If you wish to follow along,
turn to Leviticus chapter 20. Now most of this for the past
several weeks have been one chapter at a time, but it has its natural
division. Moses is consistently told speak
unto the children of Israel, saying, and I don't know if these
happen days apart or weeks apart, it really doesn't matter, but
there is this natural division in the book of Leviticus. We
are about to engage in the actual priesthood, but we have at least
one more chapter, and I'm going to put it this way for a reason.
I usually don't care for the word, Using the word in this
light, but I will try to explain it and use the word We have one
more chapter that speaks directly of what some call the moral law
of God First of all, let me say that The word morality in its
best sense is okay My problem with the word morality is that
the morality that most people speak of today is fluid like
water It seeks its own level things that 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago were considered by
the masses as immoral, today it's no big deal. And rather
than, if you had this immorality, rather than hiding it and keeping
it in the closet, today it's just bring it out of the closet.
But the word moral is not a bad word. But let me state this about
God's law. The morality of God's law is
fixed. It does not ebb and flow. It
is never changed to suit the times or the men and women in
those times. God's law is a fixed standard. And in Leviticus chapter 20,
we begin by reading a stern warning against the worship of Molech.
With the death penalty connected to it. We then begin to read
about various sexual misconduct. And that's the way I just wanna
put that, various Actions or modes of sexual misconduct and
in some of these the death penalty is associated with it But then
we read the summary of this giving of these Moral commands if you
will if I could use that word verse 22 of Leviticus 20 And
I will make a few statements about it and then move on verse
22 ye shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my judgments
and and do them. That the land whither I bring
you to dwell therein, spew you not out. They didn't, and it
did. Did you hear what I said? They did not keep his judgments
and commandments, and the land did spew them out. and ye shall
walk in the manners, and ye shall not, I'm sorry, and ye shall
not walk in the manners of the nation which I cast out before
you, for they committed all these things, and therefore I hated
them. That's the word, I abhorred them. See, God is angry with the wicked
every day. God, the book uses it. I know
we're in a, We're in a time period now when the word hate is, just the word hate, all of it
has to be bad, but it's not all bad. God hates all workers of
iniquity, and it is a just, holy, perfect, right hatred. He said, I abhorred them. So
if I conduct myself like the nation does, Should I expect
any more from God? Do I have a right to demand anything
more from God? No. But I have said unto you,
ye shall inherit their land. And they did. And I will give
it unto you to possess it. And he did. a land that floweth
with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God, which
has separated you from other people. And God did this in spite
of the fact that God knew what they would do once they were
in the land. Ye shall therefore put difference
between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and
clean You should not make your souls abominable by beast or
by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creepeth upon
the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean. And ye shall
be holy unto me, for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you. I just like that word. I have
severed you from other people that ye should be mine. And Israel
as a nation is. They are. They are. But those
who truly make up that nation as God's favored people are the
remnant, the elected ones, the chosen ones in the nation of
Israel. Here's my title. The law is death. You hear me? fully realize that
most people, just like Paul said of the Jews, when Moses is read,
a veil is over their face. And they don't really get what
the law is saying. I understand that. But when it,
that is the heart, shall turn to God, that veil shall be what? Taken away. And then, and only
then, will any man or woman, boy or girl, young or old, black
or white, rich or poor, and then, and then only, will men and women
really see that the law is death. Paul, as a matter of fact, in
his second epistle to the Church of Corinth, says it's a glorious
condemnation of death. Now there's a glory that exceleth.
Every one of us sinners need to be thankful unto God that
there is a glory that exceleth. Having said that, I will now
point the finger. The world of professed Christianity
has had a con job perpetrated upon them. False pastors, false
teachers, Paul, in Galatians chapter two, I believe it is,
calls them false brethren. That is, they profess to be brethren.
At times they may have seemed like brethren. They did not even
deny the necessity of believing on Christ. But they all, to some
degree or another, added something as essential to it. False pastors
teach, and I don't know anyone who doesn't teach this. There
may be some, I'm just not aware of them, but false pastors teach
the sacrificial law's fulfilled. Right? We don't need to offer
lambs and goats and bullocks. Now, granted, there are some
Hasidic Jews who may wish they could. They're not able to because
they don't have their temple to properly do it in, and I say
that tongue-in-cheek, but from the standard of the law. But
most false pastors will teach that the sacrificial law is fulfilled,
and they're right. I don't care what else they're
in error on, they are right about that. And we must not avoid that
or shy away from that simply because some false teacher says
that. But what they also do is that
they demand Christians keep the moral law. Correct? Either for salvation or as an
act of service toward God or maybe as an act of rewards before
God or some kind of conglomeration of these things. And you just
go right on down the line. Now in Leviticus chapter 20,
it is moral law. It is. It's about morality, but
it's given from the negative, and it speaks against immorality
in its best sense. Not the morality men and women
talk about today, but the morality of the law. And by the way, all
of God's law is moral. It was moral to slit the throat
of a baby lamb and offer the sacrifice to God back then. It is immoral now to do so. Those
things were merely pictures or figures of him that was to come.
But yet they say, well, but Christians must keep the moral law as if
there is some part of the law that may be immoral. Now, they
do not say that, but I'm just giving that there is no distinction
between moral law as though there's any other part of the law that
even would slightly resemble immorality. But here's what I'm
trying to get at. Is execution the death penalty? Is execution any less a part
of the moral law? I didn't ask you your feelings
on the death penalty in our day and age. That's not what I'm
talking about. I'm saying when it comes to God's law and morality
versus immorality, is execution any less a part of the moral
law. Look at it. Molech. Chapter 20. The Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, whosoever
he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn
in Israel, that giveth any of his seed, that's their babies,
their little ones, unto Molech. Here it is. He surely He shall
surely be put to death. Now this is just as much a part
of the command as not offering your seed to Molech. Yes or no? Still there. The people of the
land shall stone him with stones. You bash their brains out. That's what God commands under
law Now granted someone might say well, I don't know anybody
offering their seed to Molech. I would beg to differ Although
I'm not going to get all into it, but I think anytime that
some of these people put their babies on that church bus and
send it down to another that works, oriented, man-centered,
free will, and I must talk about the ones that has the name over
their door, but I'm talking about free will religionists, you might
as well put your children in the hands of Molech. Because
you're sending them down there to men who are not teaching the
truth of God. You're damning their souls. And apart from the
grace of God rescuing them, that's what will happen. But granted,
I don't know of anybody offering the little babies in a big red-hot
bronze statue. It may be happening somewhere,
Mason. Somewhere, I don't know. But here's the thing. Well, I
don't know anybody doing that. What about cursing a parent?
Now maybe there's somebody here that maybe you were a really
decent child. That could happen, okay? But
look, I said that can happen. Verse nine. For everyone that
curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death. What about adultery? You can
read it in verse 10. And the man that commiteth adultery
with another man's wife, a lot of that going on, is it not? With another man's wife, even
he that commiteth adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer
and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. That's as much
a part of the mortal law of God as the immorality that it's a
judgment against. If you don't do this, you are
complicit in their crime. Of course, we know the one event,
Lord willing, we'll look at it in a moment, where they brought
the one woman to our Lord, and they said, we caught her in the
very act. She's an adulteress, so if there's
an adulteress, there's got to be a what? An adulterer. A male part in this, but they
only brought the woman, right? Self-righteous man. Or what about this? This is not
necessarily the death penalty, although it certainly can tend
or be seen that way. What about forced sterility? Verses 20 and 21. And I will
leave you to read. Forced, and how it took place,
I do not know. But if you conducted yourself
in certain misconduct, they shall bear no children. Somehow or
another, Mason, this was enacted. or was to be enacted by the people
of God. Now having just looked at just
those few things, let me say this, self-righteous merit mongers. Somebody says, what's wrong with
merit? We have none. We have none. What looks to be
merit to me is an abomination in God's sight. Self-righteous
merit mongers, listen, yea all of humanity when it comes right
down to it, we never obey the law. I told you of John chapter
eight. You can read it verses one through
six. They brought that woman caught in the very act. I can
only imagine her shame and her fear. because they did it not
because they really wanted to honor God's law. They did this
and asked him Christ's questions, seeking to tempt him. Let's see what he does. And he
said, he was able to say it in a way that it would get results.
I couldn't do that. I can't do that. But he said,
which of you is without sin? Let him pick up the first rock
and bash her brains in. Now that's an ad-lib, but that's
what he's talking about. And it said, from the oldest
to the youngest, they begin to walk away. But he knew their
hypocrisy. They left the man out. What does
this say, Leviticus chapter 20? You bring them both, right? And
you kill them. And you kill them. Look at John
chapter seven. John chapter seven. I am saying,
the Lord says this. If anyone thinks they keep God's
law, they are a lying hypocrite. John chapter seven, verse 14. Now about the midst of the feast,
Jesus went up into the temple and taught. And the Jews marveled,
saying, how knoweth this man letters, having never learned?
They're talking about the book of God, the Bible. Here is the
Bible incarnate. And he's up there, Mason, he's
not even pulling out a roll here. He's just up there talking about
God's word. And those who were in the know
said, wow, where did he get this from? Jesus answered them and
said, my doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any
man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine. Now right
there, God will teach his people the truth that's in this book.
There may be certain things that God's people may not know at
any given certain time, but God will teach them these things.
And when they first begin to hear any particular doctrine,
the flesh may well rise up, but God will conquer them to bow
to that truth. In other words, you don't have
to believe in election to be saved. But when God saves you,
he will teach you about election and you'll believe it. You do
not have to believe in the immutability of God to be saved. But if God saves you, he will
teach you of his immutability. And right on down the line. If
any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether
it be of God or whether I speak of myself. He that speaketh of
himself seeketh his own glory, but he that seeketh his glory
that sent him, the same is true and no unrighteousness is in
him. He's talking about himself. Look,
did not Moses give you the law? Did he? Now could they deny that? No. And yet, none of you keepeth
the law. You're trying to kill me. And
they turn around and lie to him. I said, who's trying to kill
you? It says in verse one, they sought to kill him. Because we're
lying hypocrites under the law. In such, in such people, which
is all of us by nature, it's in all of us by nature, this
hypocrisy reigns. Look at Romans chapter two. Listen
to what Paul says about it. Romans two, verse 17. Behold,
thou art called a Jew. And when you read Paul's writings,
be careful, because sometimes when he says Jew, he means a
person who is of Jewish ancestry. But as we will see, other times
he clearly delineates when he's talking about a Jew, he ain't
talking about ancestry. And in the next verse or two,
he'll start talking about a Jew and ancestry again. So you better
watch what he's saying. Look, behold thou art called
a Jew and restest in the law and makest thy boast of God.
A lot of people still do that today and call themselves Christians.
Do they not? and knowest his will, and approvest
the things that are more excellent. Being instructed out of the law,
they can tell you where to go, where not to go. How much to
do this, or how much not to do that. Now, do they not, in Sunday
schools, that's what I was taught. Where the limits are. What words
you can say and be okay, and what words you can't say. Gosh,
it was one of the bad ones back in our day. Of course, it's the
slang of God. I don't know whether that's true
or not, but that's what I was taught. Oh gosh, I shouldn't have said
that, should I? My conscience still eats me alive
because I was taught that for years. And are confident that
thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which
are in darkness. Now so far, none of this seems
bad, does it? An instructor of the foolish,
a teacher of babes, which has the foreman knowledge and of
the truth in the law. Thou therefore, which teaches
somebody, okay, or preaches to someone, don't steal. Do you
steal? There you go. You see it? Thou that sayest the man should
not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? And remember our Lord,
made it clear the law is much more than just overt, outward
acts. It has to do with even the thoughts
in your mind. You look at a woman to lust after
in your heart, he said you've committed adultery already. You're
the one that needs to be stoned. Let her alone, she ain't had
no part in it. But you did, where? In here,
in here. You tell a man not to commit
adultery, do you commit adultery? You abhor idols, do you commit
sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of
the law through breaking the law, dishonest thou God? For
the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you,
as it is written, for circumcision verily profiteth if thou keep
the law. But if thou be a breaker of the
law, your circumcision don't mean squat. It's made uncircumcision. Therefore, if the uncircumcision
keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision
be counted for circumcision? Now, if he really did, if me
being a Gentile and I were not circumcised, if I kept the law
posted my uncircumcision, wouldn't mean nothing. But we don't keep
the law. And shall not uncircumcision,
which is by nature, if it fulfill the law, judge thee, who by the
letter and circumcision doth transgress the law. Ah, but now
we get to, for he is not a Jew which is one outwardly. Neither
is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh. But here's
a Jew. And this stands, it's always
been true, and it always will be true. It hasn't changed, it's
something new. But he is a Jew which is one
inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart. In the spirit,
and that's the work of God, Colossians chapter two. That's the work
of God. In the spirit, and not in the
letter, whose praise is not of men, think about it, but of God. God praises his own work in his
people. That's amazing to think about.
Christ talked about rejoicing in the midst of the congregation.
In the midst of the congregation, will I sing praise unto thee?
Hmm, that's amazing to me. Look at Galatians chapter six.
So in other words, when men talk about keeping the law, I'm telling
you, they always pick and choose what parts of the law they want. Well, you don't commit adultery.
Well, you gonna kill one of your congregants if they do? If you
keep the law, guess what you better do? You catch two of them
stepping out on their spouses? What do you do? What does the
law say? You're going to keep the law?
Bash their brains in. Kill them. Death penalty. Execute them. Yes or no? That's
a part of the law. How many people, how many Sabbatarians
you hear preaching on that this Sunday morning? They tell you
you gotta keep the Sabbath day, and then they probably go out
and step out on their wife, and just glad they ain't got caught,
but they don't even have to be stoned. How many do this? We're
hypocrites. We're hypocrites. Galatians chapter
six, verse 12. As many, that means all, don't
it? The same thing as all. As many
as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, and profess Christianity's
all about that in this day. As many as desire to make a fair
show in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised. That's
a strong, you've got to be. And they always start out with
one thing. Or two things. The Sabbatarians
love the Sabbath. Go listen to a Sabbath day Adventist. He will hammer and hammer and
hammer on the Sabbath day. And he's right. The Sabbath day
is not Sunday. It is Friday evening at sundown
to Saturday evening at sundown. But he starts with that. But
is he killing his congregants when they curse their mother
or father? If you're gonna keep one part of the law, you got
to keep all of the law, or you yourself are a law breaker. Look, they constrain you to be
circumcised only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross
of Christ. There's the real problem for
mankind. Now we'll look at it here in
a moment. Our problem is not just we can't keep the law. Our
problem is by nature we hate God's Christ. There's the problem. Listen, for neither they themselves
who are circumcised keep the law. Paul knew this. At one time he didn't, but now
he does. There was a time when he said
I was alive without the law once. He was brought up in the law,
but he didn't know what the law really was. Death, death. But he said when the commandment
came, and for him it was one commandment, covet. Covet, that
hit him. Somehow it hit him hard, and
he said covetousness is what? It's idolatry. So there you have
two of them connected right together. You covet somebody else's something,
you're an idolater. And this hit Paul. Look. For neither they themselves who
are circumcised keep the law, but desire to have you circumcised,
that they may glory in your flesh. Move along, but pastor, I see
a little bit about what you're saying, but it makes me despair
of myself. I hope so. I hope so. I hope that this is one of the
most miserable messages you'll feel the most miserable that
you've ever felt in your life up to this point. I'm serious. God never saves a man until God
makes that man or woman understand they're lost. God never heals
somebody who God doesn't first make them see the sickness that
is in their soul. God doesn't clothe anybody until
at first he causes them to see how naked they are before him. It makes me despair. I pray so. You don't see much of that today,
do you? No people just walk down the aisle, pray the prayer, and
they believe, I'm a sinner, they believe they're a sinner. But
they ain't never really tasted it to where they say I am without
hope in myself. They may even cry out with Paul,
to wheels present with me. But how to perform that which
is good, I don't find it, because I find this law that when I do
good, when I would do good, and yes, there are times men want
to do good, but what's the problem? Evil is present within men. He sums it up this way. Even
as a believer, oh, wretched man that I am. You see, law righteousness
opposes a God honoring righteousness. Look at Romans chapter nine.
Romans nine, verse 27, Esaias, or that is Isaiah, also crieth
concerning Israel, though the number of the children of Israel
be as the sand of the sea. That's the, you know, Israelites,
naturally speaking, there's a vast multitude of them, right? A remnant. What's a remnant?
It's just a little bit. What's a remnant? When you go
buy a remnant carpet, it's just a little piece that come off
the big thing, right? A remnant shall be saved for
God ordained it that way. You tell what this is? For he,
this is all about God, will finish the work and cut it short in
righteousness. He's right in doing this this
way because a short work, that's not this way, it's not duration,
that's numbers. Israel's like the number of them,
like the sand of the sea, but it's just a little number. A
little number. Because a short worth will work.
Will the Lord make upon the earth? Somebody said, well, I figured
that about them old Jews. Right? I knew that about them
old Jews. Well, Paul includes us Gentiles
in it if you look a few verses before as well. Now, don't he?
Mercy has to come from God, and that's Jew or Gentile. Are we
any better than they, Paul said, the Jew? No and no, wise, we've
proved before. So we ain't gonna argue this
fact, ain't gonna debate this fact, we've proved before that
all, Jew and Gentile, are what? Under sin. And as Esaias said
before, except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, that remnant,
we had been just like the Sodomites. Isn't that what he says? just
like the Sodomites. What shall we say then? That
the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have
attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of
faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness,
hath not attained to the law of righteousness, and nobody
ever does. Nobody ever does. Wherefore?
Because they sought it not by faith. There was nothing wrong
with them trying to keep the law in the Old Testament. That's
what they were commanded to do. But that would not be their merit
before God. The law was there to prove to
them, who were the remnant, I'm bad. I need something more. I need something better. And
the book of Hebrews calls it that very thing, more and better. But look, wherefore, because
they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of
the law, but here's the real problem, for they stumbled at
the stumbling stone. Our real problem is not just
law righteousness, our problem is our hatred for God's Christ. As it is written, behold, I lay
as I am a stumbling stone and a rock of offense, but thank
God There are some out there who are not gonna be ashamed
of him. Isn't that what it says? And whosoever believeth on him
shall not be ashamed. Secondly, how does anybody keep
in line? And this is one of the main things
that these false teachers, how you gonna keep anybody in line?
How did God keep Abraham in line? Abraham had no law except as
it was written down in his heart. And Abraham knew when he lied
about his wife, twice, he knew it was wrong. He knew it was
wrong, and yet he lied about his wife. And yet, on one occasion,
God told that king, who he kept from coming at Sarah, he said,
this man's my prophet. Isn't that what he said of him?
This man's my, don't you touch him or his wife, this man's my
prophet. How did David keep the law? He
didn't. Did he? Where was his righteousness? When he came to die, he said,
my only hope is the covenant God made with me, a covenant
of grace, mercy, and compassion. David looked for the Messiah
to come. He said, and I have every reason
to believe he knew what he meant when he said it, the Lord said
unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand till I make thine
enemies thy footstool. Abraham saw Christ's day. He rejoiced in it when he saw
it and he was glad. These people weren't just walking
around in some fog of faith, Moses. When he refused to be
called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, he chose rather to suffer affliction
because of Messiah. Hebrews chapter 11. No, here's
the difference. Go back to Galatians six. And
I'll try to start winding this up. Galatians six. Remember,
nobody keeps the law. These circumcisers, they don't
keep the law. These Sabbatarians, they don't keep the law. Now
do they? They don't keep the law. Verse
14, but God forbid that I should glory except one place. You see it? But God forbid that
I should glory save in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ by whom
the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world. For in
Christ Jesus, it doesn't matter whether you're circumcised or
uncircumcised, that don't matter. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. Now here's the problem with religionists. They don't trust God in this
new creation to keep us in line. They talk about believing God
and believing in God, believing Christ and believing in Christ,
but they really don't, or they trust him in this new creation. Would they not? Look, and as
many as walk according to this rule, what's that? The new creation,
a work of God. Peace beyond them and mercy and
upon the Israel of God. Now Paul said, I've said enough.
I bear the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ in my body. Just
shut up, I got no more else to say about it. Look at the rest
of it. That's a paraphrase, but that's
what he says. Hear Peter's word on this take. The first, these
people said, these Judaizers, as they're often called, came
in and said this. Oh yeah, you need to believe
on Christ, that's essential. But they also said, you need
to teach the Gentiles that they got to be circumcised. That was
the king, the linchpin. And then they said, and to keep
the law of Moses. Because if they don't say it,
that's still what they really mean. And you know what Peter
called it? He called it a yoke, a chain,
a bondage on the neck of our fathers and us, and neither one
of us are able to bear it. But we believe that through the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, Jew and Gentile will be saved
just alike. That's what he says, Acts chapter 15. My dear brothers
and sisters, do not be taken in by the moralists. I'm not
telling you to be immoral. You be as moral as you can be.
But don't be taken in by the morals. Somebody says there's
something wrong with morality. There is. It's damning if you
do it for merit before God. It's damning. It's damning. If Israel couldn't do it and
they had all that advantage, right? They had the tabernacle,
right? They were making it back here
in Leviticus, wasn't it? had all this gold and silver, these
things, there's these priests, there's these sacrifices, and
they still didn't keep the law. And we being so far removed from
that, do you think we're going to as well? No. No. Listen to me. When it comes to
the gospel, don't attach any strings to hearing the gospel. Do you hear what I'm saying?
Don't attach any, we got a couple little ones, neither one of them's
here today, but I mean little fellas. Don't tell them, I'll
bring you to church, and if you go, I'll buy you some candy.
Don't do that. Don't do that. Don't say to someone,
well, if you'll just do this, then I'll do that, when it comes
to hearing the gospel. Christ's honor alone is the impetus,
and must be the impetus for any man or woman wanting to hear
the gospel. Christ's honor alone. James says the reason we don't
receive what we ask for is because we ask amiss that we may consume
it of our own. We want something out of it ourselves. Folks, I'm not talking about
them out of genre, I'm talking about us right here. I'm talking about us right
here. Take your hands off, don't attach
any strings, don't try to dangle the carrot out in front of them. Men and women ought to come here,
the gospel won, they ought to come here because the gospel's
preached here. If they live in this area, they ought to come
here. The gospel's preached here. And secondly, if they come here,
the gospel, they ought to do it simply because they know they
got a need for it, and no other things attached. Because a man or a woman that
thinks they're gonna get something else out of it, other than honoring
Christ, will do it. You'll get them to make a false
profession, a false decision, and then you've made them twofold
more a child of hell than they ever was. Mm-mm, don't attach
it. Israel couldn't do it, and neither
can we. Seek the grace of God in Christ. That's it. See, I've got to trust him to
do it all. From start to finish, I've got
to trust him to do it all, because I'll foul it up if I lay my hand
to any of it. Mack, would you close us in prayer,
please? and hear the truth preached,
we're so thankful for the ones who sent us to speak to us the
truth of Jesus Christ and his uncertainty. We ask the Lord
as we go home, we protect us, bring us back at the appointed
time. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.