From Greenville, South Carolina, we present, Let the Bible Speak. Let the Bible Speak is the radio ministry of Faith Free Presbyterian Church, preaching Christ in all his fullness. We're delighted that you have joined us for Let the Bible Speak. In a few minutes, we'll be hearing from Dr. Alan Cairns, Minister Emeritus of Faith Free Presbyterian Church in Greenville, South Carolina, as he continues his second message in a series of studies in the law of God. This is a subject about which there's a great deal of confusion, even among Christians. As Dr. Cairns will show, the Bible is very clear about the relationship between law and grace. Having dealt with the reasons why God gave the law, Dr. Cairns is now emphasizing the permanence of God's law. In presenting the evidences for the law's permanence, Dr. Cairns began by disposing of the idea that the law began at Sinai with the giving of the Ten Commandments. God gave his law to our first parents in the Garden of Eden, and he maintained it throughout the period of the patriarchs. And throughout the Old Testament, there is a consistent emphasis upon keeping God's law. Christ Himself declared that the law would not pass away until all was fulfilled. The Apostle Paul declared that God has written His law on the hearts of all men. Indeed, God's moral law will be His standard of judgment as all stand before Him. Consequently, we'll see that because the law is still in effect, no one can avoid its authority. We'll hear from Dr. Cairns in a few minutes. First, we invite your attention to this brief devotional thought from C. H. Spurgeon's collection called Morning by Morning. This morning's text is found in Zechariah chapter 1 and verse 8. The myrtle trees that were in the bottom. The vision in this chapter describes the condition of Israel in Zechariah's day. But being interpreted in its aspect towards us, it describes the church of God as we find it now in the world. The church is compared to a myrtle grove flourishing in a valley. It is hidden, unobserved, secreted, courting no honor and attracting no observation from the careless gazer. The church, like her head, has a glory, but it is concealed from carnal eyes, for the time of her breaking forth in all her splendor is not yet come. The idea of tranquil security is also suggested to us. the myrtle grove in the valley is still and calm, while the storm sweeps over the mountain summits. Tempests spend their force upon the craggy peak of the Alps. But down yonder, where flows the stream which maketh glad the city of our God, the myrtles flourish by the still waters, all unshaken by the impetuous wind. How great is the inward tranquillity of God's Church! Even when opposed and persecuted, She has a peace which the world gives not, and which, therefore, it cannot take away. The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keeps the hearts and minds of God's people. Does not the metaphor forcibly picture the peaceful, perpetual growth of the saints? The myrtle sheds not her leaves. She is always green. And the church in her worst time still has a blessed verdure of grace about her. Nay, she has sometimes exhibited most verdure when her winter has been sharpest. She has prospered most when her adversities have been most severe. Hence the text hints at victory. The myrtle is the emblem of peace and a significant token of triumph. The brows of conquerors were bound with myrtle and with laurel. And is not the Church ever victorious? Is not every Christian more than a conqueror through him that loved him? Living in peace Do not the saints fall asleep in the arms of victory? Once more all the Savior paid redemption's price, When upon the cross He made the sacrifice. it's finished For the blood of Christ is stronger than you know. He has won the battle, let us all rejoice. Raise his name, for his fame he hears for his name is finished. The battle is over, it is finished. Jesus Christ has died, salvation is complete. Follow to his cross and worship at his feet. Listen to his shout, resounding far and near. Still it's heard, trust his word, never fear. Though the battle rages, we bear it secure With the King of Heaven, victory is sure Down the halls of time, His words forever ring Hear His voice, make your choice What is it that constitutes revival? Is it a week of special meetings held at a local church? Is it an organized effort at door-to-door evangelism? Certainly the greatest revival in the history of the Christian Church took place on the day of Pentecost. Down through the centuries there have been remarkable visitations of God during which thousands were gloriously saved. Times such as the Protestant Reformation, the revivals in England and Wales under John Wesley and George Whitefield, the Great Awakening in America associated with Jonathan Edwards were times of genuine spiritual revival. The common factor in all of these events was an undeniable demonstration of the power of God rather than the ingenuity of man. In the early 1950s, such a revival occurred on the Isle of Lewis, one of the Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland. In the course of several years, hundreds of people were converted to Christ and many churches had to be built to take care of them. Again, the Holy Spirit of God came down in power. The preacher during those days was the Reverend Duncan Campbell, Yet what took place on Lewis was not due to his pulpit skills, but to the overwhelming moving of God among the people. Strong men, hardened sinners who mocked the preacher, were suddenly struck to their knees under conviction of sin. Young people in a local dance hall left their frivolity and ran to the churches crying for mercy upon their souls. Let the Bible Speak is pleased to make available CD copies of the personal testimonies of people who came to salvation in Jesus Christ during those revival times on the Isle of Lewis. Also, we offer a CD containing Duncan Campbell's own account of that remarkable visitation by God. The CDs are $5 each, which includes postage and handling, or you may order both CDs for just $8. To obtain your own copy, you may simply send a check for either or both CDs made out to Let the Bible Speak, 1207 Haywood Road, Greenville, South Carolina, 29615. That's Let the Bible Speak, 1207 Haywood Road, Greenville, SC 29615. Just request the CDs of The Revival on the Isle of Lewis. If you wish, you may email ltbs at freeprez.org. That's ltbs at freeprez.org. Or you may telephone us toll free at 866-877-ltbs. That's 866-877-5827. You will be greatly blessed as you listen to these accounts of the power of God at work. Yeah. How do you sum up the four commandments that start the Decalogue? God says, sum them all up. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart. How do you sum up the duty of the second table of the law? Our duty to our fellow man. Leviticus 19, verse 18, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Those, my friend, are two commandments that will never pass away while we live on this earth. Nobody in his right senses could ever argue that there is the slightest abrogation of those commandments. Love your God with all your heart. What does it mean to love God with all your heart? Have no other gods before Him. Make no graven image. Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, and remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. That's what he means by it. God summarized the moral law in two commandments of permanent and enduring value. Then he repeated the moral law through the prophets. You know, the original keepers of the law were the priests. Prophets came later. It appears to me that because of the weakness and the folly and the backsliding and the worldliness of the priesthood, God instituted the prophetic office. I suppose you could argue that Moses was the prophet, par excellence, and that would certainly be true. But after him, God said, it's the priest's job. They didn't do it. They didn't look after the law. So God raised up one prophet after another. What was the word and the message of the prophets? Time forbids that we go through a whole list of texts. But take the first book of the prophets, the prophet Isaiah, chapter 1. Verse 10, give ear to the law of our God. Take the last book of the prophets, the book of Malachi, chapter 4, verse 4. What does he say? Remember the law of Moses, my servant. Those, as it were, are the bookends of the prophetic message. The prophetic ministry starts and ends with the exposition of God's law and the call to get back to God's law. God repeated the moral law through the prophets. And He established the moral law in Christ. As we have read tonight, Jesus said, I have come not to destroy it, but to fulfill it. He established it in Christ. Then, he confirmed the moral law through the apostles. It's very interesting that every one of the ten commandments is repeated in the New Testament, including the fourth commandment. How often we are told that all ten find a place in the New Testament except the commandment of Sabbath observance. But Hebrews 4.9 is very clear. We'll come to it in due course. There remaineth therefore a rest, a sabbatismus. There remaineth leftover from what has gone before. There remaineth a keeping of the Sabbath for the people of God. Why? Verse 10 tells you why. In the Old Testament, they kept the Old Testament Sabbath because it was the commemoration of God's creation act. Hebrews 4, 9, and 10, we keep the New Testament Sabbath because it is the commemoration of Christ's redemption act. But all ten commandments are confirmed in the New Testament. Then God writes the moral law on the hearts of men. The Gentiles, which have not the written mosaic law, show the works of the law written in their heart. And God puts the moral law into the hearts of His people. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws in their mind and write them in their hearts. When God saves a man, listen, he writes his law in his heart. The unsaved man has the law of God on his heart as a witness against him. The saved man has the law of God written on his heart as a delight to his soul. God intends his law to be permanent. The last item of evidence I will produce is this. This, to me, is a very solemn and soul-searching thing. God is going to use the moral law as His standard for judgment. Listen carefully to the words of Ecclesiastes 12 and verse 13-14. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil. We today entertain very loose views of the judgment of God. I said last week that even in our fundamental churches there is a striking absence of the fear of God. There are people who can take a Bible in their hand and they can read of the reality and the terror of God's judgment. And they never, never tremble. When you stand before God, my friend, the books will be opened. And the first book that will be opened will be the book of God's law. I want you to understand that. God does not open the door to heaven for any man by abrogating one tittle of the moral law of God. He will open this book of the law, and He will open the book of your life. Sinner, unsafe man, woman, boy or girl, blithely tripping your way through life, going towards eternity without a thought of your soul's need or without a thought of your standing with Christ. Let me tell you, when God opens the book of the law and opens the book of your life, unless he finds in both your nature and your practice an absolute righteousness, a perfection with which the law can thank no fault. That law will be the witness to your destruction. God gave the law at the very commencement of time. God will maintain the law to the very day of judgment. I suggest to you that that is evidence aplenty that God's law is permanent. Now, let's come to the consequence of that truth. What does it mean to us? Simply this, that it's still in effect. This law is in effect. There is no man on God's earth, be he saved or unsaved, who can avoid the authority of the law of God. Oh, it is true, and I thank God it is true, that believers stand in a very different relationship to God's law than do unbelievers. To sinners, the law of God is still the covenant of works. As I indicated on the Judgment Day, it demands absolute, perfect conformity in nature and in practice to all its enactments in their words, in their inner meaning, and in their spirituality. No man can meet that standard. But that's the standard for sinners. The law of God stands as a covenant of works. To the people of God, thank God, it is no longer a covenant of works, for Christ has fulfilled that law. He is the end of the law for righteousness to his believing people. To us, the law of God stands as a rule of righteous living. But the truth I want to get over, and I want it to live in your heart as you leave this meeting tonight, is that God's law is still in full effect. The fall did not abrogate it. There are some people who imagine that because by his fall man became incapable of obeying the law, that he no longer lies under any obligation to it. It has been put like this. God would not come to a man who can't see and command him, see, otherwise I will condemn you. So God will not come to fallen man and say to him, keep the law or I will condemn you. But that misses the point entirely. How stupid for men to think that the sin of breaking God's law actually frees you from any obligation to God's law. How crazy that is. Even in human law, inability does not lessen responsibility. And we all want to live by that. If some drunken fool gets behind the wheel of his car, and does what I read a man did a couple of years back, mows down a woman and her children out for a quiet Sunday afternoon walk on an almost deserted road, wipes them out, if some Drunken fool does that. Do you really want the law to say, well now, he didn't have the ability to judge distance and space. He didn't have the ability to see what was happening and take the right decision. No, no. His ability and his inability are willful and wicked. I want to tell you, my friend, God holds you as truly responsible to his law, to the necessity of an absolutely perfect obedience, as he did Adam in the Garden of Eden. You've been listening to Let the Bible Speak, the radio ministry of the Free Presbyterian Church of North America. We hope that you've enjoyed and benefited from today's program. We're here as your servants for Christ's sake. If we can be of any further help to you in the things of God, we invite you to contact us. If you would like to receive our booklet, A New Beginning, a booklet that sets forth God's way of salvation in clear, concise, and biblical ways, you may have it free of charge simply for the asking. Our mailing address is Let the Bible Speak, 1207 Haywood Road, Greenville, SC 29615. That's Let the Bible Speak, 1207 Haywood Road, Greenville, SC 29615. If you wish, you may call us toll free at 1-866-877-LTBS. That's 1-866-877-5827. You may email us at info at faithfpc.org. That's info at faithfpc.org. Also, we invite you to visit our website at www.faithfpc.org. If you would be interested in considering the establishment of a free Presbyterian church in your area, by all means let us know. Once again, you may call us toll free 1-866-877-5827. On behalf of Dr. Alan Cairns, this is Charles Kelch saying thank you for listening and inviting you to join us Monday through Friday at this same time as we Let the Bible Speak.