I'm going to go ahead and get
started, so if you would, turn with me to Exodus 20, Exodus
20. And I'm gonna say a few words
before I read anything. I mean, have you ever had someone
talk about a family member that does not really know your family
member? I think we all have of some sort, maybe a cousin or
something like that, but you listen to them and maybe you
can agree with them if they don't have glowing words of them, if
they're telling the truth. But when they start saying things
that are not true, it makes you sad, disheartened, and yes, maybe
even angry. If what they are saying is true,
even though you might not like to hear it, you can at least
say that's true. But when they lie, it gets to
you. Those who have been chosen in
Christ from before the foundation of the world are God's family,
and he is our father. When someone says things that
are not true about him and what he has said, it gets to you. So let's read Exodus 20, and
I was gonna read one through 17, but I'm not gonna do that.
I'm just gonna read three or four verses here. This is very familiar. You'll
see what it is. And God spake all these words, saying, I am
the Lord thy God, which hath brought thee out of the land
of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other
gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee
any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven
above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water
under the earth. and I'm just gonna go ahead and
stop right there. When we read this text, we see some words
used that do not seem to suggest a give it your best shot connotation. Thou shalt have and thou shalt
not. These words mean to exist or
be, and in the case where it says thou shalt not, it negates
what's being said. The word means no. These are
firm words. This is not saying these are
the best things to do as some would have you think. It is saying
either do this without fail or don't do this without fail. Please
note, it does not say that if you fail the first time, try,
try again. It just says do it. The word
used there for thou shalt have is an emphatic word. If you look
it up, it says it's emphatic. There's no acceptable alternative. And as Walter pointed out last
time we were here in James, keep the whole law and fail in one
point, you're guilty of all of it. God tells us in his words
straight out that we have failed. I said it last time, the Scripture
teaches us that all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God. What is sin? Scripture tells us, 1 John 3,
4, whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the
transgression of the law. So if all have sinned, and all
have sinned, then all have transgressed his holy law, not might transgress,
but have transgressed his holy law. It's been said before, as it
says in scripture, the soul that sinneth, it shall die. So whoever
has sinned, and that means all of us, then that soul has to
die. Someone has to die. God does
not deal in hyperbole. God's not just blowing off holy
steam, he says what he means and means what he says. He tells
me I am guilty before him in and of myself. He tells me I
have transgressed his holy law. What else does God tell us in
his word? Isaiah 48, nine through 11 we read, for my name's sake
will I defer mine anger and for my praise will I refrain for
thee that I cut thee not off. Behold, I have refined thee,
but not with silver. I have chosen thee in the furnace
of affliction. For mine own sake, even for mine
own sake, will I do it. For how should my name be polluted? And I will not give my glory
unto another. If you could do anything worthy
of God, then you would have reason to glory in the presence of God.
God says he will not share his glory with another. I start with
reading this passage that I've read because it gives us an idea
of what this world uses to deceive people with when you hear what
they say in light of scripture. If you say anything like, I am
not under the law but under grace, or we can in no way keep God's
law, this world will say things like, they hate God's law. It's not true. We hate this flesh. Because we know that this flesh
in no way can keep his law. And in fact, we are already guilty
of transgression of that law. So we must die. And I want to
be clear here as we think about what our text says. When it says
thou shalt not kill, is that telling you how to go about accomplishing
not killing? In no way is it telling you how. It just tells you to not do it. Christ says it this way in Matthew.
I've got several passages here, but Matthew 22, 36 through 39. Master, which is the great commandment
in the law? Jesus said unto him, thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul
and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. Does he tell us how we are to do this or to accomplish
this? No. There's a good reason why
we're not told how we can accomplish this, how we can keep his law. because we cannot keep His law.
Christ says in a few other places, Matthew 5.20, For I say unto
you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness
of the scribes and the Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into
the kingdom of heaven. Again, He also says this in Matthew
5.27 and 28, Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time,
Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto you, that whosoever
looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery
with her already in his heart. Just the thought of something
condemns us. God's law tells us not to even
think of doing the opposite of what he says in his law. What
does Paul tell us in Romans 7? For I know that it in me, that
is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present
with me. But how to perform that which
is good, I find not. Paul was a believer, keep in
mind, and he's talking in the present tense. Even being a believer,
I can in no way know how to perform that which is good. It just isn't
there. And I wanna talk about the following
today. The indictment against us. The law is not the 10 suggestions,
and that's my title today. The 10 suggestions, question
mark. And then we need a sacrifice
and a redeemer. God has given us this law to
show, to prove that we are guilty before him. It is written down
in all the supporting evidence is there to condemn each and
every one of us. And I want you to read something
to you. This is something I do not agree with. I give it because
this is the way this world thinks. Quote, God now gave them his
law, not so that through it they would become his, but because
they already were his. His law was a gift of grace to
them. Does that last sentence confuse
you? God knew that the children of His love had no idea how to
live, so in His law He gave them a structure for their daily living.
In submission to His law, they would thrive in peace and harmony. God also knew that they would
be exposed to all kinds of temptations as they lived among the pagan
nations of Palestine, so His law would provide protective
boundaries to them. But there is more. God knew his
children were designed by him to be worshipers, that they would
either worship him or surrender their hearts to idols. So at
the foundation and core of his law was a call to worship him
and him alone. In his law is guidance and protection,
given so they might live at peace with him and with one another." I will answer their question
on whether the last statement confuses me or not. Where in
God's word does it say that the law was given to God's people
as a gift of grace so they might know how to live? This does not
confuse me. I can see the lies straight out. It does not jive with God's word.
One more sentence. The righteousness that God requires
is impossible for us to achieve by our determination to keep
his commands. God's law does a wonderful job
of exposing our sin and is a beautiful guide for our daily living."
End quote. There are juxtapositions in scripture,
two seemingly opposing things that are true at the same time.
That is true. There are some of those in scripture.
This isn't one of them. 2 Corinthians 3, 19, we read
what the law is. It's a manifestation of condemnation. Lies, prettied up words that
are nothing but lies, and it attempts to give glory to man
and not to God. Romans 7, 12 through 14, we read,
Wherefore the law was holy, and the commandment holy, and just,
and good. Was then that which is good made
death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it
might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good,
that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. For
we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. God's law does expose our sin. But what did Paul say right there?
Does Paul say that the law is a beautiful guide for our daily
living? But sin, that it might appear
sin, working death in me by that which is good. Sin works death
in me when I see his holy law. It has nothing to do with living
or life. What does he go on to say? That
sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. It makes things worse, not better. My sin becomes exceeding sinful
when God allows me to see his holy law. If you see his holy
law any different than that, then you do not know God. I know
what his law says, but how to perform that which is good, I
find not. And all it does is make my sin
that much more greater. It is an indictment against me
to tell me that I have sinned and come short of the glory of
God. If you use the law in any other way other than what God
says it was intended for, then you are not using the law lawfully.
Here is what is said of those who write such things and pass
it off as worshiping God, when all it is is works of the flesh,
2 Peter 2, 18 and 19. For when they speak great swelling
words of vanity, they allure through the lust of the flesh,
through much wantonness, those that were clean escape from them
who live in error. While they promise them liberty,
they themselves are the servants of corruption, For of whom a
man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. To have someone tell me that
I can, can and must keep God's law is to have the law put me
in bondage again. To which Jesus Christ has come
to set me free from that bondage. How does he put us in bondage?
How does it put us in bondage? It says do this and live, but
I cannot. So we are always under its hold
and death is sure to follow, either in revelation of who God
is and who we are or in everlasting death. The law is holy just and
good. We are not. God says in Romans
8, 2, and 3, for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus
hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the
law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin
condemned sin in the flesh." So next we have, the law is not
the ten suggestions. There are a great many people
who have the idea or the attitude that they can somehow perform
or do God's law. But we read in his word, Romans
10 five, for Moses describeth the righteousness which is of
the law, that the man which doeth those things shall live by them. If you're trying to follow the
law for righteousness before God, you must totally and absolutely
live by that law day in, day out. Minute by minute and second
by second. and that without even one small
failure to do it, even in your mind. If we could keep God's
law, then we would live, but we cannot. Galatians 3.11 says,
but that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God,
it is evident, for the just shall live by faith. We are not justified
by the law at any time and in any way. That is evident, Paul
says. Because those who are just, they
live by faith and not by the works of the law. You have to
say it that way. In order to do or keep the law,
you have to do something, and that's called works. It is the
whole of God's purpose to send his son to die for a people,
to take away their sin, to give himself glory, to show his mercy
and grace on some. If you have this idea or attitude
that you will go by God's law as a beautiful guide for your
living your life, you have the wrong idea or attitude. It's
like a guilty man who has the indictment against him and the
evidence is overwhelming against him and he wants to represent
himself in court, Tommy. This law does in no way show
us how to live before God. It just tells us what we must
do to live before God. But the problem is the law is
weak through the flesh. The law cannot give life before
God. It is in no way a guide for how
we can live. It makes sin that much more worse
when we see it. Listen, not only do we have the
indictment against us, and not only do we have overwhelming
evidence against us, but we will already have the sentence passed
down on us. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die, and all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
I don't know about you folks, but as I'm born an Adam, I'm
in a fix. And it's such a fix that I can't
get myself out of it. I in no way want to represent
myself in God's court because the penalty has already been
passed on me because I am guilty of sin. And sin is the transgression
of the law. I need something more than me
representing myself. I need someone to step into the
gap and take my place. God does not just give his people
new life and that's all there is to it. He does do that to
some, but that's not all there is to it. Sin, the transgression
of the law must be dealt with or God is not just. Let's keep
in mind when Christ died, we died with him. In doing so, we
are then dead to the law. If that's all that happened,
we would still be dead. But it's not all that happened.
He raised from that grave triumphant over sin and death, and we arose
with him to everlasting life. But God has to mete out that
punishment, and he will, and he does, and he has. My problem
is, if I have to stand on my own before him, you know, to
be finally judged, I will perish because I have no God-righteousness
and I have no way to get a God-righteousness. Not on my own. The law cannot
give life or righteousness. One way and one way alone am
I ever to see my sin gone and also to see eternal life. Galatians
4, 4 and 5. But when the fullness of time
was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under
the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might
receive the adoption of sons. We need a sacrifice, a redeemer. I want you to notice in our text,
just after God finishes speaking to Moses, telling him the Ten
Commandments, what do we read there in verses 23 and 24? 23
and 24. 23 and 24. Ye shall not make with
me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.
An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice
thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy
sheep, and thine oxen. In all places where I record
my name, I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee." After he has given Moses the
Ten Commandments, he then talks about an altar to make sacrifice. If they were going to keep his
commandments, what need would there be to make a sacrifice?
But this is given at the beginning so that we know we do sin against
him. In fact, what do the children
of Israel say about the Ten Commandments, Exodus 24, three, it says, and
Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and
all the judgments and all the people answered with one voice
and said, all the words which the Lord has said will we do. But they did not. And it didn't
take long to manifest itself. Moses was given the tablets once
God had finished speaking with him. And while this was going
on, the children of Israel were already sinning against what
he told them to do. And they said that they would
do. Turn over to Exodus 32. Exodus 32. And we'll read verses 1 through 9. Exodus chapter 32. And when the people saw that
Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered
themselves together unto Aaron and said unto him, up, make us
gods which shall go before us. For as for this Moses, the man
that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we want not what
has become of him. And Aaron said unto them, break
off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives
and your sons and your daughters and bring them unto me. And all
the people break off the golden earrings which were in their
ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their
hand, and fashioned it with a graving-tool, after he had made it a molten
calf. And they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought
thee up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw it, he built
an altar before it. And Aaron made proclamation,
and said, Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord. And they rose up
early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought
peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat
and to drink, and rose up to play. And the Lord said unto
Moses, Go, get thee down, for thy people which thou broughtest
out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have
turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They
have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and sacrificed
thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have
brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And the Lord said unto
Moses, I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked
people." They did not keep his commandments.
and neither do we keep his commandments. It is impossible for us to keep
his commandments because of this flesh. The law is not a guide
for our daily living. We are told by Paul, by the inspiration
of God, that the law entered that the offense might abound. It goes on to say where sin abounded,
the law was sin, No, but it is weak through the flesh and sin
works death by that which is good. But then it uses a specific
word, but, and it's one of those buts given by God. It does not
say and where it ties the two things together. One's purpose
is to cause great offense toward God. The other is grace. The law entered that the offense
might abound. But where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound. Grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ the Lord. We need a sacrifice, a sacrifice
that can satisfy God. The blood of bulls and goats
will never do it. It is only that sacrifice to
which those sacrifices pointed to that will avail for me a God
righteousness. We need such a one who can stand
in the gap and be a sacrifice in our place. The sins we have
committed must be dealt with and it has to be a spotless sacrifice
or sin will remain. We have no clean hands and feet
or hearts of our own. We are dirty and full of sores,
putrefying sores from top to bottom. It cannot be us. We cannot stand before this judge
on our own. There must be one that stands
up for me to plead in our stead. One that says I will take their
punishment for the penalty already handed down. The one and the
only one that could do this is God himself, Jesus Christ the
Lord, the God man. Proverbs 23 11 says, for their
redeemer is mighty. He shall plead their cause with
thee. I need one who can stand in my
place and proclaim I have redeemed him from punishment by stepping
in the gap. I have paid the price and satisfied
the justice of God. I don't need someone to be my
attorney. I need someone to be my substitute. Take my place
because the indictment is already in and the evidence is against
me and indisputable. I don't want to stand before
this judge because I know I am guilty, guilty, guilty. I've already been sentenced to
death unless there is another who will take my punishment.
This is what the law could not do. By His grace I have such
a one, 1 Peter 1, 18 and 19. For as much as ye know that ye
were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish
and without spot. Redeemed by the blood of the
Lamb. There we can see that the judge that has condemned me for
sin, that is transgressing his law, takes my place for the punishment
that he has levied out on me. What a gracious act toward a
man like me. I don't need to keep the law,
but I cannot, and I cannot keep his law. I need a redeemer such
as this. The judge is also my redeemer,
my substitute. The law was never meant for me
to keep and live before God. It comes to shut my mouth so
I don't say all the words that God has said will I do. The law
tells me to shut my mouth just like Job. You'll cover your mouth. So no words such as that come
out of your mouth because if they come out, they'll prove
you perverse. But if I'm gonna follow his law
to gain life for righteousness, then I must follow it every jot
and tittle, and that all the time. If I break just one little
part of it, I must die. But our problem is we have broken
it before it was even given. Our state has dictated the outcome. I'm guilty from the get-go. But
life does not come by the law. The law has no give in it, it
is emphatic. You sin against God, you must
die and we have transgressed. We don't need a guide, we need
a redeemer. Psalm 49, 15 we read, but God
will redeem my soul from the power of the grave for he shall
receive me. Selah. Stop and think about it. Turn with me to Psalm 107, Psalm
107. Psalm 107, I'm going to read
just the first six verses. Psalm 107, verse 1. Oh, give
thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth
forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord
say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy. and
gathered them out of the lands from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness
in a solitary way. They found no city to dwell in.
Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried
unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of
their distresses, and he led them forth by the right way,
that they might go to a city of habitation. Stop right there. If I turn to the law as my way
to life or my way of life, I am leaving Jesus Christ, if I really
ever knew him at all. Christ in Christ alone is our
salvation, fully and completely. Romans 3, 21 and 22 we read,
but now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested,
being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Even the righteousness
of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon
all them that believe, for there is no difference. And as Walter
has so eloquently been pointing out, it is the faith of Jesus
Christ that we know righteousness before God. Galatians 2.20, I
am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live
by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself
for me. He is the author and finisher
of faith, and his faith is our gift, if he is pleased to give
it. What is also said about faith? Romans 3.28, therefore we conclude
that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Christ's faith has redeemed me
from the curse and penalty of the law. I and you, if we are in him,
are dead to the law that we may serve Jesus Christ the Lord.
You want to know what our way of living is? You want to know
what our guide is? Jesus Christ and what he did
is our life and our way of life. He took the penalty out of the
way and then raised to life again and his people with him so that
they might have everlasting life. If I have life, I have righteousness. If I have righteousness, I have
life. And the only place that exists
is in Jesus Christ the Lord. He is the head, we are the body.
So all our substance and strength, wisdom, righteousness, and all
of it come from him. But we also read in Romans 4
or 5, but to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that
justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Not my doing of the Ten Commandments or any other commandment given
to me by man to do for salvation or because of salvation. We are
not justified by the works of the law, any law of any kind. We are justified by the faith
of Jesus Christ who loved me and gave himself for me. He justified
me on that tree, and with that faith He gives us, the faith
which is the righteousness of God without the law, which is
Jesus Christ's faith. With that faith given, we can
believe what God says about Himself, that He is just and the justifier
of them that believe. We can believe God. Jesus Christ's
faith is counted for righteousness when we believe. And one last
thing here, what else do we read in Romans, Romans 3.31? Do we
then make void the law through faith? God forbid, yea, we establish
the law. We hold up the law through faith. We believe God that Jesus Christ
has accomplished all in my behalf, then we are upholding God's law,
we are holding up God's holy law. It does not say we keep
his law, because we cannot, in that it's weak through the flesh.
No, we hold it up by believing God. We truly say that his law
is holy, just, and good, but we are not. It says in Romans
4, 5, but to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that
justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
This worketh not means to do law works of any kind. expecting
God must acknowledge it in some way. The whole context is talking
about the law. So it is to him that does not
work at keeping the law for righteousness before God, but believes God
by that God-given faith, but believes God has justified this
ungodly sinner who has broken his law many times over, and
this flesh continues to break his law. The just shall live
by faith and the gospel tells us of that faith. That is the
faith of him who has justified me, my Redeemer and my God. You look to the law in any way,
you're staring at death. Not because the law was bad,
but it is as God has said it, it is weak through the flesh.
Look to Christ who has satisfied God for his people. He is our
everything. He is our salvation, amen. Dear Lord God, I know we say
things over and over again, dear Lord, but God help us to not
just be saying words. Help us to trust in you and look
to you for all things because you have done all things. We
can do nothing without you. All these things we ask in Christ's
name, amen.