[0:00] that a number of things. This talk is strictly not from Exodus. That's the first thing to say. It's a talk, when I tie together these last four or so talks that we've been looking at, you see in these last three or four talks we've been looking at Old Testament law.
[0:16] And we've looked at the context of those laws set by chapter 19. We've looked at a little at the concept of covenant. We've examined then the 10 words or the 10 commandments in Exodus 20.
[0:27] And then we've looked at the more detailed laws in Exodus after Exodus 21 and so on. Finally, we looked at the notion of covenant again last Wednesday night in Exodus 24.
[0:38] And what I want to do tonight is I want to stand back from all of this for just a little. I want to summarize some of the things that we've learned. And then I want to talk about the Old Testament law and Christian faith.
[0:51] If we get time, I'll briefly reflect on covenant. My goal is to get us to a place where you have a framework for thinking about the law in the Christian life.
[1:02] So we have got a lot of work to do tonight. This is, and I need to warn you ahead of time, not a lot of application tonight, but hopefully there's lots of ways you can then go and apply this for yourself.
[1:14] This is a little more like a lecture than a sermon. I need to tell you that before we start. So I apologize for that ahead of time in one sense. But in the other, I think there's only one way to approach this topic, given what we've done.
[1:31] Because there's lots of work, may I make a suggestion for you tonight? Even if you don't generally take notes, this is a note-taking sort of talk.
[1:41] And it would be good if you don't take notes, and there are things that crop up that you think, yeah, it'd be good to think about that, you might write them down. And if you'd like a copy of the outline, now that I've told you this bit of information, you might put up your hand and I will get Adam to come and give one to you.
[2:02] I think Adam went out to get some outlines, or someone did. No? Anyone want an outline? Otherwise, we can make sure there are some. Great. I'll make sure you keep your hand up and we'll make sure there's one delivered to you.
[2:15] Okay. That's the first thing I want to say. Second thing is I want to say that I've given all of this an awful lot of thought over a number of years.
[2:26] And last week, I found someone who gave me a framework for my own thinking and I have adopted their terminology. His position is not unlike my own, but the person I ought to tell you, because when his book comes out, you ought to go and read it.
[2:41] The person is the principal of Ridley, Melbourne, where I used to lecture. His name is Brian Rosner. And he's just published a book on Paul and the law after having given some lectures on it. And I've listened to some of those lectures and I think he's on to something.
[2:53] And so I've borrowed some of his language. He helped me put into words a better frame and fine-tune my own position. And that's the second thing. The third thing is I want you to open your Bibles up now at Exodus 20 and the 10 words or the 10 commandments.
[3:09] And I want to look at one in particular. I toyed with looking at two, but one will do. I want you to look at verses 8 through to 10.
[3:24] It is about observing the Sabbath day. The other one I was going to look at is honouring your father and mother, but observing the Sabbath day will be enough for us tonight, I think. I want you to ask yourself if you think that the Sabbath, that Sabbath day observance still stands for Christians.
[3:39] That is, should we observe the Sabbath? Now, you might want to ask yourself the same about the next question, the next commandment as well.
[3:51] Should we still honour father and mother? If you're here with children, you might be something you could talk about in the car home. Third, I want to ask you what these two things would look like for Christians, but particularly Sabbath observance.
[4:08] If you were to observe the Sabbath, in which way would you do it? What would it look like? Now, we're going to return to, if we get a chance, I will return to that question later. So let's get down to work.
[4:19] Open your Bibles at chapters 19 to 24, and let's summarise what we've learned so far. This is for those of you who haven't been present, and for those of you who have, it doesn't do any harm. As the apostles keep saying, to remember things, and for them to remind you.
[4:33] And so I'm going to remind you tonight of things we've already learnt. One of the very first things that I pointed out was that when you think about law in the Old Testament, it is important to start at the right place.
[4:45] You need to remember that in the Old Testament, grace precedes law. God's act of grace in rescuing his people precedes the demand he places upon them that they keep his law.
[4:57] You see, God graciously forms a relationship with his people before he tells them how to respond in the context of that relationship. Now, let me tell you, despite what many Christians think, that is true in the Old Testament, and it is true in the New.
[5:11] Grace precedes law. And we ought not to let that slip out of our minds. That's point number one. Point number two is this. When we looked at, earlier on at chapters 19 and 20, we looked at that key Hebrew word for law, the word Torah, and we thought of, and I said, that we need, when we think of law, we often think of rules, tax rules, road rules, tax rules, government rules, and police.
[5:38] That's what we think of when we think about law. We think about crime and punishment. But in the Old Testament, the word Torah was not quite so narrow. It was a word that meant teaching or guidance or instruction or pointing towards something and so on.
[5:53] Now, I want to just briefly look at the variety of ways in which Torah is used in the Old Testament. For example, it can be used to refer to an individual pronouncement.
[6:06] Or it can be a group of laws on a single subject. Or it can be a description of a whole collection of laws. Or it can just mean God's laws in general.
[6:18] Or it can mean even a narrative section of the Old Testament. Or it can mean a combination of some narrative and some law put together. And all of those can come under the word Torah or law, if you like.
[6:31] And that has resulted in the whole first five books of the Bible being called Torah. That is why, that's what some people in the New Testament mean. When they talk about the law in the New Testament, they're actually talking about the Torah, the first five books.
[6:47] So, in that sense. So, we could summarise what we've learnt by saying that Torah is a whole combination of words that God gives to his people that guide them or teach them about living as his people.
[7:00] Does that make sense? So, Torah could be a whole collection of words that God gives to his people to guide them or teach them about living as his people. Let me see if I can give you an example of what Torah might look like in the contemporary world.
[7:14] Let's imagine that there are lots of people around Australia dying from speeding on the roads. Your goal, as a legislator perhaps, is to reduce deaths on the road in Australia.
[7:28] Well, how might you go about this process? Well, you might put some advertising banners around the place that were inspirational, that tried to motivate people to be slower drivers.
[7:38] Or you might have some television productions that told stories of people who were positive or negative in their approach to this goal. And you record their stories and make sure everyone gets to see them regularly.
[7:52] And you might put some laws in place that say, you shall not go over this speed in this context, such as we have on all our roads. Okay? Or you might even have some laws that said, and if you do go over these speeds, then this punishment will be applied.
[8:11] Now, all of those separately could be called Torah, but they could also, that is their instruction or guidance or teaching, they could be lumped together and be called that too.
[8:21] Now, not in the Old Testament, it's not as Old Testament law, but I'm trying to show you how Torah functions, you see. They are instruction, teaching or guidance, either individually or as a whole.
[8:33] They tell you what is to be done, how it's to be done, why it's to be done. Some take the shape of law or commandments. Some take the shape of stories or examples.
[8:44] Some are a combination of a whole variety of those elements. But they could, in one sense, come under that banner. Now, there's some stuff about that word. Now, let's turn to what we've learned from the 10 words or the 10 commandments.
[8:56] When we looked at them, do you remember we noticed a few things about them? First, we noticed that the focus of attention in chapter 20 in the 10 commandments is twofold. They have two foci.
[9:08] The first focus is on God, isn't it? That's the first four commandments. The next six commandments focus on people. And so we saw that an overview of the commandments might be this.
[9:19] Love God, love your neighbor. Love other people. In other words, the 10 commandments could be summarized just as Jesus summarizes Old Testament law. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength.
[9:34] This is a great and first commandment. And the second is this. Love your neighbor as yourself. You see, that could be a good summary of all law and particularly the 10 commandments.
[9:47] And remember what I did on the same week. I gave you two ways to summarize the commandments. First way would be to talk about the commandments as being taking things away from another person that rightly belong to them.
[9:59] So the commandment can be thought about in that way, taking things away that rightly belong to them. After all, how can you be loving to someone if you're taking things away from them? How can you be caring for someone if you're wanting to take something that is theirs?
[10:15] How could you be loving God if you take something from God that rightly belongs to him? Another way to summarize the commandments is to think about them as reflections of the person who gave them.
[10:26] For example, God is holy. He wants his people to be holy. One way of being holy like God is setting aside days that might be holy for him.
[10:37] Or you could think about it this way. God is faithful to his relationships. Therefore, we should be faithful in our relationships. And that's why adultery is condemned in the commandments because it's a display of faithlessness, unfaithfulness.
[10:52] It's lacking godliness in that way. It's lacking godlikeness. And the last thing we noticed is that the commandments are about basic attitudes and principles as much as, if not more than...
[11:06] Sorry, that they're about basic principles and attitudes than actual laws. And we can see that especially in the law about coveting. Do you remember we looked at coveting? We said coveting has its roots in a person's heart, doesn't it?
[11:19] It works itself out in other actions such as stealing things. But underneath it all, it's the attitude that is being criticised. So there's what we discovered so far there.
[11:31] And then last week, or the other... Last Sunday night, we talked about all those detailed commandments, didn't we, in chapters 21 to 23. And we noticed lots of things about them. But one of the most important things we noticed when you combine chapter 20 with 21 to 23 was that two striking things occurred.
[11:47] First, you learn that God loves his world and the things in his world. He's got an interest in every corner of his world. And he has advice on how we should live in that corner.
[12:00] Second, you learn from these commandments that when we look at them in the Old Testament, they're viewed as an expression of God's will and are to be delighted in. God's law is focused on giving us advice as to live richly in God's world in the best possible way.
[12:16] So there's my brief summary of what we've learned so far. Now let's go beyond the book of Exodus and onto the book of Leviticus. In your Bibles now, we need to do lots of Bible flipping from now on. So could you look with me, please, at Leviticus?
[12:30] Now, Leviticus is set in the same time frame and the same location as Exodus, but I want you to turn to a particular statement in Leviticus chapter 18. Leviticus 18 verse 5.
[12:43] This verse is cited at least a couple of times in the New Testament. I want you to look at what it says. Now, the NIV that you have in your pews reads this way. Keep my decrees and laws, for the person who obeys them will live by them.
[12:59] I am the Lord. Now, although the NIV uses the word law here, it's not the word Torah, which we've been talking about. So perhaps the NRSV is a bit better here.
[13:10] Translates it this way. You shall keep my statutes and ordinances by doing, and by doing so, one shall live. I am the Lord. I wonder if you can see what's being said by this particular statement.
[13:24] God is saying, if you keep his commandments, that is his statutes and ordinances, you will live. If not, I presume, you will not live, that is, die.
[13:39] But death exists in our world, doesn't it? And the implication is that it exists because humans can't keep these commandments. And the Old Testament tells us that is indeed the case.
[13:50] Adam could not keep God's commandment, and so death came to him. Do you remember that? And as we see in the Old Testament as a whole, death comes to all because all sin.
[14:03] The stories of the Old Testament tell us that not even the noblest saints could consistently keep God's laws. Even the noblest of saints have flaws and are sinful.
[14:14] Even the noblest of saints break God's commandments. And in a number of places in the Old Testament, we are specifically told that humans are unable to keep God's law.
[14:25] If you've got your Bibles again, flip now to Psalm 14. Psalm 14, verses 2 and 3. So Psalm's right in the middle of the Bible there, and 14's easy to find.
[14:41] Verses 2 and 3. The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of humans to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. And the conclusion, all have turned aside, they've come together and they have together become corrupt.
[14:55] There is no one who does good, not even one. So can you see what's being said? Despite the goodness of God in the laws of the Old Testament, despite the fact that those laws have life as their goal, it is a goal that is unattainable.
[15:12] And it is testified to by the fact that Adam and everyone who follows after him dies. So that's where we are in the Old Testament. Now let's turn to the New Testament, see what we can find there.
[15:24] And as we enter into this topic, I need you to know that vast volumes of books and doctoral dissertations have been written on this very topic. So I'm on, you know, I am treading on very light ground here or very thick ground, if you like.
[15:39] There is much to be said. I, I, all I can hope to do tonight and for us to get home to bed and dinner is to give you an overview of the topic. Okay. That's the best I can do tonight.
[15:49] So let's have a try at that. And I want to help you think about this on the basis of the teaching of Jesus and his apostles in the New Testament. Now, again, if you've got an outline, you might like to jot things down.
[16:01] Okay. As we move into the New Testament, the first thing we notice about the teaching of the apostles is that they agree with the Old Testament. That is, they agree that the law cannot be kept by humans because of their sinfulness.
[16:17] But the New Testament writers go even further. The New Testament authors go on to say that the inability to keep the law drives us or has the potential to drive us to Christ.
[16:29] You see, we know that the law represents God's will. It reflects his character. And we know that we can't keep even the Ten Commandments, let alone the things that Jesus says are implied by those laws in the Sermon on the Mount.
[16:43] In other words, can you see what's being said? The very presence of the law shows us how sinful we are. And that drives us to go to God for another solution or to hope for another solution.
[16:55] And the law tells us that we cannot save, the law that tells us we can't save ourselves drives us to go to God for another solution. So in Galatians 3, turn to Galatians 3.
[17:07] Paul cites Leviticus 18, verse 5. So Galatians 3. Paul cites Leviticus 18, verse 5, and other verses to make the point that if you rely on keeping the law, you are in deep trouble.
[17:28] Like if you rely on keeping the law, you are in deep trouble. The law cannot give us life. Leviticus 18, verse 5. And Paul then goes on to indicate that the law is a sort of tutor leading us to Christ.
[17:41] And then he goes on to these words that occur in verses 22 to 25. But scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin so that what was promised being given through faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
[17:58] Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith.
[18:10] Listen to that verse again. So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Why? Because we have no hope without that. Leviticus 18, verse 5 indicates we've got no hope without another solution.
[18:25] And that solution is found in Christ. And that brings me to my next point. So if you're in your little outlines there, this is the first Jesus point. Second point we learn from the apostles is that Jesus keeps, fulfills and replaces the law.
[18:42] Jesus keeps, fulfills and replaces the law. And I need to just explain a bit about that. But let's have a look at some passages from the New Testament. Could you turn with me to Romans 10, verse 4?
[18:52] So if you can, Galatians, go back a bit to Romans chapter 10, verse 4. I'll give you a moment to find it because it's good for you to see these verses and read them.
[19:04] Romans 10, verse 4. Paul says this, Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
[19:16] Most other versions put it a little more starkly than this. So the NRSV says this, for Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
[19:29] All right, so you've got that. So now go back to Matthew's gospel. So we've gone from Galatians to Romans, now back to Matthew and to the teaching of Jesus. Matthew 5, 17.
[19:44] Jesus says, Do not think that I've come to abolish the law of the prophets. I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. So Jesus is saying he's the fulfillment of the Old Testament law and the prophets.
[20:00] And that brings us to point 3, the second Jesus point there. Point 3 is that Jesus enables us to be forgiven for our sinfulness. Listen to Paul and now we've moved, we've gone all the way back to Matthew.
[20:13] Let's now go to Acts 13. Acts 13. A great little part of a sermon of Paul. Acts 13 verses 38 to 39.
[20:26] So hopefully you've found it there, either electronically or flipping pages. Verse 38. Therefore, my friend, says Paul, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.
[20:40] So through Jesus, forgiveness of sins is proclaimed. Through him, everyone who believes is set free from sin. Now that's very striking, isn't it?
[20:50] Set free from sin. A justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses. That's very plain. You're set free from sin and you now have a justification before God, a righteous status before God that you were not able to get under the law of Moses.
[21:09] That's very strong, isn't it? That is, Leviticus 18 puts you in a hole that you couldn't get out of. You could not and so you needed forgiveness of sin and that has come now and that has brought with it a justification you couldn't have got under the law of Moses.
[21:25] But let's move on. You see, the New Testament goes on to say some more. It goes on to draw the conclusion that we are not under the law anymore. Since we are justified by faith in Christ, since Christ is now our righteousness, then our status before God is no longer determined on the basis of law keeping.
[21:47] This is very important, you see. We are not under the law in the same way as it was meant under Leviticus 18, verse 5. We don't have Leviticus 18, verse 5, hanging over our heads any longer. Live by it and, you know, follow all these commandments and you'll live and by implication if you don't, you'll die.
[22:06] That's not hanging over our heads in the same way any longer. We now have life in and through Christ and not through law keeping. We got there in an entirely different way.
[22:16] Through faith, remember Galatians? Through faith. We were locked up until that possibility came. We're right with God on the basis of faith in what Christ has done. He is our righteousness.
[22:27] No longer are we under the mastery of the law. It is not a means of entering relationship with God and it's not a means of maintaining relationship with God. So, Bible again, Romans 6, verse 14.
[22:44] Romans 6, verse 14. So, listen carefully. For sin shall no longer be your master because you are not under law but under grace.
[23:05] You're not under law but under grace. Now, I'm going to show you now another verse which I want you to follow in your versions but I'm going to read an older version.
[23:16] because it captures some of the wordplay that's there. So, 1 Timothy 1, verses 8 to 10. 1 Timothy 1, 8 to 10.
[23:36] I'm reading the revised version or the American Standard version which just picks up some of the wordplay. Here we go. But we know that the law is good if a man uses it lawfully as knowing this that the law is not made for a righteous man but for the lawless and ungodly for the ungodly and sinners for unholy and profane for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers for manslayers for fornicators for abusers of themselves with men for men stealers for liars for false swearers and if there be any other thing contrary to sound doctrine.
[24:13] Who is the law for? It's for the ungodly. Is it for the righteous people? I presume the righteous those righteous in Christ?
[24:24] Well, not in the sense that it now measures how things are going how you are with God. No, it's not for you in that sense. Can you hear this? The law in this sense is not a law for us.
[24:35] Now, I've got a little bit after this to do a lot of backtracking to get us back to how it is helpful for us. But the law is as law as law as Leviticus 18 verse 5 is not for us.
[24:50] That's why the New Testament doesn't tell us to keep the law observe the law or obey the law although it does cite Old Testament laws as part of our Christian discipleship.
[25:01] We're not under the law as the thing that tells us how far we fall short of its requirements. Christ has fulfilled the law. His death for us has freed us from Leviticus 18 verse 5. So we're not under the law as legal code.
[25:15] We're not under it as decrees and commandments. When it comes to the law God doesn't hold us to the letter of the law. And this phrase comes from Brian Rosner which I thought was quite cute.
[25:26] He doesn't throw the book at us that is the book of the law and judge us by the book. He judges us in another way. But that has raised then an enormous question.
[25:38] Doesn't it? If the law doesn't pass away if Jesus fulfills the law if the law is no longer our master if we are not under the law as law then what do those ten words ten commandments have to say for us and all the other laws that came in chapters 21 to 23 what place does Old Testament law have for us as Christians?
[26:01] What should we do with it as a whole? What should we do with its legal parts its laws and its commandments? Well this is the part where Brian Rosner put into words the sort of view that I had taken.
[26:15] He says that while we are not under law as law the law is still useful as prophecy it is still useful as wisdom let me explain what that means First Old Testament is prophetic isn't it?
[26:29] The Old Testament clearly testifies to Jesus it witnesses to Jesus it promises Jesus it directs us toward Jesus it points toward Jesus and so Paul can say that the righteousness of God that is revealed in Christ has already been disclosed he says attested to by the law and the prophets in other words Old Testament law in its story in its details even in its laws is looking toward Jesus and I've tried to do that as we've looked in these last three or four talks at law so that's the first use of Old Testament law point us toward Jesus but there's another sense in which the Old Testament law is useful it contains God's wisdom now I've worked really hard to show you this as well over the last few weeks have you seen how the law actually tells us good and godly things through its principles I've showed you how Old Testament law unlocks the character of God it reflects his nature it tells you what makes him tick and it tells you what he likes and dislikes and why he dislikes and likes it and it tells us what is best for people who are created in his image and so we mine these laws for advice for instruction for guidance and let me show you a place in the
[27:53] New Testament that actually says all of this about the Old Testament scriptures scriptures so turn with me to 2 Timothy chapter 3 verses 14 to 17 2 Timothy 3 14 to 17 famous passage of scripture but I want to just show you what it tells you about the Old Testament as a whole and therefore about law as well let's read it 2 Timothy 3 14 to 17 as for you continue in what you have learned says Paul to Timothy and become convinced of because you know those from whom you learned it and know how from infancy you have known the holy scriptures which must here at least mean the Old Testament the holy and probably that's all it means but the holy scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus and then this next bit all scripture which could possibly there probably were some parts of scripture hanging around at this time could mean parts of the New
[28:58] Testament scripture as well but it certainly means Old Testament scripture all scripture is God breathed and useful for teaching rebuking correcting and training in righteousness so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work did you notice what scripture is helpful for useful for now this is all of Old Testament scripture and Old Testament scripture has a Torah as its core if you like in the Old Testament Torah is like the Gospels you know how the Gospels are sort of foundational documents as Christians in the Old Testament Torah the first five books are sort of foundational documents what will they do what will Old Testament scripture do it is able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus that is it will direct you prophetically to him it is prophetically useful but it's also useful for other things those Old Testament scriptures are useful for teaching us right doctrine and conduct and correcting wrong doctrine and conduct that is they're useful for teaching rebuking correcting training us in righteousness and also for thoroughly equipping us for every good work friends this means here's the bottom line that we neglect the
[30:13] Old Testament and Old Testament law at our peril if we neglect them we'll have a stunted understanding of who Jesus is please hear me on this because I think so many Christians don't have an Old Testament which were the scriptures of the New Testament they will stunt our understanding of God they will also stunt our wisdom and deprive us of God given correction because that's what they're written for friends we are to study these laws and learn from them they will teach us of Jesus and make us wise for salvation in him they will instruct us in right doctrine they'll rebuke wrong doctrine they will instruct us in right conduct rebuke wrong conduct now do we Christians heed this no quite frankly we Christians toss the law aside put it on the scrap heap it's not much good for anything to do so is to fly in the face of the advice given here by the apostle to
[31:18] Timothy and to us that is not what Paul meant when he said Christ is the end of the law he didn't say you don't follow laws any longer don't listen to them don't take advice from them any longer he did not mean that he did not mean that so do not toss your Old Testaments and the law sections in them back of your mind or that sort of pseudo bin which is what you read and you never read those parts of scripture which is almost the same now I want to close by giving you two illustrations of how Old Testament law should be used now these are illustrations they don't work absolutely but they may be helpful for you let me the first illustration imagines that law is like a parent with a child imagine you're a parent and lots of you here have been parents and some of you have been the children of parents all of you have actually imagine a parent teaching a child to go to bed wisely okay when the child is two the parent tells the child that lights go out at such and such a time but when they get to four they might say actually they go out just a little bit later now and then when then as the child gets a bit older they reach an appropriate age when the parent will say look sometimes with great fear and trepidation you are old enough now to make up your own mind as to when the lights go off
[32:51] I've taught you good principles now you can determine the best time the parent may remind the son or the daughter not to be foolish and not to stay up all night but the parent doesn't place them under the childish rules any longer the rules were good and wholesome but the child is now an adult the rules that had as a child are good in giving guidance and instruction however the child now has a bigger picture of things and can make decisions on the basis of an adult understanding you see if I can put it this way we as Christians have not only heard of the great deliverance out of Egypt but we have seen and experienced God's great deliverance from sin through Jesus so we have some advanced knowledge at this point we've therefore got a greatly increased knowledge of God and his purposes and his love we are adult children however the law is still very helpful to us it provides some helpful instruction about the sorts of things God wants from redeemed people but we're adults now we now know some more information because of what God has done through Jesus for example we know that the Ten
[33:59] Commandments are just a small expression of what it means to love God and love your neighbour we've seen Jesus we've seen how Jesus loves his neighbour on the cross we've been loved by Jesus on the cross ourselves we know much more about God's love than Old Testament people did in one sense so that's one illustration it's flawed in many ways I think this next one's a better one so let me try it out on you it's one I've been using for 20 years and I want to know its flaws so please let me know this is about a professor emeritus at university let me explain most of you know all about professors at universities it's them and their college that are in the long run responsible for passing or failing you at university okay so if you're a professor at university all the results come in at some point you might have a round table with everyone else and you know the ones that are on the edge of being passed or failed you might say you know what do we reckon and we look at other pieces of their work and we weigh it all up or whatever now how many universities around the world these days have professors called professor emeritus now a professor emeritus is generally it's not all this is oversimplifying in some ways but it'll give you a feel for it a professor emeritus is a person who's been a professor at the university during their working life and they are recognised as a world authority on their in their particular discipline and what the university does is they don't want them disappearing off into the ether or whatever what they'd like is to have them stay in the university not only for the name that they can put on all their propaganda but also because that person being around can be of great use to their students so give prestige to the university but more important is give access to the university to them so what they do is they give them a room a computer access to the university's resources in return for them being available to students and staff as advisors consultants and so on now I want you to imagine you're a young
[36:08] PhD student and you find yourself studying in the very area that the professor emeritus has worked in all his or her life who's the very first person you're going to go and see when you arrive on campus to study this discipline you are going to make a beeline for the professor emeritus's room or you're going to wait until you see him around the cafeteria and you're going to buy him a cup of coffee or whatever and then next week you're going to wine and dine him or her and you're going to get to know him really well you're going to look after them well you're going to have extended discussions with them you're going to soak their brains for what makes their brains tick and you're going to know that if you disagree with them at some point you're going to have to have a very good reason for doing so because this person's an expert a an absolute expert a wise person in this context they are the person to go to they'll be a source of great and good information wisdom guidance and instruction well let me say
[37:21] Old Testament law is like a professor emeritus let me explain Old Testament law no longer has the power to pass or fail us but the Old Testament law is an expert in telling us about the character of God it exposes what God does and doesn't like so Old Testament and it gives the great wisdom of God the character of God the ways of God so Old Testament law is a place you'll want to spend much time if I could put it this way the Old Testament law is the analogy is going to slightly fall at this point Old Testament law is a person you're going to wine and dine does that make sense you're going to spend lots of time there you're going to imbibe what is there now it doesn't tell us everything there are new things to be found in Jesus but it does tell us heaps and heaps of good and useful things so we're going to spend time there we're going to soak it in and we're going to do the things that we find there they may change a little in character because that world has changed a bit our world has changed a bit from that world but at their core they will reveal the character of
[38:42] God and the will of God and so we'll do them that's why I think it is nine out of the ten are cited in the New Testament so why the New Testament writers understand nine of those commandments they're good and the one that isn't cited is the one I started with that is Sabbath and I if I had time I've already taken you too long I'll tell you why I'll give you a hint it's because in a way that none of the other nine are Sabbath is fulfilled in Christ in a particularly special way now if any of you interested you could give me your email address and I could send it to you if you like my little analysis of that particular that particular commandment the one about Sabbath let's pray though friends I'm sorry this has been quite meaty for us tonight and lots of work for you to do but I hope that's given you a framework for having a look at the Old
[39:47] Testament law and understanding it as a Christian let's pray it's definitely PVP that particular way within this October 1st month this day we will BILL MARpresa you get out of this month compos your life JOHN wieder eight hours ten tab to memorize care come good and government to start with this way