If you have your Bible, you might want to open it to Romans 7, 7 through 12, as we continue with our fairly long study in the book of Romans, Paul's letter to the church at Rome. This is our practice on Monday to go before the throne, before we go, before the book, so let's do it. Father, got another week and it's a gift of your grace. Father, teach us to redeem the time and remind us that everybody has exactly the same amount. There's a radical egalitarianism about time and every minute and every hour is one that you give to everybody. And so we ask the Christians that we would redeem the time and the name of the Lord Jesus. Keep us faithful. Keep us close to your agenda. Father, help us not to take ourselves too seriously, but to only take you seriously. Father, remind us that we aren't home yet. We ask to deal with our suffering and pain in a way that brings honor to you and Father, enable us to deal with our joy and our blessings in a way that brings honor to you. Father, we praise you because you're worthy of our praise and adoration. You are God. We thank you for all you've done for us and we ask forgiveness for all of that which makes us unworthy. Father, forgive us the times when we have been disobedient. When we have known your will and gone in the other direction when we turn away from those in need. Father, we're not good but we are yours. We ask forgiveness but not only forgiveness but that you would make us different. And then, Father, as we study your Word this week on key life, we pray for the one who teaches, that you would forgive him his sins for they are many. We would see Jesus and him only and we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright, this week we're continuing with our study on the Book of Romans and if you have your Bible turn and if you're driving you drive. That was ordained from the foundation of the earth that you keep your eyes on the road. I do appreciate the ride but I would prefer that you trust me as I read the Bible if you have your Bible turn. If you will, to the seventh chapter of Romans, verses 7 through 12, while you're finding that, let's take a moment to review what we saw last week in our study of Romans. The text then was Romans 7, one through six. We went down a couple of side road. We noted Paul's comment about the law having dominion while one is alive, Romans 7.1. We noted the cultural context of the teaching bold gives on the law, Romans 7.1. Then we turned to the illustration bold used of the wife married to the first husband who was the law. He died and then she married a second husband. Jesus Christ, her first husband was a twit, her second husband was glorious. The law is dead and the point that Paul was making is this. That because the law is dead, we are no longer married to it. We're married to a new husband. Then we saw using Paul's illustration, the nature of the first husband, Romans 7.5, the death of the first husband, Romans 7.4, the fruit of the first marriage, Romans 7.5, spiritual adultery with the second husband, Romans 7.3, the courtship of the second husband, Romans 7.6, the nature of the second husband, Romans 7.4 in six, and the fruit of the second marriage, Romans 7.4 now. We're ready to turn to the text for this week. It's Romans 7, 7.12, where my old friend, the Apostle Paul writes as follows. What shall we say then, is the law sin, certainly not. On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law, for I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said you shall not covet. But sin-taking opportunity by the commandments produced in the old manner of evil desire. For apart from the law, sin was dead. I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. For sin-taking occasion by the commandment deceived me, and by it killed me, therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, just and good. Now, the main thrust of that text is how God deals with our authority problem. But before we turn to that subject, I want to go down a couple of side roads. You knew it, didn't you first? Side road number one, please note that the law of God is not to be set aside. If you were listening that last week, I taught you a word. The word is anti-nomean, anti-against, nomean against the law. And we saw it was a word that was coined by Martin Luther, and then it's a heresy. Don't you ever listen to anybody who says the law is no longer relevant? It still is. I didn't say it. Paul said it. Paul said it on behalf of God in an errant scripture, Roman 7.7. What shall we say then, is the law censorably not? On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law for I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said you shall not covet. Then look at the 12 firsts. Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just and good. I received a letter from a seminary student recently in which he chose to demonstrate that homosexual lifestyle as long as it was monogamous and committed was acceptable to God. He sent me his paper. He made some very good points, but he made some very bad points, too. When talking about those passages in Leviticus that clearly state about the sinfulness of homosexual practice, he said, and I quote the law of God, has been set aside. And I wrote back and said, nay nay nay. If you were listening last week, I gave you that word anti-nomean. We saw that it was coined by Martin Luther, that it meant to be against the law. Sometimes people think I'm anti-nomean, but I'm not. I mean because I believe in radical grace doesn't mean that I don't believe in the law. I believe that we're free from the law, but not that the law no longer has a purpose in the life of the believer. Now listen to me. The law tells us what police is God. That's never changed. The law tells us what police is God. The law tells us what police is God. And I have two daughters. Let me tell you, and they're a lot better near kids. But let me tell you, one of the things that we did right, we decided that it was important that we take rules away. So each year, as they got older, we removed some of the rules that were excellent the year before in their lives. And by the time they were seniors and high school didn't have any rules. You see, we were afraid that they would go from total control in our home to total freedom, in college, and it would kill them. So we wanted them to be free of rule, so we would be around to pick up the pieces when they messed it up. But let me tell you something. And by the way, I wouldn't apply that universally. Everybody's kids are different. But with our kids, that worked very well. But let me tell you something. There was never any doubt in the minds of either of our daughters about what pleased us and what didn't pleased us. They knew our standards. They knew what we thought was right and what we thought was wrong. But let me tell you something else they knew. They knew that if they didn't meet our standards, we would still love them, that they would continue to be our daughters, and that they would never kick them out. God is like that. Let me give you an acrostic that we use in our born-free seminars. Those of you who have been to the seminar know what I'm talking about. But it helps Christians understand why the law is important. Now, the acrostic is rule. R-U-L-E. Let me give you the acrostic, R. The Law Reveals. You'll find that in Psalm 119, 151-152. Let me tell you something. I want to know what God is like. I know that He is holy and righteous, but I want to put some legs on that. I want some flesh on that. I want to know what in the world does it mean to be holy? What does it mean to be righteous? To be totally righteous will the law reveals that. It reveals what God is like and what He would like us to be. And then the U of the rule acrostic are, the law reveals, U the law updates Psalm 79, Psalm 1713. In other words, the law lets me know how I am doing. I one time worked for a man in broadcasting who never told me I did anything good, but he never told me I didn't do anything bad either. I mean, it was the worst job I ever had. I wanted to go to him and just kick him and say, look, if you don't like what I'm doing, tell me. If you do like it, tell me. But for heaven's sake, tell me one way or the other. Well, that's what the law does. The law lets us know how we're doing it. Update to Psalm 79. And then the L and the R-U-L, the R stands for reveal, the U for updates the L for lectures. Galatians 3, 24. Paul says that the laws are tutor. And then Paul says it again in this passage in Romans. It says that the law draws us to Christ. It lets us know where our needs are. The law becomes a tutor to bring us to him and to drive us to him. I'll tell you something. You know what the law does for me? Now, I'm growing in grace, and I'm better than I was, but I still got so far to go that when I check the law to see I'm doing, I'm sometimes so ashamed that I've got no place to go accept to him and say, Lord, Lord, I try so hard, and I messed it up again, and he hugged me. So the law lectures us, and then sends us to the Master Teacher who's been loves us and accepts us. And then finally, in the Acoustic, the law reveals, the law updates, the law lectures, but the law educates on 1997 through 98. What does that mean? Well, it means that we know more than pagans know. We do better than pagans, or we ought to, because we have a manual that tells us how the universe works, tells us where the mind feels. God doesn't say, don't commit adultery and don't steal and don't murder, because I don't want you to have any fun. Because I'm a God who's in the misery, and I want you to be miserable, he tells us those things because he wants to let us know where we can get hurt. And so the law educates the Christian, or the believer, or the person who believes in the law. Now, that's all the law does. When you use it to condemn yourself or others, you misuse it. When you use it to deal with salvation, you misuse it. When you use it to beat somebody over the head, you misuse the law. The law is important, but it is also important to understand why the law is important. Jews have always said that Torah is the best gift that God ever gained in life, because it lets us know about the nature of God. Now, he loves us, the law, in terms of the binding nature of it. We saw that last week, on our lives is no longer true. But I'll tell you something, if I love somebody, I want to please somebody. And the only way I can please somebody is to know what pleases that person. Now, let me give you another side observation on that text. Please note that the law is a gift from God why to bring life? How do I know that, Roman 17? And the commandment which was to bring life, I found to bring death. Without the law in my failure to live by it, I would never have known Christ. A friend of mine, Nancy K. Wood. In Tennessee gave me a great proverb. Let me give it to you. If God fixes a fix to fix you, and you fix the fix before you're fixed, he'll fix another fix to fix you. In other words, God's going to get his way with you. He's going to draw you to himself. He's going to love you, and he's going to make you like Jesus. That will either be the hard way or the easy way, but he's going to do it. He does that, of course. With circumstances. Let me give you another side. If God forces you and his parents to fix, he'll fix another fix to fix you. In other words God's going to get his way with you. He's going to draw you to himself. He's going to love you, and he's going to make you like Jesus. That will either be the hard way or the easy way, but he's going to do it. He does that, of course, with circumstances. But let me tell you something. He does that with the Law. How's that? the law. At the chapel at Reform Theological Seminary, we have a confession often taken from the heritage of our history from an ancient prayer book or one of the reformers. What always impresses me is the way Christians in the past have known that they don't live by the law and needed to confess it before their brothers and sisters in Christ. We don't do that very much anymore in the church. We're into self-esteem. If we confess too much with our children around, we might hurt the little darlings and they'd be worked for life and stuff like that. That's pure drivel. The reason many young people are worked for life is because they have an opinion of themselves that doesn't match reality. Let me give you a principle. I believe that God will allow you to send greatly or he will show you the greatness of your sin. Why is that? Because he dislikes you know, because it's the only way he can draw us to ourselves. It is only when we see our sin that we find life and acceptance of the throne of grace. It is only with that kind of forgiveness that we achieve eternal life. That's what Paul meant when he says that the law was meant to bring life, not by our being able to live it, but by our being able not to live it and going to Christ for forgiveness and eternal life. I have a friend who has three sons and two of his sons are kind of sons you would like. They're wonderfully obedient, but one of his sons is a rebel. In fact, my friend hasn't seen his son Jimmy in months and I ask him one time which son he loved the most, and he smiled and said, that's like saying which leg on a three-legged stool is more important. They're all important and loved, and then there was a long pause, and I could see the tears well up in his eyes, but he said, but Steve, I love Jimmy a lot. And I guess maybe I love him, maybe even more than the others. I miss him so much. If Jimmy only knew how much his father loved him, even though he had disappointed him, even though he had heard him, even though he had rebelled against him, his father loved him totally, and listen carefully, the only way Jimmy would know that is for Jimmy to go to his father. Do you know what's going to send Jimmy to his father? If somebody has the courage to say, Jimmy, you are a twit, your father loves you, and you have spit in his face, you better go back to him. And if he goes back, you know what I'm praying? I'm praying that Jimmy gets to feeling so guilty that he feels so miserable, that he falls on his face so horribly, that he'll have no other option, but to go home. He'll be very surprised when he gets there, and you'll find a father with a ring, and a robe, and some sandals, a father who love him, and they'll have a party welcoming him home, pulses, that the law was man to bring life, because when we don't live it, we find out how much the father loves us, and would give us life. And when we go to him, he doesn't just forgive us. He begins to help us from the inside out to be better people, to live by the law closer. It doesn't mean that you will be perfect the way I am, or that you will be totally obedient the way I am. After all, I'm a reverent. They call me doctor, I'm a teacher, and perfection isn't often achieved to the degree to which I am. What are you looking so funny? Well, maybe I'm not quite that perfect. Well, I know, maybe I'm a whole lot worse than that, but I'll tell you, I'm better than I was, and have of that. The times in which we live are times that hate authority. If you notice that, one of the things I teach my students in breaching classes is that because we live in a post-modern time, when you yell at people, they stop listening. You'll never get them to hear if you yell and pound the bullet. Now, a lot of Christians need to understand that. You know, if we stop yelling, people might listen, but we're so busy waving our placards and beating people over the head with bibles, they don't listen anymore. Now, let me stop for just a moment and explain what it means to be post-modern. A lot of people don't realize it, but we've gone into what is a major paradigm shift in the world. In other words, something has really changed radically in all cultures that are developed across the world. It means a lot of things have changed. The information highway, the computer age, the MTV generation, all those things reflect a major change in the way people think. Pre-modern would be the time before the reformation and the Renaissance. And you say, Steve, this is boring. Do I have to learn this? No, but it is sort of interesting. Pre-modern would be the time before the reformation and the Renaissance. It was a time when people believed, when God was as real as the chair that people sat on, that was pre-modern. Then there's modernist times, which started about it, the reformation and the Renaissance, and went to the fall of the Berlin Wall. After the Berlin Wall we've been living in a post-modernist age. When writers said the pre-modernist would help people, the modernist would create housing for the board, and when it didn't work, blow it up and build something better. And the post-modernist just likes to watch the explosion. The modernist culture is seen in argument between Christians and non-Christians about which had the truth. The post-modernist doesn't much care, whatever turns you on. At any rate, authority is rejected in a post-modernist culture. And that's the one we're living in. I don't like it. I wish it weren't so. I would prefer something else. But don't get mad at the weather, man, because it gives you a bad forecast. But the truth is that almost everyone hates authority. That's what we find in Romans 1 through 3. Those of you who are here, and we're listening, know that the truth is that post-modernist age simply gives warrant to what is already a part of human sinfulness, a rejection of authority. I used to brag about my authority problem, getting mad at stop signs, but the older I get, the more I realize that my desire to be autonomous, my desire to have no restraints or authority above me, is the root of all my sin. For instance, those people who have intellectual problems with the Christian faith usually don't. They simply want to be in control. They want to be autonomous. They know if there's a God, they're not in control. And then all like that a bit. They hate authority. However, the authority problem is there, and Paul's teaching in Romans 7, 7 through 11 shows again how God is dealt with us, according to the way He created us. This is God's psychology, and it's wonderful to behold. Now, the rest of the week we're going to be talking about authority, and how authority works. The first point is this. I want you to note the nature of authority. Look at Romans 7 and 12. Therefore, the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. The nature of authority is to impose a standard and to require that that standard be met. That's what a policeman does. That's what a authority does. It imposes a standard and requires that the standard be met. Authority, all authority comes from God. Now, when we get to Romans 13, we're going to talk about that a lot more. Some of you guys who are so upset at the government don't realize what the Bible says. Now, we're called to protest and to bear witness and do things like that. But did you ever think that every authority, extant in the world, including the bad ones and the good ones, are there? Because God put them there. I didn't say that. God said it. We're going to talk about it more when we get to Romans 13. But the truth is, all authority comes from God, and it is the nature of authority to impose a standard and to require that that standard be met. That's what a policeman does. And so, authority is legitimate because authority comes from God. You know, you know, I'm to the right of Ginghis Khan politically. I mean, I thought Ronald Reagan was a communist. Oh, that will give you some idea. So, guys like us, who were Republicans in right wing, when Bill Clinton got elected president, we thought that the end of Western civilization as we knew it had come to an end. I was stupid. I mean, that was that meant we didn't go to the Bible to find out what the Bible says. And you Democrats, who are just this side of loopy liberal, when Reagan was president, you thought the whole world had come to an end. That nobody would ever be compassionate or loving again. The truth is, both of those feelings, democratic and republican were simply wrong. The truth is, authority comes from God. Legitima authority comes from God and the nature of authority is to impose a standard and to require that that standard be met. That's what a policeman does. And we don't want to live in a society where there's no policeman. I ever tell you about the time that almost blew an elderly lady up. I saw you. Oh, son, you started listening, didn't you? I had an old red 52 Ford and a friend who went to South Carolina and I lived in North Carolina to buy fireworks because fireworks were legal in South Carolina and brought them all back. He brought amongst the other paraphernalia of fireworks. He brought some cherry moms. And one night some friends and I decided to go out into the neighborhoods of our town and throw fireworks out the window of the car. I'll never forget to comment from one of my friends in the back seat. After I had lit and thrown a cherry bomb out my window and it landed on a man's front porch. And he said, Steve, I believe there was a woman in that rocking chair. You blew it. And you blew her up. I know it's not funny. It's maybe on laughing because I kind of embarrassed. I mean, I about died then. I mean, I was not a good kid, but I went all that bad. I wasn't into blowing ladies up who were sitting in rocking chairs. So I said, man, we got to go back and make sure nobody was hooked. And so we circled back around to find out if anybody had gotten hurt. And the rocking chair was empty and there was no blood. So we figured I'd not blown her up. She was okay. At any rate, we decided to call it an evening. I mean, it was kind of a damper on our fun. And when I got home about half an hour later, my father was sitting in the living room. And he was angry. And I could tell it on his face. And he was more than angry. He was ballistic. And he said, son, sonan, I thought there is no way he could know what I did yet. I mean, I've got a smart father. But there is no way he's not psychic. I only did it an hour ago. The truth was that my father was not psychic. When we went back to check if anybody was hurt, somebody had gotten my license plate and the police had traced it to our home and it called and talked to my father. And dear friend, I thought my life was over. I ended up going to the police. The people in whose yard I had thrown the cherry bomb and I went to court. You know something? My father went with me to all those places. And in that, and in many other incidents in my father's life, he taught me unconditional love. Now he didn't approve of it. He was angry. But he stood with me because I was his child in any rate. In that experience, I encountered legitimate authority. The legitimate authority of the state of the government, the legitimate authority of my father and the family both required that I conform to a standard or pay a penalty. That's what authority does. It imposes a standard requires that the standard be met. If we don't meet the standard, then we pay a penalty. Authority, all authority comes from God. Now we're going to talk more about that when we get a Romans 13. We'll deal with it in detail. Now Paul rightly says that the authority in the universe is God. And God's authority is revealed in the laws that God has given us. Alright, that's the first thing you need to know about authority. Secondly, I not only want you to note the nature of authority, stay with me. I want you to notice the promise of authority. Look at Romans 17 and the commandment which wants to bring life I found to bring death. Not only does the law come from God and reflect his authority. Listen to me, the law on the face of it gives us a promise that will be fine as long as we obey the law. Authority always does that. You remember what your mother told you? She said, be nice and everything will be fine. She was wrong. But what she said is in a human belief. Somebody said that mothers got together to make up the rules. You remember the rule that you couldn't swim an hour after eating or you'd get the cramps and you'd die? I mean, I was a lifeguard for the thousand years and I always, I was a waterfront director at a camp and we just didn't let campers swim at least an hour after they had eaten for an hour after they even because we knew they'd get cramps and they would die. And you know where we got that? We got that from our mother. But you know what I found out recently? That's not true. You don't get cramps from swimming after you eat. The mothers of the world got together and they made it up so they could get some rest and nap after lunch. At any rate, the promise of laws this do right and it will come out right. Well, dear friend, that simply isn't true. Doesn't work that way. I remember a young lady who had developed cancer sitting across from me and she said to me with tears running down her face, I've always been a good girl. I'm a virgin. I thought that if I was good, I would find a husband and have children and everything would be fine. And now I have cancer. I'm not married and I don't have any children. God lied to me. No, he didn't. You believe the myth that if you do right, it will come out right. Now sometimes it doesn't. Now we do right, by the way, because God says it's right, not because we'll get anything out of it. Help me if he's father to love you even if there is no heaven and to fear you even if there is no hell. The truth is, the truth is that sometimes it comes out right and sometimes it doesn't come out right. Now ultimately, I know that Romans 8, 28 is true. I know that ultimately when we get home, all the books are going to be balanced. Everything's going to come out right. But if you're doing good things because every time you say you do something good, God's got to do something good for you. That's done work that way. And I wish it did. But it doesn't. Now listen to me, and I'm going to tell you what Paul was saying. He says, the authority of the law promised life. But we have not found life because of two things. First, doing it right doesn't mean that it will come out right. And secondly, because we are similar, we hardly ever do it right. Why is that? Well, I'm going to tell you in the next point. Thirdly, I not only want you to note the nature and the promise of authority. I want you to note the working of authority. Look at Romans 7 and 8. But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire for our part from the law, sin was dead. Why don't we do right? Because it is the nature of human beings to rebel against any authority. I don't believe that. Okay, let's test it. We get some 7,000 letters each month at key life. And let me tell you what those letters reflect. They show that you Christians are lazy, that you don't witness, that you don't care two cents about standing up for Christ in the world. You haven't even witnessed anybody in the last week. You're one of those Christians. How much time did you spend in the Bible this morning? How much did you memorize of God's word putting in your heart? Do your friends see your holiness or do they see your sin? There are people in other countries who don't even know Christ and you haven't given a dime. You're not even tithing. You aren't sacrificing for Christ. If you loved him, you would do more. And you call yourself a... I hate doing that. And you call yourself a... Now let me ask you something. That was really unfair. Now let me ask you something. How did you feel when I was saying all of that? You were hurt, disbelieving because we talk about grace here. And most of you guys were very angry with me for coming on like that. You started justifying yourself to yourself. You started pointing your finger and saying, I wish my husband or my wife could do this. Here she needs to hear this. What was happening? You were showing the natural authority problem in your reaction to what I said. And the truth is that the authority problem we have in our lives is the basic stuff of our disobedience. The authority problem that we have is the basic stuff of our disobedience. The mother of the teenager said one time, I don't tell him what to do anymore because he's not going to do it. She was pointing to the universal problem of human beings. If somebody tells us what to do, orders us to do something, tells us that we have to do something. We might do it, but we won't like it. And we will in our hearts rebel against it. So you say, maybe you describe something that I deal with. But what difference does it make? I'm only human. Well, it makes a lot of difference. And I'm going to show you in the next point. Fourthly, not only do I want you to note the nature, the promise, the working of authority, I want you to note, if you will, the death from authority. Roman 17 and the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. God says that if I live by His law, if I'm obedient to Him, if I do everything He says, I will live. Now that's true. By the way, death isn't normal. First Corinthians 15 teaches us that the listing of death is sin. Do you ever sin? If you never sin, you wouldn't have to die. We always say, birth is normal. Death is normal part of living. Don't be afraid of it. That's drivel. Death isn't normal. That's why we find it. That's why we hate to think about it. That's why we fear death almost more than anything in the whole world. Now if God says, if you are obedient to my law, you live and He does. The reverse of the converse is true. If you aren't obedient to my law, you're going to die. That's our problem. There's something in our nature that causes us to rebel against what God tells us to do. It's called a regional sin, and we'll say that doctrine for another day. Did you hear about the frog? I think I've told you. The frog in the scorpion on the side of a swollen river in the middle of the flood, and the scorpion asked the frog to give him a ride across the river and the frog refused. Do you think I'm crazy? If I do that, you'll sting me, and I'll die. Of course I won't do that to scorpion responded. If I should be riding on your back in the middle of the river, and I stung you, that would be stupid. We would both die. When the frog thought about it, it said, you know, that makes sense, so he'd let the scorpion get on his back. And when they are in the middle of the river, the scorpion pushed his stinger tail over his head and he stung the frog. As they were going down to their deaths for the third time, the frog with his last breath said to the scorpion, would you do that for? The scorpion said, I don't know. It's just my nature. I just think for the reason I got so mad when somebody told me to do something was that I was especially bad. Well, I was. But I was just like everybody else. They were just afraid to rebel. They hated authority. Just as I hated authority, the reason the law brings death is because we refuse to live by the way God tells us to live. Now, let me go on to another point. Fistly, not only do I want you to note the nature, the promise, the working of authority, and the death from authority, I want you to note the hatred of authority. Now, this is sort of like the other point. Romans 7 and 8, but sin taking opportunity by the commandment produced in the old manner of evil desire for a part from the law sin was dead. Romans 17 and the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. Now, I'm not going to smell out of time on this because, as I said, we covered it in other points. But the truth is that I hate authority and you do too. I used to live in a town where the authorities had all kinds of laws about all kinds of things. Some of you who live there now know what I'm talking about. When you move there, you were given all the rules and you were required to sign them. For instance, they required that you check with a town office when you painted your house. You couldn't just paint your house any color you wanted to paint it. You couldn't have a boat or a business van in your driveway. You couldn't do any repairs even on the inside of your house unless you checked with them first. You couldn't have a fence unless it was under three feet. And it was just a kind of fence they required. Now, I'm no longer living there. And now you know why. One day, I wanted to put up a fence in our backyard and it told me I couldn't do it. And I said, what do you mean I can't do it? And she said, because of the rules. And I said, what rules? And she said, the rules you sign that said, you can't put up the kind of fence you want to put up. And I said, that's a silly rule. I don't believe that. She said, call them. I hate it when Anna's right. She said, call them. And I did. And the twit on the other end of the line said she was right. I said, listen to me. You didn't pay for this property. You weren't paying the mortgage. You don't sweat blood and tears to make those bills. And he said, you're right. Nevertheless, if you put up that fence, I'm going to send you the jail. Now, even when I talk about it now, I get angry. You know why? I mean, when I was a pagan, I had better words for that than I do now. Now, why do I get angry? Even when I talk about it, why do I like to think because of the silly rules? But more than that, because I dislike, no, that's too weak. I hate authority. I not only silly rules, but the right and proper rules given by God. Now, I've said some bad stuff about authority and our authority problem. And I've said some bad stuff about me. Can we talk? Because I'm going to say some bad stuff about you. You just like me. Now, you may be nicer. The psychologist called that passive-aggressive. You may smile. You may never blow up the way I do. You may be just made of sugar and spice and everything nice and all that sort of stuff. But inside, you know what I'm saying is true. You don't like authority anymore than I like authority. Because the Bible says, I didn't say that the Bible said it, but my experience affirms it, that I just don't like authority. So if you want me to do something, don't yell at me, ask me and I'll probably do it. But if you tell me to do it, I might do it if you have a lot of money or a lot of power. You're a policeman, but I won't like it. Now, that's normal. It's a part of original sin. And you're like that. And I'm like that too. It is our nature to really be angry when somebody tells us something to do. And that's what the law does for us. Now, that was all bad news. I'm going to give you some really, really good news. Sixthly, not only do I want you to note the nature, the promise, the working of authority, the working of authority, the hatred of authority, I want you to note the transformation of authority. You'll find it in Romans 7-4. We have to go to last week's tech to get an answer for this particular thing. It's this. Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ that you might be married to another, even to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. Do you see it? I mean, I mean, guys, this is so good I can't tell you. Our incredible God says, if you're going to rebel against the authority of my law, I'm going to take it away so that you don't have anything to rebel against anymore. I'm going to have my son die on a cross taking your rebellion and the punishment you justly deserve for rebelling against my law, and now the law will no longer be even relevant in your life in that sense. I told you earlier that we had taken away the rules by the time my daughters were seniors in high school, and we did that because we didn't want them to go from total control to total freedom because it'd probably kill them. So every year, we discussed what laws, what rules we were going to set aside that year. By the time they were seniors in high school, they didn't have any rules. Now, we knew they were going to get hurt, but we wanted to be around to pick up the pieces, and once they were off in college, we would be there, and so we eliminated the rules. Now, I was good, and as I said, then I wouldn't universalize it. However, we noted something that was wonderful. When they didn't have the rules, they were obedient, not because they had to be obedient, but because they wanted to be obedient. Let me give you a text that illustrates the point. You'll find it in the sixth chapter of Ephesians. It's right after the place where Paul in the fifth chapter gives us the wonderful teaching about the relationship between a husband and wife. Submit to one another wife. Submit to your husband's love. Husbands love your wives. His Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, etc. Then in the sixth chapter, it begins this way. Ephesians 6.1, children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. Then drop down the fourth verse, and you fathers do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the training and the admonition of the Lord. We had a rule. It started when Robin was reading a book that I didn't like. I got angry when I told her I didn't want to read that kind of stuff. Then I repented and said, honey, you can read anything you want as long as you discuss it with either your mother or me. Do you know what we found? Because we didn't have any rules about what our kids could listen to, they learned to listen to the right things, because they didn't have anything to rebel against, because we didn't have any rules about what they could read. They learned to read good literature, because they didn't have any rules to rebel against. That's what God has done for you. He's dealt with your authority problem by how? Listen to me. This is so good and you're drifting off. He took away the authority. Jesus Christ says, beloved child, you are free. And I say, Jesus, does that mean I don't have to do what you say? Yes, Jesus says, and that's what it means. Does that mean does that mean? No, I don't have to. I can do whatever I want to do. Yes, that's what it means. What if I fail and really mess it up? Will you still love me? Yes, you see child, I've taken your favor in your sin but the cross. When I died, you died. Can I go anywhere I want to go? Is that what it means? Yes, child. That's what freedom means. Then, Jesus, I think I'll go with you. You think about that? I'm in.