[00:00:09] Welcome to Gracious Words.
[00:00:11] Gracious Words is taken from the weekly women's Bible study taught by Cheryl Brodersen at Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, California.
[00:00:28] There were teachers in Ephesus that were trying to teach the law without the understanding of its true purpose.
[00:00:40] To show the danger and disaster of any way that is contrary to God.
[00:00:45] The law is meant to show our sinfulness and point us to Jesus.
[00:00:48] Now here is part 3 of Cheryl's message titled, The Authority of Leaders.
[00:01:19] It's all about bringing out the best of my sewing machine.
[00:01:26] Being able to have quilts that do not have oil spots.
[00:01:34] Or fall apart because the bobbin wasn't catching that, whatever you call it.
[00:01:44] Some of you actually, so more than I do, know the names.
[00:01:47] I don't know the names.
[00:01:48] I just know the bobbin goes down, it catches, and it makes a scene.
[00:01:53] In the same way, a manual tells you what to do and what not to do to preserve the life of your car.
[00:02:01] My car manual tells me what to do when certain icons light up on my dashboard.
[00:02:06] Now Brian thinks we're not under the law, so he likes to ignore those icons on the dashboard because he's free from the law,
[00:02:14] but he has a misunderstanding of the purpose of the manual.
[00:02:17] Not me.
[00:02:18] I'm always referring to my car manual.
[00:02:23] One day, I got in my car and the back windshield wiper was going back and forth, right?
[00:02:29] There was no rain.
[00:02:31] And I was pressing every button possible to stop that thing, and it seemed to go faster.
[00:02:36] And then it would stop for a while.
[00:02:38] I'd think, oh God, thank you.
[00:02:39] I pushed the right button.
[00:02:41] And then all of a sudden, and then I press another button.
[00:02:46] Wait 20 seconds.
[00:02:49] I just think I had it handled.
[00:02:51] Like, I know what to do.
[00:02:57] You know?
[00:02:58] I had to go to the manual.
[00:02:59] I had to look up back windshield wiper.
[00:03:03] How to turn off.
[00:03:06] And I finally got it.
[00:03:08] And then three weeks later, it happened again.
[00:03:10] And guess what?
[00:03:11] I had forgotten.
[00:03:12] Totally forgotten how to turn off that back wiper.
[00:03:15] I had to go to the manual again.
[00:03:16] You know what?
[00:03:17] I keep that manual in the glove compartment of my car because I never know when I'm going to need it.
[00:03:22] I don't even know how to open the engine of my, like the hood of my car.
[00:03:27] I don't know.
[00:03:28] I just like my car because it's pretty.
[00:03:30] I don't know how to open the hood.
[00:03:33] But my manual tells me how to open the hood.
[00:03:36] I have to consult the manual.
[00:03:38] I have to go back to the manual over and over again.
[00:03:42] Now, my car is almost paid off.
[00:03:46] Almost paid off.
[00:03:47] When I pay it off, do you think I can chuck the manual off and out the window because it's paid in full?
[00:03:56] You think I don't need that manual anymore?
[00:03:58] Just because it's paid off?
[00:03:59] Oh, no.
[00:04:00] I'm going to need that manual even more because by that time, it will be six years old, my car.
[00:04:05] And it will be lighting icons like Christmas trees.
[00:04:11] But on the other hand, the manual itself cannot save or preserve my car.
[00:04:16] If I don't follow the manual, it's not going to do any good for my car at all.
[00:04:21] You know, just having a manual in the glove compartment doesn't mean I drive better.
[00:04:25] Does it mean that, you know, I automatically pull in for oil changes when it needs it?
[00:04:31] Nope.
[00:04:33] It's a manual.
[00:04:34] It's up to me.
[00:04:36] It has to do with my relationship to the manual.
[00:04:40] Because if I ignore what it says and just think I can do better off and I can interpret those little icons any way I want.
[00:04:50] No.
[00:04:51] That little thing that looks like an airplane is telling me I'm doing such a good job driving.
[00:04:56] I just think of those as encouragements.
[00:04:59] Keep going, Cheryl, without oil.
[00:05:05] The manual tells me how to use my car properly, how to help it last, and how to get the best drive out of it so that I can make it to every destination that I intended.
[00:05:18] So the law is a manual for shalom or to stay in the way of Yahweh.
[00:05:23] It's how to live in the way of the Lord as the Lord intended it.
[00:05:30] That's the law.
[00:05:31] What is our relationship as Christians to the law?
[00:05:34] It's a manual.
[00:05:36] But let me say this.
[00:05:37] We don't have that same model of car.
[00:05:41] Okay?
[00:05:42] So some things work for our model of car.
[00:05:47] We've got what's called the New Kingdom car.
[00:05:51] Right?
[00:05:51] And in the New Kingdom car, we can eat bacon.
[00:05:56] But in the Old Kingdom car, which was for Israel and their nationality, they could not eat bacon.
[00:06:04] So you've got to know what things apply to the etzel and what things apply to the osmobile.
[00:06:13] You've got to know the difference and use it as a manual.
[00:06:19] There are certain things that do not apply because Jesus is our sacrifice.
[00:06:25] So we have automatics and not manual gears.
[00:06:30] We don't use a crank to start up our cars.
[00:06:32] There's a difference because of what Jesus has done.
[00:06:38] We're in the new model.
[00:06:41] But the Ten Commandments and much of the law and the spirit of the law, we're still driving a car, still applies.
[00:06:50] Does that make sense?
[00:06:51] Okay.
[00:06:52] Because I can't see your faces because I'm wearing contacts.
[00:06:54] It only lets me read but not see far away.
[00:06:56] Sorry.
[00:06:57] Even Brian's blurry on Sundays.
[00:06:59] It's like, but he looks younger.
[00:07:00] So it's okay.
[00:07:00] That's why I think God lets your eyes, like, get bad when you get older.
[00:07:09] I'm wearing, like I said, contact lenses.
[00:07:10] Because we still look really good to each other.
[00:07:15] The law is meant to correct.
[00:07:17] The lawless, the one without any standards.
[00:07:20] The insubordinate, the one doing their own thing.
[00:07:23] The ungodly, the one who needs to know the way of God.
[00:07:27] Sinners, to know what they are doing wrong.
[00:07:29] The unholy, that they might learn the way of holiness.
[00:07:31] The profane, that they might know the way of righteousness and holiness.
[00:07:37] Murderers of mothers and fathers, that they might know the way of blessing, of love, and family.
[00:07:43] That's why the law says, children, obey your parents.
[00:07:48] For this is pleasing to the Lord and leads to long life.
[00:07:54] Manslayers, that they may learn the value of life.
[00:07:57] For fornicators, sodomites, that they might know the value and beauty of Yahweh's prescription of beauty and relationship.
[00:08:06] For kidnappers, that they might not steal people, but seek to save people.
[00:08:11] For liars, that they might know and speak the truth.
[00:08:14] For perjurers, that they might not slander, but bless.
[00:08:17] And for anyone else who is not in alignment with the sound doctrine, the way of Jesus, the way of Yahweh.
[00:08:25] This is who the law is for.
[00:08:29] To bring them back into alignment with Yahweh.
[00:08:34] The law is meant to show the danger and disaster of any way that is contrary to God's way.
[00:08:43] To point the way back or identify and help others to recognize the true righteousness that was displayed in Jesus.
[00:08:53] Jesus fulfilled the law.
[00:08:55] He lived the law.
[00:08:57] He did the law exactly as it's supposed to be done.
[00:09:03] He is our example.
[00:09:05] This is how the law is lived out.
[00:09:09] We help whether it's the Sabbath or not the Sabbath.
[00:09:13] We minister.
[00:09:14] We seek to do good.
[00:09:16] We seek to save life.
[00:09:17] We seek to preserve life.
[00:09:19] We seek to live in the way of Yahweh.
[00:09:24] The law is not meant to harm, condemn, or kill, but preserve life.
[00:09:30] Men are already condemned.
[00:09:32] And the law is meant to show them the condemnation and the why of the condemnation.
[00:09:40] Like the icons on the dashboard of your car saying you're going to break down.
[00:09:46] Any moment you're going to break down unless you get this fixed.
[00:09:51] That's what the law is for.
[00:09:55] It is meant to tell you to get the car into the mechanic and get it repaired before the transmission blows up.
[00:10:03] That's what the law is meant to do.
[00:10:08] The law ultimately is meant to lead us to Jesus who lived the way of Yahweh and walks in the way of Yahweh.
[00:10:18] He fulfills the law and the commands and the rituals so that when we come into Christ, we walk in the way of Yahweh.
[00:10:29] We're pleasing to God.
[00:10:31] We've got that connectedness.
[00:10:34] As Paul says, the ultimate goal of authority and the law is to point to the glorious gospel.
[00:10:41] The glorious gospel of the blessed God or the good news that we are no longer condemned by the law.
[00:10:52] See, this is what happened because of sin.
[00:10:54] The law, instead of being a manual to help us because we weren't obeying it, became the voidance of our warranty.
[00:11:04] Right?
[00:11:05] Like your warranty is only good if you follow the manual.
[00:11:10] Then you've got the warranty on your car.
[00:11:12] But if you don't do the oil checks, if you don't do the oil, your warranty, even if it's a 10-year warranty, even if it's a 20-year warranty, becomes null and void because you did not put the oil in the car.
[00:11:28] Have you ever had something that's under warranty and the people that came over did their best to tell you why it wasn't under, you know, that you must have done something to keep it from warranty?
[00:11:40] Have you ever had that?
[00:11:42] My house, when we bought it, it fell out of escrow 20 years ago.
[00:11:45] It came with a vacuum that's like in the walls, you know, but it's never worked.
[00:11:51] Like it's stronger than that vacuum.
[00:11:54] Just I can like blow in.
[00:11:57] I don't think you blow in.
[00:11:58] I can like inhale.
[00:12:00] I knew there was a word for it.
[00:12:03] Stronger than that vacuum can.
[00:12:05] So I called them because it's under warranty.
[00:12:07] The guy who came is like, what'd you do to it?
[00:12:11] I'm like, I've lived here two weeks.
[00:12:13] I didn't do anything.
[00:12:14] I tried to use it.
[00:12:15] Oh, you tried to use it.
[00:12:19] With what?
[00:12:21] With the hoses that came with it.
[00:12:23] Which one?
[00:12:24] I'm showing them which.
[00:12:26] Then I hear him on the phone.
[00:12:28] This lady's just expecting too much of a vacuum, man.
[00:12:32] She says, I think you need like a new, you want power.
[00:12:37] You need like a new vacuum.
[00:12:40] We've got one for you for $1,000.
[00:12:42] We can upgrade this baby and get you.
[00:12:44] I'm like, no, I want this vacuum that came with the house.
[00:12:48] Let me see your warranty.
[00:12:49] Let me see your house warranty.
[00:12:51] I'm not sure this vacuum came with the house.
[00:12:54] Then he had to go outside, smoke a cigarette, come back in, tell me all the things I'd done
[00:12:59] wrong with my vacuum.
[00:13:00] You know, I was so angry.
[00:13:02] I sent him away and never, ever checked up on that warranty.
[00:13:05] You know what happened?
[00:13:06] We'd never gotten the vacuum fixed.
[00:13:08] When they were building our house, somebody put a hole through one of the hoses in the vacuum.
[00:13:15] So it's never worked.
[00:13:16] I don't know why I keep all the paraphernalia for that vacuum because it's huge.
[00:13:21] I keep it in this loft in the garage.
[00:13:24] And they told me, we had a guy who was reputable after the warranty was no good come in and say,
[00:13:30] to fix this vacuum, we'd have to x-ray all your walls and find out where the hole is.
[00:13:36] He said, that's why they didn't want to do it.
[00:13:38] It's too expensive.
[00:13:39] Okay, all that to say, if you don't follow the instructions, the warranty becomes null and void.
[00:13:45] Sorry about that.
[00:13:47] It's my vacuum.
[00:13:48] It's my problem, not yours.
[00:13:49] You're still under warranty.
[00:13:53] But you know, if you don't follow the manual, you can't expect the blessings.
[00:14:00] You can't expect to stay under the warranty.
[00:14:03] And that's what happened.
[00:14:04] Because the people of Israel had violated the covenant over and over again.
[00:14:10] The warranty was no longer good.
[00:14:12] So that which was meant to give them life and hope and preserve them
[00:14:18] actually became the condemnation.
[00:14:22] So Paul's talking about in Romans chapter six, that which was meant for my good then became my condemnation.
[00:14:29] Because I had violated the covenant.
[00:14:33] And therefore, the warranty was null and void.
[00:14:37] And the law became my condemnation.
[00:14:39] And then Jesus came and fulfilled the law and lived under the law and fulfilled it perfectly.
[00:14:49] Keeping every jot and tittle of the law.
[00:14:52] And then was condemned for our sins on the cross.
[00:14:58] The innocent cursed for our offenses.
[00:15:03] And what happened?
[00:15:05] The result was that all the penalties, all the broken parts of the law were forgiven.
[00:15:16] We're forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ as if we had lived the righteous life of Jesus Christ.
[00:15:24] And we received the warranty.
[00:15:29] Not the old warranty, but a brand new warranty with a new manual that says,
[00:15:38] Stay in Christ and walk the way of Yahweh.
[00:15:43] That is a glorious gospel.
[00:15:46] So do we want to leave the way of Jesus for something else?
[00:15:51] For the law?
[00:15:54] Or for some tantalizing little morsel outside?
[00:15:59] No, I just keep seeing this aisle as the way of Yahweh.
[00:16:03] I want to stay on the way of Yahweh.
[00:16:08] I want to follow Jesus because he is always walking in the way of Yahweh.
[00:16:14] And if I keep my eyes on Jesus, guess what?
[00:16:17] I'm in the way of Yahweh.
[00:16:19] If I just keep my eyes on Jesus, I don't have to worry like, am I going to stray?
[00:16:27] Am I going to get off?
[00:16:29] Am I going to become a liar or a perjurer or unrighteous?
[00:16:32] No.
[00:16:33] Keep your eyes on Jesus.
[00:16:36] This is the glorious gospel.
[00:16:40] This is the basis for Paul's authority.
[00:16:45] The God who loves the world so much, who was compelled to save mankind.
[00:16:53] The God who blesses and the source of all blessing has sent his only son to be the payment for our sins.
[00:17:03] So he can bring us back into a covenant relationship with him, whereby we become his daughters.
[00:17:11] Paul would say, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ because it is the power of God unto salvation.
[00:17:20] I'm not ashamed of this gospel.
[00:17:22] I don't want something other than this gospel.
[00:17:25] I want this gospel.
[00:17:29] C.S. Lewis said this, it is not that man wants too much.
[00:17:34] It is that they settle for too little.
[00:17:37] The gospel is so much.
[00:17:41] It's so good, so big.
[00:17:43] And Paul said, it's been committed to my trust.
[00:17:48] This is why I do what I do.
[00:17:50] This is the purpose of my authority to get people back to following Jesus, to get them back in the way of Yahweh.
[00:17:59] So they don't get off.
[00:18:01] So they don't lose it.
[00:18:03] So they don't become alienated.
[00:18:05] So their transmission doesn't break down.
[00:18:08] So they don't thread their machine the wrong way and can't make any clothes or quilts or anything.
[00:18:14] It's to get them back, back in the way of Yahweh.
[00:18:20] Timothy, use your authority.
[00:18:22] Use it by grace.
[00:18:24] Use it by mercy.
[00:18:26] Use it to bring people back, back.
[00:18:31] To bring the unlawful, the insubordinate, the ungodly, the sinner, the unholy, the profane, the murderers, the disrespectful,
[00:18:38] the fornicators, the sodomites, the kidnappers, the liars, the perjures, bring them back.
[00:18:44] Bring them in.
[00:18:46] Remind them that they can be not only saved but transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
[00:18:52] That their very mindset and hearts can be changed.
[00:18:56] The gospel is glorious and transformative.
[00:18:59] Therefore, Timothy is to exercise his God-given authority by means of God's grace, mercy, and shalom
[00:19:04] to bring back those Ephesians in that church from the lesser things of myths and speculations and idle talk
[00:19:13] in order to preserve them in love and bring them to the fullness of the gospel
[00:19:19] that they might be a productive church in Jesus Christ.
[00:19:25] But in the same way, God has given us each some authority.
[00:19:30] What are you using your authority for?
[00:19:32] How are you using your authority?
[00:19:34] Where are you using your authority?
[00:19:37] God has put you in this place and this time, 2021, in your neighborhood, in your job, in your family,
[00:19:50] in your arena of influence, to use your authority to bring people back to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
[00:20:01] Bring them back.
[00:20:02] Now, some of you know that Brian and I are in trouble every other day.
[00:20:07] We're in trouble if we wear a mask.
[00:20:08] We're in trouble if we don't wear a mask.
[00:20:10] We're in trouble because we got the Johnson & Johnson vaccination.
[00:20:14] I've actually had friends unfriend me because I'm vaccinated.
[00:20:21] I mean, we're in such a canceled culture, right?
[00:20:24] I've lost friends.
[00:20:25] Through COVID, I've lost friends.
[00:20:28] I've lost friends because of some of the convictions of my heart about the political system.
[00:20:32] I've lost friends.
[00:20:33] We have lost sight of the main thing.
[00:20:40] Brian and I are trying our best to keep our eyes on Jesus and follow Jesus without veering from Jesus.
[00:20:49] We are loving the liberals and the conservatives alike.
[00:20:54] We are seeking the way of Jesus.
[00:20:58] Jesus, that's what we want more than anything else.
[00:21:02] We want to lead people back to Jesus and in Jesus.
[00:21:06] In the 1960s, people realized that there was no hope in government.
[00:21:13] It was Nixon, who was a conservative, that was doing the draft, that was sending young men who were totally ill-equipped and ill-prepared to Vietnam to fight a war that there was no possibility of winning.
[00:21:26] It was the 1960s that people were doing drugs and women were becoming liberated and showing it in weird ways.
[00:21:38] It was the 1960s and it's when we, as people, began to give up on society, give up on government, give up on the world, give up on the world's solutions.
[00:21:51] And we looked to a greater and better solution and we found Jesus.
[00:21:56] We found Jesus and nothing else mattered.
[00:22:01] Nothing else was worth it, just Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.
[00:22:05] Jesus, that's what we wanted.
[00:22:08] But somehow we think because of where we're at now that there might be another way.
[00:22:17] I'm telling you, we're in a burning house.
[00:22:19] We need the rapture, not as an escape.
[00:22:22] And before the rapture happens, we need to get as many people into Jesus Christ and under his wings of refuge.
[00:22:30] God has given us authority to bring people back to Jesus.
[00:22:33] Jesus, bring them to Jesus.
[00:22:36] Bring them to his call.
[00:22:38] You have been entrusted with the gospel, the glorious gospel.
[00:22:43] Our commission is to receive his grace, mercy and shalom.
[00:22:46] Galatians 6, one, brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself, lest you also be tempted.
[00:22:58] Know that you can be tempted.
[00:23:00] You're not above it.
[00:23:01] Bring them back.
[00:23:02] Bring back the sinners to the way of Yahweh.
[00:23:05] Bring back the misinformed, the misguided.
[00:23:08] Bring them back to the way of Jesus.
[00:23:10] It's all right if those things are outside the church.
[00:23:13] We can vote according to our conscience and what is best, what we feel is best for this nation, and we should.
[00:23:20] I'm all for voting.
[00:23:22] But the most important thing is the way of Jesus, the glorious gospel.
[00:23:27] You know, you can give people a recipe for banana cake and they can still go to hell.
[00:23:36] You know, you can give them great advice.
[00:23:39] You can give them recipes, but nothing less than the gospel of Jesus Christ is going to save them.
[00:23:45] You can tell people off on the Internet, but you're not saving them.
[00:23:49] We've got to bring people back to Jesus Christ.
[00:23:52] We've got to bring people back to Jesus Christ.
[00:23:53] Authority for the purpose of bringing others to the fullness of the gospel.
[00:23:58] We don't want anyone to miss out on all the transformative power, goodness, or glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
[00:24:07] So you have been left in 2021.
[00:24:10] You are living today for the purpose of exercising your God-given authority
[00:24:16] to bring people back to the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.
[00:24:20] This is your priority.
[00:24:22] This is the reason for your authority.
[00:24:24] This is the reason for your voice.
[00:24:26] Bring people back to the way of Jesus Christ.
[00:24:29] Paul's purpose in writing to Timothy was to exhort him to lead people in the way of Jesus.
[00:24:36] Timothy had to exercise his God-given authority and do difficult things like expose wrong doctrine and correct people.
[00:24:44] He was to do this with mercy and grace to bring the people back to Jesus
[00:24:48] so that they would receive and understand the fullness of the gospel
[00:24:52] and allow it to transform their hearts and minds
[00:24:56] so that its glorious transforming power could work in their lives.
[00:25:01] We hope you have been blessed by today's Bible study.
[00:25:03] For more information about the Gracious Words radio program
[00:25:07] and the teaching ministry of Cheryl Broderson,
[00:25:09] please visit our website at graciouswords.com.
[00:25:13] Coming up next time on the Gracious Words program,
[00:25:16] we'll look at the calling of leadership
[00:25:17] as we continue our series,
[00:25:20] Letters to Lead, Live, and Love Thy,
[00:25:22] in the first epistle to Timothy with Cheryl Broderson.
[00:25:25] We do hope you make plans to join us.
[00:25:28] Again, for more information,
[00:25:30] please visit our website at graciouswords.com.
[00:25:52] This program is sponsored by Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, California.
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