Claudius Lysias, a soldier in the Roman army,
had heard about an uproar that was going on in Jerusalem, and
there were some people who were trying to kill this man named
Paul. They're trying to tear him apart.
And he understood that he was a Roman and he was under the
protection of the Roman government because he was a Roman citizen.
And so Claudius Lysias delivers him and tries to find out what
the issue was. And here was his conclusion when
he had sent Paul to Felix. He said, whom I perceived to
be accused of questions of their law. That was the issue. But to have nothing laid to his
charge that was worthy of death or bonds, simply questions concerning
their law. I've entitled this message, Questions
Concerning Let's see what led up to this, beginning in verse
12 of Acts chapter 23. And when it was day, certain
of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under a curse,
saying that they would neither eat nor drink. till they had
killed Paul. Now that is something else, isn't
it? They made a vow, I'm not gonna
have anything to eat, I'm not gonna have anything to drink
until Paul is dead. I'm gonna make sure of his death. And over 40 men made this vow. Verse 13, and there were more
than 40 which had made this conspiracy. And they came to the chief priests
and elders and said, we've bound ourselves under a great curse
that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul. That's a
pretty intense desire, isn't it? We won't even eat until we
kill this man. Now, therefore, ye with the council
signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you
tomorrow as though you would inquire something more perfectly
concerning him. And we, or ever he come near,
are ready to kill him. You say we want to ask him some
more questions. He brings him out, we'll kill
him. And when Paul's sister's son heard of their lying in wait,
he went and entered into the castle and told Paul. Then Paul
called one of the centurions unto him and said, bring this
young man unto the chief captain for he hath a certain thing to
tell him. So he took him and brought him
to the chief captain and said, Paul, the prisoner called me
unto him and prayed me to bring you this young man unto thee
who has something to say unto thee. Then the chief captain
took him by the hand and went with him aside privately and
asked him, what is it that thou hast to tell me? And he said,
the Jews have agreed to desire that thou wouldest bring down
Paul tomorrow into the council as though they would inquire
somewhat of him more perfectly, but do not yield unto them for
their lie and wait for him of them more than 40 men, which
have bound themselves with an oath that they will neither eat
nor drink till they've killed him. And now are they ready looking
for a promise from thee So the chief captain then let the young
man depart and charged him, say, see thou tell no man that thou
showed these things to me. And he called unto him two centurions
saying, make ready to 200 soldiers to go to Caesarea and horsemen,
three score and 10 and spearmen 200 at the third hour of the
night and provide them beasts that they may set Paul on and
bring him safe unto Felix, the governor. And then he wrote this
letter, after this manner, Claudius Lysias, under the most excellent
Governor Felix, sendeth greeting. This man was taken of the Jews,
and should have been killed of them. Then came I with an army
and rescued him, having understood that he was a Roman. And when
I would have known the cause whereof they accused him, I brought
him before unto their council, whom I perceived to be accused
of questions of their law. What is meant by their law? What is meant by the law? In John chapter one, verse 18,
we read the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came
by Jesus Christ. Now the law is that which Moses
was given by God on Mount Sinai. And you can remember, he was
up there for 40 days and 40 nights, and God gave him the law. The moral law, the Ten Commandments,
the civil laws regarding the children of Israel, and the ceremonial
laws and the sacrificial laws, all given by Moses on Mount Sinai. Now, that's interesting the way
John makes his statement, the law was given by Moses, but grace
and truth came by Jesus Christ. Now, the law is true. God gave
the law through Moses, but the law is not said to be the truth. It's true. but it's not the truth. Now, how is that? Because the
law doesn't tell the whole story. We're gonna see that more as
we go on. But grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ. Now, the law is opposed to and
contrary to grace and truth. Wouldn't it be a blessing if
you and I will understand what that means? The law is opposed
to grace and the law is opposed to the truth. Whatever the law
is, it's opposed to grace and he who believes the gospel and
is taught by God has learned to distinguish the difference.
between law and grace. If God has taught me, if God
has taught you, we will know the difference between law and
grace. Questions concerning their law. Now, this wasn't an issue with
the Romans. They heard them arguing over
the law and they thought, who cares? Why are they making such
an issue? They hadn't been given the law
the way the Jews had. The Gentiles were not concerned
about the law. They didn't understand it. But
this conflict between these Jewish people, Paul and these law keepers,
they understood what they were arguing over. Now, let me give
you some scriptures that I believe will GIVES US SOME IDEA OF WHAT
IS MEANT BY LAW. THEY WANTED TO KILL PAUL OVER
THE LAW. AS A MATTER OF FACT, WHEN HE
WAS ARRESTED, THEY SAID HE SPEAKS AGAINST THE LAW, HE SPEAKS AGAINST
MOSES, HE SPEAKS AGAINST THE TEMPLE. HE WAS CONSTANTLY ACCUSED
OF BEING AGAINST THE LAW. WELL, WHAT IS MEANT BY THE LAW?
WOULD YOU LOOK AT THIS PASSAGE WITH ME IN MATTHEW, CHAPTER 19,
VERSE 16, AND BEHOLD, MATTHEW 19, VERSE 16, AND BEHOLD,
ONE CAME AND SAID UNTO HIM, GOOD MASTER, WHAT GOOD THING SHALL
I DO THAT I MAY HAVE ETERNAL LIFE? AND THE LORD MET HIM WHERE HE
CAME. HE DIDN'T SAY, WELL, THERE'S
NOTHING YOU CAN DO. HE DIDN'T SAY THAT, DID HE? He didn't say,
you can't keep the law. He met him where he came. He came on the footing of what
good thing I can do. And look at the way the Lord
answered him. And he said unto him, why callest thou me good?
Now, why does the Lord say that? Because he was good. He is good. But he knew that this man was
coming to him as nothing more than a man. HE DIDN'T UNDERSTAND
WHO HE WAS, THE GOD-MAN, AND HE WAS COMING TO HIM SIMPLY AS
A MAN, WHOM HE CALLED A GOOD MAN, BUT STILL NOTHING MORE THAN
A MAN. THERE IS NONE GOOD BUT ONE, THAT
IS GOD. BUT IF THOU WILT ENTER INTO LIFE,
Keep the commandments. And he said unto him, which?
Jesus said, and he mentions the commandments of the second table.
Now the 10 commandments are two tables, one concerning God, having
no God before him, not making any idols, not taking his name
in vain. remembering the Sabbath to keep
it holy. This is laws with regard to God,
and the other table is laws with regard to men, and that's what
he mentions. Which, Jesus said, thou shalt
do no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not
steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, honor thy father and
thy mother, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Do you know which one he left
out? Thou shalt not covet. He didn't mention that. Thou
shalt not covet. The young man saith unto him,
all these have I kept from my youth up, what like I yet. Jesus
said unto him, if thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou
hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven,
and come and follow me. And when the young man heard
that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Now, this man was eaten up with
covetousness. He didn't know it. But he was
eaten up with covetousness. Now, all the law says is, keep
the commandments. Keep the commandments. Do them.
This man thought he had, but the Lord is exposing to him.
He's never kept one commandment one time. He thought he had.
But he didn't realize at this time he was eaten up and dominated
by covetousness. And if you've broken one commandment,
you've broken them all. That's what James says. You can't
just, well, I've messed up on this one. No, you've messed up
on all of them all the time. When you understand the law,
that's what you understand. Now turn with me to another passage
of scripture, Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter 10. Verse 25, and behold, Luke 10,
25, behold a certain lawyer. Now he wasn't an attorney the
way you and I think. He was an expert in the law.
He knew all about God's law, so he thought. He was a student
of the law. He was an interpreter of the
law. And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him. He
had a bad motive. He was trying to trip up the
Lord. There wasn't anything honorable about this question, not a true
desire to know. He was tempting the Lord. A certain lawyer stood up and
tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal
life? Same question that other fellow
asked. And he said unto him, what's
written in the law? Now read this now. What do you
see God says with regard to earning eternal life? Verse 27, and he
answering said, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and
with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. And I can almost
see him pushing his chest out a little bit after he said that.
Very impressed with his knowledge of the law and theology. I love the way the Lord answered
him. And he said unto him, thou hast answered right. I bet he
felt good about it. But look at the rest of it. This
do, this do and thou shalt live. Now the meaning of the law is
this do and thou shalt live. That's the summary of what the
law has to say. This do. Moses described the
righteousness which is in the law that the man that doeth those
things shall live in them. I love the way the Lord dealt
with that guy. He gave the right answer. He was feeling really
good about himself. He said, now do it. Love God
with all your heart and all your soul and all your strength and
all your mind. Love your neighbor as yourself. Do it and you'll
have eternal life. This is the greatest commandment.
You know something that reminds me of? If that's the greatest
commandment, that means me and you are guilty of breaking the
greatest commandment all the time. You believe that? all the time. And you have never
loved God with all our heart and all our soul and all our
mind and all our strength. And we've sure never loved our
neighbors ourself. That being the greatest commandment, that
means I am guilty of continually breaking the greatest commandment. You know, I think of that story
in Galatians chapter four, where Paul gives us the interpretation
of Genesis 16, where God had made a promise to Abraham and
Sarah, you're going to have a child. Ten years go by, it hadn't happened
yet. So, Sarah comes up with a brilliant
idea. Obviously, we're not doing our
part or we would have the child by now. There's something we
need to do. There's something we need to do. Anytime you think
that, you're thinking wrong. There's something we need to
do. And she says, here's what we need to do. Hager, we got
to do our part. Here's my servant, girl Hager,
you go into her and we'll have THE CHILD THROUGH US DOING OUR
PART. GOD'S PROMISE WON'T COME TO PASS
UNLESS WE DO OUR PART. ABRAHAM HEARKENED TO HIS WIFE.
HE SAID IT MAKES SENSE. THEY HAD ISHMAEL. AND PAUL TELLS
US THAT ISHMAEL REPRESENTS MOUNT SINAI. YOU CAN READ ABOUT THIS
LATER IN GALATIANS CHAPTER FOUR. I'M NOT GOING TO ASK YOU TO TURN
IT THERE. BUT MAN DOING HIS PART. represents Mount Sinai, represents
the law. If you believe that salvation
is in any way dependent upon you doing your part, you're under
law. It is that simple. You are under
law. Law says do. Grace says it's
done. That's the difference. Law is
due. Grace says it's done. Now, somebody
might be thinking, what about somebody who's never heard the
law? What about someone who's ignorant of the law? Are they
okay? Are they under the same responsibility?
Well, turn with me to Romans two. Romans chapter two. Verse 14,
for when the Gentiles, Romans chapter two, verse 14, for when
the Gentiles, which have not the law, you know, they didn't
have a copy of the Bible. God never gave them his word. He gave Israel his word. All
these nations did not have a revelation from God. For when the Gentiles,
which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in
the law. THESE HAVING NOT THE LAW ARE
A LAW UNTO THEMSELVES, WHICH SHOW THE WORK OF THE LAW WRITTEN
IN THEIR HEARTS, AND THEIR CONSCIENCE ALSO BEARING WITNESS AND THEIR
THOUGHTS, THAT MEANWHILE ACCUSING OR EXCUSING ONE ANOTHER." NOW,
THESE PEOPLE WHO DON'T HAVE THE LAW, IN THEIR HEART, THEY KNOW
IT'S WRONG TO STEAL. And it's wrong to kill and murder. And it's wrong to commit sexual
sin. And it's wrong to lie. And it's
wrong to dishonor their parents and dishonor authority. And they know it's wrong to covet.
Do you know everybody born into the world is born with that knowledge
in them? NOW, THROUGH HARDNESS OF HEART
AND SIN, YOU CAN GET TO WHERE YOUR CONSCIENCE IS NOT AFFECTED
BY ANYTHING, BUT EVERYBODY'S BORN THAT WAY, AND HERE'S THE
WAY THEY DEAL WITH THE LAW. THEY EITHER FEEL GUILTY, THEY
ACCUSE, OR THEY EXCUSE, THEY MAKE EXCUSE FOR THEIR BEHAVIOR.
EVERYBODY DOES THAT. And that's why I always hate
it when people say, we need to be taught how to live. No, you
don't. You already know how to live.
Everybody in here, you know the difference between right and
wrong. You know that we need to be taught. You know. You know. And here's what men do, they
either make an excuse, it's not my fault, they play the blame
game like Adam did, the woman you gave me, she gave me of the
fruit and I didn't eat. I'm a victim, I'm your victim.
Or else their conscious accuses them of wrong doing. Law, do, grace, it's done. The law was given by Moses. Now
remember, this was the issue they were making, an issue of
the law. I wanna ask a question. Does
grace, does the gospel not require a perfect standing before the
law? Before God's holy law? Is grace God lowering the bar
and making the terms of salvation easier than keeping the law perfectly? Does grace bring God's demands
lower? What the Lord says. He said in
Matthew chapter five, verse 17, think not that I've come to destroy
the law or the prophets. I've come not to destroy, but
to fulfill. And he said, not one jot or one
tittle shall be left out of the law. It's all to be fulfilled. It's all to be honored. I love
what Paul said in Romans 3.31. Do we make void the law through
faith? God forbid, yea, we establish
the law. Now, if I'm saved, I have a perfect
standing before the holy law of God. Christ is the end of
the law for righteousness. Now, what is the purpose of this
law? We've already seen by what has
been said about the law that no man can keep it. So what is
its purpose? I love what Paul said to the
Galatians, tell me, ye that desire to be under law. Don't you hear what the law says? Paul said in 1 Timothy 1, 8,
9, we know, listen to this real carefully, you can turn there
if you want, this is a very important verse of scripture. We know that
the law is good, if a man use it lawfully. Knowing that the law was not
made for a righteous man. Does a righteous man need law?
No. If a man is completely honest,
do you need to lock your door? I think it's, if we were around
righteous, honest people, you wouldn't have to lock your door
at night. You wouldn't have to lock your car up to keep people from
stealing things. You could go out without any
fear whatsoever. No law is needed. For righteous
men, here's who needs the law. The law was not made for a righteous
man, but for the lawless and disobedient. for the ungodly
and sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and
murderers of mothers. And these are some bad people,
aren't they? for man-slayers, for whoremongers, for them that
defile themselves with mankind, homosexuals, to men-stealers,
dealing in human trafficking, for liars, for perjured persons. That's who the law is made for.
A righteous man does not need the law. If you desire to be under the
law, don't you see what you're saying? You're saying I'm a whatever
he mentions in those things. You're saying I need the law
because I am all of those things. Don't you hear what the law says
about you? I love what Paul said in Romans
chapter three, verse 20, by the deeds of the law. There shall
no flesh be justified in his sight. He went on to say, by the law
is the knowledge of sin. Now the law doesn't give you
any power to obey it. All the law does is expose my
sin. Nothing more. Romans 7, 7, Paul
said, I'd not known sin, but by the law for I'd not known
lust, except the law had said, thou shalt not covet. And listen to me, the strength
of sin is the law. Whatever I tell you not to do,
that's what you're gonna wanna do. And you're not going to be
able to drop it. You're not going to be able to
put it down. If I say don't do this, you're
going to want to do it. The strength of sin is the law. If you want to stir somebody's
evil passions up, give them the law. That's all it takes. The
strength of sin is the law. Romans 3.19 says, and we know
that all things Or we know that what thing soever the law saith,
it saith to them that are under the law, that every mouth may
be stopped. And all the world become guilty
before God. Now, the law's got one thing
it does. It makes me know that I stand before God guilty and
my mouth is stopped from all excuses, all self-vindication. The reason my mouth is stopped
is because I'm guilty. That's all the loss I can't I
can't blame you, I can't blame somebody else. It's all my fault
and I stand before God guilty as charged. Have you ever stood
before God like that? Guilty as charged. If he passed
me by, if he didn't give me mercy and let me drop into hell, just
and holy is his name. The law shuts men up. Now here is somebody that understands
the law. Paul said in Romans 7, verse
14, we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. You're the only person that understands
that's a holy man. Someone that's been given a holy
nature, a new nature. He's the only one that even recognizes
that. He says, we know that the law
is spiritual, but I am nothing but a slave to sin in and of
myself. Now, Paul said that as a believer.
An unbeliever would never say that. Paul said that as a believer. Now, can a man be saved by his
law keeping or attempts to keep the law? That answer has, or
that question's already been answered from these scriptures
we've considered. But here is another scripture.
This is found in Romans chapter five. Listen to this. Moreover,
the law entered, that law given by Moses that the offense might
abound. Now if you and I see what God's
law has to say about us, all we see is offense abounding out
of us. We are nothing in and of ourselves
but sin. Now, somebody says, I just don't
agree with that. I just can't see that. Well,
God hadn't showed you then. Because if God speaks to you,
if God reveals to you who you are, you'll know you are nothing
but sin. The law entered that the offense
might abound. But doesn't the Bible say the
law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ? Not really. Let's look at that scripture
together. Galatians chapter three. Galatians chapter three. Verse 24, well, for the law was
our schoolmaster to bring us under Christ. I thought you said
it didn't say that. Well, notice to bring us is an
italics, isn't it? That means it was supplied by
the translators supposedly to make more sense, but it is not
in the original. And that word unto is until. The law was our pedagogue that
beat us up until Christ. You see, the law never brought
anybody to Christ. Oh, I'm really convicted by the
law, and you'll just stay that way. It never brought anybody
to Christ. The only time somebody's brought
to Christ is when God brings them to Christ. And when he brings
them to Christ, they're not under law. Not under law. You know, the law was never intended
to be used for salvation. Look in verse 21 of Galatians
3, you're already there. Is the law against the promises
of God? God forbid, for if there had been a law given which could
have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
But the scripture has concluded all under sin that the promise
by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
The law was never intended to save. I love what Paul said in
Romans eight, verse seven, the carnal mind, listen to the wording
of this. That's the way me and you are
when we're born. That's the fleshly mind. It's the way we naturally
think. The carnal mind is enmity against God. You know what that
means? It means me and you were born
hating the God of the Bible. Maybe not hating our own thoughts,
a God we feel comfortable with, but I'm talking about the God
of the Bible. We're born hating. The carnal mind is enmity against
God. It's not subject to the law of
God. Neither, indeed, can be. It is impossible. Now, the law, the writer of the
Hebrews said, made nothing perfect. Let me tell you something that
law has never done and never will do. Law has never produced
love to God. Nobody that's ever been under
the law has ever loved God. They've resented him. They've
resented him for making a law they can't keep and just felt
like he's unfair and wrong and so on. But law has never produced
love. Only grace produces love. Is a believer at least under
the law as a rule of life? You know, the Puritans used to
make this statement, the law sends us to Christ to be saved,
and Christ sends us back to the law to learn how to live. Will the scripture support that? Romans 6, 14, sin shall not have dominion over
you, for you are not under the law. but under grace. If you're under law, all it produces
is dominion to sin, under sin's lordship. That's all the law
produces. But thank God with regard to
the believer, here's the promise. You're not under law, but you
are under grace. Paul put it this way in Galatians
chapter five, verse 18. If you be led of the spirit,
you're not under law. If you're led by the Spirit of
God, you are not under law. It's only the man that looks
to Christ only that is the man who delights in the law of God. Now, I love the way Paul said,
I delight in the law of God after the inward man. That's talking
about the new nature, the holy nature, the nature that does
not sin. That nature delights in the law of God. Don't you
love God's law? Don't you love, I love the Ten
Commandments. And let me tell you why I love the Ten Commandments
and I love everything else with regard to God's law. I stand
before those commandments without guilt. The law looks me over
and says, he's kept me perfectly. There's nothing to be brought
to my charge. Now, if that's the case, why would I be afraid
of the law? I'd love God's law because I've
kept it. I'm not thinking, well, when
somebody says I'm trying to keep it, well, you're lying for one
thing. You're lying. I'm trying to keep the law. Nobody
believes you. I sure don't. You're sure not doing a very
good job of it. God sees in your heart. He knows what's going
on there. Somebody says, well, I've kept at least one commandment.
You told a lie when you said that. You've broken the eighth
commandment in making that statement because you didn't try to keep
God's law. I mean, all God's law does is
expose sin, but thank God every believer stands before that holy,
beautiful, perfect, glorious law of God without sin and without
guilt. It's called justification. Justification. Jesus Christ bore my sin. He paid the debt the law demanded
of me. His righteousness is given to
me and I stand before this glorious law of God without guilt. Perfect. What the law could not
do in that it was weak through the flesh, the problem's not
the law, the problem's me. WHAT THE LAW COULD NOT DO, AND
THAT IT WAS WEAK THROUGH THE FLESH, GOD, SENDING HIS OWN SON
IN THE LIKENESS OF SINFUL FLESH, AND FOR SIN, CONDEMNED SIN IN
THE FLESH, THAT THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE LAW MIGHT BE FULFILLED
IN US. CHRIST'S RIGHTEOUSNESS AS MY VERY RIGHTEOUSNESS BEFORE
GOD. WHO SHALL LAY ANYTHING TO THE
CHARGE OF GOD'S ELECT? GOD JUSTIFIED. Who is he that
can condemn? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather,
that's risen again, who's even at the right hand of God. Now
I wanna close by asking you to turn to Romans 7 for a moment.
Questions with regard to the law. These men hated Paul, wanted
to kill him. And you know, I can't help but
wonder, you know, they made that vow, you reckon they kept it?
I kind of doubt it. I think they got away out of
it when they saw Paul was shipped off to Rome. Are they going to
go ahead and let themselves starve? No, I don't think so. But they
made that vow because they hated what Paul had to say about the
law. He's against the law. He's against the temple. And
he was letting them know you have no understanding of the
law. Now, look here in Romans chapter 2, verse 1. Know ye not, brethren, for I
speak to them that know the law, how that the law hath dominion
over a man as long as he liveth. Now, me and you can say, well,
I'm not gonna be subject to that law of God. Well, you can say
that, but it's got dominion over you. It has complete dominion
over you. This is God's law. This is not
man's law. Somebody says, I'm not gonna
subject myself to that. You are subjected to it. This
is God's law. You don't have any choice in
this thing. The law has dominion over a man as long as he liveth. And then he uses the example
of marriage. For the woman which hath an husband
is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth. Let's say the husband is not
a very good husband. Let's say he's cruel to her. Let's say he exposes everything
she does as bad. She brings him a meal, that's
not good enough. She does what she can for him,
he's never pleased. All he can do is expose her faults. All he can do is expose her wrongdoing. All he can do is let her know
how he is displeased with her and he is not satisfied with
anything she does. How would you like to be married
to somebody like that? Everything you do, they'd find fault with,
expose you, be upset with you. Now, you know what? You're not
allowed to divorce according to the law. Well, I'm being mistreated. The
law says you're still not allowed to divorce. That's what God's
law says. So then, If while her husband liveth,
she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress.
But if her husband be dead, she is free from that law, though
she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also
are become dead to the law, by the body of Christ that you should
be married to another, even to him who's raised from the dead,
that we should bring forth fruit unto God. Now, that husband I
was describing, that's the law everybody's married to. All he
does is expose sin, expose faults, He has never been satisfied with
his wife. She has never measured up. But you know what? He's dead. When Christ died, he put an end
to that. That law is dead, and now you're
married to somebody who sees you as perfect, as beautiful,
as without fault, as always doing that which is right, never doing
that which is wrong. He's completely satisfied. That because of this glorious
husband. And that's what makes you bring
forth fruit to God. When you see God is satisfied
with you, you're a beautiful bride, you're perfect in Christ
Jesus. Does anybody say, well good,
that means I can go out and sin all I want and no consequences
to it. No believer responds that way.
They don't do it. What a husband, what a husband
that sees me as perfect, that sees me as beautiful, that sees
me as without fault, that is completely satisfied with me. Thou art all fair, my love. There is no fault in thee. You've ravished me with one of
your eyes, is what Christ says to every single one of his people. And because of that, I can look
at God's law and I can say with Paul, I delight, I delight in
the law of God after the inward man. But he went on to say, I
see another law warring in my members, bringing me into captivity
to the law of sin, which is in my members. We're not going to
be rid of that until we're dead. That's why we have every reason
to look forward to death and ask the Lord for grace to be
a good wife to him. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your
law How we thank you for the perfection
of it. How we thank you that your commandments
are exceeding broad. How we thank you that you've
given us the grace to see that we have not kept one commandment
one time. And how we thank you for the
Lord Jesus, our righteousness before your holy law. Lord, bless
this word for your glory. Lord, enable us to be married
to thy son, not to the law, but to thy son. And Lord, by his
grace, may we bring forth fruit unto thee. Bless this word for
Christ's sake, in his name we pray, amen.