Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP190047A
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00:01 The Bible tells us, "In the beginning was the Word,
00:03 and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." 00:08 It says, "To receive with meekness 00:10 the implanted Word, 00:11 which is able to save your souls. 00:14 And to be diligent to present yourself 00:16 approved to God, 00:18 rightly dividing the Word of truth." 00:21 Join us now for the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:25 Our study today is Ezra and Nehemiah. 00:32 Hello, friends, welcome to our 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:36 As we continue to trek through Nehemiah and Ezra, 00:40 two amazing books we found out 00:42 so much was hidden in there that has now been discovered. 00:47 And we know that God has more. 00:48 Can we say amen to that? Amen. 00:50 These books have challenged us. 00:52 We have seen God's mercy, we have seen God's grace, 00:56 we have seen the rebellion of the people, 00:59 we have seen the opposition, 01:01 trying to prevent what God ordained, 01:04 and we have seen God deliver Israel 01:07 through trial and circumstances. 01:10 And we're gonna be talking about God and the covenant. 01:13 And I'm excited about this. 01:14 I know to my immediate left, 01:16 Shelley Quinn is excited about that. 01:18 She's a covenant lady. Amen. 01:19 I'm looking forward to what you have to say about that. 01:21 I know God has really led you in your past 01:23 and continues to do so on that particular topic. 01:26 And if you'd like to get a copy of the lesson, 01:28 you can go to the following website absg.adventist.org, 01:34 and download a free copy of that or better yet, 01:37 look for a local Seventh-day Adventist congregation 01:40 and just go on and during Sabbath school time, 01:42 which is earlier part of the day, 01:44 and you'll enjoy the study of God's Word, 01:47 and I encourage you 01:48 to become a part of the fellowship 01:50 permanently. 01:51 But before we go any further, we're gonna have prayer 01:52 and then I'm gonna introduce our panelists, 01:54 and then we'll dive into the Word of God. 01:56 Shelley, would you have a prayer for us? 01:57 I will, indeed. 01:59 Heavenly Father, how we thank You 02:00 and praise You, Lord, 02:01 for Your plan of salvation by grace 02:04 and that You are a covenant making covenant keeping God. 02:07 Father, we pray, You will send Your Holy Spirit just now 02:11 to be our teacher, 02:12 give us ears to hear what the Holy Spirit says 02:16 and work in us, Lord, 02:19 to will and to do Your good pleasure, 02:21 in Jesus name. 02:22 Amen. Amen. 02:24 I need to go ahead and continue my introduction. 02:26 Shelley Quinn to my immediate left. 02:27 Yes. 02:29 The reason I'm so excited about the covenants. 02:31 I grew up in as a New Testament Church, 02:35 knew nothing about the Old Testament 02:38 and the covenants. 02:40 And if you don't understand the Old Covenant, 02:41 you can't understand the New. 02:43 That's right. That's right. 02:44 And you have discovered something 02:45 that led you to where you are today. 02:47 Yes. Praise the Lord for that. 02:48 Pastor Kenny, good to have you here. 02:50 Always good to be here, thank you. 02:51 All right, Pastor Kenny Shelton to be candid for those 02:54 who are watching maybe for the first time. 02:55 There's Mollie Steenson. 02:57 Good to have you here. Thank you. 02:59 And happily retired in Alabama, 03:01 but we thank you for coming up 03:02 and joining us on such a trek that we enjoy your presence. 03:05 Thank you for having me. 03:07 And our COO, Jill Morikone, among other things. 03:11 I always try to encourage her to sleep, 03:12 but God has done a wonderful job 03:14 between with you and your husband, 03:15 praise the Lord for that. 03:17 But you are the list lady 03:19 and anybody watching Sabbath School Panel knows 03:21 we got a list on the way. 03:22 Absolutely. Thank you so much, Pastor. 03:24 It's a privilege to be here. 03:26 Thank the Lord for that. 03:27 God and the covenant. 03:28 I've done some homework about covenants. 03:30 And I tell you the topic of covenants 03:33 is one that will exhaust you. 03:36 I looked up the word covenant in Hebrew and Greek. 03:41 And I found out that 318 times 03:45 the word covenant appears in the Bible, 03:47 which to me means 03:49 that God intended for the covenant 03:52 to be found. 03:53 The unfortunate part of that 03:54 is not a lot of people understand 03:56 what the covenants are all about. 03:57 And you'll discover as we go through the lessons today 04:00 that covenants are only as good as the one making the covenant. 04:05 Amen. 04:06 That's the point, that's very important. 04:07 The covenant is only as good as one making the covenant. 04:11 Another word for covenant today would be an agreement 04:13 or contract, 04:15 whatever you might refer. 04:17 Today we have contracts and you know, 04:19 whenever you get a credit card 04:20 or you get a car payment or a student loan, 04:24 for those of you, you know, 04:25 the student loan covenant cannot be broken. 04:28 You can move 15 times in a week 04:29 and the student loan people will find you. 04:33 It's just an unbreakable covenant, 04:35 and also house payments. 04:37 If you think that you own your house 04:39 and you ignore the covenant, you will discover that 04:41 the house is owned by somebody else. 04:44 The tax covenant, 04:45 property taxes is another covenant. 04:47 You don't own anything if you don't pay your taxes. 04:50 This is a temporal covenant, 04:51 but the covenant that God makes... 04:53 Let me begin with passage in Psalm 89:34. 04:57 Look at that with me. 04:59 What does the Bible say about God and His covenant? 05:02 Because you find the nature of the covenant here 05:04 in Nehemiah Chapter 9 and 10, 05:07 and it's amazing I got Nehemiah 10:1-29, 05:12 when in fact there are only two verses readable, 05:15 it's 28 and 29. 05:17 Did you know, we are just not messing 05:18 with those beautiful names. 05:20 But Psalm 89:34, 05:23 this is what the Bible says about the Lord. 05:25 And He says this up of Himself, He says, 05:28 "My covenant I will not break, 05:32 nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips." 05:36 So that's the one guarantee when God makes a covenant, 05:39 how long is it? 05:41 It's forever. Yes. 05:43 Now you will find because somebody may say, 05:45 well, what about the Old Covenant? 05:46 What about the New Covenant? 05:48 What about the one who testifies of it, 05:51 the test state or how is a covenant established? 05:54 How is it ratified? 05:56 These are things that I think we're gonna find out about 05:58 during the program and I know Shelley's just, 06:00 she's on that runway about to take off. 06:02 So I'm gonna give her room for that. 06:03 But before we get to that, 06:05 I wanna point out a couple of covenants. 06:06 But first, let's read Nehemiah 9:36-38, 06:10 to address the initial question, 06:12 and by the way, this is, 06:14 I didn't read the Bible verse, 06:15 but I'm gonna read that right now. 06:17 Our memory text is Nehemiah 9:38, 06:21 and a portion of Nehemiah 10:39. 06:23 And on our Sabbath afternoon, 06:25 it says, 06:26 "And because of all this, 06:29 we make a sure covenant and write it, 06:31 our leaders, our Levites, and our priests seal it. 06:35 We will not neglect the house of our God." 06:39 And that was the covenant that they made. 06:41 But going quickly now, to Sunday, 06:45 the idea of the covenant. 06:47 I'll read very quickly, 06:48 these two verses in Nehemiah 9:36-38, 06:55 actually three verses. 06:56 And here's the covenant I just referred to. 06:58 "Here we are," and these are the servants, 07:01 "servants today! 07:03 And the land that You gave to our fathers, 07:07 to eat its fruit and its good things, 07:10 here we are, servants in it!" 07:13 And that's almost a realization. 07:15 "And it yields much increase 07:18 to the kings you have set over us, 07:21 because of our sins, 07:23 also they have dominion over our bodies 07:27 and our cattle at their pleasure, 07:30 and we are in great distress." 07:33 But look at this. 07:35 "And because of all this," 07:37 this is what God often gets 07:39 when we are in our straight place, 07:41 a difficult challenge. 07:42 Those are the moments where people tend to reevaluate 07:45 where they are, 07:46 and try to make some adjustments 07:48 because of all this. 07:49 Here's what we're going to do, Lord, 07:50 "We make a sure covenant and write it, 07:53 and our leaders, and our Levites, 07:57 and our priests seal it." 07:59 They made an agreement with God. 08:00 They said, Lord, we understand why we're in the situation, 08:03 and the problem is clearly 08:05 we haven't kept our agreement between You. 08:08 So they're taking it to the next level. 08:09 We're not promising, we're not making an agreement, 08:12 we're making a covenant, 08:14 and the covenant is far deeper than just I promise. 08:17 Just, you know, this is what you can expect. 08:19 A covenant is a deep heart commitment, 08:23 human to the divine, 08:25 but only the presence of the Divine 08:28 can actually keep the covenant alive. 08:31 Let's look at some of the covenants 08:32 in the Bible. 08:33 One of the first covenants, 08:35 it's not even referred to as a covenant. 08:36 But let's look at Genesis 3:15. 08:38 Because God's servants made these covenants 08:41 because of the dire straits that they were in. 08:44 And when we find out further in Chapter 10, 08:46 which is gonna unfold as we go from 08:50 one panelists to the other, we'll see this more clearly. 08:53 But I just wanna focus on various types of covenants. 08:55 One of the first ones I believe, 08:57 it wasn't called the covenant, 08:58 but this is beautiful because this promise 09:00 or covenant the Lord made in the Garden of Eden, 09:03 was fulfilled in the person of Christ. 09:06 He says, "And I will put enmity" Genesis 3:15, 09:10 "between you and the woman, 09:12 and between your seed and her Seed, 09:15 He shall bruise your head, 09:17 and you shall bruise His heel." 09:19 I discovered in my study 09:20 that it doesn't have to be called a covenant. 09:22 But here's the basis of the covenant. 09:25 When the Lord makes a promise, 09:28 it might as well be a covenant 09:30 because this promise, 09:31 a covenant is something 09:33 that is unconditional to the other party. 09:36 Because the Lord makes the promise 09:37 and it's not based, 09:39 this promise that the Lord made here in Genesis 3:15 09:41 was not based on anything that Adam and Eve would do, 09:45 anybody would do here after. 09:47 This was an unbreakable, unalterable, 09:50 unpreventable covenant, 09:51 and it could not be prevented. 09:53 And when Jesus Christ came, 09:54 we saw the fulfillment of that covenant. 09:56 Here's another one. 09:57 The covenant is always ratified by blood 10:00 and here we find in Exodus 24:8, 10:02 moving right along. 10:04 "And Moses took the blood, 10:06 sprinkled it on the people, and said, 10:08 'This is the blood of the covenant 10:10 which the Lord has made with you 10:13 according to all these words.'" 10:15 When the Lord repeated His words 10:17 to the people of Israel, 10:19 the covenant was ratified by blood, 10:21 and where there is no blood, 10:24 where there is no blood involved, 10:26 the covenant that is made, is not ratified. 10:30 Now, when you look back at Genesis, 10:32 now you ask yourself the question, 10:33 well, then how could that be a covenant? 10:35 Well, the blood was shed later on. 10:37 So there wherever covenant is made, 10:39 blood has to be shed. 10:40 And here's another one. 10:42 Paul the Apostle brings this out 10:43 in 1 Corinthians 11:25. 10:47 And this is something we observe on a quarterly basis 10:50 to communion service. 10:51 This is a symbolic representation 10:54 of the blood of Christ. 10:56 1 Corinthians 11:25. 10:59 First he talks about the bread, 11:00 but then it now brings in the blood 11:02 and the purpose of it. 11:03 "In the same manner 11:05 He also took the cup after supper, saying, 11:06 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood. 11:11 This do, as often as you drink it, 11:13 in remembrance of Me.'" 11:14 The covenant is not only ratified, 11:16 but the covenant is a constant reminder 11:18 of the agreement and the commitment 11:20 that Christ has made. 11:22 As long as you do this, you won't forget. 11:24 Another one is the covenant with a family. 11:27 Let's go to Genesis 6:18. 11:30 The Lord made a family covenant. 11:32 This is wonderful. 11:33 Genesis 6:18. 11:36 And the Lord says, 11:37 "But I will establish My covenant with you, 11:42 and you shall go into the ark," notice, 11:44 "you, your sons, your wife, 11:47 and your sons' wives with you." 11:49 The covenant that the Lord made with Noah 11:52 was a blessing to his entire family. 11:54 And when God makes the covenant with us 11:56 and we make a covenant with God, 11:58 everyone around us can benefit from that covenant 12:01 that God makes with us, 12:02 if we are faithful 12:05 to the covenant that He made. 12:06 But now let's look at the converse, 12:08 Isaiah 24:5. 12:10 One of the reasons why the world 12:12 is in the condition it is in 12:13 is because of violated covenant. 12:17 Isaiah 24:5, you have that, Jill? 12:21 "The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, 12:26 because they have transgressed the laws, 12:28 changed the ordinance, 12:29 broken the everlasting covenant." 12:31 Notice, what does the Bible say about the covenant? 12:33 Everlasting. 12:35 The everlasting gospel is in the framework 12:37 of an everlasting covenant, 12:39 both of them being ratified by the same person, 12:43 the eternal God. 12:44 Another one, 12:45 let's look at what's also included in covenant 12:48 by Hebrews 10:16, Hebrews 10:16, 12:52 the law of God cannot be separated 12:55 from His covenant. 12:56 I'll read in your hearing. 12:58 "This is the covenant I will make with them 13:00 after those days, says the Lord: 13:03 I will put My laws into their hearts, 13:05 and in their minds I will write them." 13:07 Now let me make a very important point. 13:09 If you try to get rid of the commandments of God, 13:12 you have no basis on which the covenant is gonna continue, 13:16 because the covenant that God makes 13:18 cannot be deleted or removed or separated 13:21 from His eternal law, which is in fact, 13:24 a transcript of the character of the covenant maker. 13:28 Amen. Amen. 13:29 Now, on that note I'll share with you. 13:31 Okay, well, I've got too much to share. 13:34 A unifying theme of Scripture is that God is a covenant maker 13:38 and a covenant keeper 13:39 and His purpose has always been 13:42 that I will be their God and they shall be My people. 13:46 You know, after the flood, 13:48 God went into covenant with Noah 13:51 and then from it progressed... 13:54 His everlasting covenant progressed from there. 13:56 But God's covenant contains His promises, 14:00 oath bound promises that cannot be broken 14:03 for people who are willing 14:05 to enter into an intimate relationship with us. 14:08 That's why He created us was for an intimate relationship. 14:13 But fellowship with God requires holiness. 14:16 And when Adam and Eve sinned, 14:21 they fractured that relationship with God. 14:24 It didn't catch Him by surprise, though, 14:26 because before the beginning of time, 14:28 He had already had a plan in Revelation 14:6, 14:34 we have, the angels are flying around 14:37 in the midst of heaven. 14:39 And it says that they have an everlasting gospel 14:42 to preach to the entire world. 14:45 And you know what the everlasting gospel is? 14:48 It's found in Revelation 13:8, 14:51 the Lamb who was slain 14:53 from the foundation of the earth. 14:55 That is the everlasting gospel. 15:00 Our God, in perfect omniscience, 15:02 looked into the future and He knew that 15:06 He was gonna have to come down, 15:09 He was going to have to become a man 15:11 and die in our place 15:13 because Revelation 13:8, 15:15 is an obvious reference to the Calvary plan. 15:18 And this was a beautiful promise 15:22 that we kept in Hebrews 13:20-21, 15:27 it says, "May the God of peace 15:30 who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, 15:32 that great Shepherd of the sheep, 15:34 through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 15:40 make you complete in every good work 15:43 to do His will, 15:44 working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, 15:47 through Jesus Christ." 15:49 So we see that the everlasting gospel 15:51 is the everlasting covenant, 15:54 the Lamb who was slain 15:56 from the foundation of the earth. 15:58 God promised to ratify this covenant 16:02 with His own blood in the person of Jesus Christ. 16:07 Who, by the way, is our covenant? 16:09 Look at Isaiah 42:6-7, 16:13 Isaiah 42:6-7. 16:17 This is a messianic prophecy. 16:20 And this is what the Lord says, "I, the Lord, have called You," 16:24 speaking to the Messiah, "in righteousness, 16:26 I will hold Your hand, I will keep You," 16:30 capital Y, 16:31 "and give You as a covenant to the people, 16:34 as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, 16:39 and bring prisoners from the prison, 16:42 those who sit in darkness from the prison house." 16:44 So God's covenants are a progressive revelation, 16:49 an unfolding of the eternal plan 16:53 of salvation by grace through faith in Christ Jesus. 16:57 And by the way, righteousness has always been by faith. 17:03 When you think the Old Testament prophets 17:05 in Jeremiah 33:16, 17:07 he said the Lord, our righteousness, 17:10 and then Isaiah 64:6, said, hey, 17:14 your righteousness, my righteousness 17:17 is nothing but filthy rags before the Lord. 17:19 So it's always been righteousness by faith. 17:23 Now you mentioned in Genesis 3:15, 17:26 God sets his everlasting gospel, 17:31 the everlasting covenant into motion 17:33 as soon as Adam and Eve have sinned, right? 17:38 And He tells them, 17:40 that He is going to put enmity, 17:42 He's talking to the serpent, 17:44 and the serpent representing Satan. 17:46 He says, I'm gonna put enmity 17:48 between you, your seed and her seed. 17:53 He's talking about the Holy Seed, 17:55 Jesus Christ. 17:57 And He says, you're gonna bruise his heel, 17:59 but he'll crush your head. 18:03 And so what we have here 18:05 is the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation 18:09 is an unfolding of this everlasting covenant 18:14 through the Holy Seed, Jesus Christ. 18:17 You'll find Him on every page, 18:20 because all of the Old Testament 18:22 is filled with types and shadows of the Messiah. 18:25 And the New Testament authors simply pick up the narrative 18:30 from the Old Testament prophets, 18:31 and they continue it. 18:33 Because Jesus came to fulfill God's covenant promises 18:38 in 2 Corinthians 1:20. 18:41 Paul says that all of God's promises 18:44 are yes and amen in Christ Jesus. 18:47 That's right. And so, He is our covenant. 18:51 Now, we know that 18:52 it is a covenant of grace by faith. 18:54 In Genesis 15:6, 18:57 the Bible says, Abraham believed the Lord, 19:01 and He accounted it to Him for righteousness. 19:04 And then we see, interestingly, 19:07 God renewed the same covenant of Abraham with Isaac. 19:11 And He says, in Genesis 26:4-5, He tells Isaac, 19:17 I'm renewing this covenant with you. 19:19 Because Abraham obeyed My voice, 19:21 He kept My charge, 19:22 He kept My commandments. 19:24 Now, wait a minute, it's righteousness by faith, 19:28 but He's renewing it 19:30 because Abraham obeyed by faith as well. 19:35 So we see that righteousness by faith and obedience 19:39 go hand in hand. 19:41 Now, then He renewed it with Jacob. 19:43 But now I want to show you something 19:45 because so many people don't understand 19:48 that when we get to Moses, 19:50 and the Hebrew children coming out of slavery, 19:53 they don't understand. 19:55 This is still the same 19:57 righteousness by faith covenant. 19:59 Let's look at Exodus 2:24. Okay. 20:02 The Hebrew children are crying out. 20:06 And the Bible says God heard their groaning, 20:10 and God remembered what? 20:13 His covenant. His covenant. 20:15 His covenant with Abraham, 20:17 Isaac and Jacob. 20:19 He remembered his covenant of salvation 20:22 by grace through faith. 20:24 So what happened is, 20:25 God graciously delivers them from bondage. 20:29 He saves them, He brings them through the Red Sea, 20:33 before they ever measured up to His moral standards. 20:37 It was not a precondition of their salvation, 20:40 and they were to be His covenant people 20:43 and enjoy His covenant blessings. 20:46 And so, when we look at God's covenants, 20:50 they're always unilateral. 20:52 That means only God is making the promise. 20:54 Now, there are two types of covenants in the Bible 20:57 and there are covenants 20:59 between people like a contract, 21:03 or an agreement. 21:04 And if you look in the Greek, 21:07 these are syntheke 21:09 when they have people working together. 21:11 But the interesting thing is 21:14 that God's covenants are always diatheke, 21:17 they are a will. 21:19 He's the only one that's making the promise. 21:23 So, on occasion, 21:24 His promises were unconditional, 21:26 like with Noah, about that rainbow 21:29 and He's not gonna flood the earth, 21:31 that was totally unconditional. 21:32 To David that there'd always be a descendant on the throne, 21:35 unconditional. 21:36 But on other occasions, 21:38 there is a condition He requires faith 21:42 to receive His promise. 21:44 So humans can only enter into covenant with God 21:47 by accepting His offer with a response of trust, 21:52 and faith, and gratitude. 21:55 And our obedience is just to express covenant loyalty, 22:00 covenant love to God, 22:02 because within context of the covenant, 22:06 obedience is the pathway to blessing. 22:08 Now, real quickly in the Old Covenant, 22:12 this is really gonna be quick. 22:14 The heart of the Old Covenant was the Ten Commandments, 22:17 but it also... 22:19 The Ten Commandments was the Bill of Rights 22:22 for God's covenant. 22:24 It had civil laws and ceremonial laws, 22:28 and it had righteous judgments 22:32 against the law breakers. 22:34 But we see in Exodus 24, 22:38 when we see, God spoke in Exodus 20, 22:41 He speaks the Ten Commandments. 22:44 Then Moses goes up the mountain, 22:46 God gives him the Old Covenant, 22:49 he gives him all of these things 22:52 with the civil laws and ceremonial laws. 22:54 Moses comes down, Exodus 24:7, 22:59 it says, that he writes it in a book of the covenant 23:02 and ratifies it with blood, 23:04 and then later when he... 23:07 When they get to the end of the 39th year, 23:10 but you know, as they've been going around the mountain, 23:13 later he expounds on it in the Book of Deuteronomy. 23:17 But this is the point I wanna make little time 23:20 I have left. 23:22 The heart of the Old Covenant was the Ten Commandments, 23:26 it was right in the center of the Old Covenant, 23:28 but it's right in the center of the New Covenant as well. 23:31 God says in Hebrews 8:8-10, 23:33 he's got a righteous covenant on our hearts. 23:37 So we cannot say that when the Old Covenant, 23:43 it was meant to be temporary, 23:44 it was put on the outside of the Ark 23:47 as a witness against them. 23:48 It pointed to Jesus, 23:50 but Jesus came and fulfilled all of those promises 23:53 and ushered in the New Covenant. 23:55 Amen. Thank you, Shelley. 23:57 And on that note, I think that's... 24:00 I give you some... 24:02 I commend you for getting all that in that time frame. 24:05 But we're gonna continue unfolding the covenants 24:07 that we're talking about when we come back. 24:16 Ever wish you could watch 24:17 a 3ABN Sabbath School Panel again, 24:19 or share it on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter? 24:22 Well, you can by visiting 3abnsabbathschoolpanel.com. 24:27 A clean design makes it easy 24:30 to find the program you're looking for. 24:32 There are also links to the Adult Bible Study Guide 24:35 so you can follow along. 24:37 Sharing is easy. 24:39 Just click share and choose your favorite social media. 24:42 Share a link, save a life for eternity. 24:48 Welcome back to our study on the covenants 24:51 and now the next topic is covenantal structure, 24:53 Tuesday's lesson. 24:55 Pastor Kenny Shelton. 24:56 Yeah, on Tuesday's lesson, 24:57 I like this, it's a shift 24:59 from what you are doing here, 25:01 but still yet it's looking at the covenant, 25:03 that there is a structure. 25:05 God has a structure, God's organized. 25:07 And so, that we look at the structures 25:09 and we can find the structure. 25:10 God has certain things that are in here to... 25:13 not only, I think to protect mankind, 25:15 so man can understand it 25:16 and so God understands us. 25:18 So there's a good agreement, no one misunderstands. 25:22 Now, there's always that we've talked about this here 25:24 in areas that everyone understands, 25:25 God even did it in things 25:27 where people could understand in the language 25:30 that they spoke, 25:31 where they lived, 25:33 He always comes to them 25:35 to where they can understand what is being made, 25:38 because He wants them to be able to keep the language, 25:40 culture so on so forth. 25:41 So covenants were common we understand, 25:44 very common in ancient Israel. 25:47 They include the part, so part of going the covenant, 25:50 the biblical covenant here is going over 25:52 and looking and maybe add a few of those parts. 25:55 And it to be a real covenant, 25:56 it must include these parts 25:58 because God's Word says that 26:00 it must include these parts. 26:02 And the first part in there, 26:03 and there's like five, six of them. 26:05 They're preamble. Now what does that mean? 26:07 People say, "Well, what does it mean?" 26:08 You can see that in a lot of different things, 26:10 but we're talking about a covenant here with God. 26:13 Preamble would be an introduction, 26:15 kind of a fact or events. 26:18 Here, it tells the preamble of who God is. 26:20 So first of all we're making a covenant was and who is God? 26:23 Who God is? 26:25 And then number two, 26:26 you have the historical relationship 26:30 or defining our past relationship. 26:34 This prologue is called the before. 26:37 So that's got to be included in it also. 26:40 And number three, 26:41 you have the stipulations or the laws. 26:44 Now that's the terms of the agreement. 26:47 I always looked when I was buying something 26:49 or you said, I want to know the terms. 26:52 Most of you probably pay cash for things, 26:54 if I want to charge something, I wanna look at, what? 26:57 I wanna look at the terms and the agreement of it. 27:00 And when you pay and how much you pay 27:01 and so on and so forth. 27:02 So in the covenant that God makes with His people, 27:04 we talk about it. 27:06 There's some stipulations that are there, 27:07 terms of agreement, a contract, 27:10 binding and naturally between two parties here, 27:13 for in this would be blessings and curses. 27:18 I read that, I thought how interesting, 27:20 blessings and curses. 27:21 God says it over and over. 27:23 You know, in Scripture. 27:25 He said He set before us today a blessing and a curse. 27:28 Yeah. And I was wondering who... 27:30 Choose life. 27:32 Who would choose a curse? 27:34 You know, if He said, I said two things before you today, 27:36 here's the blessing and here's the curse. 27:38 How many would have the audacity 27:39 to choose the curse? 27:42 Now, I assume that maybe one time choice, 27:45 but most of us would choose the blessing. 27:47 We want the blessings of God. That's right. 27:49 In order to receive the blessings of God 27:51 what everyone's been talking about here. 27:52 We want to do what God has asked us to do 27:55 and said to do in His Word, blessings and a curse. 27:58 Deuteronomy 11:26-28, 28:02 it says, "Behold, again 28:03 I set before you this day a blessing and," what? 28:06 "A curse." Verse 26. 28:08 Verse 27, it says, "A blessing, if you..." 28:10 I like this. 28:12 "A blessing if you obey the commandments." 28:15 He didn't say, I'm gonna bless you, 28:16 if you don't obey, if you disobey. 28:19 He said, I gave... 28:20 you know, I'm gonna set before you today 28:21 notice "A blessing, 28:23 if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, 28:26 which I command you this day." 28:28 You mentioned one time before, 28:29 it's what kind of an argument 28:31 could an individual put up in principle here 28:33 with something that's so clear. 28:35 Right. 28:36 You know, there's so much in the Bible that's so clear, 28:39 that's very easy to understand. 28:40 Yet someone has something way that they can go around it, 28:44 or try to jump over, but you know, 28:45 you just really can't do that in the Word of God, 28:48 a blessing and a curse. 28:50 He said, which I command you this day. 28:52 Verse 28, "A curse, if you will not obey." 28:55 So, here He goes. 28:56 Blessing if you obey, curse, if you don't obey. 28:59 Pretty simple, isn't it? 29:00 We should all be able to understand that 29:02 and but it said, "Turn aside out of the way 29:05 which I command you this day." 29:07 Now, God said you that go after other gods 29:09 which you have not known. 29:12 God say, if you do that, it's gonna be curses, 29:14 it's not gonna be a blessing. 29:16 Number five, in this covenant... 29:19 In this, you know, a structural part of it here 29:22 is any special provision then would be added 29:25 in that covenant there, 29:26 that'd be something that would be signed 29:28 or special something need to be in there. 29:30 And then the last part, six part would be witnesses. 29:34 You know, how important is it to have witnesses? 29:36 You know, it's very difficult to get by in this world 29:39 if you have something that you can't do it. 29:41 I guess legally done, 29:43 that you don't have some witnesses... 29:45 Whether it's in marriage or the, you know, 29:47 go to the courthouse, whether you buy sell houses 29:49 when you do you have it notarized. 29:51 You have a stamp you have people 29:52 who sign as witnesses that this really took place 29:55 and you really who you say, you say you are. 29:58 So the Book of Deuteronomy that we've been looking at, 30:01 studying at here is in the form of a covenant. 30:04 We know that and Moses invites 30:06 God's people to enter into that new covenant 30:09 relationship with God. 30:12 We can find a structure and the form, 30:15 starting in Deuteronomy Chapter 1, 30:17 because we're just challenged 30:18 with this little part of the lesson here, 30:20 just almost insignificant, 30:21 maybe, but just what's in the covenant, 30:24 but we're challenged with it 30:25 to look and find it in Scripture. 30:27 And then go ahead in just a few moments 30:29 and look in the Book of Joshua Chapter 24, 30:31 if there was really a covenant there. 30:33 And so it will have these things in it. 30:36 Starting Deuteronomy Chapter 1, 30:39 Chapter 4, and again Chapter 30 and 31, 30:42 so we find structure and form. 30:44 Our lesson wants us to read Joshua, 30:46 we mentioned Chapter 24. 30:49 Well, there's how many verses? 30:51 Thirty three verses or so in there, 30:53 so how are we gonna read them all? 30:55 Like you didn't have the time you wanted, 30:56 you can't read all of those verses in there, 30:59 but you know, 31:00 I encourage you to do that. 31:01 If you have an opportunity at home, 31:03 be sure and read all of those verses 31:05 because it's important to see that the point 31:07 that we're trying to make here in this lesson. 31:09 Those who have read them 31:10 can see that there is a covenant there. 31:13 It has form, it has the structure, 31:16 you know, in their number one, we can see, 31:18 it has the preamble in the Joshua 24:2, 31:22 there's a preamble there. 31:23 God presents Himself as the Lord God of Israel. 31:28 Two, there's a historical aspect, prologue, 31:32 where Joshua reminds the people 31:34 what God has done for them. 31:36 That's always good, who did? 31:38 God, you know, who is God? 31:40 What has God done for you? 31:42 What has He done for us? 31:43 So that's always into Joshua 24:2-33. 31:46 Three, then with a stipulation of the laws that were listed, 31:50 and you find that in Joshua 24:14,15 and 25, 31:55 jot all those down and look them all up. 31:57 Then you start finding 31:58 what we just talked about blessings and curse. 32:00 If you do these things, Joshua 24:19-20, 32:03 then you'll find naturally the special provisions, 32:06 if there are any special provisions, 32:08 they will be added in there, 32:09 and then you're gonna have the witnesses 32:11 in Joshua 24:22, 27. 32:14 I thought was interesting in Letter 3, 1879 says this, 32:19 as Joshua was nearing the end of his life, 32:24 as Joshua was nearing the end of his life... 32:27 When we start nearing the end of our lives, 32:29 sometime we might make a little bit of sense. 32:31 There might be something we've learned over the years 32:33 where we might be able to pass on to somebody else. 32:36 Think about it. 32:38 His life, he said, not to neglect, 32:41 never neglect the true revealed will of God. 32:46 If you understand what the revealed will of God is, 32:51 never neglect that. 32:52 I thought that's a very, very, very good point. 32:55 He goes on to say here and this is something very, 32:58 maybe it's difficult for some. 33:00 He goes on to say, 33:01 have no connection with idolaters, 33:04 that would be very clear. 33:05 How many of us maybe have a little more connection 33:07 with idolaters and things that are going on in the world 33:10 that is labeled and under the, 33:12 you know, the heading of idolatry. 33:14 He goes on to say not to intermarry with him, 33:17 nor in any way put themselves in danger 33:20 of being affected or corrupted 33:22 by their abominations. 33:25 To me this, I mean, to me this is good counsel. 33:29 This is counsel things that he had learned over the years, 33:32 that we need to be very careful in this life 33:35 that I wanna say who with, 33:37 it's in our lesson where we hang out with, 33:40 our friends that we have, 33:42 do they really love, you know, do they love Jesus right here? 33:45 You know, 33:46 I don't have anything to do with it 33:48 that might put you in danger 33:49 of maybe taking you back 33:52 to where you came from 33:54 where God had pulled you out, 33:55 you know, don't go back into that. 33:57 He showed them, notice that, 33:59 desolation would be the result of their departing from God. 34:03 So I thought this is just some simple things in there, 34:06 but there's gonna be desolation if we depart from God. 34:11 We never wanna depart from God, we wanna stay close to God. 34:14 Amen. 34:15 Thankful that He wants to draw close to us. 34:18 He said, "Now draw nigh to Me, 34:19 I'll draw nigh to you." 34:21 So this is the council that He gives. 34:23 And when He gives us counsel, people say, yeah, I know, 34:25 but you know, a lot of times even as Adventist friends, 34:27 we have more friends outside of that 34:29 didn't even know the message, and we keep coming in with Him, 34:31 we do with our own. 34:33 I'm just saying the warning as a danger, 34:34 not trying to criticize or condemn. 34:37 But there's danger in that 34:38 because scripture reveals that to us, 34:40 we either wanna follow it, you know, or maybe nothing. 34:43 So, by God's grace, 34:45 what we wanna follow exactly what God says in His Word. 34:47 Amen. Amen. Amen. 34:49 Well, I am Wednesday. 34:50 And I'm going to look at pledges. 34:53 Now, tell me what a pledge is? 34:56 It's an oath, it's a vow, 34:59 it's a promise. 35:00 But let me give you a little background. 35:02 I'm starting in Nehemiah 10:33-39. 35:07 But now back in Nehemiah Chapter 9, 35:11 remember they pray that long beautiful prayer 35:14 which was more like a sermon. 35:17 And at the very end of Chapter 9:38, it says, 35:21 "And because of all this, we make a sure covenant." 35:24 Kenny was just talking about covenant 35:27 and covenant structure. 35:29 And so the children of Israel are making a covenant. 35:33 They are saying, 35:34 here is what we will do for you. 35:37 Well, so we look nail down in Chapter 10, 35:41 all the people that are saying, 35:44 "Yes, 35:45 we want to seal this covenant, 35:46 so the covenant is sealed." 35:48 And in verse 29, it says, 35:51 "These joined with their brethren," 35:53 This is Nehemiah 10:29, 35:56 "These joined with their brethren, 35:58 and their nobles, 36:00 and entered into a curse and an oath." 36:01 Remember what Kenny told us? 36:03 Each covenant has two aspects. 36:06 One is, if you will do it, 36:08 here's what will happen to you, 36:10 but if you don't, there are consequences. 36:14 So, "curse and an oath to walk in God's laws, 36:17 which was given by Moses and the servants of God, 36:20 and to observe 36:22 and do all the commandments of the Lord." 36:24 So this was what they were covenanting to do. 36:28 Now, God wanted them to make a pledge. 36:32 He wanted them to make a promise 36:34 that you're gonna do what I'm asking you to do. 36:38 So we're going to look at some of the things, 36:41 three actually, I'm gonna look at three areas 36:44 that God asked them to make a promise in, 36:47 and the reason why, 36:49 or to make a pledge, or to make an oath, 36:51 or to make a vow. 36:52 So in verse 30, this is Nehemiah 10:30. 36:57 The Word says, 36:59 "We would not give our daughters," 37:01 here's what God is asking them. 37:03 "We would not give our daughters 37:05 as wives to the peoples of the land, 37:08 nor take their daughters for our sons," 37:12 So we're not gonna give our daughters to other nations, 37:17 to other lands, 37:18 and we're not gonna take their sons 37:20 to our daughters. 37:21 Okay. So why? 37:24 Why would God ask them to promise not to do that? 37:28 Why is that so important? 37:30 What had happened previously? 37:33 Oh, mercy. 37:34 The children of Israel had intermarriage. 37:38 And what did that bring into Israel? 37:42 Idolatry. It brought idolatry. 37:44 So think about it, 37:45 here we've got this beautiful young lady 37:48 that has come from a foreign land 37:50 and what did she bring with her? 37:52 She brought her gods. 37:54 And so now, a woman in a house 37:58 that wants to worship another god, 38:00 her husband can't stop her from doing... 38:02 I mean, a woman can be a powerful force 38:04 when she sets her mind to. 38:08 Amen. 38:09 They had marry, well, it's okay what I mean. 38:12 So they had... 38:15 God was making them promise. 38:17 Don't make the mistakes that your father's made, 38:21 don't allow this intermarriage, 38:24 don't allow this avenue for idolatry 38:28 to come into your home. 38:30 Now let's make this relevant for us today. 38:33 How do we do that? 38:34 I wanna look at 2 Corinthians 6:14-16. 38:39 I'll read this to you. 38:41 "Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. 38:46 For what fellowship has righteousness 38:48 with lawlessness? 38:50 And what communion has light with darkness? 38:53 And what accord has Christ with Belial? 38:56 And what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 39:00 And what agreement has the temple of God with..." 39:03 What's that word? 39:05 "Idols? 39:07 For you are the temple of the living God. 39:10 Do you know each and every one of us? 39:12 This is, we are the temple of the living God. 39:15 God has set up His residence within us, 39:17 Christ in us, the hope of glory. 39:20 What know you not you are the temple of God. 39:23 And we join our self with an unbeliever 39:27 that's bringing idolatry into our homes. 39:32 "For you are the temple of the living God. 39:35 As God has said: 39:36 'I will dwell in them and walk among them. 39:39 I will be their God, and they shall be My people.' 39:42 " Whereas the children of Israel pledged to God 39:47 not to intermarry. 39:49 Paul in these passages gives us the same instructions, 39:53 does he not? 39:55 And for the same reason, 39:57 don't marry an unbeliever 39:59 or you are joining your light with their darkness. 40:03 Okay, the next area, they were to make a promise, 40:07 a commitment, a vow, a pledge to God that they wouldn't do. 40:11 Let's look at that. That's verse 31. 40:14 "That if the peoples of the land brought wares 40:19 or any grain to sell on the Sabbath day, 40:23 we would not buy it from them on the Sabbath, 40:27 or on a holy day, 40:29 and we would forego the seventh year's produce 40:32 and the exacting of every debt." 40:34 Why? 40:36 Why was God telling them make a promise to me 40:39 that you in effect won't break the Sabbath command? 40:44 Amen. Why would He say that? 40:46 To preserve the sanctity of the Sabbath. 40:50 God is setting forth here 40:52 how vitally important it is for us 40:55 to be Sabbath keepers 40:58 and to preserve the sanctity of the Sabbath. 41:01 What is the purpose of the Sabbath? 41:03 I'll go over this again. 41:04 I love to go over this. 41:05 For us to rest in God, 41:08 for us to put away anything that will separate us, 41:11 from concentrating on the faithfulness of God, 41:14 to recognize Him as our Creator, 41:17 to put our focus totally on Him, 41:20 and for us to draw closer to God. 41:23 Once a week, we are given this opportunity. 41:27 When Sabbath keeping begins to erode, 41:30 now listen to this, 41:32 when your Sabbath keeping begins to erode, 41:36 our relationship with God begins to erode. 41:40 That's right. Okay. 41:41 It was true for the children of Israel, 41:44 and it's true for us today. 41:46 All right, the third aspect, verse 32. 41:49 "Also we made ordinances for ourselves," 41:52 and I want you to see this. 41:54 "They made these ordinances for themselves 41:57 to exact from ourselves 42:01 yearly one-third of a shekel," why? 42:04 And here's purpose of it, 42:06 so I can do rather than going back 42:08 and looking over this because I run out of time. 42:11 Why did they do that? 42:12 Why did they make this ordinance for themselves? 42:15 For the service of the house of our God. 42:18 Do you remember 42:20 when and I believe that was Nehemiah, 42:23 but if you tell me it was Ezra, I'll think that, 42:26 but I think it was Nehemiah came to the children of Israel, 42:29 and he told them, 42:30 the reason that you're not prospering 42:34 is because you have neglected something. 42:36 You have put all of your attentions 42:39 to the restoring of your own house, 42:41 and you have neglected the house of God, 42:44 for that reason, 42:46 there has been crop failure, 42:47 there has been a curse that has come upon you. 42:51 And so, now, 42:53 the children of Israel realized 42:55 if we neglect the house of God, 42:58 it's to our own detriment. 43:00 And so... 43:02 And there are following verses for... 43:05 Again, these are ordinances, they laid unto themselves. 43:09 Now, how are we going to bring that home to us? 43:12 How does this affect us personally? 43:14 How can we make this relevant to us today? 43:17 I'll say that would be Malachi 3:10. 43:20 Amen. Good. 43:23 Here's what Malachi 3:10, says, 43:26 bring him much of the tithe? 43:28 "All the tithes into the storehouse, 43:30 that there may be food in My house, 43:33 Here is the command to bring the tithe 43:37 into the storehouse." 43:38 And it's for the very same reason 43:41 for the service of the house of our God. 43:44 We are not doing it so that we can make anybody rich 43:48 or this or that. 43:49 But let me show you 43:51 the blessing that comes with this, 43:54 you don't tithe to get 43:55 and I don't want that to come across that way. 43:58 But here's a blessing 43:59 when you put a biblical principle 44:01 into operation, 44:02 you are gonna get a biblical result. 44:05 Here's the biblical result. 44:07 And try me now in this, says the Lord of host, 44:11 if I will not open for you the windows of heaven 44:14 and pour out for you such blessing that 44:17 there will not be room enough to receive. 44:20 How many of you want God 44:21 to open up the windows of heaven, 44:23 pour you out a blessing, you can't receive? 44:25 Well, these three principles 44:28 are vitally important for us today. 44:30 Let me go over them again. 44:32 Number one, keep yourself from idolatry. 44:34 Number two, keep the Sabbath holy. 44:37 And number three, 44:39 don't neglect the house of God. 44:41 It's a choice that each and every one of us 44:44 have to make. 44:45 Amen. Amen. 44:47 Powerful job, thank you, Mollie. 44:49 I have Thursday's lesson, 44:51 which is the temple 44:52 and it really expands on the third aspect 44:56 that you talked about, Mollie. 44:58 We talked about the ancient covenants, 45:00 they included blessings and curses 45:02 as you talked about, Pastor Kenny, 45:04 and regulations. 45:06 Mollie, you talked about keep yourself from idolatry 45:10 and no mixed marriages, that's number one. 45:13 Number two, true Sabbath observance. 45:16 Number three, not to neglect the house of God. 45:20 And I'm gonna take that third aspect, 45:23 not to neglect the house of God. 45:24 And we're going to expand it, as it were, 45:27 as it talks about here in Nehemiah 10, 45:29 into four different components. 45:31 These are four different ways 45:33 that they could help not to neglect the house of God. 45:37 Number one was to pay the temple tax. 45:41 That's in Nehemiah 10, you just read verse 32, 45:44 where we read 32 and 33. 45:47 Also, we made ordinances for ourselves 45:50 and I like what you said, Mollie, 45:51 the rest of this from this to the end 45:53 is all those ordinances that they made for themselves. 45:57 "To exact from ourselves yearly, 45:59 one third of a shekel 46:01 for the service of the house of our God, 46:04 for the show bread, 46:06 for the regular grain offering, 46:07 for the regular burnt offering of the Sabbath, 46:10 the new moons and the set feats for the holy things, 46:15 for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, 46:18 and all the work of the house of our God." 46:21 Now the lesson brought out something interesting, 46:23 which if I'm being honest with you all, 46:25 I haven't studied a great deal, 46:27 but it was very fascinating, the lesson talked about, 46:30 and I did some research into that, 46:32 that this is the first time 46:34 that they had an actual annual temple tax, 46:38 where they made this ordinance. 46:40 Prior to that, if you look up, 46:41 we won't take the time to read it now, 46:43 but Exodus 30:11-16, 46:48 they have the atonement tax 46:51 or the ransom money 46:53 that was required of all Israelites 46:55 over 20 years of age, but it was not an annual tax. 46:58 It was only done when the census was taken. 47:02 And it was to remind the people 47:04 that they were dependent on the Lord. 47:07 And it was not an annual tax, it was just an occasional, 47:11 whenever they did that census. 47:13 The offering was the same. 47:14 I love that for the rich and for the poor. 47:16 And in this particular tax, it was half a shekel, 47:19 not a third, 47:20 but it was half a shekel, 47:22 that's from Exodus Chapter 30, you can look it up. 47:24 But in this case, it's a third of a shekel, 47:28 and it was the first time instituted 47:30 that they would have that annual contribution. 47:32 Now, we know this continued, 47:34 because we know in the time of Jesus, 47:36 and the disciples, we know Peter, 47:38 remember reached into the fish's mouth 47:40 and took that out. 47:41 They had the annual tax at that time. 47:44 Now, in the time of Jesus, it was actually half a shekel, 47:47 where here they instituted a third. 47:49 But what does that even matter to us today? 47:52 It matters because it is important 47:54 to financially support God's work. 47:57 That's why it's important to financially support 48:00 God's work. 48:02 What's the second thing? 48:03 They did provision for the firewood of the temple. 48:07 Now, we read that now and we think okay, 48:09 but there's a point to this as well. 48:11 Let's read verse 34. 48:13 "We cast lots among the priests, 48:15 the Levites, and the people, 48:16 for bringing the wood offering into the house of our God, 48:19 according to our father's houses, 48:21 at the appointed times year by year, 48:23 to burn on the altar of the Lord our God 48:25 as it is written in the Law." 48:27 They allotted responsibility for burning the firewood 48:31 on the altar to specific family. 48:33 It goes back to what you talked about, Pastor Kenny, 48:35 I think it was you organization, 48:38 how organization is vitally important 48:40 to the work of God? 48:42 That's what I get from this second regulation. 48:45 It's important to have structure 48:47 and organization in the church. 48:50 That's right. 48:51 What's the third thing? 48:52 The offering of the firstfruits, 48:54 the firstborn and the tithe. 48:58 So the firstfruits is the next verse, 49:00 Nehemiah 10:35, 49:02 "We made ordinances to bring the firstfruits of our ground 49:04 and the first fruits of all fruit of all trees, 49:08 year by year, to the house of the Lord." 49:10 The next verse is the firstborn, 49:12 "to bring the firstborn of our sons and cattle, 49:15 as it is written in the Law, 49:16 the firstborn of our herds and flocks, 49:19 to the house of our God, to the priests 49:21 who minister in the house of our God, 49:23 to bring the firstfruits of our dough, 49:25 our offerings, the fruit of all kinds of trees," 49:26 and it goes on all the firstfruits, 49:29 "to the storerooms of the house of God, 49:32 to bring the tithes of our land to the Levites, 49:34 for the Levites should receive the tithes 49:36 in all our farming communities." 49:37 And that brings us to tithe 49:40 and the importance of paying the tithe. 49:43 Verse 38. 49:44 "And the priest, the descendant of Aaron, 49:45 shall be with the Levites 49:47 when the Levites receive tithes, 49:49 and the Levites shall bring up a tenth of the tithes 49:52 to the house of our God, 49:53 to the rooms of the storehouse." 49:56 What do I get from that? 49:57 It is important to pay a biblical tithe 50:01 and free will offerings, 50:04 not just tithe, but tithe and offerings 50:07 for the support of the work of God. 50:10 We know that a 10th of everything 50:12 went to the Levites, 50:13 also the firstborns that were redeemed by money 50:16 adding to the amount that the Levites received. 50:18 And then the 10th of the Levites 10th 50:20 went to the priests. 50:22 Now, the fourth thing was temple attendance, 50:25 Nehemiah 10:39. 50:26 It said, we will not neglect the house of our God. 50:30 That's right. What do we get from that? 50:32 It is important to attend church regularly. 50:36 Hebrews 10:25, 50:37 "Don't forsake the assembling of ourselves together, 50:41 as is the manner of some, 50:42 but exhorting one another, 50:44 and so much the more 50:45 as you see the Day approaching." 50:47 So I would just ask... 50:49 I always ask myself this when I study, why is this important? 50:52 And I don't mean that disrespectfully, 50:54 this is important. 50:55 But why is this important? 50:56 Why was the temple important? 50:58 Because the sanctuary runs throughout the entire Bible, 51:03 and in that is the plan of salvation. 51:06 Absolutely. 51:08 From the sacrificial symbolism of Genesis 3 and 4, 51:11 when sin began all the way 51:13 through the last Chapters of Revelation, 51:15 we see the sanctuary unfold throughout the Bible. 51:19 The earthly sanctuary was a model to prefigure 51:22 what Christ would do when He came to this earth. 51:26 He pointed forward to Christ, the Lamb of God, 51:29 who took away the sins of the world. 51:33 1 Peter 1:18-19, I love that scripture. 51:36 "We knowing that we were not redeemed 51:38 with corruptible things, 51:40 like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct 51:43 received by tradition from your fathers, 51:45 but with the precious blood of Christ, 51:47 as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." 51:52 So in my remaining time, 51:53 I wanna look at a couple points of the heavenly sanctuary. 51:57 Most of them are taken from Hebrews. 51:58 So if you wanna turn to Hebrews, Hebrews 8:2. 52:03 First point we know that the heavenly sanctuary 52:05 was built by God and not by man. 52:09 Hebrews 8:2, I'm sorry, 52:11 Hebrews 8:2, 52:13 "Christ is a Minister of the sanctuary 52:16 and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, 52:20 and not man." 52:22 The second thing I see is that this heavenly sanctuary 52:25 contained a better sacrifice 52:27 that did not have to be repeatedly offered. 52:31 Christ was the perfect High Priest, 52:33 and He was the perfect sacrifice. 52:37 Hebrews 7:26, 52:39 "For such a High Priest was fitting for us, 52:42 who is holy, harmless, undefiled, 52:45 separate from sinners, 52:47 and has become higher than the heavens." 52:50 Hebrews 7:28, 52:51 "For the law appoints as high priests men 52:54 who have weakness, but the word of the oath, 52:56 which came after the law, appoints the Son 52:59 who has been perfected forever." 53:03 We know that Christ died once and for all. 53:07 Hebrews 7:27, 53:09 "Who does not need daily, 53:11 as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices." 53:14 Remember the high priests 53:16 did it first for their own sins, 53:18 and then for the people sins. 53:20 But Jesus did it once for all, when He offered up Himself. 53:28 It contained the blood of Christ, 53:30 which truly could purchase our salvation. 53:34 Hebrews 9:12-14, 53:36 "Not with the blood of goats and calves, 53:39 but with His own blood 53:41 He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, 53:43 having obtained eternal redemption. 53:46 For if the blood of bulls and goats 53:48 and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, 53:51 sacrifices for the purifying of the flesh, 53:53 how much more shall the blood of Christ, 53:57 who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself 53:59 without spot to God, 54:01 cleanse your conscience from dead works 54:04 to serve the living God?" 54:07 Since Jesus is our high priest, 54:09 it guarantees 54:11 that what God promises to us will be fulfilled. 54:14 And what does He promised? 54:15 He promises cleansing from sin. 54:17 Amen. John 1:29. 54:18 "Behold the Lamb of God, 54:21 which takes away the sin of the world." 54:24 and He promises confident access to the Father. 54:28 My last scripture, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, 54:32 "All things are of God, 54:33 who has reconciled us to Himself 54:35 through Jesus Christ, 54:37 and has given to us that ministry of reconciliation. 54:41 God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, 54:47 not imputing their trespasses to them, 54:49 and has committed to you and I that ministry, 54:52 that word of reconciliation." 54:55 I'm so thankful for the earthly sanctuary, 54:58 but I'm so much more grateful for the heavenly sanctuary 55:01 and our heavenly sacrifice and high priest. 55:04 Amen. Amen. Thank you so much. 55:06 We've had so much to say in this lesson God 55:08 and the Covenant. 55:09 I'm gonna give Shelley an opportunity 55:11 to plug in something as you summarize 55:14 what we've talked about. 55:16 Oh, there's so much I'd like to say, but the... 55:18 We just have to remember that the covenant of God, 55:22 the everlasting covenant is just progressively revealed. 55:27 And each covenant kind of builds on the other. 55:29 It's all part of the same thing. 55:31 But Hebrews 7:22 is one of my favorite scriptures. 55:35 It says that Christ is the surety 55:38 of the New Covenant. 55:40 He is the guarantor 55:41 because He guarantees God's promises to us, 55:45 2 Corinthians 1:20. 55:46 All of His promises are fulfilled in Christ, 55:49 but He also guarantees our faithfulness to God 55:53 because Philippians 2:13 says, 55:55 that He works in us to will and to do His good pleasure. 55:59 Amen. Pastor Kenny? 56:02 You know, I've been hearing over and over on this 56:04 and I've marked it down. 56:05 You know, God's always faithful on His part. 56:08 Amen. He'll never let you down. 56:10 And just may we make that covenant with Him, 56:14 sign that agreement, 56:16 that document that we will not let Him down 56:18 by the grace of God anymore. 56:20 We may have done it in the past, 56:22 but that's over with today by the grace of God. 56:24 Amen. Amen. 56:25 And you know, those areas 56:29 that He asked us to covenant with Him, 56:31 to pledge or to vow to Him, it's for our good. 56:36 It's to make our lives better. 56:39 And I look at the three areas specifically 56:42 in our lesson today, 56:43 which was to keep ourselves from idolatry, 56:47 and to remember the Sabbath to keep it holy, 56:51 and to bring our tithes 56:53 and offerings into the storehouse. 56:56 Each one of those areas 56:58 as we're obedient brings a blessing to us. 57:05 And so why not be obedient to God's Word 57:07 and receive all that He has for us. 57:09 Amen. 57:10 Hebrews 8:10, the new covenant God wants to write His law 57:13 in our hearts and in our minds. 57:15 Amen. Thank you, Jill. 57:16 What a lesson. 57:18 And you know, friends, 57:19 we've just scratched the surface. 57:21 But I wanna leave this law with you because the Lord has, 57:23 the covenant keeper has made a covenant with us, 57:25 and here's the promise of the covenant keeping God. 57:28 Exodus 19:5. 57:30 "Now therefore, 57:32 if you will indeed obey My voice 57:34 and keep My covenant, 57:36 then you shall be a special treasure to Me 57:39 above all people, 57:41 for all the earth is Mine." 57:44 That's the promise from the covenant keeping God. 57:45 Amen, Shelley? Amen. 57:47 And Shelley beams with that word covenant. 57:50 We have enjoyed ourselves 57:51 and we have enjoyed studying this about God's covenant, 57:53 but now it's your turn to dive into it more 57:57 and find out what the Lord has in store for you. 57:59 Our next lesson, Jill, is called 58:01 Trials Tribulations and Lists. 58:03 And we encourage you to come and join us for Lesson Nine. 58:06 God bless you. Amen. |
Revised 2024-09-04