Exodus 20:8-11

Who's got your copy of God's Word and turn to Exodus chapter 20.

Exodus 20 · chapter mention

This is part two of our consideration of Exodus chapter 20 verses 8 through 11.

Exodus 20:8–11

! And so I want to get you there.

I want you to mark this place in your Bible

and let you know that we won't stay here much today.

We're taking a break from our careful study of the Sermon on the Mount

because we were brought to Matthew chapter 5 verses 17 through 20

Matthew 5:17–20

where Matthew records Jesus saying the following.

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.

I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.

For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,

not an iota, not a dot will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

Therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments

and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.

Whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees,

you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

And this text has caused us to ask the question,

what is the relationship between the Old Testament law and the gospel of Jesus Christ?

And this is a highly contested question.

And so with much labor, we have answered that question with two answers.

Number one, the Old Testament law is meant to bring us to Jesus Christ.

It fixes for us the holy standard that God requires and exposes our failure to keep it.

It creates for us a problem and sends us looking for a solution,

a solution that is found in the person and work of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Secondly, having been set free from the burden of it,

the Old Testament law continues to serve as a guide for how our lives might please God.

So having been accepted by God and the perfect righteousness of Jesus,

we are gratefully obedient to the moral commands of God for our good and for his glory.

So I want to take a moment to unpack this phrase or these two phrases that we tend to use a lot around here.

And as I thought about this, I realized just how often we say for our good and for his glory in our gatherings together.

And so just take a moment with me and think about what it is that we're trying to communicate in saying such phrases.

First, for our good.

I want to address the charge of legalism at this point.

It is absolutely astounding to me that in the modern church,

whenever the clear commands of God, the explicit commands of God are instructed,

there follows an accusation of legalism.

We find ourselves in a place and in a day where the great liberal experiment,

and I'm not talking about liberalism versus conservatism,

the American experiment itself was an experiment in liberty,

casting off all authority,

has led us to a place where no one likes authority at all.

We want to be the masters of our own universe.

We want to absolutely reign in all ways.

And beloved, this is not the way the world works.

We are created beings, and therefore we have a creator.

And we do well when we recognize that we are meant to be under his authority.

To be legalistic is to add to the commandments of God

and demand adherence to these extra-biblical commands,

or to believe and teach that the keeping of any commandment of God is salvific,

that we must keep the commands in order to be saved.

Keeping the command leads us to salvation versus us being saved,

and therefore we want to keep the commands.

I have never once been legalistic in my teaching of God's word.

I have made other errors in teaching, but I have never once been legalistic.

So be careful.

Lest in your effort to avoid legalism,

you become licentious.

Do not take lightly the commandments of God.

Because God's commands are good for us.

They are good for us.

They are a gift to us.

At the creation of the world,

God does not leave the man without his good word.

Genesis chapter 2, verse 15 and following.

Genesis 2:15

The Lord God took the man and he put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying,

You may surely eat of every tree of the garden,

but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat.

For in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.

God says to Adam, don't die.

And let me tell you how not to die.

This is a good word.

It's a good command given to Adam.

And you likely know the story well.

It doesn't take too long for Adam and Eve to be tested in their faithfulness to God's good command.

We read in Genesis chapter 3, verse 1 and following.

Genesis 3:1

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman,

Did God actually say,

You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?

And the woman said to the serpent,

We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden.

But God said,

You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden.

Neither shall you touch it, lest you die.

But the serpent said to the woman,

You will not surely die.

For God knows that when you eat of it,

your eyes will be open and you will be like God,

knowing good and evil.

The serpent, in essence,

said,

That legalist,

he is trying to deny you something that is good for you.

And the command to not eat of it was clearly the good command.

But the serpent says,

Do not listen to these kind of strict rules.

Verse 6, Genesis 3,

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food,

and that it was a delight to the eyes,

and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise,

she took of its fruit and ate.

She also gave some to her husband who was with her,

and he ate.

In like fashion,

mankind has been rejecting God's good commands ever since.

And, beloved,

it is a great deception of the devil

for us to think,

having been saved by the personal work of Jesus Christ,

that God's commands have ceased being good.

The book you hold in your lap,

hope that you hold in your lap,

is full of rich,

loving,

joy-bringing instruction.

This is why I say each Lord's Day,

before I read our text for the morning,

Beloved,

this is God's word to us,

written for his glory

and our good.

We'd all do well to listen to it

in order to believe its promises

and obey

its commands.

I hope you will never grow tired

of hearing this,

and that you do believe the promises of the Bible,

and that you do keep the commands

of the Bible

in ever-increasing fashion.

Telling you what God requires of you

is not legalism.

It is loving.

And any pastor who withholds the truth,

as many in our day,

because he doesn't want to make you uncomfortable,

is not fit to be a pastor.

So it's for your good

that we want to consider the commands of God.

But it is also,

and it's more importantly,

for God's glory.

For his glory.

So turn with me again,

keeping a mark in Exodus chapter 20

Exodus 20 · chapter mention

to Psalm 119

and verse 129.

Psalm 119, 129.

Psalm 119 is about

the commands of God.

And the psalmist writes,

Your testimonies are wonderful.

Therefore,

my soul keeps them.

The unfolding of your words gives light

and imparts understanding to the simple.

I open my mouth and pant

because I long for your commandments.

Turn to me and be gracious to me,

as is your way with those who love your name.

Keep steady my steps according to your promise

and let no iniquity get dominion over me.

Redeem me from man's oppression

that I may keep your precepts.

Make your face shine upon your servant

and teach me your statutes.

My eyes shed streams of tears

because people do not keep your law.

I want to make three quick observations

from Psalm 119

Psalms 119:129–136

verses 129 through 136.

First,

the psalmist loves the Lord.

A broader reading of Psalm 119

reveals this.

He loves the Lord

and therefore loves the commandments

of the Lord.

Verse 129,

and your testimonies are wonderful.

Therefore,

my soul,

my very being

keeps them.

Secondly,

Psalm 119 suggests

no tension between

the gospel of Jesus Christ

and the law.

The psalmist seeks

deliverance from sin

so that he might obey

the law.

He seeks first

to be saved from his sins

so that he can be obedient

to God's good command.

Psalm 119,

Psalms 119:134

verse 134,

redeem me

from man's oppression

or the oppression of man

that I may keep

your precepts.

And thirdly,

for this joy

of keeping the law,

for all this joy

that the psalmist finds

in the Lord

and in the keeping

of his law,

all is not well.

Verse 136,

my eyes shed streams

of tears

because people

do not

keep your law.

The psalmist

has broken up

over the fact

that others

don't keep

this good

commandment.

So,

implicit

in the psalmist's words

words is

mission.

The need

for the glory

of the Lord

to be made known

amongst the peoples

of the world.

And we shouldn't

be unfamiliar

with this idea

at this point.

If you will recall

two weeks ago,

we spent considerable time

looking at the introduction

of God's giving

of the law to Israel

at Mount Sinai.

Do you remember this?

Exodus chapter 19,

Exodus 19:1–6

verses 1 through 6.

Go there with me.

We are done

with Psalm 119.

Psalm 119.

Beginning in verse 1,

Exodus 19.

On the third new moon

after the people of Israel

had gone out

of the land of Egypt,

on that day

they came into

the wilderness of Sinai.

They set out

from Rephidim

and came into

the wilderness of Sinai

and they encamped

in the wilderness.

There Israel

encamped

before the mountain.

While Moses

went up to God,

the Lord God

called to him

out of the mountain

saying,

Thus you shall say

to the house of Jacob

and tell the people

of Israel,

You yourselves

have seen

what I did

to the Egyptians

and how I bore you

on eagles' wings

and brought you

to myself.

Right?

I made you my people.

Now therefore,

if you will indeed

obey my voice

and keep my covenant,

you shall be

my treasured possession

among all peoples

for all the earth

is mine.

You shall be to me

a kingdom of priests

and a holy nation.

These are the words

that you shall speak

to the people of Israel.

We spent some time

considering those titles

given

and came to understand

that God has a purpose

for Israel

and it is a missionary purpose

to display his glory

in the world

in holy living.

And this is still

God's purpose

for his people,

his purpose

for us.

We can know this

with absolute certainty

because the apostle Peter

borrows language

from the beginning

of Exodus chapter 19

Exodus 19 · chapter mention

to make the same point

in an expanded form.

This is 1 Peter chapter 2

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

and verse 9

where he says

to the church

you are a chosen race,

a royal priesthood,

a holy nation,

a people for his own possession

that you may proclaim

the excellencies of him

who called you out of darkness

into his marvelous light.

And so we are meant

to be keepers

of the moral law

having been delivered

from the burden of it

in order

to proclaim

God's glory

amongst the peoples

and

for our good.

We are meant

to be a people

set apart

in this way.

So Exodus chapter 20

Exodus 20:8–11

verses 8

through 11

you should be

really close to it

right now.

Beloved,

this is God's word

to us.

It was written

for his glory

and our good

and we would all

do well

to listen to it

in order to believe

its promises

and obey its commands.

Remember the Sabbath day

to keep it holy.

Six days you shall labor

and do all your work

but the seventh day

is a Sabbath

through the Lord your God.

On it you shall not

do any work

you or your son

or your daughter,

your male servant

or your female servant

or your livestock

or the sojourner

who is within your gates.

For in six days

the Lord made

the heaven

and the earth

the sea

and all that is in them

and rested

on the seventh day.

Therefore the Lord

blessed the Sabbath day

and made it holy.

Now last week

we answered

two questions

in a series

of three questions.

I wish it were possible

to not talk about

those two

at this point

but I think we must.

I think we absolutely

must consider

even for those of you

who were here last week

who may even have it

very fresh on your mind

we need to think together again

to set ourselves up

well to answer

the third question.

And of course

for those of you

who weren't here

I want you to hear

these two in brief

but I also want to encourage you

to go back

and listen to that sermon.

You should be able

to find it

on our website.

The first question was

what does it mean

to keep

the fourth commandment?

And we discussed at length

how the Sabbath commandment

is sort of a ceremonial moral law

so there's a part of it

that has been fulfilled

in Christ, right?

Aiming us toward

the types of sacrifices

that were being made

showing us

the eternal rest

that can and is ours

by faith in Christ.

And that should find us

expecting some change

to the commandment

much the same way

that circumcision

is now baptism

of believers.

However

the moral component

should find us

expecting to

keep it.

I read to you a bit

from the London Baptist

Confession of 1689

as

it is the law of nature

that in

general

proportion of time

by God's appointment

he set apart

for the worship of God

so by his word

in a positive

moral

and perpetual

commandment

binding all men

in all ages

he hath particularly

appointed one day

in seven

for a Sabbath

to be kept holy unto him

which from the beginning

of the world

to the resurrection

of Christ

was the last day

of the week

and from the resurrection

of Christ

was changed

into the first day

of the week

which is called

the Lord's Day

and is to be continued

to the end of the world

as the Christian Sabbath

the observation

of the last day

of the week

being abolished.

So we talked a bit

about this

and why it is

that the early church

began to meet

rather

on Sunday

and there was

a transition period

many of the early church

continued to meet

on Saturday

and they didn't want

to burden people's

consciences

but largely

the church met

on Sunday

like looking to the hope

of a future

resurrection

celebrating the resurrection

of Christ

which happened

on the first day

of the week

Tertullian

the second century

theologian

wrote that for Christians

Sunday is a day

of joy

and that pagans

would not celebrate

anything on Sunday

for fear

that they might be

mistaken

for Christians

that day had been

so clearly

set apart

in people's minds

as a day

that the Christians

gathered

in order to celebrate

the resurrection

of Christ

last week

we looked at

Matthew chapter 12

Matthew 12:1–14

verses 1-14

which I'm not going to read

for the sake of time

I want to encourage you

to go and look at this

yourself

where Matthew records

two separate accounts

of Jesus

dealing with the Pharisees

on the Sabbath

and we noted

three things

from this text

number one

that Jesus does not

abolish the Sabbath

in the text

number two

that Jesus allows

for work

of necessity

so we saw

the apostles

picking wheat

as they were walking

along the path

because they were

hungry

they needed food

and so they were

taking it

they would have

rolled it in their

hands

to give a quick

process of

shucking it

I'm not sure

that's probably

a corn term

not a wheat term

but so that they

could eat it

so they're walking

along doing this

and the Pharisees

were enraged

by it

so Jesus allows

for work

of necessity

and we talked

in brief

about how

this means

that military

and police

firemen

like those

we need

people

working around

the clock

through the week

these things

ER doctors

and nurses

pastors

this is

you might be

shocked

not really a day

that's restful

for me

many of my

Sundays are

16 hour

days

and don't hear me

complaining

I love

love my job

but it is not

restful

on this

day

and we don't

live in a society

that really has

any regard

any longer

for the

Lord's day

almost none

anymore

your

eight year old

child may have

to travel

and play baseball

if you're gonna

pursue

baseball

so I

think it's

appropriate

to extend

this allowance

beyond the

traditionally held

vocation

so you read

some of the

old

works

and what

ancient

theologians

would have

said

and who

they would

have said

could work

on the

Lord's day

and I think

we can extend

it a bit

beyond

so many

retail

locations

that are

open

and you

may not

be able

to find

a job

that doesn't

force

your hand

doesn't make

you work

on that

day

I certainly

would advise

you to look

for one

that doesn't

try to

gain some

status in

that company

so that you

no longer

have to

but could

see the

place where

in order

to provide

for yourself

you must

take the

job

that would

do that

for you

possibility

of being

a coach

and having

to work

on the

Lord's day

to be able

to feel

the team

and you're

making your

livelihood

by this

and of course

we could

think of

other

examples

as well

where you

may just

be

forced

in order

to make

a living

for your

family

to work

on Sunday

Jesus

allows

for work

of necessity

and he

also

allows

for acts

of and

even desires

acts of

mercy

so in that

text

Matthew

Matthew 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12

we see

Jesus

healing a

man with

a withered

hand

which is

certainly

not a

life

threatening

thing

could have

waited

until

the following

day

but Jesus

saw the

opportunity

and sees

the opportunity

to love

and to

serve

this

man

so

we

want

to be

aware

of

and

giving

of

our

time

to

and

for

others

if you

were on

your way

to worship

us

with us

this morning

and you

saw someone

stranded

on the side

of a road

who needed

help

changing

a tire

I would

suggest

you would

do well

to stop

and to

help

them

although

changing

a tire

on the side

of the road

is

work

it's not

fun

to do

you will

probably

sweatier

and dirtier

after

having

done

so

but

this

would

be

a

merciful

thing

to do

for

such

a

person

staying

home

from

gathering

with

the

church

with

a

sick

child

is

not

restful

it

is

work

keeping

our

little

ones

feeling

well

and

comforted

it

may

not

always

be

easy

to

discern

what

is

merciful

and

what

is

not

how

it

is

we're

given

some

space

in

this

way

I was

thinking

through

because

it's

summer

taking

vacations

and how

many of

us

take

family

vacations

because

we have

a

fairly

young

population

whether

that's

going

on

vacation

with

your

father

or

maybe

you're

now

young

married

and

your

parents

are

gracious

enough

to pay

for

things

for

you

so

you

can

go

on

vacation

and

some

of

you

have

unbelieving

parents

and

these

unbelieving

parents

may

expect

you

to

be

there

with

them

because

the

condo

rental

starts

on

Sunday

and

ends

on

Saturday

maybe

maybe

it'd be

merciful

to go

maybe

it'd be

a good

thing

for people

who just

would not

understand

your

abstinence

about

traveling

and being

with them

at the

beach

on a

Sunday

to do

that

and find

a way

to redeem

some time

in the

car

I could

see

some

space

in

here

for

things

like

this

we

should

desire

to

carefully

consider

a

circumstance

that may

find us

not

resting

on the

Lord's

day

to see

if it

fits

in

these

criteria

I

think

all

of us

would

find

if we

would

do

so

we

would

all

be

a

little

bit

tighter

a

little

bit

stricter

about

our

activity

on

Sunday

I think

if we

gave

it

a

good

and

serious

consideration

we

would

do

less

not

more

in fact

I think

that is

likely

through

the

ages

legalism

has slipped

into the

church

around

this

issue

because

church

leaders

did

not

want

to

just

throw

open

the

doors

for

flippancy

when it

comes

to the

commandments

that was

the

challenge

for me

in this

week

because

there's

things

I

wish

I

just

want

to

say

oh

this

far

and

no

further

the

Bible

doesn't

really

do

that

in

great

clarity

and so

I

don't

feel

like

I

can

either

why

because

that

could

very

readily

become

legalism

this

was

the

work

that

the

Pharisees

were

doing

I

imagine

that

it

was

a

work

that

started

out

with

the

very

good

intentions

let's

help

people

keep

the

fourth

commandment

and they

began

to stack

up

the

silliest

of

expectations

to that

end

my

prayer

is

that

in

dealing

with

your

heart

on

the

matter

of

the

!

the

!

commandment

you

will

begin

to

apply

grateful

obedience

and

wisdom

to

your

weekly

routines

so that's

the first

question

that we

answered

last

week

the

second

question

was

why

should

we

keep

the

fourth

commandment

and we

took

some time

to consider

the beginning

of the

fourth

commandment

the word

the single

word

at the beginning

of the

commandment

remember

I read

for you

from the

Westminster

larger

catechism

question

121

why

is the

word

remember

set

at the

beginning

of the

fourth

commandment

and I

gave

you

the

brief

answer

they

write

partly

because

of the

great

benefit

of

remembering

it

and

partly

because

we

are

very

ready

to

forget

it

we

are

such

slow

learners

and we

are so

quick

to

forget

we

are

to

remember

to

keep

the

fourth

commandment

to

remember

this

is a

day

set

apart

for the

worship

of God

to be

gathered

together

with the

church

to learn

and to be

reminded

that we

have

rest

in

Christ

this is a

day to

take time

for quiet

reflection

on the

promises

of God

to remember

for all of the

failings

of last week

that if we are

in Christ

we belong

to God

to look

to the next

week

to the power

that is

ours

in

Christ

beloved

we have

rest

so we

can

rest

the wicked

cannot

rest

Isaiah

57

20

but the

wicked

are like

the

tossing

sea

for it

cannot

be

quiet

and its

waters

toss

up

mire

and dirt

what an

opportunity

to be a

people set

apart

right

to be

the busiest

people in

the world

six days

a week

but on

a seventh

to rest

this is not

us

these wicked

Jesus says

in Matthew

Matthew 11:28

11

verse 28

come to me

all who

labor

and are

heavy laden

and I

will give

you

rest

so

the third

question

how

shall we

keep the

fourth

commandment

how

shall we

keep

the

fourth

commandment

and to

look a little

further at

keeping the

fourth

commandment

turn with

me to

Deuteronomy

chapter

eight

Deuteronomy

is the

second

giving

of

the

law

Moses

is

preaching

essentially

here

a

sermon

or a

series

of

sermons

reminding

the people

of Israel

because

they've

sojourned

now for

40 years

in the

wilderness

and there's

a new

generation

that is

now going

to enter

the

promised

land

so he's

restating

he's

re-giving

the law

and we

can pick

up a lot

of wonderful

clarities

in his

now

understanding

of the

keeping

of it

I want

to show

you

from

Deuteronomy

eight

four

inner

disciplines

that must

take place

for any

outer

disciplines

to be of

any benefit

to us

on the

Lord's

day

God

is

always

concerned

about

the

status

of

our

hearts

and

right

actions

always

flow

from

right

hearts

we must

be careful

in our

keeping

of the

law

that we

do

not

do

as

the

Pharisees

did

and

many

in our

day

do

Jesus

is

always

correcting

this

kind

of

self

righteousness

Jesus

said

in

Matthew

Matthew 23:27

23

verse

27

woe

to

you

scribes

and

Pharisees

hypocrites

for you

are like

whitewashed

tombs

which

outwardly

appear

beautiful

but within

are full

of dead

people's

bones

and all

uncleanliness

and so

there are

disciplines

that must

be at

place

in us

for the

outward

expressing

of keeping

the Lord's

day

to have

any meaning

at all

number

one

remembering

and believing

that keeping

the fourth

commandment

is an

act

of

obedience

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 8:11

chapter 8

verse 11

Moses says

take care

lest you

forget the

Lord your

God

by not

keeping

his

commandments

and his

rules

and his

statutes

which I

command you

today

as I

stated at

length

previously

we have

a loving

God

who

intends

good

for us

so

whether we

understand

entirely

the good

intended

we should

remember

and believe

that God's

commands

our good

and

in keeping

God's

commandments

we will be

shown

his goodness

remembering

and believing

that keeping

the fourth

commandment

is an

act

of obedience

it has been

commanded of us

let's

just do

it

secondly

a second

inner

discipline

remembering

and believing

that keeping

the fourth

commandment

is an

act

of

liberation

it's an

act of

liberation

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 8:14

chapter 8

verse 14

there's a

warning here

then your

heart be

lifted up

this is

after the

building of

houses and

having

multiplying

wealth

and you

forget the

Lord your

God who

brought you

out of the

land of

Egypt

out of the

house

of slavery

Deuteronomy

! 5

verse 15

very careful

giving of

the ten

commandments

the moral

law

you shall

remember that

when you

were a

slave in

the land

of Egypt

and the

Lord your

God

brought you

out from

there with

a mighty

hand and

an outstretched

arm

therefore

the Lord

your God

commanded you

to keep

the Sabbath

day

it's meant

to serve

us

Israel

then

and us

now

in remembering

that we

have been

liberated

the entire

Exodus story

is meant to

prefigure

the liberation

that we

now have

in Christ

we have

spiritual

rest

the author

of Hebrews

wrote in

Hebrews 4

9 and

10

so then

there remains

a Sabbath

rest

for the

people

of God

for whoever

has entered

God's rest

has also

rested from

his works

as God

did

from his

we need

time

for reflection

on this

most

important

truth

just as the

Israelites

were liberated

from slavery

in Egypt

we have

been liberated

from the

condemnation

of the

law

have been

brought to

God

for joyful

obedience

to the

law

so

we can

rest

because we

have been

set free

from our

spiritual

labor

and remembering

and believing

that keeping

the fourth

commandment

in that way

is an act

of liberation

third

inner

discipline

remembering

and believing

that keeping

the fourth

commandment

is an

act of

faith

look at

verse 17

Deuteronomy

8 and

through the

first part

of verse

18

beware

lest you

say in

your heart

my power

and the

might of

my hand

have gotten

me

this wealth

you shall

remember the

Lord your

God

for it is

he who

gives you

power

to get

wealth

God is

our

great

provider

so we

can trust

that he

will provide

having ordered

a day of

rest we

can know

that he

will amply

provide all

that we

need in

our six

days

of working

to stop

on a day

to not

continue to

labor because

without that

labor how

will I

possibly

have

sin

but rather

to take a

day where

we say

God is my

provider

and to

reflect upon

this

to see

that it's

his good

order

he has

said work

six days

and stop

on the

seventh

I am