Participants:
Series Code: IIW
Program Code: IIW019184A
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00:19 >>John Bradshaw: This is It Is Written.
00:20 I'm John Bradshaw. Thanks for joining me. 00:24 Few places on earth have represented evil 00:26 more than Auschwitz-Birkenau. 00:29 ♪[Sad music]♪ Located in Poland, 00:31 which was occupied during World War II by Germany, 00:34 torture and death had become a science there. 00:38 So many people died, many from the deadly gas Zyklon B, 00:42 many others from starvation, 00:43 and there were other reasons besides, so many. 00:47 But on January the 27th, 1945, 00:50 the 7,000-plus inmates still alive in the camp 00:53 could hear the distant thunder of artillery. 00:57 Some of the prisoners said later that they didn't even mind 00:59 getting hit by the shrapnel coming down on the camp 01:01 from across the Vistula River. 01:03 They knew the booming sounds they heard were the sounds 01:07 of their liberation. 01:09 The nearer the liberators got to the camp, 01:11 the louder the thundering became. 01:13 It was a thunder that brought joy to the heart of every person 01:17 being held captive behind those menacing rows of barbed wire. 01:22 That's because it was the, the thunder of their freedom. 01:26 Three thousand five hundred years ago, 01:28 God's chosen people, and the world beyond, 01:32 heard the thunder of a freedom even more glorious 01:35 than the thundering artillery of a liberating army. 01:38 The Bible describes this freedom-heralding thunder 01:41 in the chapter we're going to consider in this episode 01:43 of our ongoing series, "Great Chapters of the Bible." 01:47 We're going to look at Exodus chapter 20. 01:51 It's one of two places in the Bible where God's 01:53 Ten Commandments are listed. 01:55 And what's unique about the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 01:58 is that it is God Himself who speaks. 02:02 In Deuteronomy chapter 5, where the commandments are recited 02:05 a second time to Israel, it's Moses speaking. 02:08 But in Exodus 20, it's God Himself who declares His will 02:13 for you and me. 02:14 So let's turn to Exodus chapter 20, 02:17 and let's begin in verse 1: 02:20 "And God spoke all these words, saying: 'I am the Lord your God, 02:25 who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 02:27 out of the house of bondage. 02:29 You shall have no other gods before me. 02:32 You shall not make for yourself [any] carved image-- 02:34 [or] any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, 02:37 or that is in the earth beneath, 02:39 or that is in the water under the earth; 02:41 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. 02:45 For I, the Lord your God, 02:46 am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers 02:49 on the children to the third and fourth generations 02:52 of those who hate me, 02:54 but showing mercy to thousands, 02:56 to those who love me and keep my commandments. 02:59 You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, 03:04 for the Lord will not hold him guiltless 03:07 who takes His name in vain. 03:08 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 03:12 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 03:15 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. 03:17 In it you shall do no work: 03:19 you, nor your son, nor your daughter, 03:22 nor your [man] servant, nor your [maid] servant, 03:25 nor your cattle, 03:26 nor your stranger who is within your gates. 03:29 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, 03:32 the sea, and all that is in them, 03:34 and rested the seventh day. 03:36 Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. 03:41 Honor your father and your mother, 03:43 that your days may be long upon the land 03:45 which the Lord your God is giving you.'" 03:47 Now we're down to commandment number six: 03:49 "You shall not murder." 03:51 Number seven: "You shall not commit adultery." 03:54 Commandment eight: "You shall not steal." 03:56 The ninth commandment: 03:58 "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." 04:00 And the tenth commandment: 04:02 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; 04:04 you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, 04:07 nor his [man] servant, nor his [maid] servant, 04:09 nor his ox, nor his donkey, 04:12 nor anything that is your neighbor's." 04:15 Those are the first 17 verses of Exodus chapter 20. 04:19 At the time the commandments were given, 04:21 Israel was encamped at the base of Mt. Sinai. 04:24 Moses went up to the top of the mountain to receive 04:27 the Ten Commandments from God. 04:29 And as God spoke, as God thundered, 04:32 the people were afraid. 04:35 "Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, 04:37 the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, 04:40 and the mountain smoking; 04:42 and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. 04:46 Then they said to Moses, 'You speak with us, 04:49 and we will hear; 04:50 but let not God speak with us, lest we die.' 04:53 And Moses said to the people, 'Do not fear; 04:55 for God has come to test you, 04:58 and that His fear [might] be before you, 05:00 so that you may not sin.' 05:02 So the people stood afar off, 05:03 but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was." 05:07 Exodus 20:18-21. 05:10 As frightening as it may have seemed at the time, 05:13 the Ten Commandments were, and still are, 05:16 the gateway to freedom, to happiness. 05:19 The people of Israel didn't know it yet, 05:21 but long and hard experience would teach them 05:23 that to follow God's way, follow God's commandments, 05:27 would spare them an awful lot of trouble. 05:30 So if God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses 05:32 on Mt. Sinai, 05:34 did the Ten Commandments exist before God gave them 05:38 on Mt. Sinai? 05:39 Well, of course, the argument is "yes," 05:42 unless you can imagine a time when God was okay 05:44 with people living in disobedience. 05:46 When Cain killed his brother Abel in Genesis 4, 05:49 God confronted him, and He asked, 05:51 "What have you done? 05:52 The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me 05:54 from the ground. 05:55 So now are you cursed from the earth, 05:58 which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood 06:00 from your hand." 06:01 Genesis 4:10 and 11. 06:03 Now, obviously Cain's act of murdering his brother was a sin, 06:08 and Cain knew that. 06:09 The same is true with honoring your parents. 06:11 The sad story of Jacob and his mother Rebekah deceiving Isaac 06:15 in order to get the birthright for Jacob shows us that-- 06:18 before the giving of the Ten Commandments 06:20 on Mt. Sinai. 06:22 Idolatry as well-- Genesis 35. 06:25 You read of a great revival in Jacob's family, 06:27 which included putting away false gods. 06:30 And adultery--when Joseph was tempted by Potiphar's wife, 06:33 he asked her this question: 06:35 "How then can I do this great wickedness, 06:37 and sin against God?" 06:40 The Sabbath, in the fourth commandment, 06:42 also existed before the time of Moses. 06:45 From what we read in Genesis, it was probably the first one 06:48 of the Ten Commandments that Adam and Eve knew about. 06:52 This is Genesis chapter 2, and we'll start in verse 1: 06:56 "Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, 06:59 were finished. 07:00 And on the seventh day God ended His work 07:02 which He had done, 07:03 and He rested on the seventh day from all His work 07:05 which He had done. 07:07 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, 07:10 because in it He rested from all His work 07:13 which God had created and made." 07:16 And you see that again in Exodus chapter 16-- 07:19 before the Ten Commandments were written on tables of stone. 07:22 Speaking of the manna, God said, 07:25 "'Six days you shall gather it'"-- 07:26 that's the manna-- "'but on the seventh day, 07:28 the Sabbath, there will be none.' 07:32 Now it happened that some of the people went out 07:33 on the seventh day to gather, but they found none. 07:36 And the Lord said to Moses, 07:37 'How long do you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?' 07:41 So the people rested on the seventh day." 07:43 Exodus 16:26-28 and verse 30. 07:47 So we know--it's clear from the Bible-- 07:49 the Ten Commandments existed and were important 07:52 before God wrote them on stone. 07:55 Now, when God wrote them on stone, 07:58 who did He intend them to be for? 08:01 I'll have that in just a moment. 08:03 ♪[Music]♪ 08:12 ♪[Music]♪ 08:13 >>John: Many things in life are here today 08:15 and gone tomorrow. 08:17 But some things are built to last. 08:20 From the time He put the earth in place, 08:21 God gave us a sign of His love that will last eternally. 08:26 I've written a small book about that sign, 08:28 and I'd like to send it to you free. 08:31 It's called "God's Eternal Sign." 08:34 All you need to do is call 800-253-3000 08:38 and ask for "God's Eternal Sign." 08:42 >>John: When a 2,000-ton span on a bridge 08:45 in Melbourne, Australia, collapsed during construction, 08:49 the damage and loss of life were devastating. 08:52 When a bridge collapsed in Tasmania five years later, 08:55 it was another catastrophe that caused disruption and death. 08:59 So what happens when you fall? When sin takes you down? 09:03 When failure shakes your experience with God? 09:06 Don't miss "Free Fall," brought to you by It Is Written TV. 09:11 Find out what you can do when you've fallen again. 09:14 And find out how God treats those who have strayed, 09:17 wandered, failed, fallen. 09:21 There is hope when you've messed up. 09:23 There's a future when life isn't going like it should. 09:26 There's a way forward 09:27 when you feel like you've failed God or failed others. 09:31 "Free Fall," filmed on location in Australia. 09:35 Don't miss "Free Fall" on It Is Written TV. 09:42 >>John Bradshaw: Thanks for joining me today 09:44 on It Is Written. 09:45 I'm John Bradshaw. 09:46 Today, another great chapter of the Bible, 09:49 and we're looking at Exodus 20, 09:51 where God spoke the Ten Commandments 09:53 and wrote them on tables of stone with His own finger. 09:58 There's no doubt that God gave the Ten Commandments, 10:01 but who did He give them to? 10:03 It's interesting--you'll find people who believe 10:05 that the Ten Commandments were designed by God 10:07 only for the Jewish nation. 10:09 "After all," some will say, 10:11 "I wasn't brought out of bondage in Egypt, 10:13 like the second verse of Exodus chapter 20 says." 10:16 So how can you know that the Ten Commandments 10:17 were intended for the entire world? 10:20 Well, in the book of Ecclesiastes, 10:22 which was written by King Solomon, 10:24 the wisest man that had ever lived, 10:27 Solomon wrote these words, Ecclesiastes chapter 12: 10:30 "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: 10:34 Fear God, and keep His commandments: 10:36 for this is the whole duty of man. 10:38 For God will bring every work into judgment, 10:41 including every secret thing, 10:43 whether [it is] good [or whether it's] evil." 10:45 Now, notice that Solomon says to "fear God and keep 10:49 His commandments" is "the whole duty of man." 10:52 He doesn't say "the whole duty of a good Israelite" 10:55 or even "the whole duty of God's people." 10:57 All of humankind, not just Israel, 10:59 is addressed in this statement. 11:01 And Solomon wrote that the Ten Commandments 11:03 have a role to play in the judgment. 11:06 One of the reasons God urges us to keep the commandments 11:09 is that everything we do is going to be brought before God 11:13 in judgment. 11:14 The Apostle Paul quotes these words of Solomon 11:17 in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians when he says, 11:19 "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, 11:23 that each one may receive the things 11:24 done in the body, 11:26 according to what he has done, whether good or bad." 11:29 Second Corinthians 5:10. 11:31 The Apostle James is even clearer. 11:33 Let's look at James chapter 2, starting in verse 10: 11:38 "For whoever shall keep the whole law, 11:41 and yet stumble in one point, he's guilty of all. 11:45 For He who said, 11:46 'Do not commit adultery,' also said, 11:48 'Do not murder.' 11:49 Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, 11:52 you've become a transgressor of the law. 11:55 So speak and so do as those who will be judged 12:00 by the law of liberty." 12:02 Now, here's an important distinction, 12:04 because the minute you talk about the commandments 12:06 being binding, being important today, 12:08 someone is gonna make the accusation 12:10 that you're promoting salvation by works. 12:13 So let's agree that we're gonna be really clear about this. 12:15 The Bible makes very, very clear--it's clear: 12:18 A person is saved; a person passes from death to life; 12:22 that a person has his or her sins forgiven 12:25 and receives new life from God. 12:27 How does that happen? 12:28 By faith. 12:30 Ephesians 2, verse 8 is a verse we love to quote 12:32 because it tells us that we are saved by grace through faith. 12:36 And that's clear. 12:38 And then in Romans chapter 4, it speaks about Abraham, 12:41 and it says, "He did not waver at the promise of God 12:44 through unbelief, but [he] was strengthened in faith, 12:48 giving glory to God, 12:49 and being fully convinced that what He had promised 12:52 He was also able to perform. 12:54 And therefore 'it was accounted to him for righteousness.'" 12:58 Romans 4:20-22. 13:00 We believe, and we receive forgiveness. 13:03 We have faith in what Jesus has done for us, 13:05 and so we have salvation. 13:07 So when we talk about the Ten Commandments, 13:09 we are not suggesting for a moment 13:11 that a person is saved by works, saved by obedience. 13:15 There's a distinction. 13:17 Let me ask you two questions. First, how are we saved? 13:21 The answer is, by faith in Jesus Christ. 13:24 Now, the second question that follows from the first: 13:27 How should a saved person live? 13:31 The answer is, in obedience to God-- 13:34 not to get salvation, but because you've been saved. 13:39 In fact, when a person surrenders his or her life 13:41 to Jesus, obedience becomes an inevitability. 13:45 The Spirit of God enters your life. 13:47 Jesus begins to live His life in you, 13:49 and your life is now the outworking of the will of God. 13:53 And what is God's will? 13:54 It's certainly not disobedience. 13:56 Salvation is free, and it changes a person; 14:00 it makes a person new. 14:01 That's why Paul was able to write, 14:03 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; 14:09 old things have passed away; 14:11 behold, all things have become new." 14:13 That's 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 17. 14:16 So, back to James. 14:18 It's clear that James is referring 14:19 to the Ten Commandments when he speaks of the law 14:22 being the standard of God's judgment. 14:25 He mentions the commandments not to kill or to commit adultery. 14:28 That's the Ten Commandment law, 14:29 and it's called by James "the law of liberty." 14:34 Now, this is the freedom that sounded from divine thunder 14:39 on the slopes of Mt. Sinai. 14:42 Have you ever thought how much simpler life would be 14:45 if everyone would keep the Ten Commandments? 14:48 We wouldn't need the police. 14:50 We wouldn't need to lock our doors at night. 14:53 There wouldn't be any marital infidelity. 14:55 There'd be no divorce. 14:56 There wouldn't be any thieves. 14:59 People wouldn't tell lies and confuse the facts. 15:01 We could go on and on. 15:03 Life would be simpler. 15:05 There'd be no hate, no murder, no terrorism, no racism. 15:10 We have problems in the world today 15:12 that it seems we can't resolve. 15:14 The truth is, they were all resolved thousands of years ago 15:19 on Mt. Sinai. 15:21 Jesus Himself made it clear that saved people 15:25 will live in obedience to God. 15:27 In the story of the rich young ruler, 15:29 a man comes to Jesus and asks about salvation. 15:33 And he says this to Jesus-- it's in Matthew chapter 19-- 15:37 he says, "'Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do 15:41 that I may have eternal life?' 15:44 So He [Jesus] said to him [the young man], 15:46 'Why do you call me good? 15:48 No one is good but One, that is, God. 15:51 But if you want to enter into life, 15:53 keep the commandments.' 15:55 He said to Him, 'Which ones?' 15:57 Jesus said, '"You shall not murder," 15:59 "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not steal," 16:02 "You shall not bear false witness," 16:04 "Honor your father and your mother," 16:06 and, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."'" 16:08 Matthew 19:16-19. 16:12 The young man, of course, went on to tell Jesus 16:14 he had been observing all of those commandments, 16:18 and so he asked Jesus, "What do I still lack?" 16:23 Jesus went on to tell him that his material wealth 16:26 had become his god. 16:28 So he was there for already breaking the first commandment 16:30 that says, "You shall have no other gods before me." 16:33 Jesus told the young man-- now, now, He told him straight. 16:36 He told him he'd need to sell his possessions 16:38 and give to the poor in order to be right with God. 16:42 Now, it wasn't a matter of there being anything wrong 16:44 with wealth or possessions. 16:46 It's just that in this case, the man's goods had become his god. 16:52 And sadly...have you thought about this? 16:56 Jesus told the man exactly what he needed to do 17:00 in order to be in the right relationship with God. 17:02 Jesus said, "You do this, and you're good." 17:05 And still the young man refused. 17:09 So how can we make sure that when we're obeying God, 17:12 we don't descend into legalism? 17:15 It's important. I'll tell you that straight ahead. 17:18 ♪[Music]♪ 17:27 >>John: Thank you for remembering 17:28 that It Is Written exists 17:29 because of the kindness of people just like you. 17:32 To support this international life-changing ministry, 17:35 please call us now at 800-253-3000. 17:40 You can send your tax-deductible gift 17:41 to the address on your screen, 17:43 or you can visit us online at itiswritten.com. 17:47 Thank you for your prayers and for your financial support. 17:49 Our number again is 800-253-3000. 17:53 Or you can visit us online at itiswritten.com. 17:57 ♪[Music]♪ 18:02 >>Man 1: What does the Bible say about astrology? 18:09 >>Man 2: Why do bad things happen to good people? 18:17 >>Girl: What color is Jesus? 18:20 >>John Bradshaw: If you have a question, 18:21 we'd love to find an answer for you from the Bible. 18:24 Line Upon Line from It Is Written TV. 18:27 >>John Bradshaw: Thanks for joining me on It Is Written. 18:30 The story of the rich young ruler really helps us to see 18:33 the difference between legalism 18:35 and obedience which comes from the heart. 18:39 See, legalism is a surface religion. 18:41 It doesn't go any deeper than outward conformity 18:44 to what is right. 18:45 When the young ruler told Jesus he kept all the commandments 18:48 from his youth, he was more than likely thinking, 18:49 "Well, I haven't killed anyone. 18:51 I've only got one wife, not two or three or four. 18:54 I didn't acquire my wealth by dishonest means. 18:57 I've been respectful towards my parents." 18:59 But Jesus wanted the young man to understand that anything 19:03 in his life that he thought was more important 19:06 than a complete surrender to God 19:09 would keep him out of God's kingdom. 19:12 And when the young man walked away, 19:13 Jesus' disciples were obviously perplexed. 19:15 They asked the Lord, "Who then can be saved?" 19:18 And that is a fair question. 19:22 Have you ever looked into your heart 19:23 and thought that you don't like what you see? 19:26 Have you ever tried to do the right thing and failed? 19:29 Paul wrote about this in Romans chapter 7. 19:31 He talked about that experience where you try to do good, 19:35 but you can't do the good that you want to do. 19:37 He talked about wanting not to do evil 19:39 but finding it impossible to do what's right. 19:42 And he expressed it in the most desperate terms in Romans 7:24-- 19:46 "O wretched man that I am! 19:48 Who will deliver me from this body of death?" 19:52 And then came the answer, the incredible answer: 19:55 "I thank God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!" 19:59 He was saying, "I can't do it, but God can do it in me." 20:03 You see, there's hope for a believer today-- 20:05 a faulty, sinful believer-- 20:08 because God can do in you what you can't do in yourself. 20:12 As Jesus answered His disciples, 20:14 "With men this is impossible; 20:16 but with God all things are possible." 20:20 Jesus said in John chapter 15, 20:22 "Without me you can do nothing." 20:25 God spoke on Mt. Sinai, and He said, 20:28 "Thou shalt" and "Thou shalt not," 20:30 and He meant it. 20:32 Now, the problem we have today isn't with the commandments. 20:36 Many people would like to see them done away with. 20:38 And why might that be? 20:39 Because they could then go on breaking them 20:42 and feel better about themselves. 20:43 The man living a double life? 20:45 He wants there to be no seventh commandment 20:47 because "Thou shalt not commit adultery" condemns him. 20:50 The preacher who says God's law has been done away with 20:53 becomes this man's favorite preacher. 20:55 You don't want to believe it's wrong to covet if you're greedy. 20:59 You want to believe God doesn't have an issue with stealing 21:01 if you're a thief. 21:03 But here's the thing, instead of changing the commandments, 21:07 God's commandments, how about changing the heart instead? 21:12 "But, John, I can't change my heart. 21:13 I've tried, and I've failed." 21:15 Amen to that. 21:17 So you surrender your heart to Jesus, 21:18 and you let Him change it. 21:21 And He will-- from the inside out. 21:25 It's what He does. 21:27 Anyone trying to live a godly life without the power of God 21:30 is attempting an impossibility. 21:32 You might be able to put on a show, 21:34 but sooner or later, like that rich young man, 21:36 you'll find yourself falling short. 21:39 You might have good motivation. 21:41 Obey the seventh commandment and protect your marriage. 21:43 That's good. 21:44 Obey the sixth commandment to keep out of jail. 21:47 Now, that's good, too. 21:48 Obey the second commandment because your family and friends 21:50 would think that you are crazy bowing down before an idol. 21:54 Yeah, but those aren't good enough reasons. 21:56 The greatest motivation you can have for obeying God, 22:00 the only motivation that will really work, 22:03 is love for God. 22:05 Look at Calvary. See Jesus on the cross. 22:10 Know that He suffered and died for you. 22:13 Know that the God of heaven so loved the world. 22:15 Remember that there's a God with a perfect plan 22:18 for you and your family. 22:20 You keep those things in mind, and the grace of God will work 22:23 in your heart, make a whole new person out of you. 22:28 You see the wrong approach clearly 22:30 in the experience of Israel. 22:32 When they were at Sinai, God asked them 22:33 if they would serve Him and be His people, 22:35 and they answered by saying, 22:37 "All that the Lord has spoken we will do." 22:40 Exodus 19:8. 22:42 Just before the Ten Commandments. 22:44 Now, that's admirable, right? 22:45 "All the Lord has said we will do." 22:46 Good? 22:48 No! No, it might sound like the right answer, 22:50 but it's catastrophic. 22:52 They didn't understand the sinfulness of their own hearts. 22:55 They didn't understand what Jeremiah would write 22:57 years later: 22:58 "The heart is deceitful above all things, 23:00 and desperately wicked; who can know it?" 23:03 Jeremiah 17:9. 23:05 They didn't realize that without God's converting power 23:07 in their lives, it was impossible for them to obey. 23:11 Their vow of obedience lasted just 40 days. 23:14 When Moses came down from the mountain 23:16 carrying the Ten Commandments written by God on stone 23:20 with God's own finger, 23:21 he found God's people dancing around a golden calf, 23:25 and his brother Aaron was leading the way. 23:29 Now, we can't be too hard on Israel. 23:30 Forty days is a lot longer 23:31 than many New Year's resolutions last. 23:34 But 40 days after they had heard the thunder of freedom, 23:38 40 days after they had vowed to do all the Lord had spoken, 23:42 God looked down and found them dancing naked 23:45 around a golden calf. 23:50 This pattern of promising to obey God and then falling short 23:55 was repeated throughout Israel's entire history. 23:58 You might even be able to relate to that. 24:01 Whenever you trust your own strength to serve God, 24:03 you are going to fail, plain and simple. 24:07 This is why the old covenant failed. 24:09 It didn't fail because God's commandments were the problem; 24:11 it failed because the people were the problem. 24:15 So the book of Hebrews takes us back to the words 24:18 of the prophet Jeremiah, who spoke of a new covenant, 24:21 in which motives would be transformed, 24:24 and a life of faithfulness to God would be made possible: 24:27 "For if that first covenant had been faultless, 24:30 then no place would have been sought for a second. 24:34 Because finding fault with them, He says: 24:36 'For this is the covenant that I will make 24:39 with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: 24:42 I will put my laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; 24:46 and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.'" 24:50 That's in Hebrews 8. 24:52 Years ago, God wrote His law on tables of stone. 24:57 Today, He wants to write it in your heart, 25:01 and when He does, you'll experience victory; 25:04 you'll experience peace and freedom. 25:08 If the principles of God's character stay on the surface, 25:11 the best you can do is put on a show, 25:12 and that show won't even last long. 25:15 When we ignore what God gave us in Exodus 20, 25:18 we don't only break His law; 25:21 the truth is we break His heart. 25:24 With God's help, we can live as God wants us to live. 25:28 You wouldn't want it any other way. 25:30 Jesus can change you from the inside out. 25:33 So, is that happening? 25:36 Are you experiencing that kind of conversion, 25:39 that kind of transformation? 25:41 Or is life a life of succeed and then fail? 25:45 Try and then fall? 25:47 Do my best, but it's not good enough, so, 25:49 so then I'll, I'll do my new best, and I'll try even harder? 25:53 No, that's no way to live. 25:54 You want God to write His law in your heart. 25:58 When God gave Exodus chapter 20 26:02 and delivered in this great chapter of the Bible 26:06 the Ten Commandment law to His people, He said, 26:08 "This is a law of protection. This is a law of freedom. 26:13 This is because I love you. 26:15 And when it's written in your heart, 26:18 this is what your life will look like because you love me." 26:24 ♪[Music]♪ 26:25 >>John: Many things in life are here today 26:27 and gone tomorrow. 26:29 But some things are built to last. 26:32 From the time He put the earth in place, 26:34 God gave us a sign of His love that will last eternally. 26:38 I've written a small book about that sign, 26:40 and I'd like to send it to you free. 26:43 It's called "God's Eternal Sign." 26:46 All you need to do is call 800-253-3000 26:50 and ask for "God's Eternal Sign." 26:55 >>John Bradshaw: Let's pray together now, shall we? 26:57 Our Father in heaven, we're grateful today 26:59 for this great chapter of the Bible, Exodus chapter 20. 27:02 You're a God who loves us enough to give us guidance, 27:05 who loves us enough to make us whole, 27:07 who loves us enough that when we fail, 27:09 You will forgive us and then enter our life and live in us 27:13 to bring us to spiritual success and victory. 27:16 Friend, would you like that victory? 27:18 Would you say to Jesus now, "Lord, give me that victory. 27:20 Give me new life. 27:21 Write Your law in my heart. 27:23 Uh, Jesus, live in me so that my life can be everything 27:26 You want it to be"? 27:28 Father, that's our prayer. 27:29 We believe You'll do it; we believe You've done it. 27:32 Take our hearts now. Friend, offer God your heart. 27:35 Take our heart, make it Yours, 27:37 and we believe salvation is ours. 27:40 And we believe, praying in Jesus' name. 27:46 Amen. 27:47 Thank you so much for joining me. 27:49 I'm looking forward to seeing you next time. 27:51 Until then, remember: 27:53 "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, 27:57 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'" 28:02 ♪[Theme music]♪ |
Revised 2019-03-13