Sanctuary, Salvation, & Our Savior

The Ark of the Covenant

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

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Series Code: SSOS

Program Code: SSOS190011A


00:01 Music...
00:26 Welcome to another installment of the Sanctuary, Salvation
00:30 and our Savior.
00:32 Now, I'm really excited about today's study
00:34 because in today's lesson,
00:36 we'll be looking at the Ark of the Covenant
00:40 and specifically, the Law of God...
00:42 the Ten Commandments
00:44 which was located inside the chest
00:46 known as the Ark of the covenant.
00:49 Now, on the screen behind me is an LED of a depiction
00:54 of the Shekinah glory of God.
00:56 This was the very presence of God
00:58 that was in the sanctuary...
01:00 the Most Holy Place of the sanctuary,
01:02 and inside this chest was the Ten Commandments
01:07 on which God wrote with His own finger
01:10 on tablets of stone
01:12 and God received or God gave Moses
01:15 the Ten Commandments
01:16 and instructed him to put it inside the Ark of the Covenant.
01:21 Now, there's a lot of contradictions
01:24 that seem to come out of Scripture
01:28 and there's some confusion in the Christian community
01:30 about the Law of God and the Ten Commandments.
01:33 Some individuals say that the Law of God
01:35 was done away at the cross,
01:36 other individuals say
01:38 that if you break one, you break them all,
01:41 which is it?
01:42 Is the Law still binding today
01:45 or has it been done away with at the cross?
01:48 And the solution for this seeming contradiction
01:52 is really that there are two laws in the Bible,
01:56 let's go to our screen here.
01:57 We have on the left side the Ten Commandments
02:00 and on the right side, you have Moses' Ceremonial Law
02:05 and I want to compare and contrast these two,
02:09 let's go to the left-hand column here,
02:11 the Ten Commandments was written by God
02:13 according to Exodus chapter 31 verse 18
02:16 and was written on stone.
02:18 When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments,
02:22 He didn't dictate the Ten Commandments to Moses
02:26 and say, "Hey, I'm about to give you something very important
02:28 I want you to write it down. "
02:31 No, this was so important to God
02:33 that God said, "I'm going to write this Myself"
02:37 and notice the material that God used
02:41 for the Ten Commandments.
02:42 He didn't write it on parchment,
02:45 He didn't write it on a scroll,
02:48 He wrote it in stone.
02:51 Have you ever heard the saying, "Written in stone?"
02:54 Does that indicate that it's a passing nature
02:58 or rather unchangeable?
02:59 Notice the very material that God chose
03:02 to write the Ten Commandments with stone
03:05 signifying that this was of an eternal, unchanging form.
03:10 This was not to change... He wrote it Himself
03:13 on tablets of stone
03:14 and notice the location as we mentioned before,
03:16 Deuteronomy chapter 10 verse 5,
03:18 it was deposited by Moses inside of the Ark.
03:23 The location of this is very important
03:24 because the Ark of the Covenant...
03:26 the Mercy Seat...
03:28 the Shekinah glory...
03:29 the angels hovering over the Shekinah glory
03:31 was the throne of God
03:33 and it was placed inside of the Ark.
03:36 In other words, the very foundation...
03:38 the throne of God...
03:39 was to be the... the Ten Commandments.
03:41 The Ten Commandments was not to be placed in the Courtyard,
03:44 the Ten Commandments was not to be placed in the Holy Place,
03:47 the Ten Commandments was not just to be placed
03:50 in the Most Holy Place in any... any sector of it,
03:53 no, the most sacred entity in the entire sanctuary
03:56 was the Ark of the Covenant
03:58 and the Ark of the Covenant held within it... in the chest
04:01 representing the throne room of God,
04:03 was the Ten Commandments, placed inside of the Ark.
04:07 Now the very location of the Ten Commandments
04:10 indicates its significance and we'll be unpacking that
04:14 as we go in our study.
04:16 Isaiah chapter 42 verse 21, Christ was to magnify the Law
04:20 and make it honorable.
04:22 In other words,
04:23 Jesus did not come to do away with the Ten Commandments,
04:27 but as we see in the Beatitudes,
04:29 Jesus came to expound on the Ten Commandments.
04:33 He said, "You have heard, 'Thou shalt not commit adultery
04:36 but if you commit adultery
04:37 or you think about lust in your own mind...
04:40 in your own heart...
04:41 you have committed adultery in your heart. '"
04:43 He expounds on the Ten Commandments
04:47 so, we look at the Ten Commandments written by God
04:49 written on stone,
04:51 deposited by Moses inside of the Ark,
04:53 Christ was to magnify the Law
04:55 and make it honorable.
04:57 Now, let's take a look at the other Law,
04:58 Moses' Ceremonial Law...
05:01 and we'll compare and contrast these two.
05:03 Let's take a look at our screen once again,
05:05 Moses' Ceremonial Law...
05:08 it was written by Moses,
05:11 God's Law - the Ten Commandments written by God
05:15 this one was written by Moses
05:17 and according to Exodus chapter 24 verse 4,
05:19 it was placed in a book.
05:22 The third part, Deuteronomy chapter 31 verse 26,
05:26 it was deposited by the Levites by the side of the Ark.
05:32 Now, notice the distinction between the two...
05:34 just in terms of location...
05:36 the Ten Commandments was placed inside of the Ark
05:40 while, the Book of Moses which was written by Moses
05:44 and placed inside a book,
05:45 was placed at the side of the Ark.
05:47 So, just by location,
05:49 the Ten Commandments had a higher place.
05:52 It was placed inside the Ark of the Covenant
05:55 while the Book of Moses
05:57 was placed outside of the Ark of the covenant.
06:01 In Deuteronomy chapter 31 verse 26,
06:04 it was to be against the people
06:07 and in Colossians chapter 2 and verse 14,
06:10 it says that you blot...
06:12 they blotted out the handwriting of ordinances
06:17 that was to be against the people.
06:20 In other words, when the Bible talks about the Law of God
06:24 being done away with,
06:26 it's not talking about the Ten Commandments,
06:29 it's talking about Moses' Law.
06:32 It was to be of a passing nature
06:35 and when Jesus died on the cross,
06:38 there's something significant that took place there
06:41 in terms of the temple.
06:43 The temple veil was rent from top to bottom
06:47 indicating a transition from the sacrificial ceremonial feast...
06:53 when Jesus died on the cross as the Passover Lamb,
06:56 we don't have to kill a Lamb today anymore
06:59 and I praise the Lord for that.
07:01 Praise the Lord that Jesus is the Passover...
07:04 Jesus is the Lamb of God
07:06 who takes away the sins of the world
07:08 and all of the ceremonial feasts and festivals
07:11 that pointed forward to Jesus...
07:13 we don't have to keep them anymore.
07:16 These are not a part of the Christian ceremonies and rituals
07:22 we don't have to do these anymore
07:24 because Jesus came as the Lamb of God
07:28 and Moses' Law was nailed to the cross
07:31 but this is not talking about the Ten Commandments,
07:34 this is talking about the Ceremonial Law
07:37 which is of passing nature.
07:39 Now, this is a question that was posed to Billy Graham
07:43 in regards to the Law...
07:44 in regards to some of the confusion that is out there.
07:47 Here's the question to Billy Graham.
07:49 "Some religious people that I know
07:51 tell me that the Ten Commandments
07:53 are part of the Law
07:54 and that they do not apply to us today.
07:58 They say that as Christians, we're free from the Law
08:02 is that right?"
08:04 And here's Billy Graham's answer.
08:06 "No, it is not right
08:09 and I hope that you will not be mislead by these false opinions.
08:13 It is very important that Christians understand
08:16 what the Bible means when it says,
08:18 'they are free from the Law'
08:19 it certainly does not mean that they are free from the
08:23 obligations of the Moral Law and our liberty to sin.
08:27 You see the word 'Law' is used by the New Testament
08:31 in two senses,
08:33 sometimes it refers to the Ceremonial Law
08:35 of the Old Testament
08:37 which is concerned about ritual matters and regulations
08:39 regarding food, drink and things of that kind,
08:43 this Ceremonial Law was of a passing character
08:47 and was done away with when Christ came,
08:51 from this Law, Christians are indeed free
08:54 but the New Testament does also speak of a Moral Law
08:59 which is of a permanent, unchanging character
09:03 and it's summarized in the Ten Commandments.
09:07 This Law sets forth God's demands on human life
09:10 and on man's duties to God and his neighbor
09:13 but it definitely applies to Christians is made clear
09:16 in Romans 13:8 through 10." Billy Graham.
09:21 I agree with this assessment, there are two Laws...
09:25 Moses' Law was of a passing nature
09:27 and was done away with... it was nailed to the cross,
09:30 but the Ten-Commandment Law
09:32 which was placed inside of the Ark
09:34 is of an eternal nature.
09:36 It was not done away with at the cross
09:39 and Billy Graham's assessment here is absolutely correct.
09:43 In James chapter 1 verse 23, the Bible tells us
09:47 that the Law of God is like a mirror.
09:50 I praise the Lord for mirrors.
09:52 A mirror tells the truth.
09:56 Have you ever gone through a day and you think you just look fine
10:01 and then, you look in the mirror
10:03 and then, you're like,
10:05 "Oh, people were looking at me and I look like this?"
10:09 You know, and you don't get mad at the mirror,
10:12 you do an adjustment.
10:13 In other words, the mirror is a moment of self-awareness.
10:17 The mirror shows us our need.
10:18 In the same way, the Law of God is not the solution...
10:22 the Law of God is not like a bar of soap,
10:25 it doesn't clean us up.
10:27 The Law of God shows us our need of a Savior.
10:31 So, when we talk about the Law of God,
10:33 we must remember that we're not saved through the Law...
10:36 the Law is the standard.
10:39 The Law is a transcript of the character of God...
10:42 the Law is like a mirror
10:44 and shows us our need of a Savior.
10:46 As we looked into the mirror of God's perfect righteousness...
10:50 His perfect character...
10:52 we see that we are sinners in need of a Savior.
10:55 So, the Law points to Jesus.
10:57 The Law is not like a bar of soap...
11:00 that is, its purpose is not to clean us up
11:03 but to show us our great need.
11:06 Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my commandments. "
11:10 John 14 verse 15.
11:11 "So, God's faithful people keep His Law
11:14 because they love Him...
11:16 not in order to be saved but because they are saved
11:20 by His amazing grace. "
11:22 This is important for us to recognize
11:25 that we're not saved through the Law,
11:27 we're saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone
11:33 and the Law is a transcript of God's character,
11:37 He writes it in our own hearts
11:38 and we love Him because He first loved us.
11:43 It is not the means of salvation...
11:45 it is the response to the love of God... the Law of God is.
11:50 Now, when we look at the Ten commandments,
11:53 we note that the first four
11:55 are in reference to our love to God,
11:58 the last six are in reference to our love to our neighbor.
12:02 In other words, if you love God, you will keep the Sabbath.
12:07 If you love God, you will have no other gods before Him.
12:11 If you love God, you won't worship idols.
12:13 If you love your neighbor, you won't kill him...
12:16 you won't take his wife,
12:17 you won't lie, cheat or steal from him,
12:19 in other words, the Law of God is fulfilled in love
12:23 and God wants to write that Law
12:25 in our own hearts and in our own minds.
12:28 The Law of God is not an imposed extrinsic idea
12:34 of obligation.
12:36 We think of the Law in terms of...
12:38 "You can't... you can't do this,
12:39 you can't do this... you can't do this... "
12:42 but actually the Law of God is written in a way
12:45 that really says, in a form of a promise,
12:48 "You will not... "
12:50 what a different paradigm isn't it?
12:52 in other words, if you love God,
12:55 you will not have any other gods before Him.
12:58 If you love your neighbor, you will not kill him.
13:02 If you love your neighbor, you will not cheat...
13:06 you will not take his wife...
13:08 so the Ten Commandments...
13:11 the fulfilling of the Ten Commandments
13:13 is God writing His Law of love in our own hearts
13:17 and you will not do these things.
13:20 The Ten Commandments, written by God,
13:23 written on stone,
13:25 were placed inside of the Ark of the Covenant.
13:28 The transcript of God's character...
13:31 the very foundation of God's throne...
13:33 was placed inside this chest...
13:35 signify that this was the foundation of God's government.
13:39 We're going to take a short break
13:41 and when we come back,
13:42 we'll continue in our study of the Law of God...
13:45 how God wants to write his Law in our own hearts...
13:48 in our own minds...
13:49 we're going to take a short break
13:51 and when we come back,
13:52 we'll continue in our study of the Law of God
13:55 which is in the Ark of the Covenant.


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Revised 2019-10-22