If you turn to Matthew chapter 22, if you saw that coming, I wonder if you know purposely why I've read this. We'll read two small sections in the second half of this chapter, but one is something I even referenced to my daughters in saying, this is one of those places where Jesus framed the whole of why the 10 commandments were given and why they're important. It's the way our Savior framed the truth in the end of this section, and you'll recognize it as I read it, but I'm purposely reading a previous section just so we contextualize the life and ministry of Jesus and the way he had to speak to people who followed him at times, who came to question him. In Matthew 22, we'll begin reading at verse 23, I will say by way of orientation as well, as we come to this section of the Heidelberg Catechism towards day 34 four questions, titled it privately, Delighting in the Law of the Lord, had some other ideas, but as we emphasize, since the last two Lord's Days, and since the very beginning of this series, the Heidelberg Catechism, I want you to know, I wonder if you know, the overview and orientation to the whole of the catechism study is just a study of the Apostles' Creed in Lord's Days 7 to 22, And then we take up for the first time the 10 commandments tonight, which I hope has been obvious thus far. And then the Lord's prayer in Lord's days 45 to 52. So even though there are almost 20 Lord's days to go, there are only two topics, the commandments and prayer. And so that orients us in total but this is worthy of our study all our Christian lives. And so it's sweet that we come to this, Lord's Day 34, questions and answers 92 through 95. Now we're at Matthew 22, as I mentioned, beginning at verse 23. The same day Sadducees came to him who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question saying, teacher, Moses said if a man dies having no children his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother Now there were seven brothers among us the first married and died and having no offspring left his wife to his brother So to the second and third down to the seven after them all the woman died In the resurrection therefore of the seven whose wife will she be for they all had her But Jesus answered them I wonder how you'd like this if the incarnate God said to you, you are wrong because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God? I am the God of Abraham and the God of Jacob. I'm sorry, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching. But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. Teacher, Which is the greatest commandment or the great commandment in the law? And he said to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. The second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets. Thus far, the reading of God's word. It's worth noting, as we have oriented ourselves not just to the catechism, but to the understanding of the commandments and their giving in two separate times, Exodus 20, and then as I mentioned, Deuteronomy 5. It's worth noting, as many have, that the authors of the Heidelberg Catechism were meaning to instruct the Dutch for posterity in this instruction in the faith, including their exposition of the law. They did it in the gratitude section, right? Guilt, grace, and now we're in the gratitude section. And commentators have noted, and I was struck by this afresh, that they did this in the gratitude section and not in the guilt section because often when we talk about the law, we feel its burden of revealing our sin. But I set that up for a purposeful reason because this choice of putting it in the gratitude section of the catechism reflects the widespread reformational belief in the so-called third use the law for you Calvinists here tonight this was terminology that sometimes is blamed on Calvin say it's not true but this language of the third use just helps us to orient and better understand how the law is given throughout the scriptures the law is given clearly to restrain wickedness we say and to show us our guilt and lead us to Christ. We referenced this recently in our Galatians series. But according to Calvin explicitly, the third and principal use of the law is as an instrument to learn God's will. When you think of the law, do you remember that that's part of its purpose? We've been talking a lot about the indicative, or the first half of most of Paul's epistles, where they indicate who we are and what has been done for us in Christ, and then the imperatives tell us how we should then live. I just referenced this in the last Lord's Day. But here, as we're thinking about this third and principal use of the law as an instrument to learn God's will, the law doesn't just show us our sin, So what we might be drawn to Christ, it also shows us how we should then live. How to live as those who now belong to Jesus and are his followers or his disciples. In one sense, Christians are no longer under the law. Do you know that? In one sense, we're no longer under the law, and we rejoice in that truth. We are under grace, Paul says to the Romans in chapter 6, verse 14. We've been released from the law, he tells us in Romans 7, and I just alluded to it this morning. We were told in Galatians 3 that the law had become our tutor, our schoolmaster, to drive us to Christ. And once we're with Christ, then what's the function of the law, you could ask? On the other hand, having been justified by grace through faith on account of Christ, as I often try and emphasize, the whole of the formula, we nevertheless uphold the law, that moral law that still reveals to us the will of God. Even Christ recoiled at the idea of coming to abolish the law and the prophets. In his famous Sermon on the Mount, he said, I didn't come to abolish it, but to what? Fulfill it. Christians are free from the law in the sense that we are not under what I said today earlier this morning the curse of the law Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes Romans 10 for It's so beautiful to hear that Nor is the law a nationalized covenant for us, you know, like it was for Israel when under the monarchy, we say, in the time of the theocratic rule over Israel in the Old Testament. But the law in general, in that use that we describe as the moral use of the law, the Ten Commandments in particular, still give us a blueprint for how we ought to live. And that is a blessing for the believer. The Ten Commandments were central to the ethics of the New Testament. Not only in the time of the New Testament, but antinomians were being fended off, not only in the Galatian letter, but especially by the Apostle John in his first letter. Jesus had repeated most of the second table of the law to the rich young ruler, you'll remember famously in Mark chapter 10 when we studied it there in Sunday school. But you know the account of the rich young ruler saying, what more shall I do? Oh, there's just one thing you're forgetting. Give up all your idols and follow me. And he goes, oh, I didn't think that was odd. I thought I'd kept it all perfectly. There's just this one thing. You want my heart. You want me to follow you for you to be my master, my Lord, my savior. And so that famous account of the rich young ruler speaks to our hearts and this idea of the idolatry that goes deep within us. The Apostle Paul had even repeated the commandments, especially in the second table in Romans 13, famously teaching us how we should then live in the world in the civil use we describe it. And he used them as the basis for his immoral instruction when he taught young Timothy from the very first part, the first chapter of his first letter to Timothy. There can be no doubt that the commandments, even under the new covenant, the blessed new covenant, are holy and righteous and good. And that's what I quoted this morning from Romans 7, 12. So if you would with me, let's read the first two questions and answers of this. Now, I think you see from what I sent to Linda in the bulletin, you know, what does the Lord say in his law? read Exodus 20, or as Matt did for us tonight, but read Deuteronomy 5 if you'd like. The Catechism just quotes from Exodus 20, 1 to 17, and then reciting the giving of the Ten Commandments can be found in Deuteronomy 5 too. But question 93 asks, how are these commandments divided? Into two tables, The first has four commandments teaching us what our relation to God should be. The second has six commandments teaching us what we owe our neighbor. We obey the commandments, therefore, not in order to merit God's favor, but out of gratitude for his favor. That's commencing this famous third section of the Heidelberg. Don't forget the 10 commandments were given to Israel. after God delivered them from Egypt. I wonder if you've thought at length about this, what we call the preface to the Ten Commandments. Matt did read it, but it's famous in the discussions, even in our reform community. I'm emphasizing that. Remember, it comes after their release from bondage and slavery. He then commands them how to live. The law was a response to the redemption of the Lord. God saved them, and then they lived a certain way. They were commanded to live a certain way. The law was a response to redemption, not the cause of it. We must never separate law from gospel. In one sense, or we could say use here, because I said the principle, third and principle use, in one sense, the law shows us our sin and leads us to the gospel of grace in Christ. But in another sense, or use, the law ought to follow the gospel just as the giving of the Decalogue followed salvation from Egypt. Does what I'm saying make sense to you? Do you understand that? It's a key distinction, and it's something that we discuss in our sort of Presbyterian Reform Calvinistic community at length. But in Ephesians 2, famously, the enemies are made children of God. In Ephesians 2, Paul explains salvation by grace, and then, right away, after the famous verses eight and nine, He instructs us how to walk in the good deeds prepared in advance for us, because we are now God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good work. So you can rejoice in the freedom to go out and do a ton of good works this week, because you've been shown grace in Jesus. Romans famously and you could do this with almost all the epistles as I just described Indicative and imperative last week and repeated it just now Romans consider the Constitution of the Christian faith First explains justification and election and then it tells us how to live in response to these mercies Right at the beginning of that second section in Romans 12 1 We obey the law then in gratitude for the gospel We obey the law in gratitude, in a response of gratitude for God's grace to us in Jesus. Let's read now question 94 in your bulletin. Question 94 of Lord's Day 34 says, what does the Lord require in the first commandment? Notice we're leaning in now to the delineation of the commandments here in the first day of it. What does the Lord require in the first commandment? that I, not wanting to endanger my very salvation, avoiding, shunning all idolatry, magic, superstitious rites, and prayer to saints or to other creatures, that I sincerely acknowledge the only true God, trust Him alone, look to Him for every good thing humbly and patiently, love Him, fear Him, and honor Him with all my heart. In short, that I give up anything rather than go against His will in any way. I wonder if the first part of that answer, you're guilty of any of those things. Are you engaged in major superstitious acts of magic? No, right? Okay, remember this is a contextual document from 460 years ago. But there are people still engaged in that. And they were really engaged in idolatry in the Old Testament when the commandments were given. So we're gonna talk like that now as we unpack this a little bit. The first commandment establishes biblical religion as an either or, not, a both and proposition. When it comes to choosing whom we will serve as God, as Lord, there's no middle ground. How did Joshua famously say, do you guys have this banner up in your home? As for me in my house, I will follow whatever religious new cool trend has come along. Wait, why are you laughing? As for me and my house, I will follow whatever the spirit of the age tells me, whatever the coolest influencer on social media tells me, I should believe I'm gonna, is that how it goes? Right? Joshua had social media. As for me and my house, I will serve Yahweh. I will serve the Lord. That's Joshua 24, 15. You know, it's right at the end of that famous section. It's so famous as a proof text, as it were. We all know it. We all smile when we hear it because we've heard it so much. Jesus was simply reminding his disciples of the first commandment. When he warned them, no one can serve two masters. You will either hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. This was still within the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus was teaching them this is an either or proposition, not a both and. Israel's problem as we love to point fingers back at how many ways the people of God failed perhaps in the Old Testament But aren't we guilty of it if only in our hearts? Israel's problem was a big famous fancy word called syncretism They wanted the both and They thought they could have the priests and the Levites and the tabernacle and the sacrifices they could be worshipers of Yahweh and have a little Baal on the side, right? It's not Baal, it's Baal, right? And that was a completely separate other God, right? They just, they could have the Lord, Yahweh, and they could be busy sacrificing and doing all these other things that the Lord had commanded. but they wanted their poles up on the top of the hills that oversaw their crops. This is what the Asherim were, right? The Asherim or the Asherim. It's the Asherah poles were praying to the fertility gods. It's like people in Brazil when I was there who had little knickknacks of their previous deities from Africa But the Roman Catholic friends couldn't criticize them because the saints were acceptable in Brazil. It's crazy to think. They were like, no, no, no, that isn't Roman Catholic. They would go to the Roman Catholic Church and they would worship their own gods from back home. It's just one wild modern example that I've lived. But as I'm saying this, I want you to hear this. I wanna have a little Baal on the side. I want a little Asherah. I don't want my crops to fail because I failed to give proper esteem to the Asherim. Those were the fertility poles. Or maybe a little Dagon on the side. Remember, we love Dagon because they brought the Ark of the Covenant in and they put it in the Temple of Dagon. He falls and breaks his head and he can't get back. He can't, Humpty Dumpty couldn't be put back together again as it went with Dagon. But what was happening was the people of God were getting swept up. It was the both and that literally killed the people of God in the Old Testament. Now we've referred to this recently. I just referred to it last week in the Galatian series, so I want that to linger with you for a second. But I'm gonna give you this illustration first. I already proofed it with my wife. She's left with the kids, so that's good. So loving God is like loving our spouse, right? And I warned her that this was coming. That's probably why she left. Just kidding. When you choose a mate, it's to the exclusion of all others. It's what we affirm in the marriage coven. And some are married and some are not. We had a good variation here tonight. But I want you to imagine this for me, especially as I'm being silly and I did proof that it was okay to say this. I want you to imagine I tell my wife, hey, I've been going back to the gym and it's amazing. I want you to meet my new lover. I mean, she's amazing, honey. I really wanted you to meet her. I know you'll be great friends. You both mean so much to me. You'd be disgustingly offended, especially for your pastor. But the idea is, regardless of the spouse or the relationship, the spouse will say, it's me or it's them. You take your pick. There's no both and here. No one would think this sort of spouse cruel or proud or unfair or intolerant in our modern vernacular for making such a demand on the commitment of the covenant of marriage. None of you, we all giggle about it for a moment, but think how offensive that would be. Think how offended you would be, and I'm making more of it now because she's not here. How offended you would be for her if I did that. The audacity, right? And so that's why I seek to guard my heart. Monogamy is right. And it's a promise that the spouse makes. And now I'm trying to speak more broadly, right? Monogamy is the promise. The traditional marriage vow include the phrase forsaking all others for a reason. And so because the nature of the relationship is one of exclusivity, remember now, as I broaden us out to, again, Old Testament religion, remember how the Lord used it when we were teaching through Hosea. The Lord was offended because he had covenanted with his people and they had gone out searching out all those other lovers, he said. That's what God said in his word to describe how important that covenantal commitment was. Hence, to say it plainly, no idols allowed. The Lord is a jealous God. And so with all that intensity, let's read the last question and answer. Number 95 of the Heidelbergs, Lord's Day 34, question 95 reads, what is idolatry? Idolatry is having or inventing something in which one trusts in place of or alongside of the only true God who has revealed Himself in His Word. There in reading that, please don't miss how the first commandment has been transformed by the coming of Christ. Think of this in the way of the language of two mountains. There are two major mountains in the Old and the New Testament. Mount Sinai, from where the law is not even emphasized in his prayer, comes thundering, right, in darkness. The thundering darkness of Mount Sinai represents the law. And the Mount of Transfiguration Jesus describes the incredible glory of God revealed in the face of Jesus Christ, right? So there's the Mount at Sinai, and there's the Mount of Transfiguration that reveals to us who God is in the face of Jesus Christ. The first commandment on the other side of that mount can only be obeyed by worshiping Jesus. Jesus shows us what the true God is really like. He's the one mediator. Matt alluded to it even in his prayer. It's famously in 1 Timothy 2, 5, right? There is one mediator between God and man, the man, Christ Jesus, our high priest and mediator and king and every other terminology you want to use, for first timothy 2 5 to be representative this is christ he is the radiance of the glory of god and the exact imprint of his nature hebrews 1 3 opens like that that's what they were beholding on the mount of transfiguration as peter james and john were up there they were just can you imagine can you imagine okay he had unveiled his glory And yet there were people who walked with him day after day, year after year, who still didn't recognize him at the very end of his life in ministry. Do you guys remember this? This is how we could say how dull we can be. And so I'll just give an example. Every knee must bow, we say famously from Philippians 2.10. Every knee must bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. If you had known me, Jesus said, famously in John 14, six, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father but by me. Just everything I've been saying this morning about the exclusive singular truth claim in Christ. The very next verse of John 14, verse seven says, if you had known me, you would have known my father also. And from now on, you do know him and you've seen him. You've seen me, Jesus says. You've seen God. I hope this is not just exciting for me. I hope you're hearing this, right? This is incredible. What are we celebrating at Christmas, if not God in the flesh? And here he had come and he was revealing himself. And on the Mount of Transfiguration, it's so spectacular. Peter doesn't know what to say. He's like, oh, let's build a holy camp, right? Let's build a tent city where your glory can remain forever. No, that wasn't the purpose, but that's spectacular to be sure. In other words, when you see the Son, you know the Father. How about that? You who see Jesus actually see God and God the Father, because when you've seen me, you've seen the Father. By implication, if you don't know God in Jesus Christ, you don't know God at all. Right, that's super intense in an evening service to people I know well, this is the elect remnant. You are the elect remnant, right? But this is why we deepen our faith. Those exclusive evangelistic proclamations are not just for morning services when you get, you know, we're gonna see Christmas and Easter Christians, right? I mean, you all know it. Matt and I came from the Roman Catholic faith. Maybe they were more famous there, but in the Protestant churches, there's gonna be a lot of Baptists who say they're Baptists who are gonna be just here because Christmas has come, and I don't maybe mean to our churches, but you get the point. Here's the essential thing. When every single living soul in front of me or on the live stream tonight lays their head on the pillow, there is no guarantee, there is no guarantee you're alive tomorrow. Do you believe that? Then get right with God tonight. You know, let's do an altar call. Kidding. But you know what I mean? It's like this. If we're not believing this, then who is? If you don't know God in Christ, in Jesus of Nazareth, as we emphasize, born in Bethlehem, raised up in Galilee of Nazareth. If you don't know him, you don't know God. And if you do know him, does it matter to you? Do you care to tell others? Be a blessing in His name. Our Christ-focused concentration in ending this evening is that the coming of Jesus has changed everything. The coming of Christ has changed everything, celebrated every day this season. We cannot speak about God any longer unless we speak of Him as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate God in flesh, in our presence to worship any besides Jesus or to worship God except through Jesus is to commit idolatry. That's how intense the lesson was, right? You can't have it both ends. So I referenced that I said it last week. The cross plus anything else undermines the whole. It's not Jesus plus anyone. It's not the cross plus anyone. It's not the gospel plus anyone. It can't be. You undermine the truth of what is revealed if you add something to that proclamation. To worship any besides Jesus is to worship God except through Him. And to accept Him is to have lost God. We all know this famous example in the opening of John's gospel, in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God, and then famously, 14 verses later, what does it say? He came and, how do you answer in your mind? Are you saying tabernacled, right? We all know famously that one Greek word, right? He came and tented among us, he came and took on flesh. The God who was the Word in the beginning, came to take on flesh and he tabernacled among us. Well, just a few verses later, it says, no one has ever seen God. The only God who is at the father's right hand, he has made him known. Who's the he and who's the him, right? He, Jesus, has made the father known. And so do you remember the famous account with Philip? Have I been with you so long, you don't even recognize me? When you've seen me, you've seen Yahweh. Isn't that profound to say it like that, right? When you've seen me, you've seen the Father. When you've seen me, you've seen God. How profound is our Christian faith, right? Christ is at the heart of our Christian faith. To see Him is to see the one true God revealed And so even as John's prologue affirms his deity, so also it celebrates his humanity, which we're going to exalt even in this next month. The word became flesh, God became man, yet Jesus never ceased being God. He came to us as the greater Moses, foreshadowed all the way back from Deuteronomy 18. Moses said, one is coming like me. And the Lord promised through Moses that truth in Deuteronomy 18, 15 to 19. and to bring a greater exodus, Peter, as we'll study coming up soon in the next year, to bring a greater exodus, Peter says in his own letter. Moses provided the tabernacle, but Jesus came and dwelt in our midst. Wow, revealing God's glory and grace. If you would turn to 2 Corinthians 4, I should have asked you a moment ago, I'm sorry I didn't, I was getting too excited. 2 Corinthians 4. As you turn here, I would ask you, because I imagine you know the commandments. I imagine you know the teaching of Jesus. I love that Sadducee and Pharisee, if you caught that, we've been studying them a lot in Acts 21, 22, 23, and now in 24, well, mostly up to 23. But now I want you to close with this verse, and I want you to meditate upon this. I'm begging you as people in the evening service in particular, consider this verse this week, please. 2 Corinthians 4, verse 6. Hear this now, profoundly fulfilling all that we've said from Psalm 19, Psalm 119, Exodus 20, Matthew 22, and all that I've said about the Gospel of John this evening. Hear this closely. For God said, That is, God, who said, let light shine out of darkness, that means from the very beginning in Genesis 1, for God, Yahweh the Lord, who said, let light shine out of darkness, has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. How many of you have meditated enough upon it? I know you've all encountered it before. May you meditate upon this, hear it again. For God, who said, let light shine out of darkness, has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. May we all regularly flee to this Jesus, who is our Lord, our Savior, and our friend. Let's pray. How profound, oh Lord Jesus, to hear these words. Would you do for the saints of God who are here tonight and who will carry your word in their hearts this evening, remember that you have come and shown by the power of your spirit through your word. the glory of God in the face of Christ. May we treasure you more intimately, deeply, profoundly this evening, even as we lay our heads upon. We know you give us life and breath and everything else. If you intend to sustain us for a day or for a hundred years, may we praise you forever for the glory that you've revealed. You have revealed Your knowledge to us. You have revealed Your law to us. May we humbly seek Your face. May we humbly seek to follow You in the way and the truth that we have found in Jesus. You have loved us this much. May we respond in love to You in kind, as we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.