Good evening, friends, and welcome again to the "Last Day of Prophecy" series. To our audience here in Charlotte, North Carolina, a very warm welcome to you. We are so glad you chose to come and join us tonight. And then also our friends who are watching across the country and around the world, a very warm welcome to you. We are so delighted that you're part of this international Bible study. Now, for those of you who are watching, if you missed any previous program, take a look at our website, just lastdayofprophecy.com. You can click on the link that says Archives, and you'll be able to get a whole lot more information, view the programs, and also download the notes for each of the sermons.
Now, some of you here and those who are watching, you might be wondering, "Well, do the notes that we can download on the website, "do they go along with the presentations each night? "Are the questions the same as the ones that Pastor Doug reads?" Well, not quite. The notes is sort of a summary of the presentation. All the important information is there on the notes, but you won't find the questions listed the way Pastor Doug will be sharing them from night to night. But please be sure to take a look at that, and I know there's a number of downlink sites that also spending a little time after the presentation to review and take a look at those questions.
Well, we have a theme song that we like to sing each evening, and I hope you've been learning that song. Have you found yourself humming the tune during the day of our theme song? I know I have. I'm so glad that Charles is here, and Kelly at the piano, so why don't we stand as we sing our theme song again, "Jesus Will Come on Time."
I know you brought your singing voices with you tonight. The author--the writer of this song is our own evangelist, Doug Batchelor, he wrote it. So, he gave us another verse tonight. So, you out in satellite link, get ready for the second verse into this song, "Jesus Will Come on Time." Okay, let's sing those words. You ready?
♪ ♪Jesus will come on time
♪ ♪ Yes, He will come on time
♪ ♪ Doubters may talk and scoffers mock
♪ ♪ Babbling without rhyme or reason
♪ ♪ His promises are true, He will remember you
♪ ♪ The clock of prophecy will chime
♪ ♪ Up Jacob's ladder we will climb
♪ ♪ In brilliant glory so sublime, our God will come on time
♪ ♪ Yes, Jesus will come on time
That's good. Now give praise for our second verse.
♪ ♪ Jesus will come on time
♪ ♪ Yes, He will come on time
♪ ♪ He's never wrong
♪ ♪ It won't be long 'til we ascend in joy and glory
♪ ♪ Be sober, watch, and pray
Why?
♪ ♪ He may be on His way
♪ ♪ Now, the clock of prophecy will chime
♪ ♪ Up Jacob's ladder we will climb
♪ ♪ In brilliant glory so sublime,
♪ ♪ Our God will come on time
♪ ♪ Yes, Jesus will come on time
You got it, now let's go right to the top of the song and do it again. Ready? Sing.
♪ ♪ Jesus will come on time
♪ ♪ Yes, He will come on time
What about doubters?
♪ Doubters may talk and scoffers mock
♪ ♪ Babbling without rhyme or reason
♪ ♪ His promises are true
What will He do?
♪ He will remember-- He's faithful.
♪ ♪ The clock of prophecy will chime
♪ ♪ Up Jacob's ladder we will climb
♪ ♪ In brilliant glory so sublime,
♪ ♪ Our God will come on time
♪ ♪ Yes, Jesus will come on time
Sing.
♪ ♪ Jesus will come on time
♪ ♪ Yes, He will come on time
♪ ♪ He's never wrong
♪ ♪ It won't be long 'til we ascend in joy and glory
♪ ♪ Be sober, watch, and pray, He may be on His way
♪ ♪ Now, the clock of prophecy will chime
♪ ♪ Up Jacob's ladder we will climb
♪ ♪ In brilliant glory so sublime,
♪ ♪ Our God will come on time
♪ ♪ Yes, Jesus will come on time
Jesus will come on time.
♪ ♪ Jesus will come on time
Finally:
♪ ♪ Jesus will come on time!
Beautiful. Stay standing, please.
Amen, thank you. I'd like to invite you to bow your heads as we open with a word of prayer. Dear Father in heaven, indeed we are grateful for the promise that, yes, Jesus will come on time. And Father, as we've been studying your Word and looking at these very important prophetic truths and themes, I just pray once again that the Holy Spirit would come and guide our hearts and our minds. Father, we want to ready when that glorious day comes that we can say, "This is our God. We have waited for Him, and He will save us." Bless our time again tonight, for we ask this in Jesus' name, amen.
Please be seated. Now, we want to thank those many viewers that we have participating in this program who have sent in pictures of some of the sites that are meeting. We just picked a few. And friends, if you're watching, please go ahead and send in more. If you have a group meeting in your home, or maybe in a church, send us a picture of the group. We'd love to try and show as many as we can from night to night here so people get a sense of sort of the worldwide studying together experience that we have. But, before we show the pictures, I'd like to invite Pastor Doug to come forward. We got one picture from a special church in Northern California, a church that Pastor Doug knows very well, a church that I know very well. Pastor Doug, I think we're ready to put up our first picture here.
(Pastor Doug Batchelor) All right. This is Granite Bay, California. These are folks that we know very well. This is where Pastor Ross and I pastor from week to week. And we've got a few others here. Leeds, United Kingdom over in England. Can you say amen? Here we've got a group in Temple, Texas. Now, these are just some who have sent in pictures. There's folks like this, thousands gathered around the world that are joining us. And I think that's all that we've got to show tonight, but some of you who are part of this event, snap a picture of your group. Some are meeting in homes, many are meeting in homes, home Bible studies. We just will put some of them up, and just gives us the idea that this is really a satellite program going everywhere.
(Jean Ross) All right. Well, thank you, Pastor Doug. We'll turn the time over to you.
Thank you, Pastor Ross. Good evening, friends. Boy, what a beautiful day today in Charlotte. And we have so much exciting things, information, Bible study to be sharing with you. And tonight is going to be one of those subjects I think is so important to understand as we're living in the last day of prophecy. And it's--the subject for tonight is dealing with the ark. And a lot of people are wondering where the ark is right now. And you know, there have been expeditions and people who say they think they know where it is. Well, the lesson tonight is titled "Treasure from the Golden Ark." "Treasure from the Golden Ark."
Now, what do you think the most valuable rock in the world is? If you do a little research, you'll find out that recently, some people bought a red diamond. There's only about 30 of these in the world. They cost about $1 million per karat. This one was about 5 karats and, I don't know, they paid $23 million for this one. But even more than that, just last year, the record was broken for the most expensive rock. Now, that's not counting some of these priceless crown jewels in the tower of London, but a 12.3 flawless-- 12.3-karat, flawless blue diamond was discovered in South Africa in 2014. It sold recently at Sotheby's Auction for $48.4 million for one diamond. The buyer, Joseph Luen-hung, bought it for his 7-year-old daughter. Boy, that's pretty nice. Can you imagine take that to school and show your friends, $48 million diamond. They call it the Blue Moon Josephine. And he named it after his daughter.
But this isn't the most expensive or most valuable rock in the world. You know where the most valuable rock in the world is? We don't know. I believe it's stones that have the writing of God on them. And it's missing right now. It's the Ten Commandments, correct, that were placed in the ark. Now, stay with me for just a moment. There have been a lot of stories, there's been movies that talk about where the ark is today. And some say it was captured by the Egyptians, and that's not true, and I'll show you in a moment. And some say that no, because Solomon had an affair with the queen of Sheba, and they had a child together, and his son took the Ark of the Covenant down to Ethiopia. And there's not a shred of evidence for that in the Bible. Matter of fact, the Bible says the ark was firmly in the possession of the people of Israel all the way up to the time of King Josiah. It is specifically mentioned. Hezekiah mentions it as still in the temple during his time. When Jeremiah the prophet said that he knew, that God told him that Jerusalem was going to be conquered by the Babylonians, he, with the help of some priests, took the ark, which was the national treasure. They did not want it to fall into the hands of the pagans again. The Philistines had once captured it if you know your Bible. And they took and they hid it in a cave, and it has never been found since.
Now, wouldn't that be something if the ark was found? Some read some prophecies that you can find in Revelation 11, verse 19, "Then the temple of God was open in heaven, and the ark of his covenant was seen." And they wondered, "Does this mean that the ark "will be found before Jesus comes back, "and there'll be a great revival as people see God did really write the Ten Commandments?" I don't know, I don't think you can pull that out of this verse. Another verse in Revelation 15:5, "After these things, I looked, and behold, "the temple of the Tabernacle and the testimony in heaven was open." And what was in there? It's talking about the Holy of Holies.
Now, think about this for just a moment. If I were to ask you, "Where in the world is the Holy Land?" what would you say? Jerusalem or Israel. And in Israel, they got the holy city, which is what? Jerusalem. And in the holy city, there's what they call the holy mount. That would be Mount Zion or the Temple Mount? Which is where you've got the holy temple. And in the holy temple, you've got the holy place. And then beyond the holy place, there's something that was called the inner sanctum, the Holy of Holies. And there was one thing in that holy of holy rooms, what was that? Holy Ark of the Covenant that had the mercy seat where the Shekinah glory used to appear and talk to Moses. That's where the angel of the Lord spoke to the father of John the Baptist. There was a golden box, and everyone wishes they could find the golden box. But the box was not the important thing, it was the container. It was the rocks in the box that were really important, and they are still on the planet somewhere. No one knows exactly where. I hope it is found. But there you had something that was written with the finger of God, the law of God, written on two tables of stone. That would be the most valuable rocks in the world right now. It's not a blue diamond. Boy, you couldn't put a price on that if you could find it. You know, it's important to understand this subject.
Oh, by the way, you notice what I just illustrated? You got the holy land, you got the holy city, you got the holy mount, you got the holy temple, you got the holy place, you got the Holy of Holies, you got the holy ark, the holy law. And you know the word "holy" appears one time in the law? The Sabbath commandment we talked about last night. Longest of the Ten Commandments, in the middle of the law, the only commandment that begins with "remember," one that much of the Christian world has forgotten. Some of the Christian world, see, they have no problem with the Ten Commandments except that one law. And so, to get rid of the Sabbath command, they say, "We're not under the law, "and that means we don't have to keep the Ten Commandments anymore." That is a terrible misunderstanding. We're going to talk about that because we need to understand the relationship between a follower of God and the law if you're going to understand prophecy in the last days.
I mentioned to you briefly, you look in the Bible where it talks about a big test in the book of Daniel, Daniel's a prophetic book. Nebuchadnezzar tells everyone to bow to his image or go the fiery furnace, but three Hebrews, you remember their names? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. That was actually their Babylonian names. It was Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah were their Jewish names. They would not bow down because there's a commandment that says, "Do not make images and bow down to them." It's called idolatry. Some churches disregard that commandment, but it's one of the commandments of God. And then you get to Daniel chapter 6, another test. The king of Medo-Persia says, "No one can pray to anyone but me. I'm going to be God for 30 days." First commandment says, "You shall not have other gods." Daniel would not break the law of God to appease the king, the government law. So, he went to the lion's den, but he was delivered.
And then you know in Revelation chapter 13, it says that the beast power is going to make a law. In Revelation 13:15, "He was granted power "to give breath to the image of the beast, "that the image of the beast should both speak "and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed." So, there it's forbidden worship that goes against the law of God. Idolatry again, image worship. So, we're going to study this subject in the light of the Bible, and in the light of prophecy, and I think you'll see why it's very important to understand.
All right, first question. We're going to go through a series of questions here. Can God's moral law, moral law is another word for the Ten Commandments, be amended or repealed? Can it be changed or done away with? What does the Bible say? Jesus said, "It is easier for heaven and earth to pass than for one tittle of the law to fail." You notice it said in Revelation chapter 11:19, "I saw the temple of God open in heaven, and I saw the ark." So, you'd have to get rid of heaven. "His law is settled in the heavens," the Bible says. You can't change God's law by any earthly fiat. Again, the Lord says in Psalm 89, verse 34, "My covenant I will not break." You know, the Ten Commandments is called--he said, "I spoke unto them my covenant, even Ten Commandments that I gave them." "I will not break, or alter the thing that is gone out of my lips."
Now, in a little bit, we'll talk about the difference between the old covenant and the new covenant, so stay with me. Psalm 111, verse 7 and 8, "All of his commandments are sure." That means steadfast. "They stand for ever and ever." And now, there are some ceremonial laws that we know went through a change, but if there is any law that doesn't change, I would think it would be the law that God writes with his finger, and speaks with his mouth, and he does so audibly, and he writes it in stone. What more could he do to show the importance of it than what he did? Again, he says in Malachi 3:6, "I am the Lord, I change not." God is a rock. Jesus is called the rock of ages. You know why God's law can't change? Because the Ten Commandment law is an expression of who God is.
Here's a little chart to illustrate this, and it's not comprehensive, it's just some illustrations. Look on the left there, it'll say, "God is," and you'll have a column. On the right, it'll say, "The law is," and there's Scriptures for both. It says God is good. The Bible says the law is good, Romans 7:12. Isaiah 5:16, God is holy. Romans 7:12 also says the law is holy. God is just. Romans 7:12 says the law is just. It says God is perfect, the law is perfect. God is love, the law is love. And it goes on to say God is righteous, the law is righteous. God is truth, God is pure, God is spiritual, God is unchangeable, God is eternal. And you'll find all those terms that describe God describe his law. So, be very careful about trying to throw out the law of God. You might find yourself throwing out God. And so, that's why it's a dangerous thing when even some ministers are trying to take the law out of their churches. Now, you think I'm exaggerating. I'm not.
How many of you remember when you were growing up, fewer and fewer people out there now, when the Ten Commandments was up in public schools? I remember it, they had them. I wasn't even a believer, but I remember they had a little gold foil picture, and they had the Ten Commandments. And I asked the teacher about what that is, and she said, "Those are the golden rules, the Ten Commandments." And then suddenly, they stopped appearing. But I even know some pastors that took them out of their Sunday school classes. And when their members said, "What's up?" they said, "We don't want to teach the children legalism." And so, they took the law out. Well, what do you think happens to a culture when you start--you're afraid to tell the children what's right and wrong? What's wrong with saying, "Thou shall not steal"? I mean, shouldn't parents be teaching the rights and the wrongs? According to the Bible, what is sin? You can read about this in Romans chapter 3, verse 20, "By the law is the knowledge of sin."
We learn what sin is by the law. Now, do we need to know what sin is? Will we have a need for a Savior if we don't know that there's sin? The reason the devil hates the law is because the law shows us our sin. So, if you can get rid of the law, you get rid of sin. You get rid of sin, who needs a Savior? See what the psychology is? A satanic psychology behind it. Again, this is just like a dictionary definition, it's the most famous. 1 John 3:4, "Sin is the transgression of the law." And you might be wondering, "Well, there's different laws. Well, what law is John talking about there?"
And that's my next question in 1 John 3, verse 4. It says if you look in Romans 7:7, "I had not known sin, but by the law; "for I had not known lust, except the law had said, 'Thou shall not covet.'" Now, what is Paul saying there? Thou shall not covet, is he inventing that, or that one of the Ten Commandments? He's quoting right from the Ten Commandments. Jesus does this in his Sermon on the Mount. He said, "You've heard it said by them of old you shall not commit adultery. But I say unto you, whoever looks on a woman to lust after her in his heart is guilty of adultery." So, is Jesus doing away with the commandment about adultery, or was he expanding it? He gave not only the letter of the law, he gave the spirit of the law. The letter of the law says, "You shall not murder." But Jesus said the spirit of the law is if you are angry with your brother without a cause, you're guilty of murder.
So, is it okay to physically murder now as long as we don't think about it? That's silly, of course you'll keep the letter of the law. As long as I don't think about adultery, I can commit adultery. No. Of course, if you're committing it, you're thinking about it. So, people think, "I'm spiritual, I keep the spirit of the law. I don't keep the letter." That's absurd when you really think through that. Everybody who's really keeping the spirit of the law will also keep the letter because that's elementary. All right, and you can steal in your heart, you can break all the commandments in your heart. There's a spirit of the law that says, "You come unto Jesus, you find rest." That's the spirit of the law. But do our bodies still literally get tired and need rest once a week? Yeah, so of course you still keep the letter of the law. But there's a spiritual rest in the law.
Now, I'll tell you a little amazing fact. We like to sprinkle amazing facts. There's little shrimp that are all throughout the oceans, and they have an interesting habit. Every now and then, their skin molts. And the way they keep from being tossed around in the waves without knowing which end is up is they go to the bottom when they molt, they grab a grain of sand, which is like a small rock, and they stick it in a crack they all have in their heads. And that's called a status stone. It gives equilibrium to the little shrimp. And so, when they're tossed around in the waves, they quickly swim upright because they've got this status stone. If they don't have the status stone, they just start-- they're floundering. They don't know which end is up or down. Kind of like a surfer that been knocked under by a big wave, he can't tell which end is up.
Well, there's a biologist that had a bright idea, caught a bunch of these shrimp and they were getting ready to molt. He put them in an aquarium. And instead of pieces of sand in the bottom of the aquarium, he had small pieces of iron. So, the shrimp, after they shed their skin, they went down to the bottom, they grabbed a piece of-- little piece of iron, they stuck it in their head. He then put a powerful electric magnet on top of the aquarium and he turned it on. And he dialed it up, and sure enough, as he dialed up the power, all the shrimp turned upside down, and began to swim upside down. And then he wondered what would happen, he took shrimp from another aquarium that had a regular stone in his head, and he dropped it in with the other shrimp. He thought, "Will he swim based on the stone in his head, or will he swim based on what all the other shrimp are doing?" That one shrimp got dropped in there, and he swam normally while all of his friends were swimming upside down. And I'm almost sure that all those other shrimp that were swimming upside down looked at him and wondered what was wrong with him. And that's what the culture today is doing to Christians.
Christians and the Judeo-Christian belief in the Ten Commandments, people who still believe those things are being mocked like there's something wrong with them because they're in the minority. And you look in the world around us and you can just see. This was a Time Magazine cover a few years ago, I just-- it said, "Infidelity: It might be in our genes." And the premise of the article was saying, you know, since we have similar DNA to chimpanzees, and since chimpanzees commit adultery on each other, we can't blame ourselves. Making excuses. And it's just a crime. It says, "Every hundred hours, "more youth are dying in the streets of American cities than died in the entire Persian Gulf War." Some other facts, "The average 18-year-old "has witnessed 200,000 violent acts, including 40,000 murders on television." And you know, you just surf through the channels, you can just-- even the commercials. There's so much immorality, and lying, and violence. And I heard one preacher say on the radio not long ago, "It's almost strange now if you see something on TV where it's a married couple having sex." No, it's always adulterous relationships. And the culture has been saturated in this.
Jesus is our example, what did He do? Did Jesus keep the Ten Commandments? A Christian is a follower of Christ. Jesus says in John 15, verse 10, "I have kept my Father's commandments." Some people say, "Oh no, Jesus, He didn't keep the law." Yeah, He did, He says He did. Sin is a transgression of the law. Did Jesus sin? No. Again, you can read where it says in 1 Peter 2:22, "Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth." You know, it occurred to me I'm going on and on.
Will you turn in your Bible if you have a Bible with you. If you don't, I'll just--I'll read for you out of mine. So many people have Bibles on their phones now. I'm going to quickly read through the Ten Commandments. You know what the first commandment is? The first commandment begins with, "I am the Lord your God that brought you out "of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall not have other gods before me." You know why He started with that commandment? That's part of what's written in the stone. It says, "God spoke all these words, saying." All right, begin to chisel right now with the finger of God. "I am the Lord your God." He identifies Himself, and He says, "I saved you from Egypt," meaning I love you. And then He goes through the law and says, "If you love Me, keep My commandments.
So, let me read this to you real quick. "I am the Lord your God, "who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." Commandment one, "You shall not have other gods before me." Two, "You shall not make for yourself any carved image "of any likeness of anything in the heaven above, "or the earth beneath, "or in the water that is under the earth. "You shall not bow yourself to them, nor serve them, "for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, "visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children "unto the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me." Notice this part, "But showing mercy to thousands of those who love Me and keep My commandments." Right there in that commandment is the key. Why do they keep His commandments? "They love Me and keep My commandments. "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. "The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain." Aw, it's hard on me, you know? Sometimes, I play racquetball with some friends in Sacramento, and every now and then they just-- they misuse the Lord's name, and I just cringe. Are you like that? And you know, guys in sports, and they do that, but for me it's a sacred name. Taking His name in vain means more than that. All right, I'd better not start preaching on that subject.
Fourth commandment, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day, wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." Longest commandment.
"Honor your father and your mother," commandment five, "that your days may be long upon the land "the Lord God gives you. You shall not murder," commandment six. "You shall not commit adultery," commandment seven. "You shall not steal," commandment eight. "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor," commandment nine. And commandment ten, "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his female servant, "nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s."
That's the Ten Commandments. Was there anything wrong with that? Is that something that you think believers should still think is important? Are all of us guilty of breaking that law? Yeah, all of us. How many people have sinned? "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." And again, "All we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned, every one, to his own way." Now, if you understand this, I think it'll make more sense. If you are to sum up God with one word, what word would you pick? Love. The Bible says, "God is love." The Ten Commandments are divided in two categories. The first four commandments deal with our love relationship with God, and the last six commandments deal with our love relationship with each other. Like the cross, love the Lord with all your heart, love your neighbor, it's the vertical and the horizontal love relationship.
I've got two arms. On these two arms, I've got ten fingers. And the mind is telling the arms and the fingers what to do. God is love. All of the laws represent love for God and love for your neighbor. And so, when it says, "All the law is summarized in these two commandments," it doesn't mean loving the Lord and loving your neighbor means you don't need to keep the Ten Commandments anymore. It simply means the Ten Commandments are summarized in that. You see what I'm saying? I've heard some people say, "We don't need the Ten Commandments anymore. "We only have two commandments, love the Lord and love your neighbor." I say, "Okay, so am I loving my neighbor "if I'm stealing his stuff? Coveting his stuff? Stealing his wife?" Well, no. And you'll find they have no problem with the specific Ten Commandments until you get to one in particular. That's right, fourth commandment. Then they say, "No, we're not under the law, we're under grace," misunderstanding that. It means we're not under the penalty of the law through Jesus. It doesn't mean there's no obligation to obey.
Question number six, what is the punishment for living a life of sin? We've all sinned, we're all guilty. "The wages for sin is death." It's very serious. We're all living with a terminal sentence. We've all got a terminal problem because we're all guilty. Unless we take radical measures of accepting the sacrifice Jesus has offered, our future is sure, it's very bleak. Again, even God told Adam and Eve, "In the day you eat thereof, if you disobey, you'll die." The penalty for sin is death. It's a deadly disease, it's like leprosy.
Number ten (seven), do the Ten Commandments still apply to New Testament Christians? Jesus said, "If you will enter into the life, keep the commandments." Is that--is that difficult to understand? These are the words of Jesus. By the way, "All things that were made were made by him." This is the Gospel of John. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, "and the Word was God. "All things that were made were made by Him. Without Him was not anything made that was made." So, who was it that was writing the Ten Commandments? I believe Jesus is God the Son. If all things were made by Him, and the Bible says, "In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. "His name will be called wonderful counselor, the everlasting Father." We all know that's a prophecy about Jesus. Don't get confused. He says He's our brother, He says He's our friend, He says He's our Savior, and He's our Father because He's created us. That would include the law.
So, some people have this idea, "Well, the Ten Commandments, that came from God the Father. That was between Him and Moses, but I go with Jesus." It's like it's two different systems. No, Jesus did both, amen? He said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." That doesn't mean His commandments are different. He said, "Think not that I've come "to destroy the law and the prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill." Now, some people say, "Oh see, He came to fulfill the law. That means to do away with it." Wait a second, just take that interpretation and plug it in there, and let me show you how that sounds. Jesus didn't--we don't have to keep the law because Jesus fulfilled the law. That means He did away with it. So, what Christ is saying is, "Think not that I've come to destroy the law "and the prophets, I did not come to destroy, but to do away with." That wouldn't make any sense. When Jesus came to be baptized by John the Baptist, John the Baptist said, "Lord, you need to baptize me." And Jesus said to John, "Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness." Does that mean do away with all righteousness, or does it mean fill full?
So, Christ said, "I've come to fill full the law." The Messiah came, the Bible says, to magnify the law. Jesus didn't come to diminish the law or make it smaller, He came to expand it, to help us understand better what it's all about. "Blessed are those," Revelation 22:14, "That do His commandments." God wants you to be blessed. And again, Revelation 14:12, "Here is the patience of the saints; here are those that keep the commandments of God," just don't talk about them, "and the testimony of Jesus." Now, you read in the book of James, "For if anyone is a hearer of the word, "and he is not a doer, "he is like a man who observes his natural face in a glass, "in a mirror; and he observes himself, "and he goes away, and immediately he forgets "what kind of man he was. But whoever looks into the perfect law of liberty "and continues therein, not being a forgetful hearer "but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does."
Let me see if I can illustrate this for you. Okay, now if I go on and teach the rest of the lesson like this, would you find that distracting? And I can--I can almost guarantee there are going to be people who will right now turn the program on, and they're going to wonder, "What in the world is going on?" Now, you admit that if I had walked out on stage like this, you'd be going, "Does he know? There's something terribly wrong with his appearance right now." I did this illustration at a church one night, and some mother had brought her young son with her, and he elbowed her and said, "Mom, is that the mark?" So, this would not be normal, right? Okay, do you realize I don't see anything wrong? So, because I'm very careful in personal hygiene before I come, and I don't see a problem, how are you going to convince me there's a problem? A mirror, that's a good idea. Just so happens I've got a famous game show host here with me, Mrs. Batchelor. And so, this is a mirror.
Oh, yeah, look at that, that doesn't look right, does it? So, since the mirror showed me that I've got a problem, the mirror obviously should take care of the problem. I felt fine until I looked in the mirror. You know, I was standing here just having a great time with you folks, and then I looked in the mirror, and I said, "Oh, man, that's awful." You ever listen to yourself on tape? And you think, "Is that what I sound like?" You know how humiliating it is when you do television evangelism? So you say, "Oh no, did I say that?" So, you look in the mirror and you go, "Oh man, what a mess. I felt good until I looked in here.” So the key would be throw this away and my problem's solved. That's the attitude of some people. What does this represent? The law, right? So, throwing away the law is not going to help my problem. I still got a problem. So, since it showed me the problem, maybe what I need to do is use this to try and take it off. It doesn't work that way. It's not what it's made for. What do I need if I've-- the law shows me sin.
Does the law take away the sin? What washes away my sin? You know the song? Nothing but? The blood. You probably already figured out what this is. This is $1.88 at Wal-Mart. See, the law doesn't take away our sin, it never was intended to take away our sin. The law is there to show us our sin so we go to Jesus for cleansing from sin. So, question now is, is this my friend or my enemy? It's my friend because it showed me a problem that made me go to Jesus for cleansing, and now I look in here and I go, "Isn't he handsome." See? I feel much better.
So, people go--they try to get rid of the law, but the law brings people to Jesus. Because when I preach the law and people are convicted, they turn to Christ, and they repent, and they come to Him. When you stop preaching the law, you're going to have a church full of people that just don't know what in the world is going on. Jesus came to save us from our sins, not in our sins. Sin is a transgression of the law. What law? Well, let's start at least with the Ten Commandments. And you know, there are other good laws in the Bible. There are laws about, you know, if you find your neighbor's donkey wandering off, still a good idea to bring it back. There's a lot of good laws in the Bible, but at least the Ten Commandments.
Number eight, how is it possible to keep the commandments? Now, this is where you and I sometimes get serious. "Oh, Pastor Doug, I fall over and over." But you know, through Christ, all things are possible. Romans 8:3-4, "God sending His own Son "condemned sin in the flesh, "that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk after the flesh, but after the spirit." Again, it says, "He that has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." And that's in Philippians 1:6. He started something in you. Don't get discouraged, friends.
I don't have time during this series to tell you my personal testimony. I think last night, we may have some books out there, but I drank, and I smoked, and I stole, and I was in and out of jail, and I mean, I just--I was a mess. And I came to Jesus, and He helped me give up the drugs, and the stealing, and the drinking, and the cigarettes. And so, you're not going to convince me He can't change us. Now, the closer I come to the Lord, the more problems I see. And I'll confess, and the Lord works on me, and He's constantly changing me because He's the author and the finisher of our faith. And He that has begun a good work in you will perform it. And I am not yet what I want to be, but I thank God I'm not what I used to be. And I see that there's progress every day. And so, don't be discouraged. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. Lay aside the sin and the weight that does so easily beset us. But it's healthy for your soul to hear about the law every now and then because it'll drive you to Jesus, you'll repent of your sins, and you'll grow in grace. So, these churches and preachers that are pushing aside the law, Paul would call that a doctrine of devils. The Bible says, "I can do all things," Philippians 4:13, "through Christ who strengthens me."
Number nine, what is the old covenant, and why did it fail? Now, this is where people say, "Well, Pastor Doug, Ten Commandments, that's the old covenant." Let's read this from the Bible, I think you'll be surprised. It tells you what the old covenant was. Deuteronomy 4:13 is very clear, "And He declared unto you His covenant, "which He commanded you to perform, even Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tables of stone." And most scholars think that the first four were on one table, the law between man and God, the last six were on the second table. Also sort of makes sense because the last six, some of them were very short. So, you have the two-- by the way, did you know that the Lord's Prayer is divided the same way as the Ten Commandments? You've got the first three petitions, or the first 40%, between man and God. Thy name, thy kingdom, thy will. And the last six-- or the last four deal-- or the last 60% deal with our relationship with each other.
Lead us, forgive us. It's interesting. So, Jesus kind of gave an expanding of the law. Notice what the problem was with the first covenant, Ten Commandments. Was it a problem with the law? No, it's God's law. How can there be a problem with the law? A covenant is an agreement, an agreement between two parties. The problem with the first covenant was not the law or with God, it was with the other party. They broke the covenant. And it says in Hebrews 8, this is New Testament, "Finding fault with them." Who's the them? Right after God gives the Ten Commandments to the children of Israel, they said, "All the Lord has said, we will do. We agree to the covenant." Moses goes up the mountain, he gets the written transcript, he comes down, they got a golden calf, they're breaking all ten commandments. Having a wild party, they broke the covenant. Finding fault with them. Fault it not with the law, so God said, "Look, I'm going to make a new covenant." Who does God make the new covenant with? I'm getting ahead of myself.
Upon what law is the new covenant based? Okay, that's question ten. It says, "'For this is the covenant that I will make,' says the Lord, 'I will put my law,'" what law? Ten Commandment law? "I'll put it in their hearts." Not a different law, a different place. Why would God say, "You know, my first law, I made some mistakes. "I'm going to change it. I'll put a different law in your heart"? God didn't make a mistake. When He wrote and spoke that law, that's His law. You can't change it. Some people say, "Well, He didn't have that law until the Ten Commandments." Oh really? When Joseph told Potiphar's wife, "I can't commit adultery with you because it's a sin," did Joseph live before Moses? Yeah. Yeah, adultery was a sin way back in Joseph's day. You didn't take your neighbor's wife. Matter of fact, if you go back to the very beginning, God said to Cain, "You know, murdering your brother is a sin." So, you go to the beginning, murder was wrong, adultery was wrong. The law existed all the way from the beginning. And by the way, including the Sabbath on the seventh day of creation. And so, the law is part of God's nature.
The new covenant is the law of God written in a new place. Notice--oh, I was going to throw another little amazing fact in here. We did a meeting last year, about a year and a half ago, outside of Albuquerque. There is a stone called the Los Lunas, a Decalogue Stone. They found a stone about 35 miles south that dates back hundreds of years, and it's got this ancient Hebrew text on it that is an abridged version of the Ten Commandments, and they don't know how it came to the Americas. It has been there as far back as they can tell, and they can't imagine anybody back in that time knowing how to forge primitive Hebrew. And so, it's an abridged version of the Ten Commandments. You wonder, did it make its way to the Americas somehow? Just an interesting fact.
Question 11, does living under grace make keeping the law non-essential? Well, some people say, "I'm not saved by works, I'm saved by grace." Well, I believe I'm saved by grace. Do we keep the law to be saved, or because we are saved? Did God tell the children of Israel, "If you keep the Ten Commandments, I'll save you from Egypt"? Or did He tell them, "You need to offer a lamb, and I'll save you from Egypt"? They weren't saved by the law, they were saved by the lamb. After He saved them, He brought them to Mount Sinai and said, "Look, you've been saved by the lamb. Now, if you love Me, keep My commandments." See how it worked? They were not saved because they kept the law, but they could not go to the Promised Land deliberately breaking it. Did you catch that? Do you know the Bible says we're saved by grace, Revelation says we're rewarded by our works? Jesus said, "Not everyone that says unto Me, 'Lord, Lord,' "will enter the kingdom, but he that does the will of My Father in heaven."
What is the will of God? You can read in Psalms 40, verse 8, "Yea, I love to do Thy will. Thy law is within my heart." The law of God is the will of God. You already knew that. You knew it's not God's will for you to steal, right? Or to curse, or to worship idols, or those other things. Paul says, Romans 6:15, "What then? "Shall we continue in sin because we're not under the law, "but under grace? God forbid." The idea we should keep breaking the law. And again in Romans 3. I sort of got Romans 6 before Romans 3, but same principle. "Do we then make void the law through faith? "God forbid. We establish the law through faith." James says, "You show me your faith without your works, I'll show you my faith by my works."
Christians ought to be different, amen? I mean, if you got a next door neighbor and he says he's a friend, he's a Christian, and he borrowed your rake 3 years ago and hasn't brought it back yet because he's under grace, you don't like that kind of religion, do you? "It's easier for heaven and earth to pass," Jesus said, "than for one tittle of the law to fail." "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today," and for how long? Forever. He is the rock. By the way, what was the law written on? Jesus said, "The wise man builds his house on the rock, and when the storm comes, it does not fall." God wrote His law on a rock. Jesus is the rock. David killed Goliath with a rock. It's a rock that doesn't change, it's a firm foundation. It's a shadow of a mighty rock in a weary land for those that are being scorched under the sun. Are people saved by keeping the law? No. "For by grace are you saved through faith; "not of yourselves, it's a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast."
Now, when you're driving down the road, if you see the flashing blue and-- do you instinctively-- blue and red, do you kind of hit your brakes? Matter of fact, some of you will-- you'll see a policeman anywhere, and even if you're doing nothing wrong, you'll step on your brakes. It's just like you take your foot off the gas. How many--anyone out there like that? Just automatically foot off the gas. You could be in a parking lot, foot's off the gas as soon as you see a policeman out there. It's a reflex. I got pulled over one time, and I was speeding. I've had so many speeding tickets, I could probably teach traffic safety school. And I've been good the last few years. You get older, you slow down. That never made sense to me. When you're young and you got plenty of life in front of you, you drive too fast. When you got old and you're almost out of time, you go slow. You think you'd be in a hurry then, right?
So, I got pulled over, and the policeman came up. And I said, "Oh, officer, could you please have mercy?" I did. I didn't want the law because I was guilty, I wanted mercy. And you know, sometimes what the ladies do is they'll cry. I tried that once, and she did not give me a ticket. So this--anyway, this policeman, he said, "All right." And so he said, "I'm just going to write you a warning. Slow down." Well, when he pulled me over, I was under the law because I was speeding. As soon as I saw him, what do you do? You look at your speedometer immediately. I said, "Oops." And after he said, "I'm going to let you go. "You're forgiven. "You're no longer under the law. "You deserve a ticket, but I'm going to show you mercy. You're now under grace." I said, "Praise the Lord, I'm under grace." I revved my engine. The policeman's still, you know, doing his paperwork. I revved my engine, and I popped the clutch, and I peeled away, sprayed gravel all over the front of his car, and took off because I don't care about the law anymore, I'm under grace. Is that what I did? Oh no. I put on my blinker, I cleaned off my mirror, I looked 1,000 yards every way, and all streets, and slowly crept out, and went 48 and a half miles an hour. I was more careful than ever, why? Because I'm under grace now. I'm not under the law. Because he showed me mercy and I'm grateful, I respected that mercy and I was careful.
Christians ought to be the most careful and obedient people because we know what our lawlessness has cost. It cost the life of God's Son. So, the idea that it doesn't matter. And you know, this used to be what other preachers would teach. Here's a quote from a book by Dwight Moody, great man, great evangelist. "The commandments of God given to Moses in Mount Horeb "are as binding today as they ever have been "since the time when they were proclaimed in the hearing of the people." Not too far from here is the Billy Graham Museum. Karen went with her friends, she said, "You got to go over there." And at the time of this recording, Dr. Graham is still alive and well, and we need to pray for him. He used to always do this article where he asked questions. People would write in questions, and he'd answer them. It was called "My Answer."
Question: Does God still expect us to keep the Ten Commandments? Is that what we're talking about today? I appreciate Dr. Graham's answer. The Ten Commandments are just as valid today as when God gave them to Moses over 3,000 years ago. Jesus said, 'I tell you the truth that until heaven "and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, "or the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the law.'" I agree. That's what all the preachers used to say. But there's a trend, it's changing. What motivates a person to keep the law, to obey God's law? Why should we do it? "Therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." When we love our neighbor, when we love God, we're going to want to have our time with God, we're going to want to revere His name. It's all love. "Thou shall love the Lord thy God," Jesus said, "with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all of thy mind." That's Matthew 22:37. "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments." And John says, "His commandments are not a burden, they're a blessing."
Can I be a real Christian and be deliberately breaking His commandments, without keeping His commandments? It says, "Hereby do we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments," 1 John 2:3-4, "He that says he knows Him, and does not keep His commandments," is what? "Is a liar, and the truth is not in him." People say, "Oh, I know the Lord. I love the Lord." Do you keep His law? "No, we don't have to do that anymore." Usually one commandment they're thinking of. Now, what law was nailed to the cross? There are laws that Christians are no longer required to observe. You can read, for instance-- and people love-- when they hear the Sabbath truth, they love to go to Colossians chapter 2, and they read verse 13 through 16. And Paul says, "Blotting out the handwriting--" I want you to notice some words: blotting out, handwriting, notice the word "handwriting." Ordinances, mark that word. "That was against us," notice against us. "Which was contrary to us, so He took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross." What law is He talking about? Go back to Exodus 32:16, "Now the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God," not man's handwriting, "engraved on the tables."
So, God's writing is not Moses' writing. And they will take who-- look at 2 Chronicles 33:8, "They will take heed to all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and," and the whole law being the Ten Commandments, "the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses. "Blotting out the handwriting and the ordinances that were against us," it's talking about the ceremonial law. Notice, where was the Ten Commandments? In the Ark of the Covenant. Where were the ceremonial laws? Deuteronomy 31:26, "Take the book of the law, "and put it in the side of the Ark of the Covenant, that it might be a witness against us." There you got those words "against us." The book of the law, ceremonial laws, circumcision, sacrifice of lambs, Jewish annual Sabbaths.
See, there's a big difference between the Sabbath of the Ten Commandments and the annual Sabbaths. Sabbath of the Ten Commandments was before sin, happened in creation, spoken by God's voice. The ceremonial annual Sabbath, Passover, Feast of Trumpets, they came after sin once a year. They were nailed to the cross. If you want to keep them, one man regards one day above another, another man regards every day alike. If you want to celebrate Easter, great. Is there a command to do that? No. Nothing wrong with remembering the resurrection, but where's the commandment? See what I'm saying? Some people struggle over what do Christians do about Christmas. I say if you're going to do it, do it unto the Lord. You know, if you're not going to do it, no commandment says you've got to celebrate Christmas. This is what Paul's talking about. It has nothing to do with the Sabbath. "Having abolished the law of commandments contained in ordinances."
What was abolished? The commandments contained in what? The ordinances, not the Ten Commandments, friends. Don't fall for that. There's a lot of bad theology out there about the law. Leviticus 23, it was summarized in yearly Sabbaths, meat offerings, drink offerings, and those things. And again, you finish what it says in Colossians, he says, "So don't let anyone judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon, or Sabbaths." What Sabbaths? Notice Sabbaths plural. "Which are shadows," the annual Sabbaths were shadows, "of things to come, but the substances of Christ." The Bible is telling us that it's really all about Jesus, friends. So, whom does the devil especially hate in these last days? "The dragon is wroth with the woman, "and he goes to make war with the remnant of her seed "that keeps that commandments of God, and has the testimony of Jesus."
Isn't that what you want, friends? You want the law and the prophets written in your heart. You want the new covenant. "A new covenant I will make after those days with the house of Israel." That's spiritual Israel, and that's something you're part of. If you are Christ's, you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. He's not a Jew which is one outwardly, and I believe-- I'm Jewish, you know. I believe there's a special role for the Jewish people, but all of us can be grafted into the stalk of Israel. All of us can partake of the promises in the Bible. How many of you would like to experience that, friends? And have God write His law on your heart with love?
Father in Heaven, Lord, we thank You for the clarity of Your Word. And we invite You to create within us new hearts, Lord. Write Your law in our hearts. Take away the stony hearts, and give us hearts of flesh. Pour out Your Spirit on these meetings, on everyone that is attending, and help us to experience genuine conversion. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.