We'll preach on God's holy law.
God's holy law. This is where the Ten Commandments
were given. Moses on Sinai. And God spake all these words,
saying, I am the Lord thy God that which brought thee out of
the land of Egypt and out of the house of bondage. Here's
the first commandment. Thou shalt have no other gods
before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or
likeness of anything that's in heaven above or that is in earth
beneath, that is in the water under the earth. No image. God is a spirit. Thou shalt not
bow down thyself to them, nor serve them. For I, the Lord thy
God, am a jealous God. visiting the iniquity of the
fathers unto the children, unto the third and fourth generation
of them that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them
that love me, and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name
of the Lord thy God in vain, third commandment, for the Lord
will not hold him getless that taketh his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day and
keep it holy, fourth. And then down in verse 12, let's
look at the other commandments. 6 for man, 4 for God, 6 for us. Honor thy father and thy mother,
that thy days may be long upon the earth, which the Lord thy
God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt
not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear
false witness against thy neighbor, And thou shalt not covet thy
neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife,
nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor
anything that is thy neighbor's. That's the Ten Commandments.
The tenth one. And then all the people saw the
thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet,
and the mountain smoking, and when the people saw it, they
removed and stood afar off. You know the last one fellow
that tells us about in Luke 18, a man stood afar off, smote his
breast, and said, God, be merciful to me. If any man's got any sense,
he knows how far off he is. And the only way he can be drawn
near is, Lord, have mercy, mercy on me. And they said unto Moses,
speak thou with us, and we will hear. But let not God speak with
us, lest we die. Now as we read the Ten Commandments
here, God's holy law. It's called good, just, and holy. But I'm going to make us, at
the outset, I'm going to tell you this. The law, the Ten Commandments,
what's called the moral law, the law, the Ten Commandments
of God, and the grace of God cannot be mixed. You cannot mix
the two. You can't do it. Law and grace
ain't never mixed, never will mix. That's why Paul says, if
it's of grace, then it's no more of works. And if it's of works,
it's no more of grace. And so it can't be both. And
men have a tendency to confound the two of them. And I'll tell
you why they do. They don't understand the true
character and the object of the law of God, the Ten Commandments.
And I do know this, if you don't understand them rightly, the
law is brought down from its high unbending majesty. If you bring it down, you don't
understand it. People say, well, we go to Calvary
to get grace, and then we go to the law to get a rule of life. Law and grace does not mix. Never
has and never will. That's not what we do. If you
don't understand the law rightly, you'll bring it down from its
unbending majesty. God ain't changed His Ten Commandments
and not changed His law. But grace, and if you do that,
then grace is robbed of its fullness, of its freeness, and of its beauty. So you cannot mix the two. You
can't mix the two. I'm going to say that at the
outset. Law says forth what man ought to be. This is what you
ought to be. You ought to love God with all
your heart. You ought to never, never have
a graven image. You ought to honor your father
and mother. Never commit adultery. Don't ever steal. This says what
forth man ought to be, but grace exhibits and sets forth what
God is. Can a sinner ever be saved by
a mixture of law and grace, half law and half grace? No, absolutely
not. You cannot mix the two. If you
find a fellow that says, well, I'm saved by grace, but, but
then he's done already messed up the word grace when he puts
but on it. I'm saved by grace, but I believe. I'm saved by grace and that's
all I believe. I ain't gonna mix them up. And
then you can always tell a law man and a person who's under
the law, the first thing he wants to know is how in the world do
you discipline people without the law? Well, how does God discipline
us without law? How does God chasten us without
law? How does God do anything with
us without the law? And all see the law reveals the
mind of God to us as to what man ought to be, what man ought
to be. But is this the whole mind and
will of God's towards man? Thou shalt not, thou shalt not,
thou shalt and shalt not, thou shalt and shalt not? No, is there
no grace, no mercy, no love and kindness? Is that all God means
for us is thou shalt and thou shalt not? Our Lord Jesus Christ in the
Sermon on the Mount, I don't know how many times he says,
you have heard it said. And he'd point to what the Pharisees
said about the law. He said, you've heard it said.
But he said, I say unto you, this is what it means. And how
do we reconcile God's law and God is love? Because the Bible
says in John chapter 3, God is love, God is light in chapter
1. So how do we reconcile God's
law and God is love? Here on Sinai there is darkness. Tempest, thunderings and lightning
and the people say, oh, we got to get way off from here. That's
too frightening. That's too troublesome. That
scares me. They said, Moses, listen, you
speak for us. Oh, don't let God speak to us
in this condition. And I tell you what, thank God
there's more in God's heart and God's will than the 10 words
that he gave out on Mount Sinai. The scripture said in John 1
18, no man has seen God at any time. save the only begotten
Son who's in the bosom of the Father who declared Him hell. You want to know who God is?
Jesus Christ. Do you want to see what God's
like? Look at Jesus Christ. In Him dwelleth the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. The law was given by Moses, but
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Christ is the image of
the invisible God. Would you want to see who God
is? You look to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the law is truth. It is truth. We're not going
to deny that. It's there. It's written in black
and white. It contains what man ought to
be. It is perfect. It is perfect
for the object that God intended for it to do. Now listen to me. There was no mercy. There's no
grace revealed in law. The scripture said in Hebrews
10 that they who transgressed Moses law died without mercy
at the mouth of two or more witnesses. Died without mercy. No grace revealed in law. Look
what Moses, look what it says over here in Romans chapter 10.
I want you to see this in Romans chapter 10, verse 5. Talk about
the law. Talk about the law. God's holy
law. And there's no mixture of grace
and law. Just no mixture of it. That's a stain. That's why I
ain't gonna have the Ten Commandments. Look what it says here in verse
5 of Romans chapter 10. This is what we're talking about.
For Moses describes the righteousness which is of the law. The law,
the Ten Commandments he's talking about here. Moses describes the
righteousness which is of the law. Well, what is that righteousness
of the law, Moses? That the man which does those
things shall live by them. You've got to live by them. If
you're going to be a righteous disciple of the Lord, you've
got to live them. Live them. That's what people say all the
time. They say, oh, listen, if I ever get saved, you better
believe I'm going to live it. And then, you know, the apostle
said, cursing is everyone that continues not in all the book
of the law to do them and Christ was made a curse for us to do
what? To redeem us out from under the
curse of the law. Christ was made a curse for us
so we don't have to deal with this curse of the law. And if
we look at the law And it says, God says, this is what man ought
to be. You remember when that rich young
ruler came to the Savior and it says in one place he come
reeling and running and he kneeled down and said, good master, what
must I do to inherit eternal life? And he says, keep the law,
you know. He said, I've done that from
my youth up. What lack I yet? What, you act like I yet? If
we look at the law, look at that law. Those ten commandments. No gods before me. No graven
images. Keep the Sabbath. Love God. Look at the law. Honor your father
and your mother. Don't steal. Don't lie. Don't
commit adultery. Don't covet. Don't covet nothing. And it pronounces, when we look
at it, instead of saying, blessed art thou, it pronounces a curse
on us if we're not that that the law says we ought to be.
We're the very thing. We're the very thing, the very
people that the law condemns. The law will reward you with
life if you're perfectly righteous. And obey it from the cradle to
the grave. But it proves right at the very
outset that we are unrighteous, that we are dead, and that we
haven't either. I'm cursed. Paul said in Galatians
4.21, Ye that desire to be under the law, don't you hear it? You
that desire to be holy by the law, don't you hear it? You that
want to be justified by the law, don't you hear it? What does it say? Cursed, cursed,
cursed is everyone who continues not in all things of the book
of the law to do them. You can wear all the bonnet you
want to wear, grow all the beards you want to grow, go to the Ten
Commandments, keep them on every wall in your house. Pray till you lose your voice
and it won't do absolutely nothing for you. Oh no. What's the purpose of
the law? The scripture said in Romans
5.20 said moreover the law entered. Here it comes, it entered. What
for? To show the offensiveness of
sin. That a sin, moreover the law
entered, that sin may abound. When we look at the law, sin
abounds. It abounds in every one of them.
In me, I don't know about you, but when I look at love God with
all your heart, it abounds. When I look at that law. When
I look at that law set on your father and your mother, it abounds. When I look at thou
shalt not covet, it abounds. Don't lie, it abounds. That's what it says. That's what
it is for. To show us how sinful sin is. Let me give you a few illustrations
if I can. A mirror's purpose. We look in
a mirror to show us what's wrong. But the mirror cannot fix what's
wrong with you. All it can do is show you what's
wrong. And sometimes your wife cares, she'd be in your mirror. Can't she, Shirley? We have a good time. You see,
a mirror's purpose is to show us what's wrong, but it can't
fix what's wrong. If we got a dirty face, the mirror
can't wash our face. If we measure a crooked wall,
if we take a crooked wall and lay a plumb line by it, it reveals
how crooked that wall is, but that plumb line will not straighten
that wall out. A light in a dark night will
show you things that's in your way, but that light won't move
them out of your way. And the mirror, the plumb line,
and the light, these things don't create any of those evil in the
wrong way, but all they do is reveal them. The light reveals
the obstacles. Plumb line shows the crookedness.
A mirror shows what's wrong. And that's the way the law is.
It doesn't create the evil in a man's heart. And it cannot
remove the evil in a man's heart. All Him does is reveal it, but
He can't take it away. Look, let me show you that Paul
is a perfect example of that in Romans chapter 7. This is
exactly what he's talking about here in Romans 7 and verse 7. Now look what he says here. He says, What shall we say then? Is the law sin? No, no, no. God forbid. No, no, there's nothing
sinful about the law. What's the matter, Paul? I have
not known sin. I have not known sin. Does that
mean he wasn't a sinner? Yes. He was a sinner, but he
didn't know it. He was a Pharisee. In his mind
he had a righteousness blameless after the law. And he goes on
to say here, I had not known sin, listen to this, but by the
law. For I had not known lust, except
the law had said, thou shalt not covet. Now listen to me. Paul, the lust was always there. the lust was there and he says
I had not known what sin was except the law and said thou
shalt not covet now he had this lust was there and this lust
evidently was something covetous because he said thou shalt not
covet what did this man covet I don't have any idea but I do
know this that he had not known what the lust was already there
the sin was already there but he didn't know what it was until
the law came and said Paul You just broke the commandments. He said, oh my. And from then
on, you know what he says next? Oh, wretched man. Oh my. You see, that's what I'm
telling you about. You know, we tell our children,
here's another good illustration. We tell our children, Now don't
touch that. Don't bother that. I don't want
you to fool with that right there. And us telling them, you know
when you tell a child not to do something, you turn your back
and they're going to do it. That's just the way that we're
made. And we tell them, and us telling
them does not create the evil in their heart to do what we
told them not to do. It was already there. They just
said, well, I'm going to do it anyway. I've got, you know, I
want to have my own will. I want to have my own way. And
us telling them not to didn't create the evil in them and the
willfulness in them, but it just reveals the willfulness in them.
Tell them not to and they'll do it. I told you time and again,
I said, you leave the house sometime and say, listen, you got a 12
room house and say, but there's only one room I don't want you
to go into. Don't go in that room. You won't be gone. It's got 12
more rooms in the house. You won't be gone 10 minutes
out of the house and they'll be trying their best to get in
that one room. Did you create that evil will
in them to make them do that? No. But you telling them not
to shows what they're made of. And that's what the law does.
It tells us not to and it reveals what we are. In order for us, you know, John
says this, sin is a transgression of the law. In order for me to
transgress, you must have a line, you must have a definite rule,
a definite line laid down right here. And the only way you can
transgress is to step over that line, step over that rule. over
prohibition that you're not supposed to do. The law is that line.
And sin is a transgression of the law. We step and step over
and step over and step over and step over and step over and step
over. Ain't that right? Huh? That's the only way it's a rule. You transgress it, you walk over
it. Huh? Well, How are we going to face the
law? Paul said it's just, and it's holy, and it's good. I'm
going to show you. Look over in Acts chapter 15.
I want you to look at some things here. I want to show you how
we're going to face the law. It's just, holy, and good. Look
with me in Acts chapter 15. Now here's some fellas that believed
in keeping the law. Here's some fellas that really,
really had their hope set on Moses. It says in verse 5 here,
Acts chapter 15, that there rose up certain of the sect of the
Pharisees which believed, saying that it was needful to circumcise
them and to command them to keep the law of Moses. That's straightforward. They're having a church conference.
Some fellow stood up and said, listen, if these Gentiles are
going to be saved, they've got to be circumcised and we've got
to command them to keep the law of Moses. Verse 6, and the apostles
and elders came together to consider this matter. They got together
and said, let's think this thing through, let's talk this over.
And when there had been much disputing, much arguing, Peter
stood up, rose up and said unto them, men and brethren, you know
how that a good while ago, God made choice among us, God did
this, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear. And he's talking
about Cornelius when he went down there, that by my mouth
should hear. Now listen to this now, the word
of the gospel, not law, the word of the gospel. And believe, and
believe. And God, here goes, he keeps
on with it, and God which knows the hearts, Boy, I believe me. He knows our hearts God bear
them witness because he's seen what he had done for him what
he had done for him He did it and he gave them the Holy Ghost
gave them the Spirit of God even as he did unto us Now watch it. He keeps on going And said and
he put no difference between us Jews and them Purifying their hearts by faith
Now listen, who you talking about? This is the rubber hits the road
right here. Now therefore, why tempt ye God? He said, bringing people under
the law is to tempt God. To tell them to be circumcised,
keep the law of Moses. He said, now why do you tempt
God? To put a yoke upon the neck of
the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we as Jews were
able to bear. Now listen to what he says, but
we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ us Jews
are going to be saved just like Him did to us. You go in and keep Moses I'm
talking about the grace of the Lord Jesus and we, that's what
Peter said, we will have to be saved just like God saved them
through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, hear the word
of the gospel and believe. We're saved by grace. Romans
5 says we stand in the grace of God. Peter says we grow in
the grace of God. We're justified freely by the
grace of God. And the apostle says to teach
anything else is to tempt God. And Paul said, I would that they
were cut off, which trouble you. And that's troubling. Beloved,
the law of God is neither the ground of life nor the rule of
life for Christ's people. Colossians 3 says this, that
we worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and
have no, no, no confidence in His flesh. And Christ, the scripture says
you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principalities
in the law. He didn't say Moses, He said
in Christ you are complete. All the law does is show us how
bad we are. But what grace does, it makes
us as righteous as God Himself. And the Scriptures tell us that
He was made a curse for us. We were under the sentence of
death and judgment and our Lord bore both of them for us. I want
you to see something over here in Galatians chapter 6. Galatians
chapter 6. Brother Henry's got an outstanding
message on this, I believe, if I remember rightly. But look
here in Galatians 6 and verse 15. This is what I'm talking
about. Our Lord was made a curse for
us. We were under the sentence of death and judgment. And our Lord bore the judgment
and the sentence of death for us and took them both away. Look
what the Apostle says here in Galatians 6.15. For in Christ
Jesus, that's the first thing, in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision
availeth anything. You can be a Jew and be circumcised,
and as a Jew they're circumcised when they're eight days old.
That's what they do. Every single one of them does.
In Christ Jesus, neither circumcision availeth anything. Your being
a Jew and being circumcised means nothing. And then the other side
of it is, well I'm not circumcised. I haven't been circumcised. I'm
under grace and I can just live and do anything I want to do.
I'm free! But he said that don't amount
to nothing either. He said this is what amounts to being made
a new creature. Don't boast about your law or
no law. So that ain't got nothing to
do with it one way or another. What is it then? Being made a
new creature in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what he's talking
about. But a new creation, a new life
being brought into existence. That's the only thing that matters
in Christ. And listen to this, and as many
as walk according to this rule, what? Nothing matters but being
in Christ and being made a new creature. He says, peace on them
and mercy and upon the Israel of God. So what we're doing,
he said, who walk? People say, well, we gotta walk
by the laws, our rule of life. Well, I'll tell you what he says,
we walk by the rule of being made a new creature in the Lord
Jesus Christ. And that's why he said, I count
everything but done till I knew Christ. The law is fulfilled
in two words. Remember when our Savior did
that in Matthew 22, he said the law is fulfilled in two words.
Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. Not one of us, not
any man that you'll ever meet. Follow him wherever he goes,
follow him day and night, and you'll find out he don't love
God and he don't love his neighbors as himself. You'll find that
out. But I'll tell you somebody who
did. I'll tell you somebody who did. The Lord Jesus Christ came
down here and He loved God. Oh, He loved His Father. Oh,
He loved His Father. He obeyed His Father. He delighted
in His Father. He rejoiced in His Father. He
loved him and oh everything our father sent him to do he did
it and he did it joyfully and thankfully. Oh I love my God. I love my Father. And then he
looked at me and he looked at you. He looked at the worst of
his day. And he says that's my neighbor.
And I love him just like I love myself. I love him with a pure
heart perfectly. I love him. And I've always loved
him. And I'll never stop loving him. Bless his holy name. Oh my. And our Lord, he did both. And
unless we have this new birth from heaven, we can't see the
things of the Kingdom of God. Now let's go back over to Exodus
and let me show you one other thing and I'll wind this thing
up here. Oh, the Holy Law of God. The Holy Law of God. I've been called on the carpet
two or three times by two or three different men. and uh... over you're an eginomian because
you don't believe in the believers under the law call me anything
you want to, I don't care I'm not going under the law, law
and grace do not mix by the grace, he said we shall be saved by
the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ look here in verse 24 of Exodus
What's what our Lord says here? He's talking about making an
altar. Now listen to this. In all places where I record
my name, places I record my name, I will come unto thee and I will
bless thee. Now God's recorded His name. Here. He recorded it here. Did he record
his name in there for you? Did he record it up here? Oh, he recorded his name. And
look what he says now. And if thou wilt make an altar
of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewed stone. For if thou
lift up thy tool upon it, you have polluted it. Neither shalt
thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness not
be discovered. Now man here is in this place
a position not of a doer but of a worshiper. God is teaching
here that Mount Sinai is not the proper place to meet God. It's not the proper place between
man and God. He said in every place where
I record my name I will come unto thee and I will bless thee.
And you know where God really recorded his name? In his blessed
son. This is the record that I have
given. That eternal life is in my son. And he that hath a son hath a
life. And God is teaching us here that
Sinai is not the proper meeting place between man and God. And
God will not meet the sinner at any altar that has a huge stone or a step.
You know why? Because he said, don't nobody
lift a tool on it. Ain't nobody gonna touch this
altar. If you're gonna worship me at an altar, you can't put
your hand to it. You can't do it. And watch what
he says. He said a place of worship here
when he says thou shalt not build in a view stone for if thou lift
it to a point of view polluted and don't have a bunch of steps
where you got to walk up it. Cause that will just reveal your
nakedness. And this said oh a place of worship
which requires no human workmanship to erect or a human effort to
approach. And you know, we have an altar
that human hands hasn't touched. God recorded his name there.
And we didn't have nothing to do with it. We come on to a throne
of grace to obtain mercy and find help in a time of need. Oh, we've got an altar. And God
may disalter the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, I guess you all believe
that I don't believe in love. You know, all it does is condemn,
condemn, condemn. Grace, grace, grace, and more
grace, and more the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what we've got
to have. Our Father, in the precious,
precious name, blessed name, glorious name of the Lord Jesus
Christ, thank you for your word. Thank you for this service this
morning and this evening. Thank you for the prayers. Thank
you for the scripture reading. Thank you for the singing. Thank
you, Lord Jesus, that you allow us to worship. And our nakedness
will not show. And we had nothing to do with
this altar. And we come to you where you
told us to come through your son, by your son, because of
your son. And oh Lord, we come joyfully,
thankfully, happily, believing, believing, believing, believing. Thank you, Lord, for this great,
glorious salvation for your blessed son. for your blessed church,
for your blessed gospel, for your blessed grace, for the blessed
blood, for the blessed righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ, we
bless you. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Lord,
for saving my soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me
whole. Thank you, Lord, for giving to
me Thy great salvation so rich and
free. See you Wednesday, God willing.