Last week we started our introduction to the law, specifically the Ten Commandments, and we zoomed the lens in on Exodus chapters 1 to 19 and then just dabbled into chapter 20. The idea was to see the immediate context of the giving of the Ten Commandments, which is what we're going to be looking at for several weeks. The idea was to see what actually happened when God gave the written law the written law on stone to his people. And we tried to quickly go from Exodus chapter 1 to 19. I don't know how quickly it was. But some of the highlights was in Exodus chapter 3 when Moses was before the Lord in the burning bush. God said, you shall serve God on this mountain to Moses. And that theme is perhaps an often overlooked theme in the book of Exodus. That several times then, when Moses is talking to Pharaoh to see that the people of Israel would be set free, he's saying, let my people go. Why? So that they might serve me. They might serve God. And so it wasn't merely just letting them loose of their troubles, but they were being redeemed from Egypt so they might go and serve their God. And then when we got to the preface of the Ten Commandments, after the great preparation for the giving of the law, where the people had to consecrate themselves for three days, and that the mountain itself was trembling, and lightning, and fire, and smoke, and if you touch the mountain, you die. Boundaries were set. Then at the very beginning of Exodus chapter 20, in the preface, what's often called the preface to the Ten Commandments, God says, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. And that was the opening, before he began to give the law, the Ten Commandments. He says, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. And so he looked very briefly there, in that very small sentence, It actually says that God spoke these things, which shows that God directly said this to His people. And from later on in the book of Exodus, we see that the original Ten Commandments were written by the finger of God into tablets of stone. Those tablets of stone were put in the Ark of the Covenant as a special separation from everything else. Remember the consecration of the people and the bounds that were set around the mountain. And he says, I am the Lord. That's the same word as Jehovah that was spoken out of the burning bush. Saying, I am who I am. This is the God who is sovereign, who is the creator of all things, who is great over all things, who is self-sufficient, who is a God of justice and holiness. But after he says, I am the Lord, he says, our God. He is a personal God to his people. So not only is He a great God, but He's a good God. He shows mercy and grace to His people. And we talked last week how God's law then reflects the character of this holy God in a personal way, just as He's a personal God. It reflects His divine character. Just as God is a unity, the law is a unity. You break one, you break them all. It's like a mirror, like a piece of glass. You break it, you don't just break one little sliver, the whole thing breaks. We spoke about how then sin against the law is an assault against God himself. Because the law is a representation of the character of God, the eternal character of God. It is interesting, even in our day and age, isn't it true that when laws are made it reflects something about those who wrote the law? One author said that in America we have laws about giving mandatory access for those who are handicapped to public places. Well, it shows that Americans place them a value on allowing and wanting to have those who are handicapped to have public access to the same ordinary things that we have ordinary access to. So when you have a law given, it automatically reflects what is important by the ones who wrote the law. And so the law, the Ten Commandments, automatically reflects what is important and what is this law giver like? But then the last part of the preface says that I am the one who redeemed you out of Egypt. He's reminding his people, remember what I have done for you. And undeservedly so, I redeemed you from Egypt, out of the house of bondage, out of slavery in Egypt, out of that idolatrous, sinful land, so you might be with me. It's a very significant thing that he says this before he gives the Ten Commandments. He's redeemed them first, And now he's going to give them the law to obey. Isn't that true? In the New Covenant time, we're redeemed first, but then we're told, now go obey after I've redeemed you. I've empowered you to obey. And so these people were saved out of bondage to serve and worship their God, just as he had told Moses. You will be at this mountain, and you will serve me. Let my people go so they might serve me. And remember, these were people that had been in bondage in Egypt for a long time. They needed to know, how do I serve this God? What do I do to obey Him? And let it be known, because often times we look at the law, we think of it as some kind of ugly, evil thing, as if the law itself is sinful. No. God did not redeem His people out of Egypt, so they might be in bondage to something else. But He redeemed them, so they might have the freedom and liberty to obey and serve their God. by the precepts and the teachings and the rights and the rules of the law. Yes, there is an obligation to obey God. You're obliged to obey God after He redeems you. But it's a gracious, loving, obedience. At least it should be. That this is my God. How can I serve you? How can I obey you? And He's given us a law then that we can serve and obey Him by. But we see that this God is a God who is both interested in His own glory, which He should be, but also in our own good. That He has not just redeemed us out of Egypt and left us to be alone. Now He says, here, this is what I want you to do. This is what I've redeemed you to do. And the law itself is good for us. Well, that's what we spoke of last week. At the end of the sermon last week, we too hurriedly had some sermon overlap. Or perhaps it could have waited until another day, but we try to speak quickly then. Then what does this law mean for us today? We outline, what does this mean for Christians today? How do we get from Sinai to here? Well, what I'd like us to do today then, is now zoom the lens back out and see this law, this Ten Commandments, looking as much as we can in such a brief amount of time. What does the Holy Scripture teach us? And what is our relation to this law now that was given on Mount Sinai? So it's almost like googling to a map, and we've zoomed in last week. Now we're clicking back out to try to see, okay, how does this fit into the whole picture? And so, we'd like to go back to Genesis. Is there a law in Genesis? Well, to do that, I think we need to go to Romans chapter 2. And we mentioned that last week, and you can turn to Romans chapter 2 if you would like. But a foundational section of scripture is found in Romans chapter 2. And starting in verse 12, now the context is that Paul is defending the concern of, well, what about those who haven't had the law? What about those Gentiles who haven't had special revelation? Can they be condemned by the law, too? That doesn't seem fair. Isn't that a relevant thing to ask? Even today, you hear questions of, well, what about the person who's never had a Bible, who's never heard about Christ? How can they be condemned because of sin against the law that they've not had? That's, in a sense, the context. And so, in Romans 2, verse 12, it says, For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law. As many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law. For not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified. Now the main points are in verses 14 and 15. For when Gentiles who do not have the law by nature do the things in the law, these also not having the law are a law to themselves. who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them." What Paul is trying to say is this, that even those who have not had the external law given to them like the Jews have, here are some tablets of stone with the Ten Commandments written on them. physical law that you can look at and understand and read even though the Gentiles have not had that sort of a law given to them they show by their lives that they do know the law in their conscience by their actions and even practically don't we see that even our sinful world don't we see in most countries They might not obey it very well, but there's some sense of conviction about the bulk of the Ten Commandments. It's generally not seen to be a good thing to take somebody's wife, or to kill somebody, or to steal from them, or if it is done, they at least know they shouldn't be doing it. And so even those who haven't had the law, and the way they live their lives, Paul is saying that they show there has been a law given there someplace, and it's been written on their hearts. Verse 15 says, they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness in between themselves, their thoughts accusing or else excusing themselves. And so what Paul is saying is that all men have the law written on their hearts, in the sense that when they're created, They have an understanding of there is a God and they have some sense of an understanding of the law. What he is saying there, I believe, if we go all the way back to Genesis 2, we don't have to turn there because I think we know the story in Genesis chapter 2, but in Genesis chapter 2 we don't have anything written down that says Adam was given a list of laws. But what this is saying then is that Adam, when he was created, he had a knowledge of who God is. He had a knowledge of what God's law was. And it was a good thing to him. Don't you think that Adam and Eve had the idea that I'm to love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, strength and mind. We're to love each other and to take care of one another. I think that was inherent in Adam and Eve and in the Garden of Eden. But then Satan obviously tempted and You could make a case that the bulk of the Ten Commandments were broken by the time the fruit was eaten. Idolatry, lying, coveting, murder. Because of Adam's sin, murder, death comes to all mankind. And so you could make a case that all of the Ten Commandments, in some form, were broken there in that first sin. And this is a foundational verse to our understanding of the law and understanding of the need of salvation for mankind. That Adam is our representative. He failed. He could not uphold the law. And because of his sin, there is punishment. Because of his sin, everyone who was born from Adam then, was born in sin. And could not obey the law. They could not uphold the law. And it's quite comforting that then in Genesis chapter 3, God promises a Redeemer. There will be a seed who comes from Adam and Eve, who will conquer Satan. And through him, you will be able to obey the law, because he will obey the law. And then a little bit later, there's a picture of the killing of the animals, so that Adam and Eve could have a covering. And so it shows that death, innocent death, as a substitute, is going to be given to cover your sin. Some of the questions though would be, what is this law that's spoken of in Romans chapter 2? It keeps talking about the law of the Gentiles, what do they have? What is this law? Is this the Ten Commandments or is this some general type of a law? Well, if you look at the context of Romans chapter 2, and I would dare say all of Romans, when Paul is speaking of the law in Romans, it's almost always about the Ten Commandments, about the moral law of God. And if you would continue to read, In verse 17 and on, it says, Indeed, you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law. I think there's an example why the law of God is the will of God. And are confident that you yourselves are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law, You therefore who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say do not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? What is Paul referencing here when he's speaking about the law in this immediate context? It's very clearly he's referencing specific commandments of the Ten Commandments of the moral law and he does this more than once in the book of Romans when the law is spoken of then there's references to commandments that are going to make you think well he's talking about the law given at Sinai this is not a general law this is specifically being defined as the moral law of God in the Ten Commandments And so the full picture for what we're trying to see here is that the external law that was given to the Jews was internally written on the hearts of all mankind, even though Adam sinned, that wasn't completely effaced from man's nature, that God would then have His law in the conscience of all men, so that they would be accountable to this God, and they'd be guilty of sinning against that law that they know internally. I'm not saying a perfect knowledge, But all mankind has knowledge of what God's law is, even in their conscience. It says their conscience is either accusing them or justifying them. I mean, don't we have that now, even as Christians? That we are very good at rationalizing sin. Our conscience, even with the enlightenment and the empowerment of the Spirit and salvation, our conscience can accuse and excuse our behavior. We have to be very careful. Another reason why we need the law of God. What is the law? How do I serve and love you God? Yes, thank you for the new heart. Thank you for the helps. But I need to be reminded what your law is, else even my own sinfulness can take me astray and justify what I'm trying to do. And so there in Romans chapter 2, we see that all mankind has the knowledge of the law written in their conscience, written on their hearts, it says here. I think Romans chapter 4 and 5, I envy you who are going through the book of Romans in your adult Sunday school class because you're going to be thinking about the law very much over the next, well it's a four year course, over the next couple of years. Because the law is talked about over and over and over and it's not easy to understand. But one thing you'll see in Romans chapter 4 and 5 is that the fact that there was no law given between Adam and Moses but yet mankind still sinned and they died it was proof that yes they knew of a law and they broke it even though it wasn't codified on the tablets of stone there would not be sin and death if there were not given a law to mankind even if it wasn't written on stone and so proof that there's a moral law is that man sins and that man dies and that's the wages of sin And in 1 John 3, verse 4, it says that sin is lawlessness. And literally, it means sin is the transgression of the law. Romans 3, verse 20, it says, By law, I have the knowledge of sin. By the law, I know what sin is. And so, the law defines for us what sin is. In Romans 1, Paul lays the whole story out. It says, Though they knew God, and they know the law, They could not obey it, and they would not serve him. And they exchanged God for other things. And so then in Romans chapter 2 we see, yes, even the Gentiles are guilty of breaking law, even though they haven't been given the external law that Jews were given. Well, one of the reasons it's hard to determine how to look at the law in scripture is because it's not always referred in the same way. And the law itself, the phrase the law or the word law can refer to many different things. And even what I've spoken of in Romans, I would say that when Paul is talking about the law in the book of Romans, he's largely talking about the moral law and specifically the Ten Commandments. But sometimes the law means all of scripture. It can mean just the revelation of God. Sometimes the law means the whole old covenant teaching of the ceremonial and the civil and the moral law. Sometimes the law is referred to as the law of Moses. Sometimes it's referred to as the law of Christ. Sometimes it's referred to as the law of God. And so it's not easy to distinguish what's being spoken of when the law is mentioned in scripture. I think there's probably no more important aspect to be able to distinguish than the difference between the ceremonial, the civil, and the moral law. In fact, one key that I think helps you understand Romans and understand Hebrews is understanding that when Paul speaks about the law in the book of Romans, he's primarily talking about the moral law. And that even more specifically seen in the Ten Commandments. When the author of Hebrews speaks about the law, Quite often, he's speaking about the law of the covenant. The whole of it. Not merely the moral law, but the whole law that they had to hold in the old covenant with the civil and the ceremonial laws. And that's why in Romans, Paul can, I think, be making the case that the law doesn't go away. It still abides. It's still here. But yet in the book of Hebrews, you hear often The law is passing. It's gone. It was a shadow of things to come. Why? Because he's speaking of the ceremonial law and all of the laws that had to be kept, but not specifically the moral law. I think that's a very important thing. That in Hebrews, the law is equated with the Book of the Covenant, so it passes away. In Romans, the law is primarily the Ten Commandments, so it abides. And we see some separation of the moral and the civil and the ceremonial laws, even in Exodus. Now I'm not going to keep going through the whole book of Exodus today, but if you would, in Exodus chapter 20, what do we see? We see the moral law given. And all of those aspects of the moral law, the giving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, God speaking it, it being written in the stone, it's the thing that was put in the Ark of the Covenant, the shaking of the mountain, all of those things say there's something different about this. But yet then in chapters 21 and say through 23, we have more laws, but these are just written by Moses in a book. They're not given the same significance. Oh, they're important, but they're not treated the same way. And these are civil laws that are starting to show this is how I want you to act as a physical nation, as a government. This is how you, in a sense, is how you apply some aspects of the moral law, but in a civil case. And so the civil law consists of laws that govern the nation of Israel, war, how to handle land disputes, how to handle debt, specific violations of the law, what happens if your ox gores somebody else, these sorts of things, but these were civil laws given to the nation of Israel, but the nation of Israel is no longer there, at least not as a theocracy under God. And so the civil law passed. And there's some sense for the civil law was a foreshadowing of now we have the church and now God's people, they're not governed by national civil laws, they're governed by the church. Part of that is church discipline. The nation of Israel is replaced by the kingdom of God, so to speak, in the church. Well, the biggie is the ceremonial law. And in chapters 25 and on in the book of Exodus, you see now the ceremonial law starting to be given. And that's specifically with Here's how you build a tabernacle. And here's how we're going to show you how to worship. And certainly you go to the book of Leviticus and you see lots of ceremonial laws. This is how I want to be worshipped in this covenant. And these were specifically a foreshadowing of the Christ to come. And so we have laws consisting of giving us regulations of festivals and worship and sacrifices. But the ceremonial law, as Hebrews so wonderfully puts, It's abrogated, it's done. Why? Because it was a shadow pointing towards Christ, and Christ has come, and no longer do we need those anymore. In Colossians 2, verse 17, it says, These were things which were shadows of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. He's speaking about festivals and regulations. In Hebrews 10, starting in verse 1, The writer of Hebrews says, For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers once purified would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. Therefore when he, Christ, came into the world, he said, and I'll stop there, but speaking of these things were given until Christ would come and then the sacrifices would no longer be necessary. And you see in that passage where it says the law, for the law having a shadow of good things to come, but then when it talks about what this law is, it talks about sacrifices, Now, are there any sacrifices talked about in the Ten Commandments? No. And so, in this case, we look at the context. In the context of the book of Hebrews, the author of Hebrews is speaking of the law, not of the moral law, not of the Ten Commandments, but as the law of the covenant, symbolized then by the passing away laws of the ceremonial laws and even the civil laws that it also speaks of in the book of Hebrews. And we can see that because it's talking about sacrifice. Those sacrifices are no longer necessary, because Christ has come. He's the final sacrifice. He's the final high priest. There's no need for any more of it. And so, there's no more sacrifices and ceremonies for Israel. They've been superseded by Christ, just like the civil laws have been superseded. Now, we don't need them anymore. Now, as far as ceremonial laws, we have baptism and the Lord's Supper. Now, look back at the cross. And the civil law was expired because the church is not a state. We have a king, but the kingdom is spiritual. The civil laws were meant for the physical nation of Israel, but God's people are governed by church discipline now, and the structure of the church now. And if we had lots of time, we could go in more detail about separating and seeing how scripture separates the civil and the ceremonial and the moral law. I think the easiest thing to see though is how the moral law is separated, in its giving, In the book of Romans, and we're going to see later as we go through more scripture, what does the rest of scripture speak about the commandments? How do we know these are things that are still binding to us and are still important to us? The New Testament never declares an end to God's moral law as a standard for our lives. You won't see that anywhere where the moral law specifically has said, nope, no more. It's still the perfect rule of righteousness for us. It's the eternal standard of right moral conduct. the fixed, objective, standard rule of righteousness. And the law is given before those who don't know Christ, for those who stand apart from God, so you must obey this to live, but you can't! And as we talked about last week in Galatians 3, that law then for the sinner is meant to be a tutor, a schoolmaster, to drive them to Christ. But for the Christian, does it still have value? Yes! It tells us what God would desire of us, and now we serve Him through the law, with thanksgiving and love, and a desire to obey His law. We love His law because we see that it represents Him, reflects His nature. Well, we've gone back to Genesis, sort of, by way of Romans chapter 2. And again, the idea is that all mankind has a knowledge of God's law and they're held accountable to it. It's written in their conscience. It's written in their heart. They're held accountable to it. Well, if that's the case, then you would think that we would see in scripture before the giving of the law that what we see in the Ten Commandments is broken or talked about previously. Well, I think we do. But you can easily go back, even in the book of Genesis, and see all of the Ten Commandments laid out, either promoted or broken and being punished for breaking those commandments. Even the Egyptians, and the wrath of God that was on them, the punishment was on the nation of Egypt, was due to their breaking the first two commandments. In Numbers chapter 33, verse 4, We read that it was on their gods, talking about Egypt, on their gods, the Lord executed judgments. Remember, Egypt was an idolatrous nation. They had gods all over the place. Some have said that each one of those ten plagues were specifically designed to be a counteracting of at least one god each. They were an idolatrous nation that had many gods and many idols. In Numbers chapter 33 verse 4, the scripture says it was because of their gods, the Lord executed judgments against them. In Genesis chapter 35, God tells Jacob to put away foreign gods among you before he returns to Bethel. That's referencing the first commandment. In Genesis chapter 31, Rachel steals idols from Laban as they fled. That might be breaking more than one commandment, but we have the idea of idolatry. In Genesis chapter 24, Abraham makes Isaac swear on the name of the Lord not to take a Canaanite as a wife, in some way referring to the keeping of the name of God holy. And of course Moses, in reference to commandment 3, Moses learned about the holiness of God's name, didn't he, from the burning bush in Exodus chapter 3, when God says, I am that I am. In Genesis chapter 2, at the end of The creation of all things. We see that God sanctified and blessed the seventh day and made it holy. And made it be a day's arrest. A creation ordinance dealing with the fourth commandment of keeping the Sabbath holy. Although I dare say we often focus so much on the seventh day and we ignore the other part of the fourth commandment that we're to be working as unto the Lord the other six. But we'll get to that in a few months. In Exodus chapter 16, before the law was given, didn't we see that yesterday as we zoomed through? Exodus chapter 16, as the Lord gave manna, he gave specific instructions. I'm going to give you extra on the sixth day. Gather extra. It ain't going to be there on the seventh day. And those that did try to do that, it turned up all rotten and moldy and worms. And they rebuked for it. They said, can't you obey my commandments and my laws? and so we see the fourth commandment before the giving of the law the fifth commandment when Ham was cursed for his dishonoring of his father Noah in Genesis chapter 9 and we see Jacob and Esau in Genesis chapter 27 and that whole fight and fooling their father with animal skins on arms and fooling who is who we see there that the fifth commandment was was broken. The sixth commandment of killing. What did Moses have to leave Egypt for? What did he do? Well, he broke the sixth commandment. Cain in Genesis chapter 4 is the one that immediately comes to your mind, doesn't it? Right after sin, Genesis chapter 4, brother is killing brother. And there's the sixth commandment. The seventh commandment of being faithful to one's wife. and not having relations outside of marriage. Well, in Genesis chapter 19 with Sodom and Gomorrah, we see that blatantly being broken. In Genesis chapter 39, when Potiphar's wife is enticing Joseph, we see it there as well. The commandment number 8 about stealing. Well, Rachel stole the idols from Laban in Genesis chapter 31. Lying. Well, Abraham got in trouble, didn't he? In lying about his wife. his wife not being his wife and from that you even see the 10th commandment coveting coming into play where in one case the pharaoh says what are you doing Abraham? I'm coveting your wife I didn't know she was your wife get away from me I don't have to suffer this there you have the pagan understanding that these laws which isn't that what we should expect in some respect if the law is written on their hearts So you can see all ten commandments in some way are either promoted or broken, and there's punishment for it in some way, even in the book of Genesis and before the law is given in Mount Sinai. How do we get then from the old to the new? Now you're going to get tired of this section of scripture, but Jeremiah chapter 34 is so important. And I don't want to be guilty of taking one proof text, and this is what will hold up every time someone says something. Jeremiah 31! Jeremiah 31! I don't want to do that. But at the same time, Jeremiah 31, verses 31 through 34, those are so very important. Why? Because that's the only place in the Old Testament where the phrase, New Covenant, is specifically mentioned. And it's so very clear. This is where God is giving Jeremiah the prophecy, what's going to happen, how we transition from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant. It's a very important section of Scripture. Between Baptists and Presbyterians, as well as those who hold the law and those who don't. But in Jeremiah 31, verse 31, it 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. So it's not like the covenant we've been talking about. My covenant which they broke The new covenant, by the way, cannot be broken. Though I was a husband to them, says the Lord, but this new covenant, this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they all shall know me. from least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." So he's speaking about the new covenant, where everyone in the covenant is born again, and has a new heart, and God will actually write his law. It's the same language, it's purposely the same language to remind you of Mount Sinai. God says, I will write the law on their hearts. The point of it is, the same law that was written on the stone tablets, the same law, the same Ten Commandments, the same moral law that was given in the Old Covenant, even though there is a New Covenant, that same law will now be written on the hearts of my people in the New Covenant. Now this is different than the writing of the Law on the Hearts we read in Romans Chapter 2, that's speaking about the conscience. This is actually writing on their hearts. It's speaking of salvation. And now, they will love me. Their hearts will be in tune with me. And they'll want to obey my law. It doesn't mean they will all the time. But that same law won't just be written impersonally on tablets of stone. That will be personally written on your hearts. So you'll want to be like David. He says, how I love thy law. And like Paul and Romans, we say, the law is my delight. That's the difference. And the wording is very purposeful to remind you of the writing of the original law on Mount Sinai, that same law will be written on your hearts. And I think that's fulfilled in 2 Corinthians 3, verse 3, where it speaks about, you are epistles written, written on your hearts. And that same language is used when he's comparing the old to the new covenant. And now the difference is, the law is written on your hearts. And so in Jeremiah 31, we see as it is, A baton, the law of God, the moral law of God, unlike the ceremonial law, unlike the civil law, the law of God, the moral law of God is now going to be passed as a baton from the old covenant to the new covenant. Why? Because it's the abiding, eternal holiness and law of God Himself. Why would it change from one covenant to another? Why would it change? Is God going to change? Are God's standards and rules going to change? I don't think so. What about when we get into the New Testament? What about when Jesus comes? Well, if you look at Matthew 5, verses 17-20, as Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount, to make it very clear, I think, in Matthew 5, verse 17, Jesus says, Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. He's not saying, I didn't come to destroy, but in contrast to that, I came to fulfill it. I'm not coming to make it go away. For assuredly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." Jesus is saying, I didn't come to have the law be abrogated. I came to fulfill it and to uphold it. And if any of you teach somebody else to ignore these commandments, you're in big trouble. This doesn't sound like someone who's coming with a new law and a new standard for God. This sounds like someone who's coming to say, let me tell you, let me interpret to you how the law was supposed to be understood and what does the rest of the Sermon on the Mount speak of. Very quickly it says, you heard it say, you shouldn't murder somebody. Well, I'm going to tell you, you shouldn't be angry with your brother. You heard it say you shouldn't commit adultery. I'm telling you, you shouldn't bust. This is not giving something new. This is amplifying the law. This is saying this is what was meant. Not giving you something different. And so then the remainder of the Sermon on the Mount is speaking then about the commandments and interpreting them as they're meant to be. And what's his point? What he's saying is here, The law is still in place. And unless you have righteousness that's greater than the scribes and the Pharisees, you cannot be in the kingdom of heaven. But the thing is, the law is in place. It's God's perfect standard of righteousness. And you can't obey it. And by the end of the Sermon on the Mount, the point is, you must come to me, the only one who can obey it and fulfill it for you, lest you die and be lost in your sins forever. the fire and the thunder and the fear on Mount Sinai that's just a foretaste of what is left for the one who will not come to Christ to seek shelter in the cleft of the rock and the one who can fulfill the law and has fulfilled the law and has suffered the punishment of justice for the law there's no hope outside of Christ is what he's saying in the Sermon on the Mount the law doesn't change But a relationship to it can if you come to Christ. What about in the rest of the New Testament? We're trying to trace the law going from Romans to Genesis to get to Exodus. We got to Jeremiah. It's going to be passed over to the New Covenant. Jesus says, I'm not coming to destroy law. I'm coming to fulfill it. What about the remainder of the New Testament? You can, I believe, in the New Testament see all of the law, all of the Ten Commandments mentioned very clearly in the New Testament as well. And in many places where the commandments are used in the New Testament, they are referenced in such a way that it's a matter-of-fact assumption that, of course you know this is the law. Of course you know these are the commandments. If the law or the Ten Commandments were no longer binding or no longer valid, they wouldn't be used in such a quickly assumed way. In 1 Timothy 1 verses 5-11, Paul says, Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart. That sounds kind of weird, doesn't it? The purpose of the commandment is love? I thought the law and love are something completely different. From a good conscience and from sincere faith, from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm. In other words, you have people wanting to use the law, but they don't understand it. But we know that the law is good. We know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully. Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate. I think what he's saying there is similar to saying when Christ said, I didn't come for the healthy, I came for the sick. Nobody is righteous. The law is for everybody. The law is not for the righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate. That's all of us, by the way. And what you have falling here is, some have said that every one of the Ten Commandments are referred to except for coveting in some way, although it's kind of hidden. But he says, for the ungodly, and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers, and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust. Now, for those that know the original languages, they have said this, that when it says the ungodly, that's a word that is often used For those serving other gods. For sinners, the root word for that is a word that's often used in talking about idolatry. For the unholy, that's in reference to the name of God to be kept holy. The profane, that's a word that's often used in profaning the Sabbath. The rest of them are easier to see. For murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, well, I think that would be breaking the fifth commandment of honoring your mother and father. For manslayers, and speaking of murder, number six. For fornicators, for sodomites, that's number seven. For kidnappers, that's one way of stealing. For number eight. For liars, number nine. And perjurers, number nine again. And so Paul here is saying that the law is given for sound doctrine and it's useful when it's used wisely. And he accounts nearly all of the Ten Commandments here in 1 Timothy chapter 1. We see that in several places when it's outlined what certain sins are. They follow along with many aspects very blatantly with the Ten Commandments. In the Ten Commandments himself, when Jesus says, I am the way and the truth and the life, that implies that any other god but me is a sin. That's number one. In 1 John 5.21, he says, Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Number 2. In Matthew 6, when Jesus teaches how to pray, it says, Hallowed be thy name. That references to commandment number 3. In Colossians 3, it says, Whatever you do, do it with all your heart. And in Matthew 12, it says that Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. In Hebrews 4, it says, There remains a Sabbath rest for all the people. Those have some reference to the idea that we need to work with all our heart. to the Lord on the sixth day, and we have a rest on the seventh. Ephesians chapter 6, verses 1-3 speaks about obeying your parents. And let's look at Ephesians chapter 6, verses 1-3. It's an important verse in the perpetuity of the commandments and the moral law. He says in Ephesians chapter 6, verse 20 says, Children, obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right. Now look at what he says next. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise. that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth. You see the assumption in there? He's quoting a commandment saying obey this. And it's the first one with a promise. That means it's one of many. It's part of a unit. And this is not quoted to Jewish folks necessarily. So then in itself, the fact that it's so easily referenced as a standard without any qualification in Ephesians chapter 6. There's an assumption that we know it's a unit of law and it's binding to us even today. In the Sermon on the Mount, I've already mentioned how Jesus speaks that it's not enough just to not murder. You don't need to be angry. And number seven, it's not enough just to not commit adultery. There's no need for lust. And we see often references of that stealing is wrong in the New Testament and lying is wrong in the New Testament. And in James chapter four, we see that covening is wrong in the New Testament. But let me give you a couple more from the New Testament. James 2, verses 8-11. James 2, verses 8-11. James says, if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, you shall love your neighbor as yourself, you do well. But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. Again, earlier we said in 1 John 3, John says, sin is breaking the law. Sin is lawlessness. For he who said, do not commit adultery, also said, do not murder. Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. It's part of the idea that if you break one, you've broken them all. But you see how James is speaking as if the Ten Commandments are right here? It's not some distance past something that was used and now it's forgotten. He's referring to the specific commandments of the law saying, you must do this. Look at Romans chapter 13. Romans chapter 13, verses 8 through 10. Again, we've said how Romans, Paul often is referring to the moral law. That's his primary focus when he speaks of the law. Romans chapter 13, verses 8 through 10. Paul says, owe no one anything except to love one another. For he who loves one another has fulfilled the law. You fulfilled the law by love? For the commandments, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not covet, and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to a neighbor, therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Underline that. Love is the fulfillment of the law. I don't think we hear that very often today. Love is the fulfillment of the law. In Matthew 22, verses 36 and following, Jesus was asked as a way of testing, trying to trip him up. He was asked, what is the greatest commandment in the law? And Jesus answered in Matthew 22 verses 36 and beyond. He says, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. What Jesus is doing for us is what our catechism tells us. The will of God is found in His moral law. That's what we're obligated to do. What is God's moral law? Well, it's summarized in the Ten Commandments. What do the Ten Commandments summarize? They're summarized in the two laws of love that Jesus condensed them down into. Which you should love your Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind. And you should love your neighbor as yourself. In a sense, the first four commandments are summarized by love God with all your heart. The last six commandments are summarized by love your neighbor as yourself. And so you can condense this scary law down to the ten, down to the two, down to the one, which is love. The law of God can be condensed down to love. Loving your God and loving your neighbor. It's interesting to note that both these summaries, the two great commandments, both of these are quotes from the Old Testament. In Deuteronomy chapter 6, after God had given the law to His people a second time, He says, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength. I remember as a young Christian, I struggled with the idea, how do we understand obedience and love? And it was probably not the most thorough and most theologically sound search. I remember searching through the scriptures trying to look at every place that obedience was talked about. I was amazed at every place that love was talked about. Almost everywhere I looked, obedience and love was together. You can't separate them. And you can't separate the law and love either. In Leviticus chapter 19, it says, you shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Then we see in Romans 13 again, that love does no harm to a neighbor, and therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Jesus says in John chapter 14, he says, if you love me, what? Keep my commandments. And in verse 21, he says, He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is He who loves me. In 1 John 5, verses 1-3, Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves Him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God. that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. Isn't that a joy? One of the purposes of going through the Law and the Ten Commandments is to have a fuller understanding of them. To understand the importance of them, how they represent who God is. But it's also to have a love for the Law. Does that sound weird? I don't hear that very much. I didn't grow up in Reformed circles, so I really didn't hear that very much. But we need to cultivate a love for the Law of God, because that's one of the ways we love God Himself. Let me close with some thoughts called from Ernest Reisinger. Reisinger, in a sermon I was listening to, said, Law is not given to condemn man, but it's for our good. It is a holy, loving decree of the One who is looking for His glory and for our good. In Romans chapter 7, he said, in verse 12, that the law is holy and the commandments are just and good. And the law is highly beneficial to man and it's for his good. It's our sin that makes the law contrary to us. It's our sin that makes us look at the law and tremble. Because we understand that the law is this towering, Something that's going to smash us. Because we can't obey it. It's going to send us to hell. As if the law can do that. But our disobedience to it, our inability to obey it, we can't do it. So it's our sin that makes the law contrary to us. It's what makes us tremble. Think about this though. If everyone would live according to the law, what kind of world would we be in? Think about this. If everyone would obey the law, we would all love God with all our heart. There'd be no idols. We would keep His name holy and respect the things that are sacred. We would keep the Sabbath. We'd work hard six days out of the week without turning on the internet at work. We'd work hard for the glory of the Lord six days out of the week and we'd rest on the seventh and worship Him. We would obey our mother and father. Oh, that'd be nice. And parents would love their children likewise. There'd be respect for authority in general. There wouldn't be murder. There wouldn't be killing. In fact, we'd go out of our way to help one another. Not just to look out for their physical harm, but to help them. There'd be faithfulness within marriage. There'd be no adultery. Spouses would be faithful to one another and have no eyes for anyone else. And on top of that, would rejoice in one another the way we're supposed to be. Families would not be rent asunder. There'd be no stealing. We'd have to lock our doors. Think of all the benefits. There'd be no lying. I think Reisinger said judges and policemen would be out of work. There'd be nothing to write in the papers. He said, there'd be no Sunday papers. And there'd be no covening. There'd be a complete satisfaction with what the Lord has provided for us and we rejoice in what somebody else has as well. What would that be like? What would the world be like if everybody would obey the law of God? What would it be like? It'd be like heaven. And heaven's good. So the law is good. There's nothing wrong with the law. It's us. Wasn't it love that redeemed Israel from Egypt before giving the law? All those thou shalt nots, what are those for? Those are the thou shalt nots of a loving Father who's trying to keep you from harm. Just like Daniel, we might say, keep your hand away from that hot stove. That's what the law is for us. It's for our good. It's to keep us from harm. The love and law is not in opposition to one another. As we said earlier, what is the love of God? The love of God is to keep His commandments, and His commandments are not grievous. If we love one another, we've fulfilled the commands, we've filled the law. Listen, sinner, if you don't know Christ, if you don't know Christ, the law is not your enemy. Would an enemy take you to Christ? That's what the law does. The law is our schoolmaster, our tutor, to lead you to Christ. To say, you can't do this, but here's Christ. It's a shame that our churches, in our Christianity today, we try to lock up the schoolmaster. What a detriment to our evangelism when we lock up the schoolmaster. We don't talk about the law, so people don't know what sin is. If you say, the wages of sin is death, and their reaction now would be, what is sin? What are you going to say? We need the law, so we can say, this is the law. This is the righteousness of God. Let it lead you to Christ. You need Christ. You break this law, you've sinned against the God who authored it. The law is not your enemy. The law is the one that leads you to Christ. Law and love and grace and liberty and the Savior and the Gospel, they're all friends. The problem is that there's no power in the law to justify you before God. The law can point you the right road, but it can't give you the strength to travel it. You must come to Christ. You might have the strength to travel that road. and go through Christ who has fulfilled the law. Let us close then with Christ. Christ had said, the law is summarized in loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, and loving your neighbor as yourself. Look to Christ. We can never understand the perfection of Christ's love until we've stood in the presence of His holy law, We can never know the great heart of love in Christ that's led him to such obedience to his Father on our account as we understand the law. Edmund Clowney said, Jesus' love for God the Father was so great, he was willing to be accursed by the Father in order to carry out his Father's plan of salvation for those the Father had given him. If you know what it looks like to love your Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind, Look to Christ. Look to the cross. He loved the Father so much that He would suffer unknowable pain from His Father's wrath on our account, because that's what pleased His Father. Out of love for His Father, He went to the cross on our account. Jesus' love for His neighbor was so great that He gave up His life for those neighbors who hated Him. Such a deep and radical notion of the law shows us the true demand of the commandment to pick up a cross and follow Him. As Jesus transforms this greatest of all commandments, He shows us a new level of interpretation for all of God's law. Without Christ, we have no true understanding of the law. Do you see on the cross the fulfillment of loving your neighbor as yourself? As Christ died for those who were His enemies, who hated Him. He did that out of love for his neighbor. And we're the wonderful benefit of that. If you don't know Christ, you stand condemned in light of the law. You must run to Christ. Christ, who as Reisinger said, there's two sides of the cross. On the front side, we see the human side of God's love on the cross. That Christ died for me. On the backside of the cross, though, we see God's justice being poured out on Him. That God pulls out the sword of His justice, the unsheathed sword of His justice, and thrusts it into Christ on our account. That Christ suffered the penalty of our sin for breaking the law, that we would not have to, but that justice would be served. Come to this Christ and know the law of love and not the law of fear. through the law of love on account of Christ. Let us pray. Dear Lord, we stand humbled before You. Your law is perfect. Your law is perfectly holy and righteous. But we cannot obey it. We can't begin to obey it. And Lord, because of that, we have no hope. But Your law, which never changes, has been satisfied in Christ Jesus. That we might then, through Him, and through His sacrifice, and through His perfect life, and through His perfect death, we might then know that same satisfaction of the law through Him. And we could also be given a new heart that we can begin to obey Your law. Oh, not perfectly. Whatever we can't do is made up fully by Christ. But we can begin to say, oh, how I love your law, and we delight in your law, because it's through your law that you've given us that we might love you. How do we love you? Well, your law tells us, and your son shows us. Lord, may we have a greater affinity and a greater love for your law. We need your law to see what Christ has suffered, that we'd be all the more grateful and all the more desiring to serve you. We need your law to know how to serve you. And we need to present the law to the lost, that they might know what it is that they have broken. And the God that they have sinned against, they might then be driven to the Christ who paid the penalty for them. May it be so for those here today who do not know you. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.