When God gathered Israel at the
foot of Mount Sinai, it was not to lay on them something
too grievous for them to bear. It was not to lay on them a burden
impossible for them to carry. It was to reveal Himself to them
as their Savior and their God. That's what this revelation of
the law is all about. And before the fierce lightnings
and that deafening thunder, and before the quaking of the mountain
or the blinding of the smoke and the thick darkness in which
God hid Himself, God first declared Himself to be their Savior. Exodus chapter 20 verse 2, He
said, I am the Lord thy God which hath brought thee out of the
land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. He'll have them to
know before this vision that He is God their Savior. And I
can't find anywhere in the Scriptures where God reveals Himself to
anyone except His elect, and that revelation is always as
their Savior and their God. Always that way. I want you to
listen to what I'm about to say. It's a truth that will bring
many blessings to you as we walk in this world with our Lord. Wherever God speaks to His elect,
He always speaks to them as their Savior. He always speaks to them
of good, of His goodness, and of His mercy, and of His grace. And not one child among them
shall ever be lost or left behind. Our Lord stressed that time and
again in His ministry on this earth. Not one will ever fall
away into perdition. Not one shall perish anywhere
along the way. Our Lord said to those who followed
Him, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. They shall,
every last one of them. shall come to me, and him that
cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." In John 6, verse 39,
he said, I came not to do my own will, but the will of him
that sent me. And this is the will of him which
has sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose
nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And for Christ
to lose anything the Father gave to Him, anything that the Father
gave to Him to keep, would be to overthrow the will of God,
to defeat His purpose, and to take His Godhead from Him. That's
just how serious it would be to lose one of God's elect. And so Sinai, when we study Sinai
and the law, Sinai is all doctrine. all darkness. When you look at
that mountain and you look at that law, it's all darkness until
Zion's Son of Righteousness rises upon it. And that's exactly how
it's revealed all throughout the Scripture. Exodus chapter
20 is the first account of God's giving of the Ten Commandments
to His beloved Israel. And it's all important to see
and understand that they were given by the Lord, our Redeemer. That's who gave these laws. The
Lord, I redeem. It says in Acts chapter 7 and
verse 38, it says, this is He that was in the church in the
wilderness with the angel, talking about Christ, which spake to
Him in Mount Sinai and with our fathers who received the lively
oracles to give unto us. It was the Lord Jesus Christ.
God our Savior. And the reason for the giving
of the law is to show guilty sinners their need of the Savior. It's not hard to preach the gospel
to men. It's not hard to teach men the
gospel when God shuts them up to their need. It's the fact
that men don't know their need that makes the gospel impossible
to teach and to preach. This law is given to shut us
up to the person and work of God's dear Son. Now, there's
ten commandments given in this chapter and referred to throughout
the Old Testament and throughout the New Testament. And especially
here in this chapter, the first three tell us of our responsibility
toward God. That's what these first three
things, it's strictly to do with you and your duties toward God
or your responsibility toward God. And then the last six tells
us of our responsibility toward one another. And then I purposely
left out the fourth commandment because the fourth commandment
is like a hinge which ties the two together. Some went so far
as to say God wrote Four on one table and six on another. Four
that referred to our duties toward God and then the balance to refer
with our responsibilities toward one another. So let's just briefly
go through these commandments of God. Here's the first one. He says, Thou shalt have no other
gods before me. God demands reverence for Him
alone. I don't know how many times,
reading through the book of Isaiah, I read in there where he tells
them, I am God, and beside me, he said, there is none other.
And he tells them why. Tells them why. He said, who
has been my counselor? Who instructed me? Wasn't I the
one? Isn't it my counsels that formed
the earth? He said, remember those things
of old. He said, I am God. And He said,
I declare the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things
that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I'll
do all My pleasure. He said, I am God, and beside
Me there is none other. The islands, they are just a
drop in the bucket. The nations, all men are like
grasshoppers. I am the Lord, and beside Me
there is none other. And God gives this commandment
in the light of His deliverance of their souls. And so Christ
Himself gives the best commentary on this first commandment, and
He gives it to us over in Matthew chapter 22 verse 37. He said, Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with
all thy mind. He said this is the first and
great commandment. And then secondly, he tells us
this. Here is the second commandment.
He said, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image. Now here God strictly forbids
any form of religious image, icon, picture, or symbol to be
used or incorporated into the worship of the one true and living
God. I remember a young lady very
upset down at Kitchens Creek years ago. Her daddy was one
of the old patriarchs, or the son of one of the old patriarchs
of the church. And this was the beloved granddaughter.
And she came in with a cross around her neck. And I mentioned
something about it. I didn't even notice the cross
hanging around her neck. But after the service, in fact,
it was the following day, she called and wanted to come in
and talk to me. And she said, where do you get that from? And
I said, well, here's the first place. And I took her over here
and showed her This is not to be incorporated. There's no need
to try to explain this. This is plain as a nose on your
face. He tells you right here. Not to make any graven image. And those images that he's talking,
he's not saying don't paint any paintings or don't paint any
landscapes or don't take any pictures. That's not what he's
saying. He's saying don't incorporate those things into your worship. But we worship the one true and
living God. At your leisure, I'd like for
you to read Isaiah chapter 40, especially verses 15 through
25, and Deuteronomy chapter 4, verses 15 through 18, and verses
23 and 24. If you get time, you read through
those things where they talk about these images and so on. And don't let anybody pull the
wool over your eyes. What was idolatry then is idolatry
now. God doesn't change. He said,
I am the Lord. I change not. If it was idolatry
then, it's idolatry now. If it was forbidden then, it's
forbidden now. And then the third commandment
in verse 7 of Exodus chapter 20, he said, Thou shalt not take
the name of the Lord in vain. For the Lord will not hold him
guiltless that taketh his name in vain." Now, it's the sad result of the
godless religion of our day that makes the breaking of this commandment
almost as common as breathing. I don't know. I listen to folks
talk. I catch myself doing it. I catch
myself doing it. And it's nothing more than ignorance.
And this ignorance has been promoted by false religion in our day.
They preach a vain God, His counsel, His will, His purpose, His work,
His inheritance, His promises, all subject to vanity because
of the vain wills and works of men. And it teaches us They sing
songs and talk about, me and Jesus got a good thing going.
There's a familiarity there. That's taking the Lord's name
in vain. Preaching a vain gospel is taking the Lord's name in
vain. To preach a vain God, to preach
those things concerning His counsel, His will, His purposes, His work,
any of those things, is to take the Lord's name in vain. And
there's no better description of man that I've ever found in
the Scripture than that that's found in Romans 3, verse 18,
where he said, There is no fear of God before their eyes. No
fear of God before their eyes. Those who fear God will not purposely
take His name in vain, because they fear Him. They fear Him. And any use of God's name without
intention of exalting or honoring His name is taking His name in
vain. In Psalm 111, verse 19, it says,
Holy and Reverend is His name. His name. And we could stand
up here all night and give you references in the Scripture where
it warns men about reverencing His name. And any expression
of God's name in common use is taking His name in vain. That's
like when something surprises you and you say, Oh God! Huh?
That's taking His name in vain. Or Lordy. How many times have
you heard people... I may be pushing your button
tonight, I don't know. But I'm telling you, I find myself
doing it. And the substitutes are no better.
When you say gosh or golly. Or, geez, what's that short? That's short for Jesus. That's
all that is. And they're no better. All of these things that we do.
This is taking the Lord's name in vain. He said, I'm not going
to hold Him guiltless who takes My name in vain. And any kind of declaration of
His name in preaching or witnessing and worship that does not acknowledge
Him in his true character is using his name in vain. In fact,
Peter, when he talks to us about witnessing to people, I want
you to listen to the first part of what he said. This is 1 Peter
3 and verse 15 that I'm quoting to you. He says, Sanctify the
Lord God in your hearts. That is, set Him apart in your
understanding, in your mind. and in your heart. You set Him
apart. And then He said, Be ready always
to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason for
the hope that lieth in you. You first do this. You set Him
apart in your mind and in your heart. And then you talk to men
about God. And then the fourth commandment,
Exodus 20, verses 8-11 says, Remember the Sabbath day to keep
it holy and I'll come back to this in a minute. The fifth commandment,
honor thy father and mother that thy days may be long upon the
land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Now Paul speaks of this
commandment in Ephesians chapter 6 verse 2 and he refers to it
as the first commandment with promise. To this commandment
is attached a promise. A promise, honor thy father and
mother that thy days be long upon the land which the Lord
thy God giveth thee. And this commandment has to do
with honoring God's delegated authority, which is the same
as honoring God. And in the New Testament epistles,
when we get down and this is where He begins to teach the
full meaning of these things in these New Testament epistles,
and he attaches along with this commandment, he attaches also
our obedience as servants, our obedience as employees to our
employers, all civil government, all of those things. Those are
all delegated authorities of God. There is no power except
of God, and the powers that be are ordained of God. And to go
against those powers are to dishonor God. All right? Sixthly, thou shalt not kill. I like this statement. I don't
know who came up with it, but I like it. I read it by one of
the men that I was studying. And it said, God Himself makes
inquisition for blood. God Himself. In Psalm 9, verse
12, it says, When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them. He remembereth them. And he forgeteth
not the cry of the humble. I was studying this, and I remembered
our study back in Genesis. I think it's Genesis chapter
4, where Cain slew Abel. And it says, God said to Cain, what have you done? What have
you done? The voice of thy brother's blood
crieth unto me from the ground. You see what that psalm is talking
about? Thou shalt not kill. And before you slough this off
because you've never killed anybody, I want you to listen to how Christ
interprets this commandment in Matthew 5, verse 22. He said, I say unto you that
whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger
of judgment. Not only in danger of judgment,
but in danger of the counsel and in danger of hell fire. All
right, here's the seventh commandment. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Now this is not just talking
about sexual infidelity between married couples, but it's talking
in inclusive and speaking strictly against all sexual related evils
which have their roots in the sensual lust and desires of men's
hearts. This is incorporating all of
those things. Our Lord said, and I can't give
you the exact chapter, but in Matthew, and He's going through
these commandments, and He said, now here's what you say the law
says, now here's what the law says. You remember going through
that? I think it's Matthew chapter 5. And He was going through some
of these things, showing them the spirituality of this law
and how deeply this law reaches. And then at the end of this,
He said, out of the heart of man proceed evil thoughts. What's the next thing He said?
adulteries. And he's not just talking about,
like I said before, but he's including all of these sexual
evils and sensual desire. Alright, here's the 8th commandment.
Thou shalt not steal. Stealing is simply taking from
another anything by any means that which don't belong to us.
We can defraud him of things, we can lie to him about things,
all of these things that we do, and they're all included under
this commandment, thou shalt not steal. Number nine, thou
shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. And this
is not talking about just before a judge or before his accusers,
but by idle tales and gossip. And I believe that it refers
not only to the liar himself, but to those who are anxious
to hear the lie. I believe they're included in
it too. And I'll tell you, the verse that will give you a commentary
on that is Revelation 22, verse 15. He's talking in this verse
about all of those on the outside. Talking about all those who are
not redeemed. All of those who are outside
the blood of Christ. And he begins to describe this
ungodly world, and he's saying, without are dogs and sorcerers
and whoremongers and murderers and idolaters. Now listen, and
whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. That's a pretty good commentary
on that thing about bearing false witness. And then the tenth commandment,
thou shalt not covet. Now this last commandment of
God points to the root of the problem. And this is the commandment,
if you want to take your time and read through Romans chapter
7, where Paul is talking about the law comes and in a true revelation,
and he begins to see what this law, and that old man that was
still alive under that law, when this law came in power, it slew
him. And this is the very commandment
that he referred to. Thou shalt not covet has to do
with thoughts of the heart. desires of the heart. It doesn't
just have to do with outward actions, but it's talking about
from the heart. Now having given this law to
Israel, I see in the last part of this chapter three things
that come to pass. The first thing that came to
pass is that the people called for a mediator. They didn't want
any part, any part of talking with God. They didn't want any
part of it. They listened to what God had
to say, and they looked at that mountain, and they saw that smoke,
and that thick darkness, and they heard those thunders, and
they saw that lightning, and they saw those rocks rain on
the mountain, and they said, Moses, you go talk to Him. We
don't want to talk to Him. And we don't want Him to talk
to us. You go talk to Him and you come back and tell us what
God said. We don't want God to speak to us. They called for
a mediator. They saw verse 18, all of those
things. And they called on Moses to speak
for them in God's still. I want you to turn with me to
Romans chapter 3. Romans chapter 3. Now, most of
you are familiar with these verses. I use these a lot in my messages
because I don't know anywhere else to go in the Bible that
will really set before you the true condition of men. In Romans
chapter 3 and verses 10 through 18, Paul defines what it means
to be under sin. under sin. Romans chapter 3 verses
10 through 18. And when he's talking about under
sin, he's talking about being under the curse of it. He's talking
about being under the effects of it. He's talking about being
under the power of it. And here's what he says of those. Now, some of them, the Gentiles
didn't have the oracles of God. They didn't have the prophets.
They didn't have all those things. And he deals with them over Romans
chapter 1. Romans chapter 2, he deals with
the Jews. And he talks to them about the
light that God had given them and how they had abused that
light. Then he comes on in chapter 3 and he asks these questions.
Are we better then than they? For all that God has given us,
all these prophets, the oracles, the law, the Word of God, Are
we any better off than them? He said, no, and no wise. He
said, because I before proved that both Jew and Gentile are
all under sin. Are you with me? Now he begins
to describe the condition of the sinner. None righteous. Boy, what does that say standing
before this law? Huh? What chance does a sinner
have standing before this righteous law if there's none righteous? Now watch this. None that understandeth. They didn't understand the law.
None that seeketh after God. Those who kept this law didn't
keep this seeking for God. They kept this law for their
own self-righteousness. You go through and look at it.
They did what they did to be seen of men. Ain't that what
it says? They wasn't worried about God's name. They were worried
about their name. They're all gone out of the way. All together become unprofitable,
none that doeth good. Their throat is an open grave.
They have deceitful tongues. The poison of the ash is under
their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing
and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed
blood. Destruction and misery are in
their ways. They're ignorant of the way of
peace. And there is no fear of God before their eyes. Now, I read that so that you
would know the condition of man as he stands before this law.
There's no possibility of man in this kind of condition honoring
that law and approaching God and winning favor with God. Man
in this kind of condition cannot profit by the law that demands
perfect, unbroken obedience, and it demands it in thought
and word and deed. Man in this kind of condition
cannot rejoice in his own righteousness before God. Man in this kind
of condition before such a law can only be shut up from his
vain rejoicing. His rejoicing will cease when
he stands before this law in his true character. And he'll
become guilty before God. See it there in verse 19? He
said, we know that what thing soever the law saith, it saith
to them who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped,
and the whole world become guilty before God. And then he says
in verse 20, therefore, that is based on the condition of
man and the holy character of God. By the deeds of the law
there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law
is the knowledge of sin. That's all you'll ever learn
from this law. You're a sinner. You're a sinner. Sinful man before the awesome
majesty of God's holy character wants and needs a mediator. But only God can stand him before
this man. And only God can make that mountain
to appear to him as it really is. Alright, here's the second
thing I see here. As God declares through His mediator,
and begins to speak with Israel after the giving of this law,
that there is one and only one way for guilty sinners who come
before such a God as He is. Only one way. And that is by
an altar of God's making. That's what he tells us. An altar of God's making. Listen to this, Exodus 20, verse
23. He tells them not to make with
him any gods of silver, no 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 thy oxen. In all places
where I record my name, I will come unto thee, and I'll bless
thee. And if you make me an altar of
stone, don't make it of hewn stone. For the day you lift your
tool upon it, he said, you've polluted it. Neither shall thou go up by steps."
You build this altar of earth and you build this altar of natural
rock and you don't put steps. You don't go up on the mountain
and build it and put steps going up to them. He said, because
those who watch you go up the steps will discover your nakedness
going up to my altar. Robert Hawker said this. I thought
this was a good statement. I hope it's not too long. and
that you're not able to really perceive what he's saying here.
But he said, is not this altar of earth intended to show that
the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof? And nothing
of human work or effort to be mixed with it? This is God's altar. He said,
you just take the earth out here that I made, but you didn't have
anything to do with it. And you use that for the altar.
Or you take these rocks over here that you didn't have anything
to do with, and you build me an altar. Nothing of human work
or effort to be mixed with it. Even so, salvation is all the
Lord's, and nothing of human merit or works composes any part
of it, and does not the prohibition of lifting up our tools upon
the altar imply that nothing can be offered of ours upon it
Nothing but Christ Himself who sanctified the gift without polluting
it. That's talking about that altar.
The Lord Jesus Christ is of God's making. He is the altar, He is
the sanctifier, and He is the Lamb who offered Himself upon
Him. And then thirdly, let me show
you this and I'll quit. The only way to walk with God
and honor His law is to rest in the accomplished redemption
of Christ. And is that not what the fourth
commandment is all about? That's what ties our responsibilities
to God and our responsibilities to one another together is this
fourth commandment. He said, remember the Sabbath
to keep it holy. And that Sabbath is Christ. That
Sabbath is talking about the rest of God. the rest of God. And it's the
key to understanding this law and how to honor God and to love
one another. The Sabbath and all of its consequent
days, all those Sabbath weeks, holy weeks, and all those type
things, they're all in figure the rest that we have in Christ. You know, I've often used that
illustration, God created the world, six days. He rested on the seventh day.
But how could God rest knowing that Satan was going to come
into the garden, that man was going to fall, that in a few
years every thought of the imagination of his heart was going to be
only evil continually, that man was going to continue on in time
taking his name in vain and breaking every law that he had and walking
in this world to disown. How could he rest? How could
he rest? knowing that his son would one
day of his own making come into this world as a man and men reject
him and spit in his face and turn their backs on him and beat
the flesh off his back and tell him to go on back to heaven where
he come from. Laughed at him while he died.
How could God rest? Well, He rested the same place
we do. He rested in His Son who is going
to make all things right. All things right. He rested in
His Son. And that's what this rest is
talking about. Now, you can go over to Hebrews
chapter 4 at your own leisure and read through there. But this
Sabbath and all of its consequent days are but figures of the rest
that we have in Christ. And to keep the Sabbath, you
had to quit working. Well, we're going to get into
that in these days to come. We're going to be looking at
these different commandments. But to keep the Sabbath, you had
to quit working and trust God to provide everything needed
and then be satisfied with what God provided. That's how you
kept the Sabbath. Christ is our Sabbath. And we
keep the Sabbath and fulfill the whole law of God, trusting
in Christ. We rest our way to glory. You don't work your way to glory.
You rest your way to glory. In Isaiah 11, verse 10, it says,
In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for
an instant of the people. To it shall the Gentiles seek,
and his rest shall be glorious. His rest. And then in Hebrews
chapter 4 verse 2 it said, unto us was the gospel preached as
well as unto them. Talking about those Israelites
back there at this mountain and back there in that wilderness.
But the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed
in faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do
enter in to rest. Now that's what the Apostle Paul
said the difference was in those who believed. Those who believed
entered into His rest. Entered into His rest. And I
know that religion teaches us that if we would walk with God,
if we would have a hope for that, that we have to do this, and
do that, and do this, and they just keep pouring out things
for us to do. But that's not it. That's not
it. That faith that's in them, that
marked them out as the elect of God, was manifested in the
fact that they entered into His rest. God help you to understand
what I've said here tonight.