Episode Transcript
Welcome to Countdown. Back to the future. Glad you've joined us for this presentation. We're going to be looking at the end game, how to protect your relationships, your most important relationships in life. You know, John noticed in the book of Revelation, right in the center part, Earth's final events. I want you to notice what he saw, what he heard. John says the nations were angry and your wrath has come and the time of the dead, that they should be judged. And he says that you should reward your servants, the prophets and those, the saints who fear your name. And straight after that verse where he's talked about the nations are angry, notice what he sees next. And he is next. Then, at that time then the temple of God was opened in heaven and the Ark of his covenant was seen in his temple. Now, I'm not sure whether you saw the film Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, but Indiana Jones was running around the Middle east for something. What was it? Well, it was the Ark of the Covenant, wasn't it? Now, of course, Hollywood's version of the Ark of the Covenant is a far cry from what the Bible is talking about, but that's what that guy was looking for, the Ark of the Covenant. I want to take you for a moment to the Sinai Desert. I remember going here the first time and I thought there was a hotel up on top of Mount Sinai. Boy, did I get that wrong. Froze all night, slept for an hour, then woke up because I was too cold and then watched the sun come up in the morning over the mountains. Well, here on Mount Sinai, way back in time, about 1450 years before Jesus of Nazareth, Moses was given the famous Ten Commandments here at Mount Sinai. Notice what the Bible says about these Ten Commandments. So he, that's God, declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform. Then he tells us what the covenant is, the Ten Commandments. And he that is God, he wrote them on two tablets of stone. So the Ten Commandments, the Bible says were written by God himself. Now, there's a lot of words in this book, the Bible, I'm sure if you've read it, it takes you a while, but there's only 10 phrases that God. Actually, this is so important, I will write it with my own finger. Maybe you saw Cecil B. DeMille's film the Ten Commandments, you know that shoom. And they're those some engraved on stone with like a fiery finger that comes out. Well, I don't know how it took place, but God wrote the Ten Commandments. Notice what he said Again, I will write on the tablets the words and you shall put them in in the ark. Now, the ark or box, that's why it became known as the Ark of the Covenant, because the Ten Commandments or the covenant was put inside the ark. So we could call it the Ark of the Ten Commandments. And then that box with those Ten Commandments was placed inside the temple. Now you can begin to see what John was seeing in the Book of Revelation with that background from the writings of Moses in the Old Testament, John sees earth's final events. And what does he see? He sees the Ark of the Covenant in heaven's temple. The temple of God was opened in heaven. Heaven's not the temple. There's a temple in heaven, according to John. Now why is it that this takes place? Why are the Ten Commandments brought out in such a visual display, so to speak? Because God is calling the world's attention back to the Ten Commandments. And why is that? Why does God call the world's attention back to these 10 commandments? For a number of issues. Number of reasons. Number one, the Ten Commandments are going to become the central issue in the end times. They will be center point. How do we know? Well, in the final battle of global control with these three beasts, the dragon, the sea beast and the land beast, this great fight that takes place between them and the three angels, so to speak, it takes place in chapter 13 and 14. But there's a bookend text at one end and another bookend text at the other, like bookends on a bookshelf. There are two very important texts I want you to notice. So this final battle for global control, for your allegiance and mine, takes place between these two bookend texts. Notice what the first one says. The dragon was wroth with the woman and he went to make war with the remnant of her seed who keep the commandments of God. And they have the testimony of Jesus Christ. They are believers in Jesus. Then comes this battle with these three beasts and the three angels. And then it ends with this verse. The Bible says, here is the patience of the saints. This calls for endurance. It's saying, here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. You notice those two bookend texts, the commandments of God. It's going to be the central issue in the end times. That's what God is telling us in the book of Revelation. Now a question. Why is it that the dragon, Satan, why does he hate and attack those who keep the Ten Commandments? Why is he against the Ten Commandments. Let me tell you two. Sorry, three very good reasons. Number one, the Ten Commandments we're going to see in a moment reveal God's character and his values. Notice what the Bible says. It says here in Revelation, chapter 15, verse 5, after these things, John says, I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle, that's the dwelling place of the testimony in heaven was open. What's this tabernacle of the Testimony? Well, we notice what it says here in revelation, in Exodus 31, when he had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments, that is, he gave Moses two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone written with the finger of God. The Ten Commandments not only called the covenant, they're called the testimony. And why is that? Because they testify to what God is like. They tell us what God's values are, what his character is like. And so this was called the tabernacle or the temple of the tabernacle, and the testimony went inside it. The Ten Commandments, why are they called the Testimony? There it is. They're called the Testimony because they testify to God's character and God's values. There's a second reason why these 10 commandments are hated by Satan and he hates those who follow them. And that is the Ten Commandments define and protect your and my most important relationships in life. Amazing when you think about it. Notice what the Bible says. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. This is Jesus speaking, love God. And the second is, like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love God, love people. Notice what Jesus said next. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. These are the heart. This is what all God's commandments and what the prophets were pointing out. Love to God and love to men. That's how it is with the Ten Commandments. Now, the first four commandments, they protect our relationship with God. Let's notice the first four commandments. God says in commandment number one, you shall have no other gods before me. Now, what is God saying here? He's telling us, number one, God is the only true God. I am the only God. That's really what he's telling us, but he's saying more than that. It's telling us that God is a relational being who must have first priority in your life and my life. And we'll notice why God says that in a moment. I like the advert that was in a newspaper. Notice what it said for Sale, fridge, golf clubs, youth sofa, 60 centimeter TV and other household gods. You see, someone had misspelled the word goods and left out a no, and the goods became gods. And that's true, isn't it? We can turn our goods into our gods, meaning they can be more important stuff. Things can be more important than God himself in our life. Now, we may not worship idols of stone and wood and timber today, but we certainly have many different other gods today. In fact, we call these gods idols, sometimes rock idols and stars and so on. We have many different other gods today, meaning these are more important to us sometimes than the God who loves us so much and cares about us. Commandment number two of the Ten Commandments. You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them, nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. Visiting that means punishing the iniquity, the sin, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments. Did you notice a word in there that is actually a love word? The word jealousy in the right sense is a love word. God is jealous when we seek other gods instead of him. Because he loves us, he cares about us. So this is telling us that God is a God of loving relationships. He loves us. He doesn't want us to put anything before him. Like another woman came in my life, more important to me than my wife. She'd be jealous, and rightly so, because I belong to her and she belongs to me. So a God of loving relationships. In fact, it defines love right here. Love is like a two sided coin. On one side is mercy. I show mercy to thousands. God said. The other side of the love coin is justice. You see, unless you have justice, you don't have love. Imagine any government that said it's okay. If you want to steal people's stuff, it's no problem. If you want to go rape people, we don't have a problem with that. Is that a government of love? Of course not. If it's a government of love, they will bring justice to those people who treat people in those wrong ways. They will hold them to account. And so love is mercy on one side and justice on the other. And God defines it in this commandment number three. Commandment, you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. In other words, God is a God of integrity. What God says he is, he is, he doesn't tell us one thing, and he's not living up to it himself. He's a God of integrity. Very important for us as human beings. Now, when God says, don't take my name in vain, he's not just talking about where we lose our cool and use his name as a swear word. If we hit our, our finger with a hammer or something, well, it includes that, of course, but it's much bigger than that. He's saying, don't take my name. Don't say that. You're one of my followers, but you don't live like one. You know, one of the great tragedies of Christianity is many people claim to be Christian, but they don't live the life of Jesus. It puts people off when we claim to be his follower, but we don't live the life that Jesus wants us to live. Don't take my name in vain. God is saying commandment number four, a very beautiful one. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. The seventh day is the Sabbath, or the rest of the Lord your God. In it, you shall do no work. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and all that is in them. Now, what is this commandment telling us? It's telling us that God is our creator. Our roots go back to him. We're not a product of time and chance. We're made in the image of God. We are very special to God, but it's telling us more than that. It's telling us that God is our father. Friend, do you know, my friends, it takes time to develop relationships. Kids don't need so much stuff from their parents. They need time of their parents. You see, we build relationships over time. And God says, I want to get to know you. I want to take a whole day off with you. Each day, one day each week. I want to spend the day with you. That's a God, isn't it? I want to give you quality time so you can get to know me. Just as it is important for humans, so it's important with us and God. By the way, this is one reason why homes are falling apart today. We are too busy for each other. Got three or four jobs. Got to do this, got to do that. And we pass like ships in the night. Husband, wives, partners, children. We're on the go. We don't have time. It takes time to build relationships. Well, it's the same with God. It takes time to build a relationship with him. And so he says, listen, take this whole day because I'm taking the day Off. Join me in. In this same day. Now, you'll notice these first four commandments protect our relationship with God. Why does God start the commandments that way? Because, you see, God is saying this. Put me first in your relationships and then all your other relationships will last. You see, I can't say I love God, but I'm cheating on my wife. I know something's wrong. I can't do that. I can't love God unless I treat my wife, you see. So if I love God, I'm going to do what God says in relation to my wife or other people, their stuff, their life. I'm going to follow what God says. If I put him first, I'm going to treat other people right. If I put God first. That's why God says, put me first and all your other relationships will last. Now, the last six commandments protect our relationship with others, with other people. Notice commandment number five. Honor your father and your mother. Wow. God here is a humble God. He shares honour. I mean, he's really the one that brought us into existence. He put the human body together to bring children. Out of two people coming together, he's got all that worked out. But he gives honor to those who bring us into the world. A humble God. But more than that, God values the family. The most basic relationship of human life is the family relationship. And God's commandments set out to protect the home. Oh, if only people would come back to the Bible, you know, homes wouldn't be falling apart like they are. You know, as the home goes, so goes society. That's why God has this commandment to protect the home life. Now, you will notice as we move on through these commandments that the basis of good relationships is trust. If you don't, if trust breaks down, relationships break down, right? So notice how God proceeds now with these ten commandments. Commandment number six, you shall not kill. What does this mean? God values everyone. Every single person is important to God, valued by God. Now, if you know that I wouldn't do anything to harm you, you will start to trust me, right? Of course you will trust me, because I'm not gonna do you any harm at all. In fact, I'm gonna do all I can to look after you. That builds up trust. God's commandments, you see, protect all. All human life. Everybody. God's commandment protects all human life. Now, Jesus is not just talking about using a knife to stab someone or shoot someone with a gun. Jesus went on to say that killing includes unjust anger because we can destroy People with our words. Oh, have you ever heard people, sometimes parents berate their kids? You're a useless so and so. Why don't you grow up so you can be somebody? And we put kids down with our words, we can cut our partners with the words, we can destroy people. So Jesus said, anger without a just cause. This is the same thing we're doing. We're destroying lives. Oh, how often we've said things that we wish we could return or not bring back again. Commandment number seven, you shall not commit adultery. God says, what is this commandment telling us? It's telling us that God values faithfulness. Do you know, once upon a time, it used to be until death we do part. Remember those days? But now, unfortunately, it's until we do part. The grass looks greener on the other side of the fence. So we get rid of this one and go for another one. Now, I know that sometimes it hasn't been our fault or we've done something foolish and the marriage is finished. You can't unscramble scrambled eggs. But we can move on in the right way from where we are. God wants us to protect the home, to protect marriage. Now, for the men, Jesus went even further. He said. Jesus said adultery includes to lust after a woman in your heart, in your. In your mind. You know, as men today, it's very difficult because it's everywhere. You know, I go to websites to get innocent pictures, and the site's a good one. But apple popper, a picture of a woman with hardly anything on her, with nothing on you, you have to turn away. We have to guard our eyes, man. That's what Jesus is talking about. One day, I'm in an airport where you get your visa and your passport stamped and so on, and there on the back wall is a woman with hardly anything on. I thought, what's this got to do with my passport? Coming into a country, it's everywhere today. And men, we have to guard our eyes. Because how do you think your wife feels if you're looking at the naked body of another woman and lusting after her? Doesn't make her feel valued. You see, Jesus was trying to protect marriage when he gave this commandment, not just in the act, but even in the thought, very important. So Christ's commandment here protects marriage and the home, but this commandment actually is also given to protect our health. Did you know that sexually transmitted diseases are increasing globally today, going out almost off the charts? And why is that? For some very simple reasons. You see, in our world today, we Initiate sexual intercourse very early. Globally, one third of all new cases of STDs are under 25 years of age, down into the school age. So because we initiate sexual intercourse earlier, we have more partners. We marry later in life these days, so we have more partners before we come to the one that maybe this was the one we'll stay with for life. But then, of course, in our society today, we divorce often. So this increases the amount of sexual encounters with different people. What a tragedy. Do you know the average Australian has 13 sexual partners in a lifetime? That's the average in Australia. Incredible. In New Zealand, among women, it's even higher. New Zealand women at one stage had 20 sexual partners in a lifetime. And their men around about, you know, it's nearly 17 now. This is why we have STDs in our world today, because of this problem. God's trying to protect not only the home, but our health. Commandment number eight, you shall not steal. The Bible says God values honesty. He really does. God's commandments protect our possessions. What's yours is not mine. And God is telling us, I value honesty. Commandment number nine. There it is. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. In other words, don't lie, speak the truth. God values truthfulness. A very important thing in life is truthfulness. I used to travel from the central coast in New South Wales to the city of Sydney every day. And on the way home, a newspaper would be given out at the beginning of the journey. And there it was. MX newspaper. I noticed on one occasion the front page said, lying to get a job. And you know what it said in this article? One third of Australians lie to get a job. Whoa, that's a lot of lying, isn't it? Just to get a job, you know, once we start down this track of lying, people don't know when and when to trust us. Is he lying now? Maybe this is not the truth now. That's the problem with lying. It undermines trust between people, becomes a serious issue. God's commandments protect our reputations too. Because many people, in trying to climb to the top, they gossip and criticize and distort the truth about other people they're trying to climb over. Reputations can be destroyed by what we say about other people. God's commandments protect relationships. You see, Last Commandment Number 10, you shall not covet your neighbour's house. You shall not covet your neighbour's wife, nor anything that is your neighbour's. God values contentedness. You see, the reason for that is because he provides all our needs. If we're his children, we belong to him. He's going to look after us. He knows what we need. So we don't have to look over the fence and wish and watch what others have. You know, that's how advertising game works, isn't it? We want what the others have got. The latest gadgets and so on, not just the latest clothing. That's not just a lady thing. That's for the guys too. We want the latest this, the latest that. Got to keep up with the Joneses, what this commandment is doing. You see, God's commandment protects our mental and emotional well being. We don't have to worry about what we don't have. Just be content. Of course, sometimes we need these things. We need them. Not just want them, we need them. And so of course we go about in the right way to procure them. But we don't have to stress ourselves over these things. You know, no wonder Billy Graham, that great preacher who died two or three years ago, Billy Graham, said these words about the Ten Commandments. God's law, he said, is never out of date. Never out of date. Imagine what our world would be like, what your home would be like, what your neighborhood would be like, what our countries would be like if we all followed these principles. What a different place. No wonder the psalmist says, oh, how I love your laws. They are very good because they protect relationships with God and with others. Now we may have broken these commandments, all of us have, but thank God there's a forgiving God. We may have made big mistakes, but there's a big God who has a forgiving heart. And we can go to him and tell him, I've done wrong. Oh God, forgive me and help me to move on in the right way. Thank God he is always open to us. So God's law is a law of love. That's what it is. Love to God, love to. And love to fellow human beings, to others. Now you can understand, why does Satan attack the Ten Commandments? Why is he angry with those who keep them? Because you see, they show us what God is like himself. They define his character, his values, and they build relationships. So no wonder he wants to attack those who keep them and attack the Commandments themselves. But thirdly, the Ten Commandments reveal or point out our sin or our wrongdoing. They show us where we're wrong. Notice what the Bible says. Paul is talking. What shall we say then is the law? He's talking of the Ten Commandments. Is it sin Certainly not. On the contrary. I would not have known sin except through the law, except through the Commandments. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law, that's the commandment, had said. You shall not covet. That's commandment number 10. So these commandments says, they point out where we're doing wrong. That's a good thing. They're like a mirror. Here's this lady looking into a mirror. She sees the dirt on her face. She knows she needs to get rid of it. That's what the Commandments do. The Commandments point out where we're going wrong. We need to make a course correction. Where do we go to make a course correction? Calvary. The cross where Jesus died for our sin. He cleans up. He forgives us, but he gives us a new power as well. So the Ten Commandments reveal the dirt of sin. Show us where we're wrong. Now, that brings us to a definition of sin. What is sin? What is it? It's a little word. Well, remember, here it is. First, John 3, 4. He says, everyone who sins breaks the law. In fact, sin is lawlessness. Now remember the Ten Commandments we saw. They define and they protect your and my most important relationships in life. Therefore, what is sin? Sin is breaking relationships. That's the big deal about sin. Sin is not just something we don't do or we do do wrong or we should do something that we're not doing. Sin is someone's getting hurt by what we do. That's the big deal. Now, Isaiah gives us a very beautiful relational portrait of sin. Notice what he says. He says, but your iniquities, that's a big word for sins. Your sins have separated you from your go. They've broken your relationship with him, in other words, and your sins have hidden his face from you. You're separated from him so that he will not hear why. For your hands are defiled with blood. They've been doing some murdering even your fingers with iniquity. They've been doing some stealing. Your lips have spoken lies. Your tongue has muttered perversity. Do you see what's going on here? Sin separates. It breaks relationships. That's why Jesus said these words when he was talking of the Commandments. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. Because love at the end is, how do I relate to my God? Do I do what he says? Like those first four. How do I relate to people? Do I love people? If you love me, you will keep my Commandments. You see, Jesus Christ was the lawgiver he was the one who gave the Ten Commandments. That may surprise us, but when we go to the Book of Paul, Paul's writing to the Corinthians, he said, talking about the rock that Moses struck and water came out. He says, that rock that Moses struck, that rock was Christ, meaning he was traveling with them, and he provided the water for them, that great rock as a symbol of Christ. He was the one who traveled with them. He was the one that created the world. We've read in Paul's writings and in the book of Exodus, Christ gave the Ten Commandments. That's why the Bible says these words. He who says, I know him, I know God. I believe in God and does not keep his commandments. He or she is a liar, and the truth is not in him. Because if we love God and we will keep his commandments, but if I just don't want to follow what God says in his commandments, I don't want to believe in any of them, then really, I'm saying I don't really love God. I'm a liar if I say I know him, but I don't follow what he said. You imagine I say to my wife every day, my wife, marilyn, marilyn, I love you. You're the best on the whole planet. You're the best lady on the planet. She says, sweetheart, I don't feel well. Could you help me with the dishes? Well, sweetheart, I'm not into dishes. Not my thing. Sorry. Then the next day, she says, honey, could you put out the garbage for me? I just don't have much energy today. Could you help me with the garbage? Well, sweetheart, I'm really not into garbage either. If every time my wife asks me to do something to help her and I say no, I'm not going to do it, do I really love her? Come on, now. It's a bunch of words, isn't it? I'm lying. I don't really love her. If I love her, I'll seek to do what helps her and what pleases us. And that's what God is saying. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. You will follow what I say. So you see, sin is about breaking relationships. A young boy in India was mining their family's goats in the backyard on one occasion. And goats will play up, won't they? And he got frustrated with these goats that were not doing what he wanted to do. So he picked up his bush knife, you know, handle so long, blade so long, and he flung it at the goat in anger. Missed the goat Hit his sister and killed her on the spot. Wow. That's one of the definitions of sin. My friend is missing the mark. When we sin, we miss the mark and someone is going to get hurt, ultimately God. But when we sin, when we break God's commandments, we're going to hurt somebody. And ultimately, as we said, God. So the commandments reveal the dirt of sin. They reveal we've broken a relationship, we've hurt someone. That's what we've damaged a relationship. That's why sin is a big deal now. Is breaking the Ten Commandments really that big a deal? Well, let me take you to ancient Israel and to Carthage for a moment. Israel, sadly, most of their time, most of their history, they turned away from the Ten Commandments. You read that right through the Bible, sadly. I want to bring you to a place in Syria. Came here a few years ago now to rush Shamrah. It was called ancient or was ancient Ugarit, this place. But the French archeologists excavated this place and they discovered good reasons why God said in the Bible have nothing to do with the practices of the Canaanites who lived in the land before you got there from Egypt. Here, for example, are the main gods of the Canaanites. In the middle is baal, he's got his club raised, you can see there. And he's the God who makes the crops grow, he brings the rain. The God that makes everything flourish, baal, he's got a wife on your right hand side there, Asherah, that's also his sister. So they were into incest, the Canaanites. Then on the far left is a seductive lustful goddess called Ashtate, known as Tanit to the Carthaginians. Now let's talk about the Phoenicians. The Phoenicians lived where you can see that red circle there. They lived on the coastal regions of what we call Palestine or Israel and parts of Lebanon today. They were the Canaanites on the coastal areas. Now being coastal people, they did a lot of traveling in ships and they sailed right across the Mediterranean world and set up colonies. One of their colonies was right there in what we call Tunisia today at Carthage. I want to bring you to Carthage for a moment. Here we are at this colony of the Phoenicians. Now, archeologists discovered in Carthage a place called a tophet. Now what is a tophet? Well, a tophet is a place where child sacrifice victims are buried, or rather their remains are interred. This tophet was a very large one here in Carthage, 6,000 square meters or 64,000 square feet, very large. Now, when they looked underneath these stele, looks like a tombstone. Underneath each of these stele there was estimated to be 20,000 victims between 400 to 200 BC child sacrifice victims. When the Romans came here, they were abhorred at the human sacrifice that took place at this in Carthage. You see here, these, these stele, like you can see on the left in the middle, there's a triangular shape there on the far left there with a hand raised. That's the symbol for Tanit Ashtati, this lustful, seductive goddess. And then you see this urn or this pot just at the bottom. This inside. They discovered inside of these urns were the charred bones and teeth of little children. It's believed that they had these great metal gods. They put a fire in the back of them and heated them up red hot. And then the priest would place the baby or the child in the arms of the outstretched God. Red hot. And of course, the baby would be killed. Even have an inscription of a priest carrying a little child for human sacrifice, it seems. What a tragedy. Now the problem was for Israel is that they got into this stuff. You see King Ahab, one of the Israelite kings, he married a Phoenician princess who brought with her into Israel lock, stock and barrel. Some of these customs of the, of the Canaanites, the Phoenicians. She came from this area. Now, part of what went on with the Canaanites was not just human sacrifice, but temple prostitution. You could go to a Canaanite or a Phoenician temple, and then you could have sex with a male prostitute. If you were one of the ladies, if you're a man, go have sex with a female shrine prostitute. Now, the Israelites got into this stuff themselves, you know, it would do wonders for the family, wouldn't it? Imagine it. What have you been doing at the temple? Well, I went to the temple, had sex with this lady. And your wife says, with this guy. What would that do for the marriage? It'd just smash it to pieces, of course. Imagine Israel got into this stuff. They turned away from God and they set up a tophet right here in the valley of Ben Hinnom. They practiced human sacrifice. Tragically, it tells us that in the book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah says they built up the high places of Topheth in the valley of Hinnom to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire. Tragedy. But that's what took place in Israel. They turned away. So you imagine dad comes home from the temple one day and mom Says, where's Johnny? Oh, I gave him to the priest and he's dead now because we sacrificed him to one of the gods. You imagine how this just ruined the family, ruined society. Well, Israel, as you can see, they turned from those ten Commandments. So what? Well, God knew this would destroy them. So he sent prophet after prophet after prophet. That's why you read in the Bible all these prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, Amos, Joel and so on. They warn the northern part of Israel, which we call Israel itself. There were two 10 tribes in the north. They warned them that the Assyrians would come. They wouldn't listen. And so the Assyrians destroyed the northern kingdom. They deported them all to Iraq to where the Assyrians lived. God gave another hundred years for the people down in the last two tribes down in Jerusalem to change course. To course, correct. A hundred more years. But they wouldn't listen to men like Jeremiah. And so the Babylonians came in 586 B.C. and they destroyed their city. Daniel is praying. He's been in Babylon for nearly 70 years. And he hears about a guy called Cyrus on the horizon coming from Medo, Persia. And he realizes, hey, the 70 years where God said we'd stay in Babylon is nearly up. Cyrus is the one Isaiah predicted who would deliver them from Babylon. And so he starts to pray to God. God, you made some promises. Please carry through those promises. But notice what he prays about. He prays about why Israel is in the mess, why the Temple of Solomon has been destroyed by the Babylonians, why they are in captivity in Babylon. Notice what he says as he prays about Jerusalem and why it's in ruins. We have sinned. All Israel has transgressed, broken your law and has departed, broken their relationship with God so as not to obey your voice. Therefore, the Lord has kept the disaster in mind and brought it upon us. Wow. Notice what Daniel is saying. We're in this mess because of our lawlessness. You know, the British historian, I mentioned him in a previous program, Sir Arnold J. Toynbee wrote this massive set of books called A Study of History. I want you to notice, he discovered as he studied 21 world civilizations, this great truth, Lawlessness leads to destruction, he said, notice what he found there in his study of history, these 21 civilizations. He's asking the question in his fifth volume, why did they disintegrate and collapse? How come the Aztecs went down? How come the different civilizations flourished for a while and then went down? How come? Well, he discovered six reasons, and one of the reasons he calls abandon. What does he mean by abandon? Let him explain. A state of mind that accepts antinomianism, that's a big word for lawlessness, as a substitute for creativeness. In other words, to go against the laws of God, to go against the laws of society. Many people think that's creative. But let me tell you, Arnold J. Toynbee says, as we trace the world's civilization, that brings civilizations down. Well, thank you, Mr. Toynbee, for telling us that lawlessness destroys civilizations. But that's what Daniel said 2,500 years ago in his prayer. We have sinned, and that's why this disaster has come. We've broken your commandments. So what? That you and I break God's 10 commandments today? Is it that big of a deal? Does it really make much of a difference? White lie, black lie, little thing, big thing. Is it really that big a deal? The Bible says in a very succinct manner, the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life. You see, it brings eternal death in contrast to eternal life. It is a big deal. The wages of sin is death. Eternal. And we'll not be included in the last empire if you and I hold onto it and will not give it up. We cannot be part of this forever empire that God wants us to belong to. So as we wrap this up, what is the solution for breaking God's laws because we've all broken them, Myself included, done wrong. What's the solution for restoring our broken relationship with God? How do we fix that up? What is the solution so that we lovingly obey and follow God's laws because we love him? In the Bible, it's called the New Covenant. That's the solution. Notice what the Bible says in the New Covenant. Book of Hebrews. New Testament. The Bible says, this is the covenant that I will make, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their mind. He's not doing away with his laws. He's not writing them on stone now. He's writing them in our minds and in their hearts. He says, I will be their God and they will be my people. They'll have a relationship with me. He says, all shall know me. That means have a friendship with me. From the least of them to the greatest of them. I will. Merciful to their unrighteousness. I'll forgive their sin, in other words, and their sins and their lawless deeds. I will remember no more. That's a God, isn't it? A mighty God. We may have done wrong, but the New Covenant brings these amazing things. What does it bring to us forgiveness of sin we've done wrong. God is a forgiving God. When we come in sincerity to him. Number two, we are reconciled to God, we come back to him. That's the new covenant. Number three, God's law becomes put in us, in our lives. In other words, a new life of powerful, loving living. This is the new covenant. How does it come? How do we get those three things? Simple word, one word. We could. But let's go to Paul. He says it's by accepting Christ, death for us on Calvary. Notice what the Book of Hebrews says in the New Testament now. May the God of peace, through the blood of the everlasting covenant make you complete in every good work to do his will. There it is. It's the blood of the everlasting covenant. Meaning it comes through the death of Jesus Christ and our belief, our putting our lives in his hand, our throwing ourselves on his mercy and his grace. That's how the new covenant comes to you and I. I was running a series very similar to this in the Solomon Islands on one occasion in Honiara, and I met this dear gentleman that you have on the right hand side here, Alex Fafale. I met him in Honiara. He told me his story, an amazing story. You notice he's got two things, a big scar on his forehead and a big smile. That's Alex. Let me tell you how he got both of them. Well, Alex was brought up in a Christian home. But after a while he said, this is not for me. And he left God. He didn't want to have anything to do with God. And Alex became a heavy drinker. When Alex got drunk, Alex got violent. He went to prison four times. First time, nearly killed a guy. Killed a guy when he was drunk. Second time, same thing, nearly killed another guy when he was drunk. Third time, I've forgotten what that one is, but knowing Alex, it was probably something very similar. Fourth time, he took on the police in the Anz bank in Honiara. Right there in the bank. And he got four years for that. He's in prison there for those four years. And while he's there, he hears that his wife has had an affair with another man. And Alex is not a happy chappie because his wife is now carrying the child of this other man. Well, Alex comes out of prison, goes straight to his home. And while he goes there into his home, when he gets out of prison, a voice speaks to him. And this is what it said, Alex, if you love me, keep my commandments. Now Alex, of course, with the Christian background, knew that God was speaking to him. God was calling him back to himself. And right there, Alex got down and said, God, I need you in my life. Well, a little while later, he and his wife are in the marketplace and he saw Mr. Boyfriend. So Alex grabs hold of his wife's hand and he races her over to this man and grabs hold of this other guy's hand. And Alex begins to pray. Oh, God, forgive my wife. Forgive this man for what they've done. And Alex said, as I was praying, I heard another voice. And the other voice said, kill him. Alex said, I kept praying, otherwise I would have killed the guy. When the prayer was finished, there was a beautiful reconciliation between Alex, his wife, and this man. A little while later, Alex is in the same marketplace and he saw the guy who gave him the big scar on the forehead. Alex rushes over to this guy and he runs over, grabs hold of this guy's hand, and he said, the guy started to tremble like a leaf. He thought Alex was going to do him in. But Alex said to him, don't be afraid. Jesus is my friend. And now you're my friend. Do you see what makes the difference? Do you see what happens when Christ comes into the life? Jesus changes us from the inside out. When we accept Christ, the new covenant becomes part of us. We should stop and thank God for his marvelous goodness to us in giving us these commandments and showing us how they can be part of our life. Let's bow together in prayer. Oh, Father, we want to thank you for the ten Commandments. What amazing set of the commandments you've given us. Beautiful. That can help us in our homes, our relationships. Thank you for the God who makes it possible for us to follow what you say. Oh, Lord, may we determine today that we're gonna put our lives in the hands of this great God, this Jesus who loves us so much, just like Alex did. Thank you for accepting us as we are and changing us into the very image of Jesus, little by little, day by day. May we do that right now, Give you our life in his name, wherever we are. Amen. Well, we're so glad that you were with us in this countdown. Back to the future. So program today, whatever you do, turn off all appointments, you mustn't miss our next presentation. Going to be looking at end times, Israel in the end times, New beginnings. An amazing presentation. We're going to go to the book of Revelation, going to go to other parts of the Bible to understand a vital truth about Israel in the end times. So join us. Invite a friend to watch this series. May God bless you.
