All right, you wanna grab your Bible tonight, if you would, turn to the book of Colossians. Colossians chapter two, I believe, is where we're starting. A very long introduction before we even get to our beginning text. Colossians three is what it is, Colossians chapter three. But we're continuing our study, we're finally getting back to it, on what portion, we're doing a study on the law and what portion of it we're still expected to keep today from what the Lord tells us. We're studying this in order to give you answers to the different groups of professing Christians that'll come up to you in the world today and try to lead you astray from time to time. We have the liberal Christians who want to say that we are not under the law, we are under grace, therefore I can do whatever I want, and they'll say don't judge me, because you know it's all liberty, it's all freedom now, now I can sin as much as I want, I'm not held accountable because if I accepted Jesus Christ I'm not going to hell, and if you've accepted Jesus Christ you're not going to hell, but that does not give you a liberty to sin as much as you want to. Galatians 5.13 says, For brethren, ye have been called unto liberty, only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. That was Galatians 5.13. So we do have liberty but we're not to use it as an occasion to the flesh, we're not to do things with our liberty that displeases God. So you've got one end of the spectrum that's the liberal Christians that say, I can do whatever I want. And then on the other end of the spectrum you've got groups of legalists out there who believe that they're are parts of the Old Testament law that we have to keep, even though we have been given Liberty and New Testament examples that go against still keeping part of these laws. That's kind of like the Seventh Day Adventist, and we'll talk about that here in a little while. But the question then arises on how do we determine which aspects of the law that we should follow and which ones do we have the Liberty or even Bible that tells us not to keep it anymore? How do we draw that distinction? Do we just pick and choose as we wish, and we just say, well, I like this, so I'm going to do it, but I don't like that, so I'm not going to do that aspect of it. No, I don't think that's going to be a good means there to determine what we should or shouldn't do. Do we just go by what our denomination teaches? You know, you just, you pick a denomination, you say, since my denomination says we should meet on Saturday instead of Sunday, that's why we meet on the Sabbath. Well, that's a horrible reason to do it. Well, do we just meet on Sunday because we're Baptists, and Baptists meet on Sundays? That's a horrible reason to do it. Okay, we need Bible to back it up so we actually have some credibility for why we do what we do. We don't do it because of tradition. We don't just say, well, traditionally we've done it this way, or, you know, my grandpa did it this way, my dad did it this way, and so we're going to do it this way, and that's not a good reason. We need Bible. We need a set standard to go by when considering the various aspects of the law to see if a church-age Christian today should still be keeping that part of the law or not. You say, well, we don't have to keep any part of the law. Well, you're still expected not to kill. You're still expected not to commit adultery. You're still expected not to steal, okay? There's basic aspects of the law that you know you're still supposed to keep today. So what is our set standards that we, how can we determine when reading our Old Testament which part of that law we should still be keeping and which one we should not? Well, you need to understand the best source to use to understand or define the Bible is the Bible itself. Okay, it's not gonna help you more by reading a book about the Bible than it is for you to just read your Bible. Okay, that's the best book to define. The Bible is the Bible itself We need what we need to do is compare scripture with scripture just like the Bible tells us to do Okay to find out what a New Testament Christian is to do We might you we must use the New Testament to help us understand the Old Testament commandments and laws So what we're doing since the New Testament, especially the Pauline epistles are written directly to Church Age Saints Which is what we are we look at those Pauline epistles which is Romans through Philemon there, we look at those and we compare them with the Old Testament scripture to see what parts we're needing to keep. What we're using is we're using our mail, which is Romans through Philemon, we're using our mail to see if someone else's mail has any application to us or not. And remember, the whole Bible is for you, but not the whole Bible is to you, okay? All of it's beneficial to us. I'm not saying cut out any portion of it. You keep it just like it is, but understand whose mail you're reading. So see, whatever you want to see, if an aspect of the law is still applicable to us today, you need to search the New Testament scripture and see if that part of the law is one of four different things. See if it's confirmed. Okay, that means that the disciples, especially Paul, they're still keeping that part of the law in the New Testament times. That's a good way to confirm that we're still supposed to do that. That's things like not killing, not bearing false witness, you know, no idolatry or idolatry, okay, either one. We see the disciples do this, so it's confirmed that we should still not do those things. We need to see if it's, it could either be confirmed, it could be clarified in the New Testament. That means it's explained in detail that we have liberty to do or to not do that aspect and why. We're using the New Testament to clarify the Old Testament to see if it applies to us or not. Okay, another way we can check and see, we can see if the New Testament shows that that is a completed aspect of the law. What we do is we see if scripture says that that part of the law was completed by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Matthew 5.17, I'll just give you the context here. We're going to have, I'm going to have you turn plenty of places. But in Matthew 5.17, Jesus said this, He said, think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I'm not come to destroy, but to fulfill. So there's aspects of the law that the gospel of Jesus Christ completed. And therefore we don't need to have to worry about trying to still fulfill those parts. If Jesus Christ took care of it, it's taken care of. Okay. And the last little section or area that we're gonna go over is C, we need to search the New Testament scriptures and see if that part of the law has been condemned. Okay, so we got confirmed, we got clarified, we got completed, and we got condemned. If that Old Testament law is condemned, that means that there are actually, there are parts of the law that are commanded, that we are commanded to no longer keep. We are not supposed to keep that aspect of the law. Okay, and we're going to look into each one of these. Now that we got through that, that's quite an introduction there, I want to go ahead and pray and then we're going to get into the scriptures here and just jump straight into it. So let's pray. So we're going to look at these different categories I kind of laid out there. We're going to look at confirmed parts of the law. This is something that we know that the Old Testament law tells us about that we are told again in the New Testament that yes, we need to still be keeping this, okay? If something is written as part of the Old Testament law and we have New Testament scripture that confirms that part of the law, then that part of the law is still sin and it's unacceptable to God. Okay, then we are to keep that part of the law still. Yeah, we have liberty, we don't have liberty according to the flesh. No, no, no, I'm messing that one up already. But we don't have liberty of sin, okay? And this is the case with many aspects of the law. Things like homosexuality and murder and fornication, most of the Ten Commandments, okay, we can go on and on. There's several of them on there. But if you got Colossians chapter three, I want you to look at chapter 3, verse 5. Let's read this portion here. This is part of our mail, Colossians chapter 3, starting in verse 5. The Bible says, "...mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness which is idolatry. for which things sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience, in the which ye also walked some time when ye lived in them." But now, there's a difference here, there's a change there in Jesus Christ now, but now you also put off all these, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communications out of your mouth, lie not one to another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. So here we have things like idolatry, blasphemy, and lying are mentioned here, and that's three of the Ten Commandments. So why I'm showing you this passage is we have a New Testament passage that is directed to church-age saints that reaffirms and it confirms that some of these aspects mentioned in the Old Testament, we're still expected to keep today. Things like idolatry and blasphemy and lying are just some of the ones mentioned here. Confirmed parts of the law are not hard to find if you read your New Testament, okay? And they often do not come into question, so we're not gonna spend a lot of time on them. There's several different areas and portions of scripture that we can turn to. We're not gonna spend the time on that tonight. But all you gotta do is read your New Testament. So that'll help you out on that. Confirmed parts of the law are pretty easy to decipher there. So let's look at the clarified parts of the law. Okay, clarified parts of the law. These are parts of the Old Testament law which we find liberty given in the New Testament passages by either direct scripture or by biblical examples of New Testament saints. This gives us clarity on it because there are groups out there that don't distinguish between what is Old Testament law, what is something that was kept, that was set aside specifically for the Jews. And they say, well we have to do that today. Well we need to clarify some of that. Good thing the Bible does that for us. Turn to Colossians chapter 2, Colossians chapter 2. This is a passage you want to put a marker here, because we're going to be all over the place, but this will be one we come back to. Colossians chapter 2, we're going to start in verse 13. Colossians 2.13, And you, being dead in your sins, and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses. blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross." That's talking about portions of the law, right? It's blotting out the handwriting and ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and He took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross, verse 15. and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days, which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ. You might ask, why is it that we do not have to keep every aspect of the law anymore? Because Jesus came and changed things. Okay, we don't have to keep that anymore. We don't have to sit there and try to live by the law, or fulfill the law, especially for salvation, because you can't get saved by keeping the law today. You can't do it. Look at verse 14, blotting out the handwriting and ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross. The cross of Jesus Christ changed things dramatically for us. And since Jesus did that, there are categories in which we are given complete liberty in. Okay, absolute liberty in, and they're mentioned there in verse 16. It says, since Jesus did this, He blotted out the handwriting, nailing it to His cross, verse 16, let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days. Okay, why is that? Verse 17, which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ. You don't have to, that's like keeping kosher, okay? We're not under the dietary aspects of the law anymore. That's something that's taken away. Praise the Lord, we can eat bacon. That is wonderful, okay? Pulled pork sandwiches, we are good to go, all right? Any creature we find out in the sea or anything like that, any shellfish or fish with scales or fish without scales or any of them, we just eat whatever we want. Bible tells us that in 1 Timothy 4.4 it says, That's 1 Timothy 4.4. That is a New Testament passage that clarifies our liberty to go against a portion of the law. Now we have New Testament mail to us saying you can eat whatever you want so long as you bless it first, right? You ask the blessing on it first. We don't bless the food, we ask the Lord to bless the food. So whether we eat or drink, we got complete liberty there. Next it says there in verse 16, let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink or in respect of an holy day. Okay, that means a holiday comes around, you can celebrate it or you can not celebrate it. Okay, there's holidays in the Bible that you can keep if you want to or not if you don't. Okay, Romans 14 verse 5, the Bible says, one man esteemeth one day above another, another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. Okay, we just had Christmas come around. Some of our brethren say you can't celebrate Christmas at all. It's got pagan origins. It does have pagan origins. I'll let you tell you that right now. It does have pagan origins, especially December 25th and stuff like that. You start looking in the history of it, you'll find out it has pagan origins, okay? Should a Christian celebrate it today? It's up to you. You can celebrate it or not. It's always a good time to celebrate Jesus Christ. If you wanna say I'm celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, I'm picking December 25th to do it, do it. Make it about him. Don't make it about credit card debt and getting more gifts than what you should or anything like that. Make it about him. One man esteemeth one day above another, another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. That was Romans 14, five. Let's see, there's areas that are given here in which we are given liberty and are actually encouraged not to keep. Okay, in verse 16, let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink or in respect of holy days or of the new moon. Say, what's the new moon? New moons, this was a time of special sacrifices or feasts held in the Old Testament on the first day of the month, okay? It was a special day like the Sabbath. They would have special offerings and different things going on on the first of the month. The Jews go by a lunar calendar, which is a 28-day-a-month calendar, okay? And so they had certain feasts and things that happened on the first day of the month. We don't have to do that, okay? We're never told to keep it in the New Testament. We have liberty and good reason actually not to celebrate anything on the new moon days, okay? Because there's a lot of different things going on now that you don't want to start celebrating and worshiping the moon or anything like that. So there's good reasons to steer clear of that. The Bible tells us about not There's bad things about horoscopes and different things like that. You don't want to get into that. So that we've got good reason not to keep that. Then we come up to the last one there in verse 16 and of the Sabbath days, the Sabbath, it is, it is specifically mentioned as a day for the Jews. Okay. The Sabbath, if you want to turn to Exodus chapter 31, Exodus chapter 31, because I mention this because we have Seventh Day Adventists. And if you ever wonder why in the world the Seventh Day Adventists go and worship on Saturday. Saturday is still the Sabbath, okay? Sunday is not the new Sabbath. Sunday is the first day of the week. Look on your calendar, okay? Sunday's the first one there. Sabbath is the seventh day. So we didn't change it. The Sabbath did not get moved. We worship on the Lord's Day. We'll get into that here in a little bit. Say, why is this important? I had a, It's been a little over a month ago now. The kids were sitting over there and Noah and Luke were not getting along. Believe it or not, brothers were not getting along. And it was Saturday. And Noah said, what day's the Sabbath? I said, the Sabbath is Saturday. And he looks over and he tells Luke, he goes, go pick up some sticks. You say, why is that a big deal? Because we went over in our family devotions a guy getting killed for picking up sticks on the Sabbath. So one brother was telling another brother, go ahead and go pick up some sticks as the Sabbath. Well, it doesn't apply to us, OK? He can go pick up as many sticks as he wants to. As a matter of fact, I've got a pile. He can go get some. But it's important that we kind of differentiate between these, okay? The Sabbath is something specifically mentioned as a day for the Jews. Exodus chapter 31, verse 16, just one of the many places, we won't hit it too hard. Exodus 31, 16, Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath. The children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath. We are not the children of Israel, okay? We're the church children of Israel, those people that can measure their physical lineage back to Abraham. We can't do that, we're Gentiles. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me, this God, you know, a sign between me and the children of Israel forever. We're not a children of Israel. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed." The Bible is very specific that the Sabbath is between God and the nation of Israel. We are not the nation of Israel. We have not replaced the nation of Israel. Okay, I can't tell you that enough. We have not replaced Israel. We are not new Israel. We are the church. We are the bride of Jesus Christ. Okay, that's what we are. We are not Israel. The only time you see the disciples going to the temple on the Sabbath day is to preach Jesus Christ to the Jews because the Jews were gathered still there on the Sabbath day. So Jesus went to the synagogue on the Sabbath to preach to the Jews and tell them what was going on. Okay, but after the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we don't worship on the Sabbath anymore. Okay, as a matter of fact, we are told that we are not to be judged in regards to the Sabbath in Colossians chapter two, and we have New Testament reasons for meeting on Sunday instead. Okay, turn to John chapter 20. John chapter 20. So why do we not keep the Sabbath? Number one, we know specifically it is for the nation of Israel. We are not the nation of Israel. Number two, we have biblical examples from the apostles not meeting on the Sabbath. You know, they're meeting on Sabbath to go and talk to the Jews, but whenever it comes to their personal worship, together with the Lord, there's preaching going on, that happens on Sunday. John chapter 20, look at verse 1, Jesus Christ rose on a Sunday. Okay, that's why we call it the Lord's Day. John 20 verse 1, the first day of the week, that's Sunday, the first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early when it was yet dark under the sepulcher, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulcher. Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulcher, and we know not where they have laid him. This is Jesus Christ rising early on the first day of the week. He rose on Sunday. Look at John 20, verse 19. Jesus rose on a Sunday. Jesus visited the disciples on a Sunday. John 20, verse 19. Then the same day, first day of the week, this Sunday, Resurrection Day, then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, When the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst and saith unto them, peace be unto you. So here we have the disciples met together. They're in a place together on the first day of the week. Jesus has just risen on the first day of the week. Jesus comes and sees them on the first day of the week. I think it keeps telling us that it's the first day of the week for a reason, okay? Turn to Acts chapter 20. Next book over to your right, Acts chapter 20. This one's the best evidence for why we meet on Sunday. Acts chapter 20, look at verse seven. Acts chapter 20, verse seven. And upon the first day of the week, When the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow, and continued his speech until midnight. So it's the first day of the week, it's Sunday, the disciples are meeting together, they're breaking bread, they're having a fellowship, and there's preaching going on. And Paul preached till midnight. We are a biblical church, we will get out at 12.01 tonight, I'm glad you're here. All right, we'll preach until midnight. There we go. So no, no, no, the doors are locked. You can't go anywhere. So we have biblical reasons for meeting on Sunday. So let's see. That's a clarified part of the law there. So we got the eating and the drinking, we got the keeping of the holy days, we got the new moons, we got the Sabbath. Let's look at another area that is specifically clarified for us in the New Testament. How about the area of circumcision? This is one that I had to wrestle with after having a son or two. You know, you sit there and you think, because they tell you, they say, okay, you want him circumcised? And you say, I didn't know you could not. They didn't tell me this. I was like, I haven't thought this one out. Am I not supposed to? Am I supposed to? What's going on? And you sit there and you question, especially when you're trying to do things based on the Bible. Do you just circumcise because the Old Testament, but that's the law? And you say, well. So you sit there and you question yourself on it. Because circumcision, it's given to Abraham, but it comes to him before the law. Genesis chapter 17, I want to show you this. See what the Bible says about circumcision because even though it starts with Abraham here in Genesis chapter 17, it then later becomes confirmed, a confirmed part of the law under Moses. Genesis chapter 17 look at verse 10, Genesis 1710, this is my covenant which ye shall keep between me and you and thy seed after thee every man child among you shall be circumcised. And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. This is God talking to Abraham. Here again it's set up for the children of Israel. He's making the deal straight with Abraham and this is before the law. I should have told you to keep a marker in John. We're going back to John. John chapter 7 this time. I got a lot of markers so I can maybe find it before you, I don't know. I don't have enough for every reference. So it's specifically talking about it's a covenant, it's Abraham's part of the covenant between him and God. God expects them to circumcise every male, him and his sons and all his sons after that. It's part of the covenant there. John chapter 7, and these aren't all the references, I'm just giving you some to show you that yes it is in here. John chapter 7 verse 22, Jesus speaking says this, "...Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision." Moses gave it. Here after Abraham with the law, or Abraham, and then later after Abraham, many years later with Moses, Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision, not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers. And ye on the Sabbath day circumcise a man. So Jesus Christ is saying here that Moses put circumcision in the law, well that got adopted in, that got great, great, great grandfathered in from Abraham, okay, and became part of the law. Verse 23, if a man on the Sabbath day receives circumcision that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry at me because I have made a man everywhere whole on the Sabbath day? So circumcision later becomes part of the law given to Moses. Well what does the New Testament say about circumcision though? Because we know it specifically has to do with the Old Testament. And we know it started even before the law, so since it happened before the law, are we still expected to keep it? You know, I mean, there's doubt there, but we have the New Testament to clarify it for us. Turn to Romans, Chapter 2. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, Chapter 2. I'm going to give you some scripture on what the New Testament says about circumcision. Romans 2, starting in verse 25. Romans 2, 25, for circumcision verily profiteth if thou keep the law. See, there's profit in circumcision if you're trying to keep the law. But if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. Therefore, if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? And shall not uncircumcision, which is by nature, if it fulfill the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision does transgress the law? For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly. Neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men but of God. So it says if your goal is to keep the law, circumcision is profitable, okay? If that's what you're trying to do, keep the whole law, then circumcision has some value to you. But we're not keepers of the law anymore, right? We're not trying to get saved by keeping the law. Keeping the law, even though you are not circumcised, is better. It's better if you're obeying the word of God, even if your body is not circumcised. That's what we're getting from this passage here. It's more important what you are on the inside than how you look on the outside. See, there's an answer in principle here because we went over, you know, I had the board out here and we had all the list of all these different laws and one of those, one part and aspect of the Old Testament law is that you can't wear clothing of diverse material. Okay, you can't wear wool and cotton together. They couldn't do that. They had to wear either all cotton or all wool or all silk or whatever else they were wearing, okay? They couldn't wear a garment of diverse sorts. But here we have an answer in principle that it's more important what's on the inside than what's on the outside. And circumcision, that's an outward showing of something, right? It's a shadow of something to come. It's a cutting away, which would later show the cutting away of the soul from the body that Jesus Christ did, called the circumcision made without hands. It's a showing of something to come, remember? It's a shadow of something to come. Circumcision is an outward appearance, the inward is more valuable. So circumcision doesn't profit us anymore. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter seven. Next book over to your right, 1 Corinthians 7. Let's make sure I'm not just making it up here on circumcision. We're getting clarity. Clarification, New Testament passages with an Old Testament portion of the law. 1 Corinthians 7.19. 1 Corinthians 7.19. Circumcision is nothing. And uncircumcision is nothing but the keeping of the commandments of God. The Bible just tells us circumcision is nothing. It's not profitable to us anymore one way or another. It's more important that we obey the Word of God. I'm going to read some to you, you can write them down if you like. Galatians 5.6, Galatians 5.6 says, For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love. The faith is more important than circumcision. Galatians 6.15, Galatians 6.15 says, For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. Okay? If you're in Jesus Christ, you're a new creature. Philippians 3.3 says, for we are the circumcision which worship God in spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Okay, Philippians 3.3, it says we are the circumcision which worship God in spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. It's clear based on New Testament scripture that there is no requirement that your sons be circumcised. It is more important that they have and they exercise faith in God. That's what's more important. If you want to say, well, circumcision is Jewish and I'm not Jewish, I don't want to have my son circumcised, have at it. If you say, well, Jesus was circumcised, so I want my boy to be circumcised, Have at it. Either way, it's not gonna make you more spiritual if you do, or less spiritual if you don't, or vice versa. Okay, so there we have some clarified aspects of the law in the New Testament. Let's look at some completed areas of the law given to us in the New Testament. Because remember, Matthew 5.17 says, think not that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets. I have not come to destroy, but to fulfill. That's Matthew 5.17, Jesus speaking. Let me ask you this, because I think I had someone actually ask me this not too long ago. They said, is it okay for a Christian to observe the Passover? If someone is celebrating the Passover in their home or whatever and they're a Christian, they're not trusting in the Passover to save them or anything like that, is it okay for a Christian to observe and partake in the Passover? That's a legitimate question. Well, it is something in the Old Testament that was specific to Israel. Okay, many things were. I'll give you the reference here and I'll read it to you. It's Numbers 9 verses 2 through 4. Numbers 9 verses 2 through 4 says, Let the children of Israel also keep the Passover at his appointed season. And the fourteenth day of this month, at even, ye shall keep it in his appointed season, according to all the rites of it, and according to all the ceremonies thereof, shall ye keep it. And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, that they should keep the Passover." Let's turn back to our original text in Colossians chapter 2. because we're trying to find out from New Testament passages what it is that we're supposed to be doing with Old Testament aspects of the law. Colossians chapter 2, remember in verse 16 and 17, we'll read it again. This is in regards to the Passover. Remember Colossians 2 verse 16, let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink or in respect of a holy day or of the new moon or the Sabbath days, which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ. So in verse 16 we have liberty given to us here because it's in meat and drink, right? That's what the Passover is, it's eating the meal there. But it says in verse 17 that specifically those things are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ. You see the Passover was a feast where the meat of the lamb was a shadow of things to come. Israel was to eat the Passover, they were eating the Passover lamb in anticipation for a lamb to come to be slain that would save them from death. Because remember, that's what the Passover was for. They killed the lamb, and it had to be a pure lamb. It had to be spotless. It had to be a yearling. And they had to take that blood, and they had to put it on the doorpost and everything. And when the death angel would come across there, he wouldn't go in and take the firstborn, right? That was a shadow of Jesus Christ. That was Jesus Christ who was coming to be the spotless Lamb of God that was slain for our sins that we wouldn't suffer death eternally in hell. 1 Corinthians 5.7 says this, you don't have to turn there but I want to give you the reference. 1 Corinthians 5.7 says, Purge out there for the old leaven that ye may be a new lump as ye are unleavened for even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Jesus Christ is called our Passover in 1 Corinthians 5-7. So the question is still, should a Christian partake in a Passover celebration today? No. Why not? We're not supposed to judge one another in meat or drink in respect of a holy day or anything like that, so why are you saying that we shouldn't take part in a Passover? Well, if Jesus is our Passover lamb, Why would we celebrate a feast that is in anticipation of a lamb to be slain? The whole reason for the Passover was to get Israel to look forward and say, hey, Jesus Christ is coming. There's coming one day a lamb that's going to take away your sins and keep you from eternal death. If we as Christians who know Jesus Christ is our Passover and that He was slain, why would we partake in a meal that's still looking forward to someone else that's going to take away our sin and save us from death? We're kind of going against what Jesus Christ already did for us by partaking in a Passover in anticipation. It's like we're saying what Jesus did was not enough. Because remember these things were a shadow of things to come. Jesus came. It's no longer a shadow anymore. Now it came into the light and that light is glorious, that light is Jesus Christ. A Christian partaking in the Passover today would be to say that Jesus' sacrifice was not enough and we're desirous of more. You know the last Passover that a Christian took part in in the Bible was Last Supper? That was, I know I can't use the term Christian there, but the believers there, the last Passover was the Last Supper. In the New Testament, sometimes whenever the Passover is mentioned, it is mentioned as still belonging to the Jews. It'll sit there and say, the Jews Passover, and everything, because it still makes that distinction in several different passages in the New Testament to let you know, no, that's Jewish. Do you realize the law for us in the New Testament is not to make us Jewish, it's to help us understand things about God, what he likes and what he doesn't like, the shadows of things to come to let us know, hey, God had this thing planned out from the get-go, okay? God knew that he was gonna send Jesus Christ to die as our Passover lamb. So he made this shadow of things to come thousands of years beforehand to let us know. So we'd be looking forward to it. So that was a completed portion of the Old Testament law. Jesus Christ, He finished it already. That's something He took care of. We shouldn't mess with that Passover lamb anymore. Let's look at the condemned portions of the law. I'll just give you one here real quick. How about sacrifices for sin? That is now a condemned portion of the law for us. So much of the Old Testament law had to do with sacrificing animals for sin. They'd have the heave offering and the wave offering and all these different offerings that they had, you know, rams and bullocks and lambs and he goats and all these different animals that they'd sit there and sacrifice for all these various different reasons. And we don't keep that anymore. That's an aspect of the law we don't keep anymore. I've been very curious and I hope I could meet and sit down and talk with a present day Jew and ask them, well, if you don't accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah, why aren't y'all still sacrificing animals? I'm curious about that. I'd like to ask them and see what they say about it. But see, Christians should not sacrifice any animals today for sin because it's condemned. You never see a New Testament saint sacrificing animals just like you don't see one keeping the Passover. This would show that you do not believe that Jesus' sacrifice was enough. If we're Christians today and we say, Well, it's part of the Old Testament law, and I wanna keep the law, I wanna please God, so I'm gonna start sacrificing these goats and things like that at my house. Well, that's showing that Jesus's sacrifice was not enough, and you're trying to add something on top of it to help Jesus's sacrifice pay for your sins. Turn to Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. Keep going to your right a little bit, Hebrews chapter 10. this whole topic and this whole study that we've been going over about the difference between the church and the Jews and everything, Old Testament law, how much should we still keep, all this. The Lord allowed Paul to write Hebrews, which helps us out a lot on that because he's specifically writing to a bunch of Jews to let them know that Jesus Christ is better. He's a better way. He's a better Passover. He's a better sacrifice. He's better all the way around. And he's explaining to the Jews who, remember, Jesus Christ came to first. He came unto his own and his own received him not. So Paul is helping the Jews understand who and what Jesus is here in the book of Hebrews. Hebrews 10, look at verse 1. For the law, having a shadow of good things to come. Here it is, the law being a shadow again. a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things. can never, with those sacrifices which they offered year by year, continually make the comers thereunto perfect." He's saying, okay, Old Testament sacrifice in the law is a shadow of good things to come. It would have never made them perfect, doesn't matter how many lambs or bulls or anything they sacrificed, they would have never got complete atonement for their sins. Okay, it was a temporary covering is what they got. Verse 2, for then would they not have ceased to be offered. because that the worshippers, once purged, should have no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sin every year." They had to keep offering those sacrifices because they kept sinning. Verse 4, "'For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice an offering thou wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written of me, to do thy will, O God. above when he said, Sacrifice and offering, and burnt offerings, and offerings for sin, thou wouldest not, neither has pleasure therein, which are offered by the law. Verse 9, Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taken away the first law, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through an offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. There's a better sacrifice. There's the one that will take away sin completely. One that doesn't have to get offered every day or every week or any other time. It's one offering, one sacrifice once for all. Verse 11, and every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifice which can never take away sins. But this man, Jesus Christ, but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God. So Jesus Christ was the once for all sacrifice for sins. If we try to take that portion of the Old Testament law and say, I'm going to start sacrificing animals now, you're spitting in the face of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You're saying, I am adding on to his salvation. His atonement was not complete. I need to sacrifice animals. You say, why is this important? Are there Christians out there that are sacrificing animals today? No, not that I know of. But there's a huge denomination and group of professing Christians today who are saying that they're sacrificing Jesus Christ each and every week. That's the Roman Catholic Church. They believe in something called the doctrine of transubstantiation. They believe that the little cracker that they use every week, they believe that that literally turns into the body of Christ. And they are eating Jesus Christ every week, and the wine that they drink, the fermented wine that they drink, they're saying, that is Jesus's blood. It literally turns into the blood of Jesus Christ. And so whenever they're eating that, when they're taking communion each and every week, they are eating Jesus, and they're drinking his blood, and they're saying, this is a sacrifice for my sins for this week. That's blasphemy. That goes completely against what we just read. Jesus Christ was the one sacrifice for sins forever. He was sufficient. He was all-sufficient. That is a part of the law we should not keep. That displeases God because we're spitting in the face of Jesus Christ. That's important. We've got the Seventh-day Adventist that we were talking about earlier. Now we've got the Roman Catholic Church. That's why it's important that we understand these things from the Bible. Because listen, the law is still beneficial for Christians today to know. It's going to help you. It's going to help you know things about God. It's going to see all these shadows and types of things that we now know because we have the New Testament. And we knew it just helps you appreciate Jesus Christ so much more whenever you see how much he fulfilled, which was all of it. And you see all this and you say, wow, that points to Jesus. Oh, look at this part, that points to Jesus. Oh, the Passover lamb, that points to Jesus. All these sacrifices, that points to Jesus. And you just, you see it and it clicks and it helps you. But you just need to realize about this, just realize we are not at liberty to go against most of the law. But neither are we expected to keep all of it either. And none of it has to do with our salvation, it has to do with our fellowship with Jesus Christ. And to find out what parts of the Bible apply to you still and what God still wants you to keep, you need to search the New Testament scriptures and see if they confirm or they clarify or they complete or they condemn that portion of the law. It's going to help us. We compare scripture with scripture. That's how we get proper understanding and we're not relying on tradition or preferences or other people's opinions or anything else. So we're going to stop there for tonight, and we're going to get ready to grab our prayer lists.