You may turn to Exodus chapter 20 if you'd like. Although, this morning we will take a brief tour through Exodus chapter 1 through 19 to get to Exodus chapter 20. And as you know, we're beginning a new series looking at the Ten Commandments. God's law. How does that relate to the Gospel? How does that relate to us as Christians today? And some of you might know, even personally, that there's some sort of a controversy in some quarters of Christianity about the whole issue of God's law and the Ten Commandments. I do want to say that as we look at the Ten Commandments, it will take at least 12 sermons, I can guarantee you that, and probably more. But I do want to focus on the positive and the wonder and the glory of God's law as we see summarized in the Ten Commandments. And the more I study it, the more I prepare for this sermon series, I just see what an immense mountain this subject is. And I feel as if I should be like the Israelites and they were at the foot of the mountain. I can't come any closer. I can't scale this. But it is a foundational aspect of our Christian faith. It's the foundational aspect of our service for our gracious and holy God through the Lord Jesus Christ. As we go through looking at this, the Ten Commandments and the law, We will necessarily, or I'm not preaching it correctly, we will see Christ in it weekly. We must. Or else we're not preaching and looking at the Word of God in a Reformed viewpoint at all. And we're not seeing what God's intention is through the law. It is to ultimately, isn't it, to bring us to Christ. And the law was most of all glorified in Christ. And His fulfilling of the law and therefore Christ is glorified in it. As we preach through the Ten Commandments, we will see Jesus Christ there and we'll see God's love there. One of the reasons why I wanted to start at the beginning by looking at what happens in the book of Exodus before we get to the initial giving of God's law in the form of the Ten Commandments. is I want to look at the first 19 chapters, especially because I think in the book of Exodus, and what we're going to look at today, is that we see perhaps the greatest example of God's salvation by grace and the fullest presentation of His law all in one story. They go together, don't they? The Gospel and the law. And as we've already seen somewhat in Pastor Mike's reading of Psalm 78, we see a people of God who were given the commandments and were given miracles by God, but yet, they turned away from it. And you can see it's God's grace and God's grace alone that saved these people from their bondage in Egypt and saved these people to Himself, just as it is for us today. And so when we look at Exodus 1-19 and then 20, I think we see the great theme of God's gracious salvation to His people. All by Him. All by His work. and not by them at all. And then, after pulling them out of the wilderness, or pulling them out of Egypt, I should say, then He gives them His law to say, this is how you serve Me. And I think it's a key order of events. Did God give them a law and then redeem them from Egypt? No. He redeemed them out of Egypt. Brought them to Himself and then gave them the law. That they might know how to serve Him And so in chapters 1-19 in the book of Exodus, we see the story of God's salvation by grace, how He fulfills the covenant promises by bringing His people out of Egypt. But then in chapter 20, He gives the law for them to live by. And the theme of Exodus really is that God saves for God's own glory. And He equips His people to glorify Himself through His law. Now, kids, you've probably heard the story of Moses and how God redeemed His people out of Egypt and the plagues and Pharaoh and all of these things. And some of you may have seen an old movie where Moses looks a lot like Charlton Heston. You might not know who Charlton Heston is now, I suppose. I'm getting older. But you're probably familiar with this. And I know one family here, their kids have recently gone through and they're in the middle of the book of Exodus and their family worship going very slowly. But I want you to listen as if you've not listened before, because whenever we hear a very familiar story in Scripture, we're very quick, I think, Daniel. We're very quick to kind of doze off. I know all about this. I find as I go back to a very familiar passage or a familiar story, in Scripture that if I pay attention, I stop, I think, I'll put myself in this as if it's the first time I catch aspects of it that I've never seen before, even though I may have read this for 20 years. But I think we should see this in the story of the Exodus, even as we fly through it very quickly, there's some aspects to it that I want us to see that I think are very important that maybe we haven't noticed so much as we go towards the goal of seeing the Ten Commandments given. And again, today, our goal is to get to the preface of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, verses 1 and 2, and see how did God set it up so that the law would be given. Well, if you go to Exodus 1, what do we have here? Well, we know in Genesis, Genesis ends with that wonderful story about Joseph and his brothers and his family being saved, the providence and the sovereignty of God. But what we have in Exodus chapter 1 is what? The king is new in Egypt. In fact, many, many years have gone by, but now the king in Egypt, the pharaoh in Egypt does not know who Joseph is or was, and so the Israelites don't have any special place with anybody in Egypt. In fact, what you see there is the children of Israel are multiplying, and you almost get the impression they're multiplying like rabbits in the midst of this country. And when we look then at verses 7, 8, and 9 in Exodus chapter 1, it says, But the children of Israel were fruitful, and they increased abundantly. They multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty, and the land was filled with them. I like that phrase. They're everywhere. And now there arose a new king in verse 8, over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we are. And so, come, let us deal with them shrewdly, lest they multiply, and they might join with our enemies and fight against us and overtake us. And so, the people of Egypt were now being fearful of the people of Israel, because they had grown and they had multiplied. And so, how did they deal shrewdly with the Israelites? they put taskmasters over them, slave masters over them, and put them at very hard and difficult tasks with brick and mortar and building. And I would assume they got a lot of good out of the Israelites with all the work that they were doing. But it was not an enjoyable thing at all for the Israelites. And the taskmasters, it says in verse 11, afflicted them with burdens as they were building for the Pharaoh in supply cities. But the more they afflicted them, what happened with Israel? They grew all the more. So it wasn't working. Everything that the Egyptians were doing, everything the Pharaoh tried to do, the Israelites grew all the more. And so, we see the instruction given to the Israelite midwives. If a son is born to an Israelite, he needs to be put to death. Don't let him live. If it's a daughter, let her live. But if it's a son, don't let him live. But the midwives couldn't do that. And they were saying things like, the Israelite women, they just give birth so fast, we couldn't get there in time. Well, and so the Israelites grew even more. And finally, at the end of Exodus chapter one, we see, so Pharaoh commanded all his people saying, every son who is born of a Hebrew, you shall cast into the river and every daughter you shall save alive. Does this remind you, by the way? It's hard to avoid the types. Does this remind you of a certain boy who was born in Bethlehem many years later as we get to Exodus chapter 2? There's a lot of similarities there. I think purposely so. But in chapter 2, we see then that Moses is born. And through God's providence, we see that Moses was born and kept alive. And even by the Pharaoh's daughter finding him, He now gets to be raised in the household of Pharaoh. And Moses is going to be the one who God uses to deliver His people. And what happens with Moses 40 years later? He is defending one of his own, but he ends up killing out of anger an Egyptian. And the word gets out and he flees outside of Egypt to Midian to save his life. And so, we look there at Exodus chapter 2, and I think in verses 22 through 25, we see some verses that set the stage for the whole rest of the book of Exodus. In verses 22 through 25 in the book of Exodus 2. And in chapter 2, verse 22, Moses' wife bore him a son, and he called his name Gershom. Now, do you know what Gershom meant? Stranger. For he said, I have been a stranger in a foreign land. Now, I think this is significant. Moses, although he's not the Savior, but Moses is the one that God is choosing to use as a means to get his people out of Egypt. Moses still realizes, I'm apart from my people. I'm a stranger here. So Moses is remembering his own people. And the name of his son reflects that. And in verse 23 and 24 and 25, we see something even better, that God himself remembers his people. Now, it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage. And they cried out. And their cry came up to God because of the bondage. So, God heard their groaning. And God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel. And God acknowledged them. And you see the progress there of God's people groaning and crying up to God. And God hears them. He remembers them. He looks upon them. And then He acknowledges them. And that's how chapter 2 ends. Oddly enough, with both Moses remembering his people, and then God remembering his people. And so then we get into the great chapter 3. Now you know what happens in chapter 3. Moses sees a bush that is on fire, but yet it doesn't get consumed. It's burning without going away. And in chapter 3, he sees God in the bush. And in verse 1 it says, And he led the flock to the back of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. It's a key thing, isn't it? The mountain of God here where he sees the burning bush. And Moses hears from out of the bush, says, take off your sandals. You're on holy ground. And God explains to him then from the bush that I have a mission for you. You must go to Egypt and redeem my people from Egypt. And in verse 12, there's something that's said in verse 12 when God is speaking to Moses and giving him his mission. that I think is overlooked. I think when we look at the redemption of Israel from Egypt, we look at the plagues and the miracles and all that goes on, but there's something I think very significant here in verse 12. And so God says to Moses in verse 12, I will certainly be with you, and this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you when you have brought the people out of Egypt. What does He say next? You shall serve God on this mountain. When you bring My people out of Egypt, you will come back here to this mountain and you will serve God together on this mountain." And in fact, several times in the ensuing conversations between Moses and Pharaoh and Aaron, because we see here in Exodus chapter 3, in chapter 4, Moses has some I don't know if I can do this. I need help. And so Moses has lots of, but God, but God, and God continues to put up with it and provide a way through. But in the ensuing conversation and in the following chapters with Pharaoh, we see a phrase that's repeated several times. Let my people go. Why? So that they might serve their God. That's why God is redeeming his people from Egypt, so that they might serve their God. And here in Exodus chapter 3, that they might serve their God on this mountain. You can keep that in mind as we go through to chapter 19. That's a very important thing. So then in chapter 4, God encourages Moses, and he shows some signs to Moses, and expresses to him why they can trust him. Now you can understand, if you were Moses, wouldn't you be a little bit afraid about this? You fled from Egypt many years before, in fact about 40 years before, and You fled because of your life being in danger, but yet your people are enslaved in Egypt, and God is now telling you, in fact, a voice from a burning bush is now telling you, I am, my name is I am, I am Jehovah. Go tell Pharaoh to let my people go. Now, we of course would just rush over to Pharaoh and say, let my people go. Now, I'm sure that we would be saying, but God, Are you sure? And so, God gives him some encouragement in chapters 4 by showing some signs of encouragement and letting Aaron be part of the show to be an encouragement as well. But then in Exodus 5, we finally see Moses going before Pharaoh. This is after the end of chapter 4 where he talks with his own people in Israel. And they are excited! God has heard us! And they bowed and they worshipped God. And they're excited about this, although their excitement doesn't last too long. But they're excited that God has heard our cries. And in Exodus chapter 5, Moses and Aaron, they go and they talk to Pharaoh. They say, let my people go. Now, what was it that Pharaoh did then in his first reaction for Moses saying, let my people go, that they might serve God? He made the task much, much, much greater for Israel. Remember what he did? They did not allow the Israelites to have straw given to them when they're making the bricks and the mortar in their building. Now, maybe that doesn't make so much sense. Why? Why do we have straw? But in that time, they would use the straw to actually, it was an integral part. It had to be used. You had to have straw in the making of the bricks. So it would actually hold it together and do what it's supposed to do. Straw had to be given. But now, Pharaoh says, well, fine. You want your people to go? I don't think so. Who are you to be telling me this? In fact, I'm going to make it harder for your people. And I'm going to tell their taskmasters that you may not give them any straw. They must find straw themselves. Now, you can imagine, after a while, where are you going to find the straw? And so, they'd be searching far and wide for straw and stubble. Anything they could do to be putting their bricks together. to be mixing it up to make their bricks, but did the taskmasters make their quota be any smaller? No. You have to continue to do as much as we told you to do before, but now we're not going to give you the help to do it. We're not going to give you the straw to do it. The straw which gives strength to your bricks, it actually makes you be able to do it. And the reaction then of the Israelites was, what have you done? Now we're being beaten because we can't fulfill our quota. We're tired because we can't do this. It's too much work. We can't do this. Moses, you are going to let us free. Now look what's happened. We were better off before you came." Well then, through chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12, I won't go through all of it, but you have the ten plagues, and each one You know the story there, don't you? In fact, I probably should ask you children, do you remember what the ten plagues were? Well, first we turned the water into blood. Do you know what comes after that? We had the frogs next, after the water turned into blood. Then we had the lice or the gnats after that. Then we had the flies after that. And then the disease to the livestock. Number six then was boils. to actual humans is the first time that men and women are directly affected by it. Number seven was the hail came down from the heavens. Number eight, whatever the hail didn't get, the locusts took care of. Number nine, which for some of us, because I know some of you kids, you don't like darkness, do you? But darkness, complete darkness over the land came. Then the tenth plague and the final plague that we build up to is the death of the firstborn. which leads to the teachings of Passover, which leads to Christ being the Passover Lamb. So those were the plagues that God miraculously and sovereignly did. Why? So you would know that I am God. Both you, the Israelites, and you, the Egyptians, you will know that I am God and you will glorify me because of my great works. And I'll even harden Pharaoh's heart that I might be glorified. We might struggle with that. That's what Scripture says. That's what God does. And so then finally, finally, in chapter 13, I should say 12 and 13, finally, Pharaoh says, go. And you know what Pharaoh says? He says, go and take your people out of here so they might serve their God. And on the way out, the Egyptians themselves say, here, take all this stuff. Just as God said beforehand, that when you leave, you'll plunder the land because the people just give you what they have. And that was used then later for the temple and the things inside the temple that God might be glorified and worshipped even by that. And so they left. But then what happens in chapter 14? God in His sovereignty. God leads them not, perhaps in the way you would think, but He leads them up to the Red Sea. And the Egyptians, some of them, were tracking this. They're all confused. They don't know what they're doing. And Pharaoh says, let's go get them. So they're backed up to the Red Sea. And this is purposely done so that Pharaoh would come after them. And now the Israelites begin talking much like what we were reading in Psalm 78. Oh, Moses, what have you brought us here for to die? We'd be better off being back in Egypt. How quickly we forget what our sinful life was like and how quickly we forget what God has done to bring us out of it. And here they are saying, oh, if only we could go back to Egypt. A refrain that we see many times in Exodus and the Old Testament. Well, we know it happens. And in Exodus chapter 14, the waters are parted. The Israelites go through. What happens when the Egyptians go through? Kids, do you remember what happens when the Egyptians try to go through as well? The waters came back down. And do you know what happened before the waters came back down to make sure the Egyptians wouldn't go any place that even more glorifies God and His sovereignty? What happened to the Egyptians' chariots? Their wheels came off. It wasn't merely the water. Oh, we can't go. No, their wheels came off. First, your assignment, class, or church, read the first 19 chapters of Exodus. Boy, it almost sounds sacrilegious. It's fun reading to read the first 19 chapters of Exodus. The Word of God is not only true, but it's enjoyable. And to read those first 19 chapters, you'll see this, that the wheels came off, the waters came down, And the Israelites were safe on the other side. And so then at the end of Exodus chapter 14, it says, Thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt, so the people feared the Lord and believed the Lord and His servant Moses. And in Exodus chapter 15, we have Moses' great song that we opened our worship service with. Some of the verses from Exodus chapter 15 is a great song of praise and gratitude. And then we have the lesser song of Miriam as well. And everything sounds really good, doesn't it? Well, it is. But then at the end of chapter 15, we see already, we don't have any water. And this water over here, it's bitter. They were three days in the wilderness and they'd found no water. And when they came to a place called Marah, which means bitter, they could not drink the waters of Marah because they were bitter. Therefore, the name of it was called Marah. So they had water, but it was bitter. It was so bitter they couldn't drink it. And so what did the Israelites do? Well, they complained. They complained. We need water. So God then provides. He tells Moses, take this tree and throw it in the waters. It will make the bitter water sweet. And it did. It was a test for the Israelites. Would they trust Him? And not only that, then when they came to a place called Elam, there were twelve wells of water where they could drink freely as well. So the water was made sweet, and it was made abundant in chapter 16. And bread from heaven came. We need food. We need food. Complaining came again, and God provides them bread from heaven. And He provides them quail in the evening. And it's interesting, even here, in Exodus chapter 16, we already have the idea of the Sabbath. And when those who aren't obeying what God has laid out for them on the Sabbath about collecting on the sixth days but not the seventh, God says, how long will you ignore my Sabbaths and my laws and my commands? Interesting. Just keep that in the back of your mind before the law is even given. That's in Exodus chapter 16, but God provides bread from heaven to provide for His people. And the next is chapter 17. Again, they're thirsty again. And what does God do this time? He says, Moses, take your stick and strike the rock and water will come out. So we see these events even between their crossing of the Red Sea. I think it's about three months time in the giving of the law. And we see the bitter water made sweet. We see bread from heaven. We see water from the rock in chapter 18. Moses' father-in-law gives some good advice. You need some help. But then we get to Exodus chapter 19. And here I want us to camp a little bit as we move through Exodus chapter 19. And then we finally get to Exodus chapter 20. In Exodus chapter 19 it says, In the third month after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on the same day they came to the wilderness of Sinai. And it says here that they came to the mountain They came to the same mountain where Moses was spoken to from the burning bush, where God said, tell Pharaoh to come, or to let my people go, that they might worship with me in the mountain. And in verse 5 in Exodus 19, Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to me above all people, for all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel." He's speaking this to Moses. Reminding them what I have done for you as a people. What I would like to do for you continually as a people. And notice all the preparation that goes in here in chapter 19 as he's preparing then the people to come before a holy God and to receive His holy law. It says, So Moses came and called for the elders of the people and laid before them all the words which the Lord commanded him. Then all the people answered together and said, All that the Lord has spoken, we will do. So Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord. And the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I come to you in the thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you and believe you forever. So Moses told the words of the people to the Lord. In verse 10 in chapter 19, Then the Lord said to Moses, Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. And let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, Take heed to yourselves that you do not go up to the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death." This sounds kind of scary, doesn't it? What is God doing? God is trying to express to His people, both with words, but then visually. I am holy. My law, therefore, is holy. You're a sinful people. There's a difference between you and I. Yes, I've redeemed you from out of Egypt, but I'm a holy God and my laws must be taken seriously. And I dare say that all the seriousness that you see here implies already that this law that's going to be given is not a temporary law. It's a perpetual law that flows out of the holiness of God that never changes, of the moral law of God that never changes. but then it's going to be written down for his people, and for his people of all time. And so, in verse 13 it says, Not a hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot with an arrow, those who may have touched this mountain. Whether man or a beast, he shall not live. When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come near the mountain. Now hearing this, if you were one of the people of Israel, would you think, oh, the trumpet's sounding. I want to come really close to this mountain. Probably not. Probably not. So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people and they washed their clothes. And he said to the people, be ready for the third day. Do not come near your wives. Then it came to pass on the third day in the morning that there were thunderings and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and the sound of the trumpet was very loud so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. They were in fear of this holy God and His holiness being displayed. In verse 17, And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. I know you've heard this before, but try to think of it anew and what this would be visually. And with all your senses, understanding in some way the holiness of God before me. And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and it became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice. By his own voice. This is not a prophet speaking for him. This is God's own voice. I would assume it sounds much more impressive than the voice you're listening to right now. Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai on the top of the mountain, and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. And the Lord said to Moses, Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to gaze at the Lord, and many of them perish. And let the priests who come near the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the Lord break out against them. But Moses said to the Lord, The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, For you warned us, saying, Set bounds around the mountain and consecrate it.' Then the Lord said to him, Away, get down, and then come up, you and Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest he break out against them." Does this remind you at all of our study just a couple of weeks ago? Speaking about our entrance into prayer and how the early church, how they would have marveled at their ability to have boldness and confidence to come into the throne of grace. with their background of understanding the holy of holies and the veil that separated them? Well, don't you see that same picture here? I am holy. Which is also going to imply my law is holy. You must prepare yourself. And without a mediator, without help, you can't come near me. And so we see that visually here. In verse 25, so Moses went down to the people and spoke to them. Well, we're fine at Exodus chapter 20. And the joke would be, I guess, now that my introduction is over, let's get to the text of today's sermon. But I think it's important for us to see this whole picture from Exodus chapter 1 now up to the beginnings of Exodus chapter 20. God's delivering His people out of Egypt and is delivering His people out of Egypt by His grace and His might and His power alone. There is nothing deserving about them. No, there is nothing in them that would make them to be able to be released out of Egypt and to be here around this holy God and this holy mountain. And His purpose was to gather them together, a people to Himself, and then to teach them through His law who He was and what He requires so they might serve and worship Him. The initial giving of the law here then is in the context of worship and service and coming before Him after they've been redeemed out of their bondage in Egypt. And it's very easy to see. We have the comparison of holy versus unholy. And God's law is holy because He is holy. God's law is a reflection of Himself both His holiness and, I dare say, His beauty of the law is a reflection of Him Himself. And we see the thunder and the lightning and the clouds and the fire and the sound to emphasize the holiness of God. And then out of that, we see this in Exodus 20, verses 1 and 2. And it says, "...and God spoke..." Again, it was God speaking. "...all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." This is often called the preface to the Ten Commandments in confessions and catechisms. And God spoke all these words saying, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. I just want to briefly look at this brief little two verses the first part, and God spoke all these words. Now, next week, I think we'll have more details on, is the law of God, and specifically the Ten Commandments, is it still applicable to Christians today? Is it still binding to Christians today? And our answer is going to be yes. The law has not changed. The moral law of God never changes. Because it's tied to who He is. but our relationship to that moral law changes through Jesus Christ. And we'll talk about that more in detail next week, so don't get too upset if I don't go into a lot of detail. Today I just want to see the context in Exodus and see the wonder of it and the glory of God's law and the wonderful benefits that come to us through it. And I want to see, even from the context of the Ten Commandments we're given, that there's enough here to say there's something permanent about what God is doing here. God is speaking. Not somebody else. God is speaking these words. It says in Exodus 20, verse 1, God spoke all these words. So it shows who the author is. It's God Himself. The sovereign, perfectly wise God Himself. Not a prophet, but Him directly. And in Exodus 31, verse 18, it says that God, with His own finger, wrote these words into tablets of stone. Do you know of anything else in all of Scripture, in all of the history of God's redemption with His own people, where God has written anything in tablets of stone with His own finger and spoken it with His own voice? Do you see already there's something different about this that goes beyond just a group of a physical nation? in the wilderness many, many years ago. And not only that, the tablets of stone were later what? They were put in the Ark of the Covenant as an honor. We must save these in the Ark of the Covenant that is put in the Holy of Holies with the mercy seat over the top of it. To say, this is my law. My people, you've broken my law. There must be a shedding of blood to cover the breaking of my law so that you can come to know me." Do you see already that this is not just a temporary something that is done? And you remember what we've just spoken about. The consecration of the people. The boundaries set upon. How does all of this happen unless it's something we're not to be taking note of even now? So it was spoken by God Himself. In verse 2 it says, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." Now, our kids are learning the catechism. I could embarrass them by having them sing. What does the preface of the Ten Commandments teach us? Now, since we at Reformed Baptist Church of Kansas City, we have songs for a catechism, it's hard for me to speak it without saying it, without singing it, I should say. But the preface of the Ten Commandments teaches us that because God is the Lord, and our God and Redeemer. Therefore, we are bound to keep the Ten Commandments. There's three things that that catechism answer gives us that I think is very, very true. In verse 2, I am the Lord. And that's the same word for Jehovah. That's the same name that was given to Moses on this mountain from the burning bush. I am. who I am." So, because God is the Lord, and he says, I am the Lord, your God. So, there's a personal aspect there, isn't it? And, Redeemer, which is short for saying, I brought you out of the land of Egypt and out of the house of bondage. So, the preface of the Ten Commandments teaches us, because God is the Lord and our God and our Redeemer, were bound to keep these commandments. Well, what does that mean then to say that He is Lord? Well, it's Yahweh. I Am. That means He's sovereign. He's self-sufficient. He needs nothing else. There's nothing else like Him. It talks about His greatness, His justice, His holiness. I think that's where we need to start. God spoke, and this same God is the Lord. We must hear Him. But if that's all we had, we would still be trembling at the mountain, wouldn't we? Because God is the Lord Jehovah and our God. That gives not just the greatness of our God, but the goodness and the personal aspect of Him being our God. And we are His children. Those of us who have come through Him through Christ. And so we see the personal aspect of God. The goodness, the mercy, the grace, and I dare say the election of God. that He is our God and we are His. I'm reminded of the hymn, Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise. I think my favorite part of that song is, Thy justice like mountains high soaring above. That's the Lord part. The trembling of God is His justice, His holiness, the mountain. Thy clouds, which are fountains of goodness and love And so, God is the Lord. That's His justice. That's His holiness that's soaring above. But He's our God. That's His goodness, His mercy, His love that flows from Him so we can approach Him. And that's what I think we get from this, I am the Lord your God. And part of the aspect of that is God is a personal God through Jesus Christ. But part of that gets us to why are the Ten Commandments so important? Because part of the Ten Commandments, the importance of them is that it represents who God is. And as we go through, and I pray that you'll be patient with me, it's going to take three months at least before we get to the end of this. Three months at least, because it'll take at least 11 more sermons. And I don't preach every single sermon. And we have Easter coming up. So one of my concerns is I'm excited about our journey into the Ten Commandments and the law of God. I fear, though, you're going to get tired. We need to pray that doesn't happen. Get tired like the Israelites did, I suppose, and start complaining. But I don't want that to happen. But part of the wonder of the Ten Commandments is it's a personal representation of who God is. As you look through the Ten Commandments themselves, the first one, I don't share my glory with anybody else. I am the only God. There's no other gods before me. And so, with every commandment we see aspects of who God is, not just what He wants us to do and not to do, but who He is. It reflects who He is. And it should excite us to see the depth and the breadth of the Ten Commandments. As we do that, we're going to the depth and the breadth of the holiness of God Himself. As we see that the first commandment, there's no other gods before me, we see God's unique sovereignty and His omnipresence The fact that he knows there's no other gods before him, it means he's everywhere at once and he's sovereign over all things. He doesn't share his glory with anybody else. He's a jealous God. The second commandment talks about how to rightfully worship him and how he's jealous to guard that. No idols. Part of the implication there is he's spirit. He's not like you and I. And so we worship him in spirit and truth. And He's our Creator, because we don't have idols, we don't worship anything else in the heavens or anything else. It implies that somebody's created all these things, so He's Spirit, He's Creator. And number three, He expects obedience from us. He expects His name to be hallowed. He expects His name to be honored. And if we don't, then there's punishment that comes from that. The fourth one, He is not only sovereign over how He's worshipped, He's sovereign over when. He's to be worshipped. He's sovereign over time. We focus so much on that seventh day, but in the fourth commandment, there's rules, and we have insight of who God is. Work for six days to the glory of God, and then you get to rest on the seventh. So we see God's sovereignty over our daily time, and our work, and our rest. And number five speaks about children giving honour to their parents. And children, please hear this. Give honour to your parents. But it gives you insight about God and His value He puts on family and authority. And that He indeed is our Father as well. And He provides for children in wonderful ways through their parents and their family and through Himself. The sixth commandment speaks about His sovereignty over life and death. Life is precious to our God. And you shall not murder. And as we go even deeper in these commandments, we'll see God's value on life He's sovereign over life and death. And at his charge, it is as well. You shall not do harm to your neighbor. You must do good to your neighbor. Doesn't God exemplify that even through the Old Testament of caring for those who are less well off and being a help for those who can't speak for themselves? And the seventh commandment speaks about purity and faithfulness. Our God is a pure and faithful God. He expects that within the confines of marriage for us to be pure and faithful to one another. It also speaks about a God who is a God of joy. There's certain relations between a husband and wife that is a joy. He didn't have to do this for us, but He's a God who values joy as well as purity and faithfulness. And the eighth one, He has sovereignty not only just over worship and over time and and over relationships and over families. He has sovereignty over stuff. Don't steal. And if you dig into it deeper, why are you stealing? Isn't what I have given you enough? You don't need His stuff. Leave it alone. I've given you what you need. I provide for you. And then, number nine is we don't lie. God is a God of truth. He hates lies. He's sovereign even over our tongues. And in the tenth one, which kind of brings us all the way back to the beginning, you shall not cover. He's sovereign even over our inner thoughts and being. And it's not just the exterior that he's after, it's the interior he's looking at as well. He desires service and worship on the inside and the outside as well. And again, it gets back to what the Israelites dealt with and we deal with as well. We keep complaining because we don't like what we're given, and it's a complaint against God Himself. And so, through the Ten Commandments, we get an insight, a great insight, as we dig into it deeper and deeper, we get a great insight on who God is, and who He personally is. We understand His sovereignty, His jealousy, His justice, His holiness, His honor, His faithfulness, His providence, His truthfulness, and yes, even His love. Because later, Jesus, in answering the question, what's the greatest commandment? What does He say? The first one is to love your Lord, your God, with all your heart, soul, strength and mind. And the second one is like it, love your neighbor as yourself. And He summarizes the Ten Commandments in the two great commandments of love. But they're one and the same. The first four deal with how do we love our God. The last six in the Ten Commandments deal with how do we love our neighbor. When we look to Jesus Christ, no one has fulfilled those laws like Jesus Christ has. And so, we see love in the Ten Commandments. And it flows from the idea that I am the Lord, your God. And these laws, these commandments are personal laws that tell you about me. And also, don't you understand then why we read in James where he says, if you've broken one of the commandments, you've broken them all. This is all representing who God is. And if you've broken one, you've broken the whole thing. It's like a mirror. You can't just break it in one spot without getting the whole thing. Because it represents God. They're a unity. They're a unified set of laws that represent who God is and what He wants us to do. But it also expresses to us that sin, sin is sin against God. 1 John 3, we read that sin is lawlessness. Paul says in Romans, I wouldn't know sin except for the law. Law tells me what sin is and sin is breaking God's law. It's actually a sin against him and him personally, which explains why wrath has to come as a result. He is our Lord or the Lord and our God, but he's our redeemer and he redeemed his people out of Egypt. He redeemed them. It's interesting how it says two separate things which mean the same but slightly different. I've brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. The out of the land of Egypt is expressing I've brought you out of the land of idolatry and sin so you would be with me. Isn't that part of our salvation? Come out. It was a great merciful blessing to be brought out of a land which knew nothing about God and could care less. Idolatry abounded everywhere in Egypt at this time. And they're brought out of it, which also explains why he had to give the law. You need to know what my law is. You've been in this poisonous atmosphere for so long. I must teach you who I am. I must write it down for you so you will not forget. But I think being brought out of the house of bondage speaks of the affliction that they were suffering through. This is a God who says, I know your sorrows. And through Jesus Christ, especially, he knows our sorrows. So I'm bringing you out of the world. I'm bringing you out of your sorrow so you can meet with me on this mountain and I can teach you how to serve and worship me through my law. Next week we'll talk more about, but how do I know this is something that binds me to it? And what is my relationship to these commandments and to this law? But briefly, I just want to give you an outline so we can close with Christ this morning. That yes, it does continue for us today. We're no longer under the law as a law that condemns and we're hoping will justify us. Christ is taking care of that for us. He has fulfilled the law that now we can go to the law to say, how do we serve you, God? Not how can we have salvation? So our relationship to the law has changed. And in Jeremiah, chapter 31, where the new covenant is spoken of, Jeremiah is told that I will give you a new covenant, not like the old one in those people who are in the new covenant. I will have my law written on their hearts. The language is just the same as when he was writing the law on tablets of stone. And so, yes, there will be a new covenant. And we're in that new covenant now because of Jesus Christ. but that same law that was in the old is then passed in, so to speak, as a baton to the new covenant. But now it's not going to be written on tablets of stone. It's going to be written on our hearts that we might be able to obey Him through it. And in Matthew chapter 5, when the king does come, when the lawgiver does come personally to earth in Jesus Christ, and I dare say he was a lawgiver the first time, that he comes and says, I did not come to destroy the law. I came to fulfill the law. And then in that same section, he says, anyone who teaches anybody else to break these commandments is in dire trouble. To make sure you understand, I'm not giving you something different. I'm fulfilling what these commandments were meant to be, and I'm teaching them anew to you. So you might know what they are, but they're still in force. In Romans chapter 2, Paul, in speaking of that great section in Romans 1, 2, and 3, in speaking of how everybody is guilty before God without excuse, he speaks in Romans chapter 2 about the Gentiles who didn't have the law. But yet, they obeyed a law that was in their conscience. Because one thing they did get from Adam was not just his sin, but that when one is made in the image of God, in their conscience, there is a remnant of an understanding of God's law. And so even the Gentiles who had no law, they acted as if there was one because their conscience told them so. So the law of God was written in their heart in that aspect. So then you say, well, if we have the law of God in our heart, then why would God write them down? Well, as a mercy to say, look, this is my law. You must see it, because if you don't see this, you'll justify it away. You'll reason it away. Look what happens in Romans chapter 1 and 2. They knew what God's standards were, but they found reason to ignore it and to do something else. But yet, they're still guilty before God, because of His law. And so it's a mercy. The moral law was given to Adam as a rule of obedience. Maybe it wasn't written down, but he knew God's law, but he disobeyed it. It's essentially the same thing as the Ten Commandments that are given here on Mount Sinai, which are essentially the same thing as the two great laws of love, of loving your God and loving your neighbors yourself. And so why did God give, as one writer put, a fresh copy of the law, which is really what the Ten Commandments are? It's not something new. It's a fresh copy of the law so they could see it. Why? Because of sin. The Israelites needed to see their sin. We need to see there are sin. And if you look at Galatians 3, as I bring this to a close, in Galatians 3, in verse 19, Paul writes, What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, because of sin. To the seed should come to whom the promise was made. And it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not. For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. But the Scripture is confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore, the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. So the law was given so we might see our sin. We might say, I can't do this. I can't do this. I can't uphold God's law when I understand what it truly is. And the law sends us to the gospel then. It sends us to Christ that we might be justified because He can do this and He has. The law sends us to the gospel in Christ. We might be justified in the gospel and sends us back to the law that we might have our way of life framed, that we might know sanctification. The law prepares us for the gospel. One writer said it is the sharp needle of the law that makes way for the scarlet thread of the gospel. The law is the sharp needle that makes way for the scarlet thread of the gospel. It punctures the gospel can come through. The problem with the moral law is it gives us no strength to obey it. If we're under the law and not under Christ, we can't obey the law. It's like the straw that we read about earlier in Exodus. The straw, that's a picture, I think, of the law that Pharaoh said, no more straw. That's a picture of the law. You must keep your quote up. You must do this, but I'm not giving you any help. And we cried, I can't do this. I need help. But Christ satisfies the law and He gives us strength to obey it through faith and through His Spirit. And yet, we can't fulfill it perfectly, but yet we're accepted because of what Christ has done. The law is like the bitter water in Marah. We can't drink this. It's bitter. Outside of Christ, we're afraid. We tremble before the law. It's bitter. We can't drink this. I can't do this. But through Christ, that bitter water is made sweet. Do we want to come before the law and say, oh, thank you. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for satisfying the law in my place and in providing me with the ability then to come to your law, so I might understand. I might say like David, oh, how I love your law! That I might serve God with delight and drink the water with delight. Christ is like the rock that was struck and the water flowed out of it. That the rock had to be struck. That the living waters might flow out of it and we might come to Him. And He is the true bread of heaven that we read of earlier. The true bread of heaven that we come and we eat. We can come before our God because He's satisfied all things that God has demanded. And we can take of the water from the rock and the bread from heaven. The law says to the sinner, do this. Do this and live, else you die. But in Christ, Christ says to the sinner, I have died that you might live. Now, do this in gratitude and in service of our God. The law used to be able to say, obey or else you'll perish. But now it still does say obey, but we're not under it. So it can't tell us that we will perish. It cannot condemn us. But we gleefully go to the law now to understand what is God saying that we might serve him all the more. who we're going to sing very soon. Let us love and sing and wonder. That first verse says, let us love and sing and wonder. Let us praise the Savior's name. He has hushed the law's loud thunder. He has quenched Mount Sinai's flame. He has washed us with His blood. He has brought us nigh to God. And later he says, let us wonder, grace and justice join and point to mercy's store. When through grace in Christ our trust is, justice smiles and asks no more. He who washed us with his blood has secured our way to God. Let us pray.