Would you turn to Exodus chapter
20? I told Lynn yesterday that the
sermon that I'm going to attempt to preach tonight took me 25
years to prepare. Now, I hope I'm not over-introducing
this because it might be by the end of this sermon, somebody
might think you should have spent another 25 years on it. I don't know.
But I feel like the Lord has given me some understanding. I have always known that the
believer is not under the law because the Bible says you are
not under law but under grace. I've always been sure of that.
I've known it. But I feel like my understanding
of it has been kind of the way I took most tests when I was
in school. The answers I got right were answers I memorized.
And I couldn't necessarily tell you why that was the case. I
just memorized the answers. But I hope I have some understanding
of what I'm going to attempt to speak to you on this evening.
I've entitled this message, Why Did God Give the Law? Exodus chapter 20 verse 1, and God spake all these words. Now this is the introduction
to the Ten Commandments. This is the beginning of the
law that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai. Why did God give this law? Now, I've got a reason for asking
that question. The Bible teaches that nobody can be saved by their
own personal obedience to the law, doesn't it? Scripture says in Romans 8, 7
and 8, the carnal mind is enmity against God. It's not subject
to the law of God. Neither indeed can it be. It doesn't have the ability to,
nobody can be saved by the works of the law. And it's also true
that the believer is not under the law. Romans chapter six,
verse 14 says, sin shall not have dominion over you for you
are not under the law, but under grace. Now that being the case,
since we can't be saved by the law, and since we're not under
the law, why did God give the law? What was his purpose in
the first place? Turn with me to John chapter
one. And the first thing I want to
deal with is what is meant by the law. When I'm asking this
question, why did God give the law? What is meant by the law?
John chapter one, Verse 17, for the law was given by Moses. But grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ. So the law is all the commandments
that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai. That's what the Bible
means by the law. Everything God said to Moses
beginning in Exodus chapter 20 and all the instruction He gave
him on Mount Sinai. There are ten commandments and
there are a whole lot of other commandments. There are ceremonial
laws. There are civil laws and there's
a lot of them. There are instructions regarding
the tabernacle, instructions regarding the various sacrifices,
the various feast days. There's instructions regarding
tithing, laws regarding how to treat the poor, how to recompense
people when they've been wronged. There are just a lot of laws
in the law. I don't know how many laws there are. I read sometime
it was several hundred. But there are a lot of laws in
the law that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai. Now the laws
of the law are one unified whole. To break one commandment is to
break them all. James chapter 2 verse 10 says,
for whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one
point is guilty of all. I can remember when I was a kid,
I used to look at the 10 commandments and it seems like I remember
I thought seven of them I'd kept. I think I didn't know what the
other three meant and that's why I guess I hadn't broken those. But the point being, you can't
keep one commandment and break nine others. If you break one,
you break the whole law. The law stands as one unified
whole. I've heard people say, I've heard
preachers say, well, we're not under the moral law where, I
mean, we're under, we're not under the ceremonial law or the
civil law. We're still under the moral law, but we're not
under the ceremonial law or the civil law. Now, where do you
get that in the Bible? Where in the word of God can
the Bible be divided? And you pick out one part that
you're under and another part that you're not in. As a matter
of fact, if you look at the 10 commandments included in that holy law of
God, the 10 commandments, there is a ceremonial law, the Sabbath. The Sabbath is there and to break
the Sabbath, that's a ceremonial law. That's not what someone
would call a moral law. That's a ceremonial law. But
if I break that, I've broken all the 10 commandments. You
can't separate the moral law and the ceremonial law that's
seen in the 10 commandments. They cannot be divided. Now, let me show you a summary
of the whole law given on Mount Sinai just in a few verses of
scripture. Turn to Galatians chapter 4. Verse 21. Tell me ye that desire to be
under the law. Do you not hear the law? Paul
is saying, surely if you desire to be under the law, it's because
you don't understand what the law says. Verse 22, for it's
written that Abraham, now when he talks about the law of Mount
Sinai, look at the example he uses. For it is written that
Abraham had two sons, the one by bondmaid, the other by free
woman. But he who was of the bond woman
was born after the flesh. There wasn't anything miraculous
about that birth when Abraham went into Hagar. But he who was
of the free woman, Sarah, was by promise, which things are
an allegory for these are the two covenants. Abraham and Sarah
and Abraham and Hagar represent the two covenants, grace and
works. The one from Mount Sinai which gendereth to bondage, which
is Hagar. For this Hagar is Mount Sinai."
That's powerful language, isn't it? Hagar is Mount Sinai where
God gave the law. What happened with Hagar represents
salvation by works. Now you remember the story. God
has promised Abraham a son. Sarah has already gone through
menopause. It is impossible for her to have
a child. There's no way it can happen.
Abraham's an old man, but God says you're going to have a child
through her. Well, after some years of waiting,
it never happens. And I imagine Sarah said to Abraham,
well, it looks like I'm not going to have one. I know God said
that, but it doesn't seem like it's going to come through me.
You know, we need to do our part. We need to quit waiting around.
Here's what we need to do. You go into Hagar, my handmaid,
and you have a baby through her, and that'll be my seed, and that
will be the promised heir. Now, there wasn't anything miraculous
about this. This wasn't living up to the promise of God. She
was a young woman. Abraham goes into her. He does
his part. God does your part, or God does
his part, but you need to do yours, or God's will won't be
done, or God's work won't be done. All that is is salvation
by works. It makes salvation in some way
dependent upon what I do. Hagar is Mount Sinai. Let me give you another example. the doctrine of universal redemption,
that Jesus Christ died for everybody and paid for everybody's sins
and made salvation available for everybody, but he can die
for you and pay for your sins and put them away, but you might
end up in hell anyway if you don't do your part. You need
to do your part to make what he did work. That is Mount Sinai. That represents salvation by
works. Now, all that is not gospel is
law. All that is not grace is law. The law was given by Moses. Now,
God inspired that and everything Moses said was true. The law
was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Why did God give this law? If
we can't be saved by our own personal obedience to it, why
did God give it? If we're not under it, why did
God give it? Well, first I want to answer
that question, why he gave the law by telling you what the law
is not for. There's something that the law cannot do. Look
in Romans chapter eight. Romans 8. Verse 3. 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 foreseeing condemned sin
in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled
in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Now what could the law not do? The law could not save. It could not save. It was weak
through the flesh. The problem is not with the law, the problem
is with us. If weak through the flesh, the law could not save. Look in Galatians chapter 3 verse
21. Is the law then, Galatians 321,
is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid, for if there
had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness
should have been by the law. Do you know this holy law of
God was never given? It was never intended to give
life, never was. He said if it could have, it
would have, but it can't and it won't. The law will not give
life. life. It was never given for
that purpose. We cannot be justified by our
personal obedience to the law. By the deeds of the law there
shall no flesh be justified, for by the law is the knowledge
of sin. How could you be justified by obedience to the law when
you've never been obedient to the law? It's impossible. How can you be justified by the
works of the law when you've never fulfilled the works of
the law? All we've done is disobey God's law, so therefore it's
obvious we can't be justified by the law. We've never kept
it. Remember, to be justified is to be not guilty. All the law says to me is guilty. I can't be justified by the law,
but not only can I not be justified by the law, I can't be sanctified
by my personal obedience to the law. Now, why do you say that? Well, I pretty much have the
same reason I have for justification. How can you be sanctified by
works of disobedience? Can't be done, can it? Now, I
have never kept one commandment one time. And I can't be sanctified
by acts of disobedience. Somebody says, well, I've been
partially disobedient. I've at least tried. I've sincerely
tried to keep the law. Partial obedience is disobedience. If I partially obeyed my dad,
I got licked for it. I mean, there's no such thing
as partial obedience. Partial obedience is disobedience.
I can't be sanctified by obedience to the law as far as that goes.
Turn with me to Romans chapter 7. All the law does is stir up
our sin. Now let me show you this from
Romans chapter 7. Beginning in verse 7. What shall we say then? Is the
law sin? Is the law the cause of sin,
is what he's asking? God forbid. Nay, I had not known
sin, but by the law. For I had not known lust, except
the law had said, thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion
by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence
or lust." In other words, when the law said to me, thou shalt
not covet, all I did was covet. And the more I tried to press
it down, the greater it became. All the law does is stir up sin. Let's go on reading. He says
in verse 8, But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in
me all manner of desire. For without the law, sin was
dead. I thought I was a pretty good
fellow, for I was alive without the law once. But when the commandment
came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment which was
ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking
occasion by the commandment, deceived me. And by it slew me,
wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just,
and good. Was 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. You see, all the law does is
stir up our sin, and the more you try to keep the law, the
more you're gonna break it. Have you found that that's true
regarding you? All I got to do is say, be holy for five seconds.
Don't let one sinful thought come into your mind for five
seconds. Count to five. Work. It does not work. Well, what is the purpose of
the law then? It does have a use. Because Paul said in 1 Timothy
1, the law is good if a man uses it lawfully. It's got a glorious
use. What is the lawful use of the
law? When that is understood, we like
Paul will be able to say, I delight I delight in the law of God after
the inward man. I delight in it. I remember one
time I heard somebody say, well, we need to do with the Ten Commandments,
take them and throw them in the trash can. I just winced when
he said that. No, I delight. I love God's law
when I understand the lawful use of the law. Well, what is
the lawful use of the law? Well, the Mosaic law has many
lawful uses. First, it tells us something
of God's character. I know it's called the Law of
Moses, but it's the Law of God. You think about the Ten Commandments.
Aren't they beautiful? Every single one of them, I love
God's law. Every commandment, the thou shalts
and the thou shalt nots, they're perfect. This law can't be improved
on. I admire God's law. I esteem
God's law. I love God's law. I love all
his commandments, and I would not break them. You know, to
say that you're free from the law doesn't mean, okay, that
means I get to break the commandments. It doesn't mean that at all.
Nobody wants to break God's commandments who loves God's law. We esteem
all his precepts in all things, concerning all things to be right.
And we hate every false way. Doesn't mean we want to break
the law or break God's commandments. We love God's law. You know,
if you carefully read Exodus 22 through 24, and I wish you'd
do that, you can't help but be struck by the fairness of God
seen in the laws of restitution, the laws concerning the care
for the oppressed. God cares. Truly, this law is
a perfect law. I've seen an end of all perfection,
but thy commandment, David said, is exceeding broad. Well, what
is the lawful use of the law? Well, turn with me to first Timothy
chapter one. First Timothy chapter one. Verse 5, now the end or the goal
of the commandment. We're going to come back to this
at the end of this message. The goal, the purpose of the
commandment is charity out of a pure heart. and of a good conscience,
and of faith unfeigned, from which some, having swerved, have
turned aside into vain jangling, desiring to be teachers of the
law, understanding neither what they say nor whereof they affirm.
But we know that the law is good if a man use it lawfully, knowing
this, that the law is not made for a righteous man." Does a
righteous man need law? If a man is honest, do you need
to lock the door to keep him from coming into your house to
steal? You don't need to, do you? The law is not made for
a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient. for the ungodly and for sinners,
for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers,
for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves
with mankind, for men stealers, for liars, for perjured persons,
and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine. You see, if everybody was honest,
if everybody was good, we would not need the law or laws. And all we say when we desire
to be under the law is that we're evil and we can't be trusted
and that we can't be motivated out of love. That is all we say
when we say we must be under the law. Let me give you an illustration
of this. Turn with me to Matthew chapter 19. Verse 3, the Pharisees also came unto
him, tempting him. and saying unto him, is it lawful
for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And you know,
the Bible has quite a few rules concerning divorce. There's a
lot in the Bible about divorce and why a man could or could
not divorce in the Old Testament. And so the Pharisees say, tempting
him, testing him, is it lawful? Is it okay? Is it acceptable
to the law for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And
he answered and said unto them, Have you not read that he which
made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said,
For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall
cleave to his wife, and they too shall be one flesh? Wherefore
there are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath
joined together, let no man put asunder. They say unto him, Why did Moses
then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her
away? As God inspired, God said that. There's rules concerning
divorce when it's okay. Why? Verse 8, He saith unto them,
Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, suffered you
to put away your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. You see, law is a response to
hardness of heart. What if all law was lifted in
Lexington, Kentucky tonight and anybody could do anything they
wanted without fear of consequences? What kind of place would this
place be? You reckon you'd make it through the night without
having your house broken into and everything taken? I dare
say you wouldn't if all laws were lifted and there was no
consequence. Moses granted divorce because
of the hardness of these people's hearts. You see, law is a response
to human sin. If there were no hardness of
heart, there would be no need for divorce in the first place.
What is the purpose of the law? Well, it's a response to human
sinfulness. Turn with me to Romans chapter three. Romans 3. Verse 19. Now 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 all the world may become
guilty, stand guilty before God. Therefore, 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 what God's law gives us
knowledge of. It doesn't give us knowledge
of how sin is put away or forgiven or how God can have mercy on
me, but by the law is the knowledge of sin. Now, let me show you
an example of what that means. Turn with me once again to Matthew
19. Matthew 19, we were just there,
but this is a different part of Matthew 19, beginning in verse
16. And behold, one came and said
unto him, good master, what good thing shall I do that I may have
eternal life? Matthew 19, 16. And he said unto
him, why callest thou me good? There's none good, but one that
is God. Now, why does the Lord say that?
Because he knew that this man was looking upon him as nothing
more than a man. You're a good man. I'm a good
man. But how can I attain to your goodness? How can I bring
myself up to your level? He said, if thou will enter to
life, keep the commandments. The Lord met him on the ground
he came. OK, if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.
Don't talk about them. Don't quote them. Keep them.
Keep them. Obey God's law. Verse 18, he
saith unto him, which Jesus said, thou shalt do no murder. Now
he's talking about the second table of the law, sins against
man. The first table is sins against
God. The second table sins against man. Now notice what he says.
Which? Okay, thou shalt do no murder.
Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt
not bear false witness. Honor thy father and mother. Thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. You notice the commandment he
left out? Anybody pick up on that? He didn't say anything
about covetousness. Didn't say a thing about covetousness.
This man, now let's remember that, let's go on reading. The
young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from
my youth up, what lack I yet? Jesus saith unto him, If thou
wilt be perfect, go and sell all that thou hast, and give
to the poor. And thou shalt have treasure
in heaven, and come and follow me." But when the young man heard
that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. He was eaten up with covetousness. He didn't love his neighbors
himself. He didn't care a flip about his neighbor. He was eaten
up with covetousness. Now, he thought, I've kept all
these commandments. No, you haven't. You haven't
kept one of them. And the demonstration of that
is covetousness. I think it's very interesting
in Romans chapter 7 when Paul is dealing with when God first
convicted him of sin. He said, I had not known sin
except the law had said, thou shalt not covet. Covetousness is something that's
done on the inside that nobody can stop. You might say, I've
never killed anybody. And you know, I haven't physically
murdered anybody. I haven't. I've been faithful
to my wife. I can name these commandments
that I have indeed kept outwardly. But the inside is what God looks
at. And covetousness is the summary
of breaking the whole law. Thou shalt not covet. You can't keep yourself from
coveting. I preach the message on covetous.
It's not that long ago. It's been in the last two or
three months. And somebody said to me on the way out, he said,
you know when we're going to quit coveting? I said, when? He said, when we
die. Yeah, that's as far as the flesh goes, that's true. Coveting,
coveting, coveting. This man didn't have any understanding
of the law, did he? All these have I kept from my
youth up. No, you are consumed with covetousness and that's
nothing but a lawbreaker. Now, understand this. If you
can look at any of God's commandments, the Ten Commandments, and if
you think you've kept them, all you've proved by that is you're
blind. You believe that about yourself? You haven't kept one
commandment one time. Now you might have kept some
outwardly, but remember God looks on the inside. You remember what
our Lord said? He said, you've heard it been
said of them that old, thou shalt not commit adultery. He said,
I say to you that whoso looketh upon a woman to lust after her
in his heart, hath committed adultery with her already in
his heart. If you're angry with your brother
without a cause, you know what that means? That means you're
jealous of him. That means you're envious of
him. You want what he has. You think it ought to be coming
to you. You wish you had it rather than him. If you're ever angry
without a cause, and that's what that is, being jealous, you've
been guilty of murder. You see, God's commandment is
spiritual. It's holy. I understand what
Paul meant when he said, The law is holy, I'm carnal, sold
under sin. I know exactly what he meant.
I look at God's holy law and all God's holy law says to me
in every respect is you have been guilty of breaking me. You
haven't kept one commandment one time. And if you have any
spiritual understanding, you know you haven't kept one commandment
one time. Listen to this scripture. Paul
actually said in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 56, the strength
of sin is what? Anybody know? The law. Romans chapter 5 verse 20 says,
Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound. Not the law entered to restrain
sin or the law entered to keep it into check, but the law entered
that the offense might abound, that it might overflow. And whenever
I see what God's holy law actually says to me, all it says is guilty,
guilty, guilty. Romans 3, verse 19, Therefore
by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his
sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. Let's look
at that again. We've already looked at it once,
but here's what I want us to see. Romans 3, verse 19. Now we know that what thing soever
the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every
mouth may be stopped. No excuses, no alibis. Every
mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty,
guilty as charged, guilty before God. Do you know it's only when
you are nothing but guilty. No excuses, mouth stopped. It's only when you're guilty
that you'll cry for mercy, and not before then. You see, the
law shuts our mouth. It stops our mouth and shows
us our sin. Now, here is the purpose of God's
law. Turn to Galatians chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3. I bet you
know what I'm going to read. Verse 24. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster
to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Now, that is the word pedagogue. It's not what, when we think
of a schoolmaster, we think of a real nice, maybe stern man
with a black suit on and he's trying to teach, but that's not
what the word means. The word, it was given, it was a pedagogue. It was someone, the Greeks, a
wealthy Greek person would have a higher pedagogue, and he would
have that person follow his kid around. And whenever the kid
got out of line, that guy'd smack him. He'd hit him. He'd whip
him. Now, Paul tells us the law is
our schoolmaster. It's our pedagogue to bring us
to Christ. You see, the law I cannot keep
drives me to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what the law does to me.
You know, it's easy to trust Christ as your righteousness
before God. If you really don't believe you
have any personal righteousness of your own, then you trust Christ
as your righteousness before God. Christ is the end of the
law. for righteousness. Romans chapter
10 verse 4. Christ is the purpose. He's the
goal of the law. The law's purpose is this. That's
what that word in means. That's its purpose, its goal,
its objective. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness. I trust Christ's righteousness
because I know it's the only righteousness there is. I really
believe that. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness. Not only is the goal of the law
for righteousness, Christ is the end of the law. What does
that mean? Christ is the end of the law. Well, you're there in Galatians
chapter 3. Let's go on reading. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster
to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.
But after that faith has come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. You don't need to be under the
law because you are now a righteous man. Do you remember that scripture
in first Timothy? The law was not made for a righteous
man. but for sinners, for unholy,
for the ungodly, and so on. The law is not made for a righteous
man. Now, I can say to every believer
with complete, full assurance, you're a righteous man. In God's
sight, you're righteous. And if God sees you as righteous,
understand this, that's not just some paste on righteousness.
That means you're righteous through and through. The righteousness
of Christ is yours. Righteous by imputation. His
righteousness is charged to your account. Righteous by impartation. He gives you this new birth,
this new righteous nature. You are now a righteous man,
a righteous woman. You really are. That's the real
you. If God sees you as righteous,
you know what that means? That means you're righteous. And the law was not made for
a righteous man, but for the lawless and the disobedient and
so on. You don't need to be under the
law. Now that doesn't mean it's now
okay to break the law, but we're not under it. Romans 6.14 says,
Sin shall not have dominion over you, How come? Because you're
not under law. You see, if you're under law,
sin has complete dominion over you. You just get worse and worse
and worse. That's just the fact of the matter. But you're not
under the law. Sin shall not have dominion over
you. For you're not under the law, but you are under grace. Now, the only way we show true
respect for God's law is by faith in Christ. Do we make void the
law through faith? God forbid. Yea, we establish
the law. And the only way you show true
regard, the only way I show true respect for the law of God is
to look to the Lord Jesus Christ as my righteousness before that
law. I show respect to God's law and I show great disrespect
to God's law if I look at it in any other way. Now turn back in closing to 1
Timothy chapter 1. 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 that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled
in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. Now
don't think that the law is just swept under the carpet. No, you're
justified by God with a perfect righteousness before that holy
law. Now, back to 1 Timothy chapter 1, verse 5. Now the end, the goal,
the objective, the purpose of the commandment is charity out
of a pure heart and of a good conscience and of faith unfeigned. Now what are the two greatest
commandments? Remember what our Lord said? love God with all
your heart and you love your neighbor as yourself. Now the goal of the commandment
is charity, true love to God out of a pure heart. Now what's
that pure heart? That's that heart given in the
new birth. Didn't our Lord say, blessed
are the pure in heart for they shall see God? I have a pure
heart. Now, when I say that, do I see it
as pure? Do I look at my heart and say,
that's a very pure, holy? No, I don't see it as pure. And
if I said I did, I'd be a lying hypocrite. But I believe it is
pure because God says it is. I've been given a pure heart,
a new heart, a clean heart, a heart that loves God, a heart that
believes the gospel. I love God and I love His people. I really do. I love His people.
The end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart.
The end of the commandment is a good conscience. And you know,
with regard to God's holy law, I have a good conscience. How? Well, I don't have anything
to feel guilty about. That's what a good conscience
is. You know, if I say I've got a clear conscience regarding
that matter, I feel very guilty even when I say it. I know I
didn't see him there. Yeah, I did. Yeah, I did. Well,
I was innocent there. No, you weren't. But before this
holy law of God, even saying that, I've got a good conscience. I've got nothing to feel guilty
about. I stand before this law justified. You know what that
means? Not guilty. I'm not guilty. That's where my good conscience
comes from. It's not a seared conscience where somebody says,
well, I've got a clear conscience about that. All that is is a
seared conscience. You're lying. You've made something up. I've
got a clear conscience. Ah, you do not. But before God, I have a good
conscience. It's the answer of a good conscience
toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And the end of the commandment
is faith unfeigned, unfaked, unfaked. You know, I'm not faking
this. I really do look to the Lord
Jesus Christ as my only righteousness before God. That's not a put-on.
That's not phony. I really do trust Him only. This is not a feigned. This is
real. Now that's the goal of the commandment.
That's the end of the commandment. Love out of a pure heart. A good conscience. Got nothing
to feel guilty about. and faith unfeigned, I really
do look to Christ as my righteousness before God. Let's pray.