1 00:00:24,380 --> 00:00:27,460 Now, let me just for a little while 2 00:00:27,460 --> 00:00:32,300 engage in a piece of revision as we 3 00:00:32,300 --> 00:00:36,800 come to our fourth study from this magnificent 4 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:40,380 book in the Old Testament, and I use 5 00:00:40,380 --> 00:00:42,360 that word not indiscriminately. 6 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:48,920 I'm absolutely filled with amazement as I constantly 7 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:52,200 am reading this book in preparation for these 8 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:57,720 studies to discover within it so many aspects 9 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:00,860 of the Gospel of Jesus which stand out 10 00:01:00,860 --> 00:01:04,200 very, very clearly in the New Testament. 11 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:07,720 The Old Testament has a great deal that 12 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:10,760 points away to the future books, the second 13 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:15,940 part of the Bible, and though I've recommended 14 00:01:16,460 --> 00:01:20,500 the New International Version on many occasions, I 15 00:01:20,500 --> 00:01:23,640 don't apologize for doing exactly the same again 16 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:24,160 this evening. 17 00:01:24,420 --> 00:01:27,200 I found that this version has brought Deuteronomy, 18 00:01:27,660 --> 00:01:31,260 for me, really to life, and I can 19 00:01:31,260 --> 00:01:35,420 think of nothing more helpful than just spending 20 00:01:35,420 --> 00:01:38,000 an hour or so reading that book all 21 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:40,400 the way through from chapter one right through 22 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:42,940 to the end of this volume. 23 00:01:43,900 --> 00:01:46,900 Now, Deuteronomy, as you know, is the fifth 24 00:01:46,900 --> 00:01:52,340 book in the Old Testament, and it comes 25 00:01:52,340 --> 00:01:55,720 at the end of that little group of 26 00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:58,820 books which were in the main written by 27 00:01:58,820 --> 00:01:59,760 Moses. 28 00:02:00,540 --> 00:02:04,320 The word Deuteronomy itself, you may recall, I 29 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:07,820 think I alluded to this, actually means second 30 00:02:07,820 --> 00:02:10,620 law, but really it's not a very good 31 00:02:10,620 --> 00:02:11,160 title. 32 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:13,040 It's a title that's been put to this 33 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:15,080 book, and whether it was the choicest one 34 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:17,200 or not I think is up for debate, 35 00:02:17,340 --> 00:02:19,880 because it gives the impression that God having 36 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:22,840 given a first law, then gives a second 37 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:26,400 law, whereas actually what you find within Deuteronomy 38 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:30,300 is a repetition of some of the teaching 39 00:02:30,300 --> 00:02:35,660 in Exodus and also in Leviticus, but the 40 00:02:35,660 --> 00:02:40,200 title means second law, the repetition and the 41 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:43,940 extension of certain teaching that is found in 42 00:02:43,940 --> 00:02:44,860 earlier books. 43 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:48,680 One other thing that you may remember, and 44 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:52,200 that is that this book was really the 45 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:56,280 preaching matter of Moses just before the Hebrews 46 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:59,340 went into the Promised Land, and because of 47 00:02:59,340 --> 00:03:02,320 sinfulness on his part he was prohibited from 48 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:03,300 entering Canaan. 49 00:03:03,940 --> 00:03:06,660 He got the thousands of Hebrews in front 50 00:03:06,660 --> 00:03:09,100 of him in Moab on one of the 51 00:03:09,100 --> 00:03:09,520 plains. 52 00:03:09,860 --> 00:03:12,420 Only a few miles away was the land 53 00:03:12,420 --> 00:03:17,040 of the forefathers of the Hebrews, the land 54 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:20,120 of Abraham and of Jacob and so on, 55 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:23,140 the land of the patriarchs, and Moses knew 56 00:03:23,140 --> 00:03:25,760 that when these people went back to the 57 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:28,640 Promised Land there were certain dangers and temptations 58 00:03:28,640 --> 00:03:30,140 which would confront them. 59 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:35,320 He'd had experience of their waywardness and of 60 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:38,380 the manner in which they would become disagreeable 61 00:03:38,380 --> 00:03:41,180 in the years that had passed, and so 62 00:03:41,180 --> 00:03:45,380 aged Moses, the meek man, the loving man, 63 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:48,880 sets down certain teachings which will help the 64 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:51,360 Hebrews so that when they go into the 65 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:54,540 Promised Land they might live to the glory 66 00:03:54,540 --> 00:03:57,620 of God and use the land as the 67 00:03:57,620 --> 00:04:04,760 Lord wants its various aspects to be employed. 68 00:04:05,060 --> 00:04:07,780 And you will also remember, as we engage 69 00:04:07,780 --> 00:04:10,580 in this piece of revision, that one word 70 00:04:10,580 --> 00:04:13,460 which is dominant to the book of Deuteronomy, 71 00:04:13,620 --> 00:04:15,620 which is a key word for understanding it, 72 00:04:15,959 --> 00:04:18,279 is the word contract or covenant. 73 00:04:18,940 --> 00:04:21,940 God is in a covenant with his people. 74 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:25,800 This covenant indicates that they are a special 75 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:29,420 people, a chosen people, not as Deuteronomy makes 76 00:04:29,420 --> 00:04:31,720 clear because they were the mightiest people in 77 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:32,760 the world at that time. 78 00:04:32,820 --> 00:04:35,040 That was far from the case, but God 79 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:37,340 in his grace had set his mark upon 80 00:04:37,340 --> 00:04:40,500 the Hebrews and they entered into a covenant. 81 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:43,180 They would live for God and God would 82 00:04:43,180 --> 00:04:46,540 bless them in ways that other nations would 83 00:04:46,540 --> 00:04:49,100 not know, but they were to keep the 84 00:04:49,100 --> 00:04:53,580 various aspects of the covenant, the various regulations. 85 00:04:54,340 --> 00:04:56,720 Well, all these are matters that you're so 86 00:04:56,720 --> 00:04:59,160 conversant with that anyone could get up and 87 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:02,520 give us a resume of the point, I'm 88 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:04,240 sure, but let's push on. 89 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:09,600 And you will recall that in introducing our 90 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:12,760 topic last week, I said to you that 91 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:15,620 there were three or four specific things which 92 00:05:15,620 --> 00:05:19,940 God gave the Hebrews which really were superb. 93 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:23,840 He gave them, for instance, a leader, Moses, 94 00:05:24,540 --> 00:05:27,580 a unique man, and we'll have a study 95 00:05:27,580 --> 00:05:29,840 on Moses later on in this series. 96 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:32,540 Not only did he give them Moses, he 97 00:05:32,540 --> 00:05:36,140 gave them priests, pastors if you like, a 98 00:05:36,140 --> 00:05:39,420 specific group of people who are called Levites, 99 00:05:39,500 --> 00:05:42,400 and it was their responsibility to teach the 100 00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:42,760 Hebrews. 101 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:47,300 But as we pointed out specially in our 102 00:05:47,300 --> 00:05:50,980 study seven days back, he gave them the 103 00:05:50,980 --> 00:05:54,820 land, the land of Canaan, a special land, 104 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:57,380 a land on which the eyes of God, 105 00:05:57,440 --> 00:05:59,600 or to which the eyes of God, were 106 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:01,200 always directed. 107 00:06:02,280 --> 00:06:06,120 And fourthly, on top of these three super 108 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:12,000 gifts was the law that God bequeathed to 109 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:17,340 the Hebrews, a set of rules, regulations, which 110 00:06:17,340 --> 00:06:20,640 would govern their lifestyle in the land. 111 00:06:21,420 --> 00:06:23,540 And it's that topic that I focus your 112 00:06:23,540 --> 00:06:26,020 attention on right now, and we'll come to 113 00:06:26,020 --> 00:06:28,340 it again next week. 114 00:06:28,820 --> 00:06:31,860 I wonder what the word law conjures up 115 00:06:31,860 --> 00:06:32,440 in your mind. 116 00:06:32,840 --> 00:06:34,820 When I taught in Tottenham, if you said 117 00:06:34,820 --> 00:06:36,860 the word law to any of our boys, 118 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:40,560 they would think in terms of what in 119 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:44,280 Tottenham slang they would describe as the fuzz, 120 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:48,360 a rather derogatory term for the police. 121 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:52,140 And unfortunately, and by no means in a 122 00:06:52,140 --> 00:06:56,080 justified fashion, some of my boys would feel 123 00:06:56,080 --> 00:07:00,000 that the police were always against them, and 124 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:03,360 very often they would warrant the attention of 125 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:05,340 the police for some of the things that 126 00:07:05,340 --> 00:07:07,700 they got up to at night. 127 00:07:07,700 --> 00:07:10,540 They would feel that the law, and all 128 00:07:10,540 --> 00:07:14,780 that the law represented was against them, and 129 00:07:14,780 --> 00:07:19,020 would rob them of certain privileges, would interfere 130 00:07:19,020 --> 00:07:21,840 with some of the pranks that they got 131 00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:22,540 up to. 132 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:25,380 And in other parts of the world, as 133 00:07:25,380 --> 00:07:28,720 I point out in the notes that I 134 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:31,880 give you, the very word law itself is 135 00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:35,520 associated not always with pleasant things which are 136 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:38,580 for the benefit of mankind. 137 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:45,400 Now that misunderstanding of law is not only 138 00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:49,600 found socially in Tottenham, or in Northern Ireland, 139 00:07:50,580 --> 00:07:57,740 or in Southern Africa, it's sometimes wrongly grasped 140 00:07:57,740 --> 00:07:59,180 by Christian people. 141 00:08:00,100 --> 00:08:01,620 And there are those who come along and 142 00:08:01,620 --> 00:08:03,320 they tell us, well you know, we live 143 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:05,920 in the New Testament dispensation, and as a 144 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:09,160 result of this, the law has got nothing 145 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:09,920 to do with us. 146 00:08:10,140 --> 00:08:11,560 We are freed from the law. 147 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:14,460 I remember reading a book produced by some 148 00:08:14,460 --> 00:08:17,980 brother in the charismatic movement some while ago, 149 00:08:18,500 --> 00:08:21,000 and this book, which ran to about 40 150 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:23,480 or 50 odd pages, had as its main 151 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:25,960 thesis the fact that the law has been 152 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:29,060 perfectly fulfilled in Jesus, and now we're not 153 00:08:29,060 --> 00:08:31,640 under its obligations at all. 154 00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:35,419 And I say from the teaching of Scripture, 155 00:08:35,620 --> 00:08:39,080 both the Old Testament and the New Testament, 156 00:08:39,900 --> 00:08:43,520 that that is a completely inaccurate conclusion. 157 00:08:44,740 --> 00:08:48,900 The Lord Jesus Christ indeed kept the law, 158 00:08:49,460 --> 00:08:51,220 and fulfilled the law. 159 00:08:51,560 --> 00:08:53,800 But listen to what Jesus has to say 160 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:56,440 about the law in Matthew's Gospel, the fifth 161 00:08:56,440 --> 00:08:59,040 chapter, and the seventeenth verse. 162 00:08:59,620 --> 00:09:02,980 Think not that I am come to destroy 163 00:09:02,980 --> 00:09:04,720 the law, or the prophets. 164 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:07,440 I am not come to destroy, but to 165 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:07,900 fulfill. 166 00:09:08,460 --> 00:09:10,400 For verily I say unto you, till heaven 167 00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:13,480 and earth pass, one jot or one tittle 168 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:16,360 shall in no wise pass from the law, 169 00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:18,140 till all be fulfilled. 170 00:09:18,420 --> 00:09:21,360 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least 171 00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:24,740 commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall 172 00:09:24,740 --> 00:09:28,520 be called the least in the kingdom of 173 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:29,000 heaven. 174 00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:33,020 Now that doesn't seem to suggest that the 175 00:09:33,020 --> 00:09:36,540 law, the ten commandments, and all the other 176 00:09:36,540 --> 00:09:40,300 regulations, about two hundred of in the book 177 00:09:40,300 --> 00:09:43,560 of Deuteronomy, and the earlier books of the 178 00:09:43,560 --> 00:09:48,120 Bible, have now passed away, and have got 179 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:52,120 no relevance at all to you and to 180 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:52,340 me. 181 00:09:52,560 --> 00:09:55,360 Far from the law being done away with, 182 00:09:55,420 --> 00:09:58,180 Jesus says that not one jot, not one 183 00:09:58,180 --> 00:10:02,220 tittle, those are the two smallest letters in 184 00:10:02,220 --> 00:10:05,240 the Hebrew alphabet, or rather the two smallest 185 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:08,240 characteristics, not one of those shall pass away. 186 00:10:09,180 --> 00:10:11,220 So far from the law being thrown on 187 00:10:11,220 --> 00:10:13,840 one side, because it's been completed in Jesus, 188 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:18,240 the law stands as something that you and 189 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:22,280 I as Christians have to face up to. 190 00:10:23,340 --> 00:10:24,400 You're not convinced? 191 00:10:24,700 --> 00:10:29,180 Well, you remember a young fellow came to 192 00:10:29,180 --> 00:10:31,320 Jesus one day, and he'd got a problem. 193 00:10:32,020 --> 00:10:34,040 He wanted to be a disciple of Jesus, 194 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:36,660 and he also wanted eternal life. 195 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:43,300 And Jesus said, you know the law, you 196 00:10:43,300 --> 00:10:47,240 know the commandments, why don't you keep them? 197 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:52,720 Because in the keeping of the commandments, at 198 00:10:52,720 --> 00:10:56,260 the end, if they're perfectly fulfilled in your 199 00:10:56,260 --> 00:11:01,060 life, then you'll enter into salvation and eternal 200 00:11:01,060 --> 00:11:01,580 life. 201 00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:04,800 In no way did Jesus say to that 202 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:07,400 young fellow, don't look to the law of 203 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:09,520 Moses, don't look to the Ten Commandments, they've 204 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:11,620 all been completed now, they've all been pushed 205 00:11:11,620 --> 00:11:13,940 on one side, I'm bringing in something that 206 00:11:13,940 --> 00:11:17,260 is so infinitely better, that no longer are 207 00:11:17,260 --> 00:11:18,880 the Ten Commandments required. 208 00:11:19,420 --> 00:11:22,400 Jesus didn't say that at all. 209 00:11:23,240 --> 00:11:26,740 So, far from the teaching of Deuteronomy, and 210 00:11:26,740 --> 00:11:29,520 the teaching contained within the Ten Commandments in 211 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:33,320 particular, far from this being tossed aside by 212 00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:36,660 the New Testament, the importance of these commandments 213 00:11:36,660 --> 00:11:39,480 stands out even more. 214 00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:44,520 But before I develop this further, let me 215 00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:45,640 put up another question. 216 00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:49,440 What's your approach to the law of God? 217 00:11:50,100 --> 00:11:52,100 What's your approach to the law of God? 218 00:11:53,300 --> 00:11:54,540 You know there are a class of people 219 00:11:54,540 --> 00:11:58,200 in church history, and they were nicknamed the 220 00:11:58,200 --> 00:11:58,940 Puritans. 221 00:12:00,220 --> 00:12:01,820 And if you see a picture of them, 222 00:12:01,940 --> 00:12:04,260 particularly if it's a sort of cartoon representation, 223 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:07,560 as it really has to be, because obviously 224 00:12:07,560 --> 00:12:10,260 there's no photography available in those days, you 225 00:12:10,260 --> 00:12:13,060 see stern men with beards almost a yard 226 00:12:13,060 --> 00:12:18,760 long, and faces in a characteristic, in an 227 00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:21,640 expression that fits in with the style of 228 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:22,200 the beard. 229 00:12:23,220 --> 00:12:25,500 And the idea is that these men were 230 00:12:25,500 --> 00:12:30,180 so stern, so rigid, so unbending, they were 231 00:12:30,180 --> 00:12:32,000 legalists. 232 00:12:32,780 --> 00:12:34,940 And there are some people who believe that 233 00:12:34,940 --> 00:12:38,760 the law of God has been given to 234 00:12:38,760 --> 00:12:41,300 robbers of really enjoying life. 235 00:12:42,300 --> 00:12:45,380 So you've got these Ten Commandments, and all 236 00:12:45,380 --> 00:12:48,100 the other developments of those commandments, not only 237 00:12:48,100 --> 00:12:49,900 in the Old Testament, but the Sermon on 238 00:12:49,900 --> 00:12:52,140 the Mount, and the Beatitudes, and the ethics 239 00:12:52,140 --> 00:12:53,300 that are contained within there. 240 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:56,520 And the popular idea is that all these 241 00:12:56,520 --> 00:13:00,480 have been produced by some Puritanical God, who 242 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:03,680 wants to rob you and me of real 243 00:13:03,680 --> 00:13:04,240 happiness. 244 00:13:05,680 --> 00:13:09,360 And nothing could be further from the truth. 245 00:13:10,620 --> 00:13:14,060 You see, the law is essentially a good 246 00:13:14,060 --> 00:13:14,480 thing. 247 00:13:16,140 --> 00:13:19,180 Let me give you an understanding, an analogy 248 00:13:19,180 --> 00:13:22,060 to help you comprehend the reason for law. 249 00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:26,620 It's an illustration that perhaps you've heard me 250 00:13:26,620 --> 00:13:27,340 used before. 251 00:13:28,660 --> 00:13:32,860 Let's suggest that you're so well off that 252 00:13:32,860 --> 00:13:36,840 you feel the time has come for you 253 00:13:36,840 --> 00:13:38,580 to buy a coloured television set. 254 00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:41,900 So you go down to the shop, and 255 00:13:41,900 --> 00:13:46,100 you decide whether Curry's have got the best 256 00:13:46,100 --> 00:13:50,640 buy, or Rayford's, and you give out the 257 00:13:50,640 --> 00:13:50,840 money. 258 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:52,560 And you get it home. 259 00:13:54,380 --> 00:13:57,120 And as you're undoing the packet, let's assume 260 00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:00,300 that it's a portable one, you take out 261 00:14:00,300 --> 00:14:04,940 the instructions, and you think to yourself, the 262 00:14:04,940 --> 00:14:07,700 cheek of the manufacturer, why's he giving me 263 00:14:07,700 --> 00:14:08,380 these instructions? 264 00:14:09,540 --> 00:14:11,480 Why should I wire the plug up in 265 00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:13,540 the way that he says I should wire 266 00:14:13,540 --> 00:14:14,100 the plug up? 267 00:14:15,060 --> 00:14:18,060 Why should I ensure that attached to my 268 00:14:18,060 --> 00:14:20,600 roof is the type of aerial that he 269 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:22,720 determines should be attached to my roof? 270 00:14:23,860 --> 00:14:25,340 I'm not going to do it like that. 271 00:14:26,260 --> 00:14:27,640 I'm going to wire it up the way 272 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:28,260 that I want. 273 00:14:29,060 --> 00:14:31,600 I'm going to select the aerial that I 274 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:31,960 want. 275 00:14:33,380 --> 00:14:36,920 And so because you feel that you don't 276 00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:40,080 want your liberty curtailing at all, you're mad 277 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:43,680 enough to go along with your own notion 278 00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:47,880 of how to set the electrics of your 279 00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:51,940 TV, and how to fix your aerial. 280 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:54,560 Now what will probably happen? 281 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:57,680 Well, possibly the whole thing could blow up. 282 00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:01,000 Or if it didn't blow up, you wouldn't 283 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:01,980 get a very good picture. 284 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:06,420 And as a result of not getting the 285 00:15:06,420 --> 00:15:08,520 best out of the set, if you then 286 00:15:08,520 --> 00:15:11,620 write a letter to the manufacturer and complain, 287 00:15:13,140 --> 00:15:17,260 obviously you would have no justifiable reason for 288 00:15:17,260 --> 00:15:19,020 the argument that you put forward. 289 00:15:20,560 --> 00:15:22,660 Why do I use such a ridiculous notion? 290 00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:26,020 Well you see, because it teaches us this, 291 00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:28,380 and sometimes we have to teach by shocking 292 00:15:28,380 --> 00:15:28,920 people. 293 00:15:30,140 --> 00:15:33,560 The reason why the manufacturer gave those instructions 294 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:35,060 was because he wanted you to get the 295 00:15:35,060 --> 00:15:36,160 best out of your television. 296 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:40,000 It was essential that the wires go into 297 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:42,140 the plug, and the plug into the socket 298 00:15:42,140 --> 00:15:44,520 in the way that they were designed to 299 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:44,920 go in. 300 00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:48,400 And that the right aerial is placed up 301 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:51,080 on the roof, and it's angled at the 302 00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:54,180 correct level, so that it's picking up the 303 00:15:54,180 --> 00:15:56,520 signal, and you're getting the best picture. 304 00:15:57,500 --> 00:16:02,420 In that illustration, law is definitely for your 305 00:16:02,420 --> 00:16:02,760 good. 306 00:16:04,100 --> 00:16:09,040 Similarly, the law of the Ten Commandments, and 307 00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:12,380 the developments of those commandments in the New 308 00:16:12,380 --> 00:16:15,320 Testament, and the whole ethical code of Christianity. 309 00:16:16,540 --> 00:16:19,520 I wish those who perhaps, and I doubt 310 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:21,180 whether there's anyone here this evening who would 311 00:16:21,180 --> 00:16:24,120 argue at this point in my meditation, but 312 00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:27,040 I wish that those who would argue against 313 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:30,960 the necessity of the law of God could 314 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:32,560 come and deal with some of the pastoral 315 00:16:32,560 --> 00:16:35,600 situations that I have to try, in my 316 00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:38,480 lack of experience, to cope with. 317 00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:42,020 People who've broken God's law all the way 318 00:16:42,020 --> 00:16:44,340 down, and have made an absolute mess of 319 00:16:44,340 --> 00:16:45,040 their lives. 320 00:16:45,580 --> 00:16:47,960 Just been dealing with a seventeen-year-old, 321 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:50,720 and a nineteen-year-old, both young women, 322 00:16:51,380 --> 00:16:53,460 and what they've gone through, and what they've 323 00:16:53,460 --> 00:16:56,500 experienced, and the way their lives are breaking 324 00:16:56,500 --> 00:16:59,440 up, simply because they refuse to accept the 325 00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:00,180 law of God. 326 00:17:01,100 --> 00:17:04,099 Well, it's beyond understanding. 327 00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:08,520 And place alongside them a seventeen-year-old, 328 00:17:08,579 --> 00:17:10,680 or a nineteen-year-old, here from the 329 00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:13,740 tab, who's confessed the Lord Jesus as Savior, 330 00:17:14,099 --> 00:17:16,839 and it's endeavoring to live their life by 331 00:17:16,839 --> 00:17:20,599 the ethics of the gospel, by the law 332 00:17:20,599 --> 00:17:22,099 that there is within the gospel. 333 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:24,280 Well, you see such a contrast. 334 00:17:24,900 --> 00:17:27,460 You see, one who's concerned to live up 335 00:17:27,460 --> 00:17:31,020 to the manufacturer's instructions, so to speak, and 336 00:17:31,020 --> 00:17:32,900 is beginning to get the best out of 337 00:17:32,900 --> 00:17:36,640 life, and others who are violating the manufacturer's 338 00:17:36,640 --> 00:17:40,100 instructions, and as a result, are really in 339 00:17:40,100 --> 00:17:42,040 a terrible, terrible mess. 340 00:17:42,340 --> 00:17:45,160 Well, that's the way to understand law. 341 00:17:45,700 --> 00:17:48,660 It's given not by some stern God who 342 00:17:48,660 --> 00:17:50,100 wants to rob you of happiness. 343 00:17:50,840 --> 00:17:53,320 It's given you by a loving Heavenly Father 344 00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:55,920 who wants to build controls into your life, 345 00:17:56,660 --> 00:18:01,260 so that you will enjoy the best that 346 00:18:01,260 --> 00:18:05,800 life, which is His gift, has to offer. 347 00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:08,780 Now, why did we engage upon that particular 348 00:18:08,780 --> 00:18:13,320 meander from this study? 349 00:18:14,140 --> 00:18:17,460 Well, we weren't just being sidetracked, but rather 350 00:18:17,460 --> 00:18:20,280 I wanted to underpin this, that when Moses, 351 00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:23,920 through God, was given the law to the 352 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:26,660 Hebrews, he was given it to them for 353 00:18:26,660 --> 00:18:27,700 their good. 354 00:18:28,960 --> 00:18:31,380 And you will find time and time again 355 00:18:31,380 --> 00:18:34,680 in the book of Deuteronomy, the words, the 356 00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:37,240 law and the statute, so whatever is the 357 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:40,480 modern terminology of the Bible that you might 358 00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:44,180 be reading, you'll find these words employed. 359 00:18:44,700 --> 00:18:47,640 For instance, in the first chapter, or rather 360 00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:50,360 the fourth chapter, and the first verse of 361 00:18:50,360 --> 00:18:53,100 the book, Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto 362 00:18:53,100 --> 00:18:57,760 the statutes and unto the judgments which I 363 00:18:57,760 --> 00:18:58,700 teach you. 364 00:18:59,360 --> 00:19:02,040 Turn on to the next chapter, stay with 365 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:02,820 the first verse. 366 00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:05,860 Moses calls all Israel and says unto them, 367 00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:10,440 Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which 368 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:13,040 I speak in your ears. 369 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:15,940 Go on to the eleventh chapter, and again, 370 00:19:16,260 --> 00:19:19,480 still with the first verse, a similar phrase. 371 00:19:19,920 --> 00:19:22,520 Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God 372 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:24,820 and keep his charge and his statutes and 373 00:19:24,820 --> 00:19:27,320 his judgments and his commandments always. 374 00:19:27,740 --> 00:19:31,000 Just three examples, and there are a couple 375 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:32,340 of dozen that could be cited. 376 00:19:33,040 --> 00:19:34,560 Why am I giving them to you? 377 00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:38,200 Well, because here you see, when Moses refers 378 00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:42,620 to law, he uses two or three other 379 00:19:42,620 --> 00:19:46,700 nouns, which seems to suggest that the law 380 00:19:46,700 --> 00:19:50,800 in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy does 381 00:19:50,800 --> 00:19:53,940 not quite accord with, does not quite agree 382 00:19:53,940 --> 00:19:57,520 with, the way that in the legal profession 383 00:19:57,520 --> 00:20:01,460 we would use the term law today. 384 00:20:02,820 --> 00:20:06,800 When Moses was giving these commandments by God, 385 00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:10,520 through God, to the, or on behalf of 386 00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:13,900 God rather, to the Hebrews, he was telling 387 00:20:13,900 --> 00:20:17,100 them about things which were going to embrace 388 00:20:17,100 --> 00:20:19,400 so many areas of their life. 389 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:25,660 I mean, our law today, it will set 390 00:20:25,660 --> 00:20:31,980 up regulations concerning the way that I drive 391 00:20:31,980 --> 00:20:35,460 down the road, the speed that I go 392 00:20:35,460 --> 00:20:38,740 at, and we would accept that as being 393 00:20:38,740 --> 00:20:41,800 a reasonable thing about which the law ought 394 00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:43,200 to legislate. 395 00:20:43,940 --> 00:20:46,640 But as far as the Hebrews are concerned, 396 00:20:47,480 --> 00:20:51,380 the law of God goes much, much further, 397 00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:54,220 and is not only to be called, not 398 00:20:54,220 --> 00:20:57,080 only to be understood in terms of the 399 00:20:57,080 --> 00:21:01,700 legal law that a judge might use for 400 00:21:01,700 --> 00:21:03,880 him to make a decision, if two people 401 00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:05,810 who've got an argument come in front of 402 00:21:05,810 --> 00:21:08,090 him, but it will touch on such thing 403 00:21:08,090 --> 00:21:09,470 as a style of dress. 404 00:21:10,650 --> 00:21:13,330 It will touch on how a person ought 405 00:21:13,330 --> 00:21:16,890 to treat his neighbour in certain situations. 406 00:21:17,830 --> 00:21:20,430 Many, many things that the law of God 407 00:21:20,430 --> 00:21:24,210 will touch on are discovered in the book 408 00:21:24,210 --> 00:21:28,150 of Deuteronomy, and so you get this wide 409 00:21:28,150 --> 00:21:30,930 description of law, not just in terms of 410 00:21:30,930 --> 00:21:33,430 law, but the law and the statutes and 411 00:21:33,430 --> 00:21:36,270 the judgments and the commandments. 412 00:21:36,610 --> 00:21:40,350 And God wants His people to implement, to 413 00:21:40,350 --> 00:21:42,690 live out that law in their lives. 414 00:21:42,890 --> 00:21:46,370 Turn, for instance, to the 29th verse of 415 00:21:46,370 --> 00:21:50,670 the 5th chapter, and here we've got the 416 00:21:50,670 --> 00:21:53,850 Lord speaking through Moses, and He's saying that 417 00:21:53,850 --> 00:21:56,270 all these laws that He's giving, all these 418 00:21:56,270 --> 00:21:59,830 regulations are so much to the benefit of 419 00:21:59,830 --> 00:22:02,350 His people, and you get a cry from 420 00:22:02,350 --> 00:22:04,970 God's heart because He wants them to apply 421 00:22:04,970 --> 00:22:09,750 these laws in every area of lifestyle. 422 00:22:10,350 --> 00:22:12,630 Oh, that there were such an heart in 423 00:22:12,630 --> 00:22:15,530 them, that they would fear Me and keep 424 00:22:15,530 --> 00:22:18,950 all My commandments always, that it might be 425 00:22:18,950 --> 00:22:22,450 well with them and with their children forever. 426 00:22:23,470 --> 00:22:28,770 God is really concerned that the law is 427 00:22:28,770 --> 00:22:33,010 maintained and His regulations are practiced. 428 00:22:34,310 --> 00:22:37,090 Now, why is God so concerned? 429 00:22:37,810 --> 00:22:40,550 Well, because of the reason that I argued 430 00:22:40,550 --> 00:22:44,090 the manufacturer who makes His modern television set 431 00:22:44,090 --> 00:22:47,410 is concerned that you agree and practice His 432 00:22:47,410 --> 00:22:50,850 regulations so that you get the best value 433 00:22:50,850 --> 00:22:51,430 for money. 434 00:22:52,410 --> 00:22:56,630 And God is concerned that when the Hebrew 435 00:22:56,630 --> 00:23:00,870 people live lives by His laws and regulations, 436 00:23:01,090 --> 00:23:04,850 as they touch even the small issues of 437 00:23:04,850 --> 00:23:10,370 daily relationships, man-wife relationship, mother-father-children 438 00:23:10,370 --> 00:23:13,550 relationship, that they will get blessing as a 439 00:23:13,550 --> 00:23:13,970 result. 440 00:23:14,710 --> 00:23:17,390 So, stay with the 5th chapter and come 441 00:23:17,390 --> 00:23:19,610 right down to the end of that chapter 442 00:23:19,610 --> 00:23:21,410 and what you discover. 443 00:23:22,870 --> 00:23:25,230 You shall walk in all the ways which 444 00:23:25,230 --> 00:23:28,190 the Lord your God has commanded you, that 445 00:23:28,190 --> 00:23:30,490 ye may live and that it may be 446 00:23:30,490 --> 00:23:32,890 well with you and that you may prolong 447 00:23:32,890 --> 00:23:35,990 your days in the land which you shall 448 00:23:35,990 --> 00:23:37,230 possess. 449 00:23:37,790 --> 00:23:40,930 God's purposes, you see, are for the benefit 450 00:23:40,930 --> 00:23:44,670 of those who receive His law. 451 00:23:45,230 --> 00:23:48,430 Turn to the 6th chapter and the 24th 452 00:23:48,430 --> 00:23:50,550 verse and you get the same thing. 453 00:23:51,070 --> 00:23:53,290 And the Lord commanded us to do all 454 00:23:53,290 --> 00:23:56,730 these statutes, to fear the Lord our God 455 00:23:56,730 --> 00:24:00,130 for our good always, that He might preserve 456 00:24:00,130 --> 00:24:03,890 us alive as it is at this day. 457 00:24:04,250 --> 00:24:06,590 And it shall be our righteousness if we 458 00:24:06,590 --> 00:24:09,110 observe to do all these commandments before the 459 00:24:09,110 --> 00:24:13,410 Lord our God, as He hath commanded us. 460 00:24:13,590 --> 00:24:17,230 So, these laws, they're designed for the general 461 00:24:17,230 --> 00:24:21,430 health, for the general well-being of the 462 00:24:21,430 --> 00:24:21,750 people. 463 00:24:22,230 --> 00:24:23,810 It's not so much that they're going to 464 00:24:23,810 --> 00:24:27,470 be blessed as a prize because they've kept 465 00:24:27,470 --> 00:24:31,770 these laws, but through keeping these laws, they 466 00:24:31,770 --> 00:24:33,710 will find blessing will come their way. 467 00:24:35,250 --> 00:24:37,290 If, for instance, to give you an analogy 468 00:24:37,290 --> 00:24:42,030 in case you didn't understand me there, if 469 00:24:42,030 --> 00:24:46,610 you discipline your body, you go jogging every 470 00:24:46,610 --> 00:24:49,870 night or every other night, you go for 471 00:24:49,870 --> 00:24:52,530 a swim, if you go for a nice 472 00:24:52,530 --> 00:24:56,850 brisk walk, well the outworking of looking after 473 00:24:56,850 --> 00:24:59,030 your body is the blessing of health, is 474 00:24:59,030 --> 00:24:59,390 it not? 475 00:24:59,770 --> 00:25:01,690 It's not a sort of prize which is 476 00:25:01,690 --> 00:25:05,770 superimposed on you because you have looked after 477 00:25:05,770 --> 00:25:10,190 your body, it's something that's basic to physical 478 00:25:10,190 --> 00:25:10,750 discipline. 479 00:25:11,810 --> 00:25:13,190 Similarly in God's law. 480 00:25:14,370 --> 00:25:16,330 If a nation will live by His law, 481 00:25:16,950 --> 00:25:19,790 then those blessings which are innate within the 482 00:25:19,790 --> 00:25:22,130 law, they shall be outworked. 483 00:25:22,990 --> 00:25:26,590 And never was the Hebrew community better off 484 00:25:26,590 --> 00:25:28,790 than when the laws of God were implemented. 485 00:25:29,630 --> 00:25:31,890 You think of the balmiest days, the best 486 00:25:31,890 --> 00:25:36,310 days in Hebrew history, the time when King 487 00:25:36,310 --> 00:25:39,170 David and King Solomon were reigning. 488 00:25:39,850 --> 00:25:42,070 In the early years of Solomon in particular, 489 00:25:42,250 --> 00:25:46,470 the empire of Israel was just expanding, and 490 00:25:46,470 --> 00:25:49,210 the laws of God were maintained, and the 491 00:25:49,210 --> 00:25:53,110 blessings that were innate within those laws, they 492 00:25:53,110 --> 00:25:57,510 were being used, they were being benefited by, 493 00:25:57,570 --> 00:26:00,070 the people benefited by them. 494 00:26:00,870 --> 00:26:04,990 So then, within the law is the graciousness 495 00:26:05,710 --> 00:26:06,470 of God. 496 00:26:06,790 --> 00:26:10,510 He gives law for the benefit of people. 497 00:26:11,310 --> 00:26:13,070 And as I mentioned a little while ago, 498 00:26:13,410 --> 00:26:16,250 the sphere of law, it touches many, many 499 00:26:16,250 --> 00:26:19,570 things that ordinary law today doesn't touch. 500 00:26:20,670 --> 00:26:24,510 Such things as, excuse me, such things as 501 00:26:24,510 --> 00:26:27,970 sexual relationships, how to bring up your children, 502 00:26:29,150 --> 00:26:30,770 parental responsibility, dress. 503 00:26:31,690 --> 00:26:34,790 It tells you also that if a man's 504 00:26:34,790 --> 00:26:38,010 in debt to you, and if he earns 505 00:26:38,010 --> 00:26:41,810 his living by grinding on a millstone, you're 506 00:26:41,810 --> 00:26:44,770 not to take his millstone from him, because 507 00:26:44,770 --> 00:26:45,710 he's in debt to you. 508 00:26:45,830 --> 00:26:47,710 If you did that, then he'd lose his 509 00:26:47,710 --> 00:26:50,010 livelihood, and that would be a very bad 510 00:26:50,010 --> 00:26:50,610 thing indeed. 511 00:26:51,090 --> 00:26:53,470 So many things that the laws of God 512 00:26:53,470 --> 00:26:56,390 touch on, and there are two or three 513 00:26:56,390 --> 00:26:58,990 in particular, which I mentioned from the book 514 00:26:58,990 --> 00:27:00,930 of Deuteronomy in your notes. 515 00:27:01,670 --> 00:27:03,290 The laws of God touch on health. 516 00:27:04,450 --> 00:27:06,810 Now, the law of our land, not generally 517 00:27:06,810 --> 00:27:09,790 speaking at any rate, touches on health, does 518 00:27:09,790 --> 00:27:10,030 it? 519 00:27:10,550 --> 00:27:15,030 But here, there's legislation given about the leper, 520 00:27:15,990 --> 00:27:19,110 and if someone gets an infectious skin disease, 521 00:27:19,450 --> 00:27:21,490 then according to the law, they've got to 522 00:27:21,490 --> 00:27:23,270 be put out of the village, put out 523 00:27:23,270 --> 00:27:23,810 of the town. 524 00:27:23,810 --> 00:27:26,250 You say, well, that sounds a very harsh 525 00:27:26,250 --> 00:27:28,730 thing for a gracious God to legislate upon. 526 00:27:29,770 --> 00:27:31,750 But it wasn't so long ago, and indeed 527 00:27:31,750 --> 00:27:34,210 I think we still have some hospitals called, 528 00:27:34,270 --> 00:27:35,710 we certainly did in the north of England, 529 00:27:36,170 --> 00:27:37,310 isolation hospitals. 530 00:27:38,050 --> 00:27:41,410 If people have got something that's infectious, they're 531 00:27:41,410 --> 00:27:42,630 taken away from the community. 532 00:27:43,550 --> 00:27:45,870 And in those days, the law was to 533 00:27:45,870 --> 00:27:48,730 apply, that the leper, the one with an 534 00:27:48,730 --> 00:27:51,830 infectious disease, would have to be moved out 535 00:27:51,830 --> 00:27:55,050 from his particular village or encampment because of 536 00:27:55,050 --> 00:27:58,130 the threat that his disease might have on 537 00:27:58,130 --> 00:27:59,390 someone else. 538 00:27:59,990 --> 00:28:01,930 There's concern, you see, in the law of 539 00:28:01,930 --> 00:28:05,970 God, in Deuteronomy, for the physical health and 540 00:28:05,970 --> 00:28:07,190 well-being of men and women. 541 00:28:08,030 --> 00:28:10,810 But that concern is also reflected in the 542 00:28:10,810 --> 00:28:11,910 New Testament, isn't it? 543 00:28:11,910 --> 00:28:14,030 Is it not in the Gospels? 544 00:28:14,630 --> 00:28:17,390 In Romans, for instance, we're told to present 545 00:28:17,390 --> 00:28:19,930 our bodies a living sacrifice to the Lord. 546 00:28:20,110 --> 00:28:21,750 We're told that we're not our own. 547 00:28:22,470 --> 00:28:24,250 Our bodies are a temple of the Holy 548 00:28:24,250 --> 00:28:26,610 Spirit and we are to take care. 549 00:28:27,150 --> 00:28:30,070 Well, these very principles are innate within the 550 00:28:30,070 --> 00:28:31,850 Old Testament. 551 00:28:32,770 --> 00:28:35,770 The law of God touches on such things 552 00:28:35,770 --> 00:28:39,110 as commerce and business transactions. 553 00:28:40,350 --> 00:28:43,650 You remember Mr. Heath made reference some two 554 00:28:43,650 --> 00:28:45,350 years ago, three years ago, was it? 555 00:28:45,650 --> 00:28:48,150 Perhaps a little longer, to the ugly face 556 00:28:48,150 --> 00:28:49,090 of capitalism. 557 00:28:49,730 --> 00:28:52,310 Well, that's censured too in the book of 558 00:28:52,310 --> 00:28:52,930 Deuteronomy. 559 00:28:53,330 --> 00:28:56,030 It was wrong for a person in the 560 00:28:56,030 --> 00:29:02,730 redeemed community to lend money to his brother 561 00:29:02,730 --> 00:29:04,810 and extract interest. 562 00:29:05,390 --> 00:29:06,550 He wasn't to do this. 563 00:29:06,870 --> 00:29:09,350 If his brother was in a predicament, then 564 00:29:09,350 --> 00:29:12,030 he was to loan what he could afford 565 00:29:12,030 --> 00:29:15,290 without interest being required. 566 00:29:16,010 --> 00:29:21,170 The dealings of commerce between nations and the 567 00:29:21,170 --> 00:29:23,510 principles there, they were to apply, that was 568 00:29:23,510 --> 00:29:23,930 all right. 569 00:29:24,010 --> 00:29:26,710 But amongst God's own people, there was a 570 00:29:26,710 --> 00:29:27,790 different standard. 571 00:29:28,510 --> 00:29:30,070 And so in the New Testament, we find 572 00:29:30,070 --> 00:29:32,650 that amongst the disciples of Jesus, the followers 573 00:29:32,650 --> 00:29:34,750 of the Lord Jesus, there's a different sort 574 00:29:34,750 --> 00:29:37,750 of lifestyle which is to be cultivated. 575 00:29:39,270 --> 00:29:41,890 I make reference also in the notes to 576 00:29:41,890 --> 00:29:45,870 the fact that these laws of God defined 577 00:29:45,870 --> 00:29:47,730 in terms of the statutes and the commandments, 578 00:29:47,890 --> 00:29:49,210 they touch on marriage too. 579 00:29:50,590 --> 00:29:53,070 The Old Testament has got a lot to 580 00:29:53,070 --> 00:29:53,970 say about marriage. 581 00:29:54,730 --> 00:29:57,330 Some people think that its teaching is not 582 00:29:57,330 --> 00:29:59,990 quite what it was or what it has 583 00:29:59,990 --> 00:30:01,170 become in the New Testament. 584 00:30:01,510 --> 00:30:03,750 And that observation is correct. 585 00:30:03,950 --> 00:30:07,650 The Lord Jesus lifts the whole idea of 586 00:30:07,650 --> 00:30:09,290 marriage and puts it on a much higher 587 00:30:09,290 --> 00:30:09,730 plane. 588 00:30:09,730 --> 00:30:13,310 And He qualifies the ease with which divorce 589 00:30:13,310 --> 00:30:17,430 was allowed among certain classes of Jews. 590 00:30:18,110 --> 00:30:20,030 But even in the book of Deuteronomy, you 591 00:30:20,030 --> 00:30:22,390 find that at a time when women were 592 00:30:22,390 --> 00:30:25,410 very much the playthings of men and secondary 593 00:30:25,410 --> 00:30:30,090 citizens, that there are regulations built in by 594 00:30:30,090 --> 00:30:33,610 which the rights of a woman are preserved 595 00:30:33,610 --> 00:30:36,450 in Hebrew society. 596 00:30:36,630 --> 00:30:40,250 The 24th chapter and the first verses of 597 00:30:40,250 --> 00:30:42,190 that chapter are the ones to look at 598 00:30:42,190 --> 00:30:45,110 if you want more information. 599 00:30:46,530 --> 00:30:49,250 So, what have we discovered so far this 600 00:30:49,250 --> 00:30:49,470 evening? 601 00:30:49,530 --> 00:30:51,270 Let's just go back in case you've lost 602 00:30:51,270 --> 00:30:52,250 the thread of the argument. 603 00:30:53,930 --> 00:30:58,470 The idea of law in Deuteronomy goes far 604 00:30:58,470 --> 00:31:00,810 beyond just the Ten Commandments. 605 00:31:00,950 --> 00:31:07,910 It's developed into areas where human relationships are 606 00:31:07,910 --> 00:31:08,750 involved. 607 00:31:09,190 --> 00:31:12,430 It affects personal standards of hygiene. 608 00:31:12,950 --> 00:31:15,770 There are some very explicit commands as to 609 00:31:15,770 --> 00:31:18,290 how a person is to look after his 610 00:31:18,290 --> 00:31:20,490 body and his bodily functions. 611 00:31:21,510 --> 00:31:25,030 There is a law laid down about the 612 00:31:25,030 --> 00:31:28,810 burying of corpses, because if human flesh decays, 613 00:31:29,190 --> 00:31:33,950 then the possibility is that disease and plague 614 00:31:33,950 --> 00:31:35,870 might break out. 615 00:31:36,230 --> 00:31:41,150 The law of God embraces far more than 616 00:31:41,150 --> 00:31:44,810 the law, as we use that word, does 617 00:31:44,810 --> 00:31:47,070 in the 20th century. 618 00:31:47,610 --> 00:31:49,870 And the reason why the law was given 619 00:31:49,870 --> 00:31:53,270 was for the benefits of the people, so 620 00:31:53,270 --> 00:31:57,050 that within the Hebrew community, as they applied 621 00:31:57,050 --> 00:31:59,810 the laws of God, they should know blessings 622 00:31:59,810 --> 00:32:01,410 untold. 623 00:32:02,070 --> 00:32:06,350 Well, what final conclusions can we make from 624 00:32:06,350 --> 00:32:07,670 our study this evening? 625 00:32:08,270 --> 00:32:12,650 Well, that there is an authority in law, 626 00:32:12,990 --> 00:32:15,510 in the law of God, which is to 627 00:32:15,510 --> 00:32:16,550 be recognized. 628 00:32:16,830 --> 00:32:19,230 Look at the second verse of the fourth 629 00:32:19,230 --> 00:32:19,790 chapter. 630 00:32:21,050 --> 00:32:24,630 You shall not add unto the word which 631 00:32:24,630 --> 00:32:28,170 I command you, neither shall you diminish aught 632 00:32:28,170 --> 00:32:31,070 from it, that you may keep the commandments 633 00:32:31,070 --> 00:32:34,350 of the Lord your God which I command 634 00:32:34,350 --> 00:32:34,710 you. 635 00:32:35,510 --> 00:32:38,310 In other words, this law is so important, 636 00:32:38,690 --> 00:32:41,070 and it's got such authority behind it, that 637 00:32:41,070 --> 00:32:43,490 you're not to tamper with it, says God 638 00:32:43,490 --> 00:32:44,250 through Moses. 639 00:32:45,650 --> 00:32:48,250 And does not that apply to the whole 640 00:32:48,250 --> 00:32:49,290 canon of Scripture? 641 00:32:50,210 --> 00:32:53,870 Scripture is God's revelation, that's not to be 642 00:32:53,870 --> 00:32:54,650 tampered with. 643 00:32:55,030 --> 00:32:58,350 It's a holy revelation, by which men and 644 00:32:58,350 --> 00:33:01,010 women are to live their lives. 645 00:33:01,430 --> 00:33:04,330 So important, I work out in your notes, 646 00:33:04,530 --> 00:33:07,710 is the law of God in Deuteronomy, that 647 00:33:07,710 --> 00:33:10,730 this special class of people, the Levites, have 648 00:33:10,730 --> 00:33:14,610 as their professional calling in life, to remind 649 00:33:14,610 --> 00:33:17,570 the people constantly of the law of God. 650 00:33:17,910 --> 00:33:20,310 So in the 33rd chapter and the 10th 651 00:33:20,310 --> 00:33:23,250 verse, referring to these Levites, we're told, they 652 00:33:23,250 --> 00:33:26,510 shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy 653 00:33:26,510 --> 00:33:29,790 law, they shall put incense before thee, and 654 00:33:29,790 --> 00:33:30,530 so on. 655 00:33:30,870 --> 00:33:34,110 The people were constantly to be reminded of 656 00:33:34,110 --> 00:33:38,770 the legislation which God gave to Moses. 657 00:33:39,510 --> 00:33:41,930 And the Levites were the folks who would 658 00:33:41,930 --> 00:33:42,130 help. 659 00:33:42,170 --> 00:33:45,610 But not just the Levites, parents, they had 660 00:33:45,610 --> 00:33:47,410 a responsibility to their children. 661 00:33:48,270 --> 00:33:52,370 And parents were told, on many occasions, that 662 00:33:52,370 --> 00:33:55,350 when a child asked why the Hebrews did 663 00:33:55,350 --> 00:33:58,770 such and such, that they responded, because this 664 00:33:58,770 --> 00:34:01,710 is the law of God, and this is 665 00:34:01,710 --> 00:34:03,150 what He has told us to do. 666 00:34:03,570 --> 00:34:07,810 So in the 6th chapter and the 7th 667 00:34:07,810 --> 00:34:10,870 verse, we get an instance of that cited. 668 00:34:11,610 --> 00:34:14,610 And thou shalt teach your children diligently, thou 669 00:34:14,610 --> 00:34:17,210 shalt teach these laws diligently unto thy children, 670 00:34:17,469 --> 00:34:19,570 and shalt talk of them, when you sit 671 00:34:19,570 --> 00:34:21,810 in your house, when you walk by your 672 00:34:21,810 --> 00:34:24,710 way, and when you lie down, and when 673 00:34:24,710 --> 00:34:26,130 you rise up. 674 00:34:26,210 --> 00:34:30,770 The laws of God are of infinite value. 675 00:34:32,090 --> 00:34:37,670 So great is the legislation which God gives 676 00:34:37,670 --> 00:34:42,350 the Hebrews, that when Moses sums it all 677 00:34:42,350 --> 00:34:47,429 up, in the 32nd chapter of this book, 678 00:34:47,929 --> 00:34:50,570 he makes one of the most startling pronouncements 679 00:34:50,570 --> 00:34:55,230 in the 46th and 47th verses. 680 00:34:55,969 --> 00:34:59,530 And Moses said unto the Hebrews, set your 681 00:34:59,530 --> 00:35:02,550 hearts unto all the words which I testify 682 00:35:02,550 --> 00:35:05,650 among you this day, which you shall command 683 00:35:05,650 --> 00:35:07,850 your children to observe, to do all the 684 00:35:07,850 --> 00:35:08,790 words of this law. 685 00:35:09,450 --> 00:35:11,610 For it is not a vain thing for 686 00:35:11,610 --> 00:35:18,990 you, because it is your life. 687 00:35:20,470 --> 00:35:24,110 And through this thing ye shall prolong your 688 00:35:24,110 --> 00:35:28,550 days in the land whither you go over 689 00:35:28,550 --> 00:35:31,030 Jordan to possess it. 690 00:35:31,970 --> 00:35:35,330 That's perhaps the most significant statement in the 691 00:35:35,330 --> 00:35:36,130 whole of this book. 692 00:35:36,370 --> 00:35:38,550 Why did God give the Ten Commandments? 693 00:35:38,970 --> 00:35:41,910 Why were there other regulations deduced from those 694 00:35:41,910 --> 00:35:42,790 Ten Commandments? 695 00:35:43,270 --> 00:35:46,070 Because this was basic for the well-being 696 00:35:46,070 --> 00:35:47,230 of the people. 697 00:35:48,270 --> 00:35:49,530 And they were to be able to say 698 00:35:49,530 --> 00:35:52,870 to other tribesmen and to people from other 699 00:35:52,870 --> 00:35:55,730 countries in the centuries that were yet to 700 00:35:55,730 --> 00:35:57,770 be, when they asked, why are you so 701 00:35:57,770 --> 00:35:58,190 blessed? 702 00:35:59,330 --> 00:36:01,510 Why is it that such remarkable things are 703 00:36:01,510 --> 00:36:02,750 happening in your land? 704 00:36:03,510 --> 00:36:04,930 They will say, well, we've got a law, 705 00:36:05,650 --> 00:36:08,170 a law which God has given us, and 706 00:36:08,170 --> 00:36:09,470 we're living by that law. 707 00:36:09,750 --> 00:36:12,670 In fact, that law has become so basic 708 00:36:12,670 --> 00:36:14,930 to us, it is our life. 709 00:36:19,820 --> 00:36:21,280 And of course it would have been. 710 00:36:22,520 --> 00:36:24,580 But, but what? 711 00:36:26,200 --> 00:36:28,160 But the Hebrews didn't keep the law. 712 00:36:30,410 --> 00:36:35,330 And the Ten Commandments and all the commands 713 00:36:35,330 --> 00:36:38,870 which are derived from those Ten have been 714 00:36:38,870 --> 00:36:41,910 broken by men and women alas down the 715 00:36:41,910 --> 00:36:42,390 centuries. 716 00:36:43,310 --> 00:36:45,090 And the story of what happened to the 717 00:36:45,090 --> 00:36:48,410 Hebrews is, in capital letters, the story of 718 00:36:48,410 --> 00:36:51,090 what's happened to each one of us. 719 00:36:51,790 --> 00:36:53,510 And this, you see, is the reason why 720 00:36:53,510 --> 00:36:55,570 we went to Galatians right at the beginning 721 00:36:55,570 --> 00:36:56,930 of our study this evening. 722 00:36:58,090 --> 00:37:00,750 You see, the law is a good thing 723 00:37:00,750 --> 00:37:04,490 basically, but it's got its limitations. 724 00:37:05,110 --> 00:37:07,030 You go back to our television set. 725 00:37:08,690 --> 00:37:10,430 All right, so you made a mess of 726 00:37:10,430 --> 00:37:11,950 the manufacturer's instructions. 727 00:37:12,850 --> 00:37:14,650 Maybe you weren't so pig-headed as to 728 00:37:14,650 --> 00:37:16,750 do it deliberately, but you got the green 729 00:37:16,750 --> 00:37:20,090 wire mixed up with the brown wire as 730 00:37:20,090 --> 00:37:23,430 you were wiring everything up, and it exploded. 731 00:37:26,150 --> 00:37:31,910 Well, the law, the regulations, told you that 732 00:37:31,910 --> 00:37:32,670 it would explode. 733 00:37:34,210 --> 00:37:35,930 But they can't help you at this moment. 734 00:37:36,790 --> 00:37:38,810 It's no use going to the law and 735 00:37:38,810 --> 00:37:41,330 saying, or to those regulations and placing them 736 00:37:41,330 --> 00:37:43,610 alongside the plug and say, can you sort 737 00:37:43,610 --> 00:37:44,290 something out? 738 00:37:45,470 --> 00:37:47,490 The law can tell you what to do, 739 00:37:48,210 --> 00:37:50,430 and it can tell you what not to 740 00:37:50,430 --> 00:37:50,650 do. 741 00:37:51,930 --> 00:37:54,890 But when you've done what you shouldn't do, 742 00:37:55,930 --> 00:37:57,410 then you've got a problem. 743 00:37:58,630 --> 00:38:00,270 And the law can't help you. 744 00:38:01,690 --> 00:38:03,590 And you see, this was the reason, my 745 00:38:03,590 --> 00:38:06,450 friend, for the gospel and for the coming 746 00:38:06,450 --> 00:38:08,130 into the world of the Lord Jesus. 747 00:38:08,970 --> 00:38:12,390 Because men and women, including the Hebrew community, 748 00:38:12,630 --> 00:38:16,710 them in particular, have broken God's law. 749 00:38:17,530 --> 00:38:19,630 And as a result, they're in a mess. 750 00:38:21,170 --> 00:38:25,070 And what is necessary is for someone to 751 00:38:25,070 --> 00:38:29,950 come in to this world and fulfill God's 752 00:38:29,950 --> 00:38:35,530 law and do repair work amongst those who 753 00:38:35,530 --> 00:38:38,950 are suffering because they've broken the very principles 754 00:38:38,950 --> 00:38:39,850 of God's law. 755 00:38:40,850 --> 00:38:43,530 And that's, in a word, what Jesus does. 756 00:38:44,790 --> 00:38:47,250 Only it's not to be restricted to repair 757 00:38:47,250 --> 00:38:49,850 work, it's utter and complete renewal. 758 00:38:51,570 --> 00:38:53,270 And you see, a Christian is a person 759 00:38:53,270 --> 00:38:57,070 who comes to Jesus and says, Lord, I've 760 00:38:57,070 --> 00:38:58,810 broken the Ten Commandments. 761 00:38:59,650 --> 00:39:02,770 I've broken the ethical code of the Sermon 762 00:39:02,770 --> 00:39:03,370 on the Mount. 763 00:39:04,130 --> 00:39:05,250 And I'm in a mess. 764 00:39:05,910 --> 00:39:06,810 I'm fused. 765 00:39:07,390 --> 00:39:08,610 I'm confused. 766 00:39:09,490 --> 00:39:11,770 I'm really in an awful state. 767 00:39:12,570 --> 00:39:13,910 What does Jesus then do? 768 00:39:15,390 --> 00:39:17,930 Well, as we confess our sins, the Bible 769 00:39:17,930 --> 00:39:20,670 says Jesus is faithful and just to forgive 770 00:39:20,670 --> 00:39:23,730 us our sins and to rid us of 771 00:39:23,730 --> 00:39:24,990 all unrighteousness. 772 00:39:26,470 --> 00:39:27,990 But what else does He do? 773 00:39:28,570 --> 00:39:31,010 Because if your gospel stops there, it's an 774 00:39:31,010 --> 00:39:33,170 inadequate understanding of the gospel. 775 00:39:34,150 --> 00:39:36,650 Jesus then places within our hearts the Holy 776 00:39:36,650 --> 00:39:37,070 Spirit. 777 00:39:38,090 --> 00:39:39,330 Well, what does that do? 778 00:39:39,410 --> 00:39:41,710 Give us some exciting emotional experience. 779 00:39:42,470 --> 00:39:44,590 Well, that may be part of it, but 780 00:39:44,590 --> 00:39:47,110 that was never the final objective of the 781 00:39:47,110 --> 00:39:48,390 impartation of the Spirit. 782 00:39:49,310 --> 00:39:50,430 He gives us power. 783 00:39:51,750 --> 00:39:53,130 Power to do what? 784 00:39:53,450 --> 00:39:56,810 Power to live up to the requirements of 785 00:39:56,810 --> 00:39:57,250 the law. 786 00:39:58,630 --> 00:40:02,450 So far from the Ten Commandments being rescinded 787 00:40:02,450 --> 00:40:06,810 by Jesus, they're fulfilled in Jesus, and He 788 00:40:06,810 --> 00:40:09,670 makes men and women new so that they 789 00:40:09,670 --> 00:40:13,290 can start again to fulfill, by the power 790 00:40:13,290 --> 00:40:16,970 which Jesus gives them, the very law which 791 00:40:16,970 --> 00:40:20,150 they have broken on previous occasions. 792 00:40:21,810 --> 00:40:24,670 So, you see the reason why the Apostle 793 00:40:24,670 --> 00:40:26,870 Paul speaks of the law in terms of 794 00:40:26,870 --> 00:40:27,810 a schoolmaster. 795 00:40:28,050 --> 00:40:30,630 He's not being disrespectful to a schoolmaster, a 796 00:40:30,630 --> 00:40:37,450 very wonderful profession, but he's saying that the 797 00:40:37,450 --> 00:40:39,190 law disciplines you. 798 00:40:40,950 --> 00:40:45,190 The law, it aggravates you, it convicts you, 799 00:40:45,530 --> 00:40:48,430 it exposes you, it shows your areas of 800 00:40:48,430 --> 00:40:50,510 not just weakness, it shows your areas of 801 00:40:50,510 --> 00:40:53,990 sinfulness, shows you how condemned you are in 802 00:40:53,990 --> 00:40:54,810 the sight of God. 803 00:40:55,610 --> 00:40:58,750 But thank God for the law, which makes 804 00:40:58,750 --> 00:41:02,130 you feel such an absolute heal, because when 805 00:41:02,130 --> 00:41:05,270 you feel so convicted, because you've broken this 806 00:41:05,270 --> 00:41:08,290 law, which was there for your benefit, then 807 00:41:08,290 --> 00:41:10,010 you go to the Lord God, and you 808 00:41:10,010 --> 00:41:11,770 fling yourself at the foot of the cross, 809 00:41:11,910 --> 00:41:13,370 and you ask for forgiveness. 810 00:41:14,850 --> 00:41:18,250 And God, by His grace, implants the Holy 811 00:41:18,250 --> 00:41:20,510 Spirit within your life. 812 00:41:21,010 --> 00:41:22,990 And He doesn't say, now go and live 813 00:41:22,990 --> 00:41:24,610 just how you want to live. 814 00:41:25,810 --> 00:41:28,790 He says, now go and live how the 815 00:41:28,790 --> 00:41:30,530 Spirit tells you to live. 816 00:41:31,350 --> 00:41:33,630 And the amazing thing is this, my friend. 817 00:41:34,350 --> 00:41:36,950 The Spirit of God, when He is within 818 00:41:36,950 --> 00:41:38,930 the heart of a man or a woman, 819 00:41:40,090 --> 00:41:43,730 tells him to live in according, in accordance 820 00:41:43,730 --> 00:41:47,610 with the teaching of the Ten Commandments. 821 00:41:48,770 --> 00:41:53,910 So, far from the Gospel pushing law onto 822 00:41:53,910 --> 00:41:59,570 one side, it grants the ability of men 823 00:41:59,570 --> 00:42:03,030 and women to be able to live up 824 00:42:03,030 --> 00:42:03,650 to the law. 825 00:42:04,550 --> 00:42:08,070 Ah, but you say, that's rather a problem 826 00:42:08,070 --> 00:42:11,510 then, for people who lived before Jesus. 827 00:42:12,730 --> 00:42:15,930 Well, it is and it isn't. 828 00:42:16,150 --> 00:42:19,630 Because even people who lived before the Lord 829 00:42:19,630 --> 00:42:22,890 Jesus Christ came on earth, people who were 830 00:42:22,890 --> 00:42:27,450 listening to Moses preach, got some understanding, if 831 00:42:27,450 --> 00:42:31,150 they listened carefully, that even though in the 832 00:42:31,150 --> 00:42:34,490 days to come they broke the law, they 833 00:42:34,490 --> 00:42:38,290 could nevertheless fling themselves upon the mercy of 834 00:42:38,290 --> 00:42:38,630 God. 835 00:42:39,130 --> 00:42:42,370 And if they were truly repentant, God, in 836 00:42:42,370 --> 00:42:44,970 a way outside the law, would give them 837 00:42:44,970 --> 00:42:49,710 an opportunity to have sins forgiven, and to 838 00:42:49,710 --> 00:42:50,650 start afresh. 839 00:42:51,210 --> 00:42:53,310 So, in the 29th verse of the fourth 840 00:42:53,310 --> 00:42:56,750 chapter, if from thence, from the land of 841 00:42:56,750 --> 00:42:59,150 exile to which you've been sent, because you've 842 00:42:59,150 --> 00:43:01,990 broken the law, thou shalt seek the Lord 843 00:43:01,990 --> 00:43:04,670 thy God, thou shalt find Him, if thou 844 00:43:04,670 --> 00:43:07,490 shalt seek Him with all thy heart and 845 00:43:07,490 --> 00:43:10,270 with all thy soul. 846 00:43:10,990 --> 00:43:14,050 And again, on to the 30th chapter, Moses 847 00:43:14,050 --> 00:43:18,630 anticipating that people alas, will break the law 848 00:43:18,630 --> 00:43:24,330 of God, goes on to say, but if 849 00:43:24,330 --> 00:43:29,030 you confess your sins, verse 5, the Lord 850 00:43:29,030 --> 00:43:32,190 thy God will bring thee back into the 851 00:43:32,190 --> 00:43:35,590 land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt 852 00:43:35,590 --> 00:43:38,390 possess it, and He will do thee good, 853 00:43:39,070 --> 00:43:42,810 and multiply thee above thy fathers, and the 854 00:43:42,810 --> 00:43:46,310 Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and 855 00:43:46,310 --> 00:43:49,090 the heart of thy seed, to love the 856 00:43:49,090 --> 00:43:51,930 Lord thy God with all thine heart, and 857 00:43:51,930 --> 00:43:55,510 with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. 858 00:43:56,410 --> 00:43:57,650 Why was the law given? 859 00:43:58,430 --> 00:44:02,430 To stop people from enjoying themselves, not a 860 00:44:02,430 --> 00:44:02,650 bit. 861 00:44:03,250 --> 00:44:05,770 It was given by a loving heavenly Father 862 00:44:05,770 --> 00:44:09,330 for the benefit of His children, and even 863 00:44:09,330 --> 00:44:11,910 when they broke the law, out of the 864 00:44:11,910 --> 00:44:14,770 graciousness of His heart, He made a way 865 00:44:14,770 --> 00:44:19,690 possible, and made it absolute in Jesus, so 866 00:44:19,690 --> 00:44:25,790 that sins could be forgiven, and broken personalities 867 00:44:25,790 --> 00:44:29,790 could be remade and renewed, and through the 868 00:44:29,790 --> 00:44:32,370 fullness of the Spirit, the law of God 869 00:44:32,370 --> 00:44:36,830 could be once again lived up to. 870 00:44:44,630 --> 00:44:47,370 Now, Fathers, we've looked into one aspect of 871 00:44:47,370 --> 00:44:49,710 your Word, which may be difficult for some 872 00:44:49,710 --> 00:44:51,890 to grasp, but it's so important for us 873 00:44:51,890 --> 00:44:53,390 to comprehend. 874 00:44:53,890 --> 00:44:57,150 We ask for an even greater growth in 875 00:44:57,150 --> 00:44:59,770 grace, and in the knowledge of God, as 876 00:44:59,770 --> 00:45:01,910 a result of the time that we spent 877 00:45:01,910 --> 00:45:05,730 together, and help us, Father, not only to 878 00:45:05,730 --> 00:45:08,590 be men who meticulously try to keep regulations, 879 00:45:09,530 --> 00:45:11,550 but men through whom the Spirit of God 880 00:45:11,550 --> 00:45:15,390 flows, men who abound in the love and 881 00:45:15,390 --> 00:45:18,090 in the joy that Jesus brings. 882 00:45:18,650 --> 00:45:22,450 Father, we pray that to the faithfulness that 883 00:45:22,450 --> 00:45:25,830 we offer to your law, there may also 884 00:45:25,830 --> 00:45:29,390 be the jubilation of personalities that have been 885 00:45:29,390 --> 00:45:33,010 transformed by the Holy Spirit of God, for 886 00:45:33,010 --> 00:45:33,750 Jesus' sake. 887 00:45:34,130 --> 00:45:34,450 Amen.