Sermon
Mt. Sinai
Publisher transcript
Transcript
-
All right, good morning. Let's go to Exodus chapter 19 is
Exodus 19 chapter mention
-
where we're going to start Exodus chapter 19.
Exodus 19 chapter mention
-
And Emma just turned 12 yesterday.
-
So I'm not quite there with what pastors talking about with
-
phones and things like that, but we have already looked into it
-
for when the time comes and there's just, if you're
-
interested, there are a lot of options out there because
-
especially once your kid starts driving and things like that, I
-
still use the GPS. So I imagine the kids would need
-
them and things like that. And there are there are
-
subscriptions and particular phones out there that you can
-
completely the parents have complete control of what apps
-
and different things go on the phones.
-
It's starts off with just the basic is just phone calls and
-
text messages and you can even limit the contact list to who
-
they can text. If they don't, if that number is
-
not in their phone, it doesn't even come through to them and
-
things like that. So there are lots of options
-
that the phone itself is not the problem.
-
It's what they can access through the phone.
-
And if you can control that and help them, then, you know, phone
-
having a phone is not particularly the issue.
-
And I and me and pastor have talked about that.
-
But there are lots of options out there if your kids are
-
getting to that age and and you want to look into that.
-
But Exodus chapter 19 Well, thank you for some of have asked
Exodus 19 chapter mention
-
about my back. It's it's just something I'm
-
dealing with now just like anybody else that has an injury
-
or anything else. And then when we went on the
-
camp out, I had in my mind I'm not going to do anything crazy.
-
The hike I'll probably skip. I ended up playing flag football
-
and going up a hike that probably none of us had any
-
business being on with the boulders and everything else.
-
So anyways, I'm paying for it a little bit, but I am doing just
-
fine. So Exodus chapter 19, we're
Exodus 19 chapter mention
-
going to read verses one through 8.
-
Remember we started a new series called Mountains and Valleys and
-
we are in the mountains right now and we're going to look at a
-
second one this morning. We're going to look at Mount
-
Sinai, but I'm going to read our text and then we're going to
-
pray and get into this lesson. Exodus chapter 19 and verse one.
Exodus 19 chapter mention
-
We'll read verses one through 8 it says.
-
And in the third month when the children of Israel were gone
-
forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the
-
wilderness of Sinai, for they were departed from Refidim 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 in unto God.
-
And the Lord called unto him out of the mountains, saying, Thus
-
shalt thou say to the House of Jacob, and tell the children of
-
Israel, You have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I
-
bear you on eagle's wings, and brought you unto myself.
-
Now therefore, if you will keep, if you will obey My voice
-
indeed, and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar
-
treasure unto unto Me above all people, For all the earth is
-
mine, and you should be unto me a Kingdom of priests and an holy
-
nation. These are the word which which
-
thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
-
So he was talking to Moses that whole time.
-
And verse 7. 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. And Moses returned the words of
-
the people unto the Lord. Let's pray and then we'll get
-
into this lesson. Father, I thank you for this day
-
you've given us. Thank you for the opportunity we
-
have to open your word. God, I pray we would never take
-
that for granted. Every single week, multiple
-
times a week, we come in and we are able to open your word and,
-
and glean from it and God, and there are other places that do
-
that under, under the threat of, of real harm and from their
-
governments and different things.
-
So God, I pray that we would just take these privileges that
-
we have to do that and be thankful for them.
-
And God, I just pray as we open your word today that you would
-
feed us from it both this morning here in Sunday school,
-
but also in the in the service to follow in Jesus name, I pray,
-
Amen. Now I was reading through here
-
because you start to get in OK. And in Exodus chapter 20, we're
Exodus 20 chapter mention
-
going to skip the rest of chapter 19, but it talks about
-
the the instructions from God to Moses saying, look, don't let
-
the people get too close. They touch them out and I'm
-
going to kill them. And so then you get to chapter
-
20 and we all know what chapter 20 is.
-
That's the 10 commandments. But I got to looking at it and
-
you know, very quickly. So you had in verse 8, verse 7,
-
and Moses came and called for the elders and laid before their
-
faces all the words which the Lord had commanded.
-
This is in chapter 19 and verse 8, all the people answered
-
together. This is the leaders, the elders
-
and said all that the Lord has spoken we will do.
-
And by chapter 32, they got a golden calf.
-
So I got to looking at that. And that's not the point of this
-
lesson this morning. But how did that happen so
-
quickly? Well, you have in chapter
-
2020120223 all the way to chapter 32, when Moses comes
-
back down the mountain, that's him.
-
That's God giving the law to Moses.
-
That's what that is and so if you read through there chapter
-
23, just jump right in. Thou shalt not raise a false
-
report. Put not thine hand with the
-
wicked to be an to be an unrighteous witness.
-
Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil.
-
Verse chapter 24 he said unto Moses, Come up unto the Lord,
-
thou and Aaron and Nadab and abaya and 70 of the elders of
-
Israel and worship you far off. Moses alone shall come near the
-
Lord, but thou shalt not come thine neither shall the people
-
go up with him. Moses came and told the people
-
all those words and then God gives him some more law and, and
-
all the way through these these 1012 chapters, we have God
-
giving Moses the law of what was supposed to happen.
-
And no wonder what Moses is up there for 40 days and 40 nights
-
talking to God. He comes down and they've got a
-
golden calf, exactly what God just told them not to do.
-
Now they didn't have the 10 commandments yet.
-
But remember in chapter 19 he says, if you will obey my voice
-
and keep my covenant, and you should, then you'll be a
-
peculiar treasure unto me above all people.
-
And verse 8, all the people answered together and said all
-
that the Lord has spoken we will do.
-
And literally 40 days later they've got a golden calf and
-
they're worshipping it. So no wonder Moses was so
-
frustrated and crushes those tosses, those, those 10
-
commandments that were written on it and breaks them and makes
-
them eat the golden calf literally that he grounded up.
-
But we want to look real quickly at Mount Sinai then.
-
So this this whole chapters 19 through 32, roughly what was the
-
significance of Mount Sinai? And we're going to jump straight
-
into this. But you know, the 10
-
commandments that we have is really a summary of about 600
-
plus commands that the law had given the children of Israel.
-
So the 10 commandments were not the only thing they had to
-
follow. Now remember in the New
-
Testament when the, when the rich young ruler comes to Christ
-
and says, I've kept all those commandments.
-
He didn't keep all 600 and whatever commandments that that
-
God had given to Moses, but he was talking about the 10
-
commandments. I've I've kept those from my
-
youth and it's just a summary of the law.
-
So let's jump straight into it. What was the purpose of this law
-
that God was giving the children of Israel?
-
We see that in verse 3 of chapter 19.
-
Moses went up unto God and the Lord called unto him out of the
-
mountains, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the House of Jacob,
-
and tell the children of Israel, You've seen what I did unto the
-
Egyptians, and how I bear you on eagle's wings, and brought you
-
unto myself. Here's the purpose of the law
-
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 a holy nation.
-
These are the words which thou shalt speak to the children of
-
Israel and then we already read verse 7.
-
Moses shows that to the to the, to the elders and they agree to
-
it. Now God was directing.
-
It's, it's very important here that what we see in verse 3,
-
because look how many times even before this, we see the children
-
of Israel rebel against Moses. You've, you've brought us to the
-
Red Sea. Now we're going to die.
-
The the Egyptians are behind us. The sea is in front of us and we
-
should have just left us there. God delivers them.
-
They cross the Red Sea and and if you read through Exodus, it's
-
like every chapter starts with the children of Israel
-
complaining about something, right?
-
So God is clear here to Moses in verse 3 and the Lord called on
-
to him out of the mountain saying, thus shalt thou say to
-
the House of of Jacob and tell the children of Israel.
-
God is saying, tell them this is from me.
-
This is not your law that you're giving them because they will
-
not follow it. It's too much to follow anyways,
-
even coming from God. But I want them, I do want them
-
to attempt to follow this law, but tell them it's from me.
-
So God gives Moses that first, but then he goes to verse 4 and
-
says, remind them what I delivered them out of in verse
-
4, ye have seen what I did under the Egyptians and how I bear you
-
on eagle's wings and brought you unto myself.
-
So God's about to give them these, this huge law that they
-
need to follow, but he says, but remind them that I delivered
-
them out of Egypt. And I think the reason he
-
reminds them of this is because they, they're going to resist in
-
their hearts, they're going to resist this law, but they needed
-
to be reminded of the goodness of God what he had brought them
-
out of. So God is not trying to make a
-
case or or convince them to follow.
-
He's just easing the, the instruction a little bit because
-
he knows these people for 19 chapters we see them fighting
-
and fighting and fighting God's man.
-
So he's, he's getting ready to give them the law.
-
But he says, Moses, tell them it's from me.
-
And also remind them that this is with their best interest in
-
mind. I'm not doing this because I
-
hate them. I'm doing this because I love
-
them. Remind them what I did in
-
delivering them from Egypt. But then in verse 6, we see what
-
was the, what was the purpose? What was the desire of God's
-
heart in giving them the law. We see that in verse 6 of
-
chapter 19. If you keep the law, if you will
-
obey my voice and keep my covenant, then verse 6 ye shall
-
be unto me a Kingdom of priests and an holy nation.
-
These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of
-
Israel. The whole purpose God's reason
-
for this was to draw them to bring them close to him and be
-
so they could be his people, a peculiar nation of king of
-
priests and holy people that were God's people.
-
So, but there, there are some prerequisites and we'll get to
-
that in just a second. But that was God's desire.
-
God's desire wasn't to say, watch what I put these people
-
through. They'll never be able to keep
-
this law. The, the whole purpose was to
-
draw them closer to God so that they could be his people.
-
And we see that all the way through the Old Testament,
-
especially with the prophets. Look at Jeremiah and and Isaiah
-
and the children of Israel just wandering away from God.
-
And God is has his prophets there to preach to them about
-
about their waywardness. But they have this promise here
-
in chapter Exodus 19, verse 6. If you'll keep this covenant,
-
you shall be unto me a Kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
-
So that was God's purpose in giving them the law and not but
-
secondly, what was God's path here?
-
Now to for this we're going to go to Exodus chapter 20 to the
Exodus 20 chapter mention
-
10 commandments. Because God wanted to make the
-
children of Israel a unique people on the earth.
-
And he did, but that was his goal.
-
He wanted them to be a unique people that would be separated
-
from the rest of the world, that would stand out as God's people.
-
But he had to give them some guidelines.
-
And like I said before, the 10 commandments are just a summary
-
of the the law that was about to come in the next chapters.
-
So in Exodus chapter 20 verses one through 17, we see the 10
Exodus 20 chapter mention
-
commandments. I'm not going to read all that,
-
but we are going to refer to them quickly.
-
And we're going to go through all ten of these commandments.
-
And you may have heard this before, but the first five
-
commandments are are man's duty toward God.
-
OK, So real quickly, let's look at those, the 1st 5
-
commandments. We see that and you and they are
-
all they all start off with the Lord thy God.
-
So verse two, I am the Lord thy God which have brought thee out
-
of the land of Egypt, out of the House of bondage.
-
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
-
And you keep seeing that I am the Lord thy God.
-
I am the Lord thy God. So these are these are man's
-
duties or the commands toward God that we need to follow.
-
And so the first one we see is in, in verses 2 and three, I am
-
the Lord thy God, which I brought thee out of the land of
-
Egypt, out of the House of bondage.
-
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
-
And that was a, it's a pretty simple command.
-
And I think we often think that as long as we aren't worshipping
-
other gods like little idols, we're, we're in the clear on
-
this commandment. And then I do believe that that
-
was probably the real reason here for this command to the
-
children of Israel. They were already starting to
-
follow after these other gods. And you see it 40 days later,
-
they've got a golden calf built and they're worshipping it, not
-
just deciding, hey, what are we going to do with this golden
-
calf we found? They build it and they're
-
worshipping it. And and that's so God knew their
-
their heart. He knew where they were at here
-
with us. I've no other gods before me,
-
but for us, we, we may not have little idols in our houses that
-
were, that were worshipping or that we're carrying around as
-
good luck charms, but we do have other gods in our lives.
-
And I think so this is a very important command for us.
-
Don't have anything that's more important than God in your life.
-
Otherwise, it's a God. It is taking the place of God
-
because, because why else would he say thou shalt have no other
-
gods before me, Don't have any gods that you're worshipping
-
that are more important than me? He's not giving, he's not giving
-
liberty here to have other gods as long as I'm the most
-
important one. He's saying don't have any other
-
gods that you that that take importance over me.
-
And, and so I think in our lives, it's very obvious that
-
those are, you know, work and money, even kids, even family,
-
don't let them become a God before me.
-
I mean, he says that in the New Testament when he's telling the
-
the disciples, it's going to look like you hate your own
-
mother and your own father and your own children and your own
-
life also. That's what it's going to look
-
like when you have me in first place.
-
And I think that's what God was saying here in verses 2 and
-
three. Don't have anything else that
-
takes the place of God. And this is nothing we've not
-
heard before, but it's something we need to be reminded of
-
because there are plenty of things in our lives that that we
-
start to to. And I'll just give you a simple
-
example. But when was it job that said
-
I'd, I'd, I, I desire your word more than my necessary food?
-
Or was that David? I don't remember, but one of
-
them. What about us?
-
Do we get up in the morning and just go about our day?
-
It's we have so much important things that we've got to get to
-
those have become a priority over God.
-
And I'm not saying that, you know, I mean, the Bible is
-
pretty clear early in the morning.
-
We need to seek him and all the rest of that.
-
Now, you know, schedules differ and things like that.
-
But if you don't have a time where you're spending time with
-
God during your day, think other things have taken the place of
-
God and you have a God before him.
-
That's the first commandment. The second one is in verse 4.
-
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness
-
of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in earth
-
beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
-
Pretty simple command. But within a few chapters, there
-
go the children of Israel making a graven image of something in
-
the earth, a calf that they're going to worship.
-
But we're going to move through these fairly quickly, just
-
forsake of time. Verse, verse 7, we have a third
-
one. 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.
-
And I preached a message just a a few months ago on this, so I'm
-
not going to belabor that point. But it's not just with our
-
mouths, even though that is important.
-
Not taking the Lord's name as a curse word or anything like
-
that, but also not taking His name for vanity.
-
And we, we preached a whole message on that, that you take
-
the name Christian, you take God's name and then you don't
-
live as a Christian. That's taking his name in vain.
-
And we need to be very careful of that.
-
Again, these are just a a summary of of these 10
-
commandments. Verse chapter 20, verse 8.
-
Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
-
Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy works, But the 7th day
-
is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.
-
In it thou shalt not do any work, thou nor thy son, nor thy
-
daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle,
-
nor thy stranger that is within thy gates.
-
For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and
-
all that in them is, and rested the 7th day.
-
Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath and hallowed it.
-
So keep the Sabbath. Now I'm not going to get into
-
this, but there is a whole faction that believes and that
-
is really making a big deal about the Sabbath being Saturday
-
and Satan stole Sunday and now we've followed Satan in making
-
Sunday the Sabbath. Not going to get into it, but
-
but there is there is quite a bit in the Bible.
-
In fact, I'll, I'll leave it at this.
-
Christ told the Pharisees, the Sabbath is not man is not for
-
the made for the Sabbath. The Sabbath is made for man.
-
So don't worry about which day particularly that you're
-
worshiping on or holding Sabbath on.
-
And I'll leave it at that. But Christ was pretty clear,
-
stop worrying so much about which day and just make sure
-
that you have one where you set aside and you worship God and
-
we'll leave it at that. But there is there's a whole lot
-
more we could talk about. It's actually a very interesting
-
study and I think that it's perfectly fine and right to have
-
the Sabbath on Sunday. There's nothing wrong that we're
-
doing, even though people do believe that Satan has hijacked
-
Sunday as his day. Anyways.
-
Don't let, don't let this man be, Don't let the Sabbath take
-
man. What Jesus said, let the Sabbath
-
be for man, not man for the Sabbath.
-
All right then the last one in these duties to God or these
-
commands God word is verse 12 Honor thy father and thy mother
-
that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God
-
giveth thee. So that's that's the key there
-
that little phrase, the Lord thy God.
-
So this is still God word, but he rewards that honor of thy
-
father and thy mother. And then we have 5 duties or
-
five commands that are man word and we start those right in
-
verse 13. Thou shalt not kill.
-
Very simple. But first we're reminded here in
-
these five commandments of the worth that God recognizes.
-
He made life. He created all living beings.
-
And he's saying don't, don't kill.
-
Don't just take life carelessly or without a justified cause.
-
Because there are other places in the Bible that God commands
-
life to be taken. But killing is for no reason
-
just because I feel like it or I'm angry.
-
But anyways. So God gives gives that
-
commandment. Verse 14, thou shalt not commit
-
adultery, another institution, institution of God marriage.
-
He says don't commit adultery. Verse 15, thou shalt not steal
-
again, these are still man word. Thou shalt not steal.
-
And you know, there's, there's the Bible does say that if a man
-
steals because he's hungry and, and can't provide for his family
-
and doesn't get caught, it is what it is.
-
But he says if he gets caught, he needs to repay fourfold.
-
So there are places that the Bible that God talks about, you
-
know, stealing for necessity or for life itself.
-
And I'm not, I'm not condoning stealing, but I'm just saying
-
God doesn't say that you need to die for theft.
-
But what he is talking about here is where you are defrauding
-
or stealing for your own increase for your own own gain
-
to to to build your portfolio or to build your resources.
-
Thou shalt not steal pretty simple command that we see verse
-
16. Thou shalt not bear false
-
witness against thy neighbor. You know God rebukes us having a
-
false testimony about somebody else or about anything else.
-
This when we used to learn these in in Sunday school as a kid, I
-
used to think, well, that doesn't say thou shalt not lie,
-
says don't lie about somebody about your neighbor.
-
But I but I think it does go without without saying God
-
expects us to be honest in the words that we use.
-
Thou shalt not bear a false witness.
-
That doesn't mean that you're giving a false testimony.
-
That means you're lying. That means you're something
-
false is coming out of your mouth with your tongue.
-
Don't do that. So, so don't lie.
-
And then verse 17, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house.
-
Thou shalt not cover thy neighbor's wife that nor his
-
manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor
-
anything that is thy neighbor's. And I'll just say this about
-
this last commandment and then we'll move on.
-
But God is God is commanding us to be careful of what we are
-
going after. That's the covetous because what
-
our mind craves to have, we will pursue it.
-
When you set a goal in your mind of, you know, whatever the goal
-
may be, that's just how we are made.
-
We're made to go after it. And that's why if we, if we
-
guard our hearts and, and, and put our hearts to seek after
-
God, we will pursue that. But if we are being covetous,
-
and this is the, this is the warning here and the command not
-
to covet, because when we do start coveting it, we will, we
-
will get it, we will go after it.
-
So be careful of what you are, what you're letting your mind
-
begin to crave and covet because your hand will soon pursue it if
-
you let your mind go to that spot.
-
So, so the command is simply thou shalt not covet.
-
All right, So we see those those commands, those those 10
-
commandments, A brief summary of the law.
-
And then we have the promise of God.
-
But that's back in chapter 19. So go back to chapter 19 of
-
Exodus and we'll finish with this that what is this promise
-
of God Verses 19, chapter 19, verses 5 and 6.
-
Now therefore we read these already.
-
But 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 an holy nation.
-
These are the words which thou shalt speak to the children of
-
Israel. It's interesting there that God
-
says all the earth is mine. I could, I could choose anybody
-
I want. I could choose any nation I
-
want. But I'm going to choose you,
-
Israel. Why?
-
Because I chose you. Job says that pretty clearly
-
when his friends are are are talking to him about, oh, you
-
must have sinned and and the rest of that and Job, God
-
actually tells Job, because Job starts to come to God a little
-
bit and say what is going on? And God says, who are you to
-
question me? I do for my own pleasure,
-
whatever I do, don't don't question what I do and kind of
-
push Job back in his place. Well, that's what we have here
-
in verse in chapter chapter 19, verse 5.
-
Why did he choose the children of Israel?
-
Because he chose them. There's no reason but he says,
-
first of all, this promise is a provisional promise.
-
If is a big word there in verse 5, if you'll keep my
-
commandments, then you'll be a peculiar treasure unto me above
-
all people. It was not a, a, a promise that
-
no matter how they acted, he was going to, he was going to, this
-
was going to be the case. And again, we see that in Isaiah
-
and Jeremiah. God is reminding them, I told
-
you, you were going to be my people if you obey my commands
-
and all the rest of that. And that's the those prophets
-
trying to bring the children of Israel back into covenant with
-
God or back into that relationship with God because
-
they're breaking this covenant that was given here all the way
-
back in Exodus on Mount Sinai. But the second thing is it is a
-
positive promise. Look at verse 6.
-
Ye shall be unto me a Kingdom of priests and an holy nation.
-
I'm going to treasure you above all other people.
-
That is a positive promise. And again, remember at the very
-
beginning of chapter 19, God, God told Moses to tell the
-
children visual, this is from me.
-
But also tell them this is not for their hurt.
-
This is this is a good thing. You're going to be my people.
-
It's a very positive promise of the of the great possibilities
-
that lay ahead for Israel the the the promised land.
-
You know when God tells them I'm going to give you this promised
-
land of Canaan and the and the spies go in and are very
-
negative about what they see. God promised them that land that
-
was a positive thing, not were they going to have to go through
-
a lot of fighting and and, and hardships to gain that land.
-
Yeah. But if they would, they would
-
have this promised land that God promised to them to have for
-
their own. And it's the same way with these
-
commands. If you keep these commands that
-
I'm going to give you, you're going to be my people.
-
That's a positive promise for the children of Israel.
-
But then we have a problem with this promise in in.
-
I want you to go to Hebrews chapter 8, if you will.
Hebrews 8 chapter mention
-
Hebrews, chapter 8. So this was this is a great
Hebrews 8 chapter mention
-
promise that God gave to the children of Israel, but we do
-
have a bit of a problem here and it's not a problem on God's
-
part. In Hebrews chapter 8 and verse
Hebrews 8 chapter mention
-
8, Bible says for finding fault with them.
-
Let's let's read verse 7. For if that first covenant had
-
been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the
-
second, the second what? The second covenant, right,
-
verse 8 for finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days
-
come, sayeth the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with
-
the House of Israel and with the House of Judah.
-
So what was the problem with this covenant?
-
The problem was that it had faulty men trying to keep the
-
promises or keep the commands in order to get this promise.
-
It had a fault and it wasn't God's fault.
-
God didn't make a mistake saying, all right, I'm going to
-
set this law in order and hopefully they can keep it.
-
He knew they couldn't keep it. He purposely built that fault
-
in, and we'll see this in just a minute.
-
For a very, very good reason. You can't keep the law.
-
I want you to try and you're going to be my people if you
-
keep the commands that I give you.
-
But there's a problem. And you see that in wrote in
-
Hebrews chapter 8 and verse 7. If the first covenant had been
Hebrews 8 chapter mention
-
faultless, was it? Was there errors in the first
-
covenant? Then?
-
No, the fault was with the men that were trying to keep the
-
first covenant. And so in Romans chapter 10 and
Romans 10 chapter mention
-
verse 4, you don't have to turn there.
-
But in Romans chapter 10 and verse 4 now, so now we have this
Romans 10 chapter mention
-
great promise of God, but now we have we have a problem.
-
They can't keep it. So what does God do?
-
He provides for them in Romans chapter 10 and verse 4 for
Romans 10 chapter mention
-
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that
-
believeth. So he's the end of the law in an
-
in an attempt for righteousness. There is no more law in order to
-
be righteous before God and Christ completely does away with
-
that with the new covenant. And we see that in in Matthew 5
-
verse 17 when Christ is preaching his sermon on the
-
mount. Mankind was left with really
-
helpless. We can't keep the law.
-
So now what? What are we supposed to do?
-
Christ comes in and fulfills the demands of the law and you can
-
write that verse down Matthew 517 if if you want to go back
-
and look at it. But we just heard this verse a
-
couple maybe last Sunday night when pastor was was teaching for
-
whosoever shall keep the whole law and maybe it's Sunday
-
morning and yet offended one point.
-
He's guilty of all. So you've got this law that you
-
need to keep in order to be a peculiar people to me.
-
But if you offended one point, you're guilty of the entire law.
-
And so Christ was sent to fulfill that law.
-
And again, from the beginning of eternity, this was God's plan.
-
He was going to set this law in order, but he was going to, he
-
knew they couldn't keep it and he knew he was going to send his
-
Son to be the fulfillment of that law for them.
-
And this is the last point I want to make.
-
And this is, we know this, but I think this is a great reminder
-
to use in our own witnessing and in our own sharing the gospel
-
with others. Go to Galatians chapter 3 and
Galatians 3 chapter mention
-
verse 24. This is really the the
-
culmination of what was the point of this really beautiful
-
law that God gave the children of Israel, but that they
-
couldn't keep Galatians chapter 3 and verse 24.
Galatians 3 chapter mention
-
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto
-
Christ that we might be justified by faith.
-
And and I say that you know, we we use this to in our own
-
witnessing because almost always when you knock on somebody's
-
door and say, hey, do you know that your sins have been taken
-
care of by Jesus Christ? Do you know that you're going to
-
heaven when you die? What it what is the typical
-
response? Almost every door.
-
I hope so almost every single door you knock on now not every
-
because we have had some say Nope, I'm not going me and me
-
and Frank talk to one. I'm I'm a Satanist.
-
I'm not going to heaven, but most doors, I hope so that so
-
they want to be reconciled to Christ.
-
They do want to they don't know how they don't know what.
-
So when you say, well, what do you mean by I hope so the very
-
next answer. It's almost like a script.
-
Well, I'm a good person. I I mean, I, I, I try to help
-
people. I'm a good neighbor.
-
I mean all these things. It's it's almost like somebody
-
wrote a script for them and I think somebody did his name is
-
Satan to make us think I can get myself to heaven.
-
But here in Galatians chapter 3, it says wherefore the law was
Galatians 3 chapter mention
-
our schoolmaster. So if you start if you start
-
when they say I hope so I'm a good person.
-
You say, oh, have you if you you keep the 10 commandments.
-
That's that's yeah, yeah, I try, I try to have you ever lied?
-
I think those are the wrong questions other than to show
-
somebody you you haven't kept the whole law.
-
You are a Sinner because I heard, I heard somebody say this
-
and I, I, I really, really liked it.
-
First Corinthians talks about this.
-
You look into the perfect law of liberty and what's the point of
-
that? To, to see in that mirror that I
-
am dirty and I need Christ. But I heard, I heard somebody
-
talking about this and he was actually arguing with an atheist
-
or, or a definitely a non believer, probably more of an
-
agnostic and they were having a good conversation.
-
But this guy said, well, then what was the whole point of the
-
law? What was the point of the law in
-
the Old Testament? Because I think they're two
-
different things. And there's so many verses we've
-
read some of them that Christ fulfilled the law.
-
But this, this guy that was the believer said this to him.
-
He said, you know, reading the Bible to try to be, to try to
-
get yourself to heaven by following, you know, those laws
-
is like looking in the mirror, seeing the dirt on your face and
-
then taking the mirror off the wall and trying to wipe your
-
face with the mirror. The mirror is just showing you
-
that you're dirty. Then you need to go clean it
-
off. And he said, that's what the law
-
is. It's showing us that we are
-
dirty. We cannot get to heaven.
-
So we turn to Christ for that cleansing.
-
And I think that's, that's exactly what this law was for.
-
God gave it to the children of Israel to be a peculiar people
-
if they followed it and then to show them you can't follow it,
-
can you? I'm that's why I'm sending
-
Christ to, to be the fulfillment of that law.
-
And it's the same for us. There is no other way to
-
reconcile ourselves back to the Father except through Christ.
-
There's verse after verse after verse.
-
Romans chapter 3 verse 20 says that 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, not the cleansing of
-
sin. For by the law is the knowledge
-
of sin. And we don't attempt to keep the
-
law right now, but we do. We have plenty of things that we
-
try to obey in the Bible, commandments that we try to
-
follow. For what?
-
For our salvation? No, for our knowledge that we
-
can't keep it. And so we must turn to Christ
-
to, to for that reconciliation back to God.
-
So that's where the the law was given to the children of Israel
-
on Mount Sinai. Another name for Mount Sinai was
-
Mount Horeb. You'll see that in other places
-
in the Bible. But Mount Sinai, Mount Horeb was
-
they were given the law to show them that they couldn't keep the
-
law, but they needed a savior. And Christ eventually came and
-
fulfilled that. And, and that's the same, same
-
thing that we have. We are saved the exact same way.
-
We can try to be a good person. That's great to be a good
-
person, but that's not your salvation that you're showing
-
you that you can't keep all the laws that God gave us to keep.
-
And that's not on God. As we said, there's a fault in
-
this system. And it's not, it's not an error
-
on God's part. It's a it's a problem on ours.
-
We cannot keep it. And so we need a Savior and
-
Christ graciously and mercifully came to be that savior for us.
-
And hopefully you're thankful for that and hopefully you know
-
that. And and that's what we'll finish
-
today with Mount Sinai. We'll get into another mountain
-
next week. Let's pray.
-
Father, I thank you for this day you've given us.
-
God, I thank you for just the clarity in your word.
-
God, if we actually read it and and attempts to know your heart
-
and what you were doing God in fact you're it's it's very clear
-
in the Bible exactly what you were doing.
-
You even tell us that the the law was not there to cleanse us.
-
It was there to show us that we need, we need cleansing from
-
something far beyond us. And God, I thank you again for
-
the sacrifice of your son and coming to to be that that
-
penalty for us. And God, I just pray as we get
-
into the next service, God, as I know the gospel will be preached
-
at some point in there. I pray if anybody in here during
-
that service is not saved, that you will help them to understand
-
their need of a Savior, that we can't be good enough to save our
-
souls. And I just pray that you'll be
-
with Pastor, give him the words to say and give him power as he
-
preaches. Pray that you'd meet with us
-
this morning in Jesus name, I pray, Amen.
-
We're dismissed.