, and Walter Cronkite was somewhere up in the booth, and you know, Mr. Norton, whatever, and he said, you know, there are 50 million people watching this game, and you know what? After the game tomorrow, it will mean nothing. Here are my Broncos we're playing, what do you mean? You know, and it was like, and I just remember that, it was like, wow, we're all hyped up about this game.

But it means nothing. So that's what I say. I mean, for the politics, I cheer and I go and I go crazy, but it means nothing tomorrow. And if the Lord decides that whoever he wants to put as president, I rest in that fact. Then I'll just cheer. Well, no, that's no. Yeah. Paul's comment talking about the barometer of faith and growing.

I count all these things as a pile of garbage for the sake of the excellency of knowing. Yeah, he just says, get rid of it all. He's not, he's not, it's almost not a metric. He's just saying, I don't care. You know, it's not like I'm, I'm counting, you know, he's just, I'm done with it. It doesn't matter whether it's Roman or Greek or Jewish.

Yeah. So it states that grace has the power to teach us or instruct us. Do these verses state that we'll be taught by a new bunch of laws or rules? No. No, we're going to be... principles he's going to give to us that will show us how to operate in the system of grace. Okay, let's move on here.

Where does grace abound? Where sin is. In Christ. In Christ. Okay? Look, Romans 5, 20 and 21. The law came in so the transgression would increase, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. So that as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. So, can we ever out-sin grace?

No. No. Not possible. Okay. Eight. What is the way God operates? Come on, this has got to be easy by now. It's real grace. It's real grace, thank you. If you guys didn't answer that, we were going back to this question one, three weeks ago. And if we look at Ephesians 2, 4 through 9, but God being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved, and raised up with him, and seated with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, that no one may boast. So, first we see that God is being rich in mercy because of His great love. He did what? Saved us. He made us alive together with Christ. How did He do that? By grace. By grace. Through grace. Saved. By grace. So, what do we bring to the table? Sin. Sin. Dead. Remember what starts with...

Even when we were dead in our transgressions, that's what we walked up to the table with. And we came away with grace placed into Christ. Best transaction ever. Okay? We were dead, now we're alive. Now we're alive. Yeah, in Christ. That was a great transaction. Really? Yeah, with no debt, no anything. It's awesome.

So, God now only operates by the principle of grace based on the totally finished work of Christ. Is that a hard concept to understand or believe? Yes. It's incredibly hard to understand that. Do you believe that God operates under grace now? Yes. Now that you told us. That you don't have to do anything to receive unlimited blessings. Do you believe that? Yes, because we've already received it. But do you believe it? I mean, it was hard for me to believe that. Because my mind, my human brain... But that's the beauty of it. As you start to understand that, you start to understand where the old man is dragging you. And the beauty of where the new man is in grace. There was a thing, and I don't know if I should do this. Chet said it on his thing.

Here, I'll do it. Not in front of me, you better not. You don't get to participate. Oh, he had five. I know. I didn't have one. Put a ten in. I see. I move. That's free for the taking. Anybody can have it. Unless you take it. It's free. Take it. If you put a 10 there, I would have won. But people would take it if they're hungry and haven't eaten for a whole week. Take it. It's free. It's free. Take it.

No, I don't want it. Why not? I don't need it. You want to put a 20 out there? I'll put a 20 out there. You want that? Okay, what would the answer be? Let us know. Do you hear what she just said? No, I didn't hear. She said, no, I don't need it. Yeah, I know. That's actually it. No, that's a great point. Because if I don't think I need grace, I'm not going to take it. Exactly. If I'm comfortable where I am. Why didn't you take this? I mean, you know, I'll give a 20 out here. Does that make a difference? This time of the month.

20. Pick up the one. Pick up the one. one. Does that make a difference? Okay, I don't need it. That's the right answer, right? I wouldn't take it because I don't need it. Absolutely not. No. No, that's not the right answer? No. Alright then, let me have the right answer. It's a 20, you want me to put a 50 out there? No, I don't want it. Because I have grace in me, so therefore I don't want it. Why aren't you taking it?

Grace is a gift that you have to still choose to receive. If I don't walk up and take your $20 bill, it may potentially be a gift from you, but I'm not receiving the gift. Why don't you believe that? Okay, I'll take it. Okay, I'll take it. That means that I have grace in me because God gave me this as a free gift. Take it. Well, I don't want to walk down.

It's a whole different thing. Nobody took this, why didn't you take it? Because we didn't believe you, that's why. You didn't believe me. No, it's a free gift, so therefore... I said it was totally free. Yeah, so I believe it, then that's great. If you believed it, why didn't you come out and take it? Yeah. I've already gotten it. No. It's still there. The 20 is still there.

The principle being, even though it's a free gift, a gift still has to be received. It has to be received, but the more important thing is, you have to believe who's giving it, and the words of who is saying it. You have to believe he's faithful and trustworthy.

You don't believe me. You think there's a string attached. No. You think there's something? Well, why didn't you take it? It was free. Because it's a trick question. Okay, so you don't trust me. It was Lucy with the football. You don't trust me, do you? I'll do it this time. You don't trust me.

The point being is grace is just like that. It's a cheap, cheap analogy. But if you don't believe God is there to give you unlimited blessings, unmerited, there was no merit to this. You have to walk up and take it. It's the only thing. That's thank you. Come up and take it. That's all you had to do.

If you don't trust me or believe me that that was the offer, a sincere offer, you're not going to do it. Same thing in grace. If you don't believe that God is giving you unlimited blessings based on nothing that you do, But the point is you have to believe and faith in what he said. Grace is unlimited, unmerited blessings. Unmerited. You don't feel worthy. Perfect answer. Why don't you feel worthy?

I have worked for it. Because it's not a human condition. Who is unworthy? When you say you have to work for it, who... I feel that. You have two natures. The old man is feeling unworthy. He's got to do something. But the new creature in Christ, your two natures in you, absolutely worthy because we're in Him. Did God look at Christ and go, I don't think so. I think He needs to do a little bit more.

We're in Him. That's the perfect point. When you feel unworthy, That's your old man. That's why the intimacy that we can call God the Father, Abba Father, Daddy. How intimate is that with the God of the universe? We can come into his presence and say, Daddy. In myself, in old nature, couldn't do that. Don't feel worthy. Couldn't. But I can go in there in who I am in Christ. and say, Daddy, I have an intimate conversation with you. Because I'm in Christ. I'm seated in the heavenlies positionally. Conditionally, I have two natures right now. And who's domineering?

If I'm not worthy and feeling unworthy, the old man is. But as you grow in the grace and knowledge, you suddenly realize, I can go into him. You know, I was baptized when I was 11 years old, and years later, I thought, oh dear, I'd like to be baptized again to get rid of all those sins. But you know, you can't do those things. But you really have a good point. You don't feel worthy. That's what I try to tell people. If you're doing that, again, that's the old man. And if you understand who you are in Christ, you're perfectly worthy to go in. Perfectly in Christ. Nothing of ourselves. It's who we are in Christ.

Some quotes from... You got time? It's 10 o'clock now. I think Brian's probably not here or something. He's here, but maybe... I don't know, I just suddenly looked at the clock and we didn't hear either of the bells. My dad's been working a really good Sunday school lesson and he got distracted. Is he supposed to get yet, Mike?

There being no cause in the creature why grace should be shown, the creature must be brought off from trying to give cause to God for his grace. The discovery by the creature that he is truly the object of divine grace, works the utmost humility, for the receiver of grace is brought to know his own absolute unworthiness and his complete inability to attain worthiness, yet he finds himself blessed on another principle outside himself. Therefore, the flesh has no place in the plan of grace. This is the great reason why grace is hated by the proud, natural-minded man.

Exactly. But see, the grace instructs us, I think, in pointing us what is of man, what is of our flesh, and what is of Christ. You know, that's the growing part of that grace, is that he's instructing us, you know, I think he shows us when I, we were talking about you helping, you know, you feel like you had to do something. Well, it's because God would feel better, you know, be happy of what I did.

Why don't you cut it off, give me the 20 bucks and let's get out of here. I was going to say, you need to let Mike take the $20 so he can take you out to lunch. Take you out to lunch, exactly, cheapskate. What do you mean? Courtney, he did. Courtney, Nick will take the $20. Thanks, Dad. Yeah, yeah. It's just interesting. God's given me an opportunity to work with prisoners out at Jefferson County Jail.

And I made a similar I said, if I said I'd pay you ten bucks to come to chapel next Sunday, would you come for the ten bucks? And the response there, a natural man is responding, okay, I'll take the ten bucks, but what's the catch? What's my obligation?

So that idea of a free gift of God just goes against all the street smarts teaching. It's all against the flesh. The flesh doesn't operate in that, can't operate in that. So that's what we're trying to show you, again, grace and flesh. Alright, let's close.

Heavenly Father, we thank you again just for, as we study grace, and we have to be taught grace. Lord, it is just not something that we would come up with or we can just see in nature or figure it out on our own. Father, it is an incredible system in which we operate right now. The unlimited blessings and unmerited, because of what Christ did on the cross, we enter into this system of grace. Father, the only thing we can do is say, thank you.

Father, we just pray now for Vern upstairs. Just pray that he'll speak clearly your word and prepare our hearts to receive it. And Father, just let us understand and grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray in his name. Amen.