Last Day of Unleavened Bread - A Balanced Righteousness

So this is the seventh day of Unleavened Bread. And on that first day of Unleavened Bread, we covered what is God's righteousness. And we also saw the extremes on one side of the Pharisees and on the other side of the publicans, and how Christ could deal with both groups while avoiding those extremes.

We also used the scripture 2 Timothy 1 verse 7, which has to do with a description of God's Holy Spirit. This is from the Amplified Version. It says, For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear, but He has given us a spirit of power, of love, and of sound judgment and personal discipline. Then it goes on to explain abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control. So that is a goal for all of us to have.

And as we look at this little matzo that we ate probably for the last time, this little matzo that is very familiar. It's kind of addictive, isn't it? I love to have little matzo sandwiches with my little kind of egg omelet and then avocado and a little bit of turkey ham. It's just so good. But it's only for seven days that we are to do this in particular because that matzo is representative of sinlessness.

And that means putting on Christ. Let's go to the first scripture, Romans chapter 13, and verse 13. Romans chapter 13 verse 13.

Paul says, Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts. And so putting on Christ, it's almost like putting on a garment. We know it's not something that's inside so much as we're putting on Christ, his example, his life. Because brethren, as far as our own righteousness, what is the biblical description of our physical and carnal righteousness? Isaiah 64. Let's go to Isaiah 64 in verse 6, 5 and 6. Here is the description. Remember the first time I read this as I was coming into the church during those spring? Well, that was the first spring season that I had the feast at that time. And Isaiah 64, verse 5 and 6, it's part of our realization of how God looks at us. He says, verse 5, you meet him who rejoices and does righteousness. Talking about that's the person that God rejoices in and who does righteousness, who remembers you in your ways. You are indeed angry for we have sinned. And these ways we continue and we need to be saved. We recognize it's not up to us. It's God's help that can do that. He says, verse 6, but we are like an unclean thing and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags. What we think is our goodness, it's still very subpar, very disappointing. So we're not going to pull ourselves spiritually by our own bootstraps. It has to be putting on Christ with Christ's help to be able to have that humility and godly balance. Now this is a gradual process which we know we will never totally fulfill or perfect. That's why it's called the process of perfection of the saints. The process of perfection of the saints. It's a gradual process. It's going to take our whole lifetime and we're never going to reach the peak. That's only going to be God the Father and Christ who will perfect us when we are resurrected. They will do what we could not do else, but He wants us to climb that mountain of the grace and knowledge of God. He wants to see that effort. He doesn't want us to be at the bottom thinking He's going to have to do it all for us. And we'll be rewarded according to those efforts. Notice in Philippians chapter 3 how the Apostle Paul was transformed. When he saw himself, even though he was a Pharisee, he was very dedicated, but then he realized that righteousness of his were like filthy rags to God. Philippians chapter 3 in verse 1. Paul's talking about his life.

He says, Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. It is something helpful. Beware of dogs talking about people that are morally unclean because that's the symbol. In those days, it wasn't little puppies you had at the house. No, they were the garbage type. Food and garbage was thrown. Have you ever seen those poor dogs? I know we would just be appalled that the groups of dogs that would go in our neighborhood, they're in Santiago, Chile, because they were really out of control. Those poor dogs, they were just full of lesions and every kind of insect and ticks and things. You didn't really want to get close to them. Well, in those days, these dogs were wild. They were dangerous. And so Paul is talking now of those that act this way. He said, Beware of dogs. Beware of evil workers. Beware of the mutilation. Those that wanted to circumcise the Gentiles to convert them into proselytes in the church. That wasn't necessary. He says, For we are the circumcision who worship God in the Spirit. Not talking about the Jewish Judaism, but here who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus. Certainly the Jewish people didn't rejoice as a whole and have no confidence in the flesh. That what he was pursuing was not acceptable to God.

Though I also might have confidence in the flesh. You want to talk about credentials, religious credentials? Boy, he had a sterling pedigree. He goes on to say, If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so. Circumcise the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews concerning the law of Pharisee. They were the strictest. They were the harshest. And by the way, that was the wrong way to express righteousness. I'd like to read a quote from Samuel Bakiyoki in his book, The Sabbath Under Crossfire, page 189. Bakiyoki is a Seventh-day Adventist who passed away, oh, some 15 years ago now, but he was actually in the Garden Grove congregation one time and spoke. How many remember Dr. Bakiyoki? Look, Ray, look at the people. Now, I talked with him over the phone because when I came, it was kind of late, but he didn't owe me, and he was a first-rate scholar, but he kept the Sabbath. He honored God's law, so he had a better understanding than all these other commentators. And so this is what he put in his book.

He said, this is the rules that the Pharisees had began in the inter-testamental period, which is 400 years from the last prophet, their Malachi, all the way to John the Baptist. That's called the inter-testamental period, that period in between, and that's when eventually the Pharisees arose.

He made the law as an end and not a means to righteousness. He says, thus the law attains the position of intermediary between God and man. The important thing was just focused on the law, the letter of the law. That's what they focused on. This new view of the law, characteristic of rabbinic Judaism, that's the Pharisees, which prevailed in Paul's time. The result was that the Old Testament view of the law is, quote, characteristically and decisively altered and invalidated. So it was the wrong way. And that's why Christ had to rail against them, why Paul himself, as he's doing in Philippians 3, he realized that was the wrong type of righteousness he had fallen in. And so let's go back to Philippians 3. So concerning the law of Pharisee, that was the strictest, but it was the wrong version of righteousness. Verse 8, verse 6, concerning zeal, dedication, he's saying, persecuting the church. I went as a Pharisee after all of these, thinking my righteousness was right, their righteousness was wrong. Concerning the righteousness which is in the law, which was the Pharisaic type. He said I was blameless. He was a rabbi. He had memorized all of these laws and he kept them. And then he goes when he met Christ in that road to Damascus, Christ appeared to him. He says that what things were gained to me, I felt I could boast about. These I have counted loss for Christ. He realized he had got himself into a spiritual box canyon. There was no growth there. He had to turn around. He says, yet indeed I also count all things lost, all the things that he thought for righteousness sake, for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things. Yet to give up being a Pharisee, he became persecuted instead of the persecutor. And count them as rubbish. The word here is trash, that I may gain Christ. You can't do both things. If you're going to follow that Jewish way of doing it, you cannot follow the way of Christ properly. Now some try to do it. They try to straddle and keep all the Hebrew system with a lot of the Hebrew system, with a lot of the Pharisee traditions. But again, Paul didn't say, well, I just threw half way, half of them away. He says that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, that the law cannot save you. The law can show you what is sin. It can show you what you should do, but it cannot erase sin. Only Christ's sacrifice can do that. He says, but that which is through faith in Christ, in his sacrifice, in his example, in his guidance, the righteousness which is from God by faith, putting on Christ, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, because we are going to suffer in this way of life. Why did we leave the spiritual Egypt? If spiritual Egypt can save us, we cannot.

Being conformed to his death, accepting it and giving the right example, if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. See, he's striving for that resurrection when Christ returns. He says, verse 12, he's very candid. He admits, says, not that I have already attained. So he hasn't attained perfection. He says, or am already perfected. But I press on. I continue to improve, to correct myself, that I may lay hold on that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. I'm not going to disappoint him. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, to already arrived, achieved that perfect righteousness. But one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, past life, past mistakes, and boy, did Paul ever have a lot. He consented to the stoning of Stephen. He had that on his conscience, that he killed a man that had God's Spirit. And reaching forward to those things which are ahead, we're still a work in progress.

I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Yes, he wants to be called good servant. You have been faithful over little. You will be faithful over much. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, let us, as many as are mature, have this mind. And if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. As we mature, we understand things better. I'd like to read that from the easy reading version, verse 15. It says, all of us who have grown to be spiritually mature should think this way too. And Paul was very careful. He didn't say, well, I can judge myself and I know exactly where I am. No, he didn't fall into that trap as well. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 4. We're going to go methodically, step by step, on the process of conversion and perfection. 1 Corinthians 4 verse 1.

A lot of people were so awestruck by Paul and everything he could do. He could do tremendous miracles. He spoke tongues better than anyone else, as far as having the gift of languages. But yet, look at what he says, 1 Corinthians 4. He says, let a man so consider us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Just we're servers. We're not kings or rulers. Moreover, it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. But with me, it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. These were the Corinthians that had different opinions and didn't think Paul was very impressive. He wasn't a very good speaker. He was a good writer, but they had problems because they wanted somebody very eloquent, very dynamic. And Paul certainly that just wasn't his strength, as he admitted.

He said, in fact, I do not even judge myself, for I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this. But he who judges me is the Lord. Therefore, judge nothing before the time until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the heart. Then each one's praise will come from God. So it's so important. Don't let yourself get so disappointed. People can criticize you. You always going to have some that are going to back you, some of who are not. And believe me, as you have responsibilities, well, you're going to have more critics and you're going to have things that are said and whatever comes with the territory. As Dale Carnegie said in his book about how to win friends and influence people, he's nobody kicks a dead dog, right? No, it's the one that is there. Sometimes dogs bother you. And that's the one that gets kicked. So you know that sometimes you're going to rub people the wrong way. But what he's saying here is, look, I'm not looking for the praise of men. I hope one day to have the praise of God. And I can't be sure of that. That's why I have to make all effort to please him and do whatever I can to my dying breath.

And so now let's look at some scriptures in the Old and the New Testament about having a balanced, mature righteousness through godly humility. How to have a balanced, mature righteousness through godly humility. Let's go to Numbers chapter 12. The example of Moses. Talk about somebody getting criticized. Even today, a lot of people just think, well, Moses got angry, he hit the rock, how horrible. Example. Didn't get to see the promise. And believe me, that was just a very small flaw in comparison to everything he did. Numbers chapter 12.

Verse 1. Then Miriam, who was Moses' sister, and Aaron, his brother, spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married. So I guess here he should have married an Israelite. He didn't. He married an Ethiopian. And the Bible says he did marry her. So I guess Miriam and Aaron thought, well, this is gonna damage our stock. And we got to tell Moses not to do this or to repudiate her. And so they said, has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also? Because Miriam and Aaron were important leaders at that time. Aaron was a right-hand man. The problem is, it says they got to be so critical in such a wrong attitude that the Lord heard it. And so that criticism. And what does it say here? Verse 3. Now, the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth. That could only come from God, who knew that. But you see that type of person. He could use Moses because Moses was no longer full of himself. He was humble. He yielded to God. He yielded to others. Verse 4. Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, come out, you three, to the tabernacle of meeting. So the three came out. Then the Lord came down in the pillar of cloud and stood in the door of the tabernacle. You always had to do that so that they could not see his face or his figure. But he came down in this cloud and called Aaron and Miriam. And they both went forward. They probably thought, well, God's going to give us the backing. He's going to tell us Moses was wrong. Boy, did they get a surprise. But people are that way. Sometimes their own version of righteousness, oh, God's going to back me up. When it's totally the opposite. Then God said, Hear now my words, if there is a prophet among you, the Lord make myself known to him in a vision. I speak to him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. I speak with him face to face, even plainly, and not in dark sayings. And he sees the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? And so the anger of the Lord was aroused against them and he departed. And when the cloud departed from above the tabernacle, God left the scene. Suddenly Miriam became leprous, as white as snow. This is just complete leopard conditions, which means that basically your skin starts rotting. It turns white like this, and it starts falling apart in pieces. Now they have leper colonies still. That people have leprosy, because it is contagious. They have to take them to an island and people start just losing their skin. Then Aaron turned toward Miriam, and there she was, a leper. So Aaron said to Moses, Oh, my Lord, please do not lay this sin on us. He recognized who were the ones that were sinning. They had the wrong attitude. They got haughty. They got their swelled heads. They're thinking, well, I'm part of Israel. Look, I'm part of the leadership. I can do this.

This is the problem with criticism in this way. He says, In which we have done foolishly, and in which we have sinned. Then Moses starts, he didn't say, well, she deserves it. Look, he wasn't this thin-skinned type of a person that, well, boy, look what my sister said to me and all of this. No, Moses cried out, verse 13, Please heal her, O God. That's why he was so humble. Verse 14, Then the Lord said to Moses, If her father had but spit in her face because of her, attitude and just a wrong attitude, would she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut out of the camp seven days and afterward she may be received again. So, Miriam was shut out of the camp seven days and the people did not journey till Miriam was brought up in again. So, was Moses perfect? No, but he had a responsibility to do. And so, God looks at the heart of the people.

We see that example then in the Old Testament. Let's go now to Micah 6, 6-8. Micah 6-8. Here's one of the best scriptures about Godly righteous balance. Micah 6, 6-8. So, you cannot be thin-skinned if you're in the church. Yes, loving and helping brethren. Sometimes they're gonna get, you know, under your skin and you have to be patient. You can't let that get the worst of you. Micah 6, verse 8. Let's see, starting in verse 6. Micah 6, 6-8. It says, with what shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before the high God? So, are they ceremonies? Sacrifices what God cares about the most? No. It says, shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my birth firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

That's the inner person. That's the right type of balance. Don't go overboard with ceremonial aspects. I remember years ago, we had, during the days of Unleavened Bread, we were in the San Diego Church. We were there for almost two years, the beginning of our ministry. And I remember our minister said, well, brethren, here we are, last day of Unleavened Bread. We've avoided regular bread, we've eaten this bread, but aren't you happy? You can go back to the other bread. And we had one lady said, no, I eat Unleavened Bread during the whole year. She has to show she is more righteous than anyone else, right? See, always somebody's going to take ceremonial things to an extreme. No, God says, seven days. Don't do eight, nine, ten, eleven. You don't have to be this way, as it tells us in Ecclesiastes 7, verse 16, from the Amplified Version.

Ecclesiastes 7, 16, do not be excessively righteous like those given to self-conceit, and do not be overly wise. In other words, pretentious. Why should you bring yourself to ruin? And so don't become either self-righteous or over-righteous in your own eyes, because pride, as the first message this morning mentioned, is before the fall. And so perfection is a gradual process. How does God develop that perfection in us? Here in the Old Testament, we have the perfect formula. Jeremiah 31, verses 31 through 34. That's why God's law is not going to be abolished.

It hasn't been abolished. Jeremiah 31. This is a scripture that Protestants basically hate, that it's in the Bible, because it goes counter to all this idea that God's law has been abolished. He says in Jeremiah 31, verse 31, It says, Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with the fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt.

My covenant, which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. He's not talking about the covenant in Mount Sinai, but here the New Testament covenant says, But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

No more shall every man teach his neighbor. So it's going to be so integrated into a person that everybody's going to know it, and it's going to be in their hearts. So you're not going to have somebody have to teach you about God's laws. They're already internalized in you, saying, Know the Lord, for they all shall know me from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.

That tells us how God is writing that process of his law in us. At the same time, how is that done? Let's go to Ezekiel 36, verse 25. This is the complementary scripture to Jeremiah 31. Ezekiel 36, verse 25 through 27. It says, when the kingdom arrives on the earth, verse 24, better start here, for I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all the countries, and bring you into your own land.

Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh. In other words, a spirit that is yielding to God, not a spirit that is like stone, that is hardened. He says, I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes. This is what God's Spirit does. It will guide us and encourage us to walk in my statutes, and you will keep my judgments, and do them.

Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers. You shall be my people, and I will be your God. So we see how that balancing factor of God's Spirit, as it grows, God's law is more and more internalized into us. Not just the letter, but the Spirit. Just like this feast can be something that is so superficial, people avoided leavened bread, people did what it said, but how about themselves?

Are they going to further purify themselves? Is this going to be helpful and go with a better attitude before God? That's what God is looking for. So now let's look at the New Testament. Matthew chapter 11 verse 25. Matthew 11 verse 25 talks about Christ's way of life in comparison to the Pharisees' way of life. Matthew 11 verse 25. Christ said, and he was praying to the Father, he said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent.

That's why they're not here, because they certainly would have a lot more abilities than all of us put together, right? That you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes, simple people, ordinary people, humble people. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in your sight. All things have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except, and it should be saved by the Father.

Nor does anyone know the Father except should say, by the Son, and the one whom the Son wills to reveal him. Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden. Yes, with sin, with all kinds of issues, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, in other words, humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light, especially in comparison to all those multitude of rules that the Pharisees had. Let's look at Paul's example, the balance that he had about God's righteousness. Let's go to 1 Thessalonians 2. Talk about a guy who was zealous. Talk about a guy who was right down the rules.

He looked at somebody he knew whether they had put their left shoe on first or right shoe on. He knew all the rules there were to judge. And look how he changed. In 1 Thessalonians 2, starting in verse 5, how did he treat the brethren? With a bunch of rules?

Majoring in the minors and minoring in the majors? No. He said here in verse 5, He said, For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak for covetousness. God is witness. He wasn't trying to somehow take advantage of them, nor did we seek glory from men. They weren't doing it to impress people, either from you or from others, when we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. And he didn't exercise that authority in that way.

But we were gentle among you, just as the nursing mother cherishes her own children. So affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, the good news of the kingdom, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us. And that's the way we feel about everybody that comes into the church. So you see the change. Now he was like a nursemaid. He was there tenderly taking care of him, patiently. Notice in Romans 15 verse 1, another lesson that Paul had to learn about maturing in the faith. Romans chapter 15 verse 1.

This is one of my favorite sections about godly balance. Verse 1, it says, When we then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak and not please ourselves, let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. For even Christ did not please himself, but it is written, the reproaches of those who reproached us, the reproaches of you fell on me.

So that means that we need to be more tolerable toward others' weaknesses than our own. We have to lower the bar for others while we raise the bar for ourselves.

And one of the things that Paul had to learn was true servant leadership, godly servant leadership. In 1 Corinthians 9, 1 Corinthians 9, verse 19, this is his attitude that Christ had instilled in him. He says, For though I am free from all men, in other words, God call me. I don't depend on other people for my spiritual development. I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more.

And to the Jews, I became as a Jew. He adapted so that they could be more friendly, more acceptable. After all, if he's harsh and offensive toward others, you're not going to get to first base, are you? That I might win Jews, to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I may win those who are under the law. Notice here, it's talking about those that still had the law as a standard of being saved. In those who are without law, these are the Gentiles, as without law, not being without law toward God, but under the law toward Christ. So we're still under the law, but toward Christ, that I might win those who are without the law. To the weak, I became as weak. So you don't become in there and make the weak feel worse. Give them an inferiority complex? No, go down to their level. That I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men. That I might, by all means, save some. Now this I do for the Gospel's sake, that I may be partaker of it with you. Do you not know that those who run in the race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it and become the best servant you can before God.

And so I had the honor to go to Ambassador College back from 1971 to 1975.

That's when I got to know Mr. Armstrong for about 15 years. And had a wonderful evening before I graduated at his home. And he showed me that righteous balance. He was a man that you could be around. He wasn't trying to strut around and impress others. He treated us like he was a servant of us. And I'll never forget because it wasn't just one time situation. He did show he was a perfect gentleman. We have tried to be the same. And as a result, I coined the following term, the ABCs of A.C. The ABCs of Ambassador College. What are they? A. Adaptability. Wherever you are, help people feel at home. And so, Cady and I, we've gone over to the huts across the border there in Mexico to houses that didn't even have a floor. It was just a dirt floor. But you know what? We were there. We made them feel at home. We made them feel like it was wonderful to be there. We didn't look down at all. Or we can be at the home of a senator, as we did one time, the Chilean senator, with the maids and everything else. We felt at home. We will adapt to the circumstances. Not want to have the circumstances adapt to us. B. Balance. Godly balance. Don't go to extremes. Don't major in the minors. Don't strain the technical gnat and swallow whole the spiritual camel. C. I actually have two Cs. Care. Learn to care for others. And the second C. Character. Develop godly character. And while sometimes at the college you would go from one swing of the pendulum to almost self-righteousness, then we went over to the publican side of things which were so loose and watered down. But you could stay in the middle. You could learn. Certainly Mr. Armstrong's example, of course he was a human being, but I'll tell you, just like it says in 1 Corinthians 11, Paul said, imitate me as I imitate Christ. So I wasn't going to follow Mr. Armstrong all the way or had him in a great big pedestal. No, but he was an example and what he did, according to what Christ showed, you follow that. And so in this last day of Unleavened Bread, as we part from this leavened bread, let's always remember the lesson to stay humble, unpretentious, don't try so much to impress others as to please God. He will judge us, each one separately. He knows us. He will tell us how we actually did, and hopefully with a lot of mercy, a lot of the smoke of the incense, right? And so let's finish now and conclude Hebrews 11 verse 39. We talked about the perfecting of the saints. Hebrews 11.39 really expresses it very clearly here. It says, And all these things about these men and women of faith, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise. They're not in heaven. They're not someplace. They're going to be in God's kingdom one day, but right now they're awaiting that resurrection. God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. So everybody gets resurrected in that first resurrection. From all the olden people to the present and even into the future. He says, Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, so many people that cross that spiritual line, that goal, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us. Don't let us get caught there, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto who as it's brought out. Unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. He's the one that does it, living through us. Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Yes, that is our perfect standard of righteousness. And hopefully, through the balance that that Holy Spirit gives us, we can make it into God's kingdom.