Participants: Shelley Quinn
Series Code: 12POP
Program Code: 12POP000010
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00:47 You know, I've been waiting all week to say this:
00:50 good morning and happy Sabbath. Happy Sabbath. 00:55 When you get a bunch of well-heeled, good looking, 00:59 well-dressed Seventh-day Adventists in a place 01:02 it just seems like you ought to say "Happy Sabbath. " Amen. 01:05 And Sabbath is a happy day 01:07 we used to sing as kids in Primary and Cradle Roll. 01:10 Sabbath is a happy day... I love every Sabbath. 01:12 So we say again happy Sabbath to our audience here 01:16 in this house and our audience from around the world. 01:18 Those who are watching and listening on the various media: 01:21 we wish you a happy Sabbath and welcome you once again 01:24 to the 3ABN Worship Center which houses the 01:28 Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church 01:30 which on this occasion is 01:33 Camp Meeting Spring 2012 01:37 Pillars of Prophecy. And we welcome you once again 01:40 to what we know is going to be a full day, a packed day. 01:45 And I pray and hope that you took my advice. 01:47 That on last evening you went home; you went to bed; 01:52 and you went to sleep... 01:54 because today you are going to need it. 01:57 We've got speaker after speaker, all powerful messages. 02:01 We really focus on the book of Daniel this day 02:04 and those subjects appertaining to it. 02:07 So you need to be well awake and wide awake 02:10 because there is much good information that is going to be 02:13 disseminated on this very day. 02:15 We start off with our own Shelley Quinn. 02:18 Shelley Quinn and I came to 3ABN just about the same time. 02:21 We got here in January of 2005. 02:25 She is a sought-after speaker. 02:27 As you well know, an author that writes really wonderful 02:33 Spirit-filled books. A Spirit-filled speaker, 02:35 one who has distinguished her- self as a student of the Word. 02:40 A study of the Word, a preacher and teacher of the Word. 02:43 And we are quite sure that she has much to say to us this day. 02:47 The only thing bad you can say about Shelley, really, is that 02:49 she is not a very good church member. 02:51 And that is because she is not here that often 02:53 because she is away speaking so many many Sabbaths 02:56 of the year doing the work of the Lord. 02:58 But I expect and we expect the Lord to use her 03:01 in a mighty way as she deals with the Covenants today 03:06 as part of our Pillars of Prophecy presentation. 03:08 Just before she comes to deliver the word to us 03:12 Melody Shelton-Firestone will be singing God's Greatest Glory. 03:17 And then we will move right into the message. 03:19 I ask you now to bow your heads with me in a word of prayer. 03:23 Gracious Father, we thank you for the blessing of the Sabbath 03:27 Day. We thank you for this temple in time that 03:30 gives us an opportunity to relax and repose 03:34 and to rest in You and to hear the Word of God spoken 03:39 with power. We ask now a very special blessing 03:42 on Melody as she ministers in music 03:45 and Shelley as she delivers Your words to our heart. 03:50 Speak to her so that she may speak to us 03:54 and fill us with Your Spirit this day. 03:57 We love You, thank You, and praise You. 04:00 In Jesus' name, Amen. 04:02 I am remiss if I do not remember and mention 04:05 J.D. Quinn, the head of our Pastoral Department. 04:07 He stands faithfully by her side; they are a powerful team 04:12 in the Lord and we're just happy for them both. 04:14 We love them both here at 3ABN. 04:16 Melody and then Shelley. 04:37 In the beginning 04:42 of creation 04:47 when the world was formed 04:55 Though God in His splendor 04:59 this world He had rendered 05:04 still the best was yet to come. 05:12 God's 05:16 greatest glory... 05:20 the world's 05:25 love story 05:28 written just for me: 05:38 Jesus 05:42 is God's 05:46 greatest glory. 06:03 From His birth in a manger 06:08 to His death on Calvary 06:13 He fulfilled 06:16 the Father's plan. 06:21 Jesus Christ, 06:26 the sacrifice, 06:31 giving hope 06:33 to every man. 06:38 God's 06:42 greatest glory... 06:46 the world's 06:51 love story 06:54 written just for me: 07:04 Jesus 07:08 is God's 07:12 greatest glory. 07:21 Jesus 07:25 is God's 07:29 greatest glory. 07:44 Amen. 07:46 Thank you, Melody. And indeed, Jesus IS God's greatest glory. 07:49 Well, happy Sabbath. 07:52 I hope you all can listen fast 07:54 because I'm going to have to talk fast. 07:56 But today's presentation on the covenants is built on 08:00 three... a three-tiered foundation 08:03 having to do with God's character, 08:06 the progression of His ever- lasting covenant of redemption, 08:11 and His divine law. 08:13 Before we begin, let's pray. 08:15 Father, again we come before You in the name of Jesus 08:19 thanking you for this beautiful Sabbath Day. 08:21 Thanking you, Father, for the exalted privilege 08:24 of being your children. 08:26 Thanking you that You are a covenant-keeping God. 08:29 Lord, help me to be surrendered to You now. 08:31 I pray that from this preparation You will bring forth 08:36 those things, Lord, that You want Your people to hear. 08:39 And I ask in the name of Jesus that You would anoint our ears. 08:44 Send Your Holy Spirit to be our teacher 08:45 and anoint our ears, Father, 08:47 to hear what the Spirit has to say. 08:50 In Jesus' name, Amen. 08:52 You know, in order to correctly interpret prophecy, 08:55 particularly the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation, 08:58 we must understand the divine ordering of the dispensation 09:03 of God's law. 09:05 God's law reveals not only His will but His character. 09:09 And that is the reason why it is the center 09:13 of the great controversy. 09:15 To appreciate the dispensation of God's law 09:18 we must understand God's everlasting covenant. 09:23 And to understand and comprehend the everlasting covenant 09:27 we need to understand the character of God. 09:30 God is love. He is kind and faithful 09:34 and patient. He's gracious; He is good. 09:37 God is just. God is... His... 09:41 There's perfect agreement between the nature of God 09:46 and the actions of God. 09:47 God never does anything that contradicts His nature. 09:53 Everything He does is motivated by love. 09:55 Everything that He does is for our eternal benefit. 10:00 And God is consistent. In Malachi 3:6 He says: 10:03 "I am the Lord... I change not. " 10:06 And Hebrews 13:8 says that Jesus is the same yesterday, 10:12 today, and forever. 10:13 Since the beginning of time God has been unfolding 10:18 and revealing His purposes, His plans, 10:23 and Himself in an unfolding revelation. 10:28 And each revelation builds upon the next. 10:31 It's not that God withholds any information from mankind 10:36 that would benefit us 10:38 but rather than mankind is incapable of understanding God 10:43 without this history and these experiences with Him. 10:48 How many times did Jesus tell his disciples? 10:53 He predicted His death and His resurrection 10:57 but the disciples did not understand Him, did they? 11:00 They even... The Bible even says in Mark 11:03 they were afraid to ask Him what He meant. 11:06 This is proof that man cannot understand God's will 11:11 and His plan except through a progressive revelation. 11:16 So this explains why God has revealed His covenant 11:21 to us in stages. 11:22 You know, although the Bible speaks of multiple covenants 11:26 there is only one everlasting covenant of redemption. 11:31 And that one basic covenant of salvation is this: 11:37 that salvation belongs to the Lord. 11:40 Both the Old and the New Testament reveal that 11:44 salvation belongs to the Lord. 11:47 I believe we have some graphics that are going to be coming up 11:50 because we won't have time to probably get to each 11:53 of these scriptures. 11:55 But this one thought that salvation belongs to the Lord 12:00 is the good news that has been preached to mankind 12:03 throughout history. God advances His purpose 12:06 of divine salvation through progressive covenants. 12:11 And the unity of these covenants is this one central thing: 12:15 "I will be your God and you will be My people. " 12:18 Today ever so briefly we are going to look at the five 12:22 chronological histories of the five stages 12:26 of His everlasting covenant 12:29 that originated in heaven with Jesus Christ 12:32 then was revealed to Adam then to Abraham 12:36 then to Moses and finally was fulfilled through Christ. 12:41 Please turn to II Timothy chapter 1. 12:46 II Timothy chapter 1. 12:48 This is the first stage of the everlasting covenant. 12:52 It was announced before the foundations of the earth 12:58 to be inaugurated after the fall of mankind. 13:01 In II Timothy chapter 1 and verse 9 13:06 this reveals God's initial covenant of salvation 13:11 made with Jesus. 13:12 Look what Paul says. 13:14 II Timothy 1:9 says: 13:34 The Calvary plan was in place before the world was created. 13:40 Revelation 13:8 says that Jesus is the Lamb who was slain 13:44 before the foundations of the earth. 13:46 Salvation has always - always - been by grace. 13:51 And in Isaiah chapter 42... This is a Messianic prophecy, 13:56 a Messianic chapter. And Isaiah chapter 42 14:00 verses 6 and 7 reveals God's plan 14:05 established for the world. 14:07 Look at these words: 14:33 Christ was and is the everlasting covenant 14:40 of God's redemption, and truly salvation belongs to the Lord. 14:45 Christ is the center and the substance 14:48 of God's everlasting salvation. 14:52 You know, God knows the end from the beginning. 14:54 When He created Adam and Eve He created them in perfection. 14:58 They were created in God's image. 15:01 They had the divine law of God written on their hearts. 15:04 He put them in a place of perfection 15:07 with great blessings and great freedom. 15:10 And while they were there He gave them only one prohibition. 15:15 Only one test of their loyalty to Him. 15:19 And that was: "Do not eat of this one tree: 15:24 the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil 15:25 because if you eat then dying you shall surely die. " 15:30 But they disobeyed, and all mankind then needed 15:35 a Savior. 15:37 And God stepped in... the God of grace stepped in... 15:41 with this covenant of redemption. 15:43 And He announced the first prophecy of His covenant. 15:48 We find that that is stage two: the Adamic covenant of grace. 15:54 And this we talked about last night: Genesis 3:15. 15:59 when He announced the gospel of Christ 16:01 and He said: "I will put enmity... " 16:20 Now this indicated the promise of restored life 16:25 by grace alone. Amen? 16:29 This was through Christ's work of redemption. 16:33 And at that time God had to sacrifice 16:38 the first lamb to cover the sin and the shame of sin. 16:44 Of the nakedness of Adam and Eve. 16:46 And this foreshadowed the events of the cross. 16:49 So we see that it went from originating in heaven. 16:53 It was passed down to Adam and then on to Abraham... 16:57 which is the third stage of God's progressive covenant. 17:01 The everlasting covenant of grace 17:04 was established through Abraham. 17:07 The everlasting covenant of righteousness by faith 17:12 was established through Abraham. 17:14 Just listen to these promises that God gave to Abraham. 17:20 He said: "I will make you a great nation 17:22 and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. " 17:25 That's Genesis 12:2-3. 17:27 And then in Genesis 15:5-6 when God had told Abraham 17:31 "Your descendants shall be like stars" 17:35 the Bible says that Abraham believed God 17:39 and God counted it to him as righteousness. 17:44 God's plan of righteousness by faith was revealed 17:49 right there to Abraham. 17:51 And a key verse is Genesis 17:7. 17:56 Let's look at that one together: Genesis 17:7. 17:59 God said to Abraham: 18:16 He told Abraham in Genesis 22:18 18:19 that "in your seed all the nations of the earth 18:24 shall be blessed. " 18:26 Get this... these are God's words: 18:29 "In your seed Abraham all the nations of the earth 18:34 shall be blessed because you have obeyed My voice. " 18:40 Now we learned last night... Who is the Seed 18:45 that Genesis 22:18 is referring to? 18:48 Jesus Christ. Paul reveals that in Galatians 3:16. 18:52 This covenant that God is building upon - 18:58 the Adamic covenant - the covenant He gave to 19:01 Abraham - is the covenant of grace... the covenant 19:06 representing the justification of grace through faith 19:09 in the redemptive work of Christ Jesus. 19:13 And it would come to all nations... 19:15 Jews and Gentiles alike. 19:18 Through the righteousness of Jesus Christ 19:21 all would be blessed. 19:23 The entire course of salvation history 19:27 revolves around this covenant of grace 19:31 which maintained the authority of God's law 19:34 and it would be ratified by the blood of Christ. 19:37 Turn to Genesis 26. 19:39 I want to show you that the human response of obedience 19:44 as an expression of love and loyalty 19:47 is part of the fulfillment 19:50 of the everlasting covenant. 19:54 Genesis 26. Let's look at verse 3. 19:57 Here... let me set this up... God is renewing 20:01 the covenant of grace with Isaac. 20:05 This is something that... Let's look at the basis of 20:09 why He renewed this. 20:10 Verse 3... Genesis 26 verse 3: 20:39 Why? Verse 5 answers: 20:53 Abraham's faithful obedience 20:56 demonstrates the relationship between law and grace. 21:02 Abraham was conscious of God's high moral standards. 21:06 God's law was written in his heart, 21:09 and because of his faithfulness the everlasting covenant 21:12 would come to all nations. 21:14 Now turn to Galatians 3. 21:16 It is the same in both Testaments. 21:20 Salvation has always belonged to God... 21:23 given by God's grace to men through faith. 21:27 Let's look at Galatians 3 and we will begin with verse 6. 21:33 And Paul writes: 21:49 So Paul here identifies the Christian community - 21:52 Jew and Gentile alike - as sons of Abraham. 22:27 Now go on down to verse 19... 22:29 Galatians 3:19. Paul says: 22:48 Now verse 10 tells us what law he's talking about. 22:52 Verse 10. He is clearly... The subject of his context 22:56 is the book of the covenant. 22:58 And this Mosaic book of the covenant - 23:02 the book of the law which he identifies - 23:05 had God's eternal law of love, the Ten Commandments, 23:10 as the heart of it but it also included the civil laws 23:13 that told them how to put the Ten Commandments into practice. 23:16 And also had the judgments and then it had ceremonial laws 23:21 to provide the grace for forgiveness and a symbol... 23:25 symbols that would give them understanding of what the 23:29 Messiah would do for them. 23:31 This book of the covenant, Paul says, 23:34 "was added because of transgression. " 23:38 This book with its wonderful blessings for obedience 23:42 and its fearful curses for disobedience... 23:45 where was it placed once it was written? 23:49 It was placed on the outside of the ark in a pocket. 23:55 This book was added because of the ignorance and the evil 23:58 of this nation that had been in bondage for so many years 24:03 and had been delivered. It was temporarily added. 24:07 Hebrews 8:13 says that the new covenant makes the old 24:11 obsolete. So let's look at this fourth progression. 24:15 This addition. It was added to, it didn't wipe out 24:18 God's everlasting covenant. 24:20 It was added to... that book of the law. 24:23 The fourth stage is the Mosaic covenant. 24:26 But I'm here to tell you I believe that also is a 24:29 covenant of grace because it is founded upon 24:33 and added to the Abrahamic covenant. 24:36 Turn to Exodus 2. 24:38 Exodus 2. 24:40 If we think of the scene here: Abraham's descendants have now 24:45 been enslaved by Egypt for hundreds of years. 24:48 And in Exodus 2:24 the Bible says something amazing. 24:53 Exodus 2:24: 25:00 Let me tell you, any time the scripture says "God remembered" 25:02 it doesn't mean He forgot... 25:04 it means that He is about to take action. 25:07 So God remembered what? 25:18 This is evidence that the Mosaic covenant 25:23 that is about to be laid before us 25:27 was an extension of God's covenant with Abraham. 25:31 Therefore it has to be considered part of the 25:33 covenant of grace. 25:35 How was the Mosaic covenant brought about? 25:39 When you think of it, it was by God's gracious deliverance 25:44 of Israel from bondage. 25:46 Because God wanted to establish an intimate relationship 25:52 based on the loyalty and love. Turn to Exodus 6. 25:56 In Exodus 6:5-8 God is speaking with Moses. 26:01 And here's what He says: 26:04 "I have heard their groanings" - the groanings of the Hebrews - 26:09 "and I have remembered My covenant. " 26:15 What covenant? The covenant that was made in heaven 26:19 before the earth was formed. 26:21 The covenant that He'd already shared with Adam 26:24 and now the covenant that is being - and Abraham - 26:28 and the covenant that is being revealed to Moses. 26:31 He says: "I remembered My covenant. " 26:34 Then He goes on and identifies Himself as Yahweh: 26:37 the self-existent, eternal God. 26:40 And He says: "Tell them I'll deliver you from labor. 26:43 I'll free you from slavery. 26:46 I'll redeem you with My outstretched arm 26:48 and take you as My people. I will be your God 26:51 and bring you to the promised land and give it to you. " 26:55 That sounds like the gospel of grace to me. Doesn't it to you? 26:59 But look at verse 9. 27:02 Exodus 6:9. Moses told this to the Israelites 27:06 but they did not listen to him because of their broken spirit 27:11 in hard labor. Still God proved Himself 27:16 to be Israel's God 27:19 through His glorious actions 27:23 and the power of His love and holiness. 27:26 God parted the Red Sea; He drowned their oppressors. 27:31 He gave them manna; He gave them quail; 27:34 He gave them water from the rock. 27:36 Israel was to become the covenant community of God. 27:41 And their distinct identity as God's people was to be 27:46 that they obeyed God's commandments 27:50 and that His presence would go with them every step 27:55 of their journey. 27:56 They experienced all of the Lord's provisions. 28:00 They experienced His efforts to deliver them. 28:04 But their memory was short and their hearts were ungrateful 28:09 and it led them to mistrust the Lord. 28:11 Turn to Exodus 19. 28:14 Exodus 19 is the scene when the redeemed had reached 28:19 Mount Sinai. 28:22 I want you to look at verses 4 and 5 with me. 28:24 Exodus 19:4-5. 28:26 The redeemed have reached Mount Sinai. 28:30 Listen to the tender words that God spoke to Israel. 28:36 He says to them: 28:59 This is intimate language. 29:01 God's saying: "You'll be My special beloved. " 29:04 He says: "I brought you to Myself. 29:07 I desired you, therefore I delivered you 29:11 and I drew you close to Me. " 29:13 It's the language of a relation- ship of trust and dependence. 29:18 "I have redeemed you. " 29:20 And this calls for our allegiance. 29:24 Now the covenant law of love God is about to speak 29:28 in the next chapter. How does the Ten Commandments begin? 29:33 Somebody? 29:36 I have heard some "Thou shalt nots... " 29:38 and then I heard the other. It begins with a preamble 29:42 and let me show you this. 29:43 The covenant law of love known as the Ten Commandments. 29:49 Let's look at Exodus 20 verses 1 and 2. 29:52 This is the beginning. And it says: 30:06 Here is the best evidence that it is not law vs. grace. 30:12 The first 18 chapters are all about grace. 30:15 God is talking to a people that He has already delivered. 30:20 He has already saved them. 30:22 His Ten Commandment law of love was not the basis of salvation. 30:28 But God desired a response of gratitude 30:33 from a people He hoped would love Him. 30:35 Their deliverance from bondage was to be their motive 30:40 for obedience to His law. 30:43 The same order is seen in the new covenant. 30:47 Christ first redeems us 30:50 then He lives out His law within us. 30:54 You know, scholars say that when we consider the rules 30:57 of Hebrew grammar - the syntax of Hebrew grammar - 31:01 there is something very fascinating about the 31:04 Ten Commandments. 31:06 The Ten Commandments are written in a form in the Hebrew 31:09 language that can either be translated as a prohibition: 31:13 "Thou shalt not... " 31:15 or as an intensive promise. 31:17 What was God saying in the Ten Commandments? 31:21 He was saying to His people: "I am the Lord your God 31:25 who has saved you. 31:26 I love you; I drew you to Myself 31:29 and therefore I promise you 31:32 you will not have any other gods before Me. 31:35 You will not worship idols. 31:36 You will not take My name in vain. 31:38 You will joyfully celebrate the Sabbath with Me 31:42 in communion. You will honor your mother and your father. 31:47 You will not murder. You will not commit adultery. 31:49 You will not steal. You will not bear false testimony. 31:53 You will not covet. Why? 31:55 Because that's what living in relationship with Me 31:59 is all about. " 32:01 In volume 1 of the Bible Commentary page 1105 32:06 Ellen G. White says these words: 32:10 "The Ten Commandments are ten promises. 32:15 There is not a negative in that law, 32:19 although it may appear thus. " 32:23 The Ten Commandments are a reflection of God's character, 32:26 and the essence of His character is love. 32:29 The heart of His law - 32:31 these ten covenant promises of love 32:35 that came from a God... the gracious God of Sinai - 32:41 expressed His divine nature, 32:43 His covenant, holiness, and His love. 32:46 You know, Jesus said something interesting when He was 32:50 asked about the law. 32:52 In Matthew 22:36-40 He affirms 32:57 the Ten Commandments. 32:59 Someone came to Him and said: "Teacher, what is 33:02 the greatest commandment? " 33:04 And He said: "Let me tell you what it is: 33:06 love the Lord your God with all of your heart, 33:09 soul, and mind and the second is this: 33:13 love your neighbor as yourself. " 33:15 And then He concludes in Matthew 22:40 and says: 33:18 "On these two commandments hang all the law 33:23 and the prophets. " 33:25 The Ten Commandments are all about the love of God. 33:29 Paul said something similar in Romans 13:9-10. 33:33 Just listen. He said: "For the commandments you shall not 33:36 commit adultery, you shall not murder, 33:38 you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, 33:42 you shall not covet. 33:44 And if there is any other commandment, 33:46 they are all summed up in this saying: 33:49 namely, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. " 33:53 So then Paul says in verse 10 of Romans 13: 33:57 "Love does no harm to his neighbor. 34:00 Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law. " 34:03 Let me tell you: if we are trying to keep the law 34:07 without love, we become like the Pharisees 34:10 and the law is not fulfilled in us. 34:12 The law is rooted in love. 34:17 Love is the root for our loyalty to God. 34:23 Love is the root for our respect 34:26 of the rights of our fellow human beings. 34:29 Love is the fulfillment of the law. 34:32 And now let's go back to that scene 34:35 on that glorious morning - it was a spring morning in 1450 34:40 at Mt. Sinai. It was awesome! 34:43 God appeared in all of His glory with thundering 34:48 and lightning and the mountain smoked with fire. 34:54 It shook and the shofar sounded and then God's majestic voice 34:58 spoke His Ten Commandments. And the witnesses of His glory 35:02 stood at a distance and trembled. 35:05 Why did God make such a dramatic display 35:09 when He spoke His holy law? 35:12 The Hebrews had lost much of their knowledge 35:15 during their captivity. 35:18 They... they had forgotten a lot 35:21 and lost a lot of what God had told them. 35:23 The Lord liberated them 35:25 that He might renew His law within them. 35:29 If Israel were to be His people - His special treasure - 35:34 they must appreciate His holiness. 35:38 They must appreciate the sacredness of their relationship 35:42 with Him. And God's majesty was to convince and convict them 35:47 of the importance of the event. 35:50 Now let's... we're going to go real briefly. 35:52 Then after God speaks He does something else. 35:57 He gives Moses the rest of the instructions of the temporary 36:03 covenant that was written in the book of the law 36:05 that was added to the Abrahamic covenant because 36:09 of the transgression. The civil laws that told how 36:13 to put it into practice and the judgments if they did not. 36:16 And Exodus 24:3-8 says that 36:20 Moses tells all the people about these practices, 36:25 these judgments, these civil laws. 36:27 And then what does he do? 36:30 He builds... When he tells them first of all... 36:34 All of the people... these Egyptians 36:37 or these Hebrews who were steeped in the sinful practices 36:40 of Egypt... when he comes down and he tells everything that God 36:44 had told him they say: "All that the Lord has said we will do. " 36:49 Then Moses writes all of these words down in the book of the 36:54 covenant. And he builds an altar; he makes a sacrifice; 36:57 he sprinkles the blood of the sacrifice on the altar; 37:01 and before he sprinkles the people now he reads them 37:05 what he has written in the book of the covenant. 37:07 And this time they say: "Oh, all that the Lord has said 37:10 we will do" and they add "and we will be obedient. " 37:13 And so then Moses sprinkles them to ratify the covenant. 37:19 And he says in verse 8 of Exodus 24: 37:22 "This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord 37:24 has made with you according to all of these words. " 37:27 What was wrong with the people's response? 37:29 Their language was correct but their attitude was wrong. 37:33 They were thinking that they could do it 37:36 in their own strength. They were responding out of fear. 37:40 They were motivated by fear and not by love of the Lord. 37:43 And they thought they could win God's favor through 37:46 obedience rather than surrendering control to Him. 37:49 Let me tell you something: rules without relationship 37:53 results in rebellion... almost every time. 37:58 And to prove it, 40 days later they were worshiping 38:02 the golden calf. Moses had been up the mountain 38:05 for 40 days receiving the instructions from the Lord 38:09 for the ceremonial system. 38:10 God had written the Ten Commandments on the two tablets 38:14 of the testimony... written in stone. 38:16 And Moses comes down... Oh, by the way, 38:20 let me back up. 38:21 Before Moses comes down, when God gives him these two tablets 38:26 of this covenant that the people have just ratified, 38:29 and this is the heart of the covenant, 38:32 you know what God says to him? 38:34 He says: "Hey, go on back down to your people... 38:37 they've already broken the covenant. 38:40 I ought to destroy them. " 38:42 Now look at what Moses says to the Lord in Exodus 32:13. 38:48 What does he do? He pleads the promise of the 38:52 Abrahamic covenant. Exodus 32:13 he says: 39:11 Then Moses returns down the mountain with these two stone 39:15 tablets. Finds the people who have broken the covenant. 39:18 What good are the tablets if the covenant's already broken? 39:21 He throws them down and then he returns up the mountain 39:26 for another 40-day period. 39:28 Let's look at what happened when he goes back up. 39:32 Here's a people who've already broken the covenant. 39:36 Exodus 34 verses 5-7 39:39 reveals the character of the God of Mt. Sinai 39:45 who proclaimed not only His divine law 39:48 but His divine grace. 39:50 Exodus 34 verse 5: 40:15 So now, bless Moses' heart, 40:19 he's been up there another 40 days. 40:21 God reveals who He is to him. 40:24 And now Moses comes down with a second set of stone 40:27 tablets also written by the finger of God. 40:30 And he comes to the people 40:33 and guess what: this time the people don't say anything. 40:38 So Moses puts them inside the ark as God instructed 40:44 to show the permanence of those Ten Commandments. 40:47 The covenant law of love is His basis for His government, 40:53 the foundation of His everlasting covenant 40:56 of salvation. You know, God's purpose has always been 41:00 to rescue His people from sin. 41:03 But over this ark there was a mercy seat, wasn't there? 41:07 Praise the Lord! And it was sprinkled with the blood 41:11 for atonement. The covenant of grace given at Mt. Sinai 41:15 contained the sacrificial system 41:18 for atonement and forgiveness of sin. 41:20 But that special emphasis on the Ten Commandments 41:24 indicated that fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant 41:28 would happen when people exhibited obedience by grace. 41:36 You know... I'm going to have to skip some of this. 41:40 All right. Let's go to Romans chapter 9. 41:43 Romans chapter 9. 41:46 In verse 31 Paul explains 41:51 what the problem was. 41:53 You know, when God wrote these on stone 41:57 and had Moses write them in the book 42:00 He wanted the people to internalize them. 42:03 As the Psalmist said in Psalm 48 42:05 "I delight to do Your will. Your law is within my heart. " 42:09 And in Romans 9 and 10 by the way 42:13 when Paul is explaining righteousness by faith 42:17 who do you think he quotes? 42:20 He quotes Moses from Deuteronomy 30:11-14. 42:26 So righteousness by faith was the basis that Moses teaches 42:32 about the law from which Paul drew his conclusions. 42:36 And then he says in Romans 9:31 and 33. He says: 42:55 They obeyed the law as an instrument of self righteousness 43:00 instead of by faith like Abraham. Then he says: 43:12 Israel was deceived by self confidence. 43:16 And we have to be cautious that we don't believe 43:20 that there is saving power in the law of God. 43:23 The only saving power is in the blood of Jesus. Amen! 43:27 Amen... but that doesn't do away with the law. 43:32 You know, man had nothing to offer God for his salvation. 43:36 The Pharisees kept those Ten Commandments. 43:39 They even tithed their mint... but it wasn't anything 43:44 that recommended them to God for salvation. 43:47 Obedience has never been a means of obtaining salvation. 43:52 Rather, it has always been evidence that God's grace 43:57 is operating in your faith... in your life by faith. 44:02 All right. Now let's get to the new covenant 44:04 'cause I'm running out of time. 44:06 So we see that it originated in heaven 44:10 before the foundations of the earth. 44:12 It was revealed to Adam then it was revealed to Moses 44:17 and renewed with Isaac. 44:20 Then it was revealed... was added - the Mosaic covenant 44:25 was added - to the covenant of grace, the everlasting covenant. 44:32 And now let's look at this last Old Testament prophecy 44:36 that we'll have time to look at today. 44:38 And that is Jeremiah 31 if you will turn there. 44:42 This is a famous new covenant prophecy, 44:46 and it grows out of and depends upon all those stages 44:50 that we have just looked at. You know, 44:53 new doesn't mean that it didn't exist before. 44:56 It just means that it is new in the sense of the most recent. 44:59 Jesus said: "A new commandment I give you... 45:02 that you love your brother. " 45:04 Then He goes on and says 45:07 that you love them "as I have loved you. " 45:10 The commandment was not in and of itself new. 45:13 Actually Moses had written that in Leviticus 19:18. 45:17 God had him record that. 45:20 But it was new in that Christ gave a new demonstration 45:25 of how to love. So Jeremiah 31 and verse 31. 45:31 "Behold the days are coming... " 45:35 The promise is sure for a certain future time. 45:38 "says the Lord when I will make a new covenant. " 45:42 The people had broken the Mosaic covenant. 45:44 They had been taken into captivity because 45:47 of their... put into exile because of their disobedience. 45:51 And God promises to re-make the covenant with them 45:55 so that they will have hope that they will be preserved 45:58 for the future. 75% of the new covenant 46:03 comes from the words of the Abrahamic covenant 46:06 and the Levitic covenant. 46:08 And the word new in Hebrew can also mean renew. 46:13 So God is taking this Mosaic covenant which was 46:17 a greatest prophecy of what He was going to do 46:22 through Christ Jesus because it contained the types 46:26 and the shadows and the sacrificial and priestly system. 46:29 But God is now renewing the covenant 46:33 to replace those types and shadows and the sacrificial 46:37 and priestly system with the substance of Christ's sacrifice 46:42 and His heavenly mediation on our behalf. 46:45 One of the main objectives of the ceremonial law 46:49 was to announce and teach the meaning of the sacrifice 46:53 of Christ. But Daniel 9:26-27 says 46:57 Christ would confirm the covenant 47:00 and put an end to the sacrifice and offerings. 47:04 So the new covenant we see here in verse... 47:07 it goes forward... Let me see... 47:12 In verse 32 he says: "Not according to the covenant 47:15 that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them 47:18 by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, 47:21 My covenant which they broke 47:23 though I was a husband to them says the Lord. " 47:27 Do you notice that love language? 47:31 God... This is... He's talking about the people 47:35 under the Mosaic covenant in that love language. 47:39 He's talking about how He reached down to deliver them. 47:42 He brought them to Himself 47:44 and even considered Himself a husband to His covenant people. 47:50 The sad thing is that 47:52 His covenant people were an adulterous wife. 47:55 The problem with the Mosaic covenant 47:59 was not the covenant or its maker. 48:03 The Mosaic covenant was to lead people to faith in Christ. 48:09 The problem was an adulterous people 48:13 that broke their marriage vows to God. 48:15 They attempted to keep the covenant in the spirit of 48:19 legalism and their hearts were not surrendered to God's love. 48:22 Hebrews 8 verses 7 and 8 says this: 48:27 "For if that first covenant had been faultless 48:30 then no place would have been sought for a second. " 48:33 It's referred to as the second. 48:35 Paul... Paul's the only one that refers to them as 48:37 first and second covenant. 48:39 But the reason he refers to it as the second is because 48:42 the new covenant was ratified after the old covenant. 48:47 The new covenant was ratified by the blood of Jesus Christ. 48:50 But listen to why there was a fault in that covenant. 48:55 It says, verse 8: "Because finding fault with THEM... " 49:00 he says. "Behold the days are coming says the Lord 49:03 when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel 49:07 and the house of Judah. " 49:09 It stresses that something's going to be different 49:13 in the new covenant. It implies that there's 49:17 something that's going to happen 49:19 that will help prevent us from breaking that covenant. 49:25 What is the difference between the Mosaic covenant 49:29 and the new covenant? 49:31 God told them to build a tabernacle. Why? 49:35 "So that I may dwell among you. " 49:39 But uh-uh... not this time. 49:41 God says: "You will be My living temple; 49:46 I'm going to dwell in you. 49:49 My Spirit will live within you. " 49:53 He goes on in verse 33. He says: "This is the covenant 49:55 that I will make with the house of Israel after those days 49:59 says the Lord: 'I will put My law in their minds 50:02 and write it on their hearts. 50:04 And I will be their God and they shall be My people. ' " 50:09 In the old covenant God engraved His divine covenant 50:15 law of love - His Ten Commandments - 50:18 on stone with His own finger to show their permanence. 50:22 But in the new covenant God writes the same 50:27 divine law - -those Ten Commandments - in our hearts 50:32 by His Spirit. 50:34 You know, Christ affirmed 50:38 the divine law by His perfect obedience. 50:42 It is the same saving relationship with God 50:47 in the new covenant and the old covenant. 50:49 But it's also the same divine law of God that Christ affirmed. 50:55 And He also affirmed the Ten Commandments by taking 50:59 all of our sins upon Himself. 51:02 You know there are many people - I used to be one of them - 51:06 who believe that the Ten Commandments were nailed 51:08 to the cross. Let me ask you something: 51:12 If God were going to nail His Ten Commandments to the cross 51:16 why did Christ have to die? 51:17 Why did He have to take our penalty for breaking it? 51:22 To me the cross is the greatest evidence 51:26 that God would never abolish His Ten Commandments. 51:32 The cross is the evidence that once more 51:37 the will of God will be expressed in His everlasting 51:42 covenant by His eternal law of love. 51:45 The only way that we can become a covenant people 51:49 is to walk in His covenant law of love. 51:53 This guarantees that God will place it within us 51:57 in a new heart, but it's still salvation by grace. 51:59 Let's go on. 52:01 Verse 34: "No more shall every man teach his neighbor 52:05 and every man his brother saying: 'Know the Lord. ' 52:08 For they shall all know Me from the least of them to the 52:10 greatest says the Lord. 52:12 For I will forgive their iniquity and their sins. 52:15 I will remember no more. " 52:18 The Mosaic covenant was a promise of the Messiah. 52:23 The new covenant is the fulfillment. 52:26 And it is a progressive... It started in heaven with 52:29 Jesus. It was revealed to Adam then to Abraham 52:33 then to Moses and now it is fulfilled in Jesus. 52:38 The Mosaic covenant was only a type. 52:41 The new covenant is the anti-type. 52:44 And the new covenant deepens and expands 52:48 the elements of the Mosaic covenant 52:52 into perfect fulfillment. 52:54 How? We don't have time to go there, but Hebrews 8 and 9 52:59 says that it's a better place of ministry. 53:02 It's a heavenly, spiritual place of ministry. 53:05 There's a perfect High Priest who stands at the right hand 53:09 of the Father. He is your advocate. 53:12 He is interceding for you. 53:14 It is founded on better promises 53:18 providing the inward spiritual power of a renewed mind 53:23 and heart and open access to God's presence. 53:27 And this perfect High Priest is a perfect Mediator 53:31 and He ministers with better things. 53:34 His own precious blood ratified the new covenant. 53:38 It's the blood of a perfect sacrifice offered once for all. 53:43 He bore the penalty of judgment for mankind 53:47 securing a perfect salvation. 53:50 And Jesus announced the fulfill- ment of the new covenant 53:54 when He instituted the Lord's Supper. 53:58 When the New Testament book of Hebrews 54:00 speaks of the fulfillment of the new covenant 54:04 in Hebrews 8:2-12 54:08 it is quoting Jeremiah 31:31-34. 54:13 So each successive covenant is just part of God's 54:18 unfolding... It's five stages, and it's the 54:22 unfolding of God's everlasting covenant of grace. 54:28 From Christ and the Lord before the foundation was laid 54:33 to Adam to Abraham to Moses 54:36 and then fulfilled in Christ. 54:38 Hebrews 7:22 says that Christ is the surety 54:43 of a better covenant. He is the guarantee of 54:47 the permanence of this new covenant. 54:49 So, what does God expect from us children? 54:53 The children of Abraham by faith? 54:57 Let me quote to you... As Paul quoted Moses 55:01 let me quote Moses. 55:04 Deuteronomy 10:12-13. 55:06 "And now what does the Lord your God require of you 55:09 but to fear the Lord, 55:10 to walk in all... " And that means revere Him. 55:14 "to walk in all His ways and to love Him. 55:16 To serve the Lord your God with all your heart, 55:19 with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord 55:23 and His statutes which I command you today for your good. " 55:28 God does not change. 55:31 His everlasting covenant is consistent. 55:34 He wants to be our God 55:37 and He wants you to be His covenant people who will 55:40 love Him with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength. 55:43 Let me show you Hebrews 5:9 55:46 which is an interesting notation on the gospel of grace. 55:50 Hebrews 5:9 says this: 56:06 Amen? 56:08 Our salvation is secure as long as we submit our will 56:12 to the Lord. God's whole plan is for us 56:14 to learn to live in dependence upon Him. 56:17 And the Bible says repeatedly that God keeps covenants 56:22 with those who keep covenants with Him. 56:25 So if we understand God's character we can understand 56:27 His everlasting covenant of grace. 56:30 And if we will revere His covenant law of love 56:36 then we will have a better understanding 56:38 how to correctly interpret prophecy. 56:40 I want to leave you with this one promise that I love. 56:45 It's found in Hebrews 13 verses 20 and 21. 56:51 What a wonderful covenant promise! 56:54 Hebrews 13 and verse 20 says: 56:57 "Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus 57:01 from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep 57:05 through the blood of the everlasting covenant 57:09 may that God make you complete 57:13 in every good work to do His will, 57:17 working in you what is well pleasing in His sight 57:21 through Christ Jesus to whom be the glory 57:25 forever and ever. " 57:27 Amen? Amen! |
Revised 2014-12-17