To Walk Before God

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:12.509 Be seated well. This evening I'm going to preach genesis chapter seventeen versus one 2 00:00:12.750 --> 00:00:15.990 and two. I'm picking up, as I we did with the Psalms, 3 00:00:16.510 --> 00:00:20.789 where we left off, but I would also like to read to you some 4 00:00:21.030 --> 00:00:40.570 from Romans. For so we are going to be spending some time in genesis 5 00:00:40.609 --> 00:00:45.770 seventeen. I'm not exactly sure how long, but I'd encourage you to spend 6 00:00:45.810 --> 00:00:50.759 some time getting to know it here and if you have opportunities outside of worship 7 00:00:50.880 --> 00:00:55.000 to to read and consider this passage, I'd encourage you to do so. 8 00:00:56.560 --> 00:01:00.759 That way you might understand it better, be able to pay attention better and 9 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:06.109 and gain more from it. I'm so genesis seventeen versus one and two, 10 00:01:06.150 --> 00:01:11.390 and then a little bit from Romans Chapter Four. Genesis Seventeen, when Abraham 11 00:01:11.469 --> 00:01:15.349 was ninety nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, 12 00:01:15.349 --> 00:01:23.099 I am God Almighty. Walk before me and be blameless, that I 13 00:01:23.219 --> 00:01:27.180 may make my covenant between me and you, and they multiply you greatly. 14 00:01:29.379 --> 00:01:33.569 The ABRAM fell on his face and said to him, behold, my covenant 15 00:01:33.650 --> 00:01:37.890 is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 16 00:01:38.409 --> 00:01:41.329 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be 17 00:01:41.409 --> 00:01:45.129 Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 18 00:01:45.569 --> 00:01:49.959 I will make you exceedingly fruitful and I will make you into nations and kings 19 00:01:49.000 --> 00:01:53.040 shall come from you, and I will establish my covenant between me and you 20 00:01:53.599 --> 00:02:00.000 and your offspring after you, throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant to 21 00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:02.909 be God to you and to your offspring after you, and I will give 22 00:02:04.030 --> 00:02:07.750 to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings and all 23 00:02:07.750 --> 00:02:12.469 the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God. 24 00:02:13.629 --> 00:02:15.740 I'm going to stop there now. In genesis seventeen, in turn to 25 00:02:15.819 --> 00:02:40.849 Roman's for Romans for verse thirteen, for the promise to Abraham and his offspring 26 00:02:42.330 --> 00:02:45.680 that he would be the heir of the world did not come through the law, 27 00:02:46.439 --> 00:02:51.479 but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of 28 00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:55.000 the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise 29 00:02:55.199 --> 00:03:00.550 is void, for the law brings wrath, but where there is no law, 30 00:03:00.789 --> 00:03:05.430 there is no transgression. That is why it depends on faith in order 31 00:03:05.430 --> 00:03:08.030 that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring, 32 00:03:08.669 --> 00:03:12.750 not only to the adherent of the law, but also to the one who 33 00:03:12.750 --> 00:03:16.460 shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. As 34 00:03:16.500 --> 00:03:21.180 it is written, I have made you the father of many nations and the 35 00:03:21.259 --> 00:03:23.539 presence of God, and whom he believed, who gives life to the dead 36 00:03:23.659 --> 00:03:29.210 and calls into existence the things that do not exist. In Hope, he 37 00:03:29.449 --> 00:03:32.689 believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as 38 00:03:32.810 --> 00:03:38.169 he had been told. So shall your offspring be. He did not weaken 39 00:03:38.250 --> 00:03:40.800 in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead 40 00:03:40.960 --> 00:03:46.039 since he was about a hundred years old, or when he considered the barrenness 41 00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:50.960 of Sarah's womb. No, unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, 42 00:03:51.800 --> 00:03:53.960 but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 43 00:03:54.750 --> 00:04:00.229 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is 44 00:04:00.310 --> 00:04:04.750 why his faith was counted to him as righteousness. But the words it was 45 00:04:04.870 --> 00:04:10.539 counted to him were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. 46 00:04:11.300 --> 00:04:14.900 It will be counted to us who believe in Him who raised Jesus from 47 00:04:15.539 --> 00:04:18.860 raised the dead. Jesus are raised from the dead, Jesus, Our Lord, 48 00:04:18.899 --> 00:04:31.649 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. So, 49 00:04:31.769 --> 00:04:34.970 as I said, we're going to be spending some time here in genesis, 50 00:04:34.970 --> 00:04:44.079 chapter seventeen, and a considerable amount of time because of the great importance 51 00:04:44.319 --> 00:04:48.279 of this particular chapter. There's also a lot, a lot to cover it 52 00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:54.069 and it's just a long chapter. But the themes of the chapter are all 53 00:04:54.230 --> 00:05:00.110 right here up front and it's this, as we read, when Abraham was 54 00:05:00.149 --> 00:05:02.350 ninety nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said, I am 55 00:05:02.629 --> 00:05:08.220 God Almighty, Walk Before me and be blameless that I may make my covenant 56 00:05:08.259 --> 00:05:13.339 between me and you and may multiply you greatly. Those two things, the 57 00:05:13.540 --> 00:05:18.180 call for Abraham to walk in a particular way and the covenant that God is 58 00:05:18.379 --> 00:05:24.129 going to make or give to Abraham, are the two themes within this chapter 59 00:05:24.290 --> 00:05:28.009 and they go back and forth and as you read that the rest of that 60 00:05:28.089 --> 00:05:31.290 chapter on your own, you will see that and what we find here, 61 00:05:31.810 --> 00:05:36.519 and these are two things we were going to be reflecting on for tonight. 62 00:05:36.759 --> 00:05:42.160 I want to focus on the first of those two. The Lord's command to 63 00:05:42.279 --> 00:05:48.519 Abraham, which is walk before me and be blameless. The big point of 64 00:05:48.720 --> 00:05:54.230 this evening, the point of this chapter, the point of the Covenant and 65 00:05:54.389 --> 00:05:58.430 God's will for our lives, could be summed up in these words. Walk 66 00:05:58.589 --> 00:06:05.899 before God, walk before me and be blameless. Now the next verse says 67 00:06:06.060 --> 00:06:10.819 that I may make my covenant between me and you. This is probably better 68 00:06:10.899 --> 00:06:15.500 translated that I may give my covenant to you. In other words, this 69 00:06:15.579 --> 00:06:19.529 is the way in which God will give his covenant. We realize, though, 70 00:06:19.689 --> 00:06:24.889 that the covenant that God gives is a covenant of promise, not just 71 00:06:25.170 --> 00:06:28.329 from these verses here and the whole of the chapter which will get to, 72 00:06:28.529 --> 00:06:32.399 but all over the scriptures and the previous promises that God had made to Abraham. 73 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:36.519 Paul is very explicit about this. Isn't he that we read in Genesis, 74 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:43.920 for that the promise of the righteousness that comes to us is not based 75 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:47.870 on the obedience to the law. That is not how we are justified before 76 00:06:47.949 --> 00:06:54.350 God. No, we are justified God through the righteousness of faith, just 77 00:06:54.910 --> 00:07:00.430 like Abraham. Is What he says on what Abraham did, how Abraham reacted 78 00:07:00.589 --> 00:07:03.620 to these promises, receiving them by faith alone. was how it was that 79 00:07:03.699 --> 00:07:10.339 it was counted to him. Is Righteousness. The unity between what happened there 80 00:07:10.620 --> 00:07:15.290 and what happens here is clear, Paul tells us, but inspired by the 81 00:07:15.329 --> 00:07:19.009 Holy Spirit, that these words were not written and not given to him alone, 82 00:07:19.329 --> 00:07:25.170 but to all who have that righteousness of faith through believing in the Lord 83 00:07:25.209 --> 00:07:29.730 Jesus Christ. And that's something will explore in depth over the next coming wheat 84 00:07:29.769 --> 00:07:32.639 there in the coming weeks. But I again, I want to begin with 85 00:07:32.759 --> 00:07:41.000 these words that we ought to walk before God and be blameless. If you 86 00:07:41.079 --> 00:07:46.829 were, would have put in your minds a single simple sentence to keep in 87 00:07:46.910 --> 00:07:53.149 mind every single day. This would be a perfect choice. If you ever 88 00:07:53.230 --> 00:07:56.310 wanted to wake up every morning and say, okay, what am I supposed 89 00:07:56.350 --> 00:08:00.980 to do today? What's the one most important thing that everything else is supposed 90 00:08:00.980 --> 00:08:07.300 to fit into? This would be a really good candidate to choose. In 91 00:08:07.459 --> 00:08:11.819 fact, any other thing that you might choose is simply it might choose, 92 00:08:11.860 --> 00:08:16.610 and be right to choose, is simply another version of this. This is 93 00:08:16.970 --> 00:08:24.209 the thing that we were made for, John Calvin puts it, and this 94 00:08:24.449 --> 00:08:30.600 excellent, excellent book, a little book on the Christian Life. It's an 95 00:08:30.639 --> 00:08:33.240 expert from his institutes. I want you all to read it. A little 96 00:08:33.240 --> 00:08:37.639 book on the Christian Life by John Calvin. He puts it, he says 97 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:43.549 that this way, right living, has a spiritual basis where the inner affection 98 00:08:43.710 --> 00:08:50.269 of the soul is sincerely devoted to God for the nurture of Holiness and righteousness. 99 00:08:50.309 --> 00:08:56.820 Right living. How do you live right what do you do? Right 100 00:08:56.059 --> 00:09:01.539 living, he says, has a spiritual basis where the inner affection of the 101 00:09:01.740 --> 00:09:09.620 soul, what we desire, is sincerely devoted to God for the nurture of 102 00:09:09.820 --> 00:09:15.929 Holiness and righteousness. Here's another quote from that same book. He says we 103 00:09:16.049 --> 00:09:20.529 have been adopted by the Lord as children, with this understanding that in our 104 00:09:20.649 --> 00:09:24.440 lives we should mirror Christ, who is the bond of our adoption. And 105 00:09:26.440 --> 00:09:33.559 truly, unless we are devoted, even addicted to righteousness, we will faithlessly 106 00:09:33.759 --> 00:09:41.190 abandon our creator and disown him as our Savior. Strong words, right addicted 107 00:09:41.309 --> 00:09:46.149 to righteousness. Now, usually we don't like to talk about addiction to anything, 108 00:09:46.230 --> 00:09:48.389 but what does he mean here? He means that all our heart, 109 00:09:48.509 --> 00:09:52.389 all of our mind, all of our soul, our body and our strength 110 00:09:52.710 --> 00:09:58.659 is caught up with serving the Lord above everything. There are, of course, 111 00:09:58.700 --> 00:10:03.340 other paths. Some people spend every single day trying to figure out how 112 00:10:03.379 --> 00:10:09.090 to gain more comfort and more ease. That's what life is all about. 113 00:10:09.450 --> 00:10:11.409 How can I make this easier? How can I make this more comfortable? 114 00:10:11.409 --> 00:10:18.450 Every question goes through that filter and if they don't get that today, they 115 00:10:18.610 --> 00:10:22.440 hope that what they have done today will help them get it tomorrow, because 116 00:10:22.519 --> 00:10:28.000 that's the goal, that's their focus, that's what their vision is. Other 117 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:35.399 people filter their lives. They are focused on fame or power or attention. 118 00:10:35.639 --> 00:10:43.110 What can I do today to get that? Now or tomorrow? Some people 119 00:10:43.230 --> 00:10:48.629 live every day for food or for sex or for possessions. But these are 120 00:10:48.669 --> 00:10:56.220 not paths for Christians. Why? Well, here's Paul's answer from Ephesians for 121 00:10:58.580 --> 00:11:03.019 but that's not the way you learned Christ. That's what he says, assuming 122 00:11:03.059 --> 00:11:07.850 that you have heard about him and we're taught in him, as the truth 123 00:11:07.970 --> 00:11:11.570 is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your 124 00:11:11.889 --> 00:11:16.570 former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed 125 00:11:16.649 --> 00:11:22.279 in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self created 126 00:11:22.360 --> 00:11:30.399 after the likeness of God in True Righteousness and holiness. So a question for 127 00:11:30.440 --> 00:11:33.070 us, then, is what is your vision? What is the path that 128 00:11:33.350 --> 00:11:43.830 you're on? What is your goal? Some people, when they when they 129 00:11:43.909 --> 00:11:46.299 think about these things, are very, very well, let me put it 130 00:11:46.340 --> 00:11:50.980 this way. Not some people, all of us, all of us, 131 00:11:50.059 --> 00:11:54.580 when we decide what our goal is, when we decide what our focuses, 132 00:11:54.740 --> 00:11:58.620 we're generally pretty good aiming towards that. Let me give you an example. 133 00:11:58.460 --> 00:12:03.529 Think about some somebody WHO's getting ready to go to college. Maybe that's a 134 00:12:03.610 --> 00:12:07.210 year off, two years off, maybe it's four years off, and they 135 00:12:07.289 --> 00:12:11.929 want more than anything else to get into this school or that school, that 136 00:12:13.009 --> 00:12:16.799 particular school. And so what do they do if that's the main thing they 137 00:12:16.840 --> 00:12:22.200 want, the thing they want before everything else? Well, they think about 138 00:12:22.200 --> 00:12:24.840 everything through that Lens. How is this class, this grade, this assignment, 139 00:12:24.919 --> 00:12:30.509 this volunteer project, going to look on my resume? How is it 140 00:12:30.590 --> 00:12:33.710 going to look when I submit this application process? What is this thing that 141 00:12:33.789 --> 00:12:39.509 I'm doing now going to get me to the next place? They have in 142 00:12:39.509 --> 00:12:46.059 their minds this school and they work towards it. Now it's not bad to 143 00:12:46.139 --> 00:12:50.460 have goals and to work towards them. But what is our ultimate goal? 144 00:12:50.019 --> 00:12:54.299 What is everything funneling in and funneling towards? And it must be this, 145 00:12:54.500 --> 00:13:03.769 what the Lord says, to walk before him, to be blameless. Tonight 146 00:13:03.769 --> 00:13:05.610 I want to look at three things. I'm regarding this. First, what 147 00:13:05.730 --> 00:13:09.490 does that look like? What does it mean to walk before him? What 148 00:13:09.529 --> 00:13:13.639 does it mean to be blameless? Why should we walk this way? And 149 00:13:13.759 --> 00:13:18.919 then how can we walk this way? First, what is it to walk 150 00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:22.840 before the Lord and be blameless? Well, simply, it's to have him 151 00:13:22.840 --> 00:13:26.830 as our our chief end, to glorify God and to enjoy him forever, 152 00:13:26.870 --> 00:13:33.470 as our catechism says. This morning we had several people join our church and 153 00:13:33.070 --> 00:13:37.029 profess their faith, and one of the things that they promised to do was 154 00:13:37.149 --> 00:13:43.259 to forsake the world. Right, to live before God means to say we 155 00:13:43.299 --> 00:13:46.620 are not going to live before someone else, we are going to forsake the 156 00:13:46.779 --> 00:13:52.700 world. Why? Because the world gives no thought to God. It does 157 00:13:52.820 --> 00:13:58.129 what it wants, it serves it's chief end. It serves and lives in 158 00:13:58.210 --> 00:14:03.330 this world as if God were not watching right. It acts as though he 159 00:14:03.450 --> 00:14:07.570 were nothing. It acts as though other things were more important. The things 160 00:14:07.649 --> 00:14:13.879 of this world, satisfying the lust of our our bodies, gaining possessions or 161 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:18.919 securing whatever it is we think will make us safe in this world. That 162 00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:24.309 is what the world goes after. To follow and walk before the Lord means 163 00:14:24.350 --> 00:14:28.230 you must forsake that. You can't have your foot in both cams. You 164 00:14:28.269 --> 00:14:31.350 can't say, well, what I really want is to serve God and what 165 00:14:31.509 --> 00:14:35.909 I really want is to serve money. Jesus says, you can't do borrow, 166 00:14:35.029 --> 00:14:39.899 you can't do both. It's impossible. It's either one or the other. 167 00:14:39.980 --> 00:14:45.899 There is only one God and only one God in our lives. Well, 168 00:14:45.980 --> 00:14:50.100 those who belong to the Covens of grace are those who forsake the world 169 00:14:50.139 --> 00:14:52.889 and set their eyes on God. Each and every step they make, each 170 00:14:54.169 --> 00:14:58.929 the path that they take, is with him in view. When you focus 171 00:14:58.049 --> 00:15:03.409 on a particular plan, you make your decisions in light of that. You 172 00:15:03.610 --> 00:15:07.480 pray, you ask the Lord what what would be good in this situation, 173 00:15:07.559 --> 00:15:11.000 you try to determine his will, you try to do the right thing. 174 00:15:11.159 --> 00:15:18.279 Why? Because you are walking before the Lord. You do things with him 175 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:22.990 in mind. This is, of course, what Abraham did when he followed 176 00:15:24.029 --> 00:15:28.429 the Lord's call. Back in end of Genesis Eleven and Chapter Twelve, when 177 00:15:28.429 --> 00:15:33.590 the Lord called him out of idolatry, out of an idolatrous family, called 178 00:15:33.629 --> 00:15:37.419 him out of the Er or of the Chaldeans, to go and possess this 179 00:15:37.500 --> 00:15:41.820 land of Canaan. He literally walked before the Lord and in the Lord's promise, 180 00:15:43.100 --> 00:15:46.460 he heard what God said and he said, that's what I'm going to 181 00:15:46.539 --> 00:15:50.970 do, I am going to now live my life and literally take this step 182 00:15:50.370 --> 00:15:56.129 and this step and this step because of the promise that he has given to 183 00:15:56.289 --> 00:16:00.889 me. He trusted the Lord, he believed the Lord, and then he 184 00:16:00.129 --> 00:16:08.679 lived his life in light of that. He forsook the world that was his 185 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:14.919 old world, he forsook the the life that he was leaving behind, just 186 00:16:15.080 --> 00:16:18.389 like Paul says, a effesions for we put off the old self and the 187 00:16:18.429 --> 00:16:26.870 old desires and we fall after Jesus. What is it to walk before the 188 00:16:27.029 --> 00:16:30.990 Lord? What is it to follow the Lord? Well, it is to 189 00:16:32.389 --> 00:16:37.779 unfollow. It is to follow Jesus, our Savior. Remember, he comes 190 00:16:37.820 --> 00:16:42.139 in the name of the father to draw us after him. Listen to these 191 00:16:42.179 --> 00:16:48.009 words and Matthew Chapter Four, while he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, 192 00:16:48.049 --> 00:16:51.009 he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, 193 00:16:51.090 --> 00:16:53.370 his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen, 194 00:16:55.169 --> 00:16:59.049 and he said to them, follow me and I will make you fishers 195 00:16:59.090 --> 00:17:03.960 of men. Immediately laid left their nets and followed him. And going on 196 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:07.079 from there, they saw two brothers, James, the son of Zebedee and 197 00:17:07.119 --> 00:17:10.680 John, his brother, in the boat with zebody, their father, mending 198 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:14.000 their nets, and he called to them. Immediately they left their boat and 199 00:17:14.160 --> 00:17:19.309 their father and they followed him. This is what discipleship is. This is 200 00:17:19.390 --> 00:17:25.190 what it means to follow the Lord. It is to hear Jesus's voice and 201 00:17:25.349 --> 00:17:30.140 to walk after him. What's interesting is immediately after this passage in Matthew Four, 202 00:17:30.259 --> 00:17:36.220 we have what's called the sermon on the mount the several chapters in the 203 00:17:36.259 --> 00:17:40.220 book of Matthew Were Jesus tells us exactly what it means to follow him, 204 00:17:41.099 --> 00:17:47.170 to follow after him in our desires, to follow after him in our emotions, 205 00:17:47.289 --> 00:17:52.369 in our minds and our doctrine, in every way. He says in 206 00:17:52.529 --> 00:17:56.289 that in that sermon that we call the sermon on the mountain, he says, 207 00:17:56.329 --> 00:18:00.200 do not think I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. 208 00:18:00.519 --> 00:18:03.559 I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. For truly, 209 00:18:03.599 --> 00:18:07.000 I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an 210 00:18:07.039 --> 00:18:11.279 iota, not a dot, will pass away from the law until all is 211 00:18:11.319 --> 00:18:15.549 accomplished. Therefore, who relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches 212 00:18:15.630 --> 00:18:19.029 others to do the same will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven, 213 00:18:19.789 --> 00:18:23.470 but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of 214 00:18:23.589 --> 00:18:29.579 Heaven. For I tell you, unless one is unless your righteousness succeeds that 215 00:18:29.700 --> 00:18:33.380 of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. 216 00:18:36.299 --> 00:18:38.059 These are strong words, aren't they? This is the life that he sets 217 00:18:38.140 --> 00:18:41.609 before us, a life of obedience, a life of righteousness, a life 218 00:18:41.650 --> 00:18:48.329 of glorifying him, a following after him, and we do that when we 219 00:18:48.490 --> 00:18:56.119 obey his commands. So now, from the end of Matthew and Jesus ascended, 220 00:18:56.359 --> 00:19:00.799 or before he ascended, up into Heaven, after the resurrection, Jesus 221 00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:04.279 came to them and we have this very end of Matthew, what we call 222 00:19:04.359 --> 00:19:08.960 the Great Commission. He says, all authority in Heaven and on Earth has 223 00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:15.630 been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, 224 00:19:17.589 --> 00:19:19.670 baptizing them in the name of the father and of the on and of 225 00:19:19.710 --> 00:19:25.500 the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. 226 00:19:26.579 --> 00:19:30.299 And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. 227 00:19:33.859 --> 00:19:37.650 This is what it means to follow after the Lord. It is to walk 228 00:19:38.009 --> 00:19:44.170 before God, not as people pleasers, not in a halfhearted way, because 229 00:19:44.250 --> 00:19:48.730 that happens. Judas, for example, followed after the Lord as a disciple, 230 00:19:48.930 --> 00:19:53.160 but not fully right. He tried to keep his feet in both camps. 231 00:19:53.200 --> 00:19:56.680 He tried to have sort of two visions for his life, one which 232 00:19:56.720 --> 00:20:03.480 was following Jesus and another which was following something else all together. Judas did 233 00:20:03.519 --> 00:20:08.869 not live in a blameless way, or what we might call a way of 234 00:20:10.109 --> 00:20:15.309 integrity. To walk before the Lord is to walk in accordance with the Lord's 235 00:20:15.349 --> 00:20:21.269 commands, but in a way with integrity, not in a way that is 236 00:20:22.180 --> 00:20:25.539 sort of trying to make it look like we're walking after the Lord. That's 237 00:20:25.579 --> 00:20:30.059 not the point, but to truly walk after the Lord. To quote John 238 00:20:30.099 --> 00:20:34.220 Calvin again from that book, He says let us fix our eyes on the 239 00:20:34.339 --> 00:20:41.849 goal and soul object of our pursuit. Integrity, he says, and by 240 00:20:42.170 --> 00:20:48.569 that Word Integrity, God means a sincere simplicity of heart, free from pretends 241 00:20:49.160 --> 00:21:00.200 and deceit, just not not sneakily following the Lord or trying to follow him, 242 00:21:00.279 --> 00:21:06.589 but really not follow him, but just openly, freely from the heart, 243 00:21:07.190 --> 00:21:11.789 with sincerity and simplicity before God. This is what it means to walk 244 00:21:11.829 --> 00:21:17.190 before the Lord and people aimless. Now, why should we do this? 245 00:21:18.619 --> 00:21:22.700 Well, for one, God commands it. We could possibly stop right there. 246 00:21:22.019 --> 00:21:26.220 When the Lord of Heaven and Earth says jump, you better jump. 247 00:21:26.819 --> 00:21:30.900 When he says sit, you sit. He says stay, you stay, 248 00:21:32.180 --> 00:21:37.450 because he is God and we are not. But there's so much more that 249 00:21:37.569 --> 00:21:41.529 we can add to this. Not only would should we give our obedience to 250 00:21:41.569 --> 00:21:47.640 the Lord because he tells us to, but he made us for this purpose. 251 00:21:47.680 --> 00:21:52.160 As I mentioned earlier, in Ar Catechism it says that man's chief end 252 00:21:52.279 --> 00:21:57.559 is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. God designed you for this. 253 00:22:00.119 --> 00:22:03.670 Have you ever bought something that was designed for a particular purpose and it 254 00:22:03.789 --> 00:22:07.109 was designed so well and that when you put it to you, as you 255 00:22:07.230 --> 00:22:11.710 just sort of stand back and go, man, I love this thing. 256 00:22:12.029 --> 00:22:18.299 Look how perfectly it's edges are cut. Look how seamlessly it was from this 257 00:22:18.460 --> 00:22:25.500 step to this step. Notice how perfectly it executes this task. And I 258 00:22:25.500 --> 00:22:30.170 don't even have to do anything. We Marvel, we wonder, we go 259 00:22:30.289 --> 00:22:34.130 out of our way to produce things like this. We get frustrated when we're 260 00:22:34.170 --> 00:22:41.210 not able to get that kind of thing. It's a thing of beauty and 261 00:22:41.450 --> 00:22:48.960 of joy when something that was designed for a particular purpose does that thing. 262 00:22:49.319 --> 00:22:53.240 And if you've ever had the opposite experience of buying something that you intended to 263 00:22:53.359 --> 00:22:59.789 work in a particular that way, or someone you hired perhaps to work in 264 00:22:59.829 --> 00:23:03.470 a particular way, or you set out to do a particular thing and just 265 00:23:03.750 --> 00:23:11.109 as such a struggle, it almost feels like your work is cursed. It's 266 00:23:11.190 --> 00:23:15.339 frustrating, isn't it? You feel like this is not how it's supposed to 267 00:23:15.460 --> 00:23:21.420 be. Well, when we walk before the Lord and we walk with integrity, 268 00:23:21.460 --> 00:23:25.859 in a blameless way, that is exactly what God has designed us for 269 00:23:26.700 --> 00:23:30.849 and it is a joyful thing. It's a theme of calmness, a thing 270 00:23:30.930 --> 00:23:37.170 of peace, a thing that is refreshing it's what God made you for. 271 00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:47.599 And, of course, the last thing I'll mention is that it is exactly 272 00:23:47.759 --> 00:23:52.559 what God is doing by this covenant. We have fallen into sin. We 273 00:23:52.680 --> 00:23:57.829 can all just go ahead and affirm that now. We do not live lives 274 00:23:57.910 --> 00:24:02.630 of integrity as we ought. We do not work in the ways that God 275 00:24:03.109 --> 00:24:07.390 designed human nature to work. And why? Because we have fallen. We 276 00:24:07.470 --> 00:24:11.259 are corrupt, we are bent and perverse and broken. It the the system 277 00:24:11.339 --> 00:24:19.900 is broken, does not work, and that's why God create its or or 278 00:24:19.940 --> 00:24:25.170 rather gives to us. I'll say it this way. He creates this relationship, 279 00:24:25.450 --> 00:24:29.569 he gives to us this covenant of Grace so that he can fix us, 280 00:24:30.170 --> 00:24:32.930 so that he can mend us, so that he can heal us. 281 00:24:33.289 --> 00:24:38.359 That's why he institutes this covenant. This is the whole purpose of the Bible. 282 00:24:38.440 --> 00:24:44.640 It's why Jesus came. It's everything that God is doing. When we 283 00:24:45.400 --> 00:24:48.799 go and say to the Lord, I want to follow you, I want 284 00:24:48.839 --> 00:24:53.430 to be blameless before you, we are. We are working within the grain 285 00:24:53.710 --> 00:25:00.269 of grace. We are following after the Lord, incording to his great purposes 286 00:25:00.430 --> 00:25:08.019 of love and redemption. How do I know this? Well, from many 287 00:25:08.059 --> 00:25:12.619 places in scripture, for one, some of the ones that I've read to 288 00:25:12.660 --> 00:25:15.500 you already, of Jesus is sermon in the mount when he calls us to 289 00:25:15.619 --> 00:25:19.940 follow him and follow him in these ways. But let's consider a couple others. 290 00:25:22.849 --> 00:25:30.529 Listen, for example, to first Timothy. Chapter Four. Paul tells 291 00:25:30.650 --> 00:25:33.930 a Timothy to put these doctors, these teachings, before the brothers. He 292 00:25:34.049 --> 00:25:38.240 says in Verse Six of Chapter Four, you will be a if you put 293 00:25:38.279 --> 00:25:41.839 these things before the brothers. You will be a good servant of the Lord, 294 00:25:41.920 --> 00:25:48.119 being trained in it or being trained in the words of faith and and 295 00:25:48.279 --> 00:25:53.509 of the good doctrine that you have followed. So pastors should know two things. 296 00:25:53.549 --> 00:25:57.190 They should know their bibles and they should know the things that the Bible 297 00:25:57.309 --> 00:26:03.029 teaches right, he says, have nothing to do with the irreverence silly myths. 298 00:26:03.420 --> 00:26:12.059 Rather, train yourself for godliness. Train yourself for godliness, he says. 299 00:26:12.059 --> 00:26:17.859 That's what these doctrines are supposed to produce. These doctrines are supposed to 300 00:26:18.380 --> 00:26:22.890 bring about godliness. If you go to chapter six, we find a similar 301 00:26:23.009 --> 00:26:29.170 thing. In verse three he says if anyone teaches a different doctrine that does 302 00:26:29.289 --> 00:26:33.319 not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that 303 00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:38.799 accords with godliness. That's what they teaching is for. He is puffed up 304 00:26:40.079 --> 00:26:45.519 with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving curve controversy and for 305 00:26:45.599 --> 00:26:49.829 quarrels, a out words which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions 306 00:26:49.869 --> 00:26:56.470 and constant friction among the people. What is the teaching of the Bible for 307 00:26:57.789 --> 00:27:03.099 Godliness? As I read earlier from Calvin, which are basically just paraphrases of 308 00:27:03.140 --> 00:27:10.579 scripture, Jesus, we have been adopted in Christ to become like Christ. 309 00:27:11.579 --> 00:27:15.059 We have been adopted as sons and daughters of God so that we can be 310 00:27:15.049 --> 00:27:21.809 godly, so that we can be like our father. One more passage of 311 00:27:21.849 --> 00:27:25.890 scripture. Take Titus Chapter Three. Again, we're thinking about what is the 312 00:27:26.089 --> 00:27:29.450 purpose of Jesus is life in this world. What is the purpose of the 313 00:27:29.569 --> 00:27:38.599 teachings of scripture? In Titus Chapter Three he gives a number of these teachings 314 00:27:40.240 --> 00:27:44.430 in verses one through eight, and then he says in verse eight the saying 315 00:27:44.589 --> 00:27:48.509 is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things so that those 316 00:27:48.589 --> 00:27:52.950 who have believed in God, may be careful to devote themselves to good works. 317 00:27:53.190 --> 00:28:00.059 These things are excellent and profitable for people. This is God's desire for 318 00:28:00.180 --> 00:28:06.819 you, not just in how you were designed as a created being, as 319 00:28:06.859 --> 00:28:11.259 one who bears the image of God, but as a Christian. It is 320 00:28:11.339 --> 00:28:15.849 the end of our Christian lives to be like Christ, to follow after him. 321 00:28:17.009 --> 00:28:21.410 These are the reasons why God has given to us this covenant of Grace. 322 00:28:22.450 --> 00:28:26.240 It's why Jesus has come. It's why we are called to follow after 323 00:28:26.279 --> 00:28:32.839 him. So that feet brings me finally to the the how of all of 324 00:28:33.000 --> 00:28:36.319 this. If this is what we were designed for, if this is why 325 00:28:36.440 --> 00:28:41.279 we ought to follow these things, how do we do this? How do 326 00:28:41.400 --> 00:28:48.630 we follow the Lord Jesus? How do we become Godly people? Well, 327 00:28:48.710 --> 00:28:52.349 the answer he gives us is really many places, but it is in the 328 00:28:52.430 --> 00:28:59.099 following verses of Genesis Chapter Seventeen, and I hope that you will return with 329 00:28:59.180 --> 00:29:02.779 me to think about these things so that we can see them more directly from 330 00:29:02.779 --> 00:29:07.420 the text. But the answer is, and as we read earlier in Romans 331 00:29:07.460 --> 00:29:12.450 Chapter for, the answer is that we follow through the way of the Cross. 332 00:29:15.210 --> 00:29:22.049 We become godly people when we follow after the Lord in the way of 333 00:29:22.130 --> 00:29:26.039 the Cross. Now this comes out in genesis, Chapter Seventeen, through the 334 00:29:26.200 --> 00:29:33.839 Covenant that God makes with Abraham, a covenant of circumcision and a sign that 335 00:29:33.079 --> 00:29:42.230 signifies the cutting off of the flesh, a marking of purification, of holiness. 336 00:29:44.670 --> 00:29:49.670 This is a covenant that God gives which is intended to picture the removal 337 00:29:51.069 --> 00:29:57.779 of that which is fleshly, now, the ultimate righteousness that we receive is 338 00:29:57.819 --> 00:30:02.779 not through this particular sign. It's not just by being circumcised, or else 339 00:30:03.220 --> 00:30:07.450 all the women would not be in God. No, this sign is pointing 340 00:30:07.569 --> 00:30:17.250 us to something deeper, something in our hearts. Ultimately, God wants our 341 00:30:17.529 --> 00:30:22.480 hearts to be circumcised. Our hearts need to be changed. Remember what we 342 00:30:22.559 --> 00:30:26.440 said earlier. To Walk blamelessly as to walk in integrity. It's to walk 343 00:30:26.799 --> 00:30:32.559 from the heart. Well, how do you get a clean heart? How 344 00:30:32.599 --> 00:30:37.069 do you get a heart that is no longer a heart of stone, but 345 00:30:37.190 --> 00:30:41.029 a heart that beats and lives for God, when your heart is dead and 346 00:30:41.269 --> 00:30:45.990 corrupted by sin? The answer is that you need a miraculous work of God 347 00:30:47.190 --> 00:30:52.460 to regenerate your heart and turn your heart into something new. You need a 348 00:30:52.660 --> 00:31:00.460 miracle akin to a man who is ninety nine years old having a son or 349 00:31:00.539 --> 00:31:07.250 a woman who is barren having a son. A miracle like that, an 350 00:31:07.369 --> 00:31:11.089 act of grace in which God would say, I will do this thing, 351 00:31:12.049 --> 00:31:17.450 I will make you holy, I will surely do it. And that's exactly 352 00:31:17.529 --> 00:31:22.279 what he does with Abram and Sarah, Abraham and Sarah. He takes away 353 00:31:22.599 --> 00:31:30.920 every single possible way for them to obtain this promise of becoming a father and 354 00:31:30.960 --> 00:31:37.269 a mother of kings and generations and nations. Is it? COULD IT BE 355 00:31:37.390 --> 00:31:45.869 ISHMAEL? Abraham Says No. Could it be alias? Are No. What 356 00:31:45.029 --> 00:31:49.619 about now? Know, what about now? No, he will do it 357 00:31:49.700 --> 00:31:53.140 in his way and he will do it in his time and he will give 358 00:31:53.180 --> 00:31:59.259 them a child, and he does. In fact, God at wants to 359 00:31:59.339 --> 00:32:01.730 prove this point so strongly that it sat at a certain point. Later on, 360 00:32:01.849 --> 00:32:06.009 we're going to read that God tells him, after this son is born, 361 00:32:06.170 --> 00:32:12.849 Isaac, to sacrifice the son of promise, and Abraham has to go 362 00:32:13.849 --> 00:32:20.240 in faith that even if he sacrifices the son of promise, God will still 363 00:32:20.400 --> 00:32:28.200 keep his promise somehow. And that's what Abraham does. He takes every step, 364 00:32:28.400 --> 00:32:31.789 even up that mountain, Mount Mariah, to sacrifice his own son that 365 00:32:31.869 --> 00:32:37.829 had been promised, not understanding at all what God is doing, thinking he's 366 00:32:37.869 --> 00:32:40.710 about to kill the one whom he loves, thinking he's about to kill the 367 00:32:40.910 --> 00:32:45.299 promise of God, so that God can show I will provide, and he 368 00:32:45.420 --> 00:32:55.740 does provide for Abraham. How do we find godliness? How do we find 369 00:32:55.859 --> 00:33:02.289 a new life away from sin? The answer is by faith alone. We 370 00:33:02.450 --> 00:33:08.569 cannot dig deep into our hearts and simply will ourselves onto obedience. Remember the 371 00:33:08.690 --> 00:33:15.559 hearts broken, the hearts corrupt. The only way that we can come to 372 00:33:15.680 --> 00:33:20.720 these gray and glorious ends is through the very covenant that God is making here 373 00:33:20.839 --> 00:33:25.880 with Abraham, and it's called a covenant of Grace for a reason. It's 374 00:33:25.880 --> 00:33:34.750 a covenant that simply receives and believes and rests upon God's promises, in spite 375 00:33:34.789 --> 00:33:39.750 of the way things seem, knowing that God is faithful and true to fulfill 376 00:33:39.950 --> 00:33:51.819 his promises, and he does and he has. Ultimately, the New Testament 377 00:33:51.900 --> 00:34:01.809 will say, Jesus becomes our circumcision. He is cut off from God so 378 00:34:01.970 --> 00:34:08.250 that our sins might be atone for he is cut off so that we might 379 00:34:08.409 --> 00:34:15.480 have fellowship with him so that our hearts might be changed. Jesus gives us 380 00:34:15.480 --> 00:34:22.760 his spirit, he cleanses us, he renews us, he he brings us 381 00:34:22.920 --> 00:34:29.550 in this new way of life. He speaks this word, which is effective, 382 00:34:30.070 --> 00:34:35.110 a word of grace that says follow me and you will be saved. 383 00:34:37.230 --> 00:34:43.219 And by the spirit and grace of God, our hearts are changed and we 384 00:34:43.340 --> 00:34:52.300 follow him. And so I simply want to conclude by encouraging you to think 385 00:34:52.460 --> 00:34:59.969 about these things and, more than think about them, walk in them. 386 00:35:00.650 --> 00:35:07.599 Set before You the vision of God that he has for your life and that 387 00:35:07.719 --> 00:35:13.519 he reveals in the Sun, which is that, through faith in the sun, 388 00:35:13.760 --> 00:35:19.519 he causes us to follow him and to do and to be what we 389 00:35:19.599 --> 00:35:23.710 were called for. And as we recognize this work that is done, God 390 00:35:23.789 --> 00:35:29.030 has done, let us, by faith, walk in that work and walk 391 00:35:29.150 --> 00:35:32.949 in those promises and live our lives before God, through faith in him, 392 00:35:35.309 --> 00:35:40.900 on him. Let's pray together. Our heavenly father, we thank you for 393 00:35:42.179 --> 00:35:47.940 or the joys that we have in in walking before you and living lives that 394 00:35:49.019 --> 00:35:54.250 are not scurring in the darkness from this corner of Sin to another corner of 395 00:35:54.409 --> 00:35:59.730 sin, but, Lord, lives that are lived openly and freely before you. 396 00:36:00.929 --> 00:36:04.090 We asked that you would bless us than these things, that you would 397 00:36:04.090 --> 00:36:07.920 renew in us a right spirit, that we might live in the joy of 398 00:36:08.000 --> 00:36:13.960 your presence, that we might live not at war with you, but peace 399 00:36:14.079 --> 00:36:17.000 with you, knowing that we have been justified in Christ, knowing that our 400 00:36:17.119 --> 00:36:23.670 forgiveness has been established, that we are those who are now inheritors of the 401 00:36:23.789 --> 00:36:31.349 promises that you made to Abraham, even heaven itself. And as we do 402 00:36:31.469 --> 00:36:36.579 so, Lord, let us then Sense Your Majesty and your oversight of us, 403 00:36:37.739 --> 00:36:42.860 your will and our lives, no longer as the law which condemns us, 404 00:36:44.019 --> 00:36:47.329 but the law which guides us, the law which is a joy to 405 00:36:47.409 --> 00:36:52.409 us, the law which is like honey on our lips. Let us be 406 00:36:52.650 --> 00:36:59.730 servants of you and make choices that please you, knowing that we have the 407 00:36:59.889 --> 00:37:05.960 freedom to do so, as those who are in Christ, Jesus our righteousness. 408 00:37:07.280 --> 00:37:08.480 And to those who do not know you, Lord, to those who 409 00:37:08.559 --> 00:37:13.960 continue to walk and even strive after godliness, but to do so according to 410 00:37:14.000 --> 00:37:19.510 their own strength, we ask that you would waken them from their sleep. 411 00:37:20.750 --> 00:37:23.590 We ask that you would help them to see that they cannot serve themselves as 412 00:37:23.710 --> 00:37:29.469 God's will, trying to serve you as God, but to know that the 413 00:37:29.590 --> 00:37:35.059 only way to live and walk in you is by trusting you to do the 414 00:37:35.219 --> 00:37:40.340 things that they that we are all unable to do on our own. And 415 00:37:40.500 --> 00:37:43.940 Lord, is you do these things in us. We ask that your light 416 00:37:44.059 --> 00:37:50.050 would shine brightly, that your mark on us would be evident before all, 417 00:37:51.289 --> 00:37:55.210 that the love of the saints for one another and for God would be evident 418 00:37:55.409 --> 00:38:01.079 and unambiguous, and may this be all to the glory and praise of your 419 00:38:01.119 --> 00:38:06.679 name, Lord. Finally, we do lift up the request that have been 420 00:38:06.719 --> 00:38:09.559 made specifically this evening. We pray for Aaron and we ask for his healing. 421 00:38:10.239 --> 00:38:15.710 We also pray for a Laine and her teeth problems. We pray for 422 00:38:15.789 --> 00:38:20.550 others who are sick and not well, and we asked that you would heal 423 00:38:20.630 --> 00:38:22.670 them, that you would provide for them help them to trust you through those 424 00:38:22.750 --> 00:38:28.340 trials. And we pray, Lord, for all of our other needs and 425 00:38:28.500 --> 00:38:30.340 that, as we go forth into this new week, we would do so 426 00:38:30.659 --> 00:38:36.780 resting in your grace and in your love promise to us in Christ. I 427 00:38:36.940 --> 00:38:37.940 pray this in Jesus name, on Him