Participants:
Series Code: AFDB
Program Code: AFDB000178S
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00:03 by the friends of The Amazing Facts Ministry.
00:10 Doug Batchelor: Did you know it's against the law to doze off 00:13 under a hairdryer in Florida, to play hopscotch on Sunday in 00:17 Missouri, to hunt camels in Arizona, to insert a penny in 00:22 your ear in Hawaii, to tie a giraffe to a telephone pole in 00:26 Atlanta, to catch mice without a license in Cleveland, to put a 00:31 skunk in your boss's desk in Michigan, to detonate a nuclear 00:35 weapon within Chico California city limits, which carries a 00:39 punishment of $500, to bathe less than once a year in 00:43 Kentucky, to pawn your dentures in Las Vegas? 00:47 Yes, there are about two million laws in the US and if a person 00:52 could review them at a rate of about two a day, you'd be 00:55 qualified to act as a law-abiding citizen in about 00:58 6,000 years. 01:00 Yet the Lord was able to summarize the entire duty of man 01:04 to God in just ten simple precepts that contain 01:07 about 325 words. 01:10 Jesus said, God's law boils down to two crucial principles, love 01:15 for God, and love for our fellow man. 01:18 Join me now, friends, as we consider the relevance of God's 01:21 law in our lives today. 01:28 Doug: We're just so excited about this subject tonight 01:30 because we're going to be dealing with some very practical 01:32 things from the Bible that are often neglected. 01:36 Now, the title for our presentation tonight is 01:39 The Commands Of The King. 01:42 And as our custom, we're going to begin with a story 01:44 in the Bible. 01:45 It's one of the famous stories that you find in your Bible in 01:47 the Book of Daniel chapter 6. 01:50 I'll give you a little background. 01:52 You remember we talked, when we talked about the empires, that 01:56 Babylon fell to the Mido-Persians. 01:59 And when Babylon themselves in the Mido-Persians, the Persians, 02:02 they wiped out all of the former administrators that had served 02:05 the Babylonian king, with the exception of Daniel because 02:08 Daniel was an honest man. 02:11 He was a very capable administrator. 02:13 They knew that he had really worshiped Jehovah and his 02:15 allegiance wasn't to any Babylonian king. 02:19 They not only preserved him, but the Bible tells us in chapter 6 02:23 that the king, Darius, was so impressed with Daniel, he 02:26 thought to set him over the whole kingdom. 02:29 He had him as one of his chief administrators, and he was 02:32 thinking of making him the prime minister. 02:35 Well, that really bothered the other politicians in 02:37 the kingdom. 02:40 They said, "Oh, that's Daniel. He's from Judah. 02:41 He's a captive. 02:43 And how are we going to be, you know, extorting money? 02:48 And how are we going to be getting our kickbacks? 02:50 And if he's watching the books all the time, he's too honest. 02:52 We're not going to get anywhere." 02:55 And they really began to resent how much the king trusted in 02:59 Daniel and that relationship. 03:01 And they said, "We got to get him out of the way." 03:03 They hired spies to follow Daniel around. 03:06 The Bible record is that he was Spirit-filled and he was 03:09 faithful in everything he did. 03:12 They put, you know, cameras everywhere to try and catch him. 03:16 They checked his file box to see if he was paying his taxes. 03:18 And in every detail of his life, Daniel was faithful. 03:22 You wonder what would happen if people followed us 03:26 around and spied? 03:28 Do we have integrity? 03:29 Are we the same people in private that we are in public? 03:32 Well, Daniel was. 03:33 Finally, they came up with a scheme. 03:35 They said, "We know how to get rid of him. 03:37 We're not going to find anything against him concerning, you 03:39 know, the kingdom or doing anything unlawful. 03:42 But maybe on religious grounds, we can get rid of him because 03:45 he's a very religious man, and he doesn't worship our gods." 03:49 So, they went and they assembled before the king. 03:51 And they said, "King, we got an idea. 03:53 Since we've now just conquered all these new nations and Persia 03:57 has grown, we think that it'll help solidify the kingdom if we 04:01 make a law that nobody is to pray to anybody but King Darius 04:05 for 30 days, not forever, just for 30 days." 04:09 And you might think, "Well, that's pretty arrogant law 04:10 to make." 04:12 But it was common in ancient history that when a king wanted 04:16 to unite people, if he couldn't do it through their language or 04:20 their culture or their race, they could do it through 04:22 common religion. 04:24 How is the devil going to try to unite the world in 04:26 the last days? 04:27 He compels them all to worship, common worship. 04:31 It wasn't an accident that Julius Caesar and Augustus 04:34 Caesar and Alexander the Great declared themselves to be deity. 04:38 They knew they weren't gods. 04:41 I mean, they got tired and hungry and sore like 04:42 everybody else. 04:44 But they thought if the people think this, it'll help preserve 04:47 the integrity of the kingdom. 04:48 So, they talked the king into it. 04:50 And he said, "Okay, yeah, we can do that for 30 days." 04:53 And he said, "Of course, there's a penalty if they break it, they 04:54 go to the lions' den." 04:56 "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, of course, there's a penalty." 04:58 And they talk King Darius into signing this law, according to 05:02 the law of the Medes and the Persians, which does not change. 05:06 And then the Bible makes an incredible statement in Daniel 05:09 chapter 6, and verse 10. 05:12 We read, "Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed," 05:15 this law. 05:17 He knows that he's going to go to the lions' den if he's 05:19 caught praying. 05:21 "He went home. 05:22 And in his upper room, with his windows open 05:24 towards Jerusalem--" 05:26 Why were his windows open towards Jerusalem? 05:28 Because Solomon said, "If you are carried away captive to 05:30 another land, if they pray towards this place, then hear in 05:35 heaven and answer their prayer." 05:37 It says he knelt down on his knees in his upper room where 05:41 everybody could see him. 05:43 And he opened his windows there in the courtyard where everyone 05:45 could see. 05:46 And he prayed out loud where everybody could hear. 05:49 He did absolutely nothing to show that he was 05:51 worshiping Darius. 05:53 He wanted everyone to know, "My custom is not going to change." 05:57 You know, the Bible tells us that this was his custom from 06:00 his youth. 06:01 He prayed three times a day, why? 06:03 Daniel read in Psalm 55, verse 17 where King David said, 06:06 "Morning, evening, and at noon will I pray and lift up 06:09 my voice." 06:10 And Daniel, not only read the Bible, you can read in the Book 06:14 of Daniel where Daniel says, "I was reading 06:15 the Book of Jeremiah." 06:17 Daniel was a Bible student. 06:19 He read the Bible, and he lived out the Bible. 06:21 So, when the king makes this law that says you can't pray to 06:24 anybody but the king for 30 days, Daniel's got to 06:27 make a choice. 06:28 "Do I obey the law of the government or the law of God? 06:33 Do I worship the way the government is telling me to 06:35 worship or the way God is telling me to worship?" 06:38 One of the Ten Commandment says, "You shall not have 06:39 other gods," right? 06:42 And so, Daniel said, "I'm not going to disobey. 06:46 I've spent my whole life serving Jehovah. 06:48 He's taken good care of me. 06:50 Whatever the consequences, if I go to the lions' den, I go to 06:52 the lions' den." 06:54 And it's amazing to me his courage. 06:56 It would have been so easy for him to just leave his windows 06:59 closed for 30 days but he said, "These people all know that I'm 07:02 like a cuckoo clock, three times a day, I come out and I pray. 07:06 And if they see me close my windows, they're going to think 07:07 I'm compromising my love for God, and I'm not going to let 07:09 them see that." 07:11 So, he opens his window. 07:13 He could have opened his windows and looked like he was just 07:14 sniffing the flowers and prayed in his heart, but he got on his 07:17 knees so in his posture, they'd see he was praying. 07:20 Then he prayed out loud, and they could hear 07:22 what he was praying. 07:24 Well, sure enough, the men assembled, and they saw 07:26 what Daniel was doing. 07:28 Here's the rest of that verse. 07:29 "He knelt down on his knees three times that day, 07:31 and he prayed." 07:33 And the other amazing thing is it says he prayed, 07:34 and he gave thanks. 07:36 Now, if you were about to become cat food, would you thank God? 07:41 He was thankful in everything. 07:42 Give thanks, the Bible says. 07:44 He prayed and gave things before his God, as was his custom 07:47 since early days. 07:49 Now, this is a very important study because we're going to be 07:52 dealing with the law of God and how it relates to prophecy 07:55 in the last days. 07:57 Well, when the king realized these men who had trapped 08:00 Daniel, they went in before the king and said, "Didn't us sign a 08:03 law that said if anyone prays to any god or man for 30 days, 08:06 he's going to lions' den?" 08:08 The king said, "Yeah, yeah." 08:09 "Well, that Daniel from the captivity of Judah, he prays 08:11 and makes his petition three times a day." 08:14 And the king went, "Oh, it was a trap. 08:17 I see what you guys were doing." 08:19 The king tried to change his law, but he could not. 08:23 It says three or four times in that chapter, chapter 6 08:25 of Daniel, "The law of the Medes and the Persians, 08:28 which does not change." 08:29 It does not change, cannot be altered. 08:32 And the king got his lawyers together and he said, 08:34 "Is there any loophole? 08:36 Any way that we can save Daniel?" 08:38 They said, "Your Highness, there's none. 08:39 The law cannot be changed. 08:41 He's got to go to the lions' den, at least for 24 hours." 08:45 "So, the king gave the command, and they brought Daniel," this 08:48 is verse 16, "and they cast him into the den of lions." 08:54 But the king spoke, and he said to Daniel, "You're God, 08:57 who you serve from time to time--" 09:01 How often? 09:03 "Your God who you serve continually, 09:05 He will deliver you." 09:07 Is that still true today? 09:10 If you have a life of serving God, He will deliver you. 09:14 And if you stand up for what's right, He will honor you 09:17 if you honor Him. 09:19 Well, Daniel went to the lions's den, but when the king came 09:22 the next morning, the lions did not bother Daniel, you know why? 09:27 He had too much backbone. 09:30 He knew how to stand. 09:32 Matter of fact, he probably--he was about 80, 85 years old 09:34 at this point in his life. 09:36 He got tired, he leaned up against the lion. 09:38 He pulled his tail. 09:39 It hummed and purred, and he went to sleep. 09:42 Wasn't afraid at all. 09:46 And the Bible tells us in Hebrews chapter 11, through 09:48 faith, people have stopped the mouths of lions. 09:52 Next morning, the king brought Daniel out of the lions's den. 09:55 And the Bible says that there was no harm on him 09:58 because he believed in God. 10:02 Now, we are saved by believing in God. 10:05 That's called faith. 10:06 Daniel was saved by faith, but how did he show his faith? 10:10 He chose to obey the commands of God instead of the commands 10:14 of the government. 10:17 We're going to be faced with the same issues in the last days. 10:20 You might be thinking, "Pastor Doug, in a prophecy seminar like 10:22 this, why are we talking about the law of God?" 10:26 Let me give you three quotes from the Book of Revelation, 10:28 book of prophecy in the Bible, last book in the Bible. 10:31 Revelation, chapter 12, verse 17, "The dragon was wroth with 10:35 the woman, and he went to make war with a remnant of his 10:39 seed--her seed that keeps the commandments of God." 10:43 Who does the devil make war with? 10:44 The ones who keep the commandments of God. 10:47 You look in Revelation chapter 14, verse 12, "Here is 10:50 the patience of the saints. 10:52 Here are those who keep the commandments of God and have 10:55 the faith of Jesus." 10:57 Go to the last chapter in the Bible. 10:59 It's real easy to find, last chapter in Revelation. 11:02 And said, "Blessed are those that keep His commandments, that 11:05 they might have a right to the tree of life and enter in 11:09 through the gates of the city." 11:10 So, here's three times in Revelation it says that the 11:13 people who are going to be successful and survive are the 11:17 ones who are obedient. 11:18 Indeed, when you look at the messages of Jesus to the seven 11:20 churches in chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation, it says, "To him who 11:24 overcomes, to him who overcomes, to him who overcomes" 11:26 seven times. 11:27 God wants His people to be an obedient people. 11:31 Now, I believe, in case there's any question I don't want you to 11:33 doubt this at all, we are saved by grace through faith. 11:37 We are saved by faith. 11:39 But I believe when you are saved by faith, you will obey. 11:43 Obedience is not legalism. 11:46 Some pastors are making it sound today like if you believe in or 11:49 talk about obedience, you are automatically a legalist. 11:53 The Bible does not teach that. 11:54 Let me give you a few things to think about in our study this 11:57 evening that are very important. 11:59 First question, we're going to go through some of these 12:01 important questions. 12:02 Can God's moral law--now, when I say moral law, the central topic 12:05 we're talking about now is the Ten Commandments. 12:09 You've got what they sometimes called the Decalogue because you 12:12 got the ten words that God spoke there. 12:15 There are a number of laws in the Bible. 12:16 You got some health laws and civil laws and ceremonial laws, 12:19 and we're not talking about that. 12:21 We're talking about the basic moral law of 12:22 the Ten Commandments. 12:24 And there's a lot of people on the street, a lot of people in 12:27 the churches, and if you interview them and say, "Can you 12:29 name all Ten Commandments?" 12:31 I'll bet you 80% can't. 12:34 It's really amazing. 12:36 And yet, the Bible tells us that this is the time when God spoke 12:39 to the whole nation. 12:41 He wrote with his own finger, and it was a big priority. 12:44 So, can God's moral law, the Ten Commandments, 12:47 be amended or repealed? 12:49 What does the Bible say? 12:51 Luke 16:17 Jesus said, "It's easier for heaven and earth to 12:54 pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail." 12:58 A tittle is like what you and I use to cross a T. 13:01 It's one of the smallest characters in Hebrew. 13:03 It says, "Nothing will pass from the law." 13:06 The law is eternal in its nature. 13:08 Again, he tells us in Psalm 89, verse 34, "My covenant I will 13:13 not alter, I will not break, or alter the words that have gone 13:17 out of My lips." 13:18 By the way, the Ten Commandments are called a covenant. 13:22 And you're going to say, "Well, that's the Old Covenant." 13:23 That's right. 13:25 We're going to find out more about that tonight too. 13:27 And you can also read there in Psalm 111, verse 7 and 8, "All 13:31 of His precepts are sure. 13:33 They stand forever and ever." 13:36 They stand fast forever and ever. 13:38 And then finally in Malachi chapter 3, verse 6, God says, 13:42 "I am the Lord, I do not change." 13:45 Now, if I'm going to write something that is going to be 13:49 erased, I use a pencil. 13:51 If I'm going to be--you know, sometimes I'm marking my Bible, 13:53 and I just use a pencil because I thought I might change that 13:55 note later, and I want it to be erasable. 13:58 If I write something in stone, you usually want it 14:01 to last, right? 14:03 And so, when God wrote the Ten Commandments in stone, this is 14:06 something that is of an internal--eternal nature. 14:11 Doug: Don't go anywhere, friends. 14:12 In just a few moments, we'll return and complete 14:14 this presentation. 14:15 You know, one of the big debates in the Christian world today has 14:18 to do with, how does a Christian relate to the law of God? 14:22 Now, clearly, some things were nailed to the cross, and 14:25 a Christian does not need to keep the Old Covenant. 14:28 But what about the Ten Commandments? 14:30 After all, they're not called the ten recommendations 14:33 or the ten suggestions or God's ten good ideas. 14:37 We have a special lesson we'd like to share with you and it's 14:39 called "Written In Stone." 14:41 Even in the title, you can understand Ten Commandments were 14:44 written by the finger of God in stone so obviously, 14:47 this is important. 14:49 If you'd like to understand this subject and much more related to 14:51 it, then make sure and send for this free offer, 14:54 and you'll be blessed. 14:56 To get your free copy, call the phone number on your screen and 14:59 ask for offer number 111. 15:01 And after you read this incredible resource, make sure 15:04 and share it with a friend. 15:05 Let's get back to today's presentation and learn some more 15:07 amazing facts about the Word of God. 15:11 Doug: One reason this truth is so very important is for 15:15 those who are trying to say we don't need the law, they're 15:18 really trying to get rid of God because the law of God is 15:22 the perfect expression and reflection of the character 15:26 of God. 15:27 Look at these verses. 15:29 The Bible defines God, it says for one thing, God is good. 15:32 Well, it says the law is good, Romans 7, verse 12. 15:35 You read in Isaiah 5:16, "God is holy." 15:38 Romans 7:12 says, "The law is holy." 15:41 God is described as just. 15:44 The Bible says the law is just. 15:46 It tells us in Matthew 5, "God is perfect." 15:49 It says, "His law is perfect." 15:51 God is love. 15:53 The Bible says, "The law is love." 15:55 It says, "God is righteous. 15:58 God is truth. 15:59 God is pure, spiritual, unchangeable, eternal." 16:03 And it uses the same definitions for the law. 16:07 So, whenever people start saying, "Well, we're saved by 16:09 grace, we're not under the law anymore. 16:10 We don't need the law anymore." 16:12 You be very careful about that because you're like pushing 16:14 God aside. 16:16 Let me explain why the law is so important is this is how you 16:19 lift up Jesus and our need for Jesus. 16:21 Sin is the transgression of the law. 16:24 We're going to get to that. 16:26 Jesus came to save us from our sin. 16:28 If you don't have law, you don't have sin. 16:32 If you don't have sin, you don't need a Savior. 16:36 The devil hates the law. 16:38 He is attacking them, read in Revelation chapter 14. 16:41 The devil, in Revelation chapter 12, verse 17, he is attacking 16:45 the ones who keep the commandments of God because they 16:49 recognize their need of the Savior, and they're 16:52 exalting that. 16:54 And in the last days, we know that the beast power is going to 16:57 make a law that everybody needs to worship a certain way 17:00 or they cannot buy or sell. 17:02 That's assuming there's still things in the store to buy and 17:04 sell, amen. 17:05 And then ultimately, there's a death decree. 17:09 You look in Daniel chapter 3, those who do not worship the 17:12 image, government makes a law says, "You've got to worship the 17:16 way we say or you'll be killed, you go to the fiery furnace." 17:19 Daniel chapter 6, you got to break the first commandment, 17:22 or you go to the fiery furnace. 17:24 And you can read in the Book of Esther, unless they bowed down 17:27 and worshiped Haman, he can wipe out the whole nation. 17:30 And the governments were making laws that conflicted with 17:32 the law of God. 17:34 We are going to be faced with the same issue in the last days, 17:37 there's no ifs, ands, or buts about it. 17:39 So, Christians who are interested in Bible prophecy, 17:42 you need to know you're not saved by just knowing 17:44 Bible prophecy. 17:45 Jesus wants to save you from your sin. 17:48 He wants to transform your life. 17:50 You know, there's something I sometimes do when I cover this 17:53 subject that helps make it clear for people. 17:55 We seem to learn better by visuals. 18:02 Make sure I don't turn over the prophecy code. 18:09 All right now, let's get right on with our lesson here. 18:14 Would it distract you if I continued like this? 18:18 Do any of you see anything wrong right now? 18:21 You see anything? 18:24 I mean, if I walked out the door like this, would you stop me as 18:26 a friend and say, "Hey, you got a wardrobe malfunction. 18:29 You got to do something about this." 18:31 I would hope you'd say, "Doug, come here. 18:33 Let me help you a little bit." 18:34 Have you ever walked up to somebody and it's like, you 18:37 know, you help fix their attire because they're 18:38 having a problem? 18:40 Quick story. 18:41 I was going through an airport and rushing to get a flight. 18:45 you know, you've got to go through security. 18:46 I'm thinking most of you have been through security 18:48 at some point. 18:49 And there this business guy ahead of me. 18:51 And you got to take off all your clothes and your shoes 18:52 and your belt and everything. 18:54 And you got to reassemble yourself, and you're rushing 18:55 for your plane. 18:57 And I saw this one guy ahead of me. 18:58 And sometimes a guy, when he puts on sport coat, if you're 19:00 not paying attention, you get your collar all, you know, wonky 19:03 like this and it lowers your perceived IQ. 19:07 Isn't that right, if someone walks around like this? 19:09 And so, I saw this guy. 19:11 I said, "Here, let me help you," and I grabbed his jacket and I 19:13 straightened it out. 19:14 And he gave me the strangest look. 19:16 I thought, I was just trying to be helpful. 19:18 He looked at me like that. 19:20 Then I went into the men's room and I looked, and my collar was 19:21 like this. 19:26 And here I was, I was helping him. 19:28 So, you'd stop me before I went out the door like this, right? 19:33 You'd say, "Doug, you got something on your face." 19:35 And I'd say, "I don't have anything on my face. 19:37 I don't see anything wrong with my face." 19:40 You'd say, "No, Doug, you got something on your face." 19:42 I'd say, "Prove it." 19:43 What do I have to do? A mirror. 19:46 I heard it just in unison. 19:48 Well, it just so happens that the lovely Vanna Batchelor is 19:54 going to--I felt fine until I looked in the mirror. 19:59 So, since the mirror showed me the problem, it stands to reason 20:03 that the mirror should take care of the problem. 20:07 Is this going to take care of my problem? 20:09 No. 20:11 Well, I felt fine until I looked in the mirror, so ignorance 20:15 is bliss. 20:17 If I throw the mirror away and just pretend it's not there, 20:19 does that take care of my problem? 20:22 I heard about a man years ago in China that they shipped one of 20:24 these newfangled microscopes to the country. 20:27 And he was fascinating with looking at all these things 20:30 under the microscope and just all the life and 20:32 the detail he saw. 20:34 And he got the idea to put his rice under the microscope. 20:38 And on his rice, he saw all these microscopic things 20:42 crawling around. 20:44 So, he destroyed the microscope because he really liked 20:47 his rice. 20:50 And some people don't like the law. 20:51 You know what the problem is? 20:53 There's nothing wrong with the law. 20:54 The law is just and holy and good, but it shows us our sins. 20:59 We want to get rid of it. 21:01 That's the bottom line, friends. 21:02 Is the function of the law to take away the sin. 21:07 So, what do I do? It shows me the problem. 21:09 It's not fair it would show me and not help me. 21:10 What do I need? 21:13 Well, if it's a mark on my face--I used to do this with 21:15 marker, and one time I accidentally used a permanent 21:18 marker and rubbing it off my head, went from black to red. 21:25 But so, I need a cloth. 21:27 I need the blood of Jesus. 21:30 And so, here she is again, conveniently. 21:33 So, what does this represent? 21:37 What does this? 21:39 What does this? 21:41 The blood of Christ. 21:43 This shows me the problem, this takes care of the problem. 21:47 Let me see if this make it look like it works. 21:50 So, we are saved by the blood. 21:52 Now, if you get rid of this, you don't see this and you don't 21:56 know that there's a problem. 21:58 And you go through life with sin and all the consequences of sin. 22:02 All right, I'm going to sit this back over here. 22:05 So, that just helps us sometimes to understand and realize what 22:09 the function of the law is. 22:11 We're not teaching that we are saved by the law. 22:13 We are saved by grace. 22:14 According to the Bible, what is sin? 22:18 The Bible says sin is lawlessness. 22:21 And if you got the King James there, it tells us sin is the 22:23 transgression of the law. 22:26 Jesus came to save us from our lawlessness. 22:29 And the Bible tells us that God is holy, and he's calling 22:32 us to holiness. 22:34 Again, you can read in Romans chapter 3, verse 20, "For by the 22:37 law is the knowledge of sin." 22:40 The law shows us our sin, but it's not supposed to save us 22:43 from our sin. 22:45 But we need it because it then drives us to Jesus. 22:47 It shows us where we are. 22:49 The Bible says that we should examine ourselves according to 22:53 God's law. 22:55 You read in the Book of James, it says, "So do and so live as 22:59 those that will be judged by the law of liberty." 23:02 And if you look in Psalm 119, verse 44 and 45, it says, "So 23:08 I'll keep your commandments forever and ever, and I will 23:10 walk at liberty because I seek your law." 23:14 We're free because of the law. 23:17 The law does not bind us. The law frees us. 23:20 There are people who are in jail here in the Sacramento County or 23:22 Placer County because they've broken the law. 23:26 I am free because I didn't. 23:29 See what I'm saying? 23:30 And so, the law actually protects your freedom. 23:32 People always think of stoplights as stoplights but, 23:35 you know, they're not just stoplights, they're go lights. 23:38 If you make all the stoplights stop working, you'll see how 23:40 important those stoplights are. 23:42 They're really go lights. 23:45 To what law does John, 1 John 3, verse 4 refer? 23:48 Well, you can read in Romans 7:7, it's pretty clear he's 23:50 talking about the Ten Commandments. 23:52 "I would have not known sin except through the law. 23:55 For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had 23:59 said, 'You shall not covet.'" 24:02 And so, it's the law that helps us to recognize 24:05 our need of Christ. 24:06 And here he's specifically mentioning one of 24:08 the Ten Commandments. 24:09 He says breaking that law is sin. 24:13 Jesus died to save us from our sin. 24:16 He died to save us from our lawlessness. 24:19 Now, do you know what those laws are? 24:23 And you go through the Ten Commandments, 24:25 "Do not worship other gods." 24:27 I'll just do a brief summary right now. 24:29 "You shall not have other gods before me. 24:30 Don't make an image of those gods and bow down to them. 24:34 Do not take the name of the Lord in vain. 24:36 Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 24:38 Honor your father and mother. 24:40 You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. 24:42 You shall not bear false witness. 24:43 And you shall not covet." 24:46 If people in our society were keeping those laws today, if we 24:49 were teaching them, you'd have a lot less crime. 24:53 Crime has kind of gone through the roof. 24:55 The average 18 year old has witnessed 200,000 violent acts, 25:00 including 400,000 murders on television by the time they're 25:03 18, they've witnessed. 25:05 Now, this is actually an older statistic. 25:07 Today, with all the screens that people have before them, they've 25:11 got their TV screen, their iPad, they've got their computer 25:15 screen, their phone screen, and people are watching YouTubes 25:19 and stuff all the time. 25:21 The violence, the adultery, using God's name in vain that 25:24 people are hearing and watching almost without interruption, 25:28 it's having an impact on our culture. 25:31 I'll tell you that. 25:33 When I was a kid in public school in California down in 25:37 Burbank, California, we had the Ten Commandments on the wall 25:42 in our public school. 25:44 Does anyone else remember that? 25:46 Yeah, it's and now it's against the law. 25:49 They can't even have it in the courthouse. 25:51 It's amazing. 25:52 Do you know that every year, $13 billion are stolen 25:55 in North America from retailers? 25:57 There are 27 million shoplifters in our nation. 26:01 That's 10% of all people. 26:05 And this is from the Department of Consumer Affairs, 47% of 26:07 high school students have shoplifted, nearly half. 26:12 According to the US Chamber of Commerce, 75% of employees steal 26:15 from their employers at least once. 26:18 Now granted, sometimes they just stole a stapler, sometimes they 26:20 embezzled thousands or millions of dollars. 26:23 But stealing is stealing. 26:25 Do you know you can go to hell for stealing a pen? 26:28 It's the spirit of stealing if it's in your heart. 26:32 Across the US, there were 25% more murders recorded in 2020 26:36 than the previous year. 26:37 You have heard crime is going up. 26:40 And I can't help but wonder if it's not something that 26:42 politics--I don't think politicians are going to be able 26:46 to solve this by putting a BAND-AID on a bullet wound. 26:50 I think what's happened is the culture has taken the law of God 26:53 out of our society. 27:00 announcer: Don't forget to request today's life-changing, 27:02 free resource. 27:03 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, you can 27:06 download a digital copy straight to your computer 27:08 or mobile device. 27:10 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply text 27:13 the keyword on your screen to 40544 or visit the web address 27:17 shown on your screen. 27:19 And be sure to select the digital download option 27:22 on the request page. 27:23 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 27:26 Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want, 27:29 and most important, to share it with others. 27:34 female announcer: Did you know Amazing Facts has a free 27:36 Bible school that you can do from the comfort of your 27:38 own home? 27:39 It includes 27 beautifully illustrated study lessons to aid 27:43 in your study of God's Word. 27:45 Sign up today for this free Bible study course by calling 27:47 1-844-215-7000. 27:51 That's 1-844-215-7000. 28:00 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's free offer. 28:03 It's sure to be a blessing. 28:04 And thank you for your continued support as we take the gospel of 28:07 Jesus Christ to the world. 28:10 We hope you'll join us next week as we delve deep into the Word 28:13 of God to explore more Amazing Facts. 28:24 announcer: This presentation was brought to you by 28:25 the friends of the Amazing Facts Ministry. |
Revised 2022-05-03