Revelation's Ancient Discoveries

Revelation's Answer for Society's Crumbling Values

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

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Series Code: RAD

Program Code: RAD170010A


00:01 What does the future hold?
00:02 Where can we find certainty in a world of uncertainty?
00:05 The book of Revelation provides helpful answers for today,
00:09 tomorrow, and forever.
00:11 Join Mark Finley, author and world renowned speaker,
00:14 on a journey into the future with
00:22 The book of Revelation not only shares God's insight regarding
00:27 the future, but it reveals God's plan for your life today.
00:32 It not only reveals the description of prophetic beasts,
00:37 and symbols, and helps us to understand where this world is
00:40 going, but it speaks to our hearts, leading us to deeper
00:44 commitment, faith, and closer to Christ today.
00:48 In this presentation we're going to focus on how this book
00:54 can change your life.
00:55 Let's pray. Father in Heaven, thank You so much for the
00:59 book of Revelation.
01:00 Thank You that it is a book that speaks
01:02 to our present needs.
01:04 It's a book that is life changing.
01:07 It's a book that reveals Your plan, not only for tomorrow,
01:10 but Your plan for today.
01:13 As we journey through its pages in this presentation,
01:17 help us to sense Your life changing power.
01:20 In Christ's name, Amen. My topic is
01:31 Have you noticed that there are dramatic changes taking
01:34 place in our society?
01:37 Earth shaking changes are occurring.
01:41 The home today is under assault.
01:44 The family is under attack.
01:47 I remember when I was a boy growing up, more years ago than
01:52 I would like to remember, I remember the refuge
01:55 and security in my own home, in my own family.
01:59 Can you think back to your first day of school?
02:02 For me that was well, more than about sixty-five years ago,
02:07 my first day of school.
02:09 And I remember going to school.
02:10 I mean I was nervous!
02:12 I didn't want to be away from my father, my mother.
02:14 My dad worked nights, so he'd sleep in the
02:16 morning when he came home.
02:17 And we just had a very close home.
02:19 My mother and father walked me to school that first day.
02:23 I get in school, and about two hours in, I mean I wasn't
02:27 going to stay there.
02:28 And I raised my hand and said, Teacher. Yes.
02:30 Can I go to the bathroom?
02:31 She let me go to the bathroom.
02:33 Walked to the bathroom, looked around, ran home.
02:36 Came through that door, and my father woke up.
02:40 He said, Son, you know, what's going on here?
02:42 I thought you were in school.
02:44 My mother said, What, what?
02:45 I said, I can't go to school, Mom.
02:46 I can't go to school.
02:48 And, you know, I remember it like it was yesterday.
02:49 My mother just threw her arms around me and said, Son,
02:52 it will be okay. You stay home today,
02:54 and we'll get you back tomorrow.
02:56 My father said, Let's do something together today.
02:59 You know, I had a home that was a place of refuge,
03:02 a home that was security.
03:04 And that's what home is all about.
03:07 It's a place where children can be hugged by their parents.
03:12 It's a place of laughter and joy.
03:15 But too many homes are no longer that place
03:19 of laughter and joy.
03:21 Too many homes have gone through very dramatic changes.
03:26 They've not become the secure places that Heaven
03:29 intends them to be.
03:30 They've become places of conflict.
03:33 They've become places of strife.
03:35 And today homes are no longer places of refuge.
03:39 They are places that have been invaded by the enemy,
03:43 places that have been attacked by the attacker.
03:45 When you look at homes today, often children are left to get
03:50 something quick, some hurried meal.
03:53 And home has just become a dropping off place where people
03:56 eat quickly before the next event, or they sleep.
04:00 They're more like hotels than genuine homes.
04:03 Many a mom, and many a dad are involved in multitasking,
04:09 trying to do two or three things at once.
04:12 And at times in this hectic, rushed society, children,
04:18 family values evaporate, divorce is rampant,
04:23 kids often left on their own with eyes glued to their iPads.
04:28 Do you know that the average teenager today sends over 3,000
04:36 texts every single month?
04:39 It is quite astonishing.
04:41 That average is about 100 texts a day.
04:44 I don't know how it can be possible, but that's what the
04:45 statisticians tell us.
04:47 When you look out at what's taking place in the world today,
04:59 Our homes are being invaded.
05:00 Our homes are being attacked.
05:02 Divorce commonplace, violence, murder, immorality,
05:07 through the internet, and through television, iPads,
05:12 invading our homes.
05:14 Many a kid is glued to the TV screen, while their parents
05:19 are out and away from the home.
05:22 Today the question becomes, how can you be moral
05:26 in an immoral world?
05:27 How can you preserve decency?
05:30 How can you have honesty, and integrity, and ethics?
05:33 How can you have purity?
05:36 How can you have kindness, and love in a very violet world?
05:40 In a world of competing values, how can you protect your home,
05:45 your family, and your own life, and your own mind?
05:57 And it is really striking when you see the impact of mass media
06:03 in blunting our finer sensibilities, in hardening our
06:08 hearts toward violence, in making us think that
06:11 immorality, and sexual immorality in particular,
06:14 is of no consequence at all.
06:17 What is it that's going on in our society?
06:26 Too often people have this idea that there
06:30 really is no morality.
06:31 You have your right, I have my right.
06:33 You have your truth, I have my truth.
06:36 You have your so called morals, I have my so called morals.
06:40 There is the idea that there is no moral compass,
06:43 no specific direction in life.
06:47 The Bible makes it plain though in
06:55 Here is precisely the problem with our society.
06:59 Men and women have thrown out the moral compass that
07:03 God has given them.
07:04 They've thrown out God's law.
07:07 There's no standard higher than their own mind
07:11 to govern their actions.
07:13 There's nothing more than their own heart to give them a sense
07:18 of what's right and wrong.
07:19 But the Bible says, Jeremiah 17:9, The heart is deceitful
07:23 above all things, and desperately wicked.
07:25 So one cannot trust a fallen nature to lead that individual
07:32 into paths of righteousness or morality.
07:36 The Scripture goes on to say in
07:44 We've sown the wind of violence on television,
07:48 and we are reaping the whirlwind of violence in our society.
07:54 We've sown the wind of immorality, and sexual adultery,
08:00 and impurity on television, and we are reaping that whirlwind
08:04 of gonorrhea, and syphilis, and sexually transmitted
08:09 diseases, and broken homes in our society.
08:12 As Scripture says, He that trusts his own heart is a fool.
08:16 As Scripture says, We've sown the wind,
08:19 and we're reaping the whirlwind.
08:22 We've sown the wind, and what's happening in our society?
08:25 Crime becomes commonplace.
08:27 When a child looks at television and sees 200,000 violent acts,
08:34 it's easy for them to become desensitized toward violence,
08:39 and simply go out and commit those heinous,
08:42 violent acts themselves.
08:48 Is there a moral compass to guide us by?
08:51 Is there some North Star to guide us by?
08:55 Ships lost at sea at night are guided often by
09:00 a star; the North Star.
09:02 Where is that North Star to guide us today?
09:07 Let's go back to the book of Revelation. It's
09:11 and Jesus has a moral compass for us.
09:16 Jesus has a North Star to guide us by.
09:20 Revelation 14:6, we're studying this message in the heart
09:25 of the book of Revelation.
09:34 This gospel is to go to
09:52 Now notice it says, the hour of God's judgment has come.
09:56 Judgment implies moral responsibility.
10:00 Judgment says you're responsible.
10:03 Fear God. That's obey God, the Scripture says;
10:06 give Him glory. Why? Why do we obey God?
10:09 Because we are morally responsible for the actions
10:12 that we have in the light of the judgment.
10:18 We don't act the way we do merely because of our genetics.
10:22 We don't act the way we do merely because
10:25 of our environment.
10:26 We don't act the way we do merely because we've been
10:29 shaped that way by our parents.
10:31 We act the way we do because of our choices.
10:33 You know, too many people try to make many excuses.
10:36 You know, I know I have a problem with alcohol,
10:39 but my father had a problem with alcohol, my grandfather had a
10:42 problem with alcohol.
10:43 Certainly genetics and environment plays a part in the
10:48 way we act, but we can choose.
10:52 We can choose to reach out to Christ, and through His power
10:57 make a difference in our lives.
10:58 We are the arbiters of our own destiny.
11:01 Somebody says, I'm involved in drugs, but you should see my
11:04 neighborhood, it's so poverty stricken,
11:06 and I've been influenced.
11:08 You can be influenced by the power of Jesus Christ.
11:11 See, that's what judgment is all about.
11:13 Judgment says you can choose.
11:15 Judgment says you're responsible for your actions.
11:18 Judgment says you are the arbiter of your destiny.
11:23 Somebody says, Well, sure, I've been in and out of prison,
11:26 but my environment, my neighborhood...
11:29 There's something beyond your neighborhood; it is your choice.
11:42 Nobody is responsible for what they do, according to the
11:48 popular mores of society.
11:50 In fact, that's part of the evolutionary hypothesis.
11:53 The evolutionary hypothesis says we are simply in large protein
11:58 molecules; we're advanced animals, and we've been shaped
12:02 by our environment to behave the way we do.
12:04 It's called behaviorism in psychological thought.
12:08 But the good news is that God has given us
12:11 the capacity to choose.
12:13 The good news is that God has given us the freedom of choice.
12:17 The good news is that we are not like little leaves blowing
12:21 in the autumn breeze, with every wind of societal trends.
12:39 Is there some moral compass to guide our lives by? There is.
12:42 Is there some ethical standard to direct our lives? There is.
12:48 It is God's law. God's law wasn't simply written
12:51 for a bygone generation.
12:54 It wasn't written for a group of what some people called
12:57 nomad Jewish tribes.
12:59 God's law is the very foundation of God's character,
13:03 and God's law is the very basis of all ethical morality.
13:19 Now notice two things that are quite fascinating.
13:21 First we're judged by the law.
13:23 Somebody says, I thought we were saved by grace. We are.
13:25 We are saved by the grace of God.
13:28 But there must be some basis of judgment.
13:30 And if you're not going to judge people based on their works,
13:33 in harmony with the law, what are you going to judge by?
13:37 So grace is so good that it works.
13:41 Grace always leads to obedience; never leads to disobedience.
13:47 But the phrase that I'm interested in here
13:49 is the law of liberty.
13:50 So God's law is freeing. For example, in
13:58 You can look at that as negative, but in a real
14:02 sense it's positive.
14:03 In other words, the law that says, Thou shalt not kill,
14:07 protects human life.
14:09 It regards the sanctity of human life.
14:13 It protects each of us, young and old, from violence.
14:17 It protects us from abuse.
14:19 Take the law, for example, that says,
14:23 That law is not to restrict our freedom,
14:27 but it's to enhance our freedom.
14:29 It protects the family.
14:30 It protects husband and wife relationships.
14:33 It protects moral purity.
14:36 It inspires happiness and joy.
14:39 It encourages family values.
14:42 What about the commandment that says, Thou shalt not steal?
14:46 What if there were no commandment that says,
14:48 Thou shalt not steal?
14:49 That would mean that anything you had in society,
14:52 somebody else could take.
14:55 Society would be in chaos if you just didn't have these
14:59 three of the ten commandments:
15:00 thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery,
15:03 thou shalt not steal.
15:05 You see, human laws are often based on the Divine law of God.
15:11 And the very foundation of God's government,
15:14 and the very foundation of all moral society, is based on the
15:17 principles of the ten commandments.
15:20 Without the ten commandments there would be absolutely chaos
15:23 in society: robbery, and immorality, and stealing,
15:27 and murder would be much more common than they are today.
15:32 The book of Revelation points us to the very throne of God.
15:37 And it says, Revelation 11:19,
15:46 So John says, I looked up into heaven, and there in heaven
15:50 I saw the ark of the covenant.
15:52 And what was in that ark of the covenant
15:55 in the earthly sanctuary?
15:57 Remember the sanctuary had three parts.
16:00 There was the court, where sacrifices were offered,
16:03 there was the holy place, where the priest brought the blood
16:06 after the sacrifice was offered, sprinkled it before the veil.
16:09 In that holy place was the altar of incense.
16:13 There was, in that first apartment,
16:15 the table of showbread.
16:17 In that first apartment of the sanctuary there was
16:19 the golden candlestick.
16:21 But beyond that veil in the most holy place,
16:22 was the ark of the covenant.
16:24 And in that ark of the covenant was the very law of God.
16:27 So the Bible says, I saw heaven opened, and I saw this ark
16:31 of the covenant, and I saw the ten commandment law
16:34 written with the finger of God.
16:36 You see, that ark of the covenant, with the two angels,
16:39 golden angels overlooking it, with the law of God inside it,
16:45 that ark of the covenant between the angels was the
16:49 Shekinah glory of God.
16:50 That represents the very throne of God.
16:52 And there at God's throne we have,
16:55 as the basis of His throne, His law.
16:57 So His law certainly has not been done away with,
17:01 because it's a transcript of His character.
17:03 It tells us about our loving God and what He's like.
17:06 And it also is the foundation of His throne.
17:09 It's the foundation of His government throughout the
17:12 entire universe, and it's the foundation of all moral law.
17:19 God's unchangeable, God's eternal, God's law.
17:36 If you do away with the law of God, you then say there is no
17:42 moral responsibility, so there is no judgment.
17:46 So law and judgment are really part of the gospel, because if
17:50 there is no law, then there can't be any sin,
17:53 and if there's no sin there's no accountability.
17:56 And if there's no judgment and no law,
17:58 then why would you need a Savior?
18:00 Why would you need the gospel?
18:01 Here in 1 John 3:4, the Bible puts it this way:
18:12 Now sin is not what you and I think it is.
18:16 I mean, in other words, sin is not something that we define,
18:18 it's something that God defines.
18:20 A person says, Well, you know, I don't have a good
18:23 marriage relationship, so I'm kind of running around with
18:25 somebody else, my secretary, a working associate,
18:29 somebody I met at a party, but God understands.
18:32 I don't have a good marriage relationship, but that's okay,
18:34 and I don't think it's sin.
18:36 Look my friend, whether you think it's sin or not doesn't
18:38 make any difference.
18:39 Sin is breaking God's law.
18:41 And one of God's laws says, Thou shalt not commit adultery.
18:43 I've had young people that have wondered, Well, can I have a
18:46 a relationship with my girlfriend?
18:47 We're going to get married someday, and I can have
18:49 relations outside of marriage.
18:51 But I don't think that's wrong, is it, Pastor?
18:52 It is! Sin is not how you define it, sin is God defines it.
18:58 Somebody said, Well, you know what?
18:59 I'm, I just occasionally maybe cheat on my Income taxes,
19:04 and, you know, occasionally I may take
19:06 something out of a store.
19:08 You know, I bought three sweaters, but I slipped another
19:09 jumper, another sweater in there.
19:11 Is that sin? Because think of how much
19:14 those store owners make.
19:16 You don't define sin, God does.
19:19 If you steal, that's sin.
19:20 Dishonoring your parents, that's sin.
19:22 Sin is defined, not by human beings, not by our mind,
19:26 but by God Himself.
19:28 Sin, according to the Bible, is breaking God's law.
19:31 Sin is turning our backs on the moral
19:34 principles of the universe.
19:45 So the law of God is not some legalistic requirement
19:49 to restrict our freedom.
19:50 It is, rather, given by a loving God.
19:53 The book of Revelation opens its pages and shares with us
20:00 that God still has a standard.
20:03 And wise parents direct their children to the living Word of
20:10 God, to the law of God, as the code of conduct.
20:15 Grace always enables us to keep, and obey God's law.
20:27 Openingly, knowingly, violating God's law is the pathway to
20:33 disaster, not the pathway to happiness.
20:36 Now love always leads to obedience.
20:40 Love never leads to disobedience.
20:42 I've had people say, Well, all you have to do is love.
20:45 And if you just love God, He requires nothing else.
20:49 Does that imply that you love Him,
20:51 and you don't have to obey Him?
20:54 What if a little child said, Oh Mommy, I love you!
20:57 Mommy, I love you! Daddy, I love you!
20:58 Would you take out the trash son?
21:00 Would you pick up your room son?
21:02 Oh, mommy, or daddy, I love ya, but I don't think
21:05 I love you that much!
21:06 You see, love always is manifest in action.
21:11 Love is never some silly sentimental thing
21:14 that we can't define.
21:15 Love always reveals itself in the way we act.
21:19 That's why Jesus said,
21:23 Do what? Do what? Keep My commandments.
21:27 Jesus did not say, If you love Me, you don't have to
21:31 keep My commandments.
21:32 Jesus didn't say, If you love Me, don't worry
21:34 about my commandments.
21:36 Jesus said, If you love Me, do what? Do what everybody?
21:40 Love naturally leads to obedience.
21:44 You know, I obey God, not in order to be saved,
21:47 not in order to earn His love, but I obey God because I am
21:52 saved, and because I have been loved.
21:55 So when I'm saved by Christ, that leads me
22:00 naturally to obey Christ.
22:02 When I'm loved by Christ, that naturally leads me to
22:06 respond to Christ in love.
22:15 Now what's the evidence that we know Christ?
22:18 What's the evidence that He's living in our heart?
22:21 If we keep His commandments.
22:23 So the keeping of the commandments of God
22:27 is evidence, par excellence, that we have committed our lives
22:33 to Christ, and we genuinely love Him.
22:35 Now notice what the Bible says.
22:36 Now notice, I didn't say this.
22:38 These are not my words.
22:39 These are the Bible's words.
22:42 So this person says, Oh, I know Christ. I love Christ.
22:49 Is a what? What does it say?
22:51 Is a what? Is a liar, and the truth is where? is it in Him?
22:56 ...and the truth is not in him.
22:57 In other words, if I say I love Christ, and all I want to do is
23:02 follow Christ, but yet I don't live an obedient, Godly life,
23:06 if my life does not reflect my love, then that love
23:11 is not genuine at all.
23:19 There are some people that have the idea that law is an
23:22 Old Testament idea, and grace is a New Testament idea.
23:26 They have the mistaken idea that people in the Old Testament are
23:29 saved by law, and people in the New Testament
23:31 are saved by grace.
23:32 Someday when we get up to Heaven, am I going to see Moses
23:35 up there, and Daniel up there, and Jeremiah and Isaiah
23:39 from the Old Testament and say, Hey guys!
23:41 How were you guys saved?
23:42 Moses says, I was saved by the law.
23:45 Daniel says, I was saved by the law.
23:47 And I see Paul and James and John.
23:50 How were you saved? by grace.
23:51 Are we going to have two methods of salvation in Heaven?
23:55 Not at all! Moses was saved by grace.
24:00 The Bible says, Titus 2:12, 14, The grace of God that brings
24:06 salvation appears to all men.
24:09 So Moses was saved by grace.
24:12 Jeremiah was saved by grace.
24:15 And Paul, and James, and John were saved by grace.
24:18 So you say, How could the Old Testament
24:19 people be saved by grace?
24:21 Christ hadn't come.
24:22 Every sacrifice they offered looked forward in anticipation
24:26 to the Christ that was to come.
24:29 So their faith reached forward to the cross.
24:33 Our faith reaches backward to the cross.
24:36 But it's the same faith that we exercise,
24:39 that Abraham exercised.
24:41 The Bible says Abraham was saved by faith.
24:43 So they exercised faith to receive grace.
24:46 We exercise faith to receive grace.
24:53 Now what's the role of God's law,
24:55 and what's the role of grace?
24:57 Let's notice. They have different roles.
25:00 They are not contradictory, they're complimentary.
25:11 So the law reveals what sin is.
25:15 If I did not have the law, I would not know what sin is.
25:21 Now if you do away with the law, but the Bible says, By the law
25:25 is the knowledge of what? sin.
25:30 For example, if I'm traveling down the highway, and on this
25:36 interstate, and I'm going 100 miles an hour,
25:40 and a police stops me.
25:41 Now don't worry. This preacher's not going to
25:43 travel 100 miles an hour.
25:44 But I'm driving down and the police stops me.
25:47 He says, What are you doing?
25:48 You're speeding. You're, you're... The speed limit is 70.
25:51 You're 30 miles an hour over.
25:53 So if there's a law, I'm accountable to judgment
25:56 for breaking that law.
25:58 But what if there is no law?
26:00 What if I'm on the Autobahn in Germany,
26:03 where there are no speed limits, and I'm going 100?
26:06 What's going to happen?
26:07 Well, if I don't get into a wreck, because I'm driving so
26:11 fast, I'm not going to be picked up by the police.
26:14 Why not? There is no law.
26:15 So if you do away with the law, you do away with sin.
26:19 Now let's take that a step further.
26:20 The Bible says in
26:28 So just like Paul says in Romans 3:20, By the law there is
26:32 a knowledge of sin.
26:35 We can't know sin except by the law.
26:38 So the law reveals what sin is.
26:46 So you cannot know what sin is unless it is defined by the law.
26:53 If you do away with the law, you do away with sin.
27:00 The role of grace is to save us.
27:18 So we are not saved by the law.
27:22 The law reveals to us what sin is.
27:25 Grace is God's mercy.
27:28 Grace is God's pardon.
27:31 Grace is God's forgiveness.
27:34 Grace has to do with God's power.
27:37 Grace has to do with God's love.
27:40 Maybe this illustration will help us.
27:43 Let's suppose that I'm out working on my car.
27:49 And as I'm working on my car, some grease spatters up,
27:53 and it hits me in the nose, it Hits me on the cheek,
27:56 and I've got this grease all over me.
27:59 And I don't realize it so much.
28:02 And my wife calls me, Mark, Mark, it's time for supper.
28:06 I come in the house and I've got this grease.
28:08 She looks at me and she says, You've got grease
28:10 all over your face.
28:11 I say, Darling, I don't have grease on my face.
28:13 She... You'd better go look in the mirror.
28:14 I go look in the mirror.
28:15 Wait a minute, my wife's right on!
28:17 She's right! I've got this grease!
28:20 But I don't like that mirror.
28:21 I'm going to do away with it.
28:23 I'm going to smash it.
28:24 Does smashing the mirror take the oil off my face?
28:32 No, you say. That's craziness!
28:33 It just reveals what's there all the time.
28:36 That's the function of the law.
28:37 It reveals what's there all the time.
28:39 But what do I need?
28:40 I need soap. I need soap to cleanse this dirty face of mine.
28:45 What is the role of grace?
28:48 Grace is God's mercy and pardon that washes me clean,
28:54 and empowers me to live a new life.
29:07 What does Paul say?
29:12 Anybody that says faith or grace does away with the law of God
29:18 disagrees with the Apostle Paul.
29:21 Because what does Paul say?
29:24 That is do we do away with the law through faith?
29:27 What does he say? Certainly not!
29:30 Does that seem tenuous? Not at all.
29:33 Paul is very clear.
29:35 He says, We establish the law.
29:37 In other words, my faith leads me to accept God's grace that
29:42 cleanses my heart, and that leads me to obey God's law.
29:46 Jesus put it as plainly as He can put it when He said,
29:57 I have come not to destroy, but to do what? fulfill.
30:01 Did Jesus come to do away with the law that said,
30:04 Thou shalt not commit adultery?
30:06 Did He? He came to fulfill it, or broaden
30:09 the claims of the law.
30:11 And Jesus didn't do away with the law.
30:12 He said anybody that looks at a woman, and gazes, lingering,
30:16 with lust in his heart has broken that commandment.
30:19 That isn't to say that the lustful look is works
30:22 as the lustful act.
30:23 It's not to say that at all, because the lustful act has
30:26 social consequences, breaks up them, but it is to say it's
30:30 breaking that commandment.
30:31 Did Jesus say that...
30:33 Did Jesus come to do away with the commandment that says,
30:36 Thou shalt not kill?
30:38 So that now you can go out and kill? Not at all!
30:39 What did He say? He broadened that commandment, and He said
30:43 if you have anger in your heart you've broken the commandment.
30:46 Does that mean anger is as bad as killing, so you might as
30:48 well go out and kill somebody?
30:50 Not at all! That's a misinterpretation totally.
30:53 But what it does mean is that the angry thought
30:56 leads to the angry act; that you can break the commandment
30:59 not only by the physical act, but you can break the
31:02 commandment as well by the thought in the mind of anger.
31:10 Jesus says, I didn't come to destroy the law,
31:12 but I came to do what? fulfill it.
31:14 Jesus is saying, I have come to fulfill
31:17 the law, full of meaning.
31:18 I have come to fulfill it full of purpose.
31:21 He fills it full of purpose by giving us a pure mind,
31:24 and then taking away adulterous thoughts.
31:25 He fills it full of purpose by taking anger out of our heart,
31:29 and helping us have lives of gentleness and kindness.
31:32 Jesus puts it very plain when He says in
31:42 Somebody says, that's it right there.
31:44 We're not under the law, Pastor Mark, we're under grace.
31:47 That means we don't have to keep the law.
31:49 Is that what the text says?
31:50 No, the text doesn't say that.
31:51 Let's look at the text carefully.
31:54 When does sin have dominion over you?
31:57 What is sin? It's lawlessness.
31:59 So sin has dominion over you when you are
32:02 breaking God's law.
32:03 Notice it says, you are not under law but under grace.
32:07 Now just look at the text.
32:08 Does the text say we're not under the law?
32:10 You know I have many audiences that say,
32:14 Oh yeah, it says that we are under the law.
32:18 But what does it say?
32:20 You're not under the law, you're under grace.
32:22 It doesn't say you're under the law, it says you're not under
32:25 the law, you're under grace.
32:27 What does it mean to be not under the law?
32:30 What does that mean?
32:32 Does it mean you're not under the jurisdiction of the law,
32:36 therefore you can break the law, or does it mean you're not
32:41 under the law, as a method of salvation?
32:44 See, if you take the text and context, sin shall not
32:49 have dominium over you.
32:50 In other words you're not going to be out there breaking God's
32:52 law recklessly. For you're not under the law.
32:56 You're not under law as a method of salvation.
32:59 You're under the grace method of salvation.
33:03 And when you're under the grace method of salvation, you are
33:07 cleansed and pardoned by that grace; that dynamic grace enters
33:11 into your life and leads you to a life of obedience.
33:27 So the law is not my method of salvation,
33:30 grace is my method of salvation.
33:32 But the grace that pardons me is the grace that transforms me.
33:37 The grace that frees me from the guilt of sin,
33:41 is the grace that frees me from the shackles of sin.
33:44 When I come to Jesus, we come just as we are,
33:49 with all of our sin, with all of our guilt,
33:52 with all of our shame, with all of our condemnation,
33:54 but we do not stay as we are.
33:57 He changes us. He makes us over again.
34:01 He leads us to be obedient to His law.
34:05 The law, like the mirror, reveals our need.
34:08 But Christ cleanses us from the sin of our life.
34:20 The law is a perfect transcript of God's character.
34:23 How does it convert my soul?
34:25 It drives me to Jesus, just like looking in the mirror.
34:29 It drives me to get some soap, because I see I'm dirty.
34:32 So the law converts my soul in the sense, not that it has
34:36 power, but in the sense it shows me my lack of power.
34:40 It shows me my sin, and it drives me to Jesus Christ.
34:44 It drives me to the cross of Calvary.
34:46 It drives me to kneel there and say, Jesus, let Your blood drops
34:50 fall on me and cleanse me.
34:52 On the cross I see His love.
34:54 On the cross I see His grace.
34:56 On the cross I see His pardon.
34:57 On the cross I see His mercy.
34:59 On the cross I see freedom from the condemnation of the law.
35:03 At the cross I say, Jesus, if you've done this much for me,
35:06 all I want to do is kneel before Your cross and obey
35:10 You now and forever.
35:13 Somebody says, but Pastor Mark, I have a question.
35:16 I love questions. What's your question?
35:18 Didn't a rich young ruler came to Jesus and say to Him,
35:23 What are the great commandments in the law?
35:25 And didn't Jesus say love?
35:28 Let's go back and look at that.
35:30 The Scribe came to Jesus.
35:33 This teacher of the law came to Jesus,
35:36 and in Matthew 22:36-40, and he says to Jesus,
35:43 Now why do you think he asked Jesus that?
35:45 He did to test Him.
35:46 He wanted to see if he could back Jesus into the corner.
35:50 And what does Jesus say?
35:58 And then Jesus goes on to say,
36:06 The Pharisee said, the Scribe said, the lawyer said,
36:12 That's it! It's love!
36:15 He understood what Jesus was doing.
36:18 Jesus was taking the ten commandment law
36:21 and summarizing them.
36:23 Some people say that Jesus was introducing a new commandment
36:27 here, but look what He says. Next verse.
36:32 That's loving God, loving your fellow man.
36:37 In other words the entire ten commandment law can be
36:41 summarized in these two phrases.
36:43 The first four commandments can be summarized in loving God,
36:47 the last six commandments can be summarized in
36:50 loving your fellow man.
36:55 In fact, Jesus was quoting from the Old Testament.
36:58 Deuteronomy 6:5 says, Love God with all your
37:02 heart, soul and mind.
37:03 It's a summary of the ten commandments.
37:04 Leviticus 19:18 says love your neighbor as yourself.
37:08 So when Jesus summarized the whole law,
37:11 it's in one word, love.
37:12 When He breaks down the two tables of the law,
37:16 it's love to God, the first four commandments,
37:18 love to your fellow man the next six.
37:19 So the commandments are codified love.
37:22 The commandments reveal what loving people do.
37:26 They love God and they love their fellow man.
37:29 Loving people don't in any way want to steal
37:34 from their neighbors.
37:36 Loving people don't want in any way to break the marriage tie
37:38 and commit adultery.
37:40 Loving children want to honor their parents.
37:42 Loving people, who love God, don't want to have any
37:45 other god's before them.
37:47 Loving people don't want to take His name in vain.
37:49 So the ten commandments reveal how loving people respond
37:54 in given situations.
37:56 The grace of Christ does not change the ten commandment
38:02 law written by God's own finger on tables of stone.
38:06 God did not write His law on parchment to be consumed.
38:10 He didn't write it on sand to be washed away.
38:13 He wrote it with His own finger on tables of stone.
38:17 And if God wrote with His finger on tables of stone,
38:20 He wrote it permanently, to last not only for a few years,
38:24 or a few generations, but to last forever.
38:27 And God's ten commandment law is for people in every race,
38:32 culture, creed and background.
38:35 God's ten commandment law is the moral code of
38:39 conduct for every society.
38:40 God's ten commandment law reveals how people saved by
38:45 grace respond to Him in loving obedience.
38:48 You know, when you look at the ten commandment law itself,
38:52 and you see its introduction, you see that the ten commandment
38:55 law really was to give us freedom,
38:57 and not to keep us in bondage.
39:00 Look what it says in
39:08 So they were coming out of bondage, and God gave them
39:12 the law as an illustration of their freedom.
39:15 But somebody says, Are the ten commandments
39:18 relevant for us today?
39:20 The ten commandments speak with relevance
39:23 to your life and mine.
39:24 They speak with purpose to your life and mine.
39:27 The first commandment says,
39:32 In an age of false gods, in an age when sports stars become
39:38 ours gods, and singers become our gods, and entertainers
39:43 become our gods, and the Hollywood icons become our gods,
39:47 God says, You shall have no other gods before Me.
39:51 This commandment speaks with relevance in our generation,
39:55 at a time when men and women make graven images out of their
40:00 material possessions, God says,
40:06 In other words, worship Me directly.
40:09 The first commandment says worship Me exclusively.
40:12 There's nobody like our God.
40:14 Our God is an awesome God.
40:16 The first commandment says, Have no other gods before Me.
40:20 Worship Him directly, exclusively.
40:22 The second commandment says,
40:27 Worship Him directly.
40:28 Come directly to God.
40:30 The third commandment says,
40:35 At a time when the name of Jesus.
40:37 That lovely name, that magnificent name that's been
40:41 dragged through the dust in vile epitaphs, and in curse words.
40:46 The Bible says,
40:50 In other words, also another way to break that commandment is to
40:53 pretend you're a Christian and really not be one.
40:55 In other words, don't live a hypocritical life.
40:58 Live in harmony with Christ and His will,
41:02 and His commandments.
41:03 The fourth commandment,
41:05 God says, Remember.
41:07 Most of the world has forgotten.
41:14 At a time when people are racing on; filled with stress,
41:18 and anxiety, and worry, tension leading
41:21 to coronary disease, God says, Come, come.
41:25 The commandments are relevant, the Sabbath is relevant.
41:27 God says, Come, come and find rest and security in
41:31 your Creator each Sabbath.
41:33 At a time when children are defying the commands of their
41:39 parents, at a time when children often turn their backs in
41:45 rebellion, and what their parents say means little,
41:48 God says,
41:50 At a time of beating, and killing, and bombs dropping,
41:56 in a time of taking the life of the young unborn
41:59 so indiscriminately, God says,
42:05 The commandment speaks with relevance.
42:08 Murder on television, violence in our society, terrorism,
42:14 free abortions taking place indiscriminately, and God says
42:19 human life is sacred.
42:22 And at a time of blatant, wanton sexual adultery,
42:27 God calls us to purity.
42:29 The commandments speak with relevance to this generation.
42:34 At a time when people think very little of stealing,
42:39 very little of taking things from others that don't
42:42 belong to them, God's word still speaks,
42:48 In a time of criticism and gossip, and lying about other
42:52 people, and destroying their reputations; the tabloid
42:56 newspapers are full of it.
42:58 What does it say in the Scripture?
43:05 To destroy your neighbors reputation is a serious
43:09 offense against God.
43:10 These commandments are relevant.
43:12 Think if we only spoke good of others.
43:14 Think if we never, never spoke critical words or lied,
43:19 told half truths about others.
43:21 Think of the positive human relationships
43:23 that would take place.
43:25 Think of the positive human relationships if we're filled
43:27 with purity, filled with kindness, filled with love.
43:31 You see, the ten commandment law leads us not to be selfish,
43:36 or jealous of what others have.
43:38 The tenth commandment
43:40 What a society we would have if we worshipped God directly,
43:47 if we worshipped God exclusively, if His name were
43:50 honored, if the Sabbath were kept, and people felt
43:54 restful and peaceful.
43:56 What a society we would be in if children honored their parents,
44:00 and there was a strong family unit.
44:01 What a society we would have if we respected the goods of
44:05 others, and we respected the lives of others,
44:08 and we protected the lives of others.
44:10 What a society we would have if we, if we
44:14 maintained moral purity: no divorce,
44:18 kindness and love reigns, and we're not coveting.
44:22 God is calling us back, back to the keeping of His law.
44:26 He's calling us from the majority, calling us from the
44:30 crowd, calling us by His grace, and through His power to live
44:34 godly, obedient lives. The Bible says in
44:47 Speaking of His commandments,
44:54 Down through the centuries God's ten commandment law speaks with
44:59 relevance to bring joy and happiness,
45:01 and meaning and purpose to His people.
45:07 He disobeyed God and lost Heaven.
45:14 And many a man, many a woman will lose Heaven again.
45:18 They'll lose the joy of that Edenic home in the future
45:22 because of disobedience.
45:23 God says, here's God's desire for your heart.
45:26 Here's God's desire for your life.
45:36 What is the covenant?
45:37 What is this new covenant?
45:38 Is it to do away with God's law? Not at all.
45:51 What is the new covenant promise?
45:53 The new covenant promise is God's law in our minds so we
45:58 know it; God's law in our heart so that we love it.
46:02 We love God's law. Saved by grace!
46:04 All we want to do is obey God's law.
46:14 Where are God's last day people today, you say?
46:17 How can I find God's last day people today?
46:33 Jesus has an end time.
46:35 Jesus has a last day people, and He says, Here they are!
46:41 They are saved by faith.
46:42 The faith of Jesus lives in their heart.
46:45 The faith of Jesus is a dynamic principle that changes their
46:48 life, and they are led to lead obedient lives.
46:50 If you want to find God's end time people,
46:52 find a people saved by grace, find a people that are living
46:55 by the faith of Jesus Christ in their hearts as the dynamic
46:59 principle that leads them to keep God's law, that leads them
47:02 to be obedient to God's commandments.
47:07 puts it this way, Blessed... I want to be blessed, don't you?
47:11 How many want to be blessed?
47:21 Clothed with His righteousness, and robed with His glory,
47:26 immersed in His grace, they do His commandments,
47:30 according to the book of Revelation.
47:33 Jesus reaches out to you, and Jesus says to you my friend,
47:38 Come! Kneel before Me, confess anything not in harmony with
47:43 My will, commit deeply in your heart that you desire
47:48 to keep My commandments.
47:50 I'll give you that strength.
47:52 I'll give you that courage.
47:53 Many years ago Dwight L. Moody was a great preacher.
48:00 He preached all across America, preached in England.
48:03 Thousands and thousands came to hear Moody preach.
48:07 Moody had quite a reputation, and very often people pointed
48:13 forward to Moody's life, pointed out Moody's life
48:18 to their children as an example.
48:21 The story is told of a mother who brought her young son
48:26 to meet Dwight Moody.
48:29 And as the boy came up the mother smiled and said to
48:32 Mr. Moody, Mr. Moody, this is my boy.
48:35 I'll call him John.
48:36 This is my boy, John.
48:38 Mr. Moody, I'd love you to meet him.
48:39 John, shake Mr. Moody's hand.
48:41 And the boy clenched his fist, and he put his
48:42 hands behind his back.
48:44 The mother was quite embarrassed.
48:45 Meeting a famous man like that, meeting a renowned man like
48:49 that, meeting a man that had shaken two continents for God,
48:53 and her son has his hands behind his back?
48:57 Son, shake Moody's hand!
49:01 And the boy took his hand out with a fist like this.
49:05 Son, open your hand.
49:07 Son, why are you being so defiant?
49:09 Son, shake the great preacher's hand!
49:12 The boy had his hand in a fist.
49:14 He made a fist out of his hand.
49:16 The woman took his fingers and began to peel them back
49:20 and open them up, and the boy had a few marbles in his hand.
49:23 The boy thought that Dwight Moody was going
49:26 to take his marbles.
49:29 He didn't want to give up his marbles.
49:32 What marbles are you holding onto?
49:35 What are you clinging to in your hand?
49:37 When you look at God's law, have you been living in harmony
49:42 with its principles?
49:44 Have you been knowingly, willingly breaking God's law?
49:47 Jesus says, Open your hand.
49:50 I want to embrace you.
49:52 I want to take you by the hand.
49:54 I want to lead you from here to eternity.
49:57 Open up your hand.
49:59 Don't hold on to those cheap, tawdry marbles anymore.
50:04 I've got so much more for you.
50:07 Jesus reaches out to you right now, and will you say,
50:11 All to Jesus, I surrender.
50:14 I surrender all, Jesus.
50:16 Listen as Celestine sings, and open your heart to this Christ.
50:33 All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give.
50:48 I will ever love and trust Him, in His presence daily live.
51:04 I surrender all. I surrender all.
51:19 All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.
51:39 All to Jesus I surrender.
51:46 Humbly at His feet I bow.
51:54 Worldly pleasures all forsaken, take me Jesus, take me now.
52:08 I surrender all! I surrender all!
52:23 All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.
52:37 I surrender all! I surrender all!
52:50 All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.
53:14 I want to be very practical.
53:16 How do you surrender all?
53:20 What does it mean to surrender all?
53:24 For somebody, these next few moments are
53:30 going to change your life.
53:31 For somebody, these next few moments are going to
53:37 transform your life.
53:39 You say, But, you know, I have this relationship.
53:44 I could never surrender it.
53:46 I have this habit. I could never surrender it.
53:49 This habit has chained me.
53:52 This habit has shacked me.
53:55 I've tried to give it up before and I can't.
53:58 I'm in this relationship, and I can't get out.
54:01 I seem bound. I'm not sure that I want to give up
54:05 the things that I'm doing, because at times they are
54:09 so attractive to me.
54:11 Listen to me friend, first don't worry about giving up things.
54:18 Give yourself to Jesus.
54:22 He will take care of the things.
54:26 What do you receive when you give yourself to Jesus?
54:30 You receive peace. Your heart is flooded with His peace.
54:35 You receive a sense of the forgiveness of your sins.
54:41 The guilt is gone. You receive a new power into your life
54:47 that is life changing, and it's radical,
54:51 and it's life transformational.
54:53 You receive the new joy that there is purpose for your life,
54:59 there's a plan for your life, and Christ has your
55:03 best interest in view.
55:04 You receive the hope of Heaven, and the glory that you can live
55:11 with Christ forever, and ever, and ever, and ever.
55:16 What do I give up? I give up a sin polluted heart.
55:20 I give up a confused life.
55:23 I give up, when I surrender myself to Christ,
55:27 I give up my own ways.
55:29 I come to Jesus, and what I receive is so much greater!
55:37 Right now would you like to bow your head with me?
55:41 Right now would you like to say, Jesus, I'm giving
55:47 my whole self to You?
55:50 All to Jesus, I surrender.
55:53 Let's pray. Father in Heaven, we know that coming to Christ
55:58 isn't giving up things, it's giving up ourself.
56:02 It's giving to You our very life.
56:05 And when we do that, in exchange for a sin polluted heart
56:10 we receive the grace and strength, and pardon,
56:14 and forgiveness of Christ.
56:15 In exchange for purposelessness, and meaninglessness in life,
56:20 we receive direction in our life.
56:22 In exchange for not having much assurance for the future,
56:27 we receive the joy, and the hope of eternity.
56:31 We thank You so much for everything You give us.
56:34 We come to You, and we give You our lives this very moment,
56:38 knowing that You've said, Him that cometh to Me,
56:42 I'll in nowise cast out.
56:44 In Christ's name, Amen.
56:46 Have the assurance, my dear friend, that if you have made
56:51 that decision in your home, if you have made that decision
56:55 in your hotel room, to come to Christ right now,
56:58 that your hand is in the hand of Christ.
57:02 He will never, ever, ever let you go.
57:06 He'll never turn His back on you.
57:08 Have the joy of His peace.
57:10 Stay with us as we journey through the book of Revelation
57:15 together, and understand more deeply its prophecies.
57:19 Join us for our next telecast on
57:24 Revelation's Ancient Discoveries.


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Revised 2018-04-09