[Aaron Dean] I’d like for you to turn with me to Luke 10:25 as we start our sermon today. Title of the sermon "The Value of Law" because when you travel you see a lot of different laws of different countries. You see a lot of lawlessness. And it seemed like in Zimbabwe especially we were stopped every 10 or 15 kilometers and checked for registration or checked for anything wrong with your car or basically a shakedown for bribes, which seems to be quiet common in some of these countries when unfortunate.

Luke 10:25 says, "Behold a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted Him, saying, 'Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’" Now, again he's a lawyer so he didn't really want a sincere answer. Which is kind of typical today. But he was tempting Him, trying to test Him to see what He would say. And Christ as He usually did, which is a good practice if you're in a situation like that to turn the question around.

I've turned several questions around in my day with different people who asked. “And He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? How do you read it?’" So He returns back to the lawyer, “You're a lawyer, how do you read the law?” He knew the answer. And the law was the answer to this question of what do you do to inherit eternal life. It relates to that for those who wish to take away the law. It does relate to eternal life. Those who say you don't have to do it. Obviously, part of the law is what it takes for God to give you His grace.

So, verse 27, “The lawyer answering said, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself.’" So the lawyer accurately quoted the law. But did he really want to live it? Or does he want to twist it to make it be in his favor? So in verse 28, “Jesus says to him, ‘You have answered right: this do, and you shall live.’" Yeah, love is a wonderful thing, but, what kind of love? Self-love, or love for all mankind, and how do you prove your love? Verse 29, here's the lawyer again, “Willing to justify himself, said to Jesus, ‘Who is my neighbor?’"

And then Jesus went on to give the parable of the Samaritan. Where He says “A certain man came from Jerusalem to Jericho,” and of course, you know the story. I'm not going to go into the story of the Good Samaritan here. But who is his neighbor? He wanted to find… he was trying to define a way out.

“No they're not really part of us, they're not part of the covenant people. They're not this.” And so often, that's the way people look at the law. They twist it, make it fit. And just because you can quote the law, as this lawyer did, doesn't mean you automatically obey it.

A lot of people quote chapter and verse and yet don't keep it. Jesus is very specific in this unadulterated example of your neighbor. “What is your neighbor?” He used someone the Jews despised. Someone you weren't supposed to talk to or have anything to do with, the Samaritans.

He left no room for interpretation and in essence, He was repeating exactly what the law was given by God to Moses and written down was. A couple of verses Exodus 12:49, you can you write that down I'm going to read, it's only one line. You won't get there before I finish it. So, if you want to turn Numbers 15, that's my next scripture. Says, "One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourns among you."

Numbers 15:16, "One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourns with you." Numbers 15:29 dropping down a little in that same chapter. "You shall have one law for him that sins through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourns among them. But the soul that does ought presumptuously, whether he'd be born in the land or a stranger, the same reproaches the Lord… and that soul shall be cut off from among his people." Same penalty if you do it willfully against the law. Why?

Verse 31, "Because he has despised the word of the Lord, has broken His commandment, and that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him." And right after that verse 32 is an example. A man, who went out, picked up sticks in the Sabbath after being told “You're not supposed to work on a Sabbath.” And what happened to him? A quick judgment. After Moses was told what happened, he says, "Stone him." And they did, quick judgment.

I doubt if anyone went out picking up wood on the Sabbath after that for a while. I know it seems in our country you try to think of things of being harsh, but yet without justice and law, and quick punishment, it's always sad for me to see T.V., people 18, 20 years down the road finally getting convicted of a crime that they did and the appeals and various things. Of course, it's sad if someone's wrongly convicted, but when there's no judgment or justice.

When I was in Shanghai, 1984 we had a meeting with the mayor. It's interesting he in the late '70s he said, “We decided to be like the West.” And so we put all the criminals in prison and tried to rehabilitate them. He said, “It didn't take us about a year or two to find out that didn't work. All you did was… the criminals talk to each other and became better criminals.” And he says, "We decided that we want to fix it." He said, "It got to the point where you couldn't walk down the street without being mugged, or harassed, or pick-pocketed, or murdered. And no one walked."

And so, he made a decree and mayor’s in a big city of Shanghai in China are pretty much independent. He made one law. He said, "If anybody breaks a law, you'll be tried within seven days. If found innocent, they're released. If found guilty, they'll be hung." He said, "We hung about 300 people. Everything from murder to pick-pocketing." And he said, "Within a month, it was safe to walk down the streets. No one committed a crime." It was swift. It was interesting when you actually have justice carried out.

But, God had one law. One law for all, for the stranger and for those who are born Israelites. And that's the way it should be, you can't let yourself off the hook because you're a stranger. Can't like treat someone differently because they're not a member. Obviously, you won't fellowship and do many of the things that they might do. But, as far as the way you treat them, the way law is it's equal. People, especially the lawyer, the Christ was talking to wanted to interpret the law so that he could trick Jesus for one thing and also, yeah, he thought, “A Samaritan you don't have to do anything for them.” It's not that way. He tried to interpret the law and he didn't have the true meaning. The depth of what God had for all mankind.

Romans 8, if you turn there, you read about what our minds like. But if you interpret the law for your own ends, you really don't honor God's law, at all. And we're all too willing to try to get out of God, His law, our behavior to get out of what should be. Perhaps we try to get change it in our thoughts, that aren't like is, and perhaps interactions, hopefully not. Romans 8:6, "For to be carnally minded is death." If you’re carnally minded, if you try to twist the law, if you're not doing God's way, it's death, “but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Spiritual minded person's going to keep the laws of God, and there'll be life and peace. Why? “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; not subject the law of God, neither indeed can be.”

We tend to think sometimes we can, but it's not. That's our problem from the Garden of Eden. Human nature came in, Satan's broadcast on his wavelength, and we're also susceptible to it. And oftentimes we can make excuses for it. Verse 8, "So then, they that are in the flesh cannot please God." You can't if you're going to just think carnally. If you're not going to start absorbing God. Letting His Spirit lead you, know what His law truly is, you're not going to please God. "But you're not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwells in you. If it doesn't dwell in you, you don't have the Spirit of God… the Spirit of Christ, then he's not of His. If Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”

Israel continually sinned, the whole world is sinning. Of course, sin is the transgression of law. We don't use the word sin anymore. They don't want to use that because it sounds harsh. They want to be politically correct in the world today. But, that's what it is. Turn to Deuteronomy 31, if you would. Are we like Israel after Egypt in the wilderness? Or are we like Jesus Christ and His family.

Does the law witness against us or for us? Deuteronomy 31:23, I can just imagine Moses talking to Joshua here, "It's your turn." "He gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and he said, 'Be strong and of good courage: for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land, which I swear to them: and I will be with you.’" So he passes the baton to Joshua and it was a hard job.

"And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, and he said to them, 'Take this book of the law, put inside of the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, that it may there for a witness against you.'" It's there, you heard it, you saw it.

A witness against you. Why? Because he says, "I know your rebellion, your stiff neck: and behold, while I'm yet alive with you this day, you rebelled against the Lord; how much more after my death?" And I can see Joshua thinking about this, wondering what he's going to go through. Every time I read this I think of Mr. Armstrong in his last few days half the Church is going to leave — they’re going to quit keeping the Sabbath. I'm just, yeah — are we like that? Do we have God's Spirit? Are we going to change?

He says in verse 28, Moses says, "Gather to me all of the elders of your tribes, your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to record against them." Trying to make a point: don't desert God, remember these laws. “For I know that after my death you will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in these latter days; because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke Him to anger through the works of your hands." He knew it was going to happen. Just like when you warn your kids, "Hey if you do this, it's going to cause your pain. It can cause you trouble."

We're God's children. He was saying the same thing and that was the end of Moses song to the Israelites. Why is the law so important? Why can't we just choose for ourselves what we want to make society a nice place? Society and mankind without God wants to assume that the human spirit’s basically good. They will basically rise above it. And like evolution, you always go to a higher form of life, but yet, virtually everything we see tends to degrade itself rather than that. And didn't Christ even say that an evil man knows to give good gifts to his children? Why isn't mankind able to come to peace? What happens when there's not a universally accepted truth?

Indeed, we all like to have others keep the law. Everyone wants a neighbor that keeps the law. But, oftentimes they don't want to do it themselves. Most people want to be a law to themselves. And that's sad.

But, those that keep the law make good neighbors. Of course, then you have other religions such as a Muslim religion that has one set of laws for Muslims and another set for others. In other words, you have to tell the truth to a fellow Muslim, but you can lie to a non-believer Gentile. As long as its to “further” the cause of Islam. God doesn't say that. We're supposed to be the same, for the stranger, for the homeborn.

When we look at the United States and Britain, Canada, Australia, the Commonwealth nations, even now after the blessings God’s given us, look at the decay we have. As we don't accept any universal truths, we accept all sorts of politically correct beliefs. We try to do things that have no basis in truth, but yet human reasoning is saying it's okay whether it has to do with sexuality or sin, lawlessness, drugs, whatever, you name it. To them, truth is relative. That's where Satan is leading, it's what's truth for me is truth for me, what's truth for you is truth for you. They maybe opposites, it doesn't make any difference. And because of that, we have strife. We have tension.

Because you need laws and laws that everyone follows. Laws that everyone agrees to. And even though our wealth in this country comes from the promises of Abraham, our nations, really, we're basically founded on biblical laws. And because of those biblical laws, and the men who had character and resolve at the time, they didn't have God's Spirit, they were not converted. But yet, they came up with a set of laws out of the book that basically let our country grow and prosper.

God gave the blessing, the land, and all the resources and things. And He helped us through some of the wars et cetera, but we also had that set of laws that most people followed. And it was our foundation on law that gave us growth and strength to a large extent. I found the same was true in Africa when it was under British law, some of the protectorates there having traveled there in the '70s and '80s and now in another century. You can see the difference when the laws change.

There are a lot of wrong things done, apartheid and some of the things were totally wrong in the way they did. I mean they shouldn't be separate bathrooms. We're all human beings, we have the same thing, but at the same time, they did bring a set of laws that a lot of those have been abandoned by some of the countries. And as they abandoned those laws, they lose prosperity. Because some of them were quite prosperous and to see them fail, and to see them try to do things that just have no basis whatsoever with no character.

It gives them instability instead of stability. It gives them poverty. We look at America, Canada, some of those who were built by immigrants who wanted to assimilate. They wanted to adapt to our laws. They wanted to become Americans.

No longer true with many people who want to come to this country. We tend to think that this diversity is strong when they bring all these other religions and people with different beliefs in. Actually saw that initiative a couple of senators gave that Trump's supporting now. It's an initiative to bring people who want to be Americans, who want to learn our language, who want to follow our laws. Similar religion, Christian background and such that are being murdered and persecuted.

I thought that was interesting the support of that. He does a number of other things that may or may not turn out to be good, but I started thinking about that from standpoint of God's Kingdom. Isn't that exactly what God wants? Isn't He building a diverse family in a sense based on our assimilating under His law, under His rule? It doesn't make any difference what color you are or where you're from.

He wants people that are going to believe His law and His way of life. One set of laws and willingly accepting those laws not like for the Star Trek fans the Borg, "You will assimilate." But people who really want everybody else to follow the same set of laws. Thankfully, Trump wants to give us some freedom in religion in a sense that we can worship, but I appreciate that part although he wants to give those same freedoms for all manner of deviant conduct as well.

Everybody has their rights and having those rights may help us in proclaiming the gospel and saying things. In some countries, you can go to prison for trying to tell the truth. So, I appreciate that part. But God's Kingdom is going to be established by His laws. His law of love, simply put. Love God, love your neighbors as yourself — to break it down a little bit. Or the Ten Commandments to break it down a little further. Those are absolute truths of God's word, absolute for everyone. All too often in countries, well that'll work somewhere else, but won't work here. I always say “You're saying God's law won't work for you? Are you a human being? God created you, it works.”

Those who will not willingly assimilate will no longer be heard from. They'll not be part of His family because if God wants us to be happy without those laws and following them, there'll never be any true happiness and peace. Again, returning from a month in Africa, it's very easy to see why laws are necessary. I took a photograph which, I'll show this. It says, "Keep Zambia beautiful. Pick up trash." And like right below the sign there's a whole pile of trash all the way down the road. It's just amazing to see some of the things that they do to their own country. Because they don't really keep those laws and they think freedom means you can do what you want. Freedom doesn't mean what you can do, you can do what you want. Because everybody does what they want.

I will just use an example when I was in my Master's class they say laws, there shouldn't have all these laws. I said, "Why don't you just do away with the traffic laws? And you try to go the wrong way down the street." I'm kind of glad that people in this side kind of go this direction unless you're in British country you got to go the other way. But, I said, “For me to go down the wrong way is not going to work.”

Obviously, some laws are pretty much common sense, but all of God's laws produce peace and happiness. Society can often rub off on us. Rubs off on the Africans a lot, they're surrounded by so much corruption and people that they tend to think even differently. But things can rub off on the Church, we can become complacent. It's part of what going from the Philadelphia Church to Laodicea talks about not doing anything. We need to know the laws and not give ourselves excuses.

The Malawi meeting when I was talking there, I was talking about the accounting systems we're having and establishing in the countries to try to make things uniform. And one of them made the comment, "Well, the Zambians are different from us. And Zimbabweans are different from us. We're Malawians." And I said, "What does that have to do with it?"

So an accounting system is an accounting system, and accounting system. You know if you're accounting in Zambia and you're accounting in Malawi, there's no difference. Yet, they want to basically sometimes do things their own way and give themselves excuses. And say it won't work here. And like I said, there's some differences but that's not we're focusing on.

I pushed them in the fact that we're trying to create God's culture. I'm not trying to have an African culture, we're not trying to have an American culture. Yeah, there may be dresses and different things that are different, but we have to have a culture of truth. Culture of caring, culture of law and it has to be universal across the board. One of them commented, "Well if you underpay people, they'll steal. When we pay them enough, they won’t." And I said, "Well, what about your politicians, they get paid really well and they steal you blind." I said, "My seeing so many people in the world is that the more money you have, the more they seem to want. In fact, I see more honesty in poor people than I have in rich people. Surprisingly enough, poor people look at the world differently.

Actually, I ran into a YouTube video, someone posted on my Facebook page when I had internet, which I didn't have very much most of this trip.
But, it was interesting. It was a site some of you may have seen that were this guy just wanted to see what would happen if… a homeless man was sleeping on a bench. So he went out there and stuck a few hundred dollars next to him. And he was filming this whole thing with a hidden camera and when the homeless man woke up and kind of stood up, here's all of these money on him. And boy, he was smiling, happy and he takes it and he goes into a store, which was right next door.
The bench I think was at Target or Kmart or something. He buys a bunch of clothes and a bunch of things and brings them out. There's this bag and stuff and he goes back and sits on the bench.

When he sits on the bench, this young man walks up to him and gives him a song and dance story. Actually, he says, "I don't know what am I going to do. My wife's got this terrible disease and I have a baby now. I just can't afford to give her any treatments or do anything for her and I don't know what we're going to do it with the baby and all." And you see, the man just kind of sitting there and listening to him and say… and this homeless man actually said, "Please, just stay here for a minute."

Grabs his bag goes back in the store turns everything back into the store, comes back out with the money and hands it to the kid. How many people would do that? Then the kids says, tells him, "Really I'm not sick. I just made it up. I just want to see what you'd do. We've been filming you." Then he gave him $500 and said, "Please, go do that." But it's interesting how people look at others and would a rich person do that? I don't know. Interesting, to see human nature at work. Sometimes wealthy people are probably too distracted to look to God and to recognize needs of people.

Turn to Nehemiah 8, if you would. We have the Jews returning back to Jerusalem in Nehemiah. I’ve always liked agricultural society because there's something about needing rain and the sun, and elements of God creation that makes you turn to God and see the need you have for Him. Adversity often brings us to God. And the Jews had gone through a captivity. They'd lost their homeland and they needed God. Again, we shouldn't need adversity. Hopefully, if you're growing in God's Spirit you stay tuned to Him through good times and bad. We shouldn't need that to happen. And it was exciting times there in Nehemiah. They were rebuilding their homeland, they're reading the books of the law, they were excited and the people stood for hours.

Verse 8… or verse 1 of Nehemiah 8, "And all of the people had gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the Water Gate; they spoke to Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law from Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel.” Verse 2, “Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women…” So it was men and women both, it wasn't just the men, “…and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.” So I'm sure there were young people there as well. Anyone who could actually hear and listen.

“And he read therein before the street that was before the Water Gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.” Again, after coming out diversity, you want to hear what’d we do wrong. What are we going to do right this time to make it work. “And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they made for the purpose; beside him stood…” a whole bunch of people and I'm not going to read their names and embarrass myself.

Verse 5, “Ezra opened the book in the sight of the people; (for he was above all the people;) and he opened it, and all the people stood up.”
They honored the occasion, “We have the Book of the Law.” They were showing honor to it there which is a good thing to do. “And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, ‘Amen, Amen!’ lifting up their hands: and bowed their heads, and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground.”

And then all these other men “caused the people to understand the Law; and the people stood in their places.” So, they read in the Book of the Law, of God distinctly and gave the sense and caused them to understand the reading. They talked about it. What did God mean by this? What was that Law?

Verse 9, “Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites, they taught the people,” said to the people, “‘This day is holy unto the Lord your God; mourn not, don't weep.’ For all of the people have wept, when they heard the words of the Law.” And realized what they hadn't been doing. “And he said, ‘Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, send the portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared; of this day is holy to our Lord; neither be sorry for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’"

Why was it holy? It's “The Levites stilled all the people, saying, 'Hold your peace, for the day is holy; neither be grieved.’" “God made it holy. Be happy.” When God makes something holy, you should be happy. “And the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send to portions and to make mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.”

They understood it. Do we understand? “And on the second day they were gathered together the chief of fathers of all the people, and the priests, and the Levites, under Ezra the scribe, even to understand the words of the law. And they found written in the law which the Lord God commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast in the seventh month.” Ah, they figured out this is the the Feast of Tabernacles. That's why the first day was holy.

“And that they should publish and proclaim in all the cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, ‘Go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written.’ So they went forth, they brought them, and they made booths, every one on the roof of his house, and in their courts, their courtyards, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the streets of the Water Gate, and in the street of Ephraim, the gate of Ephraim. And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: and for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel down so.”

Amazing how many times they would keep this Feast and it says they hadn't done it for decades, or centuries in this case. “And there was great gladness.” They were happy just like everybody's happy, we all go to the Feast, we all happy together. And you share a day and you fellowship and share a common ground, common belief, common laws, you're happy. “Also day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read in the Book of the Law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according to the manner.”

According to “what they'd read in the law.” It's what it said. They were obviously in Leviticus 23, for it says you have to do this. They read it, they paused, they thought on it. The Levites heard the questions that people had, and they explained it and they repeated it throughout the Feast, eight days. Why were they doing this? Let’s go back to Deuteronomy 31:9 if you would. But they're just excited about the Book of the Law. So they thought let just read it. Haven't had this a while, let's read it. Actually, there was more to it, they were actually following the law when they did this.

Remember they were a special people, their forefathers had become idolaters, and broken all sorts of laws, they bowed down to images, they'd done all sort of things against God. And now the people were learning through their oral tradition because it didn't each have their own Bibles, and they were reading these scriptures and passing it to their children. In chapter 31 verse 9, “Moses wrote this law, delivered to the priest the sons of Levi, which bare the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord; and to all the elders of Israel. And Moses commanded them, saying, ‘At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the Feast of Tabernacles,’” again God intended this on a regular basis, every seventh year, they hear the law read to them at the Feast.

Verse 11, “when all Israel has come to appear before the Lord your God in the place which He shall choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing.” They were doing what Moses said to do in the law. Verse 12, “Gather the people together, men and women, and children, and the stranger that is in your gates, that they may hear, that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and to observe to do all the words of this law: and that your children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live in the land of Jordan that you go possess.”

They were practicing what Moses said. You read the law, it's fascinating to me. Deuteronomy 17, go back a few pages. I find this fascinating, this instruction is given because God was their King, and when they ask for a king they… God says they rejected Him. But God seemed to know Israel will eventually want a king and so He actually put in the Book of the Law, what should be done.

For as God knew that His Son would be the true King and the only one who could live God's law perfectly, but there's a practical meaning in doing this, to know God's law. I'd say David probably came as close to it as any, and he had all sorts of character flaws along the way. He had to repent out just as all of us do. Interesting when you read about Moses said every seven years you read the law. Anyone who is 20 years old would have had the law, or 21 who had have read to them at least three times during their lifetime with that. But let's look at these specific instructions for a king.

Deuteronomy 17:14, it says, "When you are come to the land which the Lord your God gives you, and shall possess it, and shall dwell therein, and shall say, ‘I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me,’ you shall in any wise set him king over you, whom the Lord your God shall choose:” again they wanted God to choose that, "one from among your brothers shall you set king over you: you may not set a stranger over you, which is not your brother."

The laws were the same for the stranger, and for the sojourner, but no stranger was to be king over Israel. And what should they not do, 16, "You shall not multiple horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the Lord had said to you, ‘You shall henceforth return no more that way.’" Don't go back to Egypt. Don't look at their laws, what they did.

"Neither shall they multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold." When you read the Kings and Chronicles you'll see, they didn't do this. They tended to do the opposite of what God said. Verse 18, "And it shall be, when he sits upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priest and Levites.” So to be a king he had to write, handwrite the law to do that.

“And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, and to keep all the words of this law and these statutes to do them: and that his heart be not lifted up above brethren,” he had to esteem others. He was given a position. He had to be like Christ, a position of service, of giving, “and then he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the mist of Israel.” So he had to read it all the days of his life, why? To learn to fear the Lord, God.

Laws are not just about being structured, but they're about learning to fear God. A king had to have a practical knowledge of what the law was, and how to do it. Not just know it, but do it. He had to be humble before God, no ego. And he had to be a blessing to his nation, as the king, which is what happens when you do it justly, just as Jesus Christ did. That's our blessing from God the Father, a gift to us. And why did they write it? What did God know? Well, everybody that studies psychology and children, and various things, know that when you write something down you tend to remember it.

You notice every word that you write. Use the left part of your brain, the logical part of your mind. They found with handicapped children that they often had them write things down because as you write things down it connects the synapse in your brain. It starts to work that side of your brain, makes it work. How much do we write down? In this society here, we have a short attention span. We tend to want to see everything visually, you tend to want to do it quickly. And it's difficult. Do you ever write down Books of Law? It's quite a few of them, Genesis through Deuteronomy.

How about the Ten Commandments have you memorized and learned it? You've been to Sabbath school you probably learn the short version, with me I, first time I memorized the Ten Commandments was first grade. Exodus 20 all the way through, and “The Lord God spoke to Israel saying, ‘I'm the Lord your God, I brought you out of the land of Israel, out of the house of bondage: Thou shall have no other gods before Me. Shall not bow down to them, or serve them, or worship them: I, your Lord, I'm a jealous God, visiting the inequities until the children of the third and fourth generation." That always scared me because I wondered what my grandparents did.

“Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. Thou shall not keep the… take the name of your Lord in God in vain. The Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy. Six days shall you labor and do all your work, seventh day is the Sabbath, Lord your God. In it you should not work, you, your manservant, your husband, your wife, your kids, your ox, the cattle, a stranger.” Remember the Sabbath. Do we do that? Most of the world doesn't.

“Honor your father and your mother that your days be long on the lands which the Lord your God gives you.” First commandment with a promise, it's a good one. Same promise He gives you spiritually if you obey God, your Father. “Thou shall not kill, thou shall not commit adultery. Thou shall not steal. Thou shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's house. Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's wife, or his ox or his ass or anything that is thy neighbors.” Memorized that in 1st grade, 2nd grade, and 3rd grade, all the way through. One of the things that imperial that got deeply ingrained in all of us who went through a number of years. It's good, we should have that. Do we copy that?

We must be a people that have heard God's law, that have read it, and have it written, if not by hand at least written in your heart, and in your mind so you know it. Turn to Hebrews 8. Hebrews 8:8. We have a New Covenant that was given to us. In the Old Covenant, they didn't have God's Spirit. They had the law. Hebrews 8:8. "For finding fault with them, he said, ‘Behold, the days come, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not,’ says the Lord.”

They didn't do their part. It's a two-way covenant. “‘For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days,’ says the Lord. ‘I will put my laws in their mind, write them in their hearts: I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, “Know the Lord: for all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest.”’" It'd be a wonderful time when everyone knows.

“And I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” Because when you are made a spirit being, you'll have the character and you'll know the law. And it'll be second nature. Laws are written for people who don't keep them. People who really know God, they have true love that God has. You automatically love God and love your neighbor. You automatically keep the Ten Commandments. You automatically do what's right. Which is where we'll be at that point when we're apart of His family. This makes the law part of us. It's a miracle in us. God will be our God and we'll be His people. We'll be a kingdom of priests.

We're going to live in God's house. And in Zambia, I had to stay with a South Korean, about a third of a mile up the road from Lena and Lewis was an Airbnb although the second B wasn't there. We didn't have breakfast and it was interesting. He bought this house there and he decided he needed some help paying for it. He wasn't married you could tell because there was like one sheet on the bed and several other things that wives would know that husbands or people from Korea at least who look 40 years old and not married would not know.

And it was interesting we talked to him and when Larry Darden and I went to this door to go in, introduced ourselves, he had this pair of slippers and we were to take our shoes off and our shoes came off. We put them on the rack there like they're supposed to be. Those are the rules of his house. And he had those rules. If we refused, would we be showing respect to him if we refused the rules of his house?

Often people want to do things their own way and they want God to accept it. They may want to do things in your house and want you to accept it. That's not how it works. God dictates what it takes to be in His house. Just as much as you or I can dictate what we want for people in our house. I'd be offended if people came to my house and trashed it. If I gave them rules and they didn't follow any of those rules. I wouldn't consider they respected my house or me. I wouldn't consider they loved me. See, the respect is proved by compliance to the rules. God's love is proven by our compliance to His rules. People can say it and lots of people, "I love God." But they don't do it. The world of religions would have you believe differently that just putting Jesus name on something makes it okay.

Pick your own day and put Christ's name on it, it's fine. Christmas. Decide any day it's okay to worship. “Oh, yeah let's just do Sunday. It's okay. He said one day in seven, that's close enough.” Label some days that God instituted as Jewish and decide what Feast you want to make instead of it — like Easter. The world wants to do it their own away and wants God to accept it. But if we're to dwell in God's house, then God makes the rule. The world wants you to say just thinking about God or saying His name, however, you wish to do it, we're doing something that makes you feel good or whatever is acceptable to God, but that doesn't cut it. Wouldn't cut in your house, doesn't cut it in God's house either. Why? Because we need a standard. If we don't have the same standards it doesn't work. May seem to work for a while but in the end, people doing their own thing leads to chaos. They can modify things to suit their needs at will. And what suit your needs in one situation may be different the next.

In Africa, they're constantly changing governments and laws in different places and you can see the corruption. Gerald gave me some Zambian money a couple of years ago to take away. It's since been in the drawer for a year or two and we can't do anything with it so take it back. So I took it back over there and tried to give it to people and they wouldn't take it. Why? Because they change presidents the money wasn't any good anymore. How'd you like to have your money be no good because they changed presidents? Rules change. It was sad.

Paul in Romans 7:22 said that he delighted in “God's law according to the inward man.” Yeah, the inward man we want other people to do that. We think we want that but like he said, “I see another law in my members.” Our human desires, our human nature that we're trying to put down warring against those laws that we want to keep and they bring us into captivity, and into sin as Paul said in our flesh. We all have the desires of the flesh. That's why the carnal mind is enmity against God. It's a strong position against God. And His Spirit is calling… brings you into a frame of mind where you can understand that. And as you push those things out and let God in it changes the way you treat other people. Changes the way you act, changes the way you think. We have to deal with those things within ourselves.

Oftentimes people will justify it. Starts real young. It's really easy for teenagers too. They're probably the best at that "but everybody's doing it," or, "we're not hurting anyone else. It's just freedom of choice." It's hard to deal with your own thoughts. Having spent all my memories in the Church, mostly in headquarters areas or college campuses I've seen people compromise. Usually, it becomes a selfishness, they take matter in their own hands. They often ignore agreements that they make. And it's sad to see that.

I saw that as a child. I saw it growing up at each level, in the Church, unfortunately, and different times. And people saying things and thanking God would accept that. People justifying why they leave and take members with them. And expect God to accept that. He doesn't. He only has one set of laws for all people. One set of rules. Often people can see things in others but not in themselves. That's why Christ said, “Take the beam out of your own eye before you help someone else take the speck out of theirs.” It's usually easy to see other people's faults than our own. To know our own motives and we can have self-justification, but that doesn't cut it with God. We can claim a victim mentality, but that doesn't cut it with God.

We have to know His law and do the same for all. You made justification you're not doing what the law demands. You're not treating others as yourself. I'm not saying you don't help other people and tell them if they have a fault because you do, but examine yourself first, be right with God first. Our job is to be kings and priests. Our job is to be what God said of the ancient kings, to know His law and to do it.

We know Revelation 5:10, we read it every Feast. “God has made us kings and priests to our God: and we'll reign on the earth for a thousand years." Do we know the law well enough to pass it on the others? To do that? Revelation 20:4, He talks about the thrones that we're going to sit on. “And they sat on them,” it says, “were given judgment: and I saw the souls of them beheaded for the witness of Jesus, for the word of God, which had not worshiped the beast, or the image, or received his mark on their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until a thousand years were finished. This is the first Resurrection.” John saw something there, he saw a thousand years of one law being taught, God's law.

Not everybody's going to accept that. We know there's a war at the end of the Millennium. Just as people fight God, Christ when He returns, they'll fight at the end of that as well when Satan is loosed. Who's going to be there? Revelation 22:14, says who will be there. Revelation 22:14, “Blessed are they that do His commandments,” whether you want to call it love, love your neighbor and love God or the Ten Commandments or that. “They that do His commandments, that they might have right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.” We need to know God's laws. Not just know them, but do them. Apply them.

Who's outside? Verse 15, “Without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and, murderers, and idolaters, and whoever loves and makes a lie.” Anyone who violates the laws. I want to help clean up Africa, someday and the rest of the world for that matter. Asia, some of the poor countries there. No better off. And I want to, when I see them, I want them to have the Law of God in their heart. Like Deuteronomy 5:29, "O that such a heart were in them, that they would just fear Me and keep My commandments, that it might be well of them,” Moses wrote, Deuteronomy 5:29, “it might be well with them, and their children forever!” It will be will forever.

When it's finally all through, mankind indeed needs God's Kingdom and His laws desperately. They're in desperate need in the poverty-stricken areas in the world. But they're in desperate need in the wealthy areas of the world, just as much so. They just see the world through a different set of lenses, through wealth instead of poverty. Yes, the whole world has to see the God's law as the only way. And it becomes part of their nature. And it's not about this world's culture.

It's about becoming the son of God and learning His culture, in His way of life and adapting His and assimilating into His rule and into His family. We all want to assimilate into that. That's why you're here. That assimilation begins here and now, for you and me. If you don't assimilate, you won't be there. It's that simple.

So I ask, do you to know God and His laws? It's your job. If you're going to be a king, you have to know them. Today, people don't believe God. They don't even know or think there is a God. Those who think there is a God, don't know His laws. Most Christians can't even name the four Books of the Gospel. Sad. The world will have to come to the point of annihilation.

The world is arming itself right now. All across the border, every country that can is buying arms. It's getting ready for that final choice where they find out that man's laws whatever they were, whatever country, don't work. It has to be God's law. It will force them to another way. And they'll be taught them, you and I will help teach them and again they'll know the way to peace.

Hopefully, the majority of them will take and value that law as much as you and I do. It's interesting reading about Solomon. When God told David what would happen he had given Solomon 40 years of peace. It's amazing in that 40 years Solomon built virtually an empire so dramatic that all the kings and queens of the earth wanted to come and see it. After a thousand years of Millennium, it’ll be interesting to see what we built while we help others in preparing for the second resurrection. The people will come up.

To be able to teach those laws and produce harmony and peace for all mankind. It's what mankind always wanted, peace. But under his own terms and not under God's terms. But peace will be achieved. It's going to happen. There's no question. It's not a choice of whether it will happen. The only choice you have is whether you want to be part of it. It is going to happen. Make the right choice. Learn and practice God's law, now. Be ready to be a king in the future.