Sermon | A Disobedient and Contrary People | Romans 10:19–21 | 2026 June 14

Title: Sermon | A Disobedient and Contrary People | Romans 10:19–21 | 2026 June 14

Scripture: Romans 10:19–21 (ESV, reference only)

Date: 2026 June 15

Speaker: Rev. John Chen

Transcribed, translated & edited by: Joseph Wang (Yufan)

All right, dear brothers and sisters, peace to you. Peace. We thank God for His grace. We have come again to a new week, and we continue to study God’s word. Today we continue to examine the book of Romans. Let us open the New Testament Scriptures to Romans chapter 10, the New Testament Scriptures, Romans chapter 10. Today we are speaking on verses 19 to 21, Romans chapter 10, verses 19 to 21. All right, let us read these three verses of Scripture aloud together. Romans chapter 10, verse 19. Scripture records, “But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, ‘I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry.’ Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, ‘I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.’ But of Israel he says, ‘All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.’” Amen. This is the word of God. Let us pray.

O God, we thank You for Your grace, leading us to the end of Romans chapter 10. Lord, how stubborn and rebellious our hearts are. Lord, You call to us all day long, yet we turn away from You, and we reject You. Lord, we ask You today to open the door of our hearts. Lord, place Jesus Christ in our hearts, so that in Christ we may follow Your word and imitate the pattern of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ’s name. Amen.

All right, thanks be to the Lord. We continue to examine the book of Romans. Last week, the message we mentioned was this: “Who has believed what we have heard?” Right? This kind of gospel, which continually causes people to give up the self and calls people to reject the self—who will believe it? But Paul says, are there people who believe? Are there people who preach? Yes, there are. In today’s passage, the apostle Paul says, did Israel really not know this truth? Paul says, they knew it long ago. Paul quotes two Old Testament passages, two testimonies from Moses, whom they most obeyed, and Isaiah, whom they regarded as the greatest prophet, to tell the Israelites that, in fact, you already knew the truth of the gospel long ago.

All right, so in Romans, we need to understand this: when Paul rebukes the ignorance of the Israelites, in what two aspects does Paul rebuke them? The first point is that Paul rebukes the Israelites because they wanted to be justified by doing the law, and they refused to accept the truth of justification by faith. This is the first thing Paul rebukes. So if you look earlier in Romans, you see that it has been continually speaking about the doctrine of justification by faith. What is the second thing? It is that the Israelites did not accept that the gospel should be preached to the Gentiles. They did not accept it. So in Romans, Paul is accusing the Israelites of two things. First, they refused to accept the truth of justification by faith. Second, they refused to accept that the gospel should be preached to the Gentiles.

Why did the Israelites have these two kinds of rejection? Because they thought that since they had God’s law, they could obtain God’s blessing by keeping these statutes and ordinances. This was their first error. “I have the law. If I keep the law, I can receive blessing. Is this not what Moses taught us? Therefore I must keep the law.” But where was the problem they did not understand? It was that, in fact, no one can be justified by keeping the law. This is the place they did not understand. They thought, “I come in order to keep the law.” So here, we need to recognize the threefold use of the law. What use does the law have?

Of course, now that we have come to this present age, we thank our saints, the saints before us, for telling us about the threefold use of the law for the saints. And here, I feel that I need especially to confess and repent. I need to apologize a little. I feel that in the past, when I preached about the threefold use of the law, what I said was not very accurate. So when preparing the sermon this time, I deliberately went back and read the Westminster Confession again, and I discovered that the Westminster Confession speaks more completely than I did. So I need to repent.

Let us look at how the Westminster Confession speaks about the use of the law. The Westminster Confession says that the first use of the law is to let all people know the standard for their life and to act according to it. In other words, what is the first use of the law? It is given to all mankind, so that we human beings may know what we ought to do and what the standard is. This is the first use of the law. What is the second use? It is to let us recognize that we are sinners and that we need to rely on the redemption of Christ. This is the second use of the law. Then what is the third use? It is to forbid regenerated Christians from sinning and to restrain their corruption.

These are the three. In the past, I did not speak very precisely. If you forget what I have said today, that is all right. Go look at the Westminster Confession. It speaks about this more clearly. So the function of the compass is not aimed at Christians only. The function of the compass is aimed at all mankind. This is the first point I want to correct. Second, the function of the mirror is for us Christians. The mirror shows us our true condition, and we need to rely on the redemption of Christ. Third, concerning the function of the bridle, this is for Christians. It forbids regenerated Christians from sinning and restrains their corruption. So concerning the three functions we speak of—the compass, the mirror, and the bridle—let us distinguish them again and explain them clearly again.

What is the first use of the law? It lets all human beings know what our standard is, and that we must act according to it. This is the compass. For the whole of mankind, it has the function of a compass. Second, the law has the function of a mirror. It lets us see that we ourselves are sinners. It lets us see that we are covered with filth. Therefore, we need to look to Christ’s salvation. The third function is that the law is a bridle, restraining us regenerated Christians. It is not restraining those who have not been regenerated. I spoke wrongly here before. It restrains those regenerated Christians and restrains their corruption, because with regard to Gentiles, the law has no covenantal restraining power in that sense. So the more I ponder it, the more I feel that the Westminster Confession is much wiser than I am. In the past, I still had not studied seriously enough and carefully enough. The expression of the Westminster Confession is more complete.

Then here, the Israelites took only two uses of the law. The first use: our goal, our direction. Second: restraining our corruption. So in the Israelites’ attitude toward the law, they only took the first and the third, but they neglected where the turning point was. The turning point in the use of the law is in the second point, namely, that it illumines us and shows that we are sinners, and that we need the salvation of Jesus Christ. Clearly, the Israelites did not understand this second point. One, two, three—none of these three can be missing. The first tells us what our direction and goal are. The second tells us that we need redemption. The third is the bridle. The second point, the turning point, is a very crucial point in the whole function of the law. Not one of these three functions can be missing. Not one can be missing.

But the Israelites neglected the mirror function of the law. Through the law, they did not discover their own inability. On the contrary, according to the law, according to their own natural condition, they attempted to keep the law, yet thought they could rely on the law to be justified. This was the Israelites’ error. They neglected the second use of the law. Therefore, here, what truth do we see? The second function, the mirror function—the mirror function of the law—tells us that the gospel is through Christ alone, and that we are justified by faith. This is the place the Israelites did not understand. They thought, “Since the law has told me the direction, and since I am a child of God, I simply need to keep it.” They completely failed to understand that the law also has another use. This is also the mirror function of the law that Martin Luther especially emphasized at the time of the Reformation. That is, before the law, we discover our inability. We discover that we ourselves simply have no ability to keep the law. Therefore, we come to take refuge in Christ. This process of repentance and trusting—that is what the Israelites did not understand. This is also something that many Christians today do not quite understand. We will speak about this in detail later.

All right, this is Israel’s first error: they did not understand the gospel. In fact, people cannot be justified by keeping the law. Second, the Israelites also held deep resentment toward the gospel being preached to the Gentiles. Why? They believed that they themselves were God’s elect people, and that all Gentiles had no qualification to enter God’s covenant. This was their view. But they forgot that, in fact, the reason their ancestor Abraham was able to enter into covenant with God was also completely God’s grace. This, they did not care about. And furthermore, since Abraham himself was justified by faith, then it is no strange thing for Gentiles to be justified by faith. So why do you see earlier in Romans that Paul again says Abraham was justified by faith? Therefore, for Gentiles to be justified by faith and enter into the covenant community is right, and you also must be justified by faith. But they did not accept this.

So Israel resisted these two points. First, they said, “The law is for us to be justified by the law, but you, Paul, say that we are justified by faith.” Second, “Why should the gospel be given to the Gentiles? It cannot be given to the Gentiles. It must be given only to us, the descendants of Abraham.” Therefore, Israel resisted Paul. Of course, even more wickedly, they also nailed Jesus Christ to the cross. So with regard to these two things, Paul wants to quote these two heavyweight figures, Moses and Isaiah. All right, the heavyweight Moses was of course the giver of the law, and Isaiah is the first of the Major Prophets, the greatest prophet. So Paul quotes these two major figures in order to show what? That in fact this doctrine was already in the Old Testament long ago. Right? Why can the gospel not be preached to the Gentiles? Even Moses said, “I will make you jealous by those who are not a people; with a foolish nation I will make you angry.” Is Moses not telling you here that the gospel would be preached to the Gentiles? Right? Isaiah also said, “I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.”

Is this not that, as early as the age of Moses and even the age of Isaiah, the gospel had already told us that the gospel would go to the Gentiles? Did you really not hear it? So here, what does Paul mean? Actually, you are deliberately resisting God’s word. It is not that you truly did not understand. Paul says Moses bore witness, and Isaiah bore witness. It is only that you were unwilling to obey. Did the Israelites not know? Did they not know? You knew.

So among the reasons God gives for choosing Gentiles, you need to pay attention. This reason is very, very interesting. Why does God want to choose the Gentiles? Let us look at what it says here. Every time, remember this: I am teaching everyone a piece of theological knowledge. When you see the New Testament quoting the Old Testament, do not only look at these few verses. You must go back and look for what the context is in the Old Testament. Because the New Testament author only quickly takes up the pen and records this quotation in the New Testament. In fact, what he wants to quote is not merely this one verse, but this whole passage. So you must know what this passage is saying. Let us look at what this passage means. In Isaiah chapter 65—here the prophet Isaiah comes to—sorry, no, it is Moses, in Deuteronomy 32:21. Yes, Deuteronomy. Let us turn to Deuteronomy chapter 32, and let us look at the context. What exactly is Moses saying?

Chapter 31—let us read from verses 19 to 21. Let us read this together. Let us see what God’s will toward us is. Come, the LORD—I will read it to everyone—chapter 32, verses 19 to 21. Chapter 32, verses 19 to 21: “The LORD saw it and spurned them, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters. And he said, ‘I will hide my face from them; I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness. They have made me jealous with what is no god; they have provoked me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are no people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.’”

Then chapter 32, verse 22 says, “For a fire is kindled by my anger, and it burns to the depths of Sheol, devours the earth and its increase, and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.” Here you see, Paul only quotes the second half of verse 21, right? “I will use those who are no people to provoke you to anger; I will use a foolish nation to provoke you to anger.” When you look at the preceding text, do you think it is actually very interesting? “They have provoked me to anger with what is no god; they have provoked me to anger with vain gods. So I will provoke them to anger with those who are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.” This sounds a little like a married couple quarreling. Do you feel that? Right? It is as if God says, like a husband says, right, “You want to buy pants, right? You want to buy clothes, right? Then I will go buy a refrigerator.” It feels a little like this kind of quarrel. That is, since you have acted badly, I also will do something to provoke your anger. You provoked my anger, and I will also provoke your anger. It sounds as if this is what it means. But do not misunderstand. It is not this meaning.

So I feel it is very necessary for us to come to the second point, to make clear what God’s will toward us actually means. The meaning here is definitely not that God and the Israelites are somehow equal, and that they are quarreling. What is the meaning here? What I am saying is Moses’ meaning. It is that God, through Moses, says, “Since you go and worship false gods, since you actually go and worship those vain gods, this is because you simply do not understand My grace and My election. You completely do not understand My will. You were chosen by Me. You were protected by Me under the shadow of My wings. I brought your nation out of Egypt. In the wilderness, I also brought you into Canaan. But you completely do not know what I am doing. You actually go and worship false gods. You completely fail to see that, within all of this, it is I who have given you such great grace and mercy. It is I who have not given up on you. It is not because of your righteousness; it is because I love you. That is why you have come to this point today. You actually do not know this.”

“So what will I do? I will cause those who were originally not My people to be gathered under My name, and I will also cause them to be justified by faith. In this way, I will make you understand that salvation belongs to the LORD alone. I will make you know the truth of justification by faith alone.” Do you understand? Do not think that what came before sounds as if the two parties were like a married couple quarreling. It is not this meaning. That is the understanding of people who do not understand Scripture. In fact, God’s meaning here is this: “You do not understand My will. The reason you were able to become My people is completely because of My grace, completely because of My election and mercy. Even Abraham himself was also by My grace and mercy. But you actually do not know it. You do not come to love Me, the God who has loved you so greatly. Instead, you go and worship false gods. Therefore, I will lead another group of people to turn to Me, so that you may know the truth of justification by faith, so that you may know that only by grace can you be saved. Otherwise, you will still be self-righteous.” This is the meaning of the testimony Moses bore.

So here, we need to understand the reason God chooses the Gentiles. In Moses’ testimony, it is because the Israelites worshiped false gods, right? We have said this already. Therefore, God wants to choose Gentiles to deal with the Israelites, to make them understand God’s will. On the surface of the passage, it looks as if God chooses the Gentiles in order to take revenge on Israel. But we must pay attention when we interpret Scripture. Here, what God uses is anthropomorphic language. In fact, God’s choosing of the Gentiles was already God’s will long ago. Of course, objectively speaking, one of the effects of God choosing the Gentiles indeed would be to provoke Israel to anger. What is the original intention of this provoking? It is to stir them up, to make them awaken to their own error, and thereby confess their sins and repent, trust in Christ, and press forward to catch up.

Why is it that in the church, those who are last are first? Right? There are some newly believing people whose lives are especially good and especially fervent. Then why does God do this? It is to make us, this group of people who have believed for a long time, repent. Right? We have believed for so long, and yet we are still so cold and backsliding. Therefore, we need to repent properly. So God uses these new brothers and sisters to stir us up. He is not humiliating us. It is this kind of meaning.

So why would God choose the conversion of the Gentiles, the fervency of the Gentiles, and the zeal of the Gentiles? What is He doing? He is using it to encourage the Israelites, saying, “You must be even more godly. In fact, you have received better training than the Gentiles.” We will speak about this topic again in chapter 11. That is, what is God’s purpose? It is that both sides would be saved. God saves the Gentiles, and He can also cause Israel, within Him, to be stirred up and encouraged. And why did the Israelites not receive these two testimonies? The reason is the stubborn rebellion of the Israelites. They were unwilling to listen to God’s voice, and they were unwilling to humble themselves.

How does Paul bear witness? Paul says in chapter 10, verse 2, “I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.” Verse 3 says, “For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.” So the whole of chapter 10 revolves around verses 2 and 3, especially verse 3. Why does Paul speak about these things? It is because, why did the Israelites reject the gospel? Why did they reject and resist Jesus Christ? Why were they unwilling for the gospel to be preached to the Gentiles? It is because they sought to establish their own righteousness and did not submit to God’s righteousness. So this is the content of our first point: knowing how ignorant the Israelites were.

Next, let us look at what God’s will toward us is. In fact, God’s will is to reveal that all election comes from God’s grace, and not from man’s choice or man’s merit. In this respect, the Israelites simply did not understand. Why did they want to be justified by works? They wanted to show that man has merit. They refused to accept it. Why did they want to establish their own righteousness? Why did they reject God’s righteousness and also refuse to submit to God’s righteousness? “I want to show that I am capable. I do not want God’s righteousness. I myself am already quite good.” But they did not understand that man simply has no righteousness, and man also cannot perform righteousness. They neglected the second use of the law, which we mentioned earlier.

Therefore, the truth of justification by faith is to tell the Israelites and the Gentiles that everything is grace. It does not depend on man’s choice. That God chooses the Gentiles is certainly grace. But what about God choosing the Israelites? What about choosing Abraham? Is that grace? It is likewise grace. God choosing the Gentiles to be gathered under His own name is to cause the Israelites to complete God’s promise to Abraham. Why do I say this? When God called Abraham, how did He speak? “You shall become a blessing to all nations. Those who curse you shall be cursed; the one who curses you shall be cursed.” So here you can understand why God does this. In fact, it is to complete His own promise to Abraham, so that the Gentiles may be saved through Abraham.

Of course, just as God Himself declared, God’s choosing of the Gentiles indeed was to provoke Israel. What was the purpose? It was that they would strive forward, that they would come to recognize more deeply that the truth of Scripture is justification by faith, not justification by works. When the Israelites were proud and self-righteous, thinking that because they were Abraham’s descendants, they could obtain blessing, God, through the matter of choosing the Gentiles, warned them that they needed to repent and trust in Christ, not trust in their own bloodline. “I am a descendant of Abraham, so I can be saved.” Those Israelites who trusted in their own bloodline treated grace as something they could take for granted, and then wanted to be justified through their own works. This is the sin of the Israelites. Therefore, God wants to awaken them through the salvation of the Gentiles.

Let us look at a passage of Scripture. This passage is spoken by the prophet John the Baptist, in Matthew chapter 3, verses 7 to 12. Matthew chapter 3, verses 7 to 12. Here, God, through John the Baptist, warns the Israelites. Chapter 3, verses 7 to 12. I will read it to everyone. Matthew chapter 3, verses 7 to 12: “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father,” for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.’”

So what is John saying here? John is warning these Israelites that they wanted to be justified by bloodline. Right? In their hearts, “Abraham is our ancestor.” John the Baptist points this out to them. The meaning is this: “As long as I am a descendant of Abraham, then I can definitely be saved.” They wanted to rely on bloodline to be justified. Therefore, God, through John the Baptist, warned them and said, “I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.” Do you know? So what does this mean? This is reminding the Israelites: you cannot rely on bloodline to be justified, and you also cannot rely on works to be justified. What must you do? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance, so that they would trust in Christ.

Next, John the Baptist continues, “Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” Remember, this good fruit does not refer to some good fruit by works. This good fruit is that you must trust in Christ. If you do not trust in Christ, the axe has already been laid to the root of the trees. He says, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” So what is being spoken of here? Here, John the Baptist’s testimony is saying, what must you do? You must not think that because you are descendants of Abraham, this can save you. You must trust in the One who comes after me. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. Only by trusting in Him can you bear fruit and be justified. You must not rely on anything else.

Then verse 12 gives a warning: “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” What is this saying? It is speaking about what your attitude is toward this Christ. If you receive His baptism, if He baptizes you with the Holy Spirit and fire, if you are brought under His name, then you bear fruit and are saved. If you reject Him, what is the result? You will be like chaff, burned with unquenchable fire. So here, what is John the Baptist warning the Israelites about? He is saying, do not think that because you are descendants of Abraham, there is no problem. It is not so. You need to trust in the Christ who comes after me, and by relying on Him, bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, for you, the end is burning.

So I think we do not need to give more testimonies. What does this tell us here? God wants, through the salvation of the Gentiles, to warn the Israelites not to rely on bloodline, but to rely on the redemption of Jesus Christ. God continually reminds the Israelites that the reason they were chosen was not because of their righteousness, but because of God’s mercy. Now God’s mercy will also come upon the Gentiles. This is God’s meaning. But the Israelites did not understand God’s meaning. After they received the law, what did they do? They wanted to rely on themselves to keep the law and to make it their own righteousness. They completely deviated from God’s revelation and deviated from the teaching of the whole Bible. Therefore, what does God call them? A disobedient and contrary people. “But of Israel he says, ‘All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.’”

So first, Israel did not want to be justified by faith; they wanted to be justified by works. Second, they did not want the Gentiles to come in. It had to be only “us Israelites.” But even so, God still did not cast them away. He held out His hands all day long. This will be shown even more in chapter 11 below. So what is the result? Did the Israelites not hear this doctrine? They had heard it long ago, but they chose not to believe.

All right, let us summarize the first two points we have spoken about today. Where was Israel ignorant? In two things. First, they resisted justification by faith. Second, they rejected the Gentiles entering into the covenant community. They only guarded what belonged to themselves. They wanted justification by works. Then after we finish speaking about this, can we say that we can end here? Can we say, “Then let us just follow Christ and live out the pattern of Christ”? I do not think that is enough. We need to analyze carefully why the Israelites resisted justification by faith so much, why they resisted the Gentiles entering into the covenant community so much, and we also need to discern whether there is the spirit of Israel inside us. I think only in this way can we experience this more deeply. Let us look at ourselves.

Are we, in the end, a stubborn, rebellious, and contrary people? Why did the Israelites resist so strongly in these two matters? I will tell everyone one reason. When a person has obtained some benefits, when he has obtained some ability, he deliberately builds up certain barriers and does not allow others to enter. You should have heard this principle before. Now I do not know exactly how to say it; you probably know how to say it better than I do. It is like after getting on the vehicle, you weld the door shut. Do you understand this story? After I get on the vehicle, I weld the door shut. You cannot come in.

In fact, I tell you, the things of the world all operate according to this principle. Right? Why is it that in today’s economy—we will not speak of China; China changes things randomly and does things chaotically—but in places like Taiwan and South Korea, it is also very difficult for young people to have housing. Taiwan is also like this. It is very difficult for them to have these opportunities. Why? Because after some people got on the vehicle, they welded the door shut and would not let you come in. So why is it that now these East Asian countries all have this tendency, that the elderly and the chaebols are very rich, while young people have no opportunities? Young people also keep studying and have to obtain very high degrees before they can enter society. Where is the reason? It is because after these people entered, after they crossed the river, they tore down the bridge, welded the door shut, and would not let you come in. I feel that this matter is especially suitable when applied to the Israelites.

How were the Israelites saved? Was it because they were good people? They thought they were good people. But actually, when you read Genesis, what kind of person was Abraham? He was a perishing Aramean. They forgot this matter. Do you know? As for what Abraham was like back then, they did not care about that anymore. Now, “I am Abraham’s descendant. I am God’s people. I have Moses. I have the law. I am God’s people. I have God’s kingdom.” After a person obtains something, he is especially prone to take what he possesses as his pride. Have you noticed this point? We forget that we also were farmers. If we count upward three generations, we were all farmers, all people who had nothing. I feel that this matter especially helps me understand the Israelites.

For another example, let me speak of us pastors. I understand a little bit of Scripture. I understand a little bit of this theological knowledge. Then when I look at a person who has absolutely no theological knowledge and does not understand anything, what kind of attitude do I have? Is there a little bit of pride inside me? Do I feel that I am better than him? I think this reveals whether I truly understand the gospel. Am I justified by works, or am I justified by faith? All right, not only us pastors. Let me ask you: if you have studied a little, if you have received some bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, or doctoral diploma, will you look down on those who cannot study? “This person is no good, and that is why he has no achievements.”

If you are an entrepreneur, if you have done a little business and made some deals, will you look down on those who cannot do business, or people like me who went bankrupt? And then there is an even stranger example. If we are relatively good-looking, will we look down on those who are not good-looking? Actually, if you are good-looking, you did not work hard for that. You did not say that a person can work hard and become good-looking. So with all this, what am I saying? I hope you can understand.

That is, deep in our human bones, we are all like the Israelites. After we receive this grace, we want to tear down the bridge. We want to weld the door shut. We think, “You cannot come up. You are not worthy to come up.” So brothers and sisters, do you understand why the Israelites wanted to establish their own righteousness and not submit to God’s righteousness? In fact, when we read Scripture, we know, is it not all grace? Is it not? Abraham—we see that Abraham was also not a good person, right? He relied on grace and finally overcame. As for Isaac and Jacob, there is no need to speak of them. Now we are speaking about Jacob, right? Jacob’s conduct, to speak plainly, was despised by people. Right? We had an inquirer who said, “I do not like Jacob.” I said, “Thanks be to the Lord. You have finally understood Scripture. Jacob really is not likable.” In fact, is Scripture asking you to like Jacob? When you read Scripture, Scripture wants you to know that God, by decree, loved Jacob, and therefore did not abandon Jacob.

What about Israel’s history? Were the Israelites good people? Look at them. God spoke to them. We will not even discuss the first generation of Israelites dying in the wilderness. After the second generation of Israelites entered the land of Canaan, did God require them to keep the law? Right? They needed to offer sacrifices. Did they do it? After the book of Joshua, what was the next book? Which book? It was Judges. You need to understand clearly: it was not that first there was King David and then there was the book of Judges. It was that as soon as they entered the land of Canaan, they became completely corrupt. Right? Did we not say that even Moses’ grandson had no food to eat? Why did Moses’ grandson have no food to eat? Because no one offered sacrifices anymore. Who would offer sacrifices? “What use is there in offering sacrifices? Is worshiping Baal useful? This food—why should I give it to you? Still make offerings? No way.” Do you understand? So the book of Judges became chaotic. So was this a group of good people? All right, then God raised up David. David’s dynasty—we will first not speak of David’s sin—was still passable. Solomon was also not bad.

How many years after Solomon died did the kingdom divide into north and south? Who can tell me? Let me see how you have been reading Scripture. How many years after Solomon did the kingdom divide into north and south? Five years. Five years, and the kingdom divided into north and south. Once it divided, it never came back together again. So brothers and sisters, do you see? In Israel’s history, was Israel good? It was not. Later, for example, when they returned from exile, was their return due to their own merit? Did they rise up and have Zerubbabel lead the people back to their homeland by their own initiative? Was that the meaning? No. It was Cyrus who issued a decree and said, “All right, then you may go back.” Cyrus did this out of his own political purpose, because the foreign policy of the Assyrian Empire was mixture, mixing all the common people together. Cyrus felt that this method was not good and that each people should return to its own people group. So he signed a decree allowing you to go back.

There was not a single thing that depended on the Israelites themselves. And now they had come to the land of Canaan and returned from exile. Even then, they still wanted to be justified by works. So you discover that the vanity inside man is this: no matter what, he is always looking for some place where he can feel that he is impressive. “I feel that I am impressive.” Right? “I feel that I am capable.” Brothers and sisters, I find that this kind of heart is so deeply rooted in every person’s heart. Some people may say, “Pastor Chen, you are talking nonsense. I do not have this. I am very good. I do not have this problem. After I cross the river, I repair the bridge even better so that others can also walk across.” Is that really so?

There is one thing that can especially test whether you understand the truth of justification by faith, and that is your attitude toward the weak. Can you tolerate and accept those who look very terrible? This tests your faith very much. Also, especially when you are mistreated, when others mock you and curse you, can you love your enemies? This matter especially reveals your heart. Do you truly understand the truth of justification by faith? You can compare yourself. Do you really look down on those outside who deliver food, or those who pick up garbage? When you see them, do you feel lingering fear in your heart and say, “O God, if not for Your grace, that garbage collector would be me”?

Every time the gate guard opens the door for me, I think, “Lord, if You did not give me grace, I would probably be an old man guarding the gate, and others might even dislike me because I am fat and not want me.” Do you really think this way? If you do not think this way, it means that you still do not understand grace very much. The problem with us human beings is that when we have some things, we want to protect those things. We want to take those things as the basis of our satisfaction and pride. We look down on others. We exclude others. We discriminate against others. Is this not exactly what the Israelites did? Why did they not allow the Gentiles to come in? After they entered, they welded the door shut. Right? After they crossed the river, they tore down the bridge. This grace cannot be given to the Gentiles. So they would not let the Gentiles come in no matter what. They completely forgot that their nation had lived by grace for thousands of years. They did not care.

So I feel that the Israelites today, including the Israelites who are fighting wars, also do not quite understand this doctrine. They are always like the little hegemon of the Middle East, beating up whomever they catch. I feel that perhaps they have not understood grace. Right? How can grace be going everywhere killing people? You yourself were also refugees. You yourself were also grace. Now you have made others into refugees. This does not seem to fit the Bible very well. But they also seem not to care. So brothers and sisters, love for the weak and mercy toward the weak most powerfully prove your understanding of the gospel.

Do you truly think that you are a person who has nothing? I feel that I often ask myself this. Whenever I become proud, my wife also reminds me, and I immediately repent. This matter is very important. When we have even a little something, because of human sinfulness, we rise up. Ah, we start to find other people unpleasant. We judge. We begin to measure people with a ruler. We judge others. We think, “Ah, this person is no good. This person is not much.” I feel, “Ah, how can this person not even handle this?” That is, toward those who have no ability, we give birth to disgust in our hearts. “You cannot handle this? You cannot do this?” We have a certain assumption, as though others can do these things just as we can. We forget that the fact that we can do these things is completely grace. We forget this matter. Right? Just like I myself can read a little, and God gives me great joy in reading these books of God. Others feel they are very boring, but I find them very interesting. This is grace. Right? It is only grace. God gave it to you and did not give it to someone else. If He had given it to that person, that person would have gotten a doctorate long ago. Here I am still struggling along, still studying this master’s degree. So this will not do.

But what is man like? Man has a defect. After we have a little something, we feel, “You are no good. Look, you are no good. Your brain is no good. Your thinking is no good.” We always feel that others are no good. We give people very negative evaluations. Where is the reason? We think that what we have is something we ourselves possess. Then it is something we have. That is justification by works. Right? From the standpoint of works, were the Israelites much better than the Gentiles? Of course they were much better. For thousands of years—thousands of years, not several decades—they read the law and studied the law. Their skill and mastery were, of course, much stronger than ours.

You Gentile—look, I only came to faith in my thirties and then began to read Scripture. But they had been reading from childhood for thousands of years. The fathers of their fathers had been reading it. Can you compare with them? So indeed, in terms of ability, they could crush us. So why justification by works? Then everyone must be ranked by who does works better. Right? If we rank according to this, you cannot be ahead of me. You must go behind me. So how does God provoke them? He uses the matter of Gentiles coming to faith to provoke them.

The Gentiles who completely did not believe in the Lord—here Isaiah says, “Those who did not seek Me, I let them find Me; those who did not ask for Me, I let them—I revealed Myself to them.” God revealed Himself to the Gentiles, and as soon as He revealed Himself, they believed in the Lord. So you know why, in the book of Acts, when the gospel was preached to the Gentiles, the Israelites were so entangled over it. Do you know? Only when you understand this can you know where their entanglement was. It was too painful. “I have believed for thousands of years. For thousands of years, I have suffered for this gospel.” They truly suffered for the gospel. They truly paid a price to keep the law and to keep the Sabbath. Do you know those Pharisees? During war, in the intertestamental period, how far could one walk on the Sabbath? Later, those bad Greeks surrounded them on the Sabbath. They surrounded them on the Sabbath. What should they do? Flee for their lives, or keep the Sabbath? They kept the Sabbath and would rather be killed by the sword. They truly paid a price. On the Sabbath, they would not run. They simply let you cut them down. Do you understand? They kept the Sabbath to this extent.

In the Middle East wars of the last century, on the Day of Atonement, on their Day of Atonement the whole nation rested. Later, Egypt and those bad people even took advantage of the Day of Atonement to attack them. But in the end, who made them lose and even drove them back? These people really do keep the Day of Atonement and the Sabbath, and they keep them better than we do. Now we keep a Sabbath day, maybe half a day, and that already counts as pretty good. They are serious and proper about it. I tell you, they really are better than we are. But so what if they are better than we are? Then they take this as righteousness. Right? The Gentiles cannot come in. Some Jews truly will not shake hands with you. To shake hands with you—you are a Gentile, you are unclean, you eat pork, and you defile me.

So the Israelites—I told you when we studied biblical background—the Israelites had two sets of cookware in their homes: one set for cooking milk and one set not for cooking milk. Why did they have two sets of cookware? Because Scripture says not to boil a young goat in its mother’s milk. So they had two sets of tableware, two sets of kitchenware. We say that serious and earnest Jews truly do not eat pork, and they truly do these things very well. When you see them, you see holiness. Is it useful? Only by relying on Christ and following the crucified Christ.

So brothers and sisters, the Jews indeed had reasons to cross the river and tear down the bridge. Right? “Everyone start from the beginning then. Let us rely on the law to establish righteousness. Who can get in? You come in with us. Your nation also come together with us. You also do this for several thousand years, and then I will be convinced.” Did anyone do this? No. God provoked them by justification by faith. So in the Old Testament and in the book of Acts, you need to pay attention to this tension. The matter of the gospel being preached to the Gentiles was truly too difficult to do. So why was Peter unwilling to go to Cornelius’s house? This thing was very frightening. Do you know? To go into a Gentile’s house—how could that be done? So first he had to live in the house of Simon the tanner for a period of time.

Do you know what principle this is? Why did he first have to live in the house of the tanner for a period of time? I spoke about this before when we studied it. I have spoken about this matter before. Have you remembered it? Because a tanner had to come into contact with dead bodies. So Peter needed to do some psychological preparation. God first let him live together with these tanners, because this was a place where, according to reason, a clean person should not live. Why did the tanner’s house have to be by the sea? Because he had to live outside the community. You are people who handle dead bodies; you cannot live in the camp of Israel.

Why did God let Peter first live for a time in that tanner’s house? Ah, you need to be together with this uncleanness. Then next, the Holy Spirit directly led him to go into a Gentile’s house. Then why did God first use the vision, with those things to be slaughtered and eaten? Right? What did Peter say? “Ah, Lord, I have never eaten anything unclean.” God said, “Rise, kill and eat.” What a great psychological tension they had to break through in order to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. So after they went, before the message was even finished, the Holy Spirit came down. Peter could only say, “Since the Holy Spirit has already approved, what else can I do?” So this unwillingness—you need to know it was an unwillingness for the gospel to be preached to foreigners, an unwillingness for these poor and inferior people to receive the gospel, an unwillingness for people who lacked ability to also believe in Jesus. They could not accept this matter. But God said, “I will use the Gentiles to provoke you, so that you may know that everything is nothing but grace. Everything is nothing but grace.”

I feel that the knowledge of grace is the expression of our Christian life. How much you know grace is how deep your life is. If you feel that everything is what I deserve, what I am worthy of, then when you look at others, they will not be pleasing to you. “Why is this child so noisy? Why can he not be a little quieter?” Right? “He cannot even do this problem? Ah? Why can he not even do well on this exam?” Right? “He cannot even do this job well.” Toward others, we are always judging, criticizing, and accusing. On the contrary, when we know that everything is grace, of course we also need to lead others, but our attitude changes. What kind of attitude does it become? “It is all right. Take your time. Let us do it together. Let us work hard at it.” This kind of attitude shows how much you know grace. How much you know grace is how humble your life is. So this is called following the crucified Christ.

Fourth point: living out the beauty of Jesus Christ. When we come before this worship, we are all Israelites. We understand this very well. We do not understand Jesus Christ very well. What kind of person is Jesus Christ? He is equal with God and originally has the divine nature. Yet Jesus Christ, in His person, took on human nature, and from then on, two natures, divine and human, in one person. He was nailed to the cross for us. He had to obey God’s command. Which command of God did He have to obey? The command that He must die. This is called obedience.

When we speak in marriage courses about submission, is there anything harder than submission? Of course, if someone told you to go somewhere every day and receive ten thousand yuan, to take ten thousand yuan and leave, then of course you would submit. You would go there every day and receive ten thousand yuan. But now this submission becomes this: the purpose of your coming into the world is that you must lose your life. Will you submit? You are equal with God. Will you submit? This is the obedience of Jesus Christ.

What were the Israelites? Disobedient and contrary. What about us? Disobedient and contrary. In any case, whatever God says is wrong, and I am right. Right? I am not satisfied with the environment God gives me. I am not happy with the things God does. “You did not give me enough money. You did not make my business good enough. Fine, and now I have gotten sick.” In short, our stomachs are full of complaints against God. We are not satisfied with a single thing about God. We forget that we are actually creatures. Now God has set before us a contrasting example. What example? Jesus Christ. We have nothing. We originally had nothing. When someone gives us a little, we still cross the river and tear down the bridge, and after getting on the vehicle, we weld the door shut.

What about Jesus? Jesus was originally equal with God. The Scripture we read today, right, was chosen by Youmou, and it is very good. Come, “Though he was in the form of God,” that is, He was equal with God, “he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” That is, He humbled Himself from being the Creator to becoming a creature, taking on the human nature of a creature. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself, acknowledging Himself as having nothing. Wow! Jesus possesses all things, yet regards Himself as having nothing. What about us? We have nothing, yet we think that we have something. Wow! This contrast is truly too great. We were originally sinners like dust, like maggots and worms, yet we want to be kings. Right?

Like Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang was a beggar, but after he became king, the things he did made him one of the most wicked emperors among all the emperors of successive dynasties. He caused the entire Chinese civilization, the whole Chinese civilization, to go backward several hundred years. Zhu Yuanzhang did this. Why? Because he thought that what he had was something he himself possessed. He was originally a beggar. Right? I estimate that the reason God raised him up was probably to have him govern the people well, because he had suffered, right? He had been the poorest. He had been a beggar. But he not only did not love people; instead, he harmed people. This is an earthly king. He had nothing, but after he had something, he wanted to command the whole world.

I have not watched that TV drama called Zhu Yuanzhang. It is said that there is a final scene. I only heard about it. Do not go watch the TV drama Zhu Yuanzhang after hearing this. What I am saying is that this part is especially interesting. In the final scene, Zhu Yuanzhang is sunning himself. The sun moves westward and shifts a little, so he says to the eunuch, “I want to shine in the sun.” So they move him a little. Finally, the sun sets, and he says, “Ah?” He was sleeping. “Ah? Why is the sun gone?” The eunuch says, “The sun has gone down.” Have you watched it? I have not. He actually wanted to say that the sun should not go down. I have not watched this. I have not watched this TV drama. I myself was thinking: an earthly king actually dares to command the sun not to set. Man wants to be God. Do you know? Of course, in the end he wanted to be God. Is there this scene? There is? There is. But do not go watch it. There is no time to watch this kind of thing. I am just giving an example. That is, to what extent does an earthly king become evil? He wants to be God. Who can cause the sun to stop? In Joshua’s age, who caused it to stop, and it stopped? Only God can do this. Yet a lowly beggar wants to be God. Of course, I believe that in hell we will see the judgment upon Zhu Yuanzhang.

And what about that true God? He possessed everything, yet laid down everything. He humbled Himself and was willing—this was active—to obey to the point of death, even death on a cross. Ah, I feel this contrast is too clear. The Israelites were stubborn and rebellious, and we are also stubborn and rebellious. We are all sinners who have nothing. We are poor, filthy, and corrupt. God has mercy on us and leads us before Him. We have a little grace and a little gift, yet we treat all these things as something we possess. We look down on others, despise others, judge others, hate others, and dislike others. Especially when we suffer humiliation and persecution, we simply cannot love our enemies. We hate our enemies. But look instead at that Creator. What is He doing? He was originally God, but emptied Himself, took on human form and human likeness. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself and was willing to obey to the point of death, even death on a cross. This is the true God. But fallen man has walked a completely opposite path.

So brothers and sisters, I feel that this passage is reminding us: how can we imitate Christ? How can we not take what we possess as our satisfaction? This is something you must train yourself in. Then where is the turning point? It is in the love of the Father in Christ. I feel that this love is the principle that enables us to deny ourselves and humble ourselves. How do we live out the beauty of Christ? Brothers and sisters, how can we live it out? You really must confirm that you are nothing. And I tell you, a sinner cannot do this. I can say it this way: every person is rationalizing his own behavior.

I think about how, in the past, did I not start a company and go bankrupt? After I went bankrupt, I still had to look for the reasons for my bankruptcy. I still had to tell others, “Actually, it was not that I was incapable. It was that the whole environment was bad.” Right? “The environment was bad, and in the end I went bankrupt. It was not that I was incompetent. I chose the wrong industry. There were problems in the industry.” You see, bankruptcy is just bankruptcy. It is not shameful. But I felt that I could not accept it. Because I could not admit that I was a person who had nothing. Do you know? Because if I admitted that I had nothing, I would collapse. I would go mad. Originally I already had nothing, and now you still tell me that I truly have nothing. This cannot be accepted.

So you discover one characteristic: every person is looking for a supporting point for his own life. Today, if we randomly go outside and find a person who is picking up garbage, randomly find one and let him speak, I tell you, he can also talk about his own history of striving. Do not think that I am exaggerating. He will talk about how he struggled, how he worked hard, how he worked hard to pick up garbage, how he worked harder than others. He will not feel inferior at all. I am not looking down on them, because I am the same kind of person as they are. I am only reminding you: a sinner, without Christ, cannot remove this psychological supporting point. He cannot bear this. Do you know? If you truly say, “I am incapable. I have nothing,” he will collapse. He will go mad.

So brothers and sisters, how can you truly admit that you have nothing? You must obtain complete satisfaction in the love of Jesus. That is, you must be certain that Jesus completely loves you. “No matter what I am like, Jesus loves me. There is a Creator who loves me. I simply have no need to feel inferior.” So at the root of the Israelites’ stubborn rebellion, what is it? It is inferiority inside themselves. They wanted, through their own righteousness and through these works, to establish their own righteousness and to prove, “O God, look, I am still all right.” But God says, “Do not establish your righteousness. You are not all right. That is My righteousness.” “I do not want it.” They were unwilling to remove this skirt made of fig leaves. Why? Because they had not accepted God’s righteousness. This is their most pitiful place. I feel that we Christians must repent and accept God’s righteousness, and in God’s righteousness completely satisfy ourselves.

I do not need you to affirm me. I also do not need to satisfy myself by belittling others. I also do not need to say that others are no good in order to satisfy myself. I also do not need to look down on others. I accept others, lead others, and imitate the pattern of Christ. I do not need your affirmation, because I know that I am just a rotten person. No matter how good you say I am, I also know that I have nothing. If God did not uphold me, I would have nothing. This is my true condition. Right? The hymn Youmou wrote today was quite good: “Just as I am.” That is my true condition. I am simply my true condition. So I also do not need to pretend. Right? Now some people like to pretend, as if to show that they are impressive. You do not need to make yourself seem impressive, because you are originally not impressive. The more you pretend, actually, the more others can see through it. No matter how good your acting is, in the end you are still an actor. You do not need to pretend, because I am originally like this. My true condition has been accepted by Jesus, so I do not need to pretend. I am just such a rotten person.

But God gives me grace and gives me mercy. Therefore, I also will not judge and criticize others. I lead others. I love others, including loving my enemies. There is nothing that cannot be accepted. Wow, when we raise children, we all have this feeling: “I cannot accept this matter; I cannot accept that matter.” There is nothing that cannot be accepted. Do you know? Because people’s abilities are different. Some people may simply not be able to get up in the morning. Some people simply cannot speak. Some people simply cannot get things done. What can you do? Accept him. This is not saying that you should not lead him. It means that in your heart there is not that kind of anger, because you know that everything you have is grace, and then you accept yourself.

Many people with depression and manic symptoms—if you analyze further inward, you discover that they have no way to accept their own image. Why are they depressed? They want to maintain a very good image to prove that they are capable. Actually, the more you do this, the more it shows that you are not capable. Why can he not accept himself? Because he is not looking at himself in Jesus Christ. Actually, you are foolish. You simply do not need to prove yourself. Why? Because since God created you, it means He likes you. If He did not like you, why would He create you? Just now, He also chose you to be His child. How much does He love you? He gave His life for you. What love do you still want? What affirmation do you still need? You do not need it anymore. So you do not feel inferior at all. You completely accept yourself. “I am just like this.” Right? I also do not need to dislike myself for not being tall enough, not being big enough, not being beautiful enough, not being thin enough, or not having legs that are slender enough. There is no need.

I am just such a person. Who loves me? Of course, loving you does not mean letting you act shamelessly and lie flat. Loving you means that you need to learn to love Him and keep the law. So first, you must be released. People with depression and manic symptoms cannot be released. Do you know? They cannot accept themselves. “I must show that I am excellent.” Ah, right? It seems that when I was young, I had not heard the word “excellent” very much. Now people are always saying, “Wow, this person is excellent.” It seems to be a very positive word. But now when I think about it, not necessarily. Why does everyone want excellence now? Why do you need excellence? Because man is not excellent. “Your child is truly excellent.” When I hear it, I feel very happy. Do we need to be excellent? The Israelites were the most excellent. Do you know? God scolded them. Right? They wanted to cross the river and tear down the bridge. They wanted to cut off this road of grace. Do you know? They forgot that they were all grace. This road cannot be cut off. There is no need. No one can walk it now; let us restart the competition. Let us compare who does better. You see how crafty this is. So God says, “No. I will choose the Gentiles to provoke your anger.” Right? “Do not be like this.”

That true Savior possessed everything, yet regarded Himself as having nothing. He was crucified and became a lamb. A lamb has no schemes, no wisdom. It does not need schemes. It does not need wisdom. He became a lamb and died on the cross. He simply did not need cleverness or wisdom. He only needed to be a man and die. That was enough. You think, how can this be? Jesus did exactly this. What was the purpose? To tell you that everything is grace, grace alone. This is the Reformed faith. At the time of the Reformation, we spoke of grace alone. There is not even the slightest bit of anything else. Of course, this is not telling you to act shamelessly. You have been in our church for so long; you should know the matter of keeping the law. I will not say much more about it. You must understand this.

Keeping the law is on the foundation of grace. It is in order to respond to God’s love. You must respond. A person who loves you in this way, a person whom you have disappointed so deeply, and yet you actually mistreat Him. Right? You even bully Him. Are you not doing exactly what the Lord did? God loves you so much and gave His life for you. What is the purpose? He died for you, and you must live for Him, keep God’s statutes and ordinances, and live out a holy life. So brothers and sisters, do not lie flat before this salvation. On the contrary, what should you do? You should earnestly keep God’s statutes and ordinances.

What exactly does this salvation tell us? It tells us how unworthy we are. If we had even one trace of ability, God would not have sent His own Son to be nailed to the cross. The Son of God being nailed to the cross tells us that none of us can obtain salvation by our own ability. Therefore, every one of us before God is unworthy. This deep sense of unworthiness makes us completely humble before God and completely grateful. For us sinners, the only thing we deserve is to go to hell at this very moment. There is nothing else we deserve. The only thing we deserve is to go to hell at this very moment. There is no need to wait until tomorrow. In the next second, you go to hell—that would be right. Everything else, anything higher than hell, is grace.

The gospel makes us thoroughly humble. It causes us to acknowledge that everything is God’s, not ours. Everything we have is God’s, not our own. Therefore, humility before God is transformed into humility before people. Christian humility is not saying with our mouths that we are no good, but recognizing deep in our bones that we are sinners who have absolutely nothing, and that everything is God’s grace and mercy. And the hardest thing for a person is to admit that he is not capable, to admit that he has nothing. Because deep in man’s bones, he wants to prove himself, to show that he is impressive, and to show his own righteousness.

Man always tries every possible way to search for his own characteristics and strengths, to find a supporting point for himself to settle his life upon. In fact, for a person without Christ, it is impossible to admit his own inability, because this admission would crush him and drive him mad. Only in Christ can man truly recognize that he has nothing. Such a person does not fight with others, nor will he calculate how others view him. He will not complain about the unfairness of fate. He will not express dissatisfaction with anything he has. Because he knows that everything he has is grace. This is called submitting to God’s righteousness.

A submissive person is one who acknowledges that only God is righteous and that man has no righteousness. Therefore, he looks to God and entrusts himself into God’s hands, becoming an obedient child. All inability to be patient, inability to forgive, and inability to deny oneself are, in the final analysis, because of the pride inside man himself. Man does not want to submit to God’s righteousness. Man wants to resist God, to resist that Christ who was nailed to the cross for himself. When man feels that he deserves things, all kinds of pride and self-righteousness arise: stubbornness, rebellion, and even the same before God. The Israelites are our example. They thought they had something. They thought that God had made covenant with their ancestor Abraham. They thought that they were higher than other nations. In the end, they instead became the most stubborn and rebellious sons. Therefore, only by thoroughly recognizing before God that we have nothing can we truly be humble and truly forgive.

And only in Christ can we receive this blessing. In Christ, we are accepted, and we also accept ourselves. We do not need to prove anything about ourselves. We are originally such people. Therefore, we are also able to accept others, and we can even forgive those who hurt us. Why? Because God loves him, and God also forgives him. Therefore, within the love of God, we continually stir up our love. We live in love. We live in the love of Jesus, and we also can live out the love of Jesus Christ. This kind of love, whether between husband and wife, whether in parent-child relationships, whether in the relationships of brothers and sisters in the church, whether in all kinds of our interpersonal relationships, can manifest this deep love. This is the beauty of Christ. That is, we live as an embodiment of love. Why do we have love? Because God loves me. I love God. Therefore, I can love all people. A person who lives in love like this is someone who has removed all the standards. After he crosses this river, he repairs this bridge wider, and he lets more people walk onto this bridge of grace, so that they may reach the other shore of eternal life. Let us pray.

God, we thank You. Thank You for leading us and letting us see Israel’s stubborn rebellion, and also letting us know our own stubborn rebellion. Lord, thank You for setting before us such a beautiful example. You possess everything, yet acknowledged Yourself as having nothing. Lord, have mercy on us, so that in You we may make this bridge of grace broader and greater, so that more people may, through Your grace, receive the blessing of eternal life. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.