Sermons on the Law of God? Are you jumping up and down and excited to hear about the 10 C? Or maybe your response is this: Oh no! I’ll hear again about how bad I am, how I’ll never measure up to God’s rules and regulations…
Or the other side, a response like this, "Great! Finally, we are getting to the good stuff. All we ever hear about is forgiveness and love, a sugary Gospel. Some of church people need to hear more about the law!
ILL. I preached somewhere of how to keep the Sabbath, using Jesus as an example of how He did it. The Sabbath following this, one person came up to me saying: "Pastor, we need a good sermon on how to keep the Sabbath.
I didn’t know what to say. I just had preached that. But I knew his mindset. He wanted a list of do’s and don’ts (especially don’ts) given to the congregation. He was a lover of rules and regulations. Is that how you feel about God’s law?
ILL God’s Law… How many? 10. Do you know how many laws there are in the US? Over two million. If you want to be a law abiding citizen, and you want to learn two laws a day, it would take you 6,000 years to know them all and be a law-abiding citizen!
Civil laws, criminal laws, federal laws, state laws, city laws and regulations, county laws… all of them - around 2 millions. Some of them are not even take in consideration anymore but still active. For example: LAWS (Sermoncentral/illustrations/law):
(In AR) A man can legally beat his wife, but not more than once a month.
In Arizona, hunting camels is prohibited (10 years in prison).
(In CA) Nobody is allowed to ride a bicycle in a swimming pool.
(In NM) On Mondays, it is illegal for one to whistle very loud after 11:00 PM.
(In SC) Every adult male must bring a rifle to church on Sunday in order to ward off
Indian attacks.
(In AL) It is illegal to wear a fake moustache that causes laughter in church.
In Claredon TX it is illegal on Sunday morning to stay home if you are not sick: you need to go to the church. Well?
See what I am talking about? God’s Law – how many? Ten. However, those ten are so universal and yet specific, so broad yet personal, so sufficient and yet ideal, than takes a whole life to really understand and appreciate and be part of our heart.
David says something in the Psalm 119:97 that, for many, sounds ridiculous: Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. What? I’ve looked at that text before and said, "The law - I love it, but I might give it 20 minutes. I’m not meditating on that thing all day long! Once you’ve read it, you’ve read it. How many of you have meditated on God’s law all day long?
The word David uses for law is Torah. The Torah consists mainly of the first five books of the OT which the Jews call, "The Books of Instruction." But even so, how long have you spent on that at any given time? This sounds so legalistic. Not if God’s Law is placed in its proper CONTEXT.
I have discovered something: whenever God is stating or restating His law, it is never by itself. There’s always A STORY surrounds it somehow.
When the laws are separated from the story behind them, they do look harsh and cold. But, when seen in light of their context, they look precious! Maybe even precious enough to meditate upon all day!
Turn with me to Exodus 19, because we need to read Ex 20 in its context. And chapter 19 is the context. God has just delivered the captives of Egypt in a most magnificent and glorious way. He is about to speak to them as a group, personally and without a mediator for the first, and last, time.
That shows the significance about what is happening here. This is the only time God comes and speaks to all of His people at one time. No mediator. But before He does this, he asks Moses to get the context right.
"I want you to do something. I want you to set the people’s mind right before they hear what I have to say to them” Look at Exodus 19:3-4. God wants His law to be put in the following context.
“You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself”. See the context?
This is all before the Ten Commandments come. This reminds me of the song of Moses found in Deuteronomy 32 which he recited just before his death and Israel’s entrance into the promised land. Deut. 32:10, 11 (read!) 10 In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye, 11 like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions.
ILL. That’s how a young eagle learns how to fly. The parent take it out of the nest and flies to great heights and drops him. There’s nothing between that eaglet and death except the wild blue yonder. He has been snatched out of his nest where he got regular meals, had nice playmates. Now he is by himself. He’s falling. The young eagle begins to flap its wings. Nothing happens. He doesn’t know what to do. He’s never done this before.
Mamma eagle, who has never taken her eyes off her baby chicken plunges to the rescue and catches him on her back and lifts him up on eagle’s wings. And he thinks, "Oh boy, I get to go home." And he’s dropped again. And again. And again. Each time she catches him, and as soon as she catches him, and as soon as he catches his breath he is dropped again. And soon the eaglet will learn freedom. (Sermoncentral/illustrations)
Israel has been carried. Now is the time to begin to learn freedom. Just as flight must obey the laws of aerodynamics and gravity, laws exist for being a truly free child of God. They must be followed for freedom, not bondage. This is something that must be taught by God, the Father.
Exodus 19:5,6. "Now if you obey Me and fully keep My covenant, then out of all nations you will be My treasured possession. Although the whole earth is Mine, you will be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."
Do you see what is happening here? Who are these people that God is talking about loving so much? These are the same rebellious that have been belly aching all through the desert. People who don’t even understand Who it is that they are following.
People who have been slaves in Egypt and are still slaves to sin. These are the people that He is about to make a covenant with! That should tell us something.
When God chooses you to do something, it is not because you are talented and wonderful; it is because he wants YOU to do it. Remember that when the nominating committee calls! When an elder, or the pastor asks you to do something here. You only have to be willing; God will make up for all of our human frailties.
Exodus19:15 – "Moses… consecrated them, and they washed their clothes. Then he said to the people, Prepare yourselves for the third day"… What’s happening here? What’s this all about?
God makes an issue of preparing the people to receive His Law. "Wash your cloths, get presentable, take some time to get ready. This is important stuff!" In other words, this is going to require something of you.
An attitude that says, "Okay, God, let’s do business. I want my life to be right. I want to hear everything that You have to say to me." Some of that might be wise to do before we arrive at church on Sabbath morning! Preparing to meet God means to come out of hiding with an open heart, ready to be filled.
Look at Exodus 19:16-20. Thunder and lighting… Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like the smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.
What a scene this must have been!
1. Smoke,
2. fire,
3. thunder,
4. lightening,
5. cloud,
6. earthquake, and a
7. trumpet blast!
Seven things! Each of these things appears with God’s presence throughout Scripture, but never all of them at once like this! Only at the Second Coming!. This is God giving His law of love to the people he loves!
Yes, these laws are one of the most beautiful expressions of love found in the Bible. There is so much that God wishes to protect us from! There are some things in this sin-damaged world of ours that are so shattering and devastating to our brief human lives that God doesn’t want us to have to learn them by bitter experience.
My heart is so moved by people that come to me after making a horrible mistake for what they will pay for the rest of their lives. God did not want this to happen to us! He loves us! And He also forgives us! Yet, even with forgiveness, we often must live with the results of our poor choices. He is even there to help us bear those burdens.
ILL. I just received a letter from a friend who just initiate a prison ministry in my home church, Viorica Negosanu… The first inmate she encountered was a lady, a doctor who murdered her best friend, cut her in pieces and spread them all over the city. She got life sentence.
Now she is studying to be baptized. She may never get out. Yes, she has been forgiven, she has been redeemed, but she’s still paying the legal penalty for breaking the law, for her crime. Yet not the eternal penalty, Jesus took that upon Himself.
God says, "I know what is best for us, for you and me, for our relationship. There are some parameters here ten of them that are literally matters of life and death." Just ten!
Some have complained that eight out of ten of the commandments are negative, "Thou shalt not." But, think about it. This actually opens up possibilities and life rather than closing them down! There are all kinds of positive things that can be done and only a few that cannot. The focus is on creating a fence that defines outer limits rather that in giving detailed instructions about positive duties. They are also stated very strongly because of God’s love.
ILL. I had a friend one time, Vasile Scortzaru. We were young teenagers and he had a motorcycle. He would ride over to my house sometimes and want me to go for ride with him on this old and heavy bike from 1950’s. I knew this boy. He had epilepsy. I had seen him have seizures at school and on the street. I did not want to ride with him. I was afraid to. But I didn’t want to insult him or worry him about, "Oh you just don’t like me because I have seizures." That kind of thing.
So, I went to my mother and said, "Mom, do me a favor. Tell me I cannot ride with him. Pleaseee, pretty please, tell me I can’t..."
- " OK. You cannot ride with him!" I said, "Thanks, Mom." I went outside. "Sorry, my mom said no".
That’s what the Ten Commandments are. God’s giving us giving us permission to tell the devil, "No!" We don’t have to do something stupid and dangerous. Inside of the law perimeter we are spare of so many tears and gnashing of teeth…
Listen Israel: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. Ex.20:2-3
Do you have other gods? Spare gods, lesser gods, just in case the main one didn’t obey when you demand something from Him?...
MONEY is a god with 300,000 worshipers here in America. The Almighty dollar seems to be a powerful god with temples and shrines everywhere.
ENTERTAINMENT is another god – and millions are bowing down before him every single day…
SEX - what a controlling god! And our society is mesmerized by this god… Do you worship this god?
How about YOUR RELIGIOSITY being your God? Your ideas, your own goodness, your narrow understanding of life and salvation? Oh, their so many gods, demanding our devotion, our worship
All those spare gods wants attention, worship, sacrifice, offerings… demanding everything and giving back an illusion… A temporary resolution for your life… But sooner or later, they hurt you, they destroy their worshipers…Like Moloch, the Ammonites’ god, a hot red furnace swallowing his worshipers…
On the other hand, God said: “Shema Israel: Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad. Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord,"
Why should I ever want to put anyone or anything in front of Him? Why should I tolerate other gods in my life? Why should I look for other saviors? Why should I serve lesser gods?
He promised to provide for me everything that I need. He has changed my life. I want to tell the whole world about what He has done! Jesus came along and took away my embarrassment, my shame. Oh, how I love Him!
Don’t you? Now that is something worth meditating on all day!
