When the Lord God came down on
Mount Sinai at the giving of the law, he gave very specific
commandment to Moses. He told Moses to relate this
to the children of Israel. In chapter 19, verses 12 and
13, he said, no man, no man is to come to this mountain except
you. Not one man. is to even touch
the border of the mountain. No man. He said, if any man touches
this mountain, I'll kill him. I'll kill him. And when the Lord came down upon
Sinai's fiery mountain, thunders and lightnings and clouds and
thick darkness covered the mountain. And then there was a voice of
a trumpet that was heard, a shrill blasted so loud, so terrifying,
that the children of Israel, all the camp of Israel, exceedingly
feared and quaked and trembled before God. And that's exactly
what will happen when anyone hears what the law of God says.
The Apostle Paul, writing to the Galatians who had been seduced
by false prophets to believe somehow that they must do something
to save themselves, said, tell me you that would be under the
law. Don't you hear what the law says? Those who would impose
legalistic religion, legalistic principles of the law, much less
legalistic principles men invent. Those who do so do not understand
what the law requires. When God gave his law to Israel
at Sinai, the Lord God showed himself to be perfectly, perfectly
holy and just. The law was given, and God requires,
walk before me and be thou perfect. He said, walk before me and be
ye holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy. The law says it
must be perfect to be accepted. The law says the soul that sinneth,
it shall die. Now that's what the law says.
You see, the law of God revealed God's holiness and justice. And
it does not in any way give mercy. Justice cannot be merciful. Did you hear me? Justice cannot
be merciful. Law cannot bend. We have a picture
of justice and lady justice being blind. That's what law is. It
doesn't consider who you are. It doesn't consider your abilities
or inabilities. It doesn't consider your circumstances.
It doesn't consider your age. It only considers righteousness. That's all. That's all. And the
soul that sins, it shall die. The law revealed God's holiness,
and any mere sinful man who dares to touch God's holy law will
die. You see, God did not give his
law to be a code of conduct, a means of salvation, or a ladder
to holiness. I abhor the reasons why our nation
has turned its back upon all things religious. I abhor the
reasons. I abhor the reasons why our nation's
courts and lawmakers have taken the Ten Commandments off the
walls in our schoolrooms. But that wasn't the reason the
law was given. It wasn't given to be a statute record hanging
on the wall here that you can use like a piece of religious
idolatry and superstition. And it wasn't given to be a code
of conduct. The law of God was given at Sinai in its totality
for one purpose, to identify and condemn sin, shutting sinners
up to Christ alone for salvation. That's what Paul says in Romans
chapter 3. Read it plainly for yourself. He tells us in Romans
chapter 3, you can read it later, let me read this to you. In verse
21, now the righteousness of the God without the law is manifested,
being witnessed by the law and the prophets. The righteousness
of God cannot be attained by law obedience. The righteousness
of God cannot be attained by your works. But the law, the
righteousness of God was witnessed or testified to by the law and
the prophets. Even the righteousness of God
which is by faith, that is the faithfulness of Jesus Christ,
unto all and upon all them that believe. The Apostle says, therefore,
we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the works of
the law. Isn't it amazing that every time,
almost every time in the New Testament, one of the Apostles,
particularly Paul, was inspired of God to declare how we're saved,
by grace, through faith in Christ. He almost always says, now just
in case you didn't hear me, that means your works don't have anything
to do with it. Almost always. Saved by grace alone. Through
faith alone. In Christ alone. Without works
on your part of any kind. And if you try to do something
to add to it, you're lost. Your hands are defiled. Do we
then make void the law through faith? No. We establish the law. Those of
us who pretend to keep it make it void. Those who pretend to
live by it make it void because the only way you can ever make
the law peaceable with you is to bring the law down to your
level. And God's law won't come down
to your level. God's law says the soul that sins, it shall
die. God's law demands perfection, absolute righteousness, absolute
holiness. It won't accept anything else.
And therefore, we, believing on the Son of God, establish
the law just like it is, and give it exactly what it requires,
perfection and satisfaction. Now then, no sooner did God give
his law to Moses at Sinai than the children of Israel cried
out for an intercessor. They said, Moses, don't let God
speak to us. Don't let God speak to us. You
see, we've got to have a mediator. We've got to have an intercessor.
No sinner can deal with God in his strict character as God.
No sinner can approach God in his strict, holy character as
God. Our God is a consuming fire. You come to him without a mediator
whom he has appointed, whom he will accept, and God will consume
you like a snowball in a blast furnace. You're gone. Let's have a mediator. As I've said, demanded absolute,
perfect holiness, righteousness, justice, and truth. And it won't
bend. But even in the giving of the
law, God showed himself merciful. Before he began to enunciate
the commandments, in chapter 20, verse 2, he said, now the
one speaking to you is the Lord your God who brought you out
of Egypt, out of bondage. I'm the Lord your God, the Redeemer.
That was a picture of redemption. When he spoke the law, as he
was given those commandments of the law, particularly relating
to God and loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and being,
he gives the law concerning the Sabbath day. Now I read that,
scratched my head, read that, scratched my head, read that,
scratched my head, and I thought to myself, what does not working
on Saturday have to do with loving God? What does it have to do with
loving God? What does that do with it? Did Abraham not love
God? Oh yes, but he never kept a Sabbath
day. Did Enoch not love God? Oh yes, but he never kept a Sabbath
day. Did Abel not love God? Most certainly, but he never
kept a Sabbath day. Well, what does this have to do with loving
God? It doesn't. It has to do with faith. And
faith is the ultimate testimony of love to God. You see, the
Sabbath day was given to portray rest. The Lord God was saying
even in the giving of the law with the severity and austerity
of Sabbath obedience, He said there's one coming in whom sinners
can rest, and that one is Christ the Lord who is our Sabbath.
And then no sooner had God given the law that He began to speak
to Israel in terms of peace, with terms of hope. While the
people stood afar off and Moses drew near in thick darkness where
God was, the Lord said to Israel, He said, Now, let me tell you
about an altar. An altar, a place of worship,
a place of sacrifice, a place of atonement, a place of hope.
And the Lord, immediately after giving the law, Tells Israel,
tells Moses, now you go down and tell that bunch of sinning
rebels. You go down and tell them there's one way they can
come to me. There's one way they can come to me. Now listen to
me. God hasn't changed. If Bob Potts
and Don Fortner would come to God, we've got to come the same
way. We gotta come the same way. One way. Only one way. If we
would come to the Holy Lord God and find acceptance with Him,
the only way we can come is in the way that God has Himself
required, in the way that God has Himself revealed, in the
way that God Himself is Jesus Christ the Lord. It's the only
way we can come. Look what it says in verse 23.
If you're going to come to God and be accepted of Him, you've
got to come and worship God alone. Don't make any gods of silver
before me. Don't make you any gods of gold.
Don't you whittle out of God out of your own imagination.
He's not just talking about statues of Buddha or statues of Mary
or statues of that silly old fool in Rome. He's not talking
about that kind of stuff. That certainly is included. What
he's saying, Ron, is don't you decide who God ought to be and
make him like that. Don't you make any gods of silver
or any gods of gold? You don't have any little good
luck charm gods that you can hang on your wall and look at,
that you can bow down and kiss, or you can rub for good luck.
We're not superstitious pagans. Don't worship such a god. Don't
make such a god. But more than that, don't you
decide who God is and what God is and how God acts. That's what this generation's
done. This age in which we live has made them a God. Carved out
of the depraved minds of fallen man. Carved out of their own
dark imaginations. And they say this is what God's
like, this is what Jesus is like, this is what the Holy Spirit
is like. And they make God to be something less than a gray
bearded old man with a humpback in heaven. and make him an effeminate,
helpless, meaningless, insignificant, idolatrous imagination. Don't
you make any other God. You come worship me. And I'm
telling you, if you'd worship God, you'll worship God as he
makes himself known in this book, in the person and work of his
son. And nobody else worships him. Secondly, he tells us in
verse 24, we must worship him on the altar that he's made.
We must worship him on an altar of earth. an altar of earth. We must worship Him with the
sacrifice, the great offering that He requires. We must worship
Him in the place where He records His name. Now that's Jesus Christ
the Lord. He is the altar. We have an altar. That's what the Apostle said
in Hebrews 13, isn't it? He said we have an altar which those
who minister in the tabernacle cannot eat of. They can't have
anything to do with it. Our altar is Christ the Lord.
We don't come to God through physical motion. We don't come
to God by physical acts. You can't come to God by crawling
on your knees across the coast to some kind of a cross or crucifix
or mourner's bench or altar. You can't come to God by coming
to this preacher. You can't come to God by getting
into waters of baptism. You come to God by faith in Christ,
the sacrifice and the altar. That's the only way you can come.
Read on. Thirdly, he says, we must come to the holy Lord God,
trusting Christ alone, contributing nothing. Now David, that messes us up.
Look what he says. Verse 25, if thou wilt make me
an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone. For if thou lift up thy tool
upon it, thou hast polluted it. What a word. If we try to approach God on
the basis of anything we do, no matter how great or insignificant,
if we try to come to God mixing our works in any way with Christ's
obedience, God will kill us. You'll go to hell. You'll go
to hell. That's what it says. Don't you
lift your tool on it. If you put your hand on it, you're
gone. You're gone. A preacher, what
do we do to be saved? Nothing. That's your problem. You quit doing. If you would
ever come to God, you've got to quit working. You've got to
quit trusting yourself. You've got to quit trying to
make up with God. You've got to quit trying to
atone for sin and trust Christ alone for wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. One more thing. He tells us in
verse 26, if we would come to God and be accepted of Him, we
can't come by degrees, but gotta come all at once. Can't come by the grace. There
are no steps of grace. No ladders of salvation. No steps
by which we gradually ascend up to God. How many times have
you heard preachers say, sometimes fellows who ought to know better,
now, you know, follow this step, this step. I haven't ever been
to AA, but I'm told they have their, what is it, 12-step program?
Towards sobriety. Get this step, this step, this
step, this step. Well, they're not even a one-two step toward
God. You're just either in the way or not in the way. Look what
it says, verse 26. Neither shalt thou go up by steps
unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereo. That
means if you try to ascend to God, start off down here It's
amazing when folks have steps, they make Christ the lowest one.
You start off down here believing on Jesus, and now you start to
climb. And you read your Bible, and
you keep the law, and you keep the Sabbath day, and you give,
and you quit smoking and drinking and cussing and chewing. Oh,
now. Now you're sanctified, sure enough.
No, you just show your nakedness. You just show your shame, that's
all. You polluted it. A preacher? That sounds like
we don't have anything to do with this thing of salvation.
I'm glad I was clear. That's exactly what I'm saying.
Nothing. Nothing. Well, that shuts us
up to Christ. That's what the law is given
for. Well, that means that Christ is everything. Bless God you
got it. That's what it means. Christ
is everything. Everything. All right, now, very
quickly, I want to give you one illustration of redemption and
grace found in Exodus 21, verses 1 through 6. I'm going to make
five statements here, but this is such a beautiful picture of
our Redeemer. In chapter 21, the Lord begins to give civil
laws, His judgments, His statutes to Israel. And these civil laws
given to Israel, like all other aspects of the law, were messianic.
They were given only to Israel. They applied only to Israel.
They had reference only to Israel. But they pointed to Christ the
Redeemer, who is the fulfillment and the end of the law. The first
one is the law of the bond servant. Read it with me. Exodus chapter
21. Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.
If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years shall he serve, and
in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. If he came
in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If he were married,
then his wife shall go out with him. If his master has given
him a wife, and she hath borne him sons or daughters, the wife
and her children shall be her masters, and he shall go out
by himself. And if the servant shall plainly
say, I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not go
out free, then his master shall bring him unto the judges, He
shall also bring him under the doorpost, and his master shall
bore his ear through with an awe, and he shall serve him forever." Now, as you know, I'm a Southerner, and I liked it that way. I told
somebody once, I said, I'm so much a Southerner, if I weren't
a Southerner, I'd at least be ashamed. I am a Southerner. But the terrible,
terrible blight upon our southern history and heritage from which
we cannot escape is the terrible blight of slavery, and some men
even to this day point to this text of scripture as a justification
for that barbaric act of humanity. This text does not in any way
justify slavery, nor does it teach it. Nor can it be justified
anywhere in scripture. It just cannot be. This text
applies to Israel. And it's talking, David, about
our Redeemer. It's talking about how freedom is won. And that's
what it's all about. The servant described here is
none other than Jesus Christ, our Lord and Redeemer. Christ
is that bondservant who was typified in the bondservant law in the
Old Testament. He is the one who consecrated
himself to God the Father as our covenant servitude, as the
servant of Jehovah, to obey the will of God in all things for
the salvation of his people. Now let me show you five things
in this text of scripture about it. Number one, the Lord Jesus
chose to become Jehovah's Servant. His obedience to the Father was
not a forced obedience. He was in no way inferior to
God the Father, but is in all things one with Him. He is the
eternal Son of the eternal Father. Now folks look at that and they
say, well, you can't explain the Trinity. Well, sure I can.
Sure I can. There are three that bear record
in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and those
three are one. So that doesn't explain anything. It explains
it pretty good. There are three that bear record in heaven, the
Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one.
That's what God says about it. And the fact that the triune
God is eternal and immutable, incomprehensible and infallible,
declares plainly that there can be no change in the Godhead.
Whatever God is, he always has been and always will be. And
when our Lord Jesus became a man, he did not somehow become less
God. Somebody says, well, he left
his father's throne. He never left it. He never left
it. Somebody said, well, he laid
aside his Godhead. Oh, no, he didn't. Oh no, he
didn't. He who died at Calvary is God
Almighty. While he was on this earth, he
said he was in heaven with the Father. He never ceased to be
God. But voluntarily, before the world
began, the Son of God made a covenant with his Father and became servant
to his Father by his own will, so that he obeyed his Father
in all things. Voluntary submission. I try to
illustrate it the best I can using Shelby and myself, the
illustration of a man and his wife, but I'll give you an even
better. That little two-year-old girl
you saw running around here a little bit ago, do you know she gets
her way with me? Yeah. I don't care how busy I
am. That little girl walks up and
says, hold me, Poppy. Man, I drop what I do and hold her. It's
not because I'm not so big I can't handle her. It's not because
I'm not, this is questionable, but it's not because I'm not
smarter than she is. It's not because I don't know more than
she does. How come? Because I want to do what she
wants me to do, see her smile and give me a kiss. That's it. That's it. Just because I love
her. Our Holy Savior is in no way
subordinate to, or inferior to, or less than God his Father. But as a man, because he loves
his Father, because he loves his people, he voluntarily submits
himself to be the Father's servant and says, Lord, I come to do
thy will, O my God. And he did. Alright, here's the
second thing. Not only did our Lord voluntarily
become Jehovah's servant, but he served. He served. Listen to what he says. I am among you as he that serveth. From the time he came forth from
his mother's womb into the world, saying, Lo, I come to do thy
will, O my God. He served in perfection, his
father. Now, in our text, you'll notice
that the servant, by law, could only serve for six years. How come? That's not accidental. How come? He could only serve
for six years. Well, there's a reason for that,
because that's the age of a man. And man's number six is frustration,
defeat, failure. You know, in this superstitious
age when folks interpret the Bible by what Hollywood says,
they read the number six, six, six, and oh yeah. Check your
credit card, be sure it hasn't got that number on it, driver's
license doesn't have that number, don't have it on my mailbox,
don't have it on my address, whoa, whoa, whoa. Just terrified, 666.
Why on earth are you scared of that? It means frustration, defeat,
and failure. And Antichrist is doomed to failure! Man is always doomed to failure!
Because man is nothing but incompletion and sin. But the Lord Jesus Christ
comes here to serve, and He does what no man could ever do. He
served perfectly in perfect righteousness. Turn to Romans chapter 8. As the servant of God, he fulfilled
the law perfectly, bringing in everlasting righteousness for
his people. As the servant of God, he put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. And our blessed Savior even taught
us by example how to serve God. He showed us exactly how to serve
him. Folks wonder, well, what can I do to serve the Lord? And
churches make up rules and regulations. Religion passes down traditions
and customs. Did you know that in this book,
everywhere in this book, what's referred to as good works, everywhere
in this book, has to do with serving God's people? Find me
a place where it doesn't happen. Find me a place. Visiting, caring
for, meeting their needs, serving. Our Lord took a towel and a bowl
of water and washed his disciples' feet. Not so that we could come
together in some kind of a pretentious religious ceremony when everybody's
already washed his own feet and come here and let folks wash
your feet. That wasn't it. Oh no. He said, I've given you
an example. You go do what I've done. You
serve my people. You serve them. That's what it
is to serve our God. It's to serve his people. Alright
now, look here in Romans chapter 8. Our Lord Jesus did this perfectly. He served God's people perfectly. Perfectly. There is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Those who
are in Christ, no condemnation to them. Who walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit. Now that's not talking about
there's no condemnation if you believe in Jesus and you live
good. That's not what it's talking about. To walk after the Spirit,
Skip, is to believe God. That's what it is. to walk after
the Spirit, to walk by faith, to trust Christ. For the law
of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has 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 sin for 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.
As said Bobby Estes, sinful, vile, wretched, corrupt man. True? True. Perfectly righteous
before God Almighty because he's in Christ. Without sin. Without a blot. Perfect righteousness
imputed to him even as our sins were completely and perfectly
imputed to Christ and put away by him. Thirdly, Our text speaks of this servant
in Exodus 21 and says he could go out free if he wanted to.
He could go out free. Seventh year comes and times
come he can go free. So long, buddy. Your time of
servitude is up. And our master could have gone
out free if he wanted to. He perfectly obeyed God as a
man, even while he was in this world. He tells us, even just
before he went to Calvary Rex, he could have gone free. He told
his disciple, you remember when Peter drew out his sword and
he cut off the high priest's servants here? That fellow fixed
to take on a Roman garrison, single-handed, by himself, with
a little dagger? And the Lord Jesus said, Peter,
put up your sword. There's no need for that. You
think I'm here against my will? Do you think I'm here because
I can't do any better? Don't you know I could at this time
call twelve legions of angels and walk out of here. He could
have gone out free. But there was a catch. If he'd gone out free, he had
to go out by himself. Yes sir! You can go out if you
want to. So fourthly, I want you to see
this. Our Lord Jesus would not go out by himself. He wouldn't do it. No sir. No
sir. No sir. If the servant shall
plainly say, verse 5, I love my master. I love my wife. I love my children. I will not
Go out free. Now don't miss the order. Here's
the reason for our Lord's voluntary servitude. He said, I love my
master. For the glory of God. For the
glory of God. I devote myself to this service. He came to the end of his days
on this earth, and he said, now is my soul exceeding sorrowful,
even unto death, but what shall I say? Father, save me from this
hour, but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify
thy name. I love my father. I love my master. And the Lord Jesus Christ, for
the glory of the triune God, came here to accomplish redemption
by the sacrifice of himself, by the satisfying of divine justice,
by the establishing of righteousness, so that men everywhere might
see the glory of his grace and the glory of God in his face. He said, I love my wife. Oh, every believer has reason to
say to the Lord Jesus what David said to Jonathan, thy love to
me is wonderful. Oh, how he's loved me. Husbands,
love your wives as Christ also loved the church. But Don, how
did he love the church? Kind of like Jacob loved Rebekah,
I loved Rachel. He served for seven years, and
his wages were deceit and trickery, and he got that homely Leah. And he served another seven years,
and he said, just like a day, because of the love he had for
her. And the Lord Jesus loved us and gave himself as the bondservant
of the Lord God Almighty because of his love for us. And all the
sorrows he endures, he counts them to be, but nothing compared
with the joy set before him of having us with him. How did he
love his wife? How did the Lord Jesus love his
bride, the church? Kind of like Adam loved Eve.
Isn't it amazing that the scriptures tell us when Adam sinned, he
went into this thing with his eyes wide open. Eve was deceived,
but Adam wasn't. Bob, he knew what he was doing.
God told him plainly, in the day you eat there, you're going
to die. But when Adam saw Eve in sin, under the wrath of God, Rather than live without her,
he chose death and sin with her. That's a pretty good picture
of the last Adam, isn't it? And he saw us plunged in sin
and darkness, despair and death. The Son of God Himself took our
sins upon Himself and plunged Himself under the wrath of God
Almighty that He might bring us to life everlasting in Him.
Oh, God teach me to love like that. And then he says, I love my children.
Yes, even before the world began. We who are God's chosen had a
covenant, adoptive, child-father relationship with God Almighty
through Jesus Christ our Savior. And we are the sons of God in
Him who is the firstborn among many brethren. We are the sons
of God in Him and as such heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus
Christ. Now then, let me show you one
more thing. Our Lord Jesus Christ shall serve,
look at this, forever. Oh, how delightful. He said, I will not go out free.
He had his ear burned publicly so that all men hear him declare,
I am my master's servant and I'll serve forever. A human body
was prepared for him. Oh, what a glorious sight. A
real human heart to feel the sorrows and sufferings of his
loved people in this world. Real human eyes to watch over
us, to weep with us. Real human ears ever attentive
to the cries of his beloved. Real human hands, ministering
to our needs. Real human feet, often weary
with errands of mercy. Real human lips, filled with
grace, wisdom, and peace. A real human soul, troubled with
sorrow. There, like a man, the Savior
sits. The God, how bright. That one who sits on the throne
of glory, God incarnate, is the man who pledged himself as Jehovah's
servant to save us. How does he serve now? Why, he
makes intercession for the transgressors according to the will of God.
He rules all flesh to give eternal life to his people. At the appointed
time of love, he sends his spirit, like David sent Ziba after Mephibosheth,
and says, fetch him! And when he comes, fetch him.
God's people come following. And they're brought to life and
faith in him by omnipotent grace. One of these days, he's coming
again for us. Then cometh the end. when He
shall have delivered up the kingdom to the Father and says, Lo, I
and the children which the Lord God hath given Me, not one of
them is lost. And He presents us before His
Father, listen now, holy and unblameable and unreprovable in God's sight. So that God Himself, God Himself,
in His omniscient, strict, holy, august justice, sees nothing
in His people except that which is holy, and unblameable, and
unreprovable. He washed us in His blood, that
means we're clean. He's robed us in His righteousness.
We wear now the garments of salvation, the white robe of the bride of
Christ, His spotless righteousness. Whatever our need is, He's the
servant to provide our need, to care for us, to supply us,
to protect us, to present us at last. All praise to the servant. But let me tell you something, there'll never be an end to it. Our Lord Jesus is the only one
who could absolutely fulfill what's required in that law of
the servant. No mere man could serve another man forever. Couldn't be done. But here's
the man, Christ Jesus, whose God Almighty, who from everlasting
to everlasting is Jehovah's servant. Because He loves His Father,
His Master, and His Wife, His Bride, and us, His children. Look in Luke chapter 12, and
we'll quit. Luke 12, verse 37. Blessed are those servants whom
the Lord, when He comes, shall find watching. Verily I say unto
you, that He is the Lord who is coming. Now hang on till you
see. I remember years ago, Brother
Hubert Montgomery read this back in the office one day and I thought,
my soul, I've never seen that. The Lord will gird himself and
make them to sit down to meet and will come forth and serve them. Christ will gird himself and
serve you forever. Time will not terminate His service
of love. In the ages to come, God will
show the exceeding riches of His grace toward us through Christ
Jesus. And when time shall be no more,
the Lamb in the midst of the throne will feed us forever and
lead us to fountains of living water forever. and bless us with
eternal joy in the presence of the Lord forever. Forever. Forever. Oh, here is the servant. Amen. All right, Lindsay, you
listen to him, please.