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SCRIPTURE – MATT. 5:17                                                                                                                                                           MARCH, 2023

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy,  but to fulfil!!

SUBJECT – THE SKELETON OF THE GOSPEL/CHURCH!!!

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Though the title of this message may seem a bit strange, believe me, it is very relevant for all of us today.

Especially to those that name the name of Christ, talking about born-again Christians!!

Actually, that is the only type of Christian that there is, as far as God is concerned.

For as far back as I can remember, there has been this nagging problem that many of us in the Church face, and that is just what does the Gospel have to do with the Law?? Or another way of putting it is, since we are in what is known as the dispensation of Grace, then the Law is no longer applicable today!!

Most Christians today, are what I call New Testament Saints.

What I mean by that is, since they, or shall I say we, have become part of the family of God, by way of the birth, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and that we are to live our lives according to the Gospels, and those letters and books from Matthew through to the Book of Revelation, then, that is all the instruction that we need.

In most of our minds, what took place from Genesis, through to Malachi, has very little bearing on how we are supposed to live our lives today.

The only exception, is the Old Testament book of Psalms!!

As of this writing, I am nearly 76 and a half years old. And since I can remember, as a child, there were always little pocket Bibles that were handed out by well-meaning Christians, as a means of witnessing for Christ.

These Bibles were called 'The New Testament and Psalms'. That is because that was all they contained.

Now granted, it is the message of the New Testament, that gives us a clear path to Salvation, because that is the final part of God's plan, to bring man back in to the position he had with Him, before the 'Fall!!'

However, if we will take time to examine just exactly what the 'Gospel' message is, it is described as the 'Good News!!'

Well, if that is the case, then, there has to be some reason why it is called that!!

And that, my friends is where the problem comes in.

If we will look at what Christ went through as a man, then, there just logically has to be something out there that would compel Him to suffer the things He did, for us!!!

Well, all of that information, is contained in the books of 'the Law!!' Or, as we know them as, 'the Old Testament!!'

Now, I don't know about you, but, if I am going to make any type of sacrifice of my life, let alone the life of a child of mine, for a cause, there better be a damn good reason for me to do it!!

Now, if God felt it was important enough to send His only begotten Son, to sacrifice His Life, then I need to find out just exactly what it is.

Mind you now, God is not asking us to just blindly follow His instructions, without showing us all the evidence as to why, what He is telling us to do, is so important.

Therefore, to ignore that information, puts us in a very dangerous position, that could end up costing us the very thing Christ died to save, and that is our souls.

And, sad to say, many in the Church today, that have a heart for Christ, and the Gospel, are today, in Hell, or are suffering needlessly because they are completely unaware of just what it is that the Christian needs to be doing, as far as how they live their lives.

All because this information, as I said, is being ignored, or worse yet, rejected.

When the point is put to many of them, that something they are doing, is evil, according to the Law, they will respond with that old favorite standby, ' We are not under the Law, but under Grace!!'

That response is a sign of rejecting, what God says the believer should be doing, or not doing.

Now, let me say this!!

Grace, is a Good thing!! Especially today!!!

You see, we can reject God, and His Word/Christ, and God will give us chance after chance to 'come around!!'

If we look at what happened to His people, under the Law, there was very little Grace/Mercy shown to them. All you have to do, is read about the experiences of the children of Israel, from the time they were in bondage to Egypt, up to the wilderness experiences, with them rejecting God's Law, and threatening to kill His prophets, and you can see why the Gospel, means 'Good News!!'

If it were not for the Gospel, many of us that are alive today, would be on a fast track to destruction, for doing far worse than what His people did back then.

The reason being, is that the Law, including the teachings of the Old Testament Prophets, have been done away with.

A look at the subject scripture, says something totally different.

Jesus Himself tells us that that is not what His purpose for coming here, is for. In fact, He came here to complete what was spoken of, in the Old Testament, by His Prophets!!!

Now, we come to the reason for the title of this message being what it is.

The Old-Testament [the Law], is the foundation of the New-Testament, much the same way the skeleton is the foundation of mankind.

Think about it!!

Each of us has a structure inside of us that enables us to stand up, walk and run, maintain our physical shape, by keeping our organs in place and more.

That structure, is our skeleton.

Now imagine what we would be like without it!!

We would not be able to stand up, walk and run like we do, because our organs would be spread out all over the place, only held in place by our skin. We would, for the most part, be indistinguishable from each other except maybe by the color of our skin.

In a sense, we would all look like blobs, that could only get around by rolling, or flowing from one place to another. Forget about going up and down stairs. Oh, we could probably roll down stairs, but, getting up those stairs would be nearly impossible. Eating and chewing your food, would be impossible, because you would have no jaw-bone for your teeth to be attached to, because you would have no skull!!

Now, I could go on, but, I am sure you get the point.

Well, when it comes to the believers, Christians, there is one thing that is part of our foundation that without it, we couldn't be, what God has called us to be, and that is, an entity that is able to stand up, stand out, and be recognizable to the rest of the world [the ungodly].

The Law, gives us direction on several issues.

First, it let's us know where we came from.

Then it let's us know what our purpose for being here is.

It then tells us what we need to be doing in order to be pleasing to our Creator.

It tells us what He likes, and what He hates.

It goes in to detail as to what can be expected both when we obey, and disobey His Commandments/Rules!!

Then, it gives us examples of each condition, as proof that He means what He says.

And lastly, and this is a key point. He lets us know that, unlike us, He does not change, for any reason.

Much of what people view as a change, talking about changing from animal sacrifices, and the dispensation of Grace, was not Him changing His ways, because it was all part of His plan, from the beginning.

People that know what the Old Testament says about 'signs of the times', are able to feel comfortable in these days and times in which we are living because they know what is just about to happen, and are preparing themselves.

Everything about the Gospel, are indicators to what is waiting for those that get in line with what the Old Testament Law has to say about our spiritual condition[sin nature], and our need to repent.

Jesus spent the majority of His time, teaching about the need for man to repent and turn from his wicked ways,

He even linked sicknesses, diseases and infirmities to the sins that plagues us all.

On 2 occasions, He directly told them that they should 'sin no more!!'

One, was the woman that was caught in the act of adultery.

Even though she deserved to be stoned to death, Jesus, spared her life, but warned her not to sin anymore [John 8:11].

The other was kind of a surprise, because, in this instance, the man at the pool of Bethesda, that He healed that was lame from birth, I believe. Yet Jesus told him to go his way, and, 'sin no more, lest a worse thing come on you!!' [John 5:1 – 14]

Yet today, those that preach the Gospel, for the most part, leave their listeners to believe, that all this talk about sin, and repentance, has been done away with, because we are not under the Law!!!

If that were true, then why did Jesus make the statements that He did??

Somebody doesn't know what they are talking about, and it sure isn't Jesus!!

What needs to be understood here is, What is sin, and, what is repentance???

Interestingly enough. the answer to that first part, is described in the Bible itself. And take note to the wording.

Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.[1John 3:4].

Notice the word 'law!'

If, as many believe that the Law was done away with, then why are we still hearing about it in the New Testament??

So, to put it in today's vernacular, sin, is a crime, because it is the breaking of the law.

When it comes to repentance, that simply means that you are admitting your crime/sin, and are looking for Mercy/Grace!!

However, the other part of that formula is that you 'go your way, and sin no more!!!'

You see, it does you no good to seek God's Mercy and Grace, as long as you fully intend to keep doing the thing you are asking His Mercy/Grace for.

Jesus said in [Mat. 3:8]Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: …..

That means, you have to be doing something to show your sincerity of repentance. That is why I say, you need to turn away from whatever you are doing that is sin!!

And, despite what you might have been told, there is no sin, that you can be involved in, that you can't get out of. It might be a little more difficult than others, but, with His Help, you can do it, if you really try.

The message from most churches today is, 'you are what you are, because God made you like that!! So continue being yourself, and don't worry about what others may tell you. Jesus, gets you/us!!!'

That's the message that is guaranteed to keep you out of God's Good Graces, and on a fast-track to Hell!!

God made us the way He did, to be an image of Himself.

We are the only ones, that He personally formed, with His own two hands, and put His breath in us.

He gave us all of the attributes that were necessary for us to be above all of the other living creatures on the earth,

And, He gave us all of that, mounted on a skeleton, so that we could be able to walk upright, and stand out, among all the others.

When it comes to the Church/Christians, that same set of attributes applies, except, instead of a physical skeleton, we have a spiritual one, it's called the Law!! Without that we are nothing special.

It's time for the Church/Christians to get some backbone, stand up, and quit wallowing and rolling around on the floor!!





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