Participants: Pr. Jac Colon
Series Code: RN
Program Code: RN000009
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01:05 Dear Lord, we are probing and digging
01:07 deeper and deeper into your word. 01:12 We're finding the precious truths like gems, 01:15 like treasure that you have buried there for us. 01:19 And tonight we want to see more, our souls 01:22 are hungry for your truth and for your word. 01:26 Please Lord make it clear. We ask in Jesus name, Amen. 01:43 I don't know, if you've been following, 01:44 I've been following with interest, 01:47 Judge Ray Moore in Montgomery, Alabama, 01:52 Chief Justice for the state of Alabama, 01:55 he erected a monument made out of graphite 01:59 carved with Ten Commandment in tables of stone, 02:03 weighs 2 ½ tons sitting there in the 02:07 State Court House and he is defying 02:10 the federal government, who is saying 02:12 that it's illegal for him to have the 02:14 Ten Commandments in the court house. 02:17 And the reason that I've been following this 02:19 with interest is because it gives us just a little 02:23 insight, a little glimpse like a little mini prophecy 02:28 of the battle that's raging behind the scenes today 02:32 that comes to the climax in the Book of Revelation, 02:34 because we discover in Revelation chapters 13 and 14, 02:38 this cosmic struggle over true worship, 02:42 the worship of the true God, the creator of the 02:45 Heavens and the Earth or the worship of the 02:47 beast and at the climax of this struggle 02:50 we read in chapter 14 verse 12, 02:52 this calls for patient endurance 02:55 on the part of the saints who obey 02:57 God's commandments and the faith of Jesus. 03:02 It becomes very clear in the 03:04 Book of Revelation that the object of the 03:06 Antichrist attack is the law of God. 03:09 The devil wants to do away with God's law, 03:13 he wants to do away with God's commandments 03:16 and only those who patiently endure 03:19 all the way through to the end faithful to the 03:22 commandments of God and faith in Jesus Christ, 03:25 you see the two points of attack in the 03:28 Book of Revelation that the Antichrist launches 03:30 against God's church are obedience to the 03:32 commandments of God and the gospel that we're 03:35 saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. 03:38 We have already discovered how the beast, 03:42 the little horn, the beast, the Antichrist 03:45 working through the time of the Dark Ages 03:47 establishing a church, the medieval church 03:50 in Rome that would very well stand 03:52 in the face of the gospel of Jesus, 03:56 saying that we're saved by 03:58 grace and works instead of faith alone. 04:04 And last night, we began to catch a glimpse of 04:06 how he moved to the next step and tried to 04:09 change the very set times and the laws. 04:12 The Book of Revelation says that 04:14 the Antichrist or the little horn would 04:16 try to change God's set times and laws. 04:19 Somebody asked the question, 04:20 why are you talking about the Sabbath? 04:23 We came to hear about Revelation, 04:25 we didn't come to hear about the Sabbath, 04:28 we didn't come to hear about the commandments, 04:30 we want to know Revelation. 04:31 Well, the Book of Revelation reveals a 04:34 massive struggle going on the basis of the principles 04:38 established in the church of the Dark Ages 04:41 which we identified as the beast of Revelation 13, 04:45 and the one thing that he is after 04:47 more than anything else is the law of God 04:49 and right at the heart of the law is the Sabbath. 04:52 You can't separate it from the Book of Revelation 04:55 and you will never understand the 04:57 Book of Revelation without it. 04:58 Let's go a little deeper tonight 05:00 and you'll see what I mean, 05:02 the devil is at war against God and against His law. 05:05 He wants to replace God's law with his own, 05:07 he wants to secure your allegiance to him 05:10 and he is very well almost succeeded today. 05:14 You've heard that the law has been done away with, 05:17 you've heard that we're no longer 05:19 under the law, we're under grace 05:20 therefore we're free to disregard 05:24 the Ten Commandments, you've heard that in the 05:26 New Testament we have a new law, a new command 05:29 and that is to love the Lord, your God 05:31 with all of your hearts and all of your soul. 05:33 Didn't Jesus say, I give you a new 05:35 command, love the Lord your God with 05:37 all of you hearts with all of your soul. 05:39 He did say that, but it wasn't new. 05:44 How can you say that Pastor? Because when he 05:47 said it, he was quoting the Old Testament. 05:51 In Deuteronomy Chapter 6 Verse 5 05:53 it says you will love the Lord your God 05:55 with all of your heart and all of your soul. 05:58 In Leviticus Chapter 19 Verse 18, 06:00 he says that you will love your neighbor as yourself. 06:05 So, when he says I give you a new command 06:06 love the Lord, your God with all of your heart 06:08 and all of your soul it wasn't new. 06:09 He already gave it in the Old Testament, 06:11 why did he say it was new, 06:13 because it was new, to them. 06:18 You see there are two words 06:19 for New in the Greek Bible text, Neos and Kainos. 06:23 Neos means New as though it never existed before, 06:26 when God said let there be a world, 06:29 there was a world; it had never existed before, 06:32 but now there it is, and it's new. 06:36 But Kainos means New only to the individual, 06:41 it's something that existed before, 06:43 but they didn't know about it and now 06:46 they know about it and it's new to them. 06:48 And you see, the law, love the Lord your God 06:50 with all of your heart and all of your soul, 06:51 that existed before, but they didn't understand 06:54 that God's law was the law of love. 06:56 In fact, John said in 2nd John only 1 chapter 07:00 there, in 2nd John verse 5, he says 07:03 now dear lady, I'm writing you a new command, 07:07 I'm not writing you a new command, 07:11 but one that we've had from the beginning. 07:14 Now, what is this command that is not new, 07:17 but what we had from the beginning 07:18 I asked that we love one another, it's not new. 07:23 We've had it from the beginning, he said. 07:25 Now watch this, and this is love, 07:31 now we see a lot of definitions of love today, 07:36 I can tell you what love is not, 07:39 love is not what you see on television. 07:43 Well, then what is love? As far as I know, 07:46 and somebody can correct me if I'm wrong, 07:48 but I have never found any other place in the Bible 07:52 that defines love, except right here. 07:56 There are lot of places that describe love, 08:00 love is kind, love is patient, 08:02 so forth it describes what love is like, 08:06 but here he says this is love. 08:10 So, what is love? This is love 08:13 that we walk in obedience to his commands. 08:19 That's love, you can't separate 08:22 obeying God's commands from God's love. 08:26 Love does not replace the Ten Commandments, 08:29 the Ten Commandments are love. 08:32 In fact, it goes even further than this. 08:36 The Bible says this is love that we 08:38 walk in obedience to His commands, 08:42 the Bible also says God is love. 08:47 Now, I learned through my mathematical studies 08:50 in high school and college, I learned that 08:53 two things that are equal to a third thing 08:55 are equal to each other, isn't that right? Its right. 08:59 Two things that are equal to a third thing 09:01 have to be equal to each other. 09:03 Now, if God is love and love is obedience 09:07 to God's commands then obedience to the 09:10 commandments of God is some kind of a 09:13 written description of who God is. 09:18 It describes the character of God. 09:23 Now, if you ever thought about it that way 09:25 before, but the Bible says the commandment says 09:30 thou shall have no other Gods before me. 09:33 Jesus said I'm the first and the last. 09:36 The commandments said not to worship images, 09:38 Jesus said that we should worship 09:40 the creator of the Heavens and the Earth. 09:43 The commandment says that we should 09:45 not take the Lord's name in vain. 09:49 The Bible says there is no other name unto heaven 09:52 whereby we can be saved, except Jesus Christ. 09:57 Commandment says only your father and mother, 09:59 Jesus said I've come to do the will 10:00 of my father who is in heaven. 10:03 The commandment says thou shalt not lie, 10:05 Jesus said I'm the truth. Thou shall not kill, 10:09 I am the resurrection and the life. 10:11 Thou shall not commit adultery. 10:14 He alone is faithful and true. 10:16 Thou shall not covet, 10:19 I've come to give life abundantly. 10:24 Remember the Sabbath day 10:26 and keep it holy, six days you labor 10:30 and do all of your work, but the seventh day is 10:32 the Sabbath on it you will not do any work, 10:34 you will rest and Jesus said 10:38 come to me and I will give you rest. 10:45 You see, the commandments define 10:47 and describe for us, the love of God. 10:54 Paul made it very clear in Romans, you look 10:57 with me in Romans, Chapter 13 verse 8, 11:00 let no debt remain outstanding except 11:03 the continuing debt to love one another 11:05 for he who loves his fellow man 11:07 has fulfilled the law, which law, he goes on 11:12 to say verse 9 the Commandments, 11:14 do not commit adultery, do not murder, 11:16 do not steal, do not covet 11:18 and whatever other commandments 11:21 there maybe, they're all summed up, 11:26 they're all summed up in this one rule 11:28 love your neighbor as yourself. 11:32 Love does no harm to its neighbor. 11:33 Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. 11:39 Folks, he is not saying that we don't have 11:41 Ten Commandments anymore, 11:44 he simply saying that love, love is the 11:48 embodiment of the Ten Commandments. 11:54 Do not murder, do not steal, 11:56 do not covet and whatever other 11:58 commandment there maybe that includes the 12:00 fourth commandment, remember the Sabbath day. 12:04 They're all summed up in this rule, 12:05 love your neighbor as yourself. 12:07 Now, the work summed up means 12:09 that you add them all together and it equals love. 12:13 You take the commandment that says, 12:14 thou shall not lie and add to it 12:17 the one that says thou shall not kill 12:18 add to that one, the one that says 12:20 thou shall not commit adultery, 12:21 add to that one the one that says 12:23 thou shall not steal, add to that one 12:25 remember the Sabbath day, add all the rest 12:27 of them up and they equal love. 12:30 Take one away and you don't have love anymore. 12:36 Can I claim to love my neighbor, if I say 12:39 halleluiah praise the Lord, neighbor I love you. 12:41 While I'm stealing his wallet from his pocket, 12:44 is that love? Of course not. 12:48 Does a man really love his neighbor if he is having 12:50 an affair with his neighbor's wife, that's not love. 12:55 All of the commandments, whatever other command, 12:58 all ten summed up, added together equals love 13:03 take one away and you don't have love anymore. 13:07 Now, you can see that the 13:08 Antichrist job gets a little simpler. 13:12 He doesn't have to do away with all of them, 13:15 he just needs to do away with one 13:18 because if you take away one 13:19 you don't have love anymore. 13:21 In fact, James tells us that very thing in the 13:24 little book of James the 2nd chapter verse 10, 13:26 he who keeps the whole law and yet stumbles 13:31 at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 13:35 Why? Because all ten summed up equal love 13:39 and if you keep nine, but you don't keep ten 13:42 then that's not love anymore and 13:44 you're guilty of breaking the whole law. 13:46 James says, but he who said 13:49 do not commit adultery also said do not murder. 13:51 If you do not commit adultery, but you do 13:53 commit murder you become a law breaker. 13:56 So speak and act as those 13:58 who are going to be judged by the law 14:02 that gives freedom, that puts an 14:05 exclamation point on it, that should settle it for us. 14:09 What is he saying? He is saying 14:11 you are Christians, he is writing to the 14:14 church and you should speak and act 14:19 as those who sometime in the future are going 14:23 to be judged and the standard of that judgment 14:26 is the law of God, that ought to settle it for us. 14:31 You break one he says 14:32 you're guilty of breaking them all. 14:34 Folks, the truth is that no one really 14:40 has a problem with the law. 14:44 I'm always amazed, when people try to tell me that 14:49 the Ten Commandments are done away with. 14:53 I usually ask the question, does 14:56 that mean that we're free to break them. 14:59 Well, no, well, if they're done 15:02 away with and we can't break them 15:06 then they must not be done away with. 15:09 Well, yeah, they are done 15:10 and we go through all kinds of convoluted reasonings 15:14 trying to show that they have been done 15:15 away with but you can't break them anymore. 15:19 I've discovered, the real problem 15:21 is not the Ten Commandments. 15:24 I can go practically any place on this Earth 15:28 and preach that it's a sin to kill 15:31 and everyone would say, Amen preach the word, 15:33 I can say it's a sin to steal and everyone agrees, 15:38 I can say it's a sin to take God's name in vain 15:42 and everyone says, Amen, 15:44 it's a sin to commit adultery, 15:46 go after those adulterous preacher, 15:49 but the moment we get down to number four, 15:54 remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, 15:59 Oh! The Ten Commandments were done 16:00 away with and we just need to love in the 16:04 New Testament or we're under grace now, 16:08 we're not under the law anymore. 16:11 What does it mean to be under grace, 16:15 if we're under grace and not under the law, 16:18 does it mean we're free to break the law, 16:22 can we break the Ten Commandments? 16:24 Well no, you can't break Ten Commandments, 16:26 because he did away with them at the cross 16:30 and in the New Testament he brought back nine. 16:35 You see, it's amazing the convoluted kind of 16:39 reasoning that people go through to not to worry 16:44 about the law that's not the problem, 16:46 the problem is the Sabbath, that's the problem. 16:53 Now, just in case it hasn't really gotten clear 16:57 we are gonna go to the master teacher 17:00 you know who that is don't you? Jesus. 17:02 What about the law? Did you come 17:04 to do away with the law? 17:06 Did you do away with the Ten Commandments? 17:08 Jesus said in Mathew chapter 5 verse 17, 17:11 do not think that I've come 17:15 to abolish the law or the prophets theory. 17:20 Now, that should settle it for us, Amen. 17:23 I mean, if Jesus said don't even think 17:26 it, no matter who tells you, 17:29 no matter what authority they claim to have, 17:31 no matter how powerful they are, 17:33 no matter how bigger church they represent, 17:35 do not think that I've come to abolish the law. 17:41 And then he goes on to say, I have not come 17:44 to abolish them but to fulfill them. 17:50 He didn't come to do away with the law, 17:53 he came to keep the law, because we can't, 17:57 we can't obey the law perfectly. 17:59 So God sent his son Jesus, he kept the 18:01 Ten Commandments, he died on the cross 18:03 in our place, he ascended to heaven 18:05 and if you and I confess that we're sinners 18:08 then he forgives us and gives us the perfect life 18:11 that he died on the cross to enable us 18:14 to receive as a gift, does that set me free 18:17 to break the law that Jesus had to die 18:20 on the cross to save me for? 18:23 Because he set me free, don't even think it, 18:26 I haven't come to abolish it. 18:28 In fact, he says, I tell you the truth, 18:32 what do you say if Jesus says 18:33 it's the truth is it the truth? 18:36 I tell you the truth until heaven and earth 18:38 disappear, the smallest letter not the least 18:40 stroke of a pen will by any means 18:42 disappear from the law until everything is fulfilled, 18:45 anyone who breaks one of the least of 18:47 the commandments and teaches others to do the 18:49 same will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. 18:52 I don't know how he can say any better than that. 18:53 In fact, he goes on to say you've heard it 18:55 we said long ago do not murder 18:57 and anyone who commits murder 18:58 would be subject to judging, 18:59 but I tell you anyone who is angry 19:01 at his brother would be subject to judgment. 19:04 He goes on to say in verse 23 19:06 you've heard it was said do not commit adultery, 19:08 but I tell that anyone who looks at 19:09 woman lustfully has already 19:11 committed adultery whether in his heart. 19:14 Now, folks Jesus is not saying its okay 19:22 to murder someone, just don't get angry at him first. 19:26 He is not saying it's okay to commit adultery 19:31 just don't look at her lustfully. 19:35 Now, some people might wished he was saying that, 19:38 but that's not what he is saying. 19:40 He is saying you think that you have kept 19:44 the law and therefore God is obligated to save you, 19:49 let me tell you something; if you even get so much as 19:54 angry at a brother you're guilty of breaking the law 19:59 that says Thou shall not kill. 20:03 Was Jesus doing away with the law 20:05 that said thou not kill, no way, 20:08 what was he doing? He was lifting it up, 20:11 he was intensifying it, he was making it 20:14 impossible for anyone to ever say God 20:17 I've kept the law and now can save me. 20:20 That doesn't mean you never got angry. 20:22 You never peaked at a playboy magazine. 20:29 Oh! I guess I did God, you're guilt of adultery. 20:34 No one can ever claim to obey the law 20:37 good enough for God to save him. 20:41 Jesus wasn't doing away with law; Was he? 20:43 He was intensifying it. He was lifting it up. 20:46 He was making it impossible for anybody to 20:49 be saved by obeying the law, so that we can be 20:51 saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. 20:57 Don't let anybody tell you the law has been 20:59 done away with, they're gonna try. 21:01 Some people leave and preach sermons 21:03 on texting the Bible, taking Paul's text 21:05 out of context to try to make it 21:07 look like Paul's teaching the law that's been 21:09 done away with, but don't listen to it folks. 21:13 I'm gonna share with you tonight, 21:15 I'm gonna share with you three keys to understand 21:20 the difficult passages that Paul, I acknowledge 21:23 Paul wrote some things that are hard to understand. 21:27 Did you know that Peter even said that? 21:30 Peter said that God wrote, Paul wrote some things 21:32 about the Gospel that were hard to understand, 21:34 that ignorant unstable man twist to their 21:37 own destruction even called them lawless men, 21:40 men who do away with the law 21:41 and Paul wrote some things that you can take 21:44 out of context and twist to make it look 21:46 like he is saying the law has been done away with. 21:48 Peter says watch out for those guys. 21:51 Paul did write hard things and when I get to heaven, 21:55 I'm gonna ask him some questions. 21:58 I'm gonna ask him Paul, why did you write that? 22:02 You know how much trouble you've caused me? 22:05 I'm gonna ask him and he is gonna have a 22:07 good answer for me, but in the meantime 22:09 I wanna show you three keys, 22:11 we're gonna look at three difficult texts and 22:13 I'm give you three keys and these three keys are 22:15 gonna help you to unlock everyone of the difficult 22:19 texts that Paul has in the New Testament. 22:22 So, get your cobwebs out of your brain 22:25 and get your minds alert because we are gonna 22:28 go deep in the scripture tonight. 22:30 Let's take a look at the first one. 22:32 In Romans, Chapter 3, Verse 28, 22:35 for we maintain that a man is justified 22:39 by faith apart from observing the law, 22:45 what's he saying? We're saved by faith. 22:48 We're not saved by obeying the 22:51 Ten Commandments. No one is saved by 22:55 obeying the law, we're saved by faith. 23:00 Now, if that was the only thing that Paul said about it 23:05 we could possibly take that text to mean 23:09 that the law is no more for us, 23:15 but that isn't all that he has to say about it, 23:17 in fact in just three verses down in verse 31, 23:21 he says do we then nullify the law by this faith, 23:25 not at all, rather we uphold the law. 23:30 Now, I want you to me follow me carefully 23:32 because this is the basic foundation for 23:36 understanding Paul on the law and grace, this is it. 23:41 We're saved by grace through faith 23:43 apart from observing the law, 23:46 no one is saved by keeping the law. 23:48 Does this grace abolish the law? 23:53 No way he says, it upholds the law. 23:58 Now, follow me, maybe you don't understand 24:03 how Paul got from verse 28 to verse 31, 24:07 maybe you don't understand how Paul 24:09 can say that we're saved by faith apart 24:11 from observing the law and then conclude in 24:13 verse 31 that this faith does not abolish the law, 24:16 it upholds the law, that might not be crystal clear. 24:22 You might not be able to follow all of his steps, 24:24 but here is the key, even though 24:28 we don't understand all of his steps, 24:32 we still have to come out where he came out. 24:37 We have to accept his conclusion, Amen. 24:43 And his conclusion is that faith does not 24:48 abolish the law it upholds the law, 24:53 that means that anyone who takes any verse 24:57 that Paul wrote and comes to the conclusion that 25:01 Paul is saying the law has been nullified 25:05 or done away with, that person is distorting 25:09 and misinterpreting Paul; Don't believe it. 25:16 Do you understand? We have to agree 25:19 with his conclusion even if we don't understand 25:21 everything about law and grace and once you 25:25 get that principle then you'll never 25:28 be thrown off track by the false prophet, 25:32 because the false prophet is gonna tell you 25:35 the law has been nullified and done away with. 25:40 It can't be, because Paul said 25:42 the same thing that Jesus said, he did not come 25:46 to abolish the law. Alright, 25:49 that's an easy one, but let's put it to work. 25:51 Let's put it to work with a verse that 25:53 I know many of you've been thinking about 25:54 and I saw it written on a couple of cards 25:57 last night after we talked about the Sabbath, 26:00 In Romans, chapter 6, verse 14, 26:03 you're not under the law, but under grace. 26:07 Now that's seems again, if you just take 26:11 that part of that verse, you could make a case 26:15 for saying, we're not under the law 26:17 therefore the ten commandments 26:20 are no longer valid for Christians 26:24 because we're under grace now, 26:27 but that would violate Paul's basic principle 26:31 that grace does not abolish the law. 26:35 So, that cannot be what Paul is saying, 26:37 are you with me tonight? Cannot be what he is 26:40 saying. Well, then what is he saying? 26:43 If we're not under the law, we're under grace, 26:46 what does it mean? Let me help you understand 26:49 about oh! my, getting to be a few years ago, 26:53 about 23 years ago now, we were doing a 26:57 Revelation Now meeting in Mobile, Alabama 27:01 and that was on Friday morning, 27:02 we're gonna open that Friday evening 27:04 in the National Guard Armory in Mobile, 27:06 we had our RV parked in a little RV park 27:09 on the outskirts of town, we were in the morning 27:12 we were over at the National Guard Armory 27:14 working really hard, getting all the equipment 27:16 set-up, getting everything ready and then the 27:18 afternoon we were done thought we'd scoot out to 27:20 the house, get a little something to eat, 27:21 out to the RV, get something to eat and get a 27:23 little rest and then be ready for opening that night. 27:26 Well, in between Downtown and the RV Park 27:29 was wide open highway and I was kind of anxious 27:33 to get home and rest on the rack, 27:35 relaxed a little bit, so we're driving along 27:37 in our little Red Ford F-150 pickup truck, 27:42 wide open highway and all of a sudden 27:46 this man dressed in a blue uniform and a white helmet 27:50 comes running out from behind a bunch of bushes 27:53 and he had a radar scope in his hand. And, he goes 27:56 like this, now in Mobile that means pull over. 28:02 So, I pulled over to the side, 28:05 I got out of the car and he comes walking 28:08 over to me and he has his radar gun. 28:13 And, he shows me the radar gun 28:16 and he says you were doing 55, 28:20 did you know that? Yeah, It's right there. Yes sir. 28:25 You've to be polite, yes sir. 28:29 The speed limit here is 45, did you know that? 28:34 No sir. Well it is. Yes sir. 28:40 Let me see your license, you know that 28:43 sinking feeling you get. 28:46 Take my license out and he takes out 28:49 his little book, and he clips it on there 28:52 and he starts to write and I'm thinking, 28:55 oh! man, you see the law said 45, I was doing 55, 29:04 he caught me, I'm under the law 29:07 condemned by the law and I was gonna have to 29:11 pay a fine and nothing could change that. 29:16 I was under the law; it does feel very good 29:19 to be under the law, does it? 29:23 And so he is right. He looked at my license, 29:28 Tennessee? How long are you down here for? 29:35 About five weeks. 29:37 Military huh? No sir. 29:41 Vacation? No sir. 29:44 What are you doing down here for five weeks? 29:50 I'm a Preacher. Oh! Man, 29:58 I'm under the law sweating bullets 30:05 and he looks at my license again, 30:07 it has a little picture there, Tennessee license picture, 30:11 he looked at that and then he looked up at me. 30:15 Looked at that license again, looked at me. 30:19 He said, I know who you are. 30:22 Aren't you the guy doing those meetings 30:24 at the National Guard Armory on Revelation? 30:28 Yes sir. He looked, smiled, 30:37 tore up that ticket, gave me my license back. 30:42 And he said, keep up the 30:44 good work preacher, but slow down. 30:53 I am not under the law anymore, 30:56 I am under grace. 30:58 He didn't have to do that. 31:00 Out of the goodness of his heart, 31:02 he tore up the ticket, that's grace. 31:06 I didn't deserve it, I didn't earn it. 31:09 I deserved to pay the fine but out of the goodness 31:12 of his heart he tore up the ticket. 31:14 So, now I am not under the law. 31:16 I am not condemned by the law. I do not 31:19 have to pay the fine. I am under grace 31:21 and it feels good to be under grace. 31:25 So, I jumped back up into that pickup truck 31:27 went home and got cleaned up 31:29 and then that night we were going to the 31:31 meeting to do Revelation Now, 31:32 oh! It feels so good to be under grace. 31:35 I am not under the law, I passed that clump of 31:38 bushes so thankful and so grateful. 31:41 Now, I am under grace, I don't have to worry 31:43 about the law anymore, I put my foot down 31:45 and went as fast as I could go past 31:47 those bushes. You believe that? 31:56 The speed limit was 45, I did 35 32:06 because out of the goodness of his heart 32:11 he forgave me, and I was not about to let him down. 32:19 Grace doesn't abolish the law, it lifts up the law 32:26 and gives us a determination to do 32:29 better and better and better because out of the goodness 32:32 of his heart he tore up the ticket. 32:35 He died on the cross enable to, 32:37 enable him to do that, to give you grace, 32:40 to give you life so that you can live, 32:43 Is there anyway that we are 32:45 going to break the law, willingly? 32:48 No, we are going to go 35 instead of 45. 32:56 Now, we can understand grace doesn't do away with 32:59 the law it's like Jesus said, it intensives it, 33:03 it lifts it up, it makes us what to obey more, 33:07 and more, and more that was an easy one. 33:10 Now, let's go to one of the harder more 33:12 difficult texts Colossians, chapter 2 verse 14. 33:19 Let's look at verse 14, 33:20 actually I am going to the middle of Verse 13 33:23 to get us a little bit of a background here. 33:24 Watch this one, God made you alive 33:27 with Christ, he forgave us all of our sins, having 33:31 canceled the written code with its regulations 33:35 that was against us and he stood opposed to us. 33:39 He took it away, nailing it to the cross. 33:42 There it is that proves it, 33:45 the Ten Commandments were nailed to the cross 33:47 we don't have to keep them anymore. 33:49 Wait a minute, Paul said that 33:52 grace does not abolished the law, 33:56 so it must be saying something else, 33:59 what is it saying? Then, he goes on to say 34:03 in verse 16 it gets even worse, 34:05 therefore do not let anyone judge you 34:08 by what you eat or drink or regard to a religious 34:12 festival, new moon celebration or Sabbath days. 34:19 The law has been nailed to the cross 34:21 taken out of the way, it stood against us. 34:24 Therefore, let no one judge you by Sabbath days. 34:27 Now that sounds like it does it 34:30 way with everything we talked about 34:32 so far tonight and last night, 34:35 but Paul said that grace does not abolish the law. 34:41 Jesus said that he did not 34:44 abolish the law, don't even think it. 34:48 So, how do we understand this, 34:50 is he contradicting himself? 34:53 I don't believe that; first of all 34:57 if you're reading in the King James 34:58 you know I stopped in the middle of the sentence. 35:01 Let no man judge you by Sabbath days, 35:03 which are a shadow of things to 35:07 come, the reality however is Christ. 35:12 So, we need to stop here 35:14 and pause for just a movement. 35:16 Let no one judge you by 35:17 Sabbath days, which are a shadow. 35:21 Now, I am going to ask you for just a second 35:24 to forget about the shadow part. 35:29 You may not understand or know what the shadow 35:31 means, we going to do that in just a moment, 35:34 but we need to see something else 35:35 first, before we deal with what the shadow is. 35:38 He is saying, let no one judge you by 35:40 Sabbath days, which are shadows. 35:45 Does that mean that he is talking about 35:48 Sabbath days which are not shadows? 35:54 Do you follow me? Imagine, let's do it this way, 35:56 imagine that I have a nice big base 35:59 full of flowers, roses either and 36:04 there are red ones there and white ones there 36:07 and I would have say that I am going to invite 36:10 one of you ladies to come up here and I'm going to 36:13 give all of those roses which are red. 36:18 Am I talking about the white ones? 36:22 No, I am only talking about the ones 36:25 which are red, Are you with me? 36:28 So, when he says let no one judge 36:30 you by Sabbath days which are shadows, 36:34 he is not talking about 36:36 Sabbath days which are not shadows. 36:39 So, now we have to figure out 36:41 what does he mean by shadows, 36:44 and the best way to understand that is to go 36:46 back to the Old Testament, remember I showed, 36:48 told you last night that we are going to see 36:50 an underlying beauty and harmony of the 36:52 Old Testament and the New, 36:53 here it comes, this is deep, but it is so beautiful. 36:56 Leviticus chapter 23, in Leviticus 23, 37:01 there are, verse 3, there are six days when you 37:07 may work but the seventh day is a 37:09 Sabbath of rest, a day of sacred assembly, 37:14 you are not to do any work on it 37:15 wherever you live it's a Sabbath to Lord 37:16 So, here we're saying there is a Sabbath day 37:19 and it comes every seventh day 37:22 and on it you are to assemble together 37:25 to worship God, it's a day of sacred assembly, 37:29 it doesn't mean you can't ever worship God 37:31 any other time we talked about that last night, 37:33 you should worship God everyday. Amen. 37:36 But, he is saying the day when you all 37:38 assemble together that's the Sabbath day 37:42 and it occurs once a week every seventh day, 37:47 that Sabbath day can we call it just to 37:49 simplify things tonight; can we call it 37:53 a weekly Sabbath, is that fare enough, 37:56 a weekly Sabbath, that's okay because 37:58 it comes every seventh day once a week. 38:00 Alright, the weekly Sabbath, the seventh day, 38:03 it's in the heart of the ten commandments, 38:04 remember the Sabbath day, because God made the 38:07 world in six days and he rested on the seventh. 38:10 So, the Sabbath, then the weekly Sabbath 38:13 points backward to creation to remind us 38:16 that God is the creator. Now we learned that 38:19 last night, but then we go a little further 38:22 in to the same chapter, verse 26 of Leviticus 23, 38:26 the Lord said to Moses the tenth day of the 38:30 seventh month is the day of atonement and 38:35 he said in verse 32, it is a Sabbath of rest for you. 38:42 Now, here is another Sabbath 38:45 but this one doesn't come every week 38:47 it comes on the tenth day of the seventh month. 38:51 How often is that one? That's once a year, isn't it? 38:57 like the fourth of July, once a year 38:59 like your birthday once a year, 39:01 The tenth day of the seventh month comes 39:04 once a year and it's a Sabbath day, 39:06 so let's to keep things simple let's call that one 39:10 a yearly Sabbath and the other one the weekly 39:13 Sabbath that's in the Ten Commandments. 39:15 Now, everybody with me so far. 39:17 Okay, if you got that far then you got it made. 39:20 Here we go, we have two Sabbaths now, 39:23 one is a weekly Sabbath, points backward to creation 39:26 then a yearly Sabbath, it only occurs once a year, 39:30 what does it point to? 39:32 Go back again this time to verse 27, 39:36 hold the sacred assembly, deny yourselves and 39:38 present an offering made to the Lord by fire. 39:43 Everyone of the yearly Sabbaths involved 39:46 some kind of sacrifice or offering. 39:53 The pass over was a yearly one and it involved 39:57 a sacrifice offering of the lamb, 40:00 the Day of Atonement is a yearly Sabbath 40:03 and it involved an offering. 40:05 Every yearly Sabbath had an offering 40:07 now when they offered a lamb, 40:08 when they offered an animal, 40:10 when they made any kind of sacrifice 40:14 that lamb didn't save anybody, did it? 40:19 Of course not, the lamb never saved 40:21 anyone but the lamb pointed forward to the 40:26 lamb of God who would die on the cross 40:29 to save everyone who believes in him. 40:33 Can you see it? So, the little lamb that was 40:36 offered as a sacrifice on the yearly Sabbath 40:39 was pointing forward to Jesus, the lamb of God. 40:42 So, in that sense it was a shadow of the reality 40:46 to come who was Christ and every offering 40:51 every sacrifice that was offered in the 40:53 Old Testament was pointing forward to Jesus. 40:58 So, it's like a little passion play acted out 41:02 in the desert, day after day after day 41:06 reminding them that the lamb of God 41:08 is going to come and he will die on the cross 41:10 to save you from your sins, isn't that beautiful? 41:14 This is beautiful stuff, those were yearly Sabbaths, 41:18 every yearly Sabbath had a sacrifice 41:22 and every yearly Sabbath was a shadow 41:26 pointing forward to the reality 41:30 of Christ, who was to come. 41:33 So, now we see we have two Sabbaths, 41:37 we have weekly Sabbaths, once a week 41:40 pointing backward to creation and remind us 41:42 that God is the creator and then we have 41:44 yearly Sabbaths once a year 41:46 pointing forward to Jesus when he come to forgive us 41:49 and save us by dying on the cross. 41:53 So, we have two kinds of Sabbaths. 41:57 The weekly Sabbath is in the heart of the 41:58 Ten Commandments, which is the moral law 42:00 of the God defining right from wrong. 42:04 A law of love, that teaches us 42:06 what God is like, but the yearly Sabbaths, 42:12 they had laws, governing how to offer 42:14 those sacrifices, not the Ten Commandments, 42:18 they were different kinds of laws, 42:20 we'll call them sacrificial laws 42:23 governing the ordinances, the ceremonies. 42:27 So, these sacrificial laws dealt with 42:31 being a shadow of Christ but when Jesus 42:34 came and died on the cross, 42:35 we don't offer those sacrifices anymore 42:40 because our lamb of God has died. Amen. 42:43 We don't need to offer those sacrifices anymore 42:46 and therefore all of those laws that taught how to 42:50 offer the sacrifice, all of those 42:52 sacrificial laws were nailed to the cross. 42:58 They're done away with; he is not talking about 43:01 the Ten Commandments, he is talking about 43:04 the offerings, he is talking about the sacrifice. 43:06 The Ten Commandments that's in the heart of God, 43:09 you can't change God no matter how hard 43:11 the devil tries he can't change God, because 43:14 he is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 43:18 So, now it's simple, when you read in the 43:20 New Testament, Paul seeming as though 43:23 he is doing away with the Ten Commandments 43:26 are a law, you have to say which law. 43:28 The sacrificial law, which was temporary 43:31 ended at the cross or the Ten Commandment law, 43:34 not the Ten Commandments because 43:35 he didn't come to change that, 43:37 even Jesus made that clear, 43:39 it's that sacrificial law, that was done away with. 43:43 In fact, let me show you how they illustrated it 43:46 even in the Old Testament times in Deuteronomy 43:48 chapter 10 verse 1, the Lord had said to Moses, 43:52 chisel out two stone tablets and come up to me on the 43:56 mountain and also make a wooden chest and God said, 44:01 I will write on those tablets 44:05 and then you put them inside the chest. 44:10 So, Moses said I made the ark that was 44:12 his chest out of wood overlaid with gold. 44:17 And he took those stone tablets 44:18 and handed him to God and God wrote the law, 44:21 the Ten Commandments including the Sabbath 44:23 commandment with his own finger in stone 44:27 and then the Lord wrote, verse 4, 44:30 before the Lord wrote on these tablets 44:32 what he had written and they were the 44:34 Ten Commandments and Moses put them inside 44:40 the ark of the covenant of that wooden chest. 44:44 So, they are written on stone by God with his 44:47 finger and he put them inside the ark 44:50 but then we go to Deuteronomy chapter 31, 44:54 in Deuteronomy 31, after Moses finished 44:57 writing in a book the words of 45:00 this law, the sacrificial laws from the beginning 45:04 to end. He gave this command to the priest 45:08 who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord. 45:11 He said take this book of the law and place it 45:17 beside the ark of the covenant of our God 45:21 and there they remain as a witness against you 45:25 Do you see the difference, the Ten Commandments 45:28 were written by God himself, this law 45:31 was written by Moses. The Ten Commandments 45:34 were written on stones, so they would endure 45:36 forever. The law of sacrifices was written 45:39 by Moses on paper, the Commandments were put 45:42 inside the ark and the law of sacrifices were put on 45:45 the side of the ark. God couldn't have made it 45:49 any clearer that there are two kinds of laws, one is 45:53 the moral law, his own heart, his own love and 45:57 the other one the law of sacrifices that was nailed 46:00 to the cross and done away with. It was a law that 46:04 stood against you, Moses said, isn't it interesting, 46:08 back to Colossians back to the little book of 46:10 Colossians, chapter 2 and verse 14, it says God made 46:16 you alive with Christ. He forgave us 46:18 all of our sins, having canceled the written 46:20 code with its regulations that was written, 46:23 which is regulations that was against us 46:26 and stood opposed to us, he took it away nailing it 46:29 to the cross. He forgave us of our sins, 46:32 it was his sacrifice that he died on the cross to 46:35 forgive us and therefore those sacrificial laws 46:39 were taken away, nailed to the cross. And we don't 46:43 offer sacrifices anymore, Ten Commandments were 46:46 not nailed to the cross, the grace of God upholds 46:50 the law of God and so you see when you apply the keys 46:55 that the Bible gives us there is no contradiction 46:58 in the scripture, it all comes together. 47:01 Then the third one, not quite as difficult 47:05 but we have to understand it. This one is in Galatians 47:08 the second chapter. In Galatians chapter 2, 47:14 look at verse 21 with me. Paul said I do not set 47:17 aside the grace of God for if righteous could 47:20 be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing. 47:25 So, here is the second one, 47:27 we do not get righteous by keeping the law 47:30 that would do away with the sacrifice of 47:32 Christ, verse 10, all who rely on observing the 47:37 law are under a curse because it is written 47:41 cursed is everyone who does not continue to do 47:45 everything written in the book of the law, 47:47 clearly no one is justified before God by the law, 47:52 because the righteous will live by faith. 47:55 The law is not based on faith, on the contrary 47:58 the man who does these things will live by them. 48:01 Now it sounds as though he is saying that don't 48:05 worry about the law, but it's not what he's saying 48:07 because faith does not abolish the law 48:10 it upholds the law. So, what is he trying to tell us here? 48:15 Notice he says, that we are not made righteous by 48:20 observing the law. He is talking about the law as a 48:24 method of salvation, the Jews thought that you're 48:27 saved by keeping the law and Paul is saying, no, you 48:32 are not saved by keeping the law, the law doesn't 48:35 save you, if it did you would have to keep all of 48:38 the commandments, all of the time continually 48:40 and no one has ever been able to do that. 48:43 In fact, he tells us in Romans, this time in 48:51 Romans chapter 3. In Romans the 3rd chapter 48:54 in verse 20, therefore no one will be declared 48:57 righteous in his sight by observing the law but then 48:59 why the law because through the law we become 49:06 conscious of sin. The law was not given to save, 49:12 that's the third key, the law was not given to save 49:15 anyone, you are not saved because you keep God's law, 49:19 you're not saved because you keep the Ten Commandments, 49:22 you're saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. 49:24 Well then why the law, The law was given because 49:29 through the law we become conscious of sin. 49:34 John even said sin is transgression of the law, 49:37 how do you know you sin? The law says thou shalt not 49:41 lie, therefore when you lie you know that 49:43 you have sinned. Now some people say well 49:46 we don't need that because we are so spiritual, 49:50 we just know when we sin. Well that's interesting 49:54 because Paul himself needed it. And I don't 49:57 anyone today as spiritual as Paul was. In verse 7 of 50:02 chapter 7 in Romans. Paul said, is the law sin, 50:05 certainly not, I would not have known what sin was 50:08 except through the law because I would have not 50:12 had know what coveting was if the law had not 50:14 said do not covet. Paul is saying I don't even 50:16 know when I am sinning, if the law isn't there. 50:19 If Paul needs the law to point out our sins 50:22 than how much more do we need the law to point 50:24 out our sins. Apart from the law the Bible even says 50:28 there is no sin, so if the law has been done away 50:31 with then no wonder people think they can do whatever 50:34 they want to do. We've been on the road 50:43 for years and years and kind of got tired of living 50:46 in motels and rented apartments and whatever 50:50 we could find. So finally we decided 50:53 that we'd get an RV, an RV is kind of expensive. 50:56 So we discovered that you can buy old buses at 51:02 pretty cheap price and have them fixed up like an 51:06 RV. So, we looked into that and I bought a 1975 51:11 Greyhound bus. You might have seen it 51:16 sitting out there in the parking, that's a 75 51:19 Greyhound bus. That's an old bus and 51:22 I am not a mechanic, I am a preacher, I don't 51:26 know much about it, even taking care of my car 51:29 but the bus when I opened that back compartment 51:33 and looked at the engine it is huge and is very 51:37 expensive to maintain. So, that was a little motivation 51:41 to learn how to do things like check the oil 51:44 and stuff like that. And you know I can't 51:46 enjoy going back there and tinkering around 51:49 a little bit with my bus, but every time I do man 51:54 I get grease on my hands. No matter how careful 51:59 I am I get grease all over and even on my face 52:03 sometimes and I don't like to get greasy and dirty. 52:08 I go inside, in the bathroom there's a nice mirror 52:11 there I look in there. Oh! I see all that grease on my 52:15 face oh! I get angry, I don't want that grease on my face. 52:20 So, you know what I do, I just take that mirror 52:23 and I'll yank it off the wall and smash it on 52:26 the pavement outside the bus, that will get rid 52:30 of that grease won't it. The grease is still there, 52:37 I just can't see it anymore and sometimes people 52:42 stand in front of God's law, which is his mirror 52:45 James said and the law says thou shalt not commit 52:50 adultery, it reveals the dirt, the grease, the sins. 52:57 And the law says thou shalt not lie and 53:02 it reveals the dirt. And the law says 53:05 thou shalt not take the Lord's name in vain 53:08 and it reveals the grime. Sins, we don't like it, 53:16 the law says remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 53:19 Oh! I don't like that, I know what I am going to do, 53:24 take that law and I'm just going to smash it on the 53:28 side walk, better yet, I'll nail it to the cross, 53:33 but you see the sins are still there, you just can't 53:38 see them anymore. There is something else 53:45 I could do, I could look in the mirror and see all that 53:48 grease, Oh! Man, I don't like that grease, I know 53:51 what I'll do, I'll take a mirror off the wall and 53:53 start washing my face with a mirror, 53:55 that just makes it worse and it ruins the mirror 54:05 and you know that's what some people do. 54:07 They stand before God's mirror, the law, 54:10 it points out their sins I know what I'll do, 54:13 I will keep the law. It just makes things worse. 54:19 It brings the law down to something that we can do, 54:25 we don't need to receive it by grace through faith 54:28 in Jesus Christ anymore, it makes it worse. 54:31 No, there is another option I see the grease and 54:37 the dirt in my face and I turn on the faucet, 54:39 pick up a bar of soap and I wash the grease away. 54:46 And we stand before God's mirror and it points out 54:49 our sins and we stand condemned, but we kneel 54:55 at the foot of the cross and confess our sins 55:00 and the blood of Jesus washes them all away. 55:05 And you know I get up, I look in the mirror again 55:11 and I see more. So, I am back at the foot 55:15 of the cross washing them away again 55:20 and I get up, I see more, and it's back to the cross. 55:29 You see it's the law of God that keeps us on our knees 55:36 at the foot of the cross. Is not law then and grace 55:44 now, it's always been law and grace together even 55:52 though I found grace in the eyes of God in the Old 55:55 Testament, even Abraham believed God and it was 55:58 credited to him his righteousness, 56:01 all the way through the Old testament and the New. 56:03 No one will ever walk on the streets of the 56:06 Kingdom above except by grace through 56:08 faith in Jesus Christ. The law of God keeps us 56:15 on our knees at the foot of the cross. Antichrist, 56:20 it's all changed don't worry about the commandments, 56:25 especially that one, the Bible says, that one 56:31 we're guilty of break the law. Let's just follow 56:39 the lamb. Amen. Let's just follow the lamb. 56:43 Pray with me. Oh! Lord, we thank you 56:50 that even the hard parts of the Bible can be clear 56:53 and easy to understand, that's only through the 56:57 power of your Holy Spirit, Jesus is the one who lifts 57:00 the scales off of our eyes. Lord, we understand 57:04 the law, how can we even think about breaking any 57:08 of your commandments. Lord forgive us for that, 57:12 we know that you already have but now Lord 57:15 empower us, enable us, let us live 57:18 our lives following the lamb. 57:20 We ask in Jesus name. Amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17