Out of the Slimy Pit

Psalm 40

Welcome! Today is the last Sunday of the month, so we will have a shorter message followed by a time of remembering the Lord with the bread and the cup and then a sharing time, in which anyone can share what the Lord has been teaching them. Throughout this year, we have been reflecting on various psalms in preparation for our communion times, and today we will look at Psalm 40. This psalm is one of the many psalms written by David, who was inspired by the Holy Spirit to use the exact words and ideas that he wrote.

I think this particular psalm also fits in beautifully with the series we have been going through and are still in the midst of, Law and Grace, which began by giving a 30,000-feet-in-the-air view of the Old Testament Law as revealed in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, and which in the last few weeks has been contrasting this to the grace of Christ that is found in Galatians. And so as we go through Psalm 40, I will point out the parallel threads that run there and here. 

Unsupervised

 Galatians 3

Carl laid the foundation for the Law in his teachings on the first 5 books of the Old Testament. Then John Farmer explained how the Galatian church was deserting Christ and His Gospel of Salvation for a different Gospel (a Gospel of works).  Last week Brian Bridgeman taught on how Paul describes to the Galatians his reproof of the apostle Peter for reverting back to the works of the law and leading new believers astray.  Paul tells the Galatians that he has died to the Old Testament Law and that by the persecution that he received from the Jews, he had shared in Christ suffering and that he (Paul) no longer lives but Christ lives in him.

Today we will learn a little more of how the Galatians so quickly abandoned their new found faith in Christ and the Gospel that Paul preached to them and began following a different Gospel.  This different Gospel was based on the works of the law again.

Galatians 3:1You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.

Dead Men

Galatians 2 

Recently, we’ve been going through a series on Law and Grace. We started out when Carl gave an overview of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. One of the things that grabbed my attention the most was learning that there were some laws that were easier to obey because they involved outward obedience. The Israelites were better at obeying these laws. Some of these laws included things like making the Tabernacle and the objects that belonged in the Tabernacle, and also setting up for worship sacrifices. It was these things that the Israelites did very well, at least most of the time. But again these were outward actions. This is comparable to what we do today: going to church, setting up chairs and tables for a meeting, making meals, etc.

But the more difficult laws involved those that required obedience from the heart. Some of these laws included things like the Passover found in Exodus, or the command to “love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength” found in Deuteronomy. They had to obey God in the Passover without having a reason for every command. For example, God didn’t explain why they needed to place the blood of the lamb on the doorpost. Why couldn’t God know that they had sacrificed the lamb and let that be enough? Why did it have to be a lamb? Why couldn’t they break any of its bones? 

AWOL

Galatians 1 

Good morning! Today, we are making the transition in our summer series on Law and Grace.  Carl has been sharing the last several weeks about the books of the Law.  We have taken a very high level view as each week encompassed an entire Old Testament book.

We began with “Redemption and the Tabernacle” discussing the book of Exodus.  Already in Exodus, we saw that the Law was presented in two main types.  There were requirements that are character based, actions of the heart, loving God, stuff on the inside.  An example would be the Ten Commandments.  Then, there are requirements that are activity or accomplishment based, doing stuff, external things.  An example would be the detailed construction of the tabernacle.  It is much easier for us, in our own strength, to do stuff than to be holy.

Rehearsal and Ratification

Deuteronomy

Welcome! Today we come to our final message on the Law, focusing in on the book of Deuteronomy. In the coming weeks we will explore the wonderful book of Galatians, hearing this Word like the Galatians would, in sight of the Law. 

The setting of the book of Deuteronomy is in the desert, with Moses and the grown-up children of the generation that God had freed from the harsh slavery of the Egyptians. The Israelites, despite God’s personal provision through the manna and other food, despite God’s personal leadership through the column of cloud and the column of fire, and despite God’s personal promises that He was for their good and would help them, despite all this, the Israelites repeatedly rejected God, complaining and revolting against Him. Finally, God declared that they would not get to go to the Promised Land after all, that the promise would pass on to their children, the next generation. For 40 years they wandered around the desert, still led by God, and at last, it was time for the next generation to fulfill this promise. The book of Deuteronomy is primarily Moses’ farewell address to these people, for he, too, had sinned, and he, too, would not be able to go to the Promised Land.