Participants:
Series Code: SCM
Program Code: SCM190021A
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00:39 Previously on Law of Love & Liberty:
00:43 It was a conviction 12 years ago; it's a conviction today. 00:47 I remember the Sabbath Day every Sabbath and I keep it holy. 00:50 All right! God made it holy. 00:52 He didn't ask me to make it... He asked me to keep it 00:54 and to maintain it... 00:56 so I keep what He made. Praise His name! 00:59 Lead me, Lord... I'll follow 01:03 anywhere You open up the door. 01:12 Let Your Word speak to me; 01:16 show me what I've never seen before. 01:24 God's plan can never be altered or cancelled 01:27 based on life's circumstances. 01:31 So one evening I was... As a Sunday-keeping person 01:34 I was sitting on the edge of my bed 01:35 and I was floating through the channels 01:37 and I saw John Lomacang preaching. 01:39 And I asked my wife if she had seen this person before, 01:42 what channel this was, and she said: 01:44 "Um... I think that's an Adventist channel. " 01:46 And I just kind of kept my mouth quiet 01:47 because I wasn't about to go to church on Saturday. 01:50 I started watching 3ABN, 01:53 found a program one... in April with Danny Shelton 01:57 and Pastor Stephen Bohr. 01:59 Was talking about the Sabbath. 02:02 And I just... I sat up in the chair. It was about 02:06 9:30 in the evening, it was 3ABN Live. 02:09 And I said: "I got it! " 02:11 "I've got the Sabbath. I totally understand it. 02:14 It makes perfect sense to me. " 02:16 And I've been arguing the Sab- bath for 10 years with my wife. 02:22 Hello and welcome to Spring Camp Meeting. 02:25 And it has been a tremendous blessing. Amen? 02:29 Amen. About twenty-one hours of live programming. 02:33 And we praise the Lord for the blessing in music. 02:37 Amen? Amen! 02:39 And then the wonderful messages from God's Word. 02:43 So far since we began we've had James Rafferty, 02:47 John Bradshaw, David Shin, 02:50 Shelley Quinn, Ty Gibson, 02:53 Wintley Phipps, Ryan Day, 02:56 Kenny Shelton, C.A. Murray, 02:59 Danny Shelton, Kameron DeVasher, 03:03 Jill Morikone, Pastor John Lomacang as well. 03:07 And during this hour we have Pastor Jay Gallimore 03:11 that will be with us. Pastor Jay Gallimore has been 03:17 president of the Michigan Conference... now retired. 03:20 Has served as secretary and ministerial director 03:25 for the Michigan Conference, 03:26 director of the Northwest Ministries Training Center 03:30 for the North Pacific Union Conference. 03:35 Also served as associate ministerial director 03:38 in the Kansas/Nebraska Conference, 03:40 a pastor in Kansas, Nebraska, and Carolina. 03:45 And most of all he has been a servant of the Lord. 03:48 Amen! The message he will be presenting is 03:51 The Patience of the Saints... 03:54 a message that we need to hear. Amen? Amen! 03:58 We are going to pray in a moment, but before this 04:00 I would like to tell you that once again we are... 04:03 we have Reggie and Ladye Love Smith that are with us. 04:07 And a wonderful song called Above All. 04:10 I ask them to come forward as we prepare ourselves for prayer. 04:14 And this time I think I would like to ask you to 04:16 please stand with us so we can pray together 04:18 so that we can approach God's throne of grace. 04:22 I will leave you afterwards with 04:25 Reggie and Ladye Love Smith, and the next voice you will hear 04:28 after theirs will be Pastor Jay Gallimore. 04:31 Let's pray together. 04:33 Our loving heavenly Father, 04:36 we want to thank you, Lord, for the blessing of being here 04:41 in Your presence. 04:43 We want to thank you, Lord, that the messages we have heard 04:45 have brought us closer to You. 04:48 We pray, Lord, that You will use Your servant, 04:50 Pastor Jay Gallimore. Bless him with the Holy Spirit. 04:55 Lift him above the thoughts of common man 04:58 and use him to bring a word from Your throne of grace. 05:04 Lord, you know the needs of each and every person here 05:07 and those that are listening anywhere in the world. 05:11 We pray that through Pr. Gallimore You will speak 05:15 to their hearts and draw them close to Jesus. 05:19 We pray, Lord, for a blessing upon all 05:22 and we ask that in all things Your name will be honored 05:25 and glorified. In Jesus' name, Amen. 05:29 You may be seated. I leave you with Reggie & Ladye Love Smith. 05:52 Above all powers, 05:56 above all kings, 06:00 above all wonders 06:03 and all created things, 06:08 Above all wisdom 06:12 and all the ways of man... 06:18 You were here before the world began. 06:25 Above all kingdoms, 06:29 above all thrones. 06:33 Above all wonders 06:36 the world has ever known. 06:41 Above all wealth 06:45 and treasures of the earth... 06:51 there's no way to measure 06:55 what You're worth. 06:59 Crucified, 07:03 laid behind a stone. 07:07 You lived to die 07:11 rejected and alone. 07:15 Like a rose 07:18 trampled on the ground 07:23 You took the fall 07:28 and thought of me 07:31 above all. 07:44 Above all kingdoms, 07:47 above all thrones. 07:52 Above all wonders 07:55 this world has ever known. 08:00 Above all wealth 08:03 and treasures of the earth... 08:09 there's no way to measure 08:13 what You're worth. 08:18 Crucified, 08:22 laid behind a stone. 08:26 You lived to die 08:30 rejected and alone. 08:34 Like a rose 08:36 trampled on the ground 08:41 You took the fall 08:45 and thought of me 08:50 above all. 08:55 Crucified, 08:59 laid behind a stone. 09:03 You lived to die 09:07 rejected and alone. 09:11 Like a rose 09:14 trampled on the ground 09:18 You took the fall 09:22 and thought of me 09:27 above all... 09:31 Like the rose 09:35 that's been trampled on the ground 09:40 Lord, You took the fall... 09:42 You took the fall 09:46 and thought of me - and thought of us - 09:52 above 09:56 all. 10:04 Ooo-ooo. 10:11 Amen! 10:17 Thank you so much. That was wonderful! 10:20 Above all. Goes through all. 10:23 And what mighty patience... endurance... He has. 10:31 Here... here 10:35 is the patience of the saints. 10:40 We're going to trace a little bit of that patience, 10:42 but before I do tell you a quick story. 10:45 It's a legend about Abraham. 10:47 I don't think it's true, but it kind of gets the point across. 10:50 It's a Jewish legend. 10:52 And they said that Abraham saw a stranger - 10:57 tired, worn traveler - and he ran out 11:00 in Abraham fashion said: "You've gotta come in. " 11:04 Washes his feet; goes to get him something to drink. 11:06 Brings him something to eat. 11:08 He's an old man and he's tired. 11:10 He starts to eat very gingerly - not gingerly but hungrily - 11:14 and Abraham noticed he didn't say the blessing. 11:20 He said: "You didn't say the blessing. " 11:22 "No, " he said... kept putting that food in his mouth. 11:24 "I don't believe. " "What do you mean? 11:27 You don't believe in the God of heaven? 11:29 You don't... " "No, " he said. 11:30 "I don't believe. The only thing I believe in 11:32 is fire. " 11:35 Made Abraham upset... he lost his patience. 11:39 He ran over and he grabbed him by the shoulders 11:41 and he took him out into the cold night and said: 11:44 "Get on your way. " 11:48 Sometime during the night the Lord showed up, 11:51 as He often does to Abraham. 11:55 And He says: "Abraham. " "Yes, Lord. " 12:00 He says: "I've endured this man for eighty years 12:09 and you couldn't endure him for one night? " 12:15 Here is the patience of the saints. 12:21 I'd like to have Jesus come yesterday, wouldn't you? Amen! 12:25 I'd like to have Him come tomorrow. 12:27 I look at this world... it's full of sin and sorrow 12:29 and heartache... difficulty. 12:31 Trouble on every hand and it's only getting worse 12:34 and we all know that. 12:38 And I believe when we understand this whole thing 12:40 Jesus is coming quickly. I want you to understand that 12:43 I believe in the soon coming of Jesus. 12:45 But in the meantime, the saints 12:50 must have patience. 12:54 "Here is the patience of the saints. " 12:59 If you have your Bibles, in Revelation 14 13:01 right in the middle of it we'll read that. 13:04 "Here is... " I like that word here. 13:06 Here! We'll talk about that because it's a word that says 13:11 "I was looking for this. " It's like when you found 13:13 something really special and you say: "Here... over here! 13:17 I've found it! " 13:20 "Here is the patience of the saints. " 13:23 Verse 12: "Here... " Says it twice. 13:28 "are they that keep the commandments of God and have 13:31 the faith of Jesus. " 13:34 Martin Luther said once that anyone 13:37 who knows the Ten Commandments 13:40 PERFECTLY knows the entire Scripture. 13:47 Think about that for a moment. 13:49 At the end of the day it all boils down to that. 13:54 The saints... they have an attitude of patience. 14:00 A patient endurance... patient persistence... 14:04 patient determination. 14:06 Patient in pain; patient in trial. 14:10 Patient in longsuffering. 14:15 Patient in faithfulness; patient in obedience. 14:20 Patient in unselfish love. 14:22 They are durable and unmovable 14:26 and they are unafraid to die. 14:34 That's why they're called holy. 14:38 That's why they're called saints. 14:44 I want to capture for just a few minutes here 14:47 the picture - the setting - in which John says 14:52 "Here is the patience of the saints. " 14:54 These things you know well, but I'm going to just kind of 14:57 capture them just a little bit. 14:59 The great controversy started in heaven. 15:01 And that great controversy between Christ and Satan 15:04 is about selfishness versus unselfish love. 15:08 And Satan made a mess in heaven. We don't know how long 15:12 that war went on. The book of Revelation chapter 12 15:15 says simply: "There was war in heaven. " 15:19 We know from some wonderful insights, 15:21 though, that God bore long with Lucifer. 15:24 Think about the angels and how many of them 15:27 patiently endured the slander. 15:33 How they patiently stayed at trying to win their fellow... 15:38 I think they're going to be... I can't guarantee this 15:41 but I think because as free moral agents 15:44 and people sometimes get on the fence and they go back and forth 15:47 and finally they make a decision... 15:48 I think we will meet angels in heaven 15:50 who said: "I almost went down that road with Lucifer. 15:56 BUT... there were patient angels who loved me and helped me, 16:02 called me, and I chose not to go down that road. " 16:07 So even in heaven I think there are faithful angels 16:11 who endured and remained faithful. 16:14 Satan then comes to this earth and he makes war. 16:16 He makes war on earth, but he has a problem: 16:20 he runs into saints with patience. 16:27 Trouble for Satan 'cause he wants a quick and dirty war. 16:31 He wants to hit fast and win quick 16:33 but he just can't shake these folk. 16:38 And you can find them. 16:40 You can find them from Adam to the flood. 16:43 Can you think of some of the patient? Enoch comes to mind. 16:48 When you get to Noah, Noah finds grace in the eyes of the Lord. 16:51 How would you like to have been on that boat with Noah? 16:53 Don't you think that took some patient endurance? 16:56 If you've ever done a little study about the flood, 16:58 this was something beyond our comprehension. 17:01 We're talking about a huge tidal wave that swept around 17:04 the world, that laid huge deposits all over the world. 17:07 And you're in that little... It's a big boat, but in that 17:11 storm it's a little boat. 17:14 It's a little boat. 17:16 You just think about trying to take care of everything 17:18 and being tossed back and forth! 17:20 Do you think they were glad when they finally got 17:23 in that little circle of mountains somewhere around 17:25 Mt. Ararat there and things kind of calmed down? 17:31 Patient endurance. 17:36 And then from Noah to Abraham we have the story 17:39 of Seth and others. And then from Abraham to the Exodus 17:46 you have Moses... patient Moses. 17:53 Only one flaw in all those years. 17:59 You know, Moses really didn't want to go on that journey. 18:03 He tried to get out of it. Do you remember? 18:05 He said: "Lord, send somebody else. " 18:08 Moses was a very brilliant man. He was real smart. 18:10 He could add and subtract and he knew this was going to be 18:12 some kind of a journey. But God said: "No, Moses. 18:14 I think I need you. " 18:16 "I think I need you. " 18:17 And then from the Exodus to the Messiah 18:20 think of all the prophets. 18:22 Faithful people like Isaiah 18:24 who lived a long, wonderful life 18:28 and ended up, we think, being sawed in two 18:32 by Manasseh... unfaithful king. 18:35 HERE is the patience of the saints. 18:43 And then the Lamb of God. 18:47 There's never been anyone as patient as Jesus. 18:50 I mean, they threw everything... They were on His trail 18:52 constantly... the Pharisees, the Sadducees 18:55 all going after Him. 18:58 He hardly had a moment's rest. 19:01 Constantly intense around Him plus He was trying to disciple 19:05 His disciples. Some of them were slow like us. 19:12 Some of them were treacherous... at least one. 19:17 Patient endurance. 19:20 Think about the time when they took Jesus to the crucifixion. 19:24 Every time I go through this it's just hard. 19:28 I don't know how He could stand it. 19:34 Nailing those nails in His hand He doesn't utter a word 19:38 of complaint. Just cold sweat breaks out on His brow. 19:46 Here is the patience of THE SAINT. 19:52 And that's why the saints ever since have had the ability 19:56 to be patient because they've got a great, patient 20:00 leader. So here you have the great Messiah 20:05 and then His followers. And do you think they're going to need 20:08 patience? Old pagan Rome started its terror campaign. 20:13 The old Coliseum there in Rome still stands today 20:18 because people don't want it to be torn down because so many 20:21 early Christians gave their lives there. 20:26 Do you think they wanted to see Jesus come too? 20:30 The patience of the saints. 20:34 Then Nero... he started a horrible persecution. 20:39 Then there were others that followed him. Diocletian. 20:43 Diocletian we think persecution was so terrible 20:45 that he found all the pastors, all the ministers. 20:49 He found those libraries. 20:51 We still wish we had those libraries! 20:54 Burned those probably the autographed, the originals. 20:59 Burned by Diocletian in his persecution. 21:06 Finally one of them said: "Well, we can't kill them 21:09 so I'll tell you what we'll do: we'll just maim them. " 21:13 They had a gathering of the bishops and pastors... 21:17 some of them without their arms. 21:19 Some of them without their ears. 21:21 Without their nose... without their legs. 21:27 Do something. 21:28 But they were always running into the devil thru his agents 21:32 and allies or always running into 21:35 the patience of the saints. Amen! 21:43 That didn't work so the great red dragon changes colors. 21:48 From red to spotted leopard. 21:52 And we go from pagan Rome, and pagan Rome takes over the 21:55 church from the inside. Paganism takes over the church. 21:58 We see the most terrible persecution for 1,260 years. 22:04 Like a wolf in sheep's clothing the Medieval church 22:07 persecutes the faithful under the leopard beast. 22:11 But it, too, loses. 22:15 Some estimates say 55 million people. 22:21 You want to know how bad it was? 22:23 Read the history of the Waldenses and the Albigenses. 22:27 Ask them how tough it was 22:30 to lose their families, 22:33 their homes, their property. 22:36 For the Waldensians, there was just a little handful left. 22:42 By the way, Pope Francis went back 22:44 some months ago. Apologized, he said, to the 22:50 Waldenses. I read the apology. 22:53 It didn't seem quite as sincere given what they went through. 22:56 I say that with kindness. 23:00 They said: "Would you forgive us? " 23:02 They said: "Well we can't say that 'cause we're not the ones 23:04 you persecuted. " 23:08 "We're not the ones you destroyed. " 23:14 But that, too, moves us because then comes the Protestant 23:17 Reformation, and the book of Revelation shows 23:20 the leopard beast is replaced by a new beast 23:25 and it's a lamb-like beast. 23:27 Isn't that wonderful? 23:29 It's a lamb-like beast. 23:31 And for once the world has, as a result of the Protestant 23:34 Reformation, and I say it kindly, I say it with joy 23:37 in my heart, but that Protestant Reformation 23:40 produced the United States of America 23:43 and its wonderful Constitution. 23:45 Its Bill of Rights that's been exported all over everywhere. 23:49 The ability to take the Bible and translate it into 23:52 hundreds and hundreds of languages. 23:54 Missionary societies that went all over the world. 23:59 And it used its blood and treasure 24:04 to destroy and put down unprecedented brutality 24:08 of the Nazis and the Communists. 24:20 But you know it wasn't just the papacy that persecuted people. 24:24 There's some early hints of what's coming because 24:27 that lamb-like beast is going to change. 24:32 Have you ever heard of John Welch who was the son-in-law 24:35 of John Knox? 24:39 He was a great man of prayer. 24:41 Sometimes they say he spent 7 or 8 hours praying. 24:45 He would keep a Scottish plaid with him 24:48 and he would lie down on the stone cold floor in the middle 24:51 of the night and he would cover himself 24:53 and his wife would find him. He married the daughter of 24:56 John Knox... the third daughter. 24:59 She'd find him there and she would get on to him. 25:01 Said: "Look, you're going to ruin your health. " 25:03 He said: "Woman, you don't understand. " 25:06 Talking about Ayr, Scotland. He says: "I have 25:10 3,000 souls and I don't know how it is with them. " 25:16 When he went to that town it was a mess. 25:19 It was like the Wild West. 25:21 People would have duels out in the street. 25:23 He had a little table and every time somebody would say: 25:25 "Oh, they're getting ready to fight again" he would run out 25:26 in the middle of that dirt street 25:28 and put his table down there. And he'd call one there 25:31 and he'd call the other one here 25:33 and then he'd have some food brought 25:34 and he would talk to them... and finally he brought peace 25:37 to that place and they loved him. 25:39 But the king of England, James VI, didn't love him 25:43 because he wanted everybody that preached to be under 25:47 the control of the church of England Protestant. 25:51 They arrested him; gave him a farce of a trial. 25:54 Put him 10 months in one of the worst dungeons. 25:57 People say it makes the dungeon that the apostle Paul was in 26:01 look like a comfort zone. 26:05 The floor is slanted. 26:07 Out of the stones there are sharp... 26:09 You can only get into it through a hole in the floor. 26:12 You can't sit down; you can't stand up. 26:15 You can't get any rest, and they put him in that miserable 26:18 place for 10 months. 26:20 Finally banished him. 26:24 And his wife went and begged them to let him come back 26:29 'cause his health was so bad. And finally the king 26:31 said: "Whose daughter are you? " 26:33 She says: "I'm the daughter of John Knox. " 26:35 He says: "Oh, no! 26:37 Knox and Welch... that's a pact made by the devil. " 26:42 She says: "Well we didn't ask him. " 26:49 He says: "Well, I'll let him come back on one condition 26:52 and that is that he comes under our control 26:54 and he doesn't preach. " She said: "Never happen. " 26:57 She said: "I'd rather have... " She lifted up her apron. 26:59 "I'd rather have his head here than to see him do that. " 27:06 Here is the patience of the saints. 27:14 Listen... the saints are going to need patience. 27:17 We're going to need for what's coming. 27:19 This lamb-like beast not only speaks like a dragon 27:22 but he makes a new creature: an image to the beast. 27:25 And he forces the world to accept 27:29 its mark contrary to the seal of God. 27:33 And my brothers and sisters, this is the final crisis 27:35 and it is creeping up on us faster than we understand. 27:41 I used to think that this... 27:42 and I preached it and I still stand by it... 27:44 that persecution's going to come from the religious right. 27:47 I believe that. But today I believe that 27:49 it's also going to come from the secular left. 27:55 It's going to be like the Pharisees and the Sadducees. 27:57 They HATED each other but they got together 28:00 when it came time to take care of Jesus. 28:02 And let me tell you: if you stand for Jesus 28:04 in the end of time they're going to hate Jesus 28:05 just as much as they hated Him in those days 28:07 except it's going to be in the person of His people 28:11 and we're going to need the patience of the saints. 28:17 We're going to be looked at as those that are against 28:19 the common good. Have you ever heard of that? 28:23 I don't want to get into climate change 28:26 and the politics of it. 28:27 As Seventh-day Adventists we know that great terrible 28:30 disasters are going to happen in nature. 28:32 We know that... we know that's coming. 28:34 Doesn't matter how it comes. 28:37 But they're going to look for somebody to blame. 28:40 Just like Nero blamed the Christians. 28:42 Said they were cannibals; that they had love feasts. 28:46 And you can imagine what they said about that. 28:50 The picture goes on and on. 28:52 Slander! 28:59 Three mighty angels, however, are commissioned to warn 29:02 the world. The first warns that the hour of God's judgment 29:05 is at hand. The second one says this new image, 29:08 this new false prophet, this Babylon 29:11 is not who she claims to be. 29:15 She's no longer lamb-like but she's dragon-like. 29:20 And the third one warns against the overwhelming 29:22 deception. And it will be a deception 29:24 of the mark of the beast. And then he ends his warning 29:28 with this contrast: "There are those 29:32 but here... here... 29:37 is the patience of the saints. " 29:41 Here is that same patience that you saw in Noah, 29:45 that you saw in Abraham, 29:46 that you saw in the prophets, 29:48 that you saw in Jesus, 29:50 that you saw in the early Christians, 29:52 that you saw in the martyrs of the Dark Ages. 29:56 Ignatius Loyola's statue still stands in the vicinity 30:01 of the Vatican. God said that that power 30:05 would have power over the saints for 1,260 years. 30:08 That statue is there. He's holding the constitution 30:13 of the Jesuits 30:15 while underneath his feet he is stamping out the life 30:19 of a Protestant holding the Bible. 30:25 Don't think that hatred has gone away. 30:33 Why? Why such rage 30:36 against those who keep the commandments of God? 30:40 Why? If you have your Bibles and you turn to Psalm 19 30:44 it says: "The heavens declare 30:47 the... " What? Glory! "the glory of God 30:50 and the firmament or the universe shows His handiwork. " 30:54 When I think of that... Have you ever seen ladies 30:56 who do this minutia embroi- dering? It's really something. 31:00 It's amazing stuff. 31:02 The handiwork of God is done all through the universe. 31:07 The Hubble telescope, of course, has opened up the heavens 31:09 for all of us. People are awestruck at the magnificence 31:12 of the universe. 31:14 But I want to say this: that God runs His universe 31:17 by law. In fact, He's made this universe 31:23 and He's instituted these laws 31:25 that make it possible for life to exist. 31:28 Let me tell you how critical this is. 31:30 They discovered 200 what they call constants. 31:32 These are things that do not vary. 31:34 It's like 2 + 2 always equals what? 31:36 Four. Yeah, that's right. 31:38 These are 200 variables. 31:40 It want to point out a couple, three of them tonight 31:42 just really quick. One of them is gravity. 31:45 Do you know how precise gravity is? 31:48 Take a ruler and stretch that ruler across the 14 billion 31:53 light years of the universe. 31:57 It's a number bigger than I can handle 31:59 but I can handle an inch 32:01 and make it... give you all the inch increments 32:04 all along there. 32:05 Go find a spot on that big big yardstick 32:08 that stretches across the universe 32:10 with who knows how many "zillions" of inches. 32:14 Find the place where gravity is at 32:20 and if you move it an inch 32:23 we cease to exist. 32:28 That's how precise the universe is. 32:36 Take expansion of the universe. 32:39 If you move it just in one part, the other one was one part 32:42 in 10 to the 60th power, 32:44 expansion of the universe, if you move it within one part 32:47 10 to the 120th power, these are numbers I can't comprehend. 32:50 Just one part from that the universe will flame out 32:54 or collapse. 32:57 The whole universe is finely tuned 33:01 so that life can exist. 33:03 God runs His universe by law. 33:07 I used to say to myself: 33:12 "This Psalm is kind of interest- ing because it starts off 33:15 with this wonderful picture of the universe 33:18 and then all of a sudden it changes the subject. " 33:22 Verse 7: "The law of the Lord is perfect. " 33:26 "The heavens declare the glory of God! " Wonderful! 33:27 "The sun is like a man coming out of the bridegroom chamber 33:30 and he's going to preach to the whole world in every language. " 33:33 By the way, the sun preaches. The stars preach. 33:36 In the end of the day nobody's going to have an excuse 33:38 for rejecting God because all of the handiwork is there. 33:42 It's all there. 33:46 And I said: "Why? Why does this Psalm change? " 33:49 And then finally it hit me: 33:52 just as God has finely tuned the universe 33:56 so that life can exist 33:58 so He's given us the Ten Commandments 34:01 so that life can exist. 34:05 I love the theme here on God's Ten Commandments: 34:09 the law of liberty and love. 34:11 And it really really is. 34:14 So the whole universe is preaching. 34:17 Let's look at verse 7 of chapter 19 34:22 of the book of Psalms. 34:24 And listen to how this starts out. 34:27 It says: "The law of the Lord is... " What? 34:30 Perfect. "perfect. " Perfect! 34:35 It's a good thing. By the way, you can't fix perfect. 34:40 Can't fix it... unfixable. 34:43 "The testimony of the Lord is sure 34:45 making wise the simple. 34:47 The statutes of the Lord are right 34:49 rejoicing the heart. The commandments of the Lord 34:51 are pure, enlightening the eye. " 34:54 Let's take a look at those words for a moment. 34:56 Perfect means blameless. 34:59 Cannot improve it. 35:01 Sure means it's faithful and dependable 35:06 and will not let you down. 35:10 Right. It means it's straight and level 35:15 and appropriate. 35:18 Pure means it's beloved, 35:22 clean and sincere. 35:26 True and righteous means that it's stable. 35:32 It's justifiable, defensible, 35:36 and that's another way of saying testable. 35:41 You can test it. 35:43 By the way, the Ten Command- ments can be tested. 35:48 Can you test the first four of the 10 Commandments? 35:51 You have all kinds of evidence around you. 35:54 Israel didn't actually see God but they saw the smoke 35:57 and the fire and they saw the Ten Commandments. 36:01 But I have people every once in a while that will say 36:04 or you read of them saying: "Oh, you know 36:06 who is this God? This invisible God? " 36:08 No, no, no, no... we have a visible God 36:11 and He's the Lord Jesus Christ because the apostle said 36:14 "We have seen Him, God, in the flesh. " 36:18 Amen! "He's the manifestation of God! " 36:26 You can also test... you can also test the last part of it. 36:30 You can test the evidence. 36:36 I think the greatest evidence of those last six commandments 36:42 is Jesus Himself. 36:44 He lived a perfect... Isn't that good news for you? 36:47 Amen! The good news is that I get Jesus, 36:49 and if I have Him then I get His perfect life 36:51 and that's a wonderful thing. 36:53 But the Ten Commandments also do something else. 36:55 They're like a Bill of Rights. They guarantee 36:59 us certain rights. Let me tell you what they do. 37:02 The Ten Commandments guarantee that you and I have the right 37:06 to live. Amen! "Thou shalt not kill. " 37:10 "Thou shalt not murder" guarantees the right to live. 37:14 It also guarantees you the right to marry and have a family 37:17 and not to have it messed with. 37:21 And it guarantees that you have a right to property. 37:27 And it also guarantees that you have the right 37:29 to know the truth. 37:33 So the Ten Commandments create a free society. 37:38 It's the law of liberty and it creates a free society. 37:42 But not only does it create a free society 37:45 but there's something else that goes along with any 37:47 free society and that is obligations. 37:52 So the Ten Commandments says you have obligations. 37:55 One of those obligations is to your Creator/Redeemer. 37:59 I mean, He's... If your heart is beating it's because He makes it 38:03 beat. Amen. If you breathe, it's because 38:05 He gives you air to breathe. 38:08 Everything you see: every atom in the universe, 38:12 every electron is made possible by His continued upholding 38:16 power. "In Him we live and move 38:19 and have our being. " Amen! 38:24 So we have an obligation... we have an obligation to parents. 38:28 We have an obligation to family, to wife and children. 38:32 Yes, God's law is love because it reflects God 38:36 and the Bible says that "God IS love. " 38:39 Unselfish love, by the way. 38:43 But there's a problem and the problem is 38:48 that of ourselves 38:54 we cannot keep God's commandments. 38:57 Not because He created us that way 38:59 but because of what sin has done to us. 39:05 So we're going to need a solution. 39:09 The truth is that as long as you keep God's law you're going to 39:12 have freedom. Isn't that good news? 39:13 As long as you keep God's law you're going to have life. 39:16 That's the reason why it couldn't keep Jesus in the grave 39:18 is because Jesus was a good and godly Man 39:20 and you can't keep a perfect Man in the grave. 39:24 Had to resurrect Him. 39:28 So if you keep God's Ten Com- mandments you're going to live. 39:31 The problem is we've all broken them. 39:34 We've got a big problem. 39:39 Romans chapter 7. You know... you know Romans chapter 7. 39:44 It says... Verses 10-12. It says: "The commandment 39:47 which was to bring life... " To bring what? 39:50 Life. "life, I found... " the apostle Paul said 39:54 "to bring death. " Now was the problem 39:57 in the commandment or was the problem with the apostle Paul? 40:01 Was the problem with the life-giving commandment 40:04 or the sin-dealing counter to God's Ten Commandments? 40:11 He says: "I found to bring death. " 40:13 Then he names the culprit: "For sin 40:16 taking occasion by the commandment 40:19 deceived me and it killed me. " 40:24 I think I've shared this somewhere else, so if you 40:26 hear it again, forgive me. 40:29 When I was a boy we lived in North Carolina 40:33 and the summers were really hot and sticky. 40:35 And we didn't have air conditioning so we used to play 40:38 in the basement. 40:41 Had a dirt floor and some cement. 40:44 And everything was exposed. You could see all the pipes 40:46 and everything. And my mom and dad had a rule. 40:51 What did I say? A rule. A rule: 40:54 do not swing on the pipes. 40:59 Now there was a good reason for the rule. 41:01 Am I right? Yes! That was a sewer line down there. 41:04 That was a water line down there. That was... 41:07 But, you know, when you're 6 or 7 years old 41:10 you don't think much about that. 41:12 You just know you're bored. 41:16 So I'm swinging upside down on those pipes 41:22 and all of a sudden I hear that wonderful mother of mine. 41:25 She's sleeping, waiting for Jesus to come. 41:28 I lost her a little over a year ago. 41:32 Wonderful mother. 41:34 I heard her say: "Jay... come up here. " 41:38 So I went outside. The steps didn't go inside the house 41:41 to the basement of the house. I went outside 41:43 up the steps to the back porch 41:45 and she looked at me. She had one of the washing machines... 41:47 I date myself... you know where it has the rollers 41:49 and you squeeze out? OK... you got that. 41:52 And she looked at me and she says: "Jay, 41:56 were you swinging on the pipes? " 41:59 And I looked at my mother 42:02 and I said: "No. " 42:07 The first and last time I ever lied to my mother. 42:13 Now question and answer... if they had not made a rule 42:19 would I have been in trouble? No. 42:23 Yes and no. 42:27 No because I wouldn't be held accountable. Am I right? 42:30 But that doesn't change the consequences of breaking 42:33 a sewer line in the basement. 42:36 You understand? 42:38 Ignorance isn't going to help us. 42:44 We need to know, and Jesus lets us know 42:47 through His Ten Commandments 42:49 "You break these you're going to break the sewer line 42:51 and it's going to be a huge problem. " 42:54 And it's far bigger than breaking a sewer line. 42:59 So sin in me takes advantage of me. 43:06 That's how it kills me. 43:08 That's why Paul says: "Therefore the law is holy. " 43:11 I don't know why our friends can't get this. 43:13 I say in sweet kindness to our friends: "Therefore the law is 43:16 holy and the commandment is holy and just and good. " 43:21 If the commandment is holy, just and good, 43:24 then ALL OF IT is holy, just and good. 43:26 Now I've said this before, I'll say it again: 43:28 if the 10 Commandments matter the Sabbath matters. 43:31 AMEN! The Sabbath... If the 10 Commandments don't matter, 43:35 the Sabbath doesn't matter. 43:38 The 10th commandment spoken on just before so nicely 43:42 and wonderfully... the 10th commandment 43:45 says nothing... says nothing about what you do. 43:50 It says everything about what you think. 43:55 It talks about your heart. 43:59 But we're born with a covetous selfish heart. 44:03 But the Lord says: "Don't covet. " 44:06 So how do I get this change of heart? 44:09 Let me tell you: theory - the truth - 44:13 always needs an agent. Am I right? 44:16 In the book of Romans chapter 7 and verse 8 44:19 there are three laws. 44:21 One of the laws is the Ten Commandments. 44:23 You can look at the context. The other law is the law of 44:26 sin and death, but there's another law that will come 44:31 into play because as Paul has these two wrestling here 44:35 he says this, you know the words. 44:38 He says... he says: "O wretched man that I am! 44:42 Who... " There's the agent not the theory. 44:50 "Who will deliver me from this body of death? " 44:56 From this terrible struggle. And chapter 8 verse 2 45:01 introduces a new law, a new agent. 45:05 This law does not come merely in theory. 45:08 It doesn't merely tell you the truth. 45:10 It brings with it the agent. 45:13 And here is the agent and the agent is this: 45:16 "For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. " 45:21 There's a third law. The law of the spirit of what? 45:24 Life in Christ Jesus. 45:28 Has made me free from that other law of sin and death. 45:32 I want to say Hallelujah! 45:33 That's what I want to be free from. 45:41 And then he says this 45:44 which I don't understand why people don't get it. 45:50 I say it real kindly, but for the sake of time 45:52 I'm going to move right down to verse 3, part of verse 3. 45:58 It says... He does this third law, this third agent. 46:01 He condemns sin in the flesh. 46:04 Verse 4... here it is. 46:07 By the way, let me say it this way: 46:09 Everything that you know about faith in Christ, 46:12 everything that you know about Christ our righteousness, 46:15 everything that you know about righteousness by faith, 46:18 everything that you know about the great Protestant concept 46:22 that we're saved by faith alone and grace alone, 46:25 all of that is for what's coming next. 46:32 "That the righteous requirement of the law 46:37 might be fulfilled in us. " 46:41 Amen! In other words, this whole thing is to bring us 46:44 back into harmony with God's beautiful law of freedom. 46:47 That's why Jesus came to this world. 46:50 And for people to get up and say the law of God doesn't matter 46:52 I don't know if they need their glasses changed 46:55 or just what. But the Scripture is clear! 46:59 All of this, and there's no greater man who preaches 47:03 righteousness by faith than the apostle Paul. 47:06 And right in the middle of it all he says: 47:09 "In other that the righteous requirements of the law 47:13 might be fulfilled in... " Whom? 47:16 "us. " 47:24 Saints with patience 47:30 are going to do battle with the beast and his image. 47:34 In that book Testimonies to the Church vol. 6 47:42 and I say... Evidence... we have a blessing. 47:46 We believe in sola scriptura but we also believe that 47:50 we have in the church the gift of prophecy. 47:52 Isn't that a wonderful thing? 47:53 I think it's a great thing. You know, Ellen White says 47:55 her work was like a lesser light to lead to the greater light. 47:58 It's like John the Baptist pointing to Jesus. 48:02 Her work was to point back to the Scripture. 48:07 And she had an insight here 48:12 that she saw, I think in vision, she saw the prophet 48:16 John looking and watching the scene 48:21 of Revelation. Isn't that interesting? 48:27 Here's what she... and you'll get the context here: 48:30 "Satan is working to the utmost to make himself as God 48:33 to destroy all who oppose his power. " 48:36 That's why we have to have the patience of the saints. 48:38 We've got somebody working against us. 48:40 We fight not against flesh and blood. 48:44 "And today" she goes on... "the world is bowing before him. " 48:50 "His power is received as the power of God. 48:54 The prophecy of Revelation is being fulfilled 48:56 that all the world wondered after the beast. " 48:59 It might just started being fulfilled in her day 49:03 but today it's been fulfilled! 49:07 Then she goes on: 49:09 "Men in their blindness boast of the wonderful progress 49:14 and enlightenment. " Does that sound like our world? 49:16 Hello Silicon Valley. 49:21 But to the eye of the Omnipotent 49:24 are revealed the inward guilt and depravity. " 49:28 You can have all the technology in the world 49:30 and it cannot fix a human heart! 49:33 All the education and Ph.D's 49:35 and Th.D's... and I'm not against those things... 49:38 all of that education cannot fix a human heart. 49:43 It cannot bring us back into harmony 49:45 with the great law of the universe. 49:47 It cannot put us back in harmony with God. 49:52 "The heavenly watchers see the earth filled 49:55 with violence and crime. 49:58 Wealth is obtained by every species of robbery: 50:01 not robbery of men only but of God. 50:03 Men are using His means to gratify their selfishness. 50:07 Everything they can grasp 50:09 is made the minister of their greed. " 50:11 We might add to their hedonistic pleasure. 50:18 Moving down. "But the cloud of judicial wrath 50:23 hangs over them. " There's going to be a price to pay. 50:29 Jesus paid the price so we don't have to. 50:34 But if you reject Jesus or you create a false Jesus 50:39 or you create a Jesus in your own image 50:43 you will pay the price. 50:54 "But a cloud of judicial wrath hangs over them 50:57 containing the elements that destroyed Sodom. " 51:01 We're living in Sodom and Gomorrah today. 51:07 "In his visions of things to come... " she says... 51:11 "John beheld the scene... beheld the scene. 51:15 This demon worship was revealed to him, and it seemed to him 51:19 as if the whole world were standing on the brink 51:21 of perdition. " 51:25 In other words, he looks and he says: "I don't see any hope 51:28 for the world. The world looks like it's just headed for utter 51:32 destruction. " 51:36 He sees it! 51:37 He can see it all from Adam all the way down, but he sees it 51:41 here in the end of time as Babylon puts her thing together. 51:44 And then she says this: 51:47 "But as he - John the prophet, John the Revelator - 51:50 looked with intense interest 51:53 he beheld the company of God's commandment-keeping people. " 51:58 AMEN! 52:00 That's the company I want to be part of. Amen! 52:02 Now they may take away what- ever little money you've got. 52:05 They may take away your farm; they may take away your house. 52:08 They may take away your car. 52:09 They may take away all the credit cards. 52:12 I'm telling you before it's done and said 52:14 we won't have anything except our faith in the Savior. 52:18 Amen! And Satan is getting ready. 52:20 This is final deception... this is the big deal. 52:23 This is when he's going to bring it all together. 52:26 But I'm telling you that the prophet says 52:29 that he sees... he sees a group of people 52:32 keeping the commandments of God 52:34 and in their foreheads they have the seal of the Living God. 52:38 And then he quotes the text, he sees them. "HERE... " 52:41 I love that word. He looks everywhere across the universe. 52:43 He looks at the world ready to be destroyed, 52:46 divine judgment hanging over the world, 52:48 and then he says: "HERE. " 52:51 "Here is the patience of the saints. 52:54 Here are they that keep the commandments of God 52:57 and the faith of Jesus. " AMEN! 53:01 Let me tell you... 53:04 let me tell you: 53:06 this thing is going to get ugly. 53:10 Going to get really ugly. 53:14 We need to become perfect like our heavenly Father. 53:16 Now I know... I can hear them now 53:19 in the church and out of the church. 53:20 I tell you in sweet kindness. 53:22 But Jesus trumps everybody. 53:26 And I don't know that I have a lot of time to read this, 53:29 but let's just... let's just go back to Matthew. 53:32 Let's just go back to Matthew chapter 5 for just a minute. 53:36 Matthew chapter 5. 53:38 We'll come back to this: Matthew chapter 5 53:40 and I want to look at verse 43. 53:43 "You have heard... " chapter 5 verse 43, 53:45 Sermon on the Mount... 53:47 I don't think there's ever been a sermon preached like this 53:49 sermon. I would love to have heard it. 53:52 "You have heard that it was said to you 'You shall love 53:55 your neighbor and hate your enemy. ' 53:57 But I say to you: love your enemies. " What? 54:02 Ever find that hard to do? Don't raise your hand. 54:06 We've all been there. 54:11 "But I say to you: love your enemies. 54:14 Bless those who curse you. 54:17 Do good to those that hate you 54:20 and pray for those who spitefully use you 54:24 and persecute you. " 54:26 Let me tell you: it was the patience of the saints 54:28 with this ringing in their ear that allowed them to face 54:32 the lions in the arena and watch their families 54:35 torn to bits. 54:37 It was the patience of the saints 54:39 that faced the Jesuit persecution 54:42 and all of their horrible tortures. 54:44 And yet they wouldn't move! 54:49 And it will be the patience of the saints 54:52 that will go through this horrible time of trouble. 54:55 And we will go through it because we will have 54:59 by the grace of God, by the indwelling Christ, 55:03 we will have perfect hearts. 55:06 Amen! 55:14 Then He goes on to say, just in case we didn't get it. 55:19 Verse 45: "that you may be sons of your Father in heaven 55:22 for He makes the sun rise on the evil... " 55:25 He made the sun rise on Hitler. 55:27 He made the sun rise on those terrible Communists 55:29 like Mao Tse Tung. He makes the sun rise on 55:32 people who are aborting their babies. 55:34 He makes the sun rise on evil people everywhere 55:39 'cause He loves them. 55:41 Doesn't condone them. 55:44 He hates what they do. 55:51 "on the evil and on the good and He sends rain on the just 55:54 and the unjust. " 55:55 Then He said: "If you just love those who love you, 55:58 what reward do you have? 56:00 Do not even the tax collectors do the same? " 56:02 Verse 48: 56:04 "Therefore you shall be perfect. " That's a command. 56:09 "You shall be perfect just as your Father in heaven 56:12 is perfect. " If we want to be perfect like 56:14 our heavenly Father, then we must have a heart 56:16 of unselfish love 56:19 and a patience... a patience that puts up with slander. 56:23 A patience that puts up with persecution. 56:26 A patience like Job! 56:28 How could Job go through what Job went through? 56:32 There's only one way that Job could go through that 56:36 and that is that he had hope! 56:39 Brothers and sisters, the patient and the saints 56:42 in their patience they always have hope! 56:46 Amen! They trust the Good Book. 56:49 They trust this powerful Savior 56:51 to resurrect them from the dead. 56:53 And that's why you can hear Job in the midst of his pain... 56:56 Yes, he told about his pain. 56:58 Yes, he wished the day could have been erased 56:59 that he was born, but then he would come back 57:01 and he would never give up his integrity. 57:04 Even when his wife said: "Curse God and die! " 57:07 She was so discouraged... bless her heart. 57:10 But Job says: "Though He slay me 57:14 yet will I trust Him. " AMEN! 57:16 "Even if I die and worms eat the skin 57:21 someday in my skin - in this body - 57:24 I shall see the Lord. " 57:27 My dear brothers and sisters, 57:30 Babylon is going to make the Nazis and the Communists 57:35 look like child's play, 57:39 and I want to tell you that we need this Living Christ, 57:44 this incomparable Jesus, 57:46 who alone can give us that endurance. 57:51 "Here... " And may you be part of it; may I be 57:53 part of it... "Here is the patience of the saints 57:57 and those who keep the commandments of God. " |
Revised 2019-10-17