Would you turn back to Exodus
chapter 19? I have entitled this message,
The Lie, the Law, and the Gospel. The Lie, the Law, and the Gospel. Exodus chapter 19, beginning
in verse 1, in the third month, It had been three months since
the children of Israel had left Egypt, going through the Red
Sea, and all they'd experienced during that time, the smiting
of the rock, the giving of the manna, the deliverances of the
Lord. In the third month, when the
children of Israel had gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the
same day came they unto the wilderness of Sinai. For they were departed
from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had
pitched in the wilderness, and there Israel camped before the
mount. And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto
him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house
of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel. I always think it's
interesting when the Lord addresses the children of Israel and the
house of Jacob at the same time. Jacob, the name of the flesh,
Israel, the new name that he gave Jacob. You know, we're always
Jacob and Israel at the same time, aren't we? Jacob, the flesh,
Israel, a prince with God. And that's the way the Lord addressed
these people. And he says in verse four, you've
seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and now I bear you on eagles'
wings and brought you unto myself. Now, therefore, if you will obey
my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar
treasure unto me above all people, for all the earth is mine, and
you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and in a holy nation.
These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children
of Israel. And Moses came and called for the elders of the
people and laid before their faces all these words which the
Lord commanded him. And all the people answered together
and said, all that the Lord has spoken, we will do. Now, has there ever been a bigger
lie told than that? All that the Lord has spoken.
We will do look in chapter 24 after the giving of the 10 commandments.
Verse three. And Moses came and told the people
all the words of the Lord and all the judgments and all the
people answered with one voice and said all that the words which
the Lord has spoken, we will do. in verse 7, and he took the
book of the covenant, read in the audience of the people, and
they said, all that the Lord hath said we will do, and be
obedient. They were saying this to the
law of God. We'll be obedient, we'll do every bit of it. And
Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said, behold
the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning
all these words. Now why was blood shed? Moses
knew they wouldn't do it. That's exactly why that blood
was shed. Moses knew they wouldn't do it, and he sprinkled them
with blood even then. Look in Deuteronomy, just let
me read you this. This is when Moses is giving
an account of this, but in Deuteronomy chapter 5 verse 27, Go down near
and hear all that the Lord our God shall say, and speak thou
unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee, and
we'll hear it and do it. And the Lord heard the voice
of your words when you spake unto me. And the Lord said unto
me, I've heard the voice of the words of the people which they
have spoken unto thee. They have well said all that
they have spoken. Oh, that they were such in heart in them that
they would fear me and keep all my commandments. The Lord knew
they would not obey this. And you know, they said the same
thing to Joshua in Joshua chapter 24 verse 19. And Joshua said unto
the people, you cannot serve the Lord for he's an holy God. He's a jealous God. He'll not
forgive your transgressions nor your sins. If you forsake the
Lord and serve strange God, then he'll turn and do you hurt and
consume you after that he has done you good. And the people
said unto Joshua, nay, but we will serve the Lord. Now, that is the lie. They lied to God. They didn't
say anything like, by your grace we'll serve you, or we would
like to have help to serve you. No, they just made this presumptuous
statement, even after hearing the law. We will do all the words
of the Lord, and we will be obedient. Now back to Exodus chapter 19. After saying this, the darkness
begins. And the Lord said unto Moses,
verse 9, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people
may hear what I speak with thee, and believe thee forever. And
Moses told the words of the people unto the Lord. And the Lord said
unto Moses, Go unto the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow,
and let them wash their clothes, and be ready against the third
day. For the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of
all the people upon Mount Sinai, and thou shalt set bounds unto
the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that
you go not up into the mount, or even touch the border of it.
Whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death.
Now this is the place where God gave the law. All you've got
to do is touch it, and you'll be put to death. 13. There shall not a hand touch
it, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through, whether it be
beast or man. It shall not live. When the trumpet
soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount. You can see why they were afraid
with these bounds set. Moses went down, verse 14, unto
the people, the mount, unto the people, and sanctified the people,
and they washed their clothes. And he said unto the people,
Be ready against the third day. Come not at your wives. And it
came to pass on the third day in the morning that there were
thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mountain,
and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud, so that all the
people in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth the people
out of the camp to meet with God. And they stood at the nether
part of the mount. And Mount Sinai was altogether
on smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. And the smoke
thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace. And the whole mountain
quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet
sounded long and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and
God answered him by voice. And the Lord came down upon Mount
Sinai, on the top of the mount. And the Lord called Moses up
to the top of the mount. And Moses went up, and the Lord
said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through
unto the Lord, degaze, and many of them perish. And let the priests
also which come near to the Lord sanctify themselves, lest the
Lord break forth upon them. And Moses said unto the Lord,
The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai without charges,
saying, Set bounds about the mountain, sanctify it. And the
Lord said unto him, Away, get thee down. And thou shalt come
up down, Aaron, with thee. But let not the priests and the
people break through to come up unto the Lord, lest he break
forth upon them. So Moses went down unto the people, and he
spake unto them. Now remember, they said, All
the Lord has spoken, we will do. Now let's hear what the Lord
has spoken. This is what is known as the
Ten Commandments. And God spake all these words,
saying, I am the Lord thy God, which had brought thee out of
the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt
have no other gods before me. You won't put anything before
me. Now, here's my question. What have you not put before
God? Every time I sin, I'm putting
something before God. He says in verse four, thou shalt not make unto
thee any graven image. This is the commandment concerning
idolatry. or any likeness of anything that's
in heaven above or that's in the earth beneath or that's in
the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to
them nor serve them. For I, the Lord thy God, am a
jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children
unto the third and fourth generations of them that hate me and showing
mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. There's nothing or no one like
God. There's nothing to compare him
to. No likeness is to be made, no
comparison in any attempt that we make of comparing him to anything
is bringing him down to our level. Idolatry is always evil because
it brings with it a false concept of the living God, a mutated
God, a modified God, a humanized God that we can feel comfortable
with. and make us feel better about ourselves. That's what
idolatry is. It's bringing God down to our
level. And all images are forbidden.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image of any likeness
of anything that's in heaven above or that's in the earth
beneath or that's in the water under the earth. No religious
images at all. Thou shalt not bow down thyself
to them, nor serve them, for I the Lord thy God am a jealous
God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers and of the children
of the third and fourth generation of them that hate me." Now there's
what's behind idolatry. The reason men make false gods
and false concepts of God and idols is because they hate God.
That's the reason. They don't like God as He's revealed
in His Word, so they manufacture different gods, gods they feel
more comfortable with, but false gods, gods who are not the God
of the Bible. How have you done there? How many false concepts of God
have you concocted? How many have I concocted in
my own depraved mind in order to make me feel better about
myself? You know, Paul said covetousness
is idolatry. Verse seven, all the Lord has spoken will
do, how have you done? Verse 7, Thou shalt not take
the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not
hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. God is so unapproachably
holy, so glorious, that even to use his name in a flippant
way without the proper fear and reverence renders one guilty
of eternal damnation. That's strong language, isn't
it? But that such is the holiness of God. To even use his name
in a flippant, insincere way renders me guilty of being damned. Now, is God too strict? How many
of us has used his name in order to make ourselves appear in a
certain way? Used his name religiously. in
order to manipulate a situation. Every one of us have been guilty
of taking His name in vain. And it's a desperately wicked
thing to take His name in vain. As a matter of fact, every time
I've taken His name in my mouth, I've taken his name in vain and you
have as well. Every single time there hadn't been the proper
fear and reverence due his holy name. Holy and reverend is thy
name. I've broken that commandment
every time and they said all that the Lord has spoken will
do. Look at verse eight. The commandment
regarding the Sabbath day. Remember the Sabbath day to keep
it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and
do all thy work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath
of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt not do any work.
Thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant,
nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that's within thy gates. For
in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and the sea and all
that in them is, and rested on the seventh day. Wherefore the
Lord blessed the Sabbath and hallowed it. The Sabbath day,
you were forbidden to do any kind of work. And you know what
the penalty was? You can read about this over in Numbers chapter
15, but they found somebody picking up sticks on the Sabbath day,
and they brought him in to find out what the Lord would have
done with him. The Lord said, stone him to death. Stone him to death. Kill him. Just for picking up
sticks on the Sabbath day. Working on the Sabbath day. Now,
a couple of things I'd like to say about the Sabbath day. The
Sabbath day in the Ten Commandments lets us know that God's law cannot
be divided. This was a ceremonial aspect. You've got to keep the Sabbath.
You've got to rest on the Sabbath day. This wasn't a moral issue
like stealing or killing or something like this. You need to keep this
ceremony, but it's in the Ten Commandments. That lets us know
that no one can separate any aspect of God's law. Somebody
says, well, we're not under the ceremonial law, but we're still
under the moral law. Oh, you think you can separate
them all? No, you can't. You're under all
the law if you're under the law at all. The whole thing. And what is this thing of not
working? Not working. You were forbidden
to work. Well, I think it's beautiful how in the very gospel we're
given a picture of what it is to believe on Christ. It's typified
by the Sabbath of rest. There remaineth a rest. for the
people of God. For he that hath entered into
His rest has ceased from his own labors, even as God did from
His. All the Sabbath does is picture
what it is to rest in Christ. What do you do when you rest?
You rest when the work's finished and there's nothing for you to
do. Now, here's my question. Have you rested perfectly? You've broken the Sabbath. Not
one of us has had this perfect rest. All of us have tried to
present works before God that were filthy. No, this is a commandment we've
broken as well. Verse 12. Remember all that the Lord has
spoken we will do. How about this one? Honor thy
father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the land
which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Have you ever failed to honor
your parents? You know what the Bible condemns you to if you
do? Death. Death. I mean, that was a sin
punishable by death, a rebellious child. Honor your parents. It
has reference to respect for all authority. It's not just
your parents, it's all authority. Have you broke that commandment?
All that the Lord has spoken we will do. Well, have you done
there? Verse 13, thou shalt not kill. Now, that's a horrible
thing to think about to kill somebody. I mean, they're breathing,
they're alive one day and you shoot them or you stab them or
you poison them and all of a sudden they're dead. They're dead, they
have no life in them. You've taken away everything
they have. That's a horrible thing to do to somebody, to kill
them. Well, somebody says, well, yeah, but I've never killed anybody.
Well, have you ever killed anybody by slander or innuendo or criticism
where you're trying to drag them down in front of somebody else?
That's murdering somebody's character. Have you ever been angry without
a cause? The Lord called that murder in
Matthew chapter 5 when He was expounding on the law. He said,
that's murder to be angry with somebody without a cause, to
be jealous, to be envious. How have you done there? Have
you ever been envious of anybody? Oh, that's such a horrible thing,
but that's murder in God's sight. It's not just taking somebody's
life physically. And then the next commandment, verse 14, thou
shalt not commit adultery. Christ said to look on a woman
to lust after her in your heart, you've already committed adultery. Have you done there? Have you
been clean there? Nothing like that going on in
your heart? And you know, there's worse kinds of adultery. Physical
adultery is a horrible thing. To be unfaithful to the covenant
of marriage, to, oh, how many lives have been destroyed through
people being unfaithful to their spouse? What has that done? That's
bad enough, but what about being unfaithful to God in the covenant
of grace, looking outside the covenant of grace for comfort
and pleasure and so on. Looking outside of Christ is
what that is. Marriage is given to picture the relationship between
Christ and His church. Spiritual adultery is worse than
physical adultery. I don't have any question about
that. I think of what David said. He said, Although my house be
not so with God, yet hath He made with me an everlasting covenant. Oh, aren't you glad for this
covenant? ordered in all things, and sure, and this is all my
salvation and all my desire." You want to look outside of that?
How evil. And every one of us have done
it. Every one of us have. Spiritual adultery. And then
he says in verse 15, thou shalt not steal. You know, I bet there
are people in this room, perhaps, that never have stolen anything
out of store. I remember. doing it when I was
a kid. Mom and dad didn't know anything
about it. They're probably just going to find out about it now,
but I can remember walking home and I was waiting for a thunderbolt
to come down and blast me. I stole a candy bar out of the
gateway and I just, I was just, I was scared to death. I remember,
if I'm not, was it my imagination? It seems like the clouds got
dark and I was scared. But perhaps you haven't shoplifted
anything, but have you taken credit where credit's not due? Have you robbed glory from God? Malachi said, will a man rob
God? I'm looking at a bunch of thieves.
A bunch of thieves. All that the Lord has spoken,
that will we do. And then in verse 16, thou shalt
not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Have you ever presented a lie
about somebody else, not told the truth about them? You're regarding this thing of
lying. I'm called upon to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth, and I haven't done
it one time. Even when I tell the truth, I'm
telling it in such a way to make me look good or to cover something
every time. I mean, Paul was not wrong when
he said, let God be true and every man a liar. Everybody in
this room and everybody outside of this room are liars before
God. And all that the Lord has spoken, that will we do? Oh,
I see how well you've done. And then he said in verse 17,
thou shalt not covet. thy neighbor's house, thou shalt
not cover thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant,
nor his ox, nor his lass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's.
What have you not coveted? Now with regard to these 10 commandments
that he gave, they gave this confident statement. All that
the Lord has spoken, that will we do. Now the law is given to
expose this lie. because there's never been a
bigger lie told. But now let's get into the gospel.
It's amazing the way the Lord brings us the gospel in this
passage of scripture. Verse 18. And all the people
saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of
the trumpet, and the mountains smoking. And when the people
saw it, they were moved and stood afar off. And they said unto
Moses, Speak thou of us, and we'll hear thee. But let not
God speak with us, lest we die. Now, here I'm giving a type of
the gospel right here, the mediation of Moses. They heard this commandment,
and they said, we don't want to have anything to do with it.
We don't even want to hear God's voice. We're going to get back. You
speak to us in behalf of God. I can understand that. Lord,
bring me a word. I can't face God alone. I can't do it not with the law.
You speak for me. You speak to me. Verse 20, And
Moses said unto the people, Fear not, for God has come to prove
you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that you see
not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto
the thick darkness where God was. Now, I think it's interesting
when the people made this promise of obedience, all there was was
darkness. That's when the darkness, they
had the light cloud and the light, but now all of a sudden when
they've made this promise of obedience, there's thick darkness. And if all I see is law and my
personal obedience, all there's going to be is darkness. Thick
darkness, but let's go on reading. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, You've seen
that I've talked with you from heaven. You shall not make with
me gods of silver, neither shall you make unto you gods of gold.
You know, every problem we have can be deduced to idolatry. False concepts of God, where
I bring him down to my level and my understanding, and it
brings me up in a higher view. Every problem we have can be
deduced to that idolatry. So he repeats that. Now, here's
the gospel, verse 24. an altar of earth thou shalt
make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings and
thy peace offerings, thy sheep and thine oxen, in all places
where I record my name, I will come unto thee, and I will bless
thee." Now, right after the giving of the law, what is a sacrifice
for? Well, when you sacrifice something, you kill it. Why do
you kill it? The wages of sin is death. This
is all given to picture the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
He speaks of a burnt offering and a peace offering. They were
to take that animal, they were to slay it as a burnt offering,
which is a sin offering. And what that signifies is all
the law-breaking. I think of the Lord Jesus Christ
on the cross. All those Ten Commandments, all the filth of sin came into
His body. I don't understand that. Of course,
he never sinned in his person, but he was made sin. It's even
worse. He was made sin. And all the
sins of all of God's elect were made to meet in him. And how did that... What did
that do to his holy soul? I mean, sin doesn't bother me
and you that much. We're used to it. I mean, I can give all kinds
of descriptions of it, and it's just not going to affect us that
much. But he who knew no sin was made sin. All the sins of
all of God's elect were made to meet in his body. He became
guilty, and the fire of God's wrath came down upon him. Now
in this burnt offering, the fire that came from heaven would consume
the sacrifice, and there was nothing there, but in the sacrifice
of Christ, this is the one time the sacrifice consumed the fire. And there's no wrath left. That's what the burnt offering
is about. It's about God's satisfaction. Now there I have the gospel,
right there in the In the law. The peace offering. The only
peace I have, and you listen very carefully to this, I've
got peace. I've got peace in my heart. Right now I do. I've got peace. And the only
peace I have is that all that God requires of me, Christ did
it for me. He put away my sin, He gave me
His righteousness, and I have peace." The peace of God that
passes all understanding. Right at this time, we're given
this sacrifice, a burnt offering, satisfaction for sin, a peace
offering, the peace that comes from what Christ did. He was
delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification,
therefore being justified. And this is what Christ did.
He was delivered from my offenses. He was raised again for my justification
because He justified me. He made me so that I'm without
guilt. That I stand before God right
now without any sin. Holy, unblameable, and unreprovable
in His sight. And that's peace. Peace. Oh the peace of God. Now let's
go on reading. He said, this will be done in
all the places where I record my name, I'll come unto thee
and I will bless thee. He didn't say I might do it,
he says I will do it. Now, where's the place, all the places he
records his name? I mean, is there one place over in this
tribe and another place over there? No, in Revelation, three
times we read where he records his name on the foreheads of
his people. You know what that name is? Jehovah
Sidkenu, the Lord our righteousness. And everywhere he records his
name, he says, I will come unto thee and I will bless thee. Look in verse 25. And if thou
wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of ewe
stone. For if you lift up your tool upon it, you've polluted
it. The altar is not to be touched
with man's tool. Christ is the altar. He's the sacrifice. And he's
the priest. He's all of those things. And
he by himself purged our sins. He had no help from near you.
And if I put my tool on it, I've polluted it. If I put my work
in salvation anywhere, if I put my work in the beginning, where
it's an act of my will that activates God's grace, where I've let Him
do something for me. Or if I put my work in the middle, where
I've made myself holier by my works and by the things that
I've done. If I put my works at the end, where I earn some
kind of higher reward. Believer, you take the most inconsistent
believer you know. And they're going to go into
heaven the same way you do. Does that bother you? Does that bother
you? It shouldn't. The only way you
and I will get in is the same way all get in. By the free grace
of God in Christ Jesus. If you put your work to it, you
have polluted it, it's no good, God will not accept it. Look
what he says in verse 26. Neither shall thou go up by steps
into mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon. Now
this is amazing. I want to see what a few commentators
were saying. They said, you know, if you have steps, you know,
maybe somebody will be able to look up the skirt and see the
man's rear end or something. I mean, I know that's ridiculous.
It doesn't mean that. It doesn't mean that at all. Here's what it does mean. There
are not steps to God. There's not steps to get to Christ.
If you do this, if you do that, if you do that, if you do that,
then you'll be saved. There are not steps to God. Aren't you glad? You see, not
even one step. It's Him coming to you and saving
you. That's how you get to God. It's
Him coming to you and saving you. If you think there's one
step you take that gives it in, no. You see, if you take steps
to God, all it's going to do is expose your nakedness. And
that same word is translated uncleanness and shame. If you take steps to God, you're
trying to get there on your own. But I'm so thankful that they're
not steps to God. I'm so thankful I'm not allowed
to put my tool on the altar, that He did it all, and that
I'm not even to take a step. It's Him coming to me, like that
good Samaritan who came to that man where he was. That's what
the Lord Jesus Christ does. Now, are you telling me in making
those statements that I'm not to do anything? Is that what
you're saying? Just wait and see what happens?
No, I'm not saying that at all. I'm really not. But I am telling you, don't do
anything. Don't do anything. The hardest thing you and I are
ever called upon to do is nothing. Look to Christ. Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. This is not a thing
of fatalism. Well, I'm just going to sit here
and wait and see what happens. No, I'm going to call upon His
name, but I'm not going to dare take a step. I'm going to say,
Lord, come here and save me. I'm not going to make a move.
I'm not going to make a step. Can't make one. Don't even know
what to do. Would you be pleased to come down and save me? You see, whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord. You're not stepping, but you're
calling, aren't you? You're calling. Lord, save me. I'm calling upon your name. But
don't you dare put your tool on anything. Don't you dare let
it be any of your works, and don't you dare try to make steps.
You see, if I make a step, that's works. That's all it is. Like I've said so many times
with regard to the forgiveness of sins, salvation doesn't end
with the forgiveness of sins. If you do this, this, this and
this, you'll have the forgiveness of sins. No, it begins with the
full, free, frank forgiveness of sins. Before the Lord came
to you and picked you up and saved you. Biggest lie ever told. All that the Lord has spoken
That will we do. What exposes that as the biggest
lie ever told is the law. But thank God when the law exposes
us as nothing but liars, immediately we're given the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray.