Participants: Sasha Bolotnikov
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000151
|
00:13 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth, live from Surprise, Arizona.
00:22 Well good evening and welcome to Surprise, Arizona. 00:28 And I tell you, this is a beautiful place. 00:30 We've had a wonderful few days here setting up. 00:34 And the weather is great here. 00:36 You came from Illinois today. 00:38 And how was the weather there? 00:40 When I left, it was 14 degrees. 00:42 I'm told it is down to three now, 00:44 and heading south. 00:46 Yes, right. 00:48 I was wondering, does anyone here have a bedroom they want to 00:50 rent out for the rest of the winter? 00:53 Well we love Illinois, and it will warm back up. 00:56 That's one good thing about our weather there in West Frankfort. 01:01 But we do envy you folks to get to spend the winter here. 01:05 I wouldn't want to spend the summers here. 01:07 Last time I was here in the summer, 125 degrees. 01:12 And I was wearing contact lenses in those days. 01:15 They stuck to my eyeballs and I couldn't get them off. 01:18 I'm serious. 01:19 It was that warm. 01:21 But boy, it's been some really beautiful weather here today. 01:26 And this is a great place, Jim, to begin our 01:28 Anchors series for 2015. 01:31 It really is. 01:32 This Anchors, Jim, is the 151st Anchors. 01:37 We've done 150. 01:38 This makes 151. 01:39 - Isn't that amazing? - Yeah. 01:41 It's hard to fathom that this many have actually been done. 01:48 - But it's amazing. - You remember the first one? 01:51 Matter of fact, I don't. 01:52 February 2011, Ty Gibson. 01:56 - Who was it? - Ty Gibson. 01:58 Alright, and we've had Ty back several times. 02:01 - Several times. - That is true. 02:03 Well this is about the Jewish work. 02:07 And you know, the amazing thing is that the servant of the Lord 02:13 tells us that just before the return of our Lord, 02:17 there's going to be a mighty work among the Jewish people. 02:21 - We've seen it already. - We have. 02:23 We've seen guys like Doug Batchelor, 02:25 Sasha Bolotnikov, who's going to be here tonight, 02:29 Jeff Zaremsky, and Alan Reinach, 02:34 Alex down in Florida who can't be with us this time. 02:38 But there are so many of these. 02:40 White Horse Ministry, Steve Wohlberg. 02:44 And so many of these young men grew up Jewish, 02:50 found the Messiah, found it in the context of the 02:54 Seventh-day Adventist Church. 02:56 And all of a sudden, I had one young Jewish man tell me, 03:01 "I now feel complete." 03:03 Now this is a brilliant young man. 03:05 And he was an Orthodox Jew. 03:08 But when he found this message, he said, 03:11 "This puts it all together. 03:14 This puts it all together." 03:17 He said, "The Seventh-day Adventist message 03:21 is the apostolic message of the disciples 03:28 who were Jews who kept the Sabbath and who believed 03:34 in the entire Bible." 03:36 And he said, "This is what Seventh-day Adventists are." 03:40 Now I want to read you a statement. 03:41 This comes from, Acts of the Apostles. 03:44 Ellen Whites says, "God expects His messengers 03:48 to take particular interest in the Jewish people." 03:54 Then she says this in, MR. 03:59 I can't remember, Ministry of... 04:02 1MR, 137 verse 2. 04:05 You've heard this statement many times, 04:08 but you did not realize it was tied to the Jewish people. 04:13 It says, "The time has come when the Jews are to be given light. 04:16 The Lord wants us to encourage and sustain men who shall 04:21 labor in the right lines for this people; 04:25 for there are to be a multitude convinced of the truth 04:29 who will take their position for God. 04:32 The time is coming when there will be as many," 04:36 now listen to this, "as many converted in a day 04:40 as there were on the day of Pentecost..." 04:43 It's talking about Jews. 04:46 See, we always have just applied that to 04:48 a number around the world. 04:50 No, she says there will be as many Jews "converted in a day 04:57 as there were on the day of Pentecost, 04:59 after the disciples had received the Holy Spirit." 05:04 You know something? We want to be a part of that. 05:07 And so this is why we've invited Ralph Ringer, 05:11 who is the coordinator and director of the Jewish outreach 05:15 ministries for North America, among other hats that he wears. 05:20 And we have invited him to come and to be with us 05:26 to introduce to us three other young men 05:31 who are going to be presenting the message as Jewish believers 05:37 in Jesus and the third angel's message. 05:40 So I'm looking forward to this. 05:41 A year ago we had a similar series with several of 05:45 the same people, and it was unbelievably received. 05:50 And so we have invited them to come and to present 05:54 a series again. 05:55 - Isn't it amazing? - It is amazing. 05:57 And one of the things we're trying to do is to sensitize you 06:00 to the understanding that the work among particular people 06:04 is not always as easy as it is among others. 06:07 Yet God said that this work will be successful. 06:11 And so we can move forward in the strength of the Lord, 06:13 not in our own strength. 06:14 When you are dealing with people of Islamic faith, 06:16 you have to be very easy and very sensitive. 06:19 When you're dealing with people of Jewish faith, 06:20 you've got to be very easy and very sensitive. 06:22 You can't really sort of go in like a bull in a china shop. 06:25 Yet there are ways to minister to our Jewish brethren. 06:29 And one of the things we want to do during this series 06:31 is sensitize the Christian community to those ways 06:35 so that your evangelism or your dealing with them 06:39 can be successful and be salvific. 06:41 And we're looking to present the right balance 06:45 in understanding the Jews and where they fit in 06:50 to these last days. 06:51 There are some that go, some of our great evangelical friends, 06:55 that go far to the extreme in that position. 07:00 However, there's some that have gone extreme 07:04 in the other direction of not believing that the message 07:09 should go to the Jewish people at all. 07:10 We believe God has a right way to present that message. 07:16 And that's what we're going to be talking about 07:19 in these next few days. 07:20 I want to invite Pastor Murrel Tull to come. 07:23 And Pastor Tull, thank you for allowing us to come here 07:28 to this beautiful church. 07:30 We're glad you're here, Jim. 07:31 And we're so happy to be with your people there. 07:34 They've been so warm and hospitable, and we just... 07:38 You know, I think when I mentioned that we were 07:42 going to be here, I called this place... 07:44 - What did I call it? - Sunshine. 07:46 Well it is sunshine. 07:47 It's Surprise, alright, but there's a lot of good sunshine. 07:51 And it is not just outside. 07:53 We see it in the faces of these folks here. 07:56 - Would you lead us in prayer? - Absolutely. 07:58 Shall we pray. 08:00 Loving Father, You are our anchor. 08:05 You are our truth. 08:08 And we want to live for You. 08:12 We thank You so much for our friends that are here. 08:16 Elder Gilley, be with him as he presents this weekend in truth. 08:22 Be with our Jewish friends in Israel, in New York, Florida, 08:27 and here in Phoenix. 08:28 The Phoenix area have many Jewish people. 08:31 And we pray that they will be reached by 08:34 Your Holy Spirit tonight. 08:36 Again, touch each one of our hearts 08:39 and draw us nearer to You. 08:42 In Jesus' name we pray, amen. 08:47 I received a call on Sunday from David Barron 08:52 and he let me know that just a few minutes before, 08:58 my very good friend and his father, Pastor Henry Barron, 09:03 went to sleep in Jesus at 1:40 am on Sunday. 09:10 Pastor Barron and I have a long history together 09:15 back to my teenage years when he was our youth pastor. 09:19 Later, he joined me in Arlington, Texas for five years. 09:25 He volunteered, he was paid, but he said, "I want to be 09:31 your associate pastor." 09:32 He was an evangelist at the time. 09:34 I said, "You're kidding me." 09:36 He said, "No I'm not." 09:38 He came and he kept me in line for five years. 09:41 And I tell you, the Lord blessed our ministry together. 09:45 That church grew from under 300 to over 1000. 09:50 And we knew that it was the Lord's doing. 09:54 But we also knew that Henry's constant visiting, 09:58 his working with people, was the key 10:02 in bringing people to Jesus. 10:04 Henry was a wonderful singer. 10:07 I'll never forget the first time I heard him sing. 10:09 And he loved hymns. 10:11 And one of those hymns that he loved so much 10:15 is, My Faith Has Found A Resting Place. 10:21 I'm going to ask C.A. if he'll sing that song at this time. 10:44 My faith has found a resting place, 10:49 not in a manmade creed; 10:54 I trust the Ever-living One, 10:59 that He for me will plead. 11:04 I need no other evidence, 11:09 I need no other plea; 11:15 it is enough that Jesus died, 11:20 and rose again for me. 11:33 Enough for me that Jesus saves, 11:38 this ends my fear and doubt; 11:43 a sinful soul I come to Him, 11:49 He will not cast me out. 11:54 I need no other evidence, 11:59 I need no other plea; 12:04 it is enough that Jesus died, 12:10 and rose again for me. 12:17 The great Physician heals the sick, 12:23 the lost He came to save; 12:28 for me His precious blood He shed, 12:33 for me His life He gave. 12:38 I need no other argument, 12:43 I need no other plea; 12:49 it is enough that Jesus died, 12:55 and rose again for me. 13:10 My faith is resting on His Word, 13:15 the living Word of God; 13:20 salvation in my Savior's name, 13:25 salvation through His blood. 13:30 And I need no other evidence, 13:35 I need no other plea; 13:41 it is enough that Jesus died, 13:47 and rose again for me. 14:08 Amen, thank you so much, C.A. 14:12 I'm going to introduce to you right now Ralph Ringer. 14:16 Pastor, Elder, and Doctor Ralph Ringer, 14:19 who is the director of NAD Jewish Ministries. 14:23 I just gave you a doctorate, I don't know. 14:26 You may have one, you probably have one already. 14:28 I've given you another one. 14:30 And so does Dr. Sasha Bolotnikov. 14:32 I know he has one. 14:34 So I'm going to let you introduce him, alright. 14:38 It's my privilege to be here and to introduce to you 14:43 Dr. Alexander Bolotnikov. 14:48 And he's more commonly known as Sasha. 14:51 He's the director of the Shalom Learning Center for the 14:54 North American Division. 14:59 I'm very glad to be here this evening. 15:04 And I hope the topic of the covenant will be of interest 15:14 to those who are here and to our viewers. 15:20 And that's the topic we're going to be covering every night. 15:26 And I'll be covering the first night, 15:30 The Covenant and The Law. 15:34 And on Sabbath morning I will be speaking about, 15:38 The Covenant and The Atonement. 15:43 So today is the topic of the law. 15:48 Which is a challenging one. 15:54 What do we believe about the law? 15:57 How do we relate the law to the new covenant. 16:03 Well, let me see. 16:07 I'm going to ask you four questions, 16:11 and see if you believe this. 16:15 How many of you believe that God gave the laws 16:22 to ancient Israelites as the venue for them to be saved 16:28 under the old covenant, whereas under the new covenant 16:32 Christians are saved by grace? 16:35 How many of you believe it? 16:36 Can I see your hands? 16:41 Okay. 16:42 Alright, I'm not giving any reaction. 16:46 Let's see the second one, if you believe this. 16:51 God gave the Ten Commandments to all people, whereas the 16:58 rest of the laws of the Torah are merely ceremonial 17:03 and were given to Jews only. 17:11 I see some of you think this way. 17:15 Alright, I'm not giving you my reaction. 17:19 I'm just testing the opinions. 17:23 It's just a poll. Don't worry. 17:26 Just a poll. 17:28 Okay, the third question. 17:31 The Bible does not separate the Ten Commandments 17:35 from the rest of the laws of the Torah. 17:38 Therefore, under the new covenant, Christians 17:42 are liable to keep all the laws. 17:46 How many of you believe that? 17:51 Okay, you're a little bit scared of my questions. 17:56 Very hard theology, isn't it. 18:00 Okay, and the fourth one. 18:03 God made the new covenant in order to nullify the laws 18:08 of the old covenant. 18:10 Therefore, Christians are not bound by any of the Torah laws. 18:16 And so you can find all that you need to do totally 18:20 in the New Testament. 18:23 Do you believe that? 18:26 That one you definitely don't. 18:29 I see that. 18:31 I should ask how many of you do not, instead of 18:35 how many of you do. 18:37 But it doesn't matter. 18:39 These are serious questions. 18:41 These are different ways many Christians look at the law 18:49 and look at the relationship between the old 18:55 and the new covenant. 18:57 You know, it is interesting how in the Middle Ages 19:05 Jews were forced to convert to Christianity 19:10 under the threat of execution. 19:13 In fact, in Spain during the famous reconquista, 19:18 the reconquest, Spain was taken by Christians 19:22 from the Arabs at the end of the 1400's. 19:28 And Jews were very much persecuted by Christians. 19:33 Jews had three options. 19:36 Option number one, convert to Christianity. 19:40 Option number two, within three days leave the country. 19:46 Option number three, if option number two and number one 19:51 is not met, they'll be killed. 19:54 So that's why it's not very easy. 19:58 You know, some people say, "Oh, how come Jews are not 20:02 accepting such simple prophecies of the Bible?" 20:08 Well, history made it not so simple. 20:13 You know. 20:14 Anyway, for the Jews who accepted Christianity, 20:20 they had to swear to the bishop that they completely reject 20:30 the laws of the Torah. 20:33 How did they do this? 20:35 In most of the cases, they made them eat pork publically 20:43 to prove that they no longer feel bound by the evil laws 20:50 of the Old Testament. 20:53 And so they later were called, marranos. 20:58 Those of you who know Spanish probably are aware that 21:01 marrano is a pig. 21:04 You know, many of them immigrated to South America. 21:08 And we meet many of them who still secretly, 21:14 many generations, keep Jewish traditions 21:18 because they remember how they were forced to Christianity 21:22 through eating pork. 21:25 Well, so this is why the questions are not easy. 21:31 So we'll address them one by one. 21:36 So the first one, and I know some of you hesitated. 21:41 Because it's a very typical thinking that Old Testament 21:48 temple rituals were given to Jewish people 21:53 so that they, by performing them, they would be saved. 22:02 And so under the new covenant God had relieved His people 22:09 from this kind of burdensome process of salvation. 22:16 So let's check this theory. 22:19 Let's open Leviticus chapter 1 verse 4 22:25 and hear what it says. 22:27 It's talking about one of the offerings. 22:33 It is called the burnt offering. 22:37 And so right at the beginning of the offering ritual, 22:43 there were lots of things, you will see, when an Israelite 22:49 brings an animal to the temple, the first action 22:58 is described like this: 23:01 "He shall put his hand over the head of the burnt offering, 23:09 and it will be accepted on his behalf to make 23:13 atonement for him." 23:16 You see, right at the beginning, as soon as the individual 23:24 who understands his sinfulness lays his hand... 23:32 By laying the hand, he basically transfers his sin 23:39 upon the animal. 23:41 As soon as it's done, there is an atonement. 23:46 Afterwards, the animal dies. 23:49 That's what the wages of sin is. 23:52 Afterwards, the priests do all kinds of manipulations 23:57 with blood and with other parts of the animal. 24:01 But all of this does not really concern the fact that 24:08 the relationship between this Israelite and God are fixed 24:14 as long as he unloaded himself from the sin he had 24:21 and put the sin upon the animal that acts as a substitute. 24:29 So it's exactly the same how we're saved today, right? 24:34 How is Jesus giving us justification? 24:38 Does He tell us, "Oh, you need to do this. 24:42 You need to do this." 24:43 And you've got to have a checklist, 24:45 like the airplane pilot. 24:47 And at the end of the checklist, boom, justification. 24:52 Not really. 24:54 We acknowledge ourself as sinners. 24:58 We claim the blood of Jesus to atone for our sins. 25:05 And we're justified. 25:08 And then we follow the same way as the ritual follows. 25:13 Because our life changes, we change our habits, 25:18 whatever we need to change. 25:20 But justification comes right at the beginning at no cost, 25:27 as long as we claim the blood of the Messiah 25:32 to be applied for our atonement. 25:37 When Israelites did not understand this concept... 25:42 Because it wasn't easy to understand. 25:46 And I'll explain to you why. 25:48 See, pagans also brought many sacrifices in their temples. 25:55 But they did it for a sole purpose of 26:00 feeding their deities. 26:04 That's the difference. 26:07 In other words, pagans, by bringing offerings 26:12 to the temples, were paying the deity for 26:18 the things this deity was doing. 26:20 So if there was a temple of Baal who was a god of fertility, 26:27 so they'd bring sacrifices and they'd expect that 26:33 Baal will receive X amount of bulls and goats. 26:36 And for this, the rain will come. 26:40 So it's kind of a transaction type of payment relation. 26:44 And when Israelites got this attitude, 26:49 in the book of Isaiah the prophet speaks, 26:54 "Bring no more futile sacrifices. 26:58 Incense is an abomination to Me. 27:01 The New Moons and Sabbaths..." 27:03 Look, even New Moons and Sabbaths. 27:06 "...and the calling of assemblies; 27:08 I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meetings." 27:14 You see, God did not need the sacrificial animals 27:20 as a payment for justification and atonement. 27:28 God needed a changed heart. 27:31 And that's exactly where Isaiah goes. 27:34 "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; 27:38 Put away your evil doings from before My eyes. 27:43 Cease to do evil, learn to do good; 27:47 seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; 27:51 defend the fatherless, plead for the widow." 27:56 Then, "'Come and let us reason together,' says the Lord. 28:01 'Though your sins are like scarlet, 28:05 they shall be as white as snow; 28:08 though they are red as crimson, they shall be as wool.'" 28:14 Isaiah 1, I was reading from the verses 13 through 18. 28:21 This is not a new concept in the new covenant. 28:27 This is exactly what God expected from Israelites. 28:32 Change of heart. 28:34 And then the change of heart, conversion of the heart, 28:39 or even he used the term, circumcision of the heart, 28:44 brings atonement. 28:48 Then God said, "If your sins are red as crimson, 28:52 I'll make them as white as snow." 28:56 Exactly the same thing as we have under the new covenant. 29:04 The difference is, Israelites, by offering their sacrifices, 29:11 looked forward to the ultimate Lamb of God 29:17 that would take care of all the problems. 29:20 And we, under the new covenant, look back 29:25 at Calvary where our justification is done 29:32 once and for all, and for everybody who wants to 29:36 change the heart. 29:39 So, the first question we've kind of dealt with. 29:46 Let's look at the second question. 29:49 And this is a tough one. 29:52 Are all the laws outside the Decalogue ceremonial? 29:59 Well, that's a question which often is misunderstood. 30:08 People often put two boxes; they take the Ten Commandments, 30:13 and the rest is just ceremonial. 30:15 And I can tell you why. 30:17 Because there was lots of discussion, especially in the 30:23 19th century, between different Sabbath keeping Christian groups 30:29 and traditional Protestants. 30:32 And so the traditional Protestants were bringing 30:36 all kind of text. 30:37 And I will show you one text, which you're probably 30:41 very familiar with. 30:43 And so the Protestants of the 19th century 30:47 tried to find the way to defend the Sabbath. 30:51 And so when they started doing this, they said, 30:54 "Oh, we're just keeping the Ten Commandments. 30:56 The rest is only for the Jews." 30:59 Well, how about the laws of Leviticus 11? 31:07 Clean and unclean food. 31:10 They're not part of the Ten Commandments. 31:14 How about the laws of Numbers chapter 18 31:21 and Leviticus chapter 27 where it talks about 31:26 returning our tithe to the Lord? 31:30 That's not part of the Decalogue. 31:33 How about this? Let me keep reading. 31:37 How about this? 31:39 Because sometimes the argument is, "We don't need the old 31:45 covenant law's, because the New Testament 31:47 teaches us everything." 31:49 So, Leviticus 19:31-32. 31:56 "Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; 32:01 do not seek after them, do not be defiled by them: 32:06 I am the Lord your God." 32:09 You know the position of the Torah against 32:12 all kinds of spiritism. 32:16 There's no mention of this in the New Testament. 32:22 You've got to take it from the Torah. 32:26 How about this? 32:28 The language is a little bit culturally conditioned, but 32:33 you'll understand the essence here. 32:36 "You shall rise before the gray headed and honor 32:41 the presence of old men, and fear the Lord your God." 32:47 Verse 32. 32:49 Under the new covenant, we are not suppose to 32:53 respect our seniors? 32:59 You know. 33:01 So this is something. 33:03 Now for example, let's go to one other law. 33:10 And you will see why people often do not understand 33:16 these laws, because they're written in the language 33:22 of the culture which existed 3000 years ago. 33:27 But I think we can relate to this. 33:31 Look at this, Leviticus 19:10. 33:35 "And you shall not glean your vineyard, 33:39 nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; 33:44 you shall leave them for the poor and to the stranger." 33:50 That was actually in ancient Israel, a safety net. 33:54 In other words, remember Ruth? 33:58 When they came and they had nothing. 34:02 Based on the laws of the Torah, Ruth went to glean at the edges 34:08 of Boas' field. 34:10 You know what happened after that. 34:13 She became the grandmother of King David, 34:17 who is the direct ancestor of our Lord Jesus. 34:21 Do you see? 34:22 So is this applicable today? 34:27 Well if we change the language, maybe not everyone 34:32 has the vineyard or field. 34:36 Farming is kind of no longer popular on individual levels. 34:42 Right? But what about taking the extra content of our closets, 34:52 which we don't wear, to help who really needs that? 34:58 You see, Jews would say this is a mitzvah. 35:03 And when Jews say it's a mitzvah... 35:06 I have a hard time translating it as a commandment. 35:11 Because sometimes in the Christian culture, 35:16 a commandment is, "Oh, you've got to do it, 35:19 otherwise you'll be lost." 35:22 It's not about being lost. 35:23 It's about being a human being in the image of God. 35:30 And when Jews say this is a mitzvah, 35:36 this is how we build relations. 35:39 This is how we love our neighbor. 35:42 You know, when we try to help the poor, protect the widow. 35:46 And that's what the Torah is talking about. 35:52 Well, how about this? 35:56 Somebody says this is only ceremonial, 36:00 and only to the Jews. 36:04 Some sensitive subject. 36:08 Touching. 36:09 Leviticus 18:19. 36:12 "Do not approach a wife to have intimate relations 36:18 during the uncleanness of her monthly period." 36:25 It's only for the Jews, right? 36:27 Jewish women are built this way, right? 36:31 You see, the logic that the Old Testament laws are ceremonial 36:38 and only given to the Jews just doesn't add up. 36:44 It's good when you are from a distance, 36:47 never read the Torah, just reading the epistles of Paul 36:54 and hearing the debate. 36:56 But when you start reading, you will see how 36:58 it just doesn't work. 37:01 It just won't work. 37:03 That's why Psalm says, Psalm 1 verse 2, it says, 37:12 "But in the law of the Lord, he meditates day and night." 37:19 There is a lot to meditate about this. 37:22 Because the laws of the Torah actually provide 37:26 a great guidance for our ethics. 37:32 That's where we can draw our ethics. 37:37 Well, so how about this? 37:44 Also Leviticus. 37:46 And it seems like, oh Levitical law; 37:48 it's all about sacrifices, you know. 37:51 We start reading this, it seems like you're in a butcher shop. 37:56 And you close the book of Leviticus frustrated, 38:00 and you say, "I don't want this, you know. 38:02 If I keep reading it too much, you know, I will become 38:07 cruel to the animals." 38:09 Well again, this is a different culture. 38:12 God speaks the language of shepherd. 38:15 But the message is for us. 38:18 How about this? 38:19 Leviticus 19:18. 38:22 "You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge 38:28 against the children of your people, but you shall 38:31 love your neighbor as yourself." 38:36 Is it ceremonial? 38:39 Kind of a ritual of loving your neighbor. 38:42 We like that, huh? 38:45 So have we heard it somewhere else, 38:50 love your neighbor as yourself? 38:54 Oh, if you look at the book of Matthew chapter 22, 39:01 there is a very interesting conversation between 39:05 Jesus and one Pharisee. 39:09 And the Pharisee asks Him, "Which is the great commandment 39:17 in the Torah?" 39:19 And Jesus answers, "You shall love the Lord your God 39:23 with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind." 39:29 By the way, did Jesus just invent a new commandment 39:33 in place of the Ten Commandments? 39:37 It's interesting. 39:39 I had a good friend who watched one of my presentations 39:45 in the Russian language on the book of Revelation. 39:50 And there I just had an animation of the 39:53 heavenly Sanctuary, and I was explaining Revelation 11:19 40:00 when the temple of God was opened in heaven 40:05 and the ark of the covenant became visible. 40:09 And in this animation, the top of the ark opens up 40:12 and you have two tablets with the Ten Commandments 40:17 coming out with the light. 40:18 So this gentleman called me. 40:21 "I like your presentation, but I was shocked." 40:25 I asked him, "What was shocking you, Michael?" 40:29 And he told me, "Your ark of the covenant inside has 40:36 tablets with the Ten Commandments." 40:39 I said, "What is it suppose to have in heaven?" 40:45 "Oh, doesn't Jesus replace the Ten Commandments with two?" 40:54 Well if you read carefully, "You shall love the Lord your God 41:01 with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind." 41:04 This is nothing new which Jesus presents. 41:09 It's Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 5. 41:15 Check it out. 41:17 He's quoting straight from the Torah. 41:20 As well as the second one. 41:23 "You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 41:28 On these two commandments hang the Law and the Prophets." 41:33 You see, we often do not understand the structure 41:40 of the laws in the Bible. 41:43 And we get lost. 41:45 Let me explain to you with these terms. 41:49 I get my civic exam to get my U.S. citizenship 41:55 back five years ago. 41:57 So of course there was a question. 42:00 What are the foundational principles of 42:04 the American Constitution? 42:06 And there are foundational principles. 42:09 Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 42:14 So think of what Jesus just taught this Pharisee 42:20 as the same example. 42:23 These are the foundational principles 42:27 of a heavenly constitution. 42:31 Well, the U.S. Constitution does not consist of three words. 42:37 It consists of a number of articles. 42:41 So the heavenly constitution consists of ten articles. 42:49 So you have, "Love your God," and, "Love your neighbor," 42:54 as "life, liberty," you know. 42:57 You have three in the American Constitution, 43:00 two in the heavenly. 43:02 And then you have ten articles of the heavenly constitution 43:06 that are sprouting from these two foundational principles. 43:14 But does the court in the regular state or county or city 43:23 operate solely on the Constitution? 43:28 That is not possible. 43:30 Congress makes laws, and the judicial branch 43:38 upholds these laws and judges by these laws. 43:44 And of course, it's important to see that these laws 43:48 would expand on the Constitution and not contradict 43:54 the Constitution. 43:56 So that's what you have in the Torah. 43:59 Exactly the same legal process. 44:03 So you have foundational principles, 44:08 then you have the Constitution, 44:11 and then you have ethical applications 44:16 for this Constitution. 44:19 Well, the biggest problem comes when we look 44:28 at this from the New Testament perspective without even having 44:33 the slightest idea what the Old Testament says. 44:37 And this is why we run into this problem 44:40 in Colossians 2:14, which says in the King James Bible, 44:45 "...blotting out the handwriting of ordinances 44:50 that was against us, which was contrary to us. 44:54 And took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross." 45:00 Well, this was a big, big issue back in the 19th century. 45:08 What was nailed to the cross? 45:11 The problem is that you have an apparent inconsistency here. 45:18 Look at Psalm 19 verses 7 and 8. 45:23 "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. 45:27 The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. 45:33 The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. 45:38 The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes." 45:45 So you can't say that the handwriting of the ordinances 45:50 is something against us and God nailed it to the cross, 45:57 and the Ten Commandments are good. 45:59 Because what was the psalmist David doing? 46:04 I mean, does the Bible contradict itself? 46:09 One of the big problems is when we look at this 46:14 and take it from the context of the passage from Deuteronomy, 46:22 which says in Deuteronomy 31 verse 26 46:28 that the Book of the Law is beside the ark of the covenant, 46:35 and it is against you. 46:39 The question is, what is the Book of the Law? 46:43 If I were to take you to one of our congregations, 46:50 Adventist Jewish congregation, most of them have actually 46:54 the scrolls of the Torah. 46:58 And I will open it up, and there will be Ten Commandments in it. 47:05 So believe me, that book which Moses finished, 47:09 the Pentateuch, did not have a torn page. 47:13 It wasn't like you go until Exodus 19 there, 47:17 and there would be a note here, "Go inside the ark to read 47:21 the content of Exodus 20." 47:24 Then there is a stitch, and everything goes. 47:28 And this is going to be against you, where the 47:30 Ten Commandments are for you. 47:33 It makes no sense. 47:35 It makes no sense. 47:37 What is the problem? 47:40 You know, the problem is that when we look at 47:45 the Old Testament, we never see the law called, handwriting." 47:55 And the current research in the new translations 48:00 especially the New American Standard Bible, 48:05 translates this text totally different. 48:09 I'm reading the New American Standard Bible, 48:11 "Having cancelled out the certificate of debt 48:17 consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; 48:24 and He has taken it out of the way, 48:28 having nailed it to the cross." 48:31 If you look at most modern translations... 48:36 I'm not going to, I don't have time to describe to you 48:39 how the modern scholarship discovered the meaning of 48:45 this Greek term, cheirographon dogmasin. 48:49 I would only say this: 48:52 That in the Greek of the 1st century, 48:56 in Roman court language, dogma was the accusation 49:02 that was actually nailed to the cross above the head 49:09 of the criminal so the people would know 49:13 what he is accused of. 49:17 Jesus had a dogma above His head. 49:23 The dogma stated, "King of the Jews." 49:28 And we have dogma over our head. 49:34 Each of us knows what do we owe and what is our debt. 49:44 And God knows. 49:45 And He offers the solution. 49:48 To nail it to the cross once and for all. 49:55 Well the question is, now can we really keep 50:03 all 613 commandments of the Torah? 50:10 Well, not so simple. 50:13 How about this? 50:14 Leviticus 24:16 50:17 "And whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord 50:22 shall surely be put to death." 50:27 Okay, let us turn into some Saudi Arabian. 50:34 Alright? 50:38 Or especially in the setting of the church. 50:43 Yeah? 50:44 Somebody comes and says something against God, 50:48 do you have in your church some storage for stones? 50:56 You know, that's a question, that's a question. 51:00 And here is the reason why. 51:03 This is the answer that is provided to us by Paul 51:10 when Paul talks and describes the relations between 51:15 the old and the new covenants. 51:19 Hebrews chapter 8 verse 13 says, 51:25 "In that He says, 'A new covenant,' He has made 51:29 the first obsolete. 51:32 Now what is becoming obsolete is growing old 51:39 and ready to vanish away." 51:43 "Oh," people say, "Great. 51:46 That's the proof that we don't need all the laws." 51:51 The big problem often in our Bibles is that they place 51:54 chapter division and verse division artificially, you know. 51:59 You have to read a little further. 52:01 And the next chapter describes what the old covenant 52:06 is all about. 52:08 And it says, "Indeed, even the first covenant 52:12 had ordinances of divine service in the earthly Sanctuary. 52:20 For a tabernacle was prepared." 52:23 And it says next, "It was symbolic for the present time 52:29 in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered 52:33 which cannot make him who performed the service 52:38 perfect in regard to the conscience; 52:41 concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, 52:46 and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation." 52:53 So that's what the old covenant, by the definition of Paul, 52:59 clearly presented in the epistle to Hebrews. 53:06 The old covenant is not the law. 53:10 It is a Sanctuary service, and anything pertaining to it. 53:19 Because we have a perfect Sanctuary, 53:24 and a perfect High Priest. 53:29 You know, there are so many people today who are obsessed 53:34 about the restoration of the temple. 53:39 And to be honest, I was very surprised. 53:46 Being Jewish, I was very surprised that Christians are 53:52 worried about the restoration of the temple in Jerusalem. 53:57 And I was listening to all of the presentations 54:03 and reading all of the books, and I realized 54:07 how many Christians just don't understand 54:12 what is happening in Jewish circles. 54:17 I will give you one of the difficulties in the restoration 54:21 of the temple. 54:23 It's finding a high priest. 54:27 They don't know who should be the high priest. 54:31 I mean, yes, you can have some descendants of the 54:35 tribes of Levi. 54:37 And especially... 54:39 I have my good friend, he gave his testimony; Rushel Aronov. 54:45 And he's from, definitely he is from a priestly lineage. 54:52 Is he suppose to become a high priest? 54:55 There are tens of thousands like him. 55:01 Whom do they choose? 55:05 I'm so glad I don't have to worry. 55:10 I have my High Priest. 55:14 Jesus. 55:16 Yeshua Ha'Mashiach, in Hebrew. 55:21 He is in the heavenly Sanctuary 55:26 performing the priestly service for me and for you. 55:35 And this is why I'm not worried about the temple in Jerusalem. 55:41 I am more worried that my brothers, Jews, would understand 55:48 who is their High Priest today. 55:52 And I am worried that everybody else would understand 55:57 who is the High Priest today 56:00 who bore our iniquity, who died for us on Calvary. 56:07 And now He is representing us in heaven. 56:14 That is the greatest sense of security. 56:18 That is the new covenant. 56:23 Let us pray. 56:25 Heavenly Father, help us to understand 56:31 the value of Your covenant. 56:35 Help us to understand the sacrifice You have made, 56:42 and understand what You are doing for us right now 56:47 in heaven being our High Priest. 56:51 Not human sinful, but sinless and divine. 56:58 Help us to anchor our hope inside the veil 57:06 where You are our Advocate and Representative. 57:12 Thank You, Lord, for this. 57:15 Amen. |
Revised 2015-10-21