The Ten Commandments are the subject of this morning's message, especially the introduction or the preface to the law and the First Commandment, which I will read, and then we'll look at Lord's Day 34, questions 93 to 95. This is Exodus 20, the first two verses. And God spake all these words, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me." Now to the Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 34, page 48, question 93-95. How are these commandments divided into two tables? The first has four commandments teaching us what our relation to God should be. The second has six commandments teaching us what we owe our neighbor. What does the Lord require in the first commandment? That I, not wanting to endanger my very salvation, avoid and shun all idolatry, magic, superstitious rites, and prayer to saints or other creatures. That I sincerely acknowledge the only true God, trust Him alone. Look to Him for every good thing. Humbly and patiently love Him, fear Him, and honor Him with all my heart. In short, that I give up anything rather than go against His will in any way. What is idolatry? Idolatry is having or inventing something in which one trusts in place of or alongside of the only true God who has revealed Himself in His Word. So far, the reading of the Word and also the confession of our church about that Word. Let us seek His guidance and prayer as we come before Him. Lord, bless this Word unto our hearts, we pray. Help us to understand that Thou art our covenant God, that You love us, that You are our Father, that we are Your children, and that we are to live a life which is in complete conformity with Your will. And You care for us and love us and You want the best for us. Lead us this day in Jesus' name. Amen. Dear friends in Jesus Christ our Lord, as we look at the Ten Commandments this morning in summary, and as we look at the preface to the law, which is a very important part of the Ten Commandments, it is important for us to see that It really does matter how we live. It really matters a lot how we live. It is not a matter of indifference. It is not, you know, you do as you're pleased and I do as I please. It's not just I'm okay, you're okay. There is a standard. There is a standard and it is the standard which God has given. Among other things, we are monotheists. You know what a monotheist is? One who believes in one God. This is in contrast to people who believe in many gods. And there are religions that have all kinds of gods. And this is a very important thing for us to realize that we believe in one true and eternal God. And that one true and eternal God is our Father through Jesus Christ our Lord. And He has revealed Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He has made an everlasting covenant with us. The Belgic Confession in the first article says it so beautifully. We all believe with heart and confess with the mouth that there is one only simple and spiritual being whom we call God. and that He is eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, immutable, infinite, almighty, perfectly wise, just, good, and the overflowing fountain of all good." That's a beautiful statement. And you know who wrote that? It is the church, of course, that has adopted it, but the original writing of it was by a preacher whose name was Guido Debray, G-U-I-D-O, Guido or Gudo Debray. His last name was Debray, D-E-B-R-A-Y. He was a Frenchman and he was a pastor. And he was living in what we call today Belgium. It was between France and the Netherlands. That's where he lived. And he was a preacher there. And the government was, or the society was under the control of the Spanish government. And the Spanish government was dominated by the Roman Catholic Church. And in a certain sense it still is. Spain is a Roman Catholic country. And there was absolute intolerance for any religion other than the Roman Catholic religion. And so there was punishment for those who would follow another faith, or who would follow the Reformation faith. There was punishment for them, and the punishment was death. I mean, there was just no wiggle room. So Guido, who was a pastor of a church like here, We really don't know how large this church was, but it was a congregation of common people, of believing people. And Guido de Bray said to himself, he said, you know, we're being punished by our country for what we believe. And I really want to explain to the authorities that we are regular taxpaying good citizens. And so he writes this. And he says, we are not revolutionaries. We Christians, we Reformed Christians, are not out for the overthrow of the government. We are willing to obey and live within the rules of the state. We recognize that you have been given the authority to regulate, to rule our country, and to protect the good and to punish the evil. And we're willing to live with that. We're not guerrillas. We're not revolutionaries. We're not going to take up arms against the state. We will abide by the state rules. But there is one thing we won't do. We will not give up our faith. Absolutely, you cannot force us to give up our faith. And he says in his introduction to this letter that he sent to the king, he says that we are willing to abide by all of the principles and rules of the government. We will obey all lawful things. But we will offer our backs to stripes, our tongues to knives, our mouths to gags, and our whole bodies to the flames, rather than deny the truth expressed in this confession, which is now what we call the Belgic Confession. It's a statement of faith. It's a statement of faith in God, in Christ the Holy Spirit, The work of the Father, the work of the Son, the work of the Holy Spirit talks about the church and about the sacraments and about the last things. It's all about what the Bible says. And so he put that in a paper. He put it in a paper and he wound it up in a cylinder and he put a string around it And he threw it over the palace wall so that that message could get to the authorities. And so the king got a hold of it. And he says, who's the guy that wrote this? And they said, it's a pastor whose name is Guido de Bray. And the king said, well, find him. So a posse was sent out and they did find him. And they brought him to the king and the king said, did you write this? He said, yes. This is what we stand for and my people. And do you know what happened? On May 31, 1561, he was hung for doing that. Now he writes in the first article, of his faith, that God is the overflowing fountain of all good. And he believed that to the heart and core of his being. This is the God we have whom we serve. And that's a wonderful comfort. And that faith and that confession was sealed with his blood And it's been sealed with the blood of a countless number of people over the course of the centuries of the existence of the Christian church. There's been tremendous persecution against the true Christian faith. If you've ever seen Fox's Book of Martyrs, it will chronicle the tremendous persecution against the church. Why should I keep God's law? Why should we do good? Why should we follow Him who is our God? Well, because, first of all, of who He is. God is the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and our Father for His sake. And He is the overflowing fountain of all good. That's who He is. He is our covenant God. He is the Creator of the heavens and the earth who of nothing made all things visible and invisible. And He has made us in His image. And He loves us with an everlasting love. And with loving kindness, He draws us to Himself. This is the kind of God we have. Do you believe in Him? Could someone get you to say, no, I'm going to throw this over? Could someone get you Deny Him. Or do you really believe in the depths of your heart that this God really does exist? That He is true and good. He has spoken and He loves us. This is truly what He wants us to do. He has created us for Himself. And way back in the 300, Saint Augustine said, God has created us for Himself, and man is restless until he finds his rest in Him. That's the only place where we will really find rest and comfort and meaning in our lives. This is the God we serve. What has He done? Well, in the preface to the law, it summarizes what God has done. The preface to the law is so important because it tells us who is the lawgiver and to whom He has given that law. He says, the eternal God, the eternal God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ spoke from Mount Sinai. And He said, I am the Lord your God. That's a beautiful statement. He says He's a covenant God. I am your God. You can claim Me as your Father. I am your God. And what did I do? I brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. That's what He said to the gathered people around Mount Sinai. He said, I am the One who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You were in terrible shape in Egypt. You were slaves. You had no rights. Your baby boys were confiscated and thrown into the River Nile to be eaten by the crocodiles. And I heard your cry by reason of your taskmasters. And your taskmasters not only made you made bricks, but they took away the straw that you used to make them. They were ruthless, cruel, hateful taskmasters. And I heard your cry, and I sent Moses, and I delivered you out of the land of Egypt. It was I that did it. I sent those ten plagues. I was there. I was in the fire that led you out that night with a pillar of fire. And I was in the pillar of cloud leading you during the day. And it was I that stood between you and the pursuing Egyptians. It was I that opened the Red Sea so you could go through on dry ground. It was I that brought that sea back to cover the whole army of Pharaoh. I was the one involved. I was there. I did it. It was My hand that delivered you. Why? Because I love you. It's not because you were more mighty or numerous than any other nation. No, you were insignificant. You were the least of them all. But it's because I loved you. And I made an everlasting covenant with your fathers, Abram, Isaac, and Jacob. And I will not and never will I forget you. A mother may forget her nursing child, but I'll never forget you. I love you with an everlasting love, and that's why I delivered you out of the land of Egypt out of the power of Pharaoh through the Red Sea and brought you here to Mount Sinai. That's what God said to them. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. And then the Lord says, therefore, you shall have no other gods before Me. The law is given in that context. And this is very, very important. You see, the law of the Lord was not given in Egypt. The Lord did not say, when the children of Israel were in Egypt, I will deliver you if you have no other gods before Me, and if you don't worship any idols. Or if you don't swear, or if you honor my day, and if you honor your parents and don't murder, steal, commit adultery, or covet, then I will do it. No, no, no. You know the geography as well as I do. You know that Mount Sinai is in the Arabian Desert. And it's not in Egypt. If God had given them the law in Egypt, and said, I'll let you out of here if you obey My commandments, they'd still be there. Do you know how they got out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage? It was by grace alone. Without human merit. They did not deserve it. They did not earn Their deliverance, it was pure grace. Pure grace. Grace alone that led them out of Egypt. All they had to do was to go through that open Red Sea. Moses said, go. Just go. The Lord will fight for you. The Lord will take care of the army of Egypt that's coming after you too. Don't worry. Just go. It was pure grace. And so they were delivered by grace alone from the bondage of Egypt, and then they were brought to Mount Sinai. And so the law was given between Egypt and Canaan. The law was given in between Egypt and Canaan, in between that. That's significant. That is very significant. It is significant in this sense, that deliverance is by grace alone. But before we get to the heavenly Canaan, there's the law. The law is there so that we may live according to His commandments. But what's the motivation for our living the Christian life? What's the motivation? The motivation is gratitude for such a great deliverance. You know, the law of God is mentioned in the Heidelberg Catechism in two places. It is mentioned in Lord's Day 2 and in Lord's Day 34. In Lord's Day 2, you have the summary of the law. And it is an answer to the question, how do you know your sin? And the answer is out of the law of God. And then it says, what is the law of God? And the answer is Jesus teaches this in a summary in Matthew 22, 37 to 40. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength, and thy neighbor as thyself. So the law is mentioned as a teacher of sin in Lord's Day 2, which is the summary of the law. Then we come to Lord's Day 34 where you have the Ten Commandments, and it's an answer to the question, really, as what are good works? Those which proceed from faith done according to the law of God and done for His glory. And the whole thing of the Ten Commandments is given an answer to the question, how can I show my gratitude for such a great deliverance? And that's exactly what the preface to the law tells us. I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of Israel. Therefore, you shall have no other gods before Me." So obedience to the law is in response and in gratitude for His deliverance. God is the first actor. God acted first. He is the prime mover, not only of creation, but also of salvation. Now this is very, very important for us to see this. You know that there are some people, and they're Christians. No question about it. They love the Lord. But you know what they don't have? They don't have the assurance of their salvation. And they go through life with this expression, I hope so. I hope I'm saved. And you say to them, do you have assurance that the Lord will take you to heaven when you die? And their answer is, well, I hope so. Why don't you have assurance? Do you know what they say? Because I'm not good enough. I'm not good enough. Do you know where they put the law? They put the law back in Egypt. They put the law in Egypt. And they seem to think that God will give them the assurance of salvation and assurance of eternal life if they obey that law. But that's not the way it is. The law was not given in Egypt. We're saved by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone, through His glory alone. How can we be assured of our faith? Well, the catechism gives us a marvelous answer in Lord's Day 32 when it says, why must we do good works? Why? And the answer is we do it to show ourselves grateful to God for such a great redemption. And then it says, and we are assured of our faith by the fruits of faith. What are the fruits of faith? The fruits of faith are the love of God. Do you love Jesus? Do you enjoy coming to church? Do you like to sing His praises? Do you give of your offerings out of gratitude for such a great deliverance? Do you love one another? Love is the fulfillment of the law and love assures us that there is fruit. Jesus says, I am the vine, you are the branches. He that abides in Me and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit. For apart from Me, you can do nothing. So obedience to the law is fruit. And the fruit assures us that the root is good and that it's all of the Lord. And that's where assurance is. It's God's work. And it's His promises. And it's His Word. I know that I am not my own, but I belong to Him. And so there you have a right placing of the law, not in Egypt. It's not the condition to get out of Egypt. But it's there between Egypt, which is a picture of sin and misery. It's between there and Canaan. The land of Canaan is symbolic of heaven. When we cross over Jordan, that's when we die. And we're given a new heaven and new earth, and that's symbolic. It was symbolized by Canaan, the promised land flowing with milk and honey. So the law is given in between. Now, how can we keep that law? How is it possible to keep that law? Well, it's only by the Holy Spirit's working in our hearts. He gives us the ability to keep it. You remember how Paul says this? He says it in many, many, many places, and the whole Bible does. But I'm thinking of one text in Philippians 2, 11 and 12, and he says, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Work it out. That is, work out the implications of your salvation in all of your life. Work it out just like yeast that gets to every nook and cranny of the dough. Work it out so that in every area of your life, in your political life, your economic life, your work, your play, your family, your marriage, everything will reflect that you belong to Jesus Christ. Work it out. For, says Paul, he says in Philippians 2, 11 and 12, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you to will and to do it for His good pleasure. So obedience to that law is a gift which God gives us. He gives us the ability to do it. Or, as Paul says in Ephesians 2, 8, 9, and 10. Our catechism kids, our 11th and 12th graders had to memorize 8 and 9 last week. And I went over their papers and they all got it. It's wonderful. It's a great, great passage. For we are saved by grace through faith and not of ourselves. It's a gift of God, not of works which anyone should boast. And then verse 10 of Ephesians 2, For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God aforeprepared that we should walk in them. So these good works are obedience to His commandments, which God aforeprepared that we should walk in them. Now, when you sing the Messiah, And some of you will probably sing it this Christmas. Handel, the composer of that grand oratorio, Messiah, wrote it all out. It took him 27 days to do it. It's an incredible piece of music filled with Scripture. So when you sing it, you sing what he wrote ahead of time that you had to sing. Now the Lord says, we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus onto good works which God prepared ahead of time for us to do. It's the Lord that laid it all out for us. And He gives us the strength to do it. So do you know who gets the glory all through it from the beginning to the middle to the end? It's the Lord Himself. And the text which the senior juniors and seniors have to know today is the text at the end of Romans 11. And this is that grand text. For from Him, and through Him, and unto Him are all things. To Him be glory forever and ever. That's what the 11th and 12th graders have to write down today. For from Him, and through Him, and unto Him are all things. Now in the first commandment, the Lord says, You shall have no other gods before Me. He is the exclusive. He is to be the exclusive object of our worship and of our adoration. God Himself. We are to love Him with all our heart. He wants our heart. He wants your devotion. He does not want us to give that devotion to anything else. He does not want us to give that devotion to money, or sports, or work, or even family. We are to give that devotion to God alone. He says you shall have no other gods before Me. As the Catechism says so rightly, In short, that I give up anything rather than go against His will, that I sincerely acknowledge the only true God, trust Him alone, look to Him for every good thing humbly and patiently, love Him, fear Him, honor Him with all my heart. That's it. And that's exactly how He wants us to live. Now there are two mountains in the Bible. Mount Sinai and Mount Calvary. And those two mountains are related. Those two mountains are related. The curse of Sinai, which is upon all those who do not keep the law of God. You know that passage. It's quoted in Galatians 3, but it's found in Deuteronomy. Cursed is everyone that abides not by all the things which are written in the law of the Lord to do them. Do you know what that means? That means all of us are under a curse. Because there's not one of us that does obey God's law like we should. But the curse of Sinai is removed at Mount Calvary Why was He crucified? Why was Jesus crucified? Crucifixion meant the curse. Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. Jesus was hung on a tree of the cross and He bore the curse that was against us. So the curse on us because of Mount Sinai, because we didn't live up to it, is removed on Mount Calvary because Jesus became a curse for us and He kept the law perfectly for us. The glory of Mount Sinai is revealed at Mount Calvary. What's the glory of Mount Sinai? The glory is the holiness of God. The purity of God is revealed on Mount Sinai. And the glory of God revealed on Mount Sinai is truly revealed in Mount Calvary, where God laid upon His only begotten Son all of our sin. As Isaiah 53 says it so beautifully, all we like sheep have gone astray. No one excluded. Every one of us is part of that. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. But the Lord has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. The glory of Sinai is revealed on Calvary. The holiness of God. Where the holiness of God and the wrath of God was poured out upon His only begotten Son. So Jesus cried out, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? It was all revealed there on Mount Calvary. And then the order of Mount Sinai is restored on Mount Calvary. Because Jesus gives us a new motive and a new reason to live for Him. And the order of Sinai, which is to love God above all and our neighbors as ourselves. And you know how the two tables of the law, one about our relationship to God, the other about our relationship with our fellow men, that's the order. All of that is restored on Calvary because through Jesus Christ who paid the price and set us free and His glorious resurrection, He gives us a new motive, a new life. He gives us His Spirit to live according to not just one command, but according to all the commands. And we fail. We fail every day. We fail. But because of Mount Calvary, we can come back to Him again and again and again and again and again. Remember not, O Lord, the sins of long ago. In tender mercy visit us, distressed and humbled. Oh, you know that song. It's found in the Bible. That truth is found constantly. How many times must we forgive one another? asked Peter. Jesus said, Oh, Peter said seven times. Jesus said no, 70 times, seven times. Which means an infinite number of times. That's how much He forgives us. Psalm 103, He is merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abundant in lovingkindness. He does not deal with us according to our iniquities. He doesn't. You know why? Because He's already dealt with them with regard to His Son. His Son. 2 Corinthians 5.21 summarizes it in a beautiful summary. Him who knew no sin. That's Jesus. He was sinless. He kept the law perfectly. Him who knew no sin. God made Him to be sin on our account. so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. He looks on us as if we had never sinned. He looks on us as if we had accomplished all the perfection that Jesus did. He looks on us as if we kept the law perfectly. And all of this is ours if we receive such benefit with a believing heart. the work of Mount Calvary is laid upon us who are condemned by Mount Sinai? Oh, what a blessing! When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died, my richest gain I count but loss and poor contempt. on all my pride. Were the whole realm of nature mine, such were a present far too small." The Lord gave a Savior. Do you know Him? Is He your all in all? Praise God for Mount Calvary. Praise God that we have a Savior. To Him we give my soul, my life, my all. And everyone said, Amen. Lord, bless this Word onto our hearts. We thank You, Lord, for Mount Calvary. Where the curse of Mount Sinai was removed, where the glory of Mount Sinai was revealed, and where the order of Mount Sinai was restored? O Lord, how great the goodness kept in store for those who fear Thee and adore. Lord, in heaven, increase our faith. May we love the Lord. May we look to You, O Lord, for everything we need, for You are the overflowing fountain of all good. Lead us this day in Jesus' name, Amen.