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Application & Practicality of Biblical Law

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• Well, I want you to turn in your Bibles, please, tonight to the book of Matthew chapter 5. And I want to ask that you follow with me in the Scriptures. Tonight is going to be what I'm going to call an extreme foundational sermon. Because after tonight, I'm going to take the next two nights and show you what is wrong in our personal lives, what is wrong in our families, what is wrong in our state, what is wrong in our nation, and how the Word of God, the law of God can be made very practical and very applicable. But look in Matthew chapter five, tonight I want to bring a message on the abiding validity of the law. Matthew chapter five, beginning with verse 17, Christ says, "Think not that I'm come to destroy the law, the prophets. I'm not come to destroy, but to fulfill."

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• "For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled. Whosoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." Now, the teaching of Jesus Christ was entirely different from the teaching of the scribes and the Pharisees.

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• In fact, if you look over in Matthew 7 and verse 29, you'll see this remarkable statement. The Word of God says concerning Christ, "For He taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes." So very clearly, then, His teaching was different.

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• Now, because Jesus Christ was against the tradition of the elders, because He was against the pharisaical interpretations, the rulers of His day supposed Him to be a charlatan and a deceiver, going about to destroy the very foundations of piety. And of course, Jesus Christ was not attempting to destroy the very foundations of piety. What He was doing, and I'll show you more tomorrow night and on Saturday night, He was indeed destroying their traditions and their misinterpretations of God's Word and God's law. So either by open accusation or subtle insinuation, it was around that Christ and His teachings were contrary to the law. So in Matthew chapter 5, Jesus Christ sets the record straight. Look in verse 17. Watch it again. He says, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law of the prophets. I have not come to destroy, but to fulfill." Now, let me give you very quickly an outline. We're going to look at verse 17 tonight, and you're going to see a divine prohibition. Jesus Christ said, "Think not." In other words, don't even begin to think.

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• I'll explain it later. But He prohibits us from thinking something in verse 17. And then in verse 18, you have a solemn affirmation. "For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled." In verse 19, you have a necessary conclusion, "...whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whosoever shall do and teach them the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." And then in verse 20, you have a very serious warning. He says, "For I say unto you that except your righteousness exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven."

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• Now, let me tell you, first of all, what Christ is not doing in this passage. I'll explain it more tomorrow night. But in this passage, Jesus Christ is not pitting Himself against the law of God. So many people try to say, "Well, Brother Weaver, don't you know that the Old Testament is law and the New Testament is grace?" No, I don't know that. Because the Bible says in Genesis chapter 6, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." And the Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians chapter 6, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and thy mother, which is the first commandment with promise." So you have grace in the Old Testament, you have law in the New Testament.

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• These two are not contradictory. They're not antithetical. They're not against each other. In fact, they are complementary. That is, they complete each other, as I shall explain a little bit later. And then secondly, Christ is not establishing some higher authority than the law of God. In fact, the Bible says in Romans 7, verse 12, that "the law is holy and the commandment is holy, just and good." Now, if God's law is holy, just and good, why in the world would Jesus Christ replace it? Certainly He would not. But what Christ is doing in this passage is He is refuting and denying the false misinterpretations and the misapplications of the Pharisees, and He is establishing God's law word as final and authoritative.

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• So let's go back to verse 17, and let's look first of all at this divine prohibition. Jesus Christ says, "Think not that I have come to destroy the law of the prophets. I have not come to destroy, but to fulfill." Now, note if you would please, these words, "think not." In fact, these words literally mean, do not even begin to think. Don't even let it enter into your mind.

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• I'll show it to you in the Bible just a little bit later, but this same phrase is translated a different way. It's translated, "God forbid," or literally, "perish the thought." So Jesus Christ is saying, "Perish the thought. God forbid, don't even begin to think that I've come to destroy the law of the prophets. I've not come to destroy, but to fulfill." So here, then, is a clear command.

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• Here is a divine prohibition. Jesus Christ said there is something that we're not even to begin to let enter into our minds. Now, look at it. He says in verse 17, "Think not that I am come to destroy."

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• Now, the word "destroy" is katalusai in the Greek, and it literally means to annul, to make invalid, to repeal, to dissolve, to dismantle, to abrogate, to take apart piece by piece. So literally, He says, "Do not even begin to think that I am come to disannul or dismantle or abrogate or set aside the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy." Now, I want you to know He said "the law or the prophets." Do you understand that this phrase is usually used in the Bible to refer to the entirety of the Word of God?

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• For instance, if you'll look in your Bibles to the book of Luke 24, hold Matthew 5, but look in Luke 24, and you'll see this in Luke 24 and verse 27. Here's the phrase once again, and it's put like this, "And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." So "Moses and the prophets," or "Moses or the prophets," is an expression then that would refer to the totality of Scripture. So He says, "Do not even begin to think that I'm come to destroy the law or the prophets." So He says, "I'm not come to set aside anything."

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• Now, when we talk about the law of God, usually most people divide it into three categories. We talk about the ceremonial law, which is those rules and those ordinances of worship around the tabernacle and around the temple. And then secondly, we talk about the judicial law, and that is describing those ordinances of government. And then, of course, we talk about the moral law, which most people refer to as the Ten Commandments.

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• Now, I will make a confession. I do not particularly like that division, and I'll tell you why. Because when you talk about the ceremonial and then the judicial and then the moral, somehow it almost implies that only the last is legitimate because it's moral. But let me tell you something, dear friend. The ceremonial laws were moral as well. The judicial laws were moral as well. Everything that God does and everything that God says is right. Because God is God. But usually we just say, "Well, here's the ceremonial and here's the judicial and here is the moral."

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• Now, Jesus Christ said, "Think not. Don't even begin to think that I've come to destroy the Law or the Prophets." So Jesus Christ did not come to invent a new way of religion. I'll explain that in just a moment. He did not come to start a new way of salvation. What Jesus Christ came to do was to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. He came to bring into fruition everything that the Word of God talked about in the Old Testament.

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• Now, look if you would, please, in verse 17 again of Matthew chapter 5. He said, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets." Now, let me try to use this as a way to express what we're talking about when our Lord says, "Do not even begin to think that I'm come to destroy the law," because He uses the phrase "the law or the prophets." Remember, the word "destroy" means to dismantle, it means to abrogate, it means to repeal, it means to take apart piece by piece. So let's take that and apply it to the prophets. When He says, "Do not even begin to think that I'm come to destroy the law or the prophets." If you were to destroy the prophets, what would you be doing?

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• You would be denying their validity. You would be, in essence, repudiating their inspiration. You would be saying that the prophets have absolutely no binding power and no binding influence upon anyone. You can see that, can't you?

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• Now, you take that very same thing and apply it to the law. So when He's talking about, "I come to destroy the law," He is not saying there that, "Well, you just shouldn't break the law." No, that's not what He's saying. What He's saying is, "I am not come to deny its validity. I'm not come to deny its authority and its binding power." So look now, He says in verse 17, "Do not even begin to think that I'm come to destroy the law of the prophets. I'm not come to destroy, but to fulfill." Now, let me deal with the word "fulfill," and this is just kind of basic so we can have a point of beginning. The word "fulfill" is from the Greek word pleroo.

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• It has basically three meanings. Number one, it means to fill and to make full. Number two, it means to set forth fully, to cause to abound. And number three, it means to fill and to keep full, to put into full force as continuous. So Jesus Christ says, "Do not think that I've come to abrogate or to annul or set aside the law or the prophets. I've not come to do that. Rather, what I've come to do is I have come to put it into full force as continuous. I've come to fulfill it."

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• Now, let me take the word "fulfill" in its broadest application. How in the world did Jesus Christ fulfill the law? Well, first of all, let me tell you that He fulfilled the law by enunciating the law in His teachings. In other words, I will share with you before I finish tonight how Jesus Christ is correcting the misinterpretation and the misapplications of the Pharisees. So, Jesus Christ fulfilled the law, first of all, by enunciating it, giving it its proper place and its proper teaching. Secondly, Jesus Christ fulfilled the law by exemplifying the law in His life.

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• Did you know the Bible says in the book of Galatians chapter four, "But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." Do you realize that Jesus Christ is the only individual that ever lived that kept the law personally and perfectly and perpetually? Jesus Christ said in John chapter 8 and verse 29, "I do always those things which please the Father." So Jesus Christ was made under the law, the Bible says, and Jesus Christ rendered to that law a personal, a perfect, and a perpetual obedience.

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• Now let me just ask a few questions. I want to show you how important the law of God is. Most people never even think about these things. But let me ask you a question. Don't answer out loud. But here's my first question. Which is more important? The circumcision of Christ? Or the crucifixion of Christ? Most everyone's going to say the crucifixion, but dear friend, let me tell you something, that circumcision is just as important because had Jesus Christ not kept the law, the crucifixion would have been to no avail. You say, "What are you talking about?" You see, Jesus Christ, by coming and being made under the law, He worked out, He earned, He merited a perfect righteousness.

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• Now, I want you to keep these three terms in your mind because I'm going to bring them up a little bit later. The law of God demands three things of every individual. It demands a personal obedience, a perfect obedience, and a perpetual obedience. Jesus Christ is the only one that ever rendered what the law demanded. That's why in the book of Isaiah, the Word of God prophesied that Jesus Christ would make God's law honorable. And He did so by obeying it in its total and absolute and every detail. Now, why is it important that Jesus Christ would keep the law perfectly?

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• Well, let me ask you another question. Now, I want you to think about this, but don't answer it out loud. Let's suppose that the only thing that Jesus Christ did for you, the only thing now, we're supposing, we're supposing the only thing that Jesus Christ did for you was to forgive you of your sins. That's all, nothing else. I've got a question. If all Jesus Christ did for you was to forgive you of your sins, would that be sufficient to get you into the presence of God? The answer is no. Forgiveness of sins might keep you out of hell, but it wouldn't get you into the presence of God. Why? Because if you are to go into the presence of God, you need more than forgiveness of your sins. You need an absolute, perfect righteousness.

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• Let me show you that. Look in your Bibles, Matthew chapter 5, but look in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. This is one of the most grand and glorious doctrines in the Word of God. This is known as the doctrine of imputation.

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• Now, let me just try to explain it just for a moment. Everyone in here, especially most of the women, know what the word "imputation" means. You say, "Well, Weaver, I don't." Well, you may not know technically, but you know practically, because many times when you go to the store and you see a beautiful dress and you'd like to buy it, but you don't have enough money, you go get it anyhow. And you say, "Impute this to my husband's account." Well, not really. You just say, "Charge it." OK, well, that's what the doctrine of imputation is. Now, let me just show you.

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• Let's suppose this tube of chapstick is the believer's sin. And let's suppose that this pocket knife represents the perfect righteousness that Jesus Christ worked out, that He earned, that He merited by His perfect obedience to the law of God.

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• Now, before I show you this, let's look in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 21. Watch carefully. "For He, that is God the Father, for He, God the Father, hath made Him, that is Jesus Christ, God the Son, for He, God the Father, hath made Him, God the Son, to be sin for us who knew no sin, watch, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." What did God do? God took our sins and imputed them, charged them to the account of Jesus Christ, and then God took the perfect righteousness that Jesus Christ earned and merited by His obedience to the law and charged that to our account. And so now God sees us as perfectly righteous in Jesus Christ. So Jesus Christ fulfilled the law, not only by enunciating it, but He fulfilled it by rendering a practical and a perfect and a personal and a perpetual obedience unto it. And then thirdly, Jesus Christ empowers His people to keep the law of God.

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• Now, I'll explain that a little bit more later, but you remember the New Covenant? What has He done according to Jeremiah 31? What has He done according to Hebrews 10? He's written His laws upon our hearts where now we want to obey Him. We now want to honor Him. And then, of course, lastly, His law, of course, is going to be executed upon the unbelievers. You know, it's very interesting and I'm going to cover this, too, but there are a lot of people that say, "Well, the law has been done away with." Well, let me ask you a question, folks. If the law has been done away with, how in the world is God going to judge the wicked?

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• What standard will He use? If the law has been done away with, how will He ever judge the wicked? Well, very clearly, the law has not been done away with because the curse and the broken penalty of that law will be charged upon the wicked, and they shall perish for their sins. And so what our Lord is doing in Matthew 5 and verse 17, He is confirming and establishing the law by giving us a divine prohibition. He says, "Don't even begin to think, don't even let it enter into your mind that I've come to destroy the law of the prophets. I have not come to destroy, but to fulfill." Now, wait a minute.

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• You say, "Brother Weaver, I read my Bible. And I do know that there are some passages, especially in the New Testament, that tend to make one believe that the law has been done away with." Yes, I understand there's some passages like that, and I'm going to show you some of them in just a moment. But may I remind you this? First of all, when it comes to biblical interpretation, you cannot interpret one scripture so as to make it contradict another plain scripture. If you do so, your interpretation is wrong.

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• Now, I don't know how much plainer that you can get than Matthew 5:17, where Christ says, "Do not even begin to think that I've come to destroy the law. I have not come to destroy it, but I've come to put it into full force that's continuous." So, first of all, you cannot interpret one passage to make it contradict another passage. Secondly, you cannot pit Scripture against Scripture. You cannot pick and choose. You can't say, "Oh, Brother Weaver, I'm going to believe this one, but I'm not going to believe that." Oh, no.

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• We bow to the totality of the Word of God. Now, let me just show you now, please, please write these down or memorize them or something. I'm going to show you three ways that every negative passage in the New Testament can be explained, that is, every negative passage concerning the law. And if you will study the context of every negative passage, you will find that one of these three explanations will always be there in the context.

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• You say, "What are you talking about?" Well, first of all, there are those passages that renounce the law as a means of justification. There are those passages that renounce the law as a means of justification. I'm going to show it to you in the Bible in just a moment, but let me say this, folks. There is no one that will ever be justified by the law. There's no one that will ever be saved by keeping the law. It is absolutely impossible. And so what the Apostle Paul is doing is he is renouncing not the law of God as a whole, but he is renouncing it as a means of justification. God never gave the law as a standard for justification.

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• If you look in your Bibles to the book of Romans, chapter six, Romans, chapter six. Notice, if you would please, verse 14. And may I remind you, we'll look at the context a little bit later, but may I remind you that the apostles' argument for justification by faith actually begins in chapter 3 and runs all the way through chapter 8. When you get to chapter 6, this is right smack dab in the middle of an argument of justification by faith only. He says in Romans 6 and verse 14, "For sin shall not have dominion over you." Why?

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• "For you are not under the law, but under grace." Well, what does Paul mean? Does that mean I can go out and murder? Does that mean I can go out and be a whoremonger? Well, of course not. What he is saying is you're not under the law as a means of justification. God never gave you that law. We are under grace. We're justified by grace through faith. So the law was never intended as an instrument of justification.

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• Look in your Bibles to the book of Galatians, chapter two. Galatians 2, verse 16, it can't be any plainer than this, but here's a negative passage concerning the law and what it is doing. It is renouncing the law as a means of justification. Notice in Galatians 2, verse 16, he says, "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law. And by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." So is Paul saying the law is no good? No, he's not saying the law is no good. He's just saying God never gave the law as a standard for justification.

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• No one is ever saved by keeping the law, because I'm going to show you it's impossible. I had a friend. He was unconverted. He was an older man. I really enjoyed being around him because he was one of these fellows that lived through the Depression. He had a lot of wisdom in sense of how to do without and, you know, how to save like that. But I witnessed to him many times. And one time he told me this.

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• He said, "Brother Weaver, let me tell you this. I have no doubt that I'm going to heaven." I said, "Oh, what do you base that upon?" He said, "Well, I don't beat my wife. I pay my bills and I treat my neighbor right." I said, "Sir, you're lost. You're never ever going to work your way into heaven. You can't. It's impossible." So there are those passages, first of all, that renounce the law as a means of justification. Secondly, there are those passages that point to the death-dealing nature of sin in relation to the law.

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• Let me say that again. There are those passages that point to the death-dealing nature of sin in relation to the law. You say, "What are you talking about?" Well, look in the book of Galatians, chapter 3, verse 13 to begin with. Galatians 3, verse 13. Notice the Apostle Paul says this, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law." Now, He hasn't redeemed us from the law. He's redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written, "Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree." Now, wait a minute. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. Well, how do we get under the curse of the law? Well, let's go back. Let's read in Galatians chapter three, verse 10. Watch carefully. He says, "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse." That is, if you're trying to be saved by the law, if you're trying to be justified by the law, you're under the curse of the law.

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• What is it? "For it is written, Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all the things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident, that the just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith, but the man that doeth them shall live in them."

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• Now go back, if you would, to verse 10. He said, "...cursed is everyone that continueth not in all the things which are written in the book of the law to do them." What does the law demand? It demands a personal obedience, a perfect obedience, and a perpetual obedience. Who can give it that? No one. Let me just show you. Let's suppose that you were enabled from this day forward to live a perfect life.

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• You never sinned again physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. From this day forward, you were perfect. From this day forward, you gave to the law a personal, perfect, and a perpetual obedience. Would that get you into the presence of God? No. Because what about all those sins you committed before you got perfect? It's impossible. God never, ever gave a law for justification. And then sometimes there are those passages that point to the death-dealing nature of sin in relationship to the law, saying that we're under the curse, we're under the broken penalty, or we're under the penalty for breaking that law.

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• And then thirdly, in fact, let me show you another one. Look in Galatians 2, verse 19, before we give you the third one. When the Apostle Paul says, "For I through the law am dead to the law that I might live unto God." What does Paul mean? "I, through the law, am dead to the law." Does that mean Paul can go out and commit adultery? No. Does that mean Paul can go out and steal? No.

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• What he's saying is simply this. "I, through the law, am dead to the curse and to the penalty of that law that I might live unto God." Why is he free from the curse and the penalty? Because he has been redeemed by Christ, who suffered the penalty and the curse in our stead. But there's a third way that you can explain the negative passage, and that is those scriptures that refer to what we call the ceremonial law.

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• Now, I'm going to explain this, but I want you to look in the book of Ephesians, chapter two, Ephesians, chapter two. Now, I'm going to show you that all of God's law is in full effect in just a moment, but watch this. Look in Ephesians chapter 2 just to show you that we're talking about Jesus Christ. Skip up to verse 13. He says, "But now in Christ Jesus, you who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace, who hath made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us." So he's talking about that partition in the tabernacle, that partition in the temple. Watch verse 15. "Having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments," now he's not talking about the moral law, the judicial law, "the law of commandments contained in ordinances," so he's referring to the ceremonial law, "for to make in Himself of twain one new man, so making peace, and that He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby."

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• Now, you say, "Brother Weaver, you just said that all of God's law is in effect. But now you just said there are some passages here that refer to the ceremonial law that Christ took out of the way." And I understand that. And I did say that. And that's one way that you can explain negative passages here. But I want you to understand something about the ceremonial law. You say, "Brother Weaver, the ceremonial law has been done away with because, I mean, you know, we don't have a high priest and we don't have an altar and we don't have a temple and we don't bring dripping blood sacrifices."

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• Let me ask you a question. When you were in church this past Lord's Day, did you worship God? You said, "Brother Weaver, the ceremonial law has been done away with." No. The ceremonial law has not been done away with, per se. Listen, the ceremonial law has been fulfilled, and we now have the substance, we now have the reality, where in the Old Testament they had the type and the shadow. You say, "Brother Weaver, I don't go to high priests." If you don't, you don't worship God. For Jesus Christ is our high priest. Hebrews chapter 4. You say, "But I didn't bring a sacrifice." If you didn't, you didn't worship God. For even Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us. 1 Corinthians 5. "Well, I didn't come to an altar." Well, if you didn't, you didn't come to God. Hebrews 13. We have an altar, Jesus Christ, where those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. Jesus Christ is our temple. Jesus Christ is our altar. Jesus Christ is our sacrifice. Jesus Christ is our High Priest.

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• No, this ceremonial law has not been done away with. We have the substance. We have the reality. It's been fulfilled in Christ. It continues. It goes on because we have reality. So, God's ceremonial law has not been done away with. It has been fulfilled. God's judicial law has not been done away with. Listen, folks, the death penalty is still in effect. Jesus Christ did not destroy the Scripture that says, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed." He didn't destroy that. He didn't destroy the passage that says, "Thou shalt not suffer a murderer to live." He didn't do away with that. And certainly the moral law has not been done away with. He says, "Do not even begin to think that I've come to destroy the law of the prophets. I've not come to destroy, but to fulfill."

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• Now, I want to just reason with you a little bit. I'm going to reason with you from Scripture. Because inevitably, invariably, you have heard, and you may have even said and taught and preached yourself. I did in times past until I learned better. "Well, the law has been done away with." Well, now, I want us to think about that, folks. I want to show you some Scriptures, and I want you to think very seriously about this. First of all, if the law has been done away with, if the law has been done away with, if it has, first of all, there's no such thing as sin. If the law has been done away with, what's wrong with adultery? What's wrong with murder? What's wrong with theft? I'm going to show you this from the scripture in just a moment, but I had one of my men come to me a few years ago and he said, "Brother Weaver," he said, "you know, Pastor so and so down the street." I said, "No, I don't know him."

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• He said, "Well, I was talking to him the other day and he said, he told me the law had been done away with." And I said, "Oh, he doesn't believe that." And the gentleman kind of got a little irritated. He thought I was questioning. He said, "Well, that's what he told me." I said, "No, no, Mark. I said, you misunderstood. I did not say he did not tell you that. I meant that he does not really believe that." I want to tell you what I told my man.

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• And I'm not saying this to be ugly and I'm not saying this to be funny. I'm not saying to be crass or gross, but I'm just trying to prove a point. I said, "Mark, he doesn't really believe that the law has been done away with." Well, he said, "I don't know whether or not he believes it, but that's what he said." I said, "Well, I can tell you how you can test him." He said, "How?" I said, "You just go back to him and ask him if it would be all right with him if you spent the night with his wife." What do you think that preacher would have done? He'd have probably swung at Mark. I would have.

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• But folks, listen to me. If the law has been done away with, what's wrong with adultery?

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• Now, let me show you. You and I cannot even know what sin is without the law. Look in your Bibles to the book of Romans 3:20. Romans 3:20. Look what he says. Romans chapter 3, verse 20. The Word of God says, "Therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in His sight." Watch that. So here's a negative passage concerning the law dealing with justification. So the law was never given for justification. "Therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin." You cannot even know what sin is, apart from the law of God. Let me show you. Look in Romans chapter 7. Romans chapter 7. And let's begin reading there with verse 7.

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• The Apostle Paul writes, "What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid." See, there's that expression. "Perish the thought. Don't even let it enter into your mind. Is the law sin? God forbid." He says, "Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence." Watch what he says. "For without the law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died."

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• Now, what in the world is he talking about? "I was alive without the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died." Don't you remember Paul was a Pharisee? He's in Philippians chapter three. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. Then he said, "as touching the law, blameless." May I remind you that the Pharisees always taught that the law was totally external. Here's what they taught. They taught as long as you've never taken a knife and plunged it in someone's heart and killed him, you're not a murderer. But that's not what Jesus Christ taught, but that's what the Pharisees taught, you see. Christ said, "If you hate your brother, you're a murderer." See, they said, "If you've never physically laid with another man's wife, you're not an adulterer." That's what they said.

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• But Christ said, "Whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." You see, the Pharisees externalized everything. And so Paul was saying, "I was alive once without the law. I was blameless." He said, "Man, I thought I had a righteousness that was perfect. I had my own righteousness." But he said, "When the commandment came," that is the law, "when I saw the spirituality of it, when the commandment came, sin revived and I died." When I saw that God's law actually touches even the inward nature and the inward part of man, I realized I am a sinner.

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• I'm the one that had sinned and come short of the glory of God. And I died to my self-righteousness and to my works. See, you cannot even know what sin is without the law. Look in your Bibles to 1 John chapter 3 and verse 4. Here's a verse that everyone ought to be able to memorize. You ought to memorize this. Look what he says in 1 John chapter 3 and verse 4. In this passage, John tells us exactly what sin is. He says, "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law." You can't sin without violating God's law. If you haven't violated God's law, you haven't sinned. But whenever you violate God's law, you've sinned. You see, folks, if the law has been done away with, we don't know what sin is. We can't preach against it. We can't define it. But John said, "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law."

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• Secondly, let me tell you something else. Are you listening? If the law has been done away with, not only is there no sin, there is no salvation. You say, "What?" Well, look in your Bibles. Galatians chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3 and look at verse 24. Galatians 3 verse 24. Look what the Apostle Paul writes, Galatians 3 verse 24. "Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith."

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• Did you hear what he said? "The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ."

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• Now, I realize the illustration I'm about to use will not be appropriate for today's children. But some of us who are a little older will remember the days of the one-room schoolhouse when the teacher had several grades in one room. And usually what happened was this. There was a blackboard behind the teacher. And on top of that blackboard was a rod. Not just a switch, but a rod. And in the upper left-hand corner of that blackboard, there was something like this. "Lying, five lashes. Stealing, seven lashes. Cursing, eight lashes. Fighting, ten lashes." And if you got caught fighting, they didn't take you to the principal's office and smack you once or twice. They brought you up in front of the class and you took your shirt off and they gave you ten lashes.

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• Because that's what the law demanded. You see, now listen to me. What does a school teacher do? A school teacher not only educates, but disciplines. The law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. How can the law be a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ? Because the law teaches us, it educates us in a certain way. What does it show us? What does it teach us? First of all, it teaches us that we're sinners, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

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• Secondly, it shows us that we cannot save ourselves because we cannot give to the law that personal, perfect and perpetual obedience that it demands. Thirdly, it shows us that there's a great chasm. There's a great gulf between a sinner and an infinite holy God. And fourthly, it teaches us that if we ever get to God, we must get to Him through the merits of someone else who is absolutely perfect, and that someone else is Jesus Christ. You do away with the law. You've done away with salvation. By the way, I'm going to tell you, one of the real reasons there's no real conversion today is we don't preach the law of God.

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• The old Puritans used to say it like this. "The sharp needle of the law must precede the scarlet thread of the gospel." Folks, let me tell you, if you do away with the law of God, you've done away with sin, you've done away with salvation. And inevitably, invariably, someone comes along and says this. "Oh, but Brother Weaver, don't you know love has replaced the law? And all we've got to do is love, love, love, love." And what they mean by love is a sickly, syrupy, sentimental emotionalism that courts sin and pets sin and allows everybody to do what they want to do. And you just love them anyhow. Now, I'm going to tell you something, folks. Love has not replaced the law. Are you listening? Biblical love is the law. Romans 13, verse 10. If you don't believe me, look at it. "Love is the fulfilling of the law." Look there. Turn there.

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• Let me show it to you. I want you to see it in the context. Romans chapter 13. Let's begin reading there with verse 8.

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• Now, here's a verse a lot of folks don't like to quote, especially the first part of it. "Owe no man anything." Pay your bills. Pay your debts. "Owe no man anything, but to love one another." Watch it. "For he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law." Watch verse 9. "For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet. And if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law."

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• I'm going to explain that in just a moment, but I want you to turn in your Bibles to 1 John, chapter five. Since I'm talking about biblical love, let me just show you what it is. 1 John, chapter five. I had someone ask me a question last night, "Brother Weaver, how in the world can we tell whether or not we're being obedient to God's law or not?" Well, let me show you. Look in 1 John, chapter five.

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• And notice, if you would please, verse two. First John five, verse two, "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments." Now, wait, "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments."

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• Now, let me just try to show you something. Let's suppose that after service tonight, I run up to Pastor Wardlaw and I put my arms around his neck. And I'm crying. Tears are running down my cheek and I'm hugging his neck. And I say, "Brother, I love you. I love you. I love you." And everybody hears me. Everybody sees me. And somebody says, "Oh, look how Brother Weaver loves Brother Wardlaw. Isn't that wonderful?" But while I'm telling him I love him,

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• I've got my hands in his pocket stealing a hundred dollar bill from him. I want to ask you a question. According to the law of God, do I love Him? No. No matter what I say, I don't. Because love is the fulfilling of the law, and the law says, "Thou shalt not steal."

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• Now, let me show you the other coin, the other side of the coin. Let's suppose that I never come up to Brother Wardlaw and I never get emotional. Let's suppose I never say, "I love you." But yet, I always respect him. I treat him the way God tells me to treat him. I respect his property. I respect his wife, his children, his family, his pastor. I act toward him every way that God commands me to act toward him. Do I love him? Yes. Because, he says, "Hereby we do know that we love the brethren when we love God and keep His commandments." Now, if you really want to know what love is, look in verse 3. Watch carefully. "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not grievous." Love is not sentimentalism. Love is not emotionalism. Love is obedience. Love is keeping God's law. Now, you remember Jesus Christ said something like this in John 14, verse 21, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." Verse 24, "He that keepeth not My sayings, loveth Me not."

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• Now let me show you something. I almost hate to show you this, because it shoots so many church members right out of the saddle. But it's the truth. I want you to watch it. Look in 1 John 2. 1 John 2, beginning there with verse 3. 1 John 2, verse 3. "And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments."

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• Now, let me just stop there. How do I know that I love God? Because I am being enabled, I am being empowered by His Holy Spirit to bring my life more and more in conformity to His Word. "Hereby I do know that I know Him if I keep His commandments." Ah, but look at verse 4. "He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him."

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• So here's a man who says he's a Christian, and he's been whoring around for years or stealing for years. Is he a Christian? Not according to the Word of God. Not according to the Word of God. For he says in verse 4, "He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." See, love has not replaced the law. Love is the fulfilling of the law, if you understand what love is.

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• Let me point something else out. I want you to turn back in your Bibles to the book of Romans, chapter 3, and get ready for this, all right? Romans, chapter 3. Get ready for this, because I'm going to show you a scripture. I'm going to make a statement. And I want you to understand this statement. Listen to me. Any so-called gospel that destroys or sets aside the law of God is not the gospel of grace.

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• You say, "Brother Weaver, how can you say that?" Because God said it. Just to show you Paul's argument of justification by faith, let's look in Romans 3 and verse 28. Watch carefully. "Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law." So you don't need your works to be justified. "Man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Is He the God of the Jews only?"

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• "Is He not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also. Seeing it is one God which shall justify the circumcision by faith and the uncircumcision through faith." Watch what Paul says. "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid! Yea, we establish the law." Did you hear what he said? Real justification by faith establishes the law. The real gospel of grace establishes the law. It doesn't make it void. Once again, he says, "God forbid, perish the thought." Did you know that even the law taught faith? Now, the law did not say, but it certainly taught that.

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• Look in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 23, verse 23. Look what Jesus Christ Himself said. I don't know about you, but I'll take His word for it. Matthew chapter twenty three verse twenty three. He's getting a hold of these Pharisees, and he says in verse twenty three of chapter twenty three of Matthew, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith."

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• "These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone." Did you hear what he said? "You pay tithes of mint and anise and cummin." Listen, you are so particular that you want to make sure that you tithe down to the tenacious herb. You should have been that particular, he says, but what you've done is this. You paid attention to those and you left out the weightier matters, judgment, mercy and faith. So any gospel that does away with the law of God is not the true gospel. Because Paul said in Romans chapter 3 and verse 31, justification by faith establishes the law of God. It doesn't do away with it. It establishes it.

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• Let me show you something. I'm not going to take time to go through the Bible and show you this, but I want you to remember that every time our Lord witnessed in the Bible, every time He witnessed, He always used the law of God. You look in John chapter 4, the woman at the well. You say, "How did he use the law of God there?" He said, "Go call your husband." What's the seventh commandment?

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• "Thou shalt not commit adultery." What? She said, "I have no husband." He said, "You're dead right. You've had four or five. The one you've got now is not your husband. In that, sayest thou truly." Look at Mark chapter 10. Here came the rich young ruler. He said, "Good Master, what must I do that I may inherit eternal life?" Our Lord rebuffed him. He said, "Why callest thou me good? There's none good but one, that's God." What did he mean? He's saying, "If I'm good, I'm God. If I'm God, you don't come running in my presence demanding something of me." But anyhow, since you've asked, I'm going to tell you, "You know the commandments, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not kill." And you know what the young man said?

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• "All these have I kept from my youth up. What lack I yet?" Oh, our Lord said, "Quoting the law is just insufficient for you. You're a little dull. Tell you what? I'll make an application. You go and sell everything that you have and give to the poor and take up your cross and follow me. And that'll do it."

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• Now, let me ask you a question. When the Lord saved you, did you sell everything you had and give to the poor? No, you didn't. You still have things. Well, why did our Lord tell this young man that? Because He wanted this young man to see that he had violated the law of God. The first commandment is, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." This young man had as his God his money.

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• For he went away exceedingly grieved. For he had great possessions. And what our Lord was doing was taking His finger and pricking the tender spot of covetousness and idolatry. And He said, "Son, you go back and deal with that sin. You are a sinner. The law of God just showed you." So every time our Lord witnessed, He always used the law. So He gives you in Matthew 5 and verse 17 a divine prohibition. He says, "Look, don't even begin to think that I've come to destroy the law of the prophets. I've not come to destroy, but to fulfill."

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• to put into full force as continuous. Now, let's go to the second point. I won't preach as long on the other points as the first one, but look in Matthew 5, verse 18. Here is the solemn affirmation. By the way, let me just tell you, if the law is separated from grace, then grace also disappears. For the Bible knows nothing of an antinomian grace. Jesus Christ does not save a man just so that man can live any way he pleases. When Jesus Christ saves you, you live the way Christ pleases. And if you've been saved, you're pleased to live that way. So the Bible knows nothing of someone being saved and then they continue to live in their sins.

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• May I remind you, by the way, I always get odd looks when I say this. But Jesus Christ did not come to save anybody from hell. He didn't. He came to save us from our sins, which send us to hell. "Thou shalt call His name Jesus." Why? "For He shall save His people from their sins." Being saved from hell is a byproduct of being saved from sin, which sends you to hell. And when He saves you, He saves you from your sins. So the Bible knows of no one being saved and continuing in a life of constant rebellion and wickedness. No.

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• Secondly, here's the solemn affirmation in verse 18. He says, "For verily I say to you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled." Now, I want to call your attention in verse 17. He says, "Do not even begin to think I'm come to destroy the law of the prophets." However, in verse 18, he singles out the law because he knows most people will probably try to deny or denounce it. In verse 18, you have the eternal validity of the law. You have the abiding validity. For he says, "Verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled." That reminds you that the law is an expression of God's will.

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• A king rules by his will. A king rules by his law. Because God is immutable, unchangeable, His law is immutable, unchangeable. Because God is eternal, His law is eternal. And Jesus Christ said in v. 18, "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled." Now let me show you how abiding and how valid this law is. You know what a jot is? Some of you don't. A jot or a yodh is the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet.

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• It's much like our comma, only a tad smaller. If you watch my finger, I'll make one for you.

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• Now, you didn't see it. Number one, you weren't looking. Number two, it's too small. It's almost like our comma. That's all it is. Listen to what Jesus Christ said. Jesus Christ said it's easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for the smallest Hebrew letter in the law to pass until all be fulfilled. I don't know about you, but that sounds pretty valid to me. Sounds pretty abiding.

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• Well, what is a tittle? Well, let me explain it. Let's suppose I had a blackboard and I took a piece of chalk and I wrote LITTLE, the word little. But I made my T's kind of fat and so did I make my I kind of fat. L-I-T-T-L-E. Well, how do you know which is the I and which is the T? Oh, I'll fix that. I go back and I put a little dot over that I and I put a little cross over that T. Now, that little dot over that I is not a letter.

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• It's a small distinguishing mark between letters. That little cross of that T is not a letter in itself. It's a small distinguishing mark that will distinguish it from an L in English. Well, in Hebrew, that's what a tittle is. A tittle is not even a letter. It's just a small distinguishing mark. So Jesus Christ said it's easier for heaven and earth to pass than even for the smallest distinguishing mark between two Hebrew letters to pass until all be fulfilled.

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• I don't know about you, but that sounds pretty abiding to me. What did our Lord say in Psalm 119, verse 89? "Forever, O Lord, is Thy Word settled in the heaven." So you have a solemn affirmation in verse 18.

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• Thirdly, if you look in verse 19, you have a necessary conclusion. He said, "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."

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• Now, let me tell you something, folks. Verse 19 is exactly what the Pharisees were doing. They were breaking the commandments and they were teaching others to do so.

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• Now, I want you to listen to me carefully. That is exactly what we do today, especially when we convey the idea, "Well, you're saved by grace. That means you can live any way you please." Listen, folks. Grace is that which saves us. We're not saved by grace plus works. We're not saved by grace plus anything. It is pure, sheer, undiluted and unadulterated grace. But let me tell you something, folks. The grace that saves always works. And it always demonstrates and evidences itself that it is a real, genuine work of God's grace. Now, let me just try to show you something. What most churches have done, even when I was growing up, we have kicked out God's law and we have our own little rules, our own little system of laws.

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• You know what that does? That makes us good Pharisees. You know, you're talking about legalists. Now that makes us legalistic. And it makes us content in our sins. Let me give you an illustration. I was raised in church. And, boy, we had a preacher that would say, "You don't go to the movies, you don't go to the movies, you don't go to the movies." Hey, I'm not telling anybody to go to the movies. I don't go to the movies.

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• But that's all he said. "You don't go to the movies, you don't go to the movies." And you know what our people did? They wouldn't go to the movies. They wouldn't. But when the same wicked, ungodly, reprobate picture came on their own TV sets at home, they sat there and watched it. And then they said, "Bless God, I don't go to the movies." Listen, the principle in the Bible is not "Thou shalt not go to the movies." The principle is "Thou shalt set no wicked thing before your eyes." And if it's wrong at the movies, it's wrong at home.

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• But you see what we've done? We've made good little Pharisees out of ourselves. And we can say, "I don't drink, and I don't smoke, and I don't chew, and I don't go with the girls that do." But we do everything else we want to do. And I'm going to tell you something, folks. This is a sad truth, and it is a sad commentary. Do you realize in the average church, in the average Baptist church, in the average Southern Baptist church, in the average independent Baptist church, as long as you come to church on Sunday morning and Sunday night and Wednesday night and go to visitation, most preachers don't care how you live. If you want to sleep with somebody else's wife, have at it.

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• Just be faithful and give. They don't care. They won't exercise church discipline. No. You see, what we're doing is this. We're teaching people to be good little Pharisees. We're teaching them to deny God's law. And we say they're spiritually OK just so they keep our rules. And our Lord said, "Whosoever shall break one of these commandments, the least of them, and shall teach men to do so, he shall be called least in the kingdom of God. But whosoever shall do and teach them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of God."

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• Now, look, if you would please, verse 20. I want you to see this serious warning. Oh boy, you're talking about a serious warning. Watch it. Christ says, "For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." Let me read that again. Listen now. Christ said, "Except your righteousness exceed, go beyond the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." Now, you've got to remember that the Pharisees, they only had an external righteousness. They had nothing internal, just merely external. Did you know the average Baptist preacher today would give his right arm to have a church full of Pharisees? You know why?

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• You never had to beg them to come, brother. They were always here. They wanted to show everybody they could be the first one here. Never had to ask them to pray, man. They'd fight to see who'd get to pray. They'd bring their Bibles every service. Sit there and look through them. And brother, when the offering plate came by, they put in big amounts and wanted to make sure everybody saw them.

  #102 | 1:01:49 to 1:02:06 | cleaned

• And the average pastor would be just as happy to have a church full of Pharisees because he has no problems. But let me tell you something, and it's a sad commentary. The Pharisees in our Lord's day went so much further than the modern day, even professing Christian of today. And our Lord said, "Let me tell you something, except your righteousness exceed theirs, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." What is he saying? You've got to have a righteousness that is internal, a righteousness that only He can give, a righteousness that is internal that comes and works its way out externally. They only have the external. We must have the internal and the external.

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• Now, I want to show you what Jesus Christ is doing in this passage. After He gets through saying, "For I say to you that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter the kingdom of heaven," He begins now to correct the false interpretation of the law by the Pharisees. For instance, look in verse 21. "You have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill."

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• Now, here's what they said the sixth commandment meant. But look down in verse 22, "But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause," etc. But note what He did. He said, "You've heard it said by them of old time. Here's what they taught you. But here is what I say. This is the real teaching of the law." Look in your Bibles, if you would please, to verse 27. He says, "You have heard that it was said by them of old time,

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• "Thou shalt not commit adultery." That is, don't commit the physical act. Look what he says. "I'm correcting that. But I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." Christ is saying, "I'm saying, not only don't do the act, don't have the thought." So the Sabbath commandment goes beyond the act. Look what he said, if you would please, in verse 31. "It has been said," verse 32, "but I say unto you," verse 33. "Again, you have heard that it has been said by them of old time," verse 34, "but I say unto you." Verse 38, "You have heard that it has been said, an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth," verse 39, "but I say unto you." Look in verse 43, "You have heard that it has been said," verse 44, "but I say unto you." What is Christ doing? Christ is not doing away with the law. Christ is establishing the law. The only thing He's doing away is the misinterpretation and the misapplication of the Pharisees concerning the law.

  #106 | 1:04:11 to 1:05:18 | cleaned

• Here's the true teaching of the Word of God. Now, let me ask you a question. I don't know if you've ever thought about this or not, but why did Jesus Christ take the pains to go down in Matthew 5 and correct all of this pharisaical misinterpretation of the law? Why did He say, "You've heard it said by them of old time, but I say unto you" over and over and over?

  #107 | 1:05:19 to 1:05:46 | cleaned

• Why did He do it? Here's why. Watch. Look down in your Bibles to verse 45. "That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven." Let me stop there. "That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven." Let me tell you, a child looks like his parents, acts like them, walks like them, talks like them. I go into many churches and sometimes I play a little game with myself. I look out in the congregation, the men and the women, and I'll say, "Well, that woman belongs to that man or that man belongs to that woman. And those children belong to that couple."

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• And I put them together in my mind. And usually after the meeting, when I begin to introduce them, I've hit it right on the head. "Well, Brother Weaver, this is my wife" or "Brother Weaver, this is my husband. These are my children." You say, "How can you do that?" Because folks look like each other after they've lived with each other for so long. And the kids look like each other. What does our Lord say? He said, "I'm correcting this because I want you to be the children of your Father who is in heaven. I want you to walk the way He would have you to walk. And I want you to talk and act the way He would have you to talk and act."

  #109 | 1:06:46 to 1:07:30 | cleaned

• Because I came not to abolish, to abrogate, to set aside, to nullify the law. I came to put it in the full force as continuous.

  #110 | 1:07:31 to 1:07:43 | cleaned

• Now, folks, let me tell you, the totality of Scripture is our rule for faith and practice. The totality of Scripture. Someone says, "Well, Brother Weaver, I'm a New Testament Christian." Well, is the Old Testament the Word of God or is it not? What's wrong with the Old Testament? I understand what you mean by that. We're living now in the time of the fullness of Christ. But, dear friend, let me tell you something. You cannot understand the New Testament without the Old. And you cannot understand the Old without the New. And if you went through the New Testament and took out just the references to the Old Testament, you would lose over half of the New Testament. If you took out all the implied verses, you would lose three quarters of the New Testament. The totality of Scripture is our rule for faith and practice. None of God's Word has been abrogated. None of it has been set aside. It's all there. I want you to understand that the immutability of God confirms the immutability of His Word and the immutability of His law.

  #111 | 1:07:43 to 1:09:02 | cleaned

• I told you on Tuesday night, and it's still, I want to repeat it tonight, it all boils down to this, folks. You're either going to be under God's law or you're going to be under man's law. It's that simple. It was William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, the Quaker, who said, "He who will not be ruled by God condemns himself to be ruled by man." I don't know about you, but I find more liberty, more freedom in the law of God than I ever find in the law of man. And the very fact that Jesus Christ has placed His loving stamp of approval upon the law should be sufficient for us. When He said, "Don't even begin to think that I've come to destroy the law of the prophets. I've not come to destroy, but to fulfill." And tomorrow I'm going to show you how even the law of God is applicable in the totality of our lives, how easily it's worked out, how practical it is and how it will resolve personal problems, family problems, church problems, state problems, and even national problems.

  #112 | 1:09:04 to 1:10:25 | cleaned

• "Think not that I'm come to destroy the law of the prophets. I'm not come to destroy, but to fulfill." God's law has an abiding validity. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow before Thee this day. We thank Thee for the attention of these dear people. And I pray, Lord, that You would open their eyes and teach them, build them up in the most holy faith and enable them, Father, to bring honor and glory to Thy name. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray, Amen.

  #113 | 1:10:27 to 1:11:03 | cleaned

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T05:05:00Z