Which Old Covenant Laws Should We Observe Today?

Well, thank you, Mr. Mango. Happy Sabbath to all of you. I didn't even get a chance to sit down in one of the new chairs, but I hope you're comfortable in them. It was a long time coming, and we certainly appreciate everyone who pitched in on Thursday and helped us to get these all set up like they are. What a blessing it is to not only have a facility for us to be able to meet on each Sabbath, but to be so comfortable in the facility that God has given us. So that's very exciting.

Well, today I would like to answer a question that I am often asked, especially by new people. It's an excellent question. And again, this is something that I'm often asked by people, especially as they're coming to a knowledge of the truth, and they're studying their Old Testament, they're studying the New Testament.

The sermon today actually ties in with the two previous sermons I had on the blessings of the New Covenant. So here's the question that I'm often asked. How do we know which laws and statutes and precepts and instructions from the Old Covenant or the Old Testament should be observed in the New Testament? Well, that's really an excellent question because much of the Bible, most of the Bible, is the Old Testament. And there are all kinds of laws. Hundreds of laws and requirements and statements made in the Old Testament that God had asked in that relationship for people to observe and do. So how do we know which ones of those were carried over into the New Testament, which we obviously should be doing today? Well, to begin to answer that question, I think we need to understand the role of Jesus Christ. So let's begin by going to Matthew chapter 26, beginning in verse 26. Matthew chapter 26 verse 26. This is Jesus instituting the New Testament Passover, and he gives them two brand new, very powerful symbols that we'll discuss in more detail as we get closer to the Passover this year. Beginning in verse 26.

It's Jesus Christ himself who is the bridge between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. He's the messenger of the New Covenant. Being born under the Old Covenant, he was circumcised. He visited the temple. He faithfully observed the written instruction and the laws of the Old Covenant, while at the same time rejecting the oral law that the Pharisees had tried to make as authoritative as the Old Testament itself. He rejected the oral laws of the Pharisees. But at the time of his death here, we see that he introduces the New Covenant because he was the messenger of that covenant.

Let's see an example of that going to Hebrews chapter 8 and verse 8. Let's see an example of the author of the book of Hebrews, who very well may be the Apostle Paul, talking about the introduction of this New Covenant and the contrast with the Old.

Hebrews chapter 8 and verse 8. The author of Hebrews says, because finding fault with them, so the fault wasn't with the Old Covenant per se. They agreed to it. God said, here's the covenant. If you do these things and obey me and respect me, I will give you physical blessings and I will give you a land and I will make you a model nation. And they said, yes, okay, we want to be part of that covenant. So the problem wasn't the covenant.

The problem was they had difficulty obeying it and keeping that covenant. So again, because finding fault with them, Israel repeatedly broke the Old Covenant. He says, behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that 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 did not continue in my covenant. And I disregarded them, says the Lord, for this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days.

This phrase talking about the end time. We know it's after the return of Jesus Christ that it will be offered to all of Israel. Says the Lord God, I will put my laws in their mind and write them on their hearts. In other words, they'll never forget God's law. It'll be part of who they are internalized. It'll be part of their very being. They'll desire to keep God's law. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.

For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. You know what Jesus called that, by the way? The remission of sins. We just read about that in Matthew 26. Verse 13, that he says, a new covenant he has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

Now this promise of the new covenant, the world is still waiting for, and it's not going to happen for most of the world until after the return of Jesus Christ. But you know what? It's already happened in the new covenant church. God gives his spirit beginning of the day of Pentecost in 31 A.D.

God gives his spirit to his people, and we immediately become part of that new covenant. That's why Jesus said there in Matthew chapter 26 that, My is the blood of the new covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins, and that includes you. You now are part of that new covenant. Now at the time of this writing, the temple was still standing in Jerusalem.

For the church, many aspects of the old covenant were fading away as the Spirit of God was leading the church rather than relying on written codes and precepts and laws. Again, this book was written to Hebrew believers before the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D.

I'm going to read verse 13 from the new international version. By calling this covenant new, he has made the first one obsolete, and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear. It hadn't disappeared yet because the temple was still standing. People were still going to the temple to worship.

But regarding this becoming obsolete, let's see that Jesus Christ himself predicted this. You know, the temple, and I think we often fail to realize this, the temple was the center of Judaism. The temple complex, including the sacrifices, were connected to the temple. The priestly temple duties were connected with the temple. There were so many laws, hundreds of laws relating the customs and rituals which were associated with the temple. It was the center of Jewish life. So let's go to Matthew chapter 24 and see something that Jesus said that made people's jaws drop because it was contrary to what they wanted to hear. Matthew chapter 24 verses 1 and 2.

Matthew chapter 24 verses 1 and 2. Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple. And his disciples came up to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, Do you not see all these things assuredly? I say unto you, Not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down.

Now we don't have the time to go to what Jesus said in Luke's account. Luke chapter 19 and verse 44. Jesus said it would happen in the lifetime of those who were hearing him say that. And in the lifetime of their children. He uses that phrase, those people here and their children. This is so powerful, so shocking to the Jews that it was even brought up during the trial of Jesus before his crucifixion. And he claims that the temple is going to be destroyed. It was like sacrilege that people didn't want to hear that. So even the false accusers brought it up at the time of his trial. And sure enough, 40 years after his death and resurrection, the Roman general Titus did this very same thing to Jerusalem in the temple in 70 AD. Again, this may shock you, something else that may shock you, but there's no account of Jesus himself actually offering a sacrifice in the temple in his lifetime. Have you ever considered that? That's a topic I want to answer during the spring holy days or as we lead up to the holy days. I'm going to say that again. There's no account of Jesus himself actually offering a sacrifice at the temple. Now he suggested other people do it. His parents did it when he was eight days old. They went to the temple and sacrificed a couple of doves. When he healed the lepers and one man came back and was thankful, he said, go to the priest and fulfill the ceremony. And part of that ceremony would have included a sacrifice by that former person who had been diseased.

But Jesus himself, there's no indication that he personally ever offered a sacrifice at the temple. The understanding of the temple's future and what Jesus said here was passed on to the early church. And they knew that the temple had a limited lifespan. So let's see something else. Go to Acts 7.

And I read this scripture the other night during the Bible study, part of Stephen's sermon. And this also made jaws drop. As a matter of fact, this was the straw that broke the camel's back, that resulted in Stephen being stoned.

What he says here to Jewish sensitivity and ears at the time is shocking. It sounds like sacrilege. Here's what he says. We're going to pick it up in Acts 7 and verse 47.

He says, but Solomon built him a house. He was up to this point giving a history of Israel, the history of the patriarchs, and showing how they were always persecuted, and implying that the New Testament church was being persecuted as well by the Jewish people.

Verse 48, however, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands. What?

Verse 48, Heaven is my throne, and Earth is my footstool. What house will you build me? How can you build anything to contain me? God says.

By the way, the construction of the temple, you know, you've probably tired of Mr. Thomas using the refrain, the difference between what God wills and what God allows.

God's will was that he would be simply worshipped in a tabernacle.

And eventually, because the proclivity of Israel was we want to be like all the other nations, and Egypt had temples to their gods, and the Canaanites had physical buildings, temples to their gods. Israel wanted to be like everyone else.

And God said, okay, eventually he wouldn't let David do it, but he said you can prepare for it and okay. But early on, when the first idea came up, God said, no, don't do it. It's not important to me.

And God, we could say, He gave in. He allowed the temple to be built. But what Stephen is saying here is that Heaven is God's throne. No building can contain the magnificence and the awesomeness of the great God.

Now, let's pick it up again. We'll read verse 49. Heaven is my throne. The earth is my footstool. It's what I rest my feet on. It's not the center of my universe, God says. It's just where I rest my feet upon.

What house will you build me, says the Lord? Or what is the place of my rest? Has my hand not made all these things? You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears. You always resist the Holy Spirit as your fathers did, so do you.

Again, I want to emphasize that I don't think we appreciate how shocking this was to the Jews of the day. The temple was everything to them. It was the center of their history, the sacrificial system of the Jews. It was considered sacrilege for this to be said at this time, even today.

Orthodox Jews gather at the Wailing Wall in Old Jerusalem. The Wailing Wall is the only remains of the retaining walls that surrounded the Old Temple Mount. Every day, it's a place of prayer and pilgrimage sacred to the Jewish people. Almost 2,000 years later, after the time when this was said.

So imagine how shocking it was when the temple was still standing for something like that to be said.

So I want to emphasize that the early church respected the temple, and they would meet there as long as it stood, and they would gather there. But they never idolized it like the Jews did. They were all aware of what Jesus had said. Obviously, Stephen, who was a deacon, was aware of what Jesus has said, and that is the temple was temporary. It's soon going to pass and be no more. And everything associated with it, laws, precepts, rituals, priests, on and on and on and on, are all going to cease. They're obsolete. They're part of that covenant spoken about in the book of Hebrews. They knew it was temporary and would soon come to an end. By the way, I don't know if you've ever thought about this, even in the second temple, the one that Jesus visited and the one that Jesus preached in, do you realize in the second temple there was no Ark of the Covenant present in that temple?

When the Babylonians had invaded and took the Jews captive into captivity, the Ark of the Covenant disappeared. No one knows where it is today. Now, I saw a movie, and it might be in a government warehouse.

If you've ever seen a movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark.

But it's gone. No one really knows where it is. Some people believe, and I hope they're right, that it was hidden in a cave under the temple, and it will be discovered someday and brought out.

That'd be awesome. That'd be wonderful. I'd really love to see it, as it actually is.

But, my point is, is that in the very temple that Jesus walked in the second temple, there was no Ark of the Covenant which represented God's presence in that temple.

What they did is they raised up the floor where the Ark should have been. They just raised the floor up, but they had no Ark to put on it at all.

So my point is, is that the Church of God was already preparing and prepared for the Old Covenant becoming obsolete.

And this included all the sacrifices and priestly roles and duties, the Old Covenant rituals, temple rules, much in the law of Moses, as recorded in Leviticus and Numbers in Deuteronomy.

So let me get back to my original question. How do we know what would remain?

Well, the answer about what would remain is not as complicated as people like to make it.

People like to make it more complicated than it really needs to be. So what would remain?

Well, the answer is let's give the early Church some credit. Let's believe that they were guided by the Spirit of God.

Let's believe that they set an example for us so that we can understand what part of the Old Testament is carried over into the New Testament and we should still be observing today.

And when I say that, I mean the example of the early Church of God before 150 AD when it had become Romanized and all elements of Jewish leadership had been eradicated from the emerging church in the Gentile world.

After 70 AD in the fall of Jerusalem and the Temple, you don't see a lot of Jewish leaders anymore. You see Gentiles coming up and becoming authoritative.

And by the time you get to 150, 280, they're all Gentiles. They all have Greek names. They all grew up in Greek culture.

And they all have a pagan background before they were supposedly converted. And they all bring a lot of these ideas from Plato into the church.

So when I say the early New Testament church, I mean the ones in which they are recorded here in this book that we call the Bible that we call Scripture.

So let's take a few minutes and look at the book of Acts and see what this example is of the early New Covenant Church after Jesus ascended to heaven.

We'll begin in Acts 2, verse 1. Acts 2 and verse 1.

It says, And when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place, and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing, mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

And I'm going to stop right there because that is the point that I wanted to bring out. And the point is that they, the New Covenant Church, is following the example of Jesus Christ, what he did in his lifetime, and the instruction that Jesus Christ told them. Terry, wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit will come upon you. So they were observing the Holy Days. That's an example that they leave for us. So if we want to know one of the things that are part of the Old Covenant that's carried over into the New Covenant, it's the observance of the Holy Days. And we'll see that again repeated a number of times by Paul's example. Let's go to Acts chapter 10 and verse 10. Acts chapter 10 and verse 10. Peter's vision before he meets Cornelius, he falls into a trance.

And he sees something a lot of people like to use as an excuse that we can eat unclean meats. And nothing could be farther than the truth. As a matter of fact, Peter said, no way. I wouldn't do that. And that wasn't the moral of the story. The unclean animals he was told to eat were a metaphor for the fact that he should not consider any human being as unfit or unclean, because we are all the children of God with potential. To be called in the live God's way of life. Chapter 10 verse 10. Then he became very hungry and he wanted to eat. But while they made ready, he fell into a trance and saw heaven opened. And an object like a great sheet bounded four corners, descending to him and let down on the earth. And in it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, birds of the air, and a voice came to him.

Rise, Peter, kill and eat. But Peter said, not so, Lord, for I have never eaten anything common or unclean. He refused, absolutely refused to do it, even though he was told repeatedly in this trance. Peter was adamant about not eating anything unclean, about not eating unclean animals, because the moral of this story we're told here in verse 28, if you'll take a look at verse 28, is not to call any man, any person, unclean. That was really the moral of the story. So we see the example here that Peter wants to have nothing to do with eating unclean meats. Acts chapter 15, circumcision became an issue. And I guess it's only natural as an issue. After all, Jesus was circumcised.

Hebrew men for thousands and thousands of years have been circumcised. It was the way that you sealed the Old Covenant for a person, was to be circumcised. So many people naturally thought it had to be part of the New Covenant. So they had a meeting, a ministerial council. This is 49 A.D., 18 years after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. 49 A.D. is when this happened. And the question was, is circumcision required for salvation? Do you have to be circumcised in order to be saved? And here's what James said, concluding the consensus of the council, Acts chapter 15 verse 19, Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those among the Gentiles who are turning to God. But we write to them to abstain from, and you're going to mention four things that are within the law of Moses. Now, are all things within the law of Moses to be observed? No. But these particular four things were extremely abhorrent to a religious Jew, someone who was in the church and of a Jewish background. From things polluted by idols, something that formerly had been offered to a pagan god, an idol, maybe the same attitude we might have why we wouldn't observe Christmas or Easter or many of these rebranded pagan holy days today, things polluted by idols from sexual immorality, from things strangled and from blood. Not to drink blood, not to eat bloody meat. That was also carried over from the law of Moses, that they wanted to make sure the Gentiles in the church would not do those things. Continuing verse 21, for Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city being read in the synagogues every Sabbath. So the law of Moses, anyone who attended a synagogue constantly heard the law of Moses. And there were a lot of precepts and principles there that were still good. For example, a lot of the laws were to protect one person from being abused. That's a spiritual principle. Now we may not apply exactly what it said, but nonetheless there are great spiritual principles in the Old Testament, including in the law of Moses.

Later, Paul would tell the Corinthian congregation in 1 Corinthians 17 and 18. We won't turn there. He says, Was anyone called while circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? Let him not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters.

So again, within a writing of another book in the New Testament, we see that Paul endorses the Ten Commandments. We don't have time, but we could go to 1 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 8, another example of him endorsing the commandments of God. Romans chapter 7 and verse 12, where he says the law is good. So there are many other places we could go to. Continue our journey here in the book of Acts. Acts chapter 18 and verse 2, just a few chapters from where we were at. Acts chapter 18 and verse 2, this is 52 AD, over 20 years since the ascension of Jesus Christ. And he, speaking of Paul and Corinth, found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius, who was the Roman emperor at the time, had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome. And he came to them. So because he was of the same trade, they were all tent makers, and Paul often, when he traveled, worked with his hands. Rather than being supported by the church, he often would make tents and support himself when he was in various congregations.

Because they were of the same trade, he stayed with them and worked for the occupation. They were tent makers. And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded both Jews and Greeks. So what's Paul's example over 20 years after the ascension of Jesus Christ? He's keeping the Sabbath day! That's obvious.

Paul continues to observe the Sabbath. In verse 6, he declares that he'll focus on the Gentiles from this point on, because he was getting so much grief from some of the Jewish believers. And then drop down to verse 11 and see what it says. This is a man who had been keeping the Sabbath, and he continued there, a year and six months, teaching the Word of God among them.

Now, it doesn't say that he began keeping the first day of the week. It's only natural to assume that he was still continuing to keep the Sabbath, because that's the example that he set here in these earlier verses. In context, he's teaching the Word of God for 78 Sabbaths in a row, if he's there every Sabbath teaching for a year and a half.

So what kind of an example is he leaving to the Gentiles? What kind of an example is he leaving for us? Acts 18 and verse 20. Acts 18 and verse 20. This is also about 52 AD, over 20 years after the ascension of Jesus Christ.

In Ephesus, here's what it says.

Again, another example of Paul observing the feast days. Now, this is interesting. They say, Hey, can't you? You're a traveling evangelist. Stay here longer and teach us. Isn't it your job? And he says, Oh, I'm sorry. I gotta go. There's a feast coming in Jerusalem. I'm out of here. But God willing, I'll come back and see you again. That's how important the observance of the feast days was to Paul. It shouldn't surprise us when we read something like this, because in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 8, he tells the Gentile Corinthians, Let us keep the feast, referring to the days of unleavened bread, not with old leaven.

And now let's step aside a minute. That's a pretty bold statement Paul makes. Why is that? Because according to Leviticus 23, the Old Covenant, you were to bring a sacrifice to the temple on those holy days. You were to bring a sacrifice to the temple. That required a temple. That required priests to accept that sacrifice and make those sacrifices. There is no temple or priest in Corinth to do that. Because Paul is teaching the new covenant, observance of the holy days, not simply repeating what the Old Covenant had said. Acts chapter 20, verse 5, this occurs in 56 AD, again over 20 years.

These men, those mentioned in verse 4, this is Acts chapter 20, we're going to pick it up here in verse 5. These men, going ahead, waited for us at Troas, but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, records the Gentile Luke in the book of Acts. And in five days joined them at Troas, where they stayed seven days.

Now, verse 7, now on the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke with them and continued his message until midnight. So what's specifically mentioned here by Luke? The days of unleavened bread. Why would a Gentile Luke be mentioning the days of unleavened bread over 20 years after the ascension of Jesus Christ? There's only one intelligent solution to that. He's been observing the days of unleavened bread.

He could have said the Ides of March. He could have used some pagan designation, some holy day observed by Greeks, but he doesn't do that. He says the days of unleavened bread. That's what he records. And by the way, the first day of the week, this is not a replacement for the Sabbath.

It doesn't say they had a religious service. It says they broke bread. They had a meal together, just like we have a meal together often. So they sat and they had a meal and they fellowshiped together. And why are they meeting on that first day of the week? Because Paul is leaving on Monday. He's leaving the very next day. This may be the last time that they ever see him. So all the congregation wants to get together, share a meal, and hear a message from Paul before he departs.

Again, perhaps forever. Acts 20, verse 15. We sailed from there, and the next day came opposite Chios. The following day we arrived at Samos and stayed in Trigilium. The next day we came to Miletus, for Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he would not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hurrying to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost. What is that? It's another holy day.

Paul is showing 20-plus years later that it's important for him to keep the holy days. What kind of an example is he setting for us? Acts 27, verse 8. This is Paul's voyage to Rome for judgment. This is 59 AD. This is almost 30 years after the ascension of Jesus Christ. Wouldn't you think that if they had done away with the holy days, Paul would have figured it out by now, 30 years later? Continuing here in verse 8. Acts 27, verse 8. Passing it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens near the city of Lessees.

Now, when much time had been spent and sailing was now dangerous because, quote, the fast was already over. If you have one of those Bibles that has a little number by the word fast, and you look at the little column below, it will tell you it's the day it's referring to the day of atonement. It was the fast. That's another holy day. Why, again, is Luke the Gentile recording Hebrew holy days instead of Greek days regarding observance?

Continuing, the fast was already over, and Paul advised them, saying, Man, I perceive that this voyage will end in disaster and much loss, not only of the cargo, but also to our lives.

So the fast is referencing here to the day of atonement, and again, it's the Gentile Luke who is the one to record this. So what have we seen and reinforced in the sermon today? Well, the Church of God was already prepared for the Old Covenant becoming obsolete. Jesus had told them in his ministry, the temple's going to be gone soon. So they're already thinking, and of course, Jesus, being the messenger of the Old Covenant, is already teaching them to rely on the Holy Spirit for guidance rather than lots of books and rules and laws and regulations. This included what was going to be done away, all the sacrifices, priestly roles and duties, Old Covenant rituals, temple rules, and much of the law of Moses, as recorded in Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. And remember, the law of Moses is different than the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are God's template that he uses with any relationship that he has with any people. Those always remain because they define how God expects us to love him and to love the rest of his creation.

God was giving the New Testament Church a new relationship, not based on hundreds of codes and rules, but on the guidance of the Holy Spirit. So again, how do we know what would remain from the Old Covenant into the new? The answer is look at the example of the New Covenant Church. Look at the history written by Luke. See what he clearly mentions that he's observing in what Paul's lifestyle is. Read the writings of Paul and John and Peter in their original context, without a later Romanized agenda designed to support the changing of the Sabbath or the introduction of a Trinity or the blending of pagan worship into Christian practices. Read the context of the book as it was originally written, as it was originally intended to be understood. I'll quote a scripture as we conclude this sermon today. There's really no need for you to turn to it. But Jesus also hinted to a Samaritan woman when he had a conversation with her about the future of what God's plans were regarding true worshipers. She implied in John chapter 4 that, well, we do our thing in Mount Gerizim. We Samaritans, we have our own temple. And now we know that you Jews have your own temple. And we just do things our way, and you do things your way. And Jesus said, but the hour is coming, and now is when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.

Not with buildings made by human hands. For the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is spirit. And those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.