Well, I'd like us this evening to return to our time of preparation. We will be engaged in the study of the Ten Commandments. It's set before us in all the major reformed documents and confessions, the Westminster Confession of Faith, the standards of our church. It's set before us in our shorter catechism, the larger catechism at great length. It's set before us in the three forms of unity with which many of you were raised and are more familiar with than I am myself. Why do the Reformers place such an emphasis that whichever confession of faith or catechism we turn to that we would respect and revere as being a Reformed statement of biblical truth, that they are so intent upon teaching us the import of the Ten Commandments and applying it to our hearts? Well, quite clearly it is still of importance to us, and though that may not be held to be true even by our fellow believers, by believers that we fully anticipate will be standing, praising God for all eternity in His presence, and yet they have come to a different determination. We come in our preparation to ask ourselves a question before we even engage in a study of each of the Ten Commandments one by one. Is this just a series of laws and commandments certainly set aside for a few, or is it to be applied more widely? Well, here we have as our text this evening the second Psalm. And the picture that is set before us is quite easy for us to comprehend. Those that are in a position of authority, the rulers, the kings, the princes of this world gather together and they are opposed to the things of God and so they want to cast aside the shackles, as they would think of it, of God's Word. Now let's throw off the rule of God. And the response of the rest of the psalm is to that very question. Well, should the kings of the earth be under the the authority of God's Word. Well, that's something of, it's one aspect of the application of our understanding of the law of God. And what does the Psalmist say? Well, he who sits in the heavens shall laugh. How pathetic. It doesn't matter how powerful, in terms of this world, an individual might be. He may indeed be the most powerful man upon the face of the earth. And in our generation, I suppose we'd each recognize that the President of the United States is perhaps, arguably at least, the most powerful man upon the face of the earth. But there are others that might wish to rival him, perhaps, the president of Russia. But there are yet other powers that cause us some concern. that have nuclear power. And if you've been following the news of late, you know that question about the nuclear power of North Korea, a small and impoverished state and yet seemingly with the capacity to do much harm in the world. And what a blessing it would be if they were indeed to renounce their nuclear program. Well, it's not my purpose to get into debates as to geopolitics, but simply this, we recognize that those who are in positions of authority have a responsibility to use their authority, recognizing that one day they will have to give an account. And this psalm sets that before them. It doesn't matter how powerful you are in terms of this world, don't think that you can challenge God. Why not? Because even if all the nations of the earth came together and they were combined in their opposition to God, he who sits in the heavens shall laugh. And then there is the counsel that is given to them, that they should kiss the sun. for his anger can be kindled by a little, and you perish in the way." What counsel would we give to any king, prince, potentate, any president? It is kiss the sun, submit to King Jesus. That's the only advice that we can give. to a political authority. Well, let me just give you three very brief headings, and then we'll consider together something of the application of what our understanding of the law is. Well, what comes out from our understanding of Psalm 2? It is, first of all, that we are to recognize King Jesus, then secondly, that we are to reverence him, and Thirdly, we are to respond to him. First of all, those that are in these heathen nations round about that are saying they're going to throw off the word of God, throw away any commitment to King Jesus and renounce the sovereignty of God. What's the first thing that they should do? They should recognize King Jesus. What utter folly it is to take on the infinite power of God. What utter folly. So what advice would we give to anyone? To anyone? If we're speaking to the President of the United States or the President of Russia, what advice would we give? We'd say, kiss the sun. Bend the knee to King Jesus. Because one day, you and everybody else in this world, when Christ returns in his glory, every knee shall bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. And wisdom would mean that you would get in early and start right here and now. Otherwise, instead of being one of his subjects who is swept up with him into glory, you will be swept away from him in the condemnation that will come to those who are opposed to the king. Kiss the king, lest his anger is stirred but a little. There is a calling upon of those in a position of authority and by the same token to everyone in any lesser authority, right down to the lowest person in society. in society to kiss the Son, recognize Him, bend the knee to King Jesus. But it's more than just recognize that He is King, there is also a reverencing of the King. How do we do that? How do we reverence the King? It's as we look into the Word of God and say, if He's my King, then I am His subject and I have a responsibility to do as the King tells me to do. Now, we recognize that there are some difficulties because of our own background. And before you say, well, that's fine for him to say, he comes from the United Kingdom and he's used to having a queen, a monarch. Just remember that the United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and actually it's the politicians that make the decision. The Queen just signs the legislation. She has no real authority in Paris. Not that the Queen of England, the Queen of Scotland, has the power to make up her own law. She has none. She can't enforce it. The days of such monarchies have long since disappeared in the United Kingdom. So we live in a democracy, and sometimes that can be a hindrance to us. And we think, what is our responsibility as subjects of a monarch? We pride ourselves on the liberties that we have. Well, we have to come to Scripture and ask the question, what are my responsibilities as subject of a king? Well, unless our view of Christ the King as being some kind of constitutional monarch, a figurehead, the head that is placed on the stamps or on the banknotes of the country, but really having no more power or significance in our lives than that, And if truth be told, so often as Christians, we treat our God, King Jesus, as though he was a constitutional monarch. We have perhaps the warm fuzzies, or if you're a citizen of the United Kingdom, you might think, well, we've got a wonderful queen, or whatever else it might be. But day by day, no, she has no real authority and power. I like to see her head on the stamps. I like to see it on the money, on all the coins of the realm. But that's as far as it goes. Is that how we view King Jesus? In our response to him? Are we reverencing him? We say, you know, I'm a man under authority. When King Jesus says, go, I go. When he says, stay, I stay. I'm always listening for his commands. Why? Because I want to keep his word. I'm happy for the Queen to be in Buckingham Palace, I'm happy for her head to be on the stamps, but don't let her interfere with me on a day-by-day basis. Well, it's more than just simply recognizing King Jesus. We have to reverence him, and that means being obedient to his laws. And then thirdly, by way of introduction, to respond to him. Here it's put in a particular way, to kiss the sun. That's a way by which we can show we are under his authority. We're saying, I recognize that he is my king. I hold his laws to be dear and precious, and I want to keep them. And I want to show that because I have a relationship with the son. I kiss his hand. Well, you could perhaps create the picture in your own mind of entering into the court of the King of Kings. And there, if you've seen any programs or movies where a king is sitting on a raised dais, there he is sitting on his throne, and a subject is brought in and he bends the knee before the king and takes the hand of the king and kisses the ring on his finger. What's he doing? What's he signifying by doing that? He's saying, I am your loyal subject. I am bending the knee. I'm yielding to you. That's what every Christian is called upon to do. We say, I'm a subject of King Jesus. and I bend the knee. Nobody needs to put a great weight on my shoulders that brings me down because I do it willingly. Why? Because I love the Lord Jesus Christ and I count it my privilege to call him my king and I will do all that is within me to reverence him and to display his matchless worth in this world and in the world that is to come. Well, as we think about these things, we're making application of our preparation. What is it that should be uppermost in our minds as we come to a study of the law of God? Well, the two things that I've tried to set before you in recent weeks, the first thing that I tried to display to you was this, that the law of God displays to us the character of God. God is showing us something about Himself in each of the laws. And each law that we come to shows us something different. And so we need a variety of laws, as it were, to show us different aspects of His being. But it is the same God who is being presented to us in each of these Ten Commandments, in the law of God in general. He's showing us Himself, His character, His holiness. And it is by a study of the law of God that we get to know God better. And the second thing that I wanted to try to impress upon you is that the law of God not only shows us the character of God, it shows us the heart of God as well. That our God is not someone who just sets down a list of arbitrary laws and regulations, but that He is displaying in the law His heart for us and His desire for our well-being. For whom are these laws set before? For whom are they given? They're given for us so that as we keep the law of God, we will grow in our love towards Him and we will grow in our likeness to Him. So what is our attitude towards the law? Who should study the law of God? We're saying, first of all, it should be God's people. Each and every one of them should study the law of God. And we have a particular reason for that, because we're saying, here when I study the law of God, I'm getting to know God better. When my mind is filled with an understanding of why God has set this particular law before us, then I am better placed to understand his character. When I know him better, then I will love him more. And that gets to the other aspect that we know not just the character of God, but we know the heart of God as well. And those two things are going to have an impact, not just in terms of our mental understanding, it will have an impact upon our own hearts, and will help us to understand how we can avoid some of the pitfalls of a distorted understanding of the law of God. For there are those who would pull us off towards the side of legalism. You just do this because that's what God's law demands. And of course, I suppose you and I, because we do take the Word of God seriously, we're far more likely to be Pharisees, in all honesty. Who's going to be a Pharisee, an out-and-out liberal who has really little regard for the Word of God, or those who are keen to read the Word of God, to hear it proclaimed, to study it, committed to memory, have their catechisms which they commit to memory, and so forth. Who is more likely to fall off the path of righteousness in the direction of legalism? And it's not you and me. We recognize that that will be the temptation that will be particular for us. For the liberal congregation that sets aside the Word of God, they're not likely to be tempted by legalism, because they're not taking the Word of God as seriously as we think that we are. So how can I guard my heart against legalism? How can you guard your heart in the study of the Ten Commandments? Is it just merely, now let the preacher tell me about these Ten Commandments and I'll go off and do them? Is that our response to the Ten Commandments? Or are we saying, no, there's something beyond that, because as I get to know the law of God, I'm able to say, I am entering into deeper fellowship with God, and I appreciate Him more, and I love Him more, because He's given me the warning signs, the path of what I can find happiness and true godly contentment. And so as a study of God's law, it's not merely about saying, God has given me these list of rules that I can keep in and by themselves without reference to the person of God himself. That's not what we're doing in the study of the Ten Commandments. What we're saying is, I am studying God himself through these commandments. And if it's a relationship directly with God himself, and I want to know God's heart on the matter, then that will keep me from just coldly following it and saying, this is the rule, this is what I've got to do, and now I'll just do it. The Pharisees knew all about the rules, but you'll show me anywhere in the New Testament account that shows that the Pharisees loved God. They loved keeping the rules. What Christians are called upon to do is to love the God who gave the rules, and in that distinction is all the world. It shows us that our relationship is with God himself and not just with a list of, you don't do this and you don't do that. If it's fun, stop it because it's against some law somewhere or other. That's the attitude that we have. But if we're grappling with this, then we recognize that the Arminian or the Antinomian, a person who didn't... I'm under grace, I'm not under law, therefore I don't need to worry so much about the law. I can just basically go off and do my own thing. Well... Have you not read in Scripture, my dear friend, not that I suppose anybody whose antinomian is present, but if anybody should ever be listening to this sermon on sermonaudio.com, if you are of that mindset, exactly how is it that you think that you will come to be pleasing in God's sight? You are, as it were, without a map, you don't know the country, you don't know where you're going, you don't know how to get there. The law of God helps me to understand. How can I get close to God? How can I think His thoughts after Him? Well, here it is. I think God's thoughts after Him by the understanding of the law, because I'm getting to know the mind of God. I'm getting to know the heart of God and His love towards me. Who should study the law of God if it's not Christians? Of course, that's the picture that is given to us when the law is given. To whom was the law given originally? As you've heard me say a number of times before, the law was given to those whom God had already rescued out of the house of bondage. They'd be brought out of the place where they were held in captivity, and they were brought to the place where they then heard the law. They were already the rescued people when the law was given them. Is that not a picture of you and me? We come to the law of God. God has already saved me. It's not by the adherence to the law. I'm going to keep the law perfectly, and then God will rescue me from my sins. He'll forgive me my sins. Why? Because I kept the law perfectly. No. He's already rescued me. And the response is, well, how can I make pleasing to the God who has saved me? by thinking his thoughts, by having that within my heart, which shows that my heart beats in the same way that his does. So the study of the law of God is something that we should be excited about. King David was excited about the study of God's law, and we should be too. We should be asking ourselves, I wonder what wonderful things God will show me out of his law this time that we study it. We've studied it before. We've been through the Ten Commandments multiple times in the time that it's been my privilege to serve you as pastor. Does that mean, well, we'll just sit back and let the next few months wash across us because we've heard it all before? You say, well, I may have heard that before. But now the Spirit really has applied it to my heart, and I'm seeing things in a different way. Perhaps I was absent. Perhaps I had mentally checked out the last time that I heard that law, that Ten Commandments, whichever commandment preached upon. I'm coming to say, I want God to teach me. I want to know His mind. I want to know His heart. There's a further reason why we should be engaged in the study of God's law. You've heard it said, I'm sure, both in your catechism class and Sunday school and from the pulpit, how Christ Jesus kept the law perfectly. Now, perhaps you have some general understanding. Well, there was the sacrificial law and that he was the perfect sacrifice. Of course, it's absolutely true. Hebrews, the book of Hebrews makes that absolutely clear. But have you thought that the reason why Jesus didn't just walk in from the desert at the age of 30 and then start teaching and preaching and then was arrested and crucified. He lived a perfect life. Boys and girls, he was the same age as you are right now at one point in his earthly life. Exactly the same. He went through all the process. He had to learn to walk in just the same way that you had to learn to walk. He had to learn how to speak in just the same way that you need to learn how to speak. Now, the life of Christ is not some sort of separate entity. He didn't live life in a bubble. He lived it in Nazareth with Mary and with Joseph, and he learned a trade. And he did so, but still kept every law. In other words, we come to study the Ten Commandments, we say, well, how do I apply the Ten Commandments in my daily life? Thou shalt not steal. Plenty of practical application there. How do we keep the commandment that says, honor your father and your mother? Do you think Jesus honored Joseph, not his biological father, but the head of the household? Of course he did. We don't know when Joseph died. He seems to have died earlier on at some point. We don't know when. He certainly honoured his mother. He honoured his mother when he was dying upon the cross. He said to John, as you know, son behold your mother, mother behold your son. He was thoughtful for Mary even with his last breaths. Did he keep the commandment that says honour your father and your mother? Of course he did. Well, if I want to know Jesus better, then I have to recognize that when we say that he kept the law perfectly, he was not living in some sort of separate existence that was totally devoid from living in this world. He had all the pressures, all the difficulties that you and I face. So when we say he kept the law perfectly, it wasn't just in some sort of deep theological sense, he did that of course as well with his death upon the cross, but he kept the law day by day. So why should we study the law? Because it would tell us more of what Jesus did for you and for me. So we should study the law for a whole host of reasons. Christians should study the law first of all, why? Because it's given to those who have been rescued first. It's given to the Pharisee to bring him back that he would see. that the path of righteousness is not the outward keeping of the law, but our hearts that are inclined towards God. It would instruct the Arminian and bring him back from being out there in the left field and say, well, the law of God is not important. It is important. Why? Because it shows you the character, it shows you the heart of God, it shows you the work of Christ. And these things are important for every Christian. There's a further aspect, and that is, does the law of God apply to the unbeliever? I take my life in my hands at this point. The unbeliever doesn't want to hear that, now does he? The unbeliever wants to impress upon you what? You keep your Christian faith, whatever that is. And I don't mind if you want to get together on a Sunday morning or whenever you want to do it. You just do your own thing, but keep it out of my world. Just be Christians off by yourself and don't threaten what I want to do. Keep Christ out of the marketplace, out of the town square. Let it be some sort of a religious sect that just operates somewhere in society but doesn't bother other people. You know, that's the one thing we cannot accept. We cannot accept that. We're not worshiping some kind of a tribal deity. He's our God, but he's not the God of anybody else. That's what they would have you believe. Either King Jesus is the King of all the universe, before whom every knee shall bow and every tongue confess, or he is not. And if your view of King Jesus, he's our king, but he's not really the king of the pagans, then you have surrendered to the world. That's exactly what the world wants you to believe and act upon. Why? Because while you're saying there is such a thing as right and wrong, they're doing their own thing, and of course you and I have nothing to say to them. Why? Because we only worship our king and he's not their king as well. No! How could you possibly come to that conclusion from a reading of Psalm 2? It's the heathen nations that are rising up, and they're saying, we don't want to have the law of God to be imposed upon us. We're going to break the shackles. The shackles that hold us back in our morality. Now, how do we begin our service? From another psalm. Let me remind you of what we read together from Psalm 96. The Lord reigns. Is that true? The Lord reigns. Yes, the world is established. It shall never be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity. He will judge the people. By what law will God judge this world? Well, you look into the legislation of Congress and say, well, according to your laws, it's all right to kill babies in their mother's womb. So that's clearly quite acceptable. There'll be no penalty for that. What about the nature of marriage? Can any particular state define what a marriage is? Or is it to be between a man and a woman? Abortion is a question. The nature of marriage is a question. When God returns, by what standard will he judge this world? Well, the only standard that God is going to judge this world by is by his own standard of righteousness. So the study of God's Word tells us when we are to examine the laws of any particular state, whether it is the United States in the 21st century or perhaps the German state in the 1930s, the execution of Jews, various other segments of society, the mentally handicapped, the physically handicapped. We say that's wrong. On what basis do we say it's wrong? We say it's wrong because men and women are created in the image of God. How do we come to that determination? Because we're reading it in God's Word. Thou shalt not kill. That's not just a rule of some tribal deity. It is the rule that God gives us in His Word. So we are able to hold a standard against the laws of the land. When the state says that it's okay for two men to get married or for two women to get married, they are breaking God's commandments. And one day they will be held to account. We can't just say, well, you know, they're not Christians and therefore it doesn't apply to them. That is not biblically acceptable. They are to be under King Jesus. We're told explicitly in Scripture that it is righteousness that exalts a nation. Well, how do we determine what righteousness is? Is it our standard? Is it left up to you, me, to legislation to define what is righteous? Or do we say, no, there is a standard of righteousness, and it's the righteousness that comes from God's Word. Does that mean that we do have a position on abortion? You are absolutely right. Of course it means that we have a position on abortion. And it doesn't matter what Congress says or a president says. The taking of a human life in the mother's womb is a sin. And it's a sin whether you're a Christian or not. It really is as simple as that. Well, what gives you the right to insert your Christianity into the lives of those who are not Christians? Because I do not, never have, and never will worship a tribal deity. He is your God whether you accept it, whether you recognize it or not. That's what Psalm 2 is saying. That is exactly what Psalm 2 is saying. The heathen nations, they gather around their leaders and say, we're going to make laws according to our likes and dispositions. We're not going to be shackled by this old morality that is set before us in the Ten Commandments. But he who sits in the heavens shall laugh. gives this warning, kiss the son, lest his anger is stirred but a little and ye perish in the way. So we are about to begin our study of the Ten Commandments, and we do so as those who are eager to know the mind and the heart of God. We recognize that it is not just the laws for those who desire to be in submission to the law of God. But these are the laws that God gives us and to which, one day, all will be held accountable. Say among the nations, Psalm 96 again, say amongst the nation, the Lord reigns. Yes, the world is established. It shall never be moved. He will judge the peoples. with equity. Let's pray. Our gracious God and our heavenly Father, we do thank thee for this thy word. We thank thee for the clarity of its warning to all nations, to those who occupy the positions of greatest authority, to kings and princes, to presidents, that they should bend the knee to King Jesus, that they should recognize him, reverence him, respond to him. We ask, Father, that we may not merely think in our minds or in our hearts that this is what others should be doing without first of all desiring that we, in this life, here and now, should bend the knee to King Jesus and desire to think thy thoughts after thee. We ask, Father, that to that end, that thou has blessed the preaching of thy word, that when we come to the study of the Ten Commandments, that our desire might truly be indeed our prayers through the course of the week would be that thou would show us thy mind and more, that thou would show us thy heart, that we might love thee and serve thee with all that is within us, for we know that our true happiness lies in being faithful to thy word. But we ask that we may not be Pharisees in the keeping of thy word, but with a longing and a desire to walk with thee in company with our God. Hear us, we pray, in Jesus' name and for his sake. Amen.