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00:35 Hello, friends, and welcome to Sabbath School Study Hour
00:37 coming to you here from the 00:38 Granite Bay Seventh-day Adventist Church 00:40 in Sacramento, California. 00:42 A very warm welcome to our online members 00:44 and those joining us for our study time 00:46 across the country and around the world, 00:48 also very warm welcome 00:49 to our regular church members here 00:52 and those who are visiting with us 00:53 here at the Granite Bay Church this morning. 00:55 Over the past few weeks, we've been studying 00:57 just a really important and fascinating lesson 01:01 dealing with preparation for the end times. 01:04 Today, we have a very important subject 01:06 that we're going to be looking at, 01:07 and it's entitled, it's lesson number six 01:09 if you are following along. 01:10 It's entitled The Change of the Law. 01:14 And it's lesson number six. 01:15 Now for our friends who are joining us, 01:16 if you don't have a copy of our lesson quarterly, 01:19 but you'd like to study along with us, 01:21 you can download lesson number six 01:23 from the Amazing Facts website. 01:25 It's AmazingFacts.org and you'll be able to get 01:28 the information there needed to download 01:30 and study along with us. 01:32 Now before we invite our song leaders to come out 01:35 and lead us in a song of worship, 01:37 we want to let those watching 01:39 know about a free offer that we have 01:42 that we'd be happy to send to you. 01:44 It is a sermon that Pastor Doug preached 01:47 entitled "The Lost Day of History" 01:49 and if you'd like to receive this DVD mail to your home, 01:53 the number to call is 866-788-3966 01:58 and you can ask for offer number 844. 02:01 And we also have a new way for folks to download 02:04 this special sermon series. 02:06 If you'd like to digital download 02:08 of the same DVD, 02:10 you can just text the following. 02:13 Just text "SH053" 02:19 to the following number 40544. 02:23 So I'm going to say that one more time. 02:24 You want to text "SH053" to 40544, 02:31 and they will send you a link 02:33 where you'll be able to download 02:35 our digital free offer today 02:37 called "The Lost Day of History." 02:39 I think you'll enjoy that, you can share that 02:41 with your friends and neighbors as well. 02:43 Well, before we get to our lesson, 02:44 I'd like to again invite our song leaders to come 02:46 and they will lead us 02:48 as we lift our voices in praise. 02:53 Above all powers 02:57 Above all kings 03:00 Above all nature 03:03 And all created things 03:07 Above all wisdom 03:10 And all the ways of man 03:16 You were here before the world began 03:22 Above all kingdoms 03:26 Above all thrones 03:29 Above all wonders the world has ever known 03:36 Above all wealth and treasures of the earth 03:45 There's no way to measure what You're worth 03:51 Crucified 03:55 Laid behind the stone 03:59 You lived to die 04:02 Rejected and alone 04:05 Like a rose trampled on the ground 04:12 You took the fall 04:16 And thought of me 04:20 Above all 04:27 Above all powers 04:31 Above all kings 04:35 Above all nature 04:37 And all created things 04:42 Above all wisdom 04:45 And all the ways of man 04:51 You were here before the world began 04:57 Above all kingdoms 05:01 Above all thrones 05:04 Above all wonders the world has ever known 05:11 Above all wealth and treasures of the earth 05:20 There's no way to measure what You're worth 05:27 Crucified 05:31 Laid behind the stone 05:34 You lived to die 05:38 Rejected and alone 05:41 Like a rose trampled on the ground 05:48 You took the fall 05:51 And thought of me 05:55 Above all 06:00 Crucified 06:04 Laid behind the stone 06:07 You lived to die 06:11 Rejected and alone 06:14 Like a rose trampled on the ground 06:21 You took the fall 06:24 And thought of me 06:28 Above all 06:32 Like a rose trampled on the ground 06:40 You took the fall 06:44 And thought of me 06:49 Above all 06:58 At this time, Pastor Ross will lead us in prayer. 07:03 Dear Father in heaven, once again, 07:04 we are grateful for the opportunity 07:05 to gather in your house and open up Your Word 07:07 and study these very important prophetic truths 07:10 that relate to our time. 07:12 Father, we ask of the Holy Spirit 07:13 to come and guide our hearts, 07:15 lead us into a clear understanding 07:17 of Your will for our lives, 07:18 and where we are in the stream of time, 07:20 how we can be ready 07:21 for that glorious day when Jesus comes. 07:24 Thank You for Your promise to be with us, 07:25 in Jesus' name, amen. 07:29 Our lesson this morning is going to be brought to us 07:30 by our AFCO Direct. 07:32 AFCO is the amazing facts center of evangelists, 07:35 Pastor Marshall McKenzie, he is not a stranger 07:38 to the Granite Bay church, 07:39 he's actually a member right here. 07:41 So, Pastor McKenzie, welcome. 07:43 Thank you for sharing with us today. 07:48 Well, we have quite the topic to study today, 07:51 The Change of the Law. 07:54 Have you ever, I'm sure you have, 07:56 been to a buffet or you've been to a party 08:00 where they're serving lots of food or church... 08:02 you've been to a church potluck, 08:03 and you just see all kinds of food, 08:05 and your eyes get really big, 08:06 and you kind of fill that plate full. 08:10 And then you get back to your seat 08:11 and you look at all the food that's on your plate, 08:13 and you think, "I might have overdone it." 08:18 But it's on your plate, 08:20 and so you have to figure out a way to, what? 08:23 Get through it, and finish it, 08:26 and eat all that food that's on your plate. 08:30 Today's lesson is kind of like that, 08:34 entitled The Change of the Law. 08:36 And what we're going to be talking about 08:38 is a lot of different things. 08:40 You could have actually taken this whole lesson book 08:43 on the preparation for the end time, 08:45 and we could have taken 08:46 this over a longer period of time. 08:49 But they're crunching so much information together, 08:54 and so I've been prayerful this week about this lesson 08:56 because we talk about the little horn, 08:59 we talk about the moral law, 09:01 we talk about the Seventh-day Sabbath, 09:04 we talk about this perceived change 09:07 which doesn't actually exist in scripture 09:09 but is believed out there, that's a lot to chew on. 09:14 Matter of fact, we would study these things 09:16 over a series of meetings together, 09:19 so I would like you to bear with me, 09:21 we're going to jump right in, and there's lots of things 09:24 that we're going to cover in this lesson, 09:26 The Change of the Law. 09:29 Now the backdrop for this end time issue 09:34 is Daniel 7. 09:37 Now Daniel 7 is a parallel of Daniel 2. 09:41 And in lesson number two, we kind of briefly touch 09:46 on Daniel 2 and this image, 09:51 this image that has head of gold, 09:53 that has these chest in arms of silver, 09:56 that has thighs of bronze, 09:58 and that has these legs of iron, 10:00 which we clearly knows Babylon, Medo-Persia, 10:04 Greece, and Rome. 10:06 And then we finally get to the feet, 10:08 which has 10 toes. 10:10 And then those 10 toes represents 10:13 the divisions of Europe 10:14 because Rome was never conquered 10:16 by another power historically. 10:18 It was actually divided from the inside out. 10:22 And this is the backdrop for actually getting 10:25 into The Change of the Law 10:29 because in Daniel 7 10:30 we see what is inanimate, in Daniel 2 become animate. 10:35 In Daniel 7, we have a lion, we have a bear, 10:40 we have a leopard with four heads and four wings, 10:43 and then all of a sudden you get to the iron, 10:46 okay, of Daniel 2. 10:48 It's described in Daniel 7 as this terrible, 10:52 ferocious beast that has these iron teeth. 10:56 You kind of think that's something 10:57 right out of Hollywood, 10:59 but it's actually something right out of the Bible. 11:03 And in the midst, you have these 10 horns 11:06 that are on its head, 11:08 which go back to the 10 toes of the image in Daniel 2. 11:12 And notice with me, we're going to open our Bibles 11:14 and actually read the scripture reading for today's lesson. 11:20 This is where we're going to start. 11:23 Daniel 7, describing these 10 horns, 11:28 Daniel actually zeroes in on specifically a little horn. 11:34 Okay, Daniel 7:24, 25, 11:40 we're going to look at this. 11:44 It says, "The 10 horns are 10," what? 11:48 "Kings." 11:50 Who shall arise from this kingdom," 11:54 that fourth kingdom, 11:55 which is represented as Rome, Papal Rome. 11:58 And I saw him. 12:00 Oops, excuse me, I jumped too far. 12:02 "And another shall arise after them, 12:05 and he shall be different from the first ones." 12:07 Now you might ask yourself, "How is this little horn 12:10 different than those other 10 horns 12:13 that represent these kings in kingdoms 12:15 or Rome as it was divided into what we know is Europe today." 12:22 Okay, notice it says, "And shall subdue three kings." 12:26 So this little horn has this attachment 12:29 to these three kings as a political power, 12:32 but it's not only political, in other words, 12:35 it uses the state to accomplish its purposes 12:38 and 3 of these 10 were taken down by this little horn. 12:44 And then it goes on in verse 25, 12:46 as we get into our scripture reading, it says, 12:48 "He shall speak pompous words against the Most High." 12:52 Notice this, all of a sudden this horizontal attack 12:57 that is occurring by subduing three kings 13:00 by this little horn, all of a sudden goes vertical. 13:05 And who is this little horn after ultimately? 13:09 God. 13:10 It says, "He shall speak pompous words 13:13 against the Most High. 13:14 And he shall persecute the saints of the Most High, 13:18 and shall intend to change times and law. 13:22 Then the saints shall be given into his hand 13:24 for a times time and half a time." 13:27 So there's a little horn, This little horn power 13:32 not only attacks politically, horizontally, 13:35 but attacks vertically, 13:38 specifically focusing on God and God's people. 13:42 What's one way to really get to God? 13:45 You attack His people, right? 13:47 And so the goal of this little horn is, 13:49 "Listen, my goal is to attack God, 13:51 but as I do so, I'm going to attack His people." 13:55 You know, if Satan changes our ideas, he changes, what? 14:02 Us. 14:03 He realizes that, "If I can mess with your mind, 14:07 then I can mess with how you believe, 14:09 how you live, how you act." 14:12 And so not only we're going to find 14:14 with this change of the law as that he's going to go 14:16 after the very heart of God's law. 14:20 God's law in general, and the Fourth Commandment. 14:24 Now as we get into this, specifically this attack, 14:29 the little horn's greatest attack 14:32 is Satan's greatest deception. 14:36 To literally take it to God if we're to put it that way, 14:40 and he's going to do so, he does so by going 14:42 after His people, but he does this in a way 14:45 of intending to change times and laws. 14:49 I'm actually going to start with Thursday's lesson. 14:52 Thursday, kind of, breaks this down. 14:54 But I'm going to start here with this phrase. 14:56 It's an important phrase. 14:59 This concept to think or intend to change times and laws. 15:05 Daniel 7:25. 15:08 Now it's interesting that the word "Times" 15:11 is used twice here in Daniel 7:25 15:16 and there are two different words 15:20 that are used in relationship to this word "times." 15:25 The first word "times" is the one we would say, 15:29 it actually in the Aramaic and in the Hebrews, úiddan. 15:32 Okay, it's used to describe the duration 15:36 of the little horn's persecution of the saints. 15:39 So we're talking about time, the first definition is úiddan, 15:44 which talks about a span of time. 15:48 Okay, notice we see this in Daniel 25, 15:52 at the very end, it says, 15:54 "For a times, times and half a time." 15:57 Now we don't have time to go into all of that, 16:00 but that's actually 1,260 days or 1,260 years. 16:05 This is a span of time. 16:09 Now the other word used in relationship 16:11 to this phrase is a little different than úiddan. 16:16 It's the word Z@man. 16:19 And in the plural form, it's Z@men, 16:23 which is very interesting. 16:24 This Aramaic word 16:27 has more of a function of point in time, 16:32 not a span of time. 16:36 But in the plural form, 16:39 it's actually repeated points in time. 16:44 Now this little horn is attacking, who? 16:50 Attacking God's people 16:51 and ultimately through the process 16:53 is attacking, who? 16:55 It's attacking God. 16:56 Remember when Paul was on the road to Damascus. 16:59 And he was on the road to Damascus to persecute, who? 17:05 The people of God. 17:06 He was going after the Christians, 17:08 this is before it was Saul, before he was Paul, 17:10 and Jesus meets him on the road, 17:13 and says very clearly, "Why are you persecuting Me?" 17:18 So in other words, by attacking God's people, 17:21 God relates intimately with His people. 17:23 This is what that covenant relationship, 17:27 right, is all about, that connection with God. 17:31 God is so intimately connected to His people 17:34 that when you attack His people, 17:36 you attack God directly. 17:39 And Jesus made that very clear in relationship to Paul 17:43 on his way to Damascus. 17:45 Now I'm getting back to this repeated point in time. 17:50 He's attacking God. 17:52 Now notice the word here, in Daniel 7:25 says, 17:56 "Intend to change times and," what? 18:00 "Law." Okay. 18:02 "Intend to change times and law." 18:05 The word law here is singular. 18:07 We're talking about the law of God. 18:11 This fits best in this description. 18:14 And the repeated point of time 18:17 that you find in God's law is what law? 18:21 What commandment do we find has to do with time, 18:25 specifically a repeated point in time? 18:29 The Fourth Commandment. 18:31 So we know this is a direct attack 18:34 on God's moral law, but even more than that, 18:37 it's a direct attack on the Seventh-day Sabbath, 18:42 the only commandment you find that deals with 18:45 a repeated point of time, okay? 18:48 Matter of fact, when you go back to creation 18:51 and God creates all these things 18:53 in six literal days, 18:55 what does God ultimately do at the end? 18:57 He rests on the Seventh-day Sabbath. 19:00 Now after this, He what? 19:02 He blesses and sanctifies 19:05 the Seventh-day Sabbath for all time. 19:10 And this is why Daniel points us out 19:12 that he is attacking this repeated point in time. 19:15 You know, it wasn't just that Sabbath that God blessed, 19:18 it was Sabbaths throughout eternity 19:21 that God was blessing 19:23 and continuing to prove to us is valid even in our day. 19:28 This is an end time prophecy. 19:30 This is a prophecy that relates to you and I in this day. 19:34 And so we should take note of specifically this attack. 19:39 Now we're going to talk about in this lesson, 19:42 the law of God and its importance. 19:46 Today, we're going to look at this issue 19:50 of under law verses under grace, 19:53 you know, we hear that a lot, okay? 19:56 Some people kind of do away with the law, why, 19:58 because we're under grace, we're no longer under the law. 20:02 Well, Paul has some very interesting things to say 20:05 that we're going to take a look at. 20:06 We're also... 20:07 Some people have kind of pushed away the Seventh 20:10 or the Fourth Commandment, right? 20:11 They've set away the Sabbath. 20:13 While you're under grace and they specifically say, 20:15 "There's no need for the Sabbath anymore." 20:17 Remember Jesus nailed that to the cross. 20:20 He kind of did away with it. 20:21 Well, not according to Paul, when we actually look at 20:24 all that Paul has to say. 20:27 And then we're going to look 20:28 specifically at this change, okay? 20:31 There's a lot of our Christian friends, 20:34 who are keeping Sunday instead of the Seventh-day Sabbath. 20:38 Well, there is a change that this little horn 20:42 has brought about 20:44 to make people think it was changed. 20:46 But scripture doesn't actually change it. 20:48 And we're going to look at the passages 20:51 in relationship to this also. 20:54 So getting back to the background 20:55 and this attack, so this little horn 20:57 is attacking the very moral law of God, 21:01 specifically the Fourth Commandment, 21:03 the Commandment that has to do with time. 21:06 Now I have some readers, 21:07 and I've asked to read some passages. 21:09 In just a moment, we're going to read 21:10 the first one from Romans 7. 21:15 And so we get back to Sunday's lesson. 21:18 Sunday's lesson is entitled The Promise. 21:22 This lesson as it is entitled The Promise 21:25 is really identifying the human struggle 21:29 that we all face, that fleshly struggle, 21:32 the pull of the flesh. 21:35 See, one must understand the reality of sin, 21:39 and what sin is, 21:40 and what sin is the opposite of. 21:44 If they're going to understand the existence, 21:47 purpose, and blessing of God's Law. 21:51 Speaking about this, Paul writes, 21:54 Romans 7:17, 18, 20, 21. 22:02 "But now, it is no longer I who do it, 22:04 but sin that dwells in me. 22:07 For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, 22:10 nothing good dwells, for to will is present with me, 22:14 but how to perform what is good I do not find. 22:19 Now if I do what I will not to do, 22:22 it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 22:26 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, 22:30 the one who wills to do good." 22:35 This is a powerful passage as we start the series 22:39 of lessons going through this lesson, 22:42 The Change of the Law. 22:43 Paul, from the beginning, starts to identify 22:46 what his flesh is like, 22:48 and he's not just talking about himself, 22:51 he's actually talking about all of us. 22:54 Remember in Romans 3:23, It says, "All have," what? 22:59 "All have sinned 23:01 and come short of the glory of God." 23:04 And I'm sure we all have stories 23:06 where we have fallen short of the glory of God. 23:09 And we could talk about them over and over again. 23:12 While Paul says, here in Romans 7, 23:15 as was read, you're going to notice 23:17 he uses these phrases like, "Sin dwells in me. 23:23 In me, nothing good dwells." 23:27 And then he says, "Evil is present with me." 23:31 So he's talking about his life without Christ here. 23:37 And he's saying the human flesh, right... 23:41 "Sin dwells in me, nothing good in me dwells," 23:45 and then he says, "Evil is present with me." 23:47 Sin is the presence of evil, 23:51 where nothing good dwells, okay? 23:56 We see this again. Notice with me Romans 7:8. 24:01 Notice with me in your Bibles, Romans 7:8. 24:06 We see this again. 24:08 Paul writes, "But sin taking opportunity 24:14 by the commandment produced in me all manner of," what? 24:19 "Of evil desires." What did sin produce? 24:22 All manner of evil desire, okay? 24:26 Not the commandment, he's talking about sin. 24:29 But Commandments reveal what? 24:32 The moral law reveals sin. It reveals evil. 24:36 But it's sin that produces in him 24:39 all manner of evil desires. 24:43 For apart from the law sin was what? 24:46 Sin is dead. 24:48 So if you didn't have the law, 24:49 you wouldn't have a knowledge of what? 24:51 You wouldn't have a knowledge of sin. 24:54 You know, we have rules in our homes. 24:56 I'm sure you have rules in your homes, right? 24:59 Especially those of you that have children, okay? 25:02 You know, if you didn't have some sort of rule 25:05 or some sort of standard, what would there be? 25:09 There would be chaos. 25:10 And the kids would know that chaos is chaos, 25:15 have you noticed that? 25:16 Children can be chaotic and not even know 25:19 they're being chaotic, until you stop and say, 25:22 "Wait a second, let's go back to the rule." 25:25 And then they say, 25:26 "Oh, maybe I was being chaotic." 25:30 Here Paul talks about sin and its relationship 25:33 with the Commandment, but he talks about it as evil. 25:36 So he says, "Sin dwells in me, nothing good dwells," 25:40 where sin is, "And evil is present with me." 25:44 Sin produced in me all manner of evil desire. 25:50 Now thankfully Paul also writes... 25:53 Now this is interesting, 25:54 notice with me verse 7 of Romans 7. 25:59 He says, "What shall we say then? 26:02 Is the law sin?" 26:05 Is the law what? Sin? 26:08 "Certainly not!" 26:10 He's emphatic on making this point 26:13 that the law is not sin. 26:18 He says, "On the contrary, I would not have known sin 26:22 except through the law. 26:23 For I would not have known covetousness 26:26 unless the law had said, "You shall not covet.'" 26:30 So Paul's making it very clear that the law points out sin. 26:37 And, friends, all of us have fallen, 26:39 all of us have fallen short, all of us without Christ, 26:43 you know, sin dwells in us, 26:45 there is nothing good in us and evil is present with us. 26:50 We need Jesus. 26:55 We also need His moral law. 27:01 So what is sin? 27:02 Sin is evil, where nothing good dwells. 27:05 Now we're going to read here in just a minute 27:07 another passage of scripture in 1 John 3:4, 27:12 but I want us to grasp 27:14 and understand that without Christ, 27:16 that human nature, that fall in fleshly nature 27:21 is one that is inhabit... 27:23 That sin inhabits, that evil inhabits, 27:27 that nothing good inhabits. 27:30 So sin is evil, where nothing good dwells. 27:33 Another biblical definition is lawlessness. 27:39 What law are we talking about? 27:41 We're talking about the moral law, okay? 27:44 The law, that by the way has always existed, 27:48 we're going to take a look at this, 27:49 that has always existed. 27:51 It didn't just come into being on Mount Sinai, 27:56 that wasn't its first place. 28:00 It actually came before that. But you know what? 28:03 I thank God for the promise. What is the promise? 28:08 "There is therefore no condemnation to those, 28:13 who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk 28:16 according to the flesh, but," what? 28:20 "They walk according to the spirit." 28:22 Okay, now when Paul talks about the flesh, 28:25 he's talking about those sinful desires, 28:29 that evil that is present with us, 28:32 and where no good dwells. 28:35 So now we're going to jump into Monday's lesson. 28:37 I'm, kind of, moving fast and I'm looking. 28:40 So we're going to have to go through this quickly. 28:42 But you'll notice with me, 28:44 Paul, in his writings is actually, 28:48 okay, writing consistently on the law. 28:51 And he writes from two different perspectives. 28:56 You know, Paul is very balanced in his writing. 28:59 The first perspective is that 29:02 of a wrong relationship to the law, 29:05 which is like pre-conversion. 29:08 Now these are key phrases, pre-conversion. 29:11 There's a wrong relationship to the law. 29:14 But then he also writes in support 29:16 of a right relationship to the law, 29:19 which is post-conversion. 29:23 So when we talk about the law 29:25 and we talk about Paul's writings, 29:27 we need to understand he's writing with a balance, 29:30 pre-conversion, post-conversion, 29:32 which one is he writing about, at what time. 29:36 And so he breaks this down. 29:38 Pre-conversion, we read such verses like this, 29:42 "I would not have known sin except through the law," 29:45 Romans 7:7. 29:48 He also writes, "Moreover the law entered 29:51 that the offence might abound," Romans 5:20. 29:56 He also writes in Galatians 3:23, 29:59 "But before faith came, we were under the guard," 30:04 "We were under guard by the law." 30:09 Another way to put this is as he writes in Romans 7:14, 30:13 "We were all sold under sin." 30:18 And being under sin means that an individual is under the law, 30:25 the condemnation of the law, 30:28 this is how somebody relates to the law 30:31 who is living contrary to the words of Christ, 30:36 to the teachings of Christ. 30:41 "To be under the condemnation of the law, 30:43 sin being seen as it is exceeding sinful." 30:49 Now it's interesting, notice with me in Romans 7:12, 30:53 and in just a minute we're going to have 30:54 another verse read, but notice Romans 7:12, 31:00 Paul, in talking about the law, 31:02 consistently, in these different ways... 31:06 Notice what he says kind of in the end, 31:09 summarizing the law. 31:11 He says, "Therefore, the law is holy, 31:15 and the commandment holy, just, and," what? 31:19 Good. "Good." 31:20 So the law is good, 31:22 but sin is where nothing good dwells. 31:26 Are you understanding? They're literally separate. 31:29 Sin and the law are not together, 31:31 they are separate. 31:33 Sin is where nothing good dwells, 31:35 and yet Paul says the law is, what? 31:37 Good. The law is good. 31:39 And it's shown as good 31:41 because it shows me what sin is. 31:44 Therefore, I understand it to be good, holy, and just. 31:51 Now notice with me, we're going to look at post-conversion 31:54 and one passage I'd like to read, 31:56 we have a reader reading it, Romans 8:3,4, and 10. 32:02 "For what the law could not do, 32:04 in that it was weak through the flesh, 32:05 God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, 32:09 and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. 32:12 That the righteousness of the law 32:13 might be fulfilled in us, 32:15 who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 32:18 And if Christ be in you, 32:20 the body is dead because of sin, 32:22 but the Spirit is life because of righteousness." 32:25 Now this is a powerful passage because notice the promise 32:28 from this lesson comes out of Romans 8. 32:31 And if you continue reading, when he talks about this 32:34 walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh, 32:38 he talks about fulfilling the, what? 32:41 The righteous requirements of the law. 32:45 He says that they might be fulfilled in us 32:48 who do not walk according to the flesh 32:51 but according to the Spirit. 32:53 So here he is talking about what? 32:55 Post-conversion. 32:57 He's talking about someone who has come to Christ, 32:59 they have given their lives to Christ, 33:01 they have laid all on the altar for Christ, 33:04 and now they live by faith and they do live by grace. 33:10 But in the process, they are fulfilling by faith 33:14 and by grace through Christ... 33:16 What are they fulfilling? 33:18 They're fulfilling the righteous 33:20 requirements of the law. 33:22 Now notice with me Psalms 119:172, okay. 33:26 Psalm 119:172. 33:30 Not only does the Bible define sin for us, 33:34 but it also defines the opposite, 33:36 which is righteousness, 33:38 and this is what Paul speaks about. 33:41 He says... 33:42 The psalmist writes, 33:43 "My tongue shall speak of Your word, 33:46 for all Your commandments are," what? 33:49 "The righteousness." Okay? 33:52 So when we, by faith, walk according to Christ 33:58 and His example, believing, trusting in Him, 34:00 He gives us the grace that enables us to, what? 34:04 Fulfill the law, which our flesh, 34:06 by the way, couldn't do. 34:09 There was no way. It's not possible, okay? 34:14 Now you'll notice, the law is good. 34:17 And this is important. 34:18 Matter of fact, let's go to Deuteronomy, 34:20 I want to show you something. 34:21 See, this is the basis of the covenant by the way. 34:24 Notice with me, Deuteronomy 4:13, okay? 34:29 We always talk about 34:30 this covenant relationship, okay? 34:34 That the Bible consistently speaks about 34:36 God formed that covenant, by the way, with Adam and Eve, 34:39 He formed the same covenant with Noah, 34:41 He formed the same covenant with Abraham, 34:44 and thereafter He continues to form 34:47 the covenant with His people. 34:50 Now He says what the basis of that covenant is. 34:55 Deuteronomy 4:13 says, 34:57 "So He declared to you His covenant 35:00 which He commanded you to perform..." 35:04 The what? 35:05 "The Ten Commandments, 35:07 and He wrote them on tables of stone." 35:10 So what is the basis of the covenant, 35:13 this relationship, 35:14 this right relationship to Jesus Christ? 35:18 You know, there's a wrong relationship 35:19 to Jesus Christ, 35:20 and there is a right relationship 35:22 to Jesus Christ, 35:23 just like Paul's talking about here. 35:25 And he's talking about this and the law. 35:28 And notice it says here, 35:29 the basis of that right relationship 35:32 or a relationship that is based upon righteousness 35:37 has the law at the foundation, okay? 35:41 So as we believe in Christ, Christ teaches us 35:45 more and more of His law. 35:47 You know, what is the man, in Psalms it's told, 35:49 we're told in Psalms 1, "Blessed is the man..." 35:52 and then it goes on to talk about 35:53 how they meditate on the law day and night, 35:57 it's like looking at Jesus. 36:00 By the way, Jesus is the, what shepherd? 36:03 He's the Good Shepherd. 36:05 Notice, He's the good shepherd, 36:07 there is no sin that surrounds Jesus. 36:10 Now He became sin for us who knew no sin. 36:15 Therefore, He's the Good Shepherd, okay? 36:18 He's the shepherd that keeps the commandments of God 36:22 and all of His sheep hear His voice, okay? 36:27 Matter of fact, notice with me Matthew 25:21. 36:32 Matthew 25:21, 36:36 this is a powerful passage, 36:40 it's in the context of the Second Coming of Christ. 36:44 Now Matthew 24 talks about the signs of His coming. 36:48 At the end of Matthew 24, what Jesus does is He says, 36:52 listen, He asks a question. 36:54 He says, "Who then is wise and faithful?" 36:57 You find this in verse 45 of Matthew 24. 37:00 And then Matthew 25 breaks down in parable form 37:05 the answers to that question. 37:08 The wise, is the first parable and the unwise, 37:10 the faithful and the unfaithful is the second parable, 37:13 and the blessed and the cursed are the third parable, 37:16 but now, going back to the second parable 37:18 when Jesus comes, 37:20 notice how He identifies His children. 37:25 Notice with me Matthew 25:21, "His lord said to him, 37:31 'Well done, good and faithful servant. 37:33 You are faithful over a few things, 37:36 I will make you ruler over many things. 37:37 Enter into the joy of your lord.'" 37:39 He's talking about the faithful. 37:41 And notice what He declares them. 37:43 He says, "Well done thou," what? 37:46 He doesn't use the word "Good" by accident. 37:50 If He is the good Shepherd and the law is good, 37:54 when Jesus Christ comes again, 37:56 He's going to declare His children, what? 37:59 Good. How can He do that? 38:01 What's the standard for good? The moral law. 38:06 So in other words, He's in essence saying, 38:09 "My people at the end will be like Me. 38:12 They will be good as I am good." 38:14 God is not a liar. 38:16 He's not going to make a declaration that isn't true. 38:22 And so He's waiting for those people 38:24 who will live by faith and grace, 38:26 we're going to get into that in just a minute, 38:28 that keep the commandments of God. 38:31 This is what Revelation 14:12... 38:35 When we talk about Revelation, 38:36 God identifies this group of people 38:39 that have the patience of the saints 38:41 who keep the commandments of God, okay, 38:45 and the faith of Jesus. 38:47 These two things are linked together, 38:50 faith and commandment keeping. 38:54 Now I'm going to run really quickly 38:56 to the Seventh-day Sabbath. 39:00 This is huge. 39:02 Because if we're keeping the commandments, 39:05 we're keeping, what? 39:06 All of them because all of them are good. 39:11 Now when God created the earth, 39:13 right, what did He say the earth was? 39:16 It was good. There was no sin in it. 39:19 You can go to Deuteronomy 32:4, 39:21 and He defines His work right there. 39:24 And He's actually talking about creation, 39:26 "This is My work," okay, "My work is good." 39:30 So in other words, to call it good, 39:33 that law had to exist because what is the law? 39:37 The law is good. Jesus is good. 39:40 God's people, when He comes back 39:42 will be declared by Him as what? 39:46 Good. 39:47 You can't get away from the law, 39:49 you just can't, and neither can you get away 39:52 from the Fourth Commandment. 39:54 Now I want you to notice, go with me to Acts. 39:58 Because of time, we can't really dive into 40:00 all the passages, okay, that this lesson brings out. 40:03 But I want you to notice Acts 13. 40:06 I thought this was a very interesting point. 40:08 Acts 13, and then we're going to actually go to Ephesians, 40:13 okay? 40:15 But I want to go to Acts 13, and then I have someone else 40:18 that will read Ephesians in just a minute. 40:20 But notice with me, Acts 13, 40:22 all throughout the New Testament, 40:24 Jesus, what was His custom? 40:26 Since being a little boy, what was His custom? 40:29 In Luke 4, it was to keep the Seventh-day Sabbath. 40:33 That was His custom. 40:34 You would always find Him in the synagogue, 40:36 like you and I here are in church 40:38 today on the Sabbath, you'd always find Him, right, 40:41 in the sanctuary on the Seventh-day Sabbath. 40:46 Paul is no different. 40:47 You can go to Acts 17 and you'll read 40:50 right in the very beginning there, 40:51 verses 1-3 how Paul as his... 40:55 Now get this, Paul's custom as a Jew 40:58 was to keep the Sabbath, was it not? 41:01 And when he became a follower of Christ, 41:03 by the way, Acts 17 41:05 is after he became a follower of Christ, 41:09 and in this context, what is he living by? 41:11 He's living by grace. 41:13 He's living by faith, 41:14 but what does he continue to do? 41:17 And he teaches us about grace and faith, 41:19 but what does he continue to do? 41:21 Keep the Seventh-day Sabbath. 41:24 Now notice how this is all brought together 41:25 right here in Acts 13. 41:28 I thought this was phenomenal. 41:29 If you go to verse 14 first, it says, 41:32 "But when they departed from Perga, 41:34 they came to Antioch in Pisidia..." 41:38 I may mispronounce that, so forgive me. 41:41 "And He went into the synagogue on," what? 41:44 "The Sabbath day." Notice "the Sabbath day." 41:48 He's not talking about 41:49 all the feast Sabbaths and all these... 41:50 He's talking about the Seventh-day Sabbath. 41:53 Now if you turn from there, so he's teaching, 41:57 okay, in the synagogue on the Sabbath. 41:59 And then you go to verse 42, okay? 42:02 Notice with me verse 42, it says, 42:05 "So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, 42:09 the Gentiles begged that these words 42:12 might be preached to them," what?" 42:14 The next Sabbath." 42:15 So Paul's making it a point 42:17 to keep the Seventh-day Sabbath, 42:19 a teacher of grace, a teacher of faith, 42:22 who is keeping the commandments. 42:25 By the way, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, right? 42:28 He also was a commandment keeper, 42:30 and that's Old Testament grace, 42:32 same as New Testament grace, okay? 42:34 Every time, by the way, God forms a covenant, 42:39 you can go back in the Old Testament, 42:40 it's very interesting. 42:41 Every time God forms a covenant with His people, 42:42 like Noah, Abraham, the children of Israel, 42:45 deliverance always came first. 42:49 God delivered Noah from the flood. 42:53 What would we call that? Grace. 42:55 And then He forms a covenant with him. 42:57 He delivers Abraham from the land of Ur 43:00 and then He forms a covenant with him. 43:03 And then all of a sudden He delivers the Egyptians 43:07 from bondage, right, by His great power 43:10 and His great might, and then what did He do? 43:12 He gives them the basis again of the covenant, the law, 43:17 and then forms a covenant with them. 43:18 In every case, you always see grace, 43:22 in every single example, you always see grace, 43:25 and it's no different here. 43:27 Notice with me what happens, verse 43, 43:30 "Now when the congregation had broken up, 43:32 many of the Jews and devout proselytes 43:35 followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, 43:38 persuaded them to continue in," what? 43:40 Grace of God. I love this. 43:43 I'm keeping the Seventh-day Sabbath, 43:46 and I'm going to encourage you to continue in, what? 43:48 The grace of God. 43:51 So the grace of God is synonymous 43:54 with Sabbath keeping here. 43:56 They're not separate. 43:58 They're actually one and the same. 44:00 If you live by grace, through faith, 44:03 you will keep the commandments. 44:05 You will be encouraged, as you continue in grace, 44:08 to continue in the Fourth Commandment, 44:12 the Seventh-day Sabbath. 44:16 Now Ephesians, we have someone 44:17 that's going to read Ephesians for us. 44:20 Now here's another passage I want to break down for you 44:22 just briefly, Ephesians 2:8, 9. 44:26 "For by grace are ye saved through faith, 44:29 and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, 44:33 not of works lest any man should boast." 44:36 Now we love these verses. 44:39 And many of my Christian friends 44:40 will quote this, listen, they bring out the fact 44:43 that we are saved by, what? 44:46 By grace, through faith. 44:48 And then he says, "It's not of yourselves 44:51 but is the gift of God, not of works." 44:55 Now I want you to notice what Paul's going to do, 44:58 and I don't want to miss verse 10, 45:00 this is why I have asked only the two to be read, 45:02 because that's what most of the time 45:03 we point to verse 8 and 9, 45:05 but notice with me verse 10, okay? 45:08 Ephesians 2:10, and I'll get there. 45:15 Here we go. 45:16 It says, "For we are His workmanship 45:21 created in Christ Jesus for," what? 45:25 Notice, we're back to this good works thing again. 45:28 The law is good. 45:30 Jesus is the good shepherd, okay? 45:33 And notice, through Christ what are we enabled to do? 45:38 Good works. 45:39 And He talks about His creative power in the life 45:44 that actually fashions us to walk in good works. 45:48 Notice He's making a distinction. 45:50 Listen, you're not saved by your works, 45:53 by your fleshly works, 45:55 you're only saved by Christ and you're saved through grace. 45:59 By the way, this grace, through this grace, 46:02 He does a creative work in you that produces good works 46:08 that you could never produce on your own. 46:11 But what's the standard of good? 46:15 How do we know it's good works? 46:17 Because it's according to a good law, okay? 46:22 Notice He goes on. 46:23 He says, and it takes us back to creation even, he says, 46:26 "For we are His workmanship, 46:28 created in Christ Jesus for good works, 46:31 which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." 46:36 Where did God prepare beforehand 46:38 that we should walk in good works? 46:41 At creation. 46:43 When God created everything and He created us, 46:46 there was no evil, 46:47 God only wanted us to know good, 46:51 God only wanted us to walk good. 46:54 But of course, we made a bad decision, 46:58 and we chose to bring evil and sin into the picture. 47:03 And so later through Israel's experience, later, 47:08 what God has to do is remind them, 47:10 first He delivers them and then He reminds them 47:13 of that standard of good again. 47:16 And says just like I delivered you 47:18 out of the bondage of the Egyptians, 47:20 I can create in you by My grace 47:23 the ability to follow my moral law even the what? 47:30 The Fourth Commandment. The Fourth Commandment. 47:34 There are so many passages that we could look at. 47:38 I want to end with one here in Hebrews 4. 47:43 Hebrews 4, Paul writes, 47:47 "For we who believe do enter that rest, 47:52 for He has spoken in a certain place 47:54 of the seventh day in this way. 47:57 And God rested on the seventh day 48:00 from all his works that remains therefore a rest." 48:05 And this word rest, by the way, 48:07 means a special religiously significant period for rest. 48:14 What's he talking about? The seventh day. 48:17 This repeated point in time that God has given us to rest 48:24 and to focus on our Creator that He's going to do the work. 48:29 According to His law, we shall walk and be like Him. 48:32 Then it says, "For the people of God..." 48:35 Paul writes, "For he who has entered 48:38 into His rest has himself 48:40 also ceased from his works as God did from His." 48:45 Hebrews 4:9, 10, 48:49 the Sabbath Paul says still remains 48:52 because as we rest on the Seventh-day Sabbath 48:56 and we break from all of our work, 48:58 it's a representation of our faith in Christ that, 49:01 you know what, I can't earn my way to heaven. 49:05 But through faith in Christ and by grace, 49:07 He can do a work in me and I can live righteously 49:11 in Christ Jesus according to all of the moral law. 49:16 And yet in the new heaven and new earth, 49:20 where shall we meet? 49:22 From one Sabbath to another, from one new moon to another. 49:26 Isaiah 66. 49:29 Friends, the papacy wants people to think 49:31 that Sunday is the new Sabbath. 49:34 But, you know, when you read scripture everywhere 49:36 where we talked about the first day, 49:39 never do you see it ever making a change 49:43 from the seventh day to Sunday being the first day. 49:48 Everywhere the first day is spoken about 49:50 in the New Testament, 49:51 there is no evidence of any change by God 49:54 or by His disciples. 49:56 And regarding the papacy, 49:59 lesson 10 gets more into that power. 50:03 But no, the law is just as valid today 50:06 as it ever has been in relationship to Jesus Christ 50:09 our relationship with Him, and the Seventh-day Sabbath 50:14 is linked with grace and is just as vital today 50:19 as it always has been. 50:23 To remind you of our free offer, 50:25 our free offer is The Last Day of Prophecy, 50:28 it's a special sermon by Pastor Doug Batchelor 50:31 on this very topic, it's taken from the series, 50:35 The Last Day of prophecy. 50:37 All you need to do is call 1866-788-3966, 50:41 just ask for offer number 844, 50:44 and you can receive this sermon. 50:47 Also, we have a new digital download 50:50 way that you can receive it, 50:51 you just want to text the code 50:53 "SH053" to 40544. 50:59 Just text the code "SH053" to 40544 51:05 and receive this sermon, 51:07 you want to get it as you continue studying His Word. 51:10 And I'd like to have a word of prayer with you 51:13 as we end this lesson together. 51:16 Father in heaven, we thank You so much 51:18 for Your many blessings. 51:21 There's so much food on this plate today. 51:26 And, Lord, I pray that we will spend our times studying, 51:29 growing closer to You, 51:31 drawing closer in our relationship with You. 51:33 We thank You for Your law, we thank You 51:35 for the Seventh-day Sabbath, and we thank You for Jesus 51:39 who enables each of us to follow it. 51:42 Lord, we thank You that we can come together 51:44 on this Sabbath to worship You, 51:45 may You be glorified in all that we do 51:48 and say and thank, in Jesus' name we pray. 51:51 Amen. 51:53 Can't get enough Amazing Facts Bible study? 51:56 You don't have to wait until next week 51:58 to enjoy more truth-filled programming, 52:00 visit the Amazing Facts media library at AFTV.org. 52:05 At AFTV.org, 52:08 you can enjoy video and audio presentations, 52:10 as well as printed material all free of charge. 52:13 Twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, 52:16 right from your computer or mobile device, 52:18 visit AFTV.org. 52:32 Friends, we're out here in the Pacific Ocean, 52:35 not too far from the island of Fiji, 52:37 and we're getting ready to look at some wonders in the deep. 52:41 The Bible says God made the heaven, the earth, 52:43 and the sea, and there are things 52:44 under the sea that are beautiful 52:46 that many people have never seen. 52:48 Some folks might just skim along snorkel on the surface. 52:51 But if you want to see the real majesty of the ocean, 52:54 you've got to go deeper. 53:09 Because people don't have gills like fish, 53:11 we have to do something extraordinary 53:13 to be able to breathe below the surface, 53:15 and because you have to breathe all of the time, 53:18 we need this special equipment. 53:22 In the same way, the Bible says, 53:24 "A Christian needs to pray without ceasing." 53:26 We need to always be breathing the atmosphere of heaven, 53:29 if we're going to lead a Christian life 53:31 in this world below. 53:59 Wow, what a wonderful world. 54:13 Let's face it. 54:14 It's not always easy 54:16 to understand everything you read in the Bible. 54:18 With over 700,000 words containing 66 books, 54:22 the Bible can generate a lot of questions. 54:25 To get biblical straightforward answers, 54:27 call into Bible Answers Live, 54:29 a live nationwide calling radio program 54:31 where you can talk to Pastor Doug Batchelor 54:34 and ask in your most difficult Bible questions. 54:36 For times and stations in your area 54:39 or to listen to answers online, visit Bal.AmazingFacts.org. 55:00 What can be more irresistible than a kitten? 55:02 These guys might look cute now 55:04 but some of their ancestors have grown into man-eaters. 55:11 We're here in a lion park in South Africa now 55:14 where we can view these creatures 55:15 in rail of the safety, but there's a reason 55:17 they're known as the king of beasts. 55:20 So what is it that people find 55:21 so enchanting and frightening about lions? 55:24 Is it their speed, their claws, their sharp teeth, 55:27 or all of the above? 55:29 Might also be some of the stories 55:30 about man-eating lions. 55:32 Like in 1898, right here in Africa, 55:35 they were building a bridge over the Tsavo River in Kenya, 55:38 and two brother lions terrorized 55:40 the construction process eating a 135 workers. 55:46 Did you know lions are mentioned in the Bible 55:48 over a hundred times? 55:50 And you can find them all the way 55:51 from Genesis to Revelation. 55:53 It's usually in reference to their ferocity 55:55 and how dangerous they are. 55:57 Of course, Samson killed a lion with his bare hands, 56:00 David killed a lion, 56:01 there are man-eating lions in the Bible. 56:03 The way that they punish criminals 56:05 was by throwing them in the lion's den. 56:07 And early Christians were even fed to Lions. 56:10 But amazingly, as the Bible mentions 56:12 not all Lions are to be feared, 56:15 there have been a few friendly lions in history. 56:17 For example, in the 1950s, a couple, 56:21 George and Margaret Westbeau who lived up at a ranch 56:24 near Seattle, Washington adopted and abandoned lion cub. 56:28 They named it Little Tyke 'cause they felt sorry for it. 56:31 But they discovered as they tried to feed her, 56:34 she refused to eat any meat at all. 56:37 They were concerned thinking there was no hope 56:39 for this little lioness to survive 56:41 and everybody told them the same 56:43 because we know in the wild, 56:44 lion survive on almost entirely meat diet. 56:48 Then someone showed the Westbeaus 56:49 that verse in the Bible that talks about in heaven, 56:52 the animals are vegetarians, 56:54 and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 56:58 That encouraged them, and so they began to feed 57:00 little Tyke a purely vegetarian diet. 57:03 Not only did she survive, she thrived growing into a lion 57:07 that was over 352 pounds and over 10 feet long. 57:12 In fact, zoologist that examined Little Tyke 57:14 when she was full grown said, they had never seen 57:17 such a perfect specimen of a lioness in their life, 57:20 a pure vegetarian. 57:23 You know, when we hear incredible stories 57:24 about that of Little Tyke, 57:26 it reminds us that God's original plan 57:28 was to make a world of total peace. 57:31 It describes it here in the Bible 57:32 on Isaiah chapter 11:6, 57:35 "The wolf also will dwell with the lamb, 57:37 the leopard will lie down with the young goat. 57:40 The calf and the young lion and the fatling together, 57:42 and a little child will lead them." 57:45 Nothing is going to hurt and destroy 57:46 in the new heavens and the new earth 57:48 that God is going to create. 57:49 Wouldn't you likes to live in a kingdom 57:51 with His perfect peace where there is no more 57:53 death, or killing, or pain? 57:55 God says that He wants you in that kingdom. 57:58 The Lamb of God made it possible 58:01 for you to have an encounter 58:02 with the lion of the tribe of Judah. 58:04 Wouldn't you like to meet Him today? |
Revised 2018-05-30